House Democrats backed off their blanket demand for the unredacted special counsel’s report and all supporting evidence, instead signaling a willingness Friday to cooperate on asking the courts to referee.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said he still objects to Attorney General William P. Barr’s demands, but said there may be a middle ground.
He asked Mr. Barr to make available the “less-redacted” version of the special counsel’s report — right now open only to a dozen lawmakers — to all members of Congress and “appropriate” staff. And he suggested the Justice Department and Congress jointly ask the courts to unseal the remaining redacted information, which was gleaned from a grand jury and is deemed secret.
The White House said Mr. Nadler had no choice but to soften his stance.
“That’s probably the only step Nadler has at this point is to be conciliatory,” said spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who said the congressman and his colleagues looked “ridiculous and silly” after holding a hearing with an empty chair for Mr. Barr on Thursday.
She said Mr. Nadler and five other Democrats have had a chance for two weeks to read the “less-redacted” report but all of them have refused, saying they are holding out for the full version.
“It is astonishing to me that not a single Democrat has yet to go read the less-redacted version of the report, yet they keep asking for more,” Ms. Sanders said.
The public version of the 448-page report has been redacted to delete information about ongoing Justice Department probes, information intruding on peripheral third parties’ privacy and information gleaned from grand jury proceedings.
The less-redacted version only deletes the grand jury information, which the Justice Department says by law must be kept under wraps.
Mr. Barr already missed a Wednesday deadline to turn over the full unredacted report to Congress, along with reams of supporting evidence compiled by Robert Mueller, who led the special counsel’s 22-month probe.
The Justice Department said Mr. Barr has already produced more than was required by law and regulation, and has said he’s willing to work on accommodations, but it rejected Mr. Nadler’s blanket demands.
Image caption
En el video que fue publicado en YouTube se observa a Wirapol Sukphol en un avión privado.
Era una imagen discordante: un grupo de monjes budistas, con sus cabezas rapadas y sus túnicas anaranjadas, se encontraba sentado en los asientos de cuero de un jet ejecutivo y se pasaban accesorios de lujo entre sí.
El video del monje, que se ha identificado con el nombre que usaba antes de su ordenación religiosa, Wirapol Sukphol, se volvió viral después de que se publicara en YouTube en 2013.
Una investigación del Departamento de Investigaciones Especiales de Tailandia, una unidad del Ministerio de Justicia de la nación asiática, descubrió un estilo de vida de lo que parecía ser una decadencia alucinante.
Las autoridades rastrearon al menos US$6 millones en diez cuentas bancarias y la compra de 22 automóviles Mercedes Benz.
Wirapol había construido una mansión en el sur de California, era dueño de una casa grande en su ciudad natal, Ubon Ratchathani, y también había hecho una réplica gigante de la famosa estatua del Buda de Esmeralda que se encuentra en el palacio real de Bangkok.
Derechos de autor de la imagen Reuters
Image caption
Wirapol Sukphol cuando era escoltado por las autoridades tailandesas el 19 de julio.
Wirapol aseguró que la estatua fue hecha con nueve toneladas de oro, lo cual, arrojó la investigación, resultó ser falso.
Había evidencia, indicó el Departamento de Investigaciones, de que había sostenido relaciones sexuales con varias mujeres.
Una de ellas denunció que él era el padre del hijo que ella tuvo cuando tenía 15 años.
De acuerdo con las autoridades, las muestras de ADN respaldan su versión.
Wirapol huyó hacia Estados Unidos y pasaron cuatro años para que las autoridades tailandesas aseguraran su extradición.
El monje ha negado los cargos de fraude, lavado de dinero y violación que se le imputan.
Monjes en malos pasos
Lo que muchos se preguntan es cómo un monje tan joven (no alcanzaba los 30 años cuando hizo lo que las autoridades le acusan) pudo llegar a tener tanta influencia.
Derechos de autor de la imagen Departamento de Investigaciones Especiales de Tail
Image caption
Wirapol fue interrogado por las autoridades del ministerio de Justicia.
¿Cómo se le permitió comportarse de una manera que claramente violaba el patimokkha (los 227 preceptos de vida que deben seguir los monjes)?
Se supone que los monjes no deben tocar el dinero y las relaciones sexuales están estrictamente prohibidas.
Pero lo que es cierto es que no es la primera vez que se conocen casos de monjes que se portan mal en Tailandia.
Las tentaciones de la vida moderna han arrastrado a algunos a obtener riquezas indecorosas, a otros los ha llevado a consumir drogas, a bailar, a tener relaciones sexuales con hombres, mujeres, niñas y niños.
También hay templos que han atraído grandes cantidades de seguidores que son muy devotos, gracias a la labor de monjes carismáticos y abades, de los que se dice que tienen poderes sobrenaturales.
Ellos han conseguido capitalizar dos aspectos de la vida moderna tailandesa: primero, el anhelo por un socorro espiritual entre quienes viven en las urbes. Son ciudadanos que ya no tienen una relación cercana con el concepto del templo tradicional del interior del país.
Y el segundo aspecto es una creencia de que al donar con generosidad a templos poderosos se obtendrá éxito y más riqueza material.
Parece ser que Wirapol aprovechó esta tendencia.
Voz suave
Llegó a la provincia de Sisaket, una región pobre del noreste del país, a inicios de la década de 2000.
Derechos de autor de la imagen EPA
Image caption
EE.UU. extraditó a Wirapol Sukphol y en esta foto, del 20 de julio, se le ve en su presentación en un tribunal donde se le imputaron cargos criminales.
Allí estableció un monasterio en una tierra que había sido donada en el pueblo de Ban Yang.
Pero de acuerdo con Ittipol Nontha, uno de los líderes del gobierno local, poca gente fue a ese templo porque eran muy pobres para ofrecer el tipo de donaciones que Wirapol esperaba.
El monje comenzó a celebrar ceremonias llamativas, indicó Nontha. También vendía amuletos y construyó su réplica del Buda de Esmeralda para atraer a los devotos más ricos de otras partes del país.
Estos seguidores han dicho que quedaron cautivados por la voz suave y cálida de Wirapol y por sus afirmaciones de que tenía poderes especiales como por ejemplo la capacidad de caminar sobre el agua yhablar con deidades.
Wirapol también les hizo generosos regalos a las personas con influencia en la provincia. Muchos de los automóviles que compró fueron regalos para monjes y oficiales en posiciones importantes.
Incluso hoy en día, todavía tiene seguidores que aseguran que es un hombre de buen corazón y que tiene el derecho a disfrutar los lujos que le fueron donados.
Escándalos
Tras una serie de escándalos, los tailandeses hablan más abiertamente sobre lo que catalogan como una crisis del budismo en su país.
Derechos de autor de la imagen Getty Images
Image caption
A los monjes budistas se les prohíben tener relaciones sexuales.
El número de ordenaciones de monjes ha caído abruptamente en los últimos años y varios templos pequeños no han podido autofinanciarse.
El organismo que se supone debe gobernar el clérigo budista es el Consejo Supremo Sangha, el cual está formado por un grupo de monjes muy viejos y hasta este año y por más de una década, no tuvo un Patriarca Supremo.
Ese cuerpo ha demostrado ser ineficiente para cumplir su función.
Se supone que la Oficina Nacional de Budismo regula la religión, pero también se ha visto plagada por problemas de liderazgo y denuncias de irregularidades financieras.
Hoy en día la gente, especialmente los ricos, piensa que el buen karma es lanzar dinero a los templos. Tienen fe, pero no piensan
El gobierno ha introducido una ley que le exige a los templos que acumulen desde US$3.000 millones en donaciones anuales a publicar sus registros financieros.
También se está hablando sobre la puesta en vigencia de una tarjeta de identidad digital para los monjes, lo cual garantizaría que quienes incurran en actos indebidos no puedan volver a ser ordenados.
Entre vertientes
Los problemas morales de algunos monjes se deben, en parte, a la forma cómo el budismo ha evolucionado en Tailandia.
Derechos de autor de la imagen Reuters
Image caption
El budismo es uno de los pilares de la sociedad tailandesa.
Por 150 años han habido dos formas diferentes de budismo en el país: la vertiente más austera conocida como la tradición Thammayut, la cual es practicada en los templos de élite que son respaldados por la realeza de Bangkok.
En esta manifestación, los monjes tienen que seguir estrictas normas para desprenderse del mundo material.
La segunda forma es una forma más relajada que se conoce como la tradición Mahanikai de las provincias, en la que los monjes son parte de la comunidad y como tal se unen a las actividades de los locales, lo cual algunas veces entra en conflicto con la patimokkhai.
En los pueblos, los templos han funcionado como escuelas o centros tradicionales de medicina y para acoger celebraciones locales.
La recomendación para algunos monjes ha sido la de involucrarse en una gama de asuntos mundanos. De esa forma, la línea entre lo que es un comportamiento aceptable y el que no lo es se ha vuelto en algunos casos borrosa.
En su contra
La otra fuente del problema es el peso que tiene la superstición entre muchos tailandeses y la forma como la misma se ha comercializado.
Los monjes han sido usados para llevar a cabo rituales semireligiosos, como bendecir vehículos nuevos o casas con el objetivo de atraer la buena suerte, y no tanto como los practicantes de los 227 preceptos de la disciplina budista.
Derechos de autor de la imagen EPA
Image caption
Algunas personas en Tailandia creen que haciendo cuantiosas donaciones a los templos construyen un buen karma.
En algunos templos, por ejemplo, se venden boletas de lotería, lo cual para muchos es una tentación difícil de resistir.
Este amor por la superstición se extiende hasta los tailandeses más adinerados, quienes son felices donando generosamente con la idea de que esto les garantizará una mayor fortuna en el futuro.
Phra Payom Kalayano, el abad de un templo en el norte de Bangkok, ha sido muy crítico con lo que llama la comercialización del budismo.
Les ha pedido a los tailandeses que sean más conscientes cuando hacen donaciones.
“Hoy en día la gente, especialmente los ricos, piensa que el buen karma es lanzar dinero a los templos. Tienen fe, pero no piensan. Eso no es practicar de forma inteligente el karma bueno. Eso es sólo fe ciega”.
“Al mismo tiempo, algunos monjes son estúpidos. Ellos nos saben cómo usar las donaciones que reciben. En lugar de manejar el dinero para construir karma y prestigio para el templo, los monjes terminan construyendo casos criminales contra sí mismos”, dice.
Antes de la llegada de la era de la globalización y las distracciones consumistas que la misma trajo consigo, era más fácil dedicarse a una vida monástica que desautorizaba todos los placeres materiales.
Pero es más difícil ahora insistir en que los monjes deban renunciar a las comodidades tecnológicas como los teléfonos inteligentes y los viajes en aviones.
Es incluso más duro definir cuál es el rol que los monjes deberían asumir en la Tailandia del siglo XXI, más allá de ofrecer servicios como amuletos o bendiciones de la buena suerte, lo cual fácilmente puede terminar en negocios para hacer dinero.
El terremoto golpea y la directora de Noticias de Canal 22 descansa
Sin nadie que le haga competencia, la titular de la Dirección de Noticias de Canal 22, Guadalupe Alonso, es firme candidata a llevarse un Ariel, pero de jabón, a la peor jefatura en la cobertura informativa del terremoto del 19 de septiembre. Mientras que el país vivió uno de los momentos más graves de las últimas décadas, la directora de Noticias del Canal Cultural de México no vio la magnitud y gravedad histórica del evento y continuó con sus vacaciones. Con cero olfato periodístico y mientras que todos los medios, públicos y privados, estaban presentes, noche y día, en todas las zonas de la ciudad que sufrieron la tragedia, Alonso dio seguimiento a los hechos a través de la aplicación WhatsApp. Sin conducción ni estrategia de coberturas, el 22 dio cuenta de los hechos sólo a partir de los enlaces que varios reporteros hicieron con sus celulares. ¿Que fueron iniciativa suya? Pero ¿es eso un plan de trabajo? Se entiende que en las primeras horas —como lo sufrió toda la sociedad— no hubiera comunicación, pero con las nuevas tecnologías, en los días siguientes, la directora de Noticias no trazó un programa a través de las múltiples opciones que hoy ofrecen las tecnologías: videoconferencias o chats, por ejemplo. Y aunque Alonso argumenta que sus vacaciones concluyeron el viernes 22, es evidente que la noticia le pasó de lejos incluso ese fin de semana porque tampoco entonces se acercó ni diseñó una estrategia para la cobertura. Sólo hasta la mañana del lunes 25, cuando habían pasado seis días del terremoto, Alonso llegó a su oficina de la Dirección de Noticias del Canal. Lo más curioso, nos cuentan, es que se dice “satisfecha” por la reacción informativa ante el sismo. De plano, se le fue la nota ¡Ariel de jabón! ¿Y a Pedro Cota, director General del Canal 22, qué premio le daría usted?
Exigen información sobre Archivo de Arqueología
En todo el caos que provocaron los sismos de septiembre, una mudanza en pleno Centro Histórico pasó desapercibida. Las oficinas del INAH y del FONCA que se alojaban en el Palacio del Marqués del Apartado cambiaron su sede hace poco; próximamente hará lo mismo el Archivo Técnico de Arqueología del Instituto, que ocupa un espacio en ese lugar. Y es precisamente el traslado de este importante acervo el que no ha caído nada bien a los investigadores y arqueólogos del Instituto porque aseguran que las autoridades del INAH y de la Secretaría de Cultura les habían prometido en agosto mantenerlos al tanto del desarrollo de la nueva sede del archivo en avenida Revolución, en San Ángel, sin que hasta ahora haya una sola explicación sobre el tema. Hace unos días enviaron una carta a la dirección del INAH para pedir que se manifiesten sobre el caso y hagan público el proyecto. De no tener respuesta en estos días, amenazan con organizar una manifestación directamente en las oficinas de la Secretaría de Cultura en Arenal, pues la razón por la que el inmueble del Centro Histórico fue desalojado es que la dependencia federal planea ahí la construcción de un Centro Cultural.
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Fox News Flash top headlines for June 1 are here. Check out what’s clicking on Foxnews.com
Virginia Beach Police are turning their focus to the weapons cache and job history of the man whose Friday shooting spree at a municipal complex killed 12 people and injured several more.
The gunman, ID’d as DeWayne Craddock, was employed as an engineer with the city’s public utilities department for 15 years. Police killed Craddock after exchanging gunfire at the scene, but Virginia Beach Police Chief James Cervera has withheld identifying a potential motive.
In a news conference on Saturday afternoon, Cervera said that contrary to media reports, Craddock was not fired from his city post.
As for weaponry, two .45-caliber pistols were said to have been used by the shooter, and two other guns were recovered at the shooter’s home, the chief said. At least three of the weapons were purchased legally, though the history of the fourth was not immediately known. The two weapons used at the municipal center were purchased in 2016 and 2018 by the shooter, officials said.
Cervera said a more specific timeline of the deadly ramage would be released sometime on Sunday.
As more details about the shooter were emerging on Saturday, many in this stunned community continued to keep a focus on the victims, most of whom were municipal employees. Several vigils have been scheduled for the victims of the massacre, which has been dubbed the deadliest mass shooting in the United States this year.
Frank Janes is comforted by his wife, Cathie Janes, during the prayer vigil at Strawbridge Marketplace in response to a shooting at a municipal building in Virginia Beach, Va., Saturday, June 1, 2019. A longtime city employee opened fire at the building Friday before police shot and killed him, authorities said. (Daniel Sangjib Min/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam attended a prayer vigil on Saturday morning at the Regal Cinemas in Strawbridge Marketplace. The solemn event was organized by Lifehouse Church.
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, center, attends a vigil in response to a shooting at a municipal building in Virginia Beach, Va., Saturday morning. A longtime city employee opened fire at the building Friday, with lethal consequences, before police shot and killed him, authorities said. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
President Trump ordered that flags be lowered to half-staff on Saturday, and he tweeted his condolences and support for “that great community” of Virginia Beach.
As the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus gained traction around the world, the World Health Organization urged vaccinated people to continue to wear masks and social distance, according to reports.
“Vaccine alone won’t stop community transmission,” Dr. Mariangela Simao, WHO’s assistant director-general for access to medicines and health products, said during a briefing in Geneva, according to CNBC. “People need to continue to use masks consistently, be in ventilated spaces, hand hygiene … the physical distance, avoid crowding. This still continues to be extremely important, even if you’re vaccinated when you have a community transmission ongoing.”
Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Friday called the delta variant “the most transmissible of the variants identified so far … and is spreading rapidly among unvaccinated populations,” the Voice of America reported.
The recommendation comes weeks after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said vaccinated people can go most places without masks. However, federal mandates remain on airplanes, for example.
The recommendation comes weeks after the CDC said vaccinated people can go most places without masks.AFP via Getty Images
The US has a higher vaccination rate than many countries struggling with the variant and daily infection rates have fallen sharply in the US in the last few months as more Americans have gotten the vaccine.
At least 53.9 percent of the US population has received at least one dose of the vaccine, 63 percent of Americans over 12 as of Saturday, according to the CDC. Children under 12 are not yet eligible for the vaccine.
Nearly all virus-related deaths by May were from unvaccinated people, an analysis from The Associated Press found. Deaths of vaccinated people was 0.1 percent of the total.
The Delta variant has primarily taken hold in countries that haven’t been able to beef up their vaccine numbers but it has spread to the US.
In the United Kingdom, the variant is now responsible for 90 percent of all new infections. In the US, it represents 20 percent of infections and health officials say it could become the country’s dominant type as well.
The vaccines are considered “highly effective” against the delta variant, according to a recent study by the British government, although slightly less than the original strain.
But the WHO urged those vaccinated to “play it safe” and wear a mask because so many remain unvaccinated globally and the variant has become the main spreader in several countries, CNBC reported.
Australia, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Portugal and Israel have all been forced to return to some form of lockdown because of the variant, which originated in India, according to Voice of America.
It’s not clear yet whether the variant makes people sicker since more data needs to be collected, said Dr. Jacob John, who studies viruses at the Christian Medical College at Vellore in southern India.
The European Union has announced the setting up of a payment mechanism to secure trade with Iran and skirt US sanctions after Washington pulled out of the landmark nuclear deal last May.
The proposal of a financial instrument has been a key element in the EU’s strategy to keep Iran from quitting the 2015 nuclear agreement, which was signed to prevent Tehran from building nuclear weapons in exchange for sanctions relief.
The new institution, named INSTEX – Instrument In Support Of Trade Exchanges – will allow trade between the EU and Iran without relying on direct financial transactions. It is a project of the governments of France, Germany and Britain and will receive the formal endorsement of all 28 EU members.
The administration of US President Donald Trump has been closely eyeing European efforts to establish the financial mechanism and warned any attempt to evade its “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran would be subject to stiff penalties.
Iran and EU announced the plan to set up a legal entity in September last year to circumvent US sanctions, which has largely succeeded in preventing European firms from investing in the country.
On Thursday, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs said the Special Purpose Vehicle will serve as the first step in the collection of commitments of Europeans towards Tehran.
“We hope they will be fully implemented and will not be incomplete,” Abbas Araqchi told the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Broadcasting (IRIB) Channel One on Thursday.
Too little too late?
INSTEX will initially be used for non-sanctionable trade, including humanitarian goods such as medicine, food and medical devices. Some have questioned whether it will prove effective.
“If [the mechanism] will permanently be restricted to solely humanitarian trade, it will be apparent that Europe will have failed to live up to its end of the bargain for Iran,” political analyst Mohammad Ali Shabani told Al Jazeera.
Foad Izadi, a professor at the University of Tehran, offered a similar analysis.
“I don’t think the EU is either willing or able to stand up to Trump’s threat,“ he said. “The EU is not taking the nuclear deal seriously and it’s not taking any action to prove to Iran otherwise… People are running out of patience.”
Esfandyar Batmanghelidj, founder of a Europe-Iran business forum, however, said the role of new payment channel should not be undermined given the pivotal role that medicines play as a trade category between Europe and Iran.
In 2017, the export of drugs from Europe to Iran totalled $884m compared with $194m from China and $52m from India, according to UN data.
As Batmanghelidj pointed out, even if limited, the mechanism could eventually pave the way for further advancement.
“The value of it is to give the EU an opportunity to learn how to operate properly, and then create [a mechanism] for more strategic sectors. It could turn into a pilot that the US would find difficult to target with political legitimacy given its humanitarian focus,” said Batmanghelidj.
“What seems a limitation, could turn into a strength.”
Opportunity for EU
The launching of INSTEX is not only a matter of Iran-EU relations but also embodies a new approach by the bloc towards US policies, according to Batmanghelidj.
INSTEX “becomes an opportunity when it’s understood as an experiment and as part of a bigger project to strengthen EU economic power”, he said.
“What is relevant in this case is to see that the EU is doing something despite the position of the US, and in opposition to the US. This is something new.”
Witnessing the effect of US secondary sanctions on non-US firms, EU leaders are becoming more aware of the necessity to strengthen the eurozone, as German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated in her speech in Davos at the recent World Economic Forum.
“This [mechanism] is at most going to be a baby step towards international financial structures that would give the EU more independence,” said Henry Farrell, a professor of political science at George Washington University, in a social media post.
In the meantime, Iranians are waiting for their European partners to salvage the nuclear deal. But as Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, recently warned, the EU needs to step up “before it is too late”.
“We [Iran] will be losing trust and once the trust is lost, everybody will be a loser in the game,” Salehi said.
“I saw the Flynn comments and thought they were outrageous,” Ballard said. “If Ron DeSantis is not within the four corners of being a conservative, I don’t know what is.”
“There is so much disinformation that it’s literally crazy and killing people,” he added.
Yet DeSantis’ strategy so far also has the governor running afoul of some local governments and public health officials, who appreciate DeSantis’ pro-vaccination rhetoric but continue to lament what they say is a lack of urgency to tackle the virus.
Officials in Palm Beach on Monday announced that they would require people to wear masks inside city buildings or on town property regardless of vaccination status. This follows California’s move on Monday to soon require state and health care staffers to provide proof that they’ve been vaccinated. DeSantis banned such “vaccine passports” in Florida.
Health officials, meanwhile, are also pressing the governor to provide more assistance to frontline health care workers.
“Our city emergency leaders now have daily meetings with hospitals, and while our city and fellow hospitals are all in tune to the ongoing emergency and working to help each other, we’re not getting the level of support from the state we were previously in the pandemic when the Covid burden was much lower,” said Chad Neilsen, the Infection Prevention Director at University of Florida Health in Jacksonville.
He said the state needs to restart releasing daily Covid-19 testing data, which ended in January, and again declare Florida under a public health emergency, which lapsed on June 26.
“By declaring a [public health emergency], activities can then be authorized to help support essential services and functions in response to the emergency,” Nielsen said. “This may be emergency funds to help pay for staffing, or equipment, activation of certain support offices, and can even open up availability to federal support.”
Pushaw, however, said calls for a renewed public health emergency are misguided.
“People are entitled to their own opinions, but there is an unfortunate tendency among some of the governor’s critics to demand ‘a state of emergency’ on different issues without any indication of what, concretely, they believe such a declaration would accomplish,” she said.
The State of Oklahoma has been granted a temporary restraining order that blocks Ascension Healthcare from firing employees who have been denied religious exemptions from the company’s coronavirus vaccination mandate.
The state Attorney General’s office confirmed the order was granted Friday night by a District Court judge in Tulsa County, according to FOX 25 of Oklahoma City.
“This evening, the Tulsa District Court granted the State’s Application for Temporary Restraining Order in our case to keep Ascension Healthcare from carrying out its plan to fire employees who were unfairly denied religious exemptions from their nationwide COVID-19 vaccination mandate. This is a win for religious freedom and our office will continue to fight against unlawful religious discrimination.”
Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor (USA TODAY NETWORK via Reuters Connect / Reuters Photos)
Ascension had planned Friday to suspend employees who have been denied a religious exemption and fire them Jan. 4 unless they get vaccinated, according to court documents.
“We will not tolerate any form of religious discrimination against Oklahomans who seek reasonable accommodations from vaccine mandates based on their sincerely held religious beliefs,” Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor said.
“No Oklahoman should be forced to choose between a vaccine and their job, when it involves violating their sincerely held religious beliefs,” O’Connor added.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can forgo their masks and social distancing in many indoor situations.
“Today, CDC is updating our guidance for fully vaccinated people,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Thursday at a White House COVID-19 briefing. “Anyone who is fully vaccinated, can participate in indoor and outdoor activities, large or small, without wearing a mask or physical distancing. If you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing the things that you had stopped doing because of the pandemic.”
Anyone who is vaccinated but develops symptoms should mask up and get tested, she warned. Walensky also warned that there’s always a chance the pandemic situation could worsen, and the nation may need to return to pieces of the earlier guidance.
Walensky also said that fully vaccinated people entering spaces where they don’t know the vaccination status of others, like at concerts, need not worry and can still be there mask-less. It’s a significant leap from previous CDC guidance. The move comes shortly after the CDC said fully vaccinated people do not need to wear masks outdoors.
Walensky also said it’s safe for vaccinated people to be maskless in indoor settings that may have unvaccinated people, such as at a concert.
“The science demonstrates that if you are fully vaccinated, you are protected,” Walensky said. “It is the people who are not fully vaccinated in those settings, who might not be wearing a mask, who are not protected. And it is those people that we are encouraging to get vaccinated and to wear a mask and to physically distance. So if you are vaccinated in those settings, you certainly could wear a mask if you wanted to, but we are saying in those settings, based on the science, that it is safe.”
The White House has also lifted its mask requirement for fully vaccinated people working at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
President Biden spoke from the White House Rose Garden to mark the change on CDC vaccinations, and give an update on vaccinations.
“It’s a good day for the country,” he said.
The president praised those who have gotten vaccinated for doing their “patriotic duty.”
“For more than a year, you’ve endured so much, and so many lost jobs, so many businesses lost, so many lives upended, and so many months that our kids couldn’t be in school. You couldn’t see your friends and family,” the president said.
Now, things are changing. Still, the president urged those who haven’t gotten vaccinated yet to take that step.
Places where masks are still needed
The CDC guidance doesn’t apply to health care settings, such as hospitals, doctors’ offices and long-term care facilities. It also doesn’t apply to correctional facilities or homeless shelters.
The CDC still says fully vaccinated people should wear well-fitted masks when it is required by federal, state or local laws, as well as by businesses. Masks will still be required on planes, trains and other types of public transportation.
A CDC graphic on what fully vaccinated people can safely do compared to unvaccinated people
CDC.gov
The CDC defines “fully vaccinated” as two weeks after the second dose of a two-dose regimen, like Pfizer or Moderna, and two weeks after a single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
The news comes as the nation crosses 250 million vaccinations, and heads toward President Biden’s goal of 70% of Americans having at least one dose by July 4.
“MURIENDO POR CRUZAR,” AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE INCREASING NUMBER OF IMMIGRANT DEATHS ALONG THE BORDER, THIS SUNDAY, AUGUST 3 AT 6 P.M./5 C
Carmen Dominicci and Neida Sandoval present the Telemundo and The Weather Channel co-production
Miami – July 31, 2014 –Telemundo presents “Muriendo por Cruzar”, a documentary that investigates why increasing numbers of immigrants are dying while trying to cross the US-Mexican border near the city of Falfurrias, Texas, this Sunday, August 3 at 6PM/5 C. The Telemundo and The Weather Channel co-production, presented by Noticias Telemundo journalists Carmen Dominicci and Neida Sandoval, reveals the obstacles immigrants face once they cross into US territory, including extreme weather conditions, as they try to evade the border patrol. “Muriendo por Cruzar” is part of Noticias Telemundo’s special coverage of the crisis on the border and immigration reform.
“‘Muriendo por Cruzar’” dares to ask questions that reveal the actual conditions undocumented immigrants face as they try to start a new life in the United States,” said Alina Falcón, Telemundo’s Executive Vice President for News and Alternative Programming. “Our collaboration with The Weather Channel was very productive. They have a unique expertise in covering the impact of weather on people’s lives, as we do in covering immigration reform and the border crisis. The result is a compelling documentary that exposes a harrowing reality.”
“Muriendo por Cruzar” is the first co-production by Telemundo and The Weather Channel. Both networks are part of NBCUniversal.
BIDEN GETS IT DONE, DESPITE HIMSELF — To say Thursday was a roller coaster for President JOE BIDEN’s agenda wouldn’t do justice to how truly head-spinning the day was. The White House releases a Build Back Better (BBB) deal backed by MANCHINEMA (now they’re getting somewhere) — only to watch BERNIE SANDERS balk (never mind). The president delays his trip to Europe to rally House Democrats behind his plan — then whiffs, somehow neglecting to deliver the tough love message Democratic leaders wanted him to so they could pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill (BIF) this week.
But just when it looked like the day would end in embarrassment for Democrats, the Congressional Progressive Caucus issues a surprise endorsement of the president’s compromise plan — removing one of the last big obstacles in its way.
The CPC’s decision to backthe new BBB framework got drowned out by the group’s refusal to allow a BIF vote Thursday before full text was drafted. That deprived Speaker NANCY PELOSI of the vote she was determined to hold on BIF, and yielded lots of headlines about Democrats’ failure to clinch the win.
But the dispute over sequencing masked a major achievement for the president: Hill progressives now appear ready to swallow this deal — and that means it’s likely a matter of when, not if, it passes.
The fact that the group isn’t making demands for major changes is quite something given that many of their priorities were significantly scaled back as moderates got most of what they wanted.
“We wanted a $3.5 trillion package, but we understand the reality of the situation,” CPC Chair PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-Wash.) told reporters Thursday night. While she welcomes senators negotiating to make additional changes to the bill, she said specifically that her group’s endorsement is not contingent on that.
That stance is especially notable since earlier in the day, Sanders (I-Vt.) seemed unhappy with the package and ready to fight for more. He complained there were “major gaps” in the framework, specifically on prescription drugs and Medicare. At the same time, he did not draw any red lines and praised the plan as “the most consequential bill since the 1960s.”
It’s a reminder that there is no Freedom Caucus of the left and probably never will be. Progressives find it hard to vote against things they believe in, even if the bill doesn’t have everything that they want. For that, perhaps Biden, who’s set to meet with the pope today, should count his blessings.
THE REAL LOSER FROM THURSDAY, as WaPo’s Paul Kane pointed out, was TERRY MCAULIFFE. Democrats’ Virginia gubernatorial candidate implored leaders to pass the infrastructure bill before his election to turn out voters. But Biden did not press progressives to vote on the bill quickly, a move a senior House Democrat dubbed a “mistake” — ensuring the bill won’t pass before next week. The delay comes as a Fox News poll has GLENN YOUNGKIN pulling ahead of McAullife, 53 to 45. That survey is an outlier — FiveThirtyEight’s polling average now has the race tied, while other polls show McAuliffe narrowly ahead — but a Youngkin victory Tuesday no longer looks like a Republican pipe dream.
DON’T MISS — Our Caitlin Emma and Jenifer Scholtes have a round-up of everything that’s in and out of the reconciliation bill.
IN MEMORIAM — “A. Linwood Holton Jr., Virginia governor who took bold stance on integration, dies at 98,”by WaPo’s Jeff Baron: “Mr. Holton helped break the domination of Virginia politics by the Byrd political organization, which ardently supported racial segregation, and his election as governor in 1969 made him the first Republican to hold statewide office in Virginia in the 20th century. He persuaded the legislature to raise the income tax and the gasoline tax, and he used the money for environmental protection, higher education and transportation projects. But he called his work on race relations ‘the greatest source of satisfaction and pride for me.’”
Holton was a giant of Virginia history, as well as Sen. TIM KAINE’s (D-Va.)father-in-law.
NEVADA AD WAR, THE SEQUEL — We wrote in Playbook on Wednesday that a Nevada TV station decided to take down a pro-CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO ad sponsored by the Senate Majority PAC after the NRSC complained it included “flagrantly false” information about Republican challenger ADAM LAXALT. But it turns out the station, in a victory for the CHUCK SCHUMER-aligned outside group, reversed its decision.
The ad is now up and running on Reno’s CBS affiliate, KTVN 2 News, as well in other parts of Nevada. And SMP, which swayed the station in its favor before the decision to pull the ad took effect, is feeling vindicated. Group president JB POERSCH blasted what he called the NRSC’s “failed attempt to discredit the accuracy of the ad.”
WE’RE ON A BOAT — All summer long, activists have pressured Democratic leaders for a reconciliation package that delivers on all of Biden’s promises. That means Sens. KYRSTEN SINEMA (D-Ariz.) and JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.) faced protesters in their offices, homes … and bathroom stalls. Today, Tara visits the progressive activists putting pressure on Manchin, and she asks POLITICO’s co-congressional bureau chief — and Manchin whisperer — Burgess Everett on whether the activism is having its intended effect on Manchin and the latest on the Democrats’ messy reconciliation fight.Listen and subscribe to Playbook Deep Dive
BIDEN’S FRIDAY (Eastern times):
— 6 a.m.: The president and first lady JILL BIDEN are currently meeting with Pope FRANCIS in Vatican City.
— 6:55 a.m.: Biden will hold a bilateral meeting with Cardinal Secretary of State PIETRO PAROLIN.
— 7:55 a.m.: Biden will hold a bilateral meeting with Italian President SERGIO MATTARELLA at the Quirinale Palace in Rome.
— 9:15 a.m.: Biden will hold a bilateral meeting with Italian PM MARIO DRAGHI at the Chigi Palace in Rome.
— 10:15 a.m.: Biden will hold a bilateral meeting with French President EMMANUEL MACRON at the French Embassy in Rome.
VP KAMALA HARRIS’ FRIDAY:
— 2:30 p.m.: The VP will speak virtually at a DNC grassroots event.
— 3:55 p.m.: Harris will leave D.C. for Norfolk, Va.
— 6 p.m.: Harris will speak at a McAuliffecampaign event at the Peter G. Decker Half Moone Center in Norfolk, before heading back to D.C. at 7:15 p.m.
THE SENATE and THE HOUSE are out.
PLAYBOOK READS
ALL POLITICS
HOW YOUNGKIN COULD WIN — If the Republican pulls it off Tuesday, remember this story by Elena Schneider so you’re not surprised: “Republicans started the year watching the Senate slip away in Georgia — and fretting that DONALD TRUMP’s takeover of the party was so complete that the base wouldn’t show up for them without Trump himself on the ballot. Now, those fears have largely evaporated.
“Republicans hold an enormous edge in enthusiasm that could make the difference in the upcoming Virginia governor’s race, according to both public and private polling. What’s most notable in Virginia is that it’s Glenn Youngkin — a candidate who accepted Trump’s endorsement but has held the former president at arm’s length during the campaign — who stands to benefit from the electrified GOP base, which is instead animated by President Joe Biden’s sagging ratings and Democrats’ total control in Washington and Richmond.”
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK —Remember when Major League Baseball moved the All-Star Game out of Atlanta in protest of Georgia’s new law imposing restrictions on voting? Well, consider it payback time. Heritage Action is launching a new six-figure ad buy to air in Georgia and D.C. during Game 3 of the World Series tonight — when the Atlanta Braves will play host to the Houston Astros — thanking Gov. BRIAN KEMP for the voting law and slamming MLB executives for their opposition to it. “Despite the best efforts of the woke mob, the Braves are bringing the World Series to the state for the first time since 1999, and the silence from woke executives is deafening,” the ad says. “They’ve learned an important lesson: When you go woke, you go broke.” Watch here
CONGRESS
MUCK READ — ProPublica’s Robert Faturechi has new details on Sen. RICHARD BURR’s (R-N.C.) 2020 stock trades: He called his brother-in-law after Burr dumped stocks worth more than $1.6 million, and the brother-in-law then immediately called his broker and started dumping stocks. “The revelations come as part of an effort by the SEC to force [GERALD] FAUTH to comply with a subpoena that the agency said he has stonewalled for more than a year … In the filings, the SEC also revealed that there is an ongoing insider trading investigation into both Burr and Fauth’s trades. It had previously been reported that federal prosecutors had decided not to charge Burr.”
WHITE HOUSE
IT’S THE ECONOMY, STUPID — Megan Cassella jumps on the latest economic numbers with a story about what they mean politically for Biden: “The U.S. economy is growing at its slowest pace since the recovery began. Faster inflation is likely to linger well into next year. Millions remain unemployed even as small businesses struggle to hire workers. And Republicans are readying attacks on President Joe Biden over all of it.”
POLICY CORNER
IMMIGRATION FILES — The Biden administration is weighing paying out $450,000 per individual to families that were separated at the border under the Trump administration, though the situation remains in flux, WSJ’s Michelle Hackman, Aruna Viswanatha and Sadie Gurman scooped. “The total potential payout could be $1 billion or more,” as a variety of ongoing lawsuits seek possible settlements/resolution by the end of next month.
BEYOND THE BELTWAY
CUOMO CHARGED — Former New York Gov. ANDREW CUOMO was charged with criminal “forcible touching,” a misdemeanor, on Thursday, New York Focus’ Akash Mehta scooped. Cuomo, who resigned from office in August, “will be required to appear in court in Albany on Nov. 17 to be arraigned,” per the NYT.
DESANTIS VS. BIDEN, via Tampa Bay Times’ Mary Ellen Klas: “Florida Gov. RON DESANTIS and Attorney General ASHLEY MOODY filed another lawsuit against the U.S. government Thursday, challenging the rule requiring companies that are federal contractors to show proof of vaccination or weekly COVID tests of their employees and calling it a ‘heavy-handed mandate never authorized by Congress.’”
MEDIAWATCH
NO APOLOGIES — The WSJ Editorial Board defended its decision to publish a letter to the editor by Trumpfalsely alleging the 2020 election was “rigged.” “We trust our readers to make up their own minds about his statement. And we think it’s news when an ex-President who may run in 2024 wrote what he did, even if (or perhaps especially if) his claims are bananas,” it writes.The full response
FOX IN THE HENHOUSE — GERALDO RIVERA is calling out his Fox colleague TUCKER CARLSON over the latter’s plans to promote false conspiracy theories about the Jan. 6 insurrection. “I worry that — and I’m probably going to get in trouble for this — but I’m wondering how much is done to provoke, rather than illuminate,” Rivera told NYT’s Michael Grynbaum.
TV TONIGHT — PBS’ “Washington Week”: Dan Balz, Ayesha Rascoe, Ali Vitali and Jonathan Lemire.
SUNDAY SO FAR …
“The Sunday Show”: Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) … Eric Adams … Maya Wiley … Jonathan Metzl … Montgomery, Ala., Mayor Steven Reed … Evan McMullin … Rachel Bitecofer.
Mitt Romneydressed up as Ted Lasso for Halloween, and delivered biscuits toKyrsten Sinema, in character as AFC Richmond owner Rebecca Welton (notes Josh Wingrove, with a “Ted Lasso” episode 1 spoiler: Sinema was in costume as “a character who sets out to purposefully tank her team”).
Bill de Blasiosaid he was in costume as Captain Kirk, but any self-respecting Trekkie knows he was wearing the wrong color shirt and was actually dressed more like Spock or Dr. McCoy.
RIP: Downtown D.C.’s last remaining (though non-functioning) pay phone, outside the Cheesecake Factory on H Street NW, is about to be removed.
SPOTTED at a screening of Matthew Heineman’s latest documentary, “The First Wave,” on Thursday at the Navy Memorial Theater and presented by National Geographic and Participant: Laurel Sakai, Kaylie Hanson Long, Denise Zheng, Nate Adler, Jenifer Healy, Corey Feist, Gianluca Nigro, Bruce Gellin, Jada Yuan, Dan Diamond, Zach Basu, Mackenzie Kuhl and Amanda Chen.
SPOTTED at a book party for Tom Galvin’s debut novel, “The Auction” ($14.95) on Thursday night: Scott Mulhauser, Tim Burger, Shane Tews, Scott Gerber and Amber Allman.
MEDIA MOVES — Alana Abramson is now a D.C. producer for CNN Plus. She most recently was a White House reporter at Time Magazine. … Matt Hadro is now senior account executive at Pinkston. He most recently has been political editor at Catholic News Agency.
WHITE HOUSE ARRIVAL LOUNGE — Sarah Saltiel has been detailed as a workforce policy adviser to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. She most recently was a digital service expert at the U.S. Digital Service.
STAFFING UP — The White House announced the appointment of Sara Minkara as U.S. special adviser on international disability rights.
TRANSITION — Charles “Chuck” Johnson will be the next president and CEO of the Aluminum Association. He most recently has been president and CEO of the International Safety Equipment Association.
ENGAGED — Kamran Daravi, a consultant at Deloitte and a Trump White House alum, proposed to Christy Ross, a sales manager at Insight Global, at sunset Wednesday evening at the Lincoln Memorial. They originally met on Bumble. Instapics, via photographer Andrea Hanks…More pics
WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Georgette Kerr, co-founder and EVP of Plurus Strategies and a Hillary Clinton alum, and Charlie Kerr, flight chief for NASIC’s Civil Aviation Intelligence Analysis Squadron, welcomed Emory Hope Kerr on Wednesday afternoon. An IVF, rainbow baby who was transferred on Presidents’ Day and due on Election Day, their October surprise came in at 6 lbs, 8 oz and 20.25 inches. Pic… Another pic
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge … White House’s Kate Bedingfield and Seth Schuster … Jim Messina … Phoebe Kilgour … CNN’s Laura Jarrett and David Siegel … WaPo’s Dave Clarke … Bloomberg’s Robert George … Washington Examiner’s Jamie McIntyre … Geoff Turley … POLITICO’s Steve Heuser and Cam Debro … Isabelle James … Mike Saccone … Steve Smith of the ACLU … Kat Timpf … Bob Stevenson … Ryan Akira Quinn ofSwing Left … Natalie Jones Hallahan of the Meridian International Center … Aaron Jacobs … Nelson Cunningham of McLarty Associates … Mara Mellstrom … WSJ’s Kate Bachelder Odell … Mercedes LeGrand … Bill Jaffee of Locust Street Group … Daisy Gordon … Justin McCartney of Rep. Jennifer Wexton’s (D-Va.) office … Nick Yaeger … Avery Miller of “Face the Nation” … Coby King … former Sen. Connie Mack III (R-Fla.) … Safi Majid … Sonia Colin-Reed … Peter Albrecht of AL Media Strategy … Nick Powell … Rachel Barinbaum … Anthony Pardal of Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried’s office … Dimitri Simes … Noah Dion … former acting A.G. Matt Whitaker … Mimi Montgomery … former Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne (7-0) … NBC’s David Corvo
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Una expresentadora de noticias de canal 29 de Apopa fue asesinada la mañana de este martes sobre la calle antigua a Nejapa, en la entrada de la colonia San Sebastián 1, Apopa, en el departamento de San Salvador, informaron fuentes de la Fiscalía y la Policía Nacional Civil (PNC).
La víctima fue identificada como Roxana Cortez Barrera, de 34 años, quien según los informantes, habría sido atacada por dos delincuentes armados, mientras realizaba su rutina de ejercicios.
FGR reporta feminicidio, sobre la carretera a Quezaltepeque, entrada a col. San Sebastian 1, de Apopa.
La víctima fue identificada como Roxana Cortez Barrera, de 34 años.
Personas allegadas a Cortez detallaron a El Diario de Hoy que la víctima laboró en el canal hasta septiembre 2014 y además de presentar las noticias en el set, reporteaba temas locales.
Asimismo, aseguraron que se retiró del medio de comunicación porque emprendió un negocio de productos de primera necesidad.
El Grupo Megavisión, al que el canal 29 de Apopa pertenece como filial, denunció en sus noticieros el homicidio de la expresentadora de noticias.
Incredible GoPro footage takes you inside the gunfire-heavy raid that ended drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s six months on the run.
The video, obtained from Mexican authorities, looks as if it’s from an action movie. The camera follows the armed men as they storm the house, unleash grenades and bullets, and search room to room.
The Friday raid was called “Operation Black Swan,” according to the Mexican show “Primero Noticias.” Authorities decided to launch the raid Thursday after they got a tip about where Guzman was sleeping, the show reported.
Seventeen elite unit Mexican Marines launched their assault on the house in the city of Los Mochis at 4:40 a.m., “Primero Noticias” said.
They were met by about one dozen well-armed guards inside who were prepared for a fight, the show said.
The Marines moved from room to room, clearing the house. Upstairs they found two men in one room and found two women on the floor of a bathroom. All were captured, “Primero Noticias” said.
After 15 minutes, the Marines controlled the entire house, according to “Primero Noticias.”
In the end, five guards were killed and two men and two women were detained. One of the women was the same cook Guzman had with him when he was detained a couple years ago, according to “Primero Noticias.”
Eventually the marines determined that the only bedroom on the first floor was Guzman’s and they began pounding on the walls and moving furniture, finding hidden doors, the show said.
His room had a king-sized bed, bags from fashionable clothing stores, bread and cookie wrappers, and medicine including injectable testosterone, syringes, antibiotics and cough syrups, the show said. The two-story house had four bedrooms and five bathrooms. There were flat-screen TVs and Internet connection throughout the house, according to “Primero Noticias.”
The Marines eventually found a hidden passageway behind a mirror, with a handle hidden in the light fixture. The handle opened a secret door, leading down into the escape tunnel, the show explained.
The escape tunnel was fully lit and led to an access door for the city sewage system, “Primero Noticias” said, adding that Guzman had at least a 20-minute head start on the Marines.
The address where Guzman was captured had been monitored for a month, Mexican Attorney General Arely Gomez has said. According to Gomez, Guzman and his lieutenant escaped through that drainage system.
“Primero Noticias” said it obtained surveillance footage showing Guzman and his lieutenant emerging from the manhole cover, where they then stole two cars to flee, the show said.
Guzman was finally caught when he and the lieutenant were stopped on a highway by Mexican Federal Police, the show said.
Authorities took them to a motel to wait for reinforcement. The men were then taken to Los Mochis airport and transfered to Mexico City.
Rebecca Blackwell/AP PHOTO
Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman is escorted by soldiers and marines to a waiting helicopter, at a federal hangar in Mexico City, Jan. 8, 2016.
Guzman is now back in prison as his lawyers fight his extradition to the U.S.
The drug kingpin escaped from the Altiplano prison near Mexico City on July 11, launching an active manhunt. When guards realized that he was missing from his cell, they found a ventilated tunnel and exit had been constructed in the bathtub inside Guzman’s cell. The tunnel extended for about a mile underground and featured an adapted motorcycle on rails that officials believe was used to transport the tools used to create the tunnel, Monte Alejandro Rubido, the head of the Mexican national security commission, said in July.
Guzman had been sent there after he was arrested in February 2014. He spent more than 10 years on the run after escaping from a different prison in 2001. It’s unclear exactly how he had escaped, but he did receive help from prison guards who were prosecuted and convicted.
Guzman, the leader of the Sinaloa cartel, was once described by the U.S. Treasury as “the most powerful drug trafficker in the world.” The Sinaloa cartel allegedly uses elaborate tunnels for drug trafficking and has been estimated to be responsible for 25 percent of all illegal drugs that enter the U.S. through Mexico.
‘Outnumbered’ panel reacts to the State Department falsely claiming credit for rescuing a family of four from Afghanistan.
President Biden was heckled for stranding Americans in Afghanistan while he surveyed the damage from Hurricane Ida in New Jersey on Tuesday.
Biden was visiting a neighborhood in Manville and speaking to police when onlookers erupted over the president’s handling of the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan.
“My country is going to s— and you’re allowing it!” one woman yelled off camera, according to C-SPAN’s footage of the encounter. “And I’m an immigrant and I’m proud of this country! I’d give my life for this country. You guys should be ashamed of yourselves.”
“All this for a f— photo-op?” one man scoffed off camera. “You ain’t gonna do s—!”
“My best friend died in 2011 in Afghanistan for what?” a man asked angrily. “For this guy to pull this s—? You leave them in ruins and leave Americans behind!”
“He will leave you behind – you guys protecting him,” he said to the police officers assisting Biden.
“Leave no American behind!” the first woman screamed.
Biden appeared to pay no attention to the hecklers.
The president has repeatedly defended his handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal despite breaking his promise to keep troops in the now-Taliban-led country until every American was out. The State Department now estimates there are roughly 100 Americans still trying to flee.
“We both expect a continuation of the progress made at first summit in Singapore,” Mr Trump tweeted, referencing the meeting between the two leaders in Singapore last June.
Chairman Kim realizes, perhaps better than anyone else, that without nuclear weapons, his country could fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the World. Because of its location and people (and him), it has more potential for rapid growth than any other nation!
Speaking at the Governors’ Ball – a black tie event for US state governors – on Sunday evening, the president also said he had developed a “very very good relationship” with Mr Kim.
Trump on his relationship with Kim Jong Un: “It’s a very interesting thing to say, but I’ve developed a very very good relationship. we’ll see what that means. But he’s never had a relationship with anybody from this country, and hasn’t had lots of relationships anywhere.”
He reiterated that he was “in no rush” to press for North Korea’s denuclearisation. “I don’t want to rush anybody. I just don’t want testing. As long as there’s no testing, we’re happy,” he said.
The Singapore summit was historic as the first meeting between a sitting US president and a leader of North Korea, but the agreement the two men signed was vague on detail. Little has been done since about their stated goal – finding a way to get nuclear weapons off the Korean peninsula.
The president’s latest remarks come on the eve of his departure for Vietnam, and are being seen as a bid to manage expectations.
Mr Trump’s secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, has similarly downplayed what could be achieved at the summit. On Sunday he told Fox News: “We may not get everything down this week, [but] we hope we’ll make a substantial step along the way.”
In a separate interview, he also appeared to contradict the president’s stated view that there is no nuclear risk from Pyongyang.
“Do you think North Korea remains a nuclear threat?” CNN’s Jake Tapper asked him.
“Yes,” he replied.
“But the president said he doesn’t,” Mr Tapper said, to which Mr Pompeo responded: “That’s not what he said… I know precisely what he said.”
In the aftermath of the Singapore summit last year, Mr Trump tweeted that “everybody can now feel much safer than the day I took office. There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea”.
Just landed – a long trip, but everybody can now feel much safer than the day I took office. There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea. Meeting with Kim Jong Un was an interesting and very positive experience. North Korea has great potential for the future!
Los venezolanos que esperan para cruzar hacia Colombia por el puente internacional Simón Bolívar Credit
Luis Acosta/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Hoy arrancó una nueva huelga general convocada por la coalición opositora de Venezuela, la Mesa de la Unidad Democrática, en rechazo a la Asamblea Nacional Constituyente que el gobierno planea celebrar este domingo.
Estados Unidos, por su parte, anunció nuevas sanciones contra funcionarios del gobierno de Nicolás Maduro, entre ellos a Tibisay Lucena, del Consejo Nacional Electoral que organiza la constituyente; a Tarek William Saab, el defensor del pueblo que recientemente recibió algunas de las atribuciones del Ministerio Público, y Elías Jaua, actualmente ministro de Educación.
Asimismo, el líder opositor Leopoldo López recién movido a prisión domiciliaria reapareció hoy en un video en sus redes sociales en el que insta a las fuerzas armadas a no apoyar la constituyente:
Mientras, miles de venezolanos se han dirigido en días recientes hacia Colombia, ya sea para comprar alimentos o medicinas que escasean en su país o para quedarse ahí durante los 90 días que permite la visa… o quizá, más tiempo. Avianca, la aerolínea colombiana, suspendió sus operaciones en Venezuela.
Policías resguardan las afueras del tribunal en San Fernando de Henares antes de la llegada de Rajoy para comparecer. Credit
Susana Vera/Reuters
El presidente del gobierno español, Mariano Rajoy, compareció hoy ante un tribunal por el llamado caso Gürtel, de corrupción, con lo que se convirtió en el primer jefe de Gobierno en la historia reciente española en llegar al estrado como testigo.
Rajoy negó que su Partido Popular haya operado una caja B con la cual el tesorero Luis Bárcenas, actualmente imputado en el caso, habría usado fondos para su beneficio propio, así como el de colegas.
El presidente es solamente testigo en el caso, no está acusado, pero la oposición después exigió su dimisión: el líder del Partido Socialista Obrero Español, Pedro Sánchez, dijo que era un “día negro para la historia de nuestra democracia” debido al “clima generalizado de corrupción” y Pablo Iglesias, de Podemos, indicó que pedirá a Rajoy comparecer también frente a los legisladores del país.
Mitch McConnell, líder de la bancada republicana en el senado, antes de la votación del martes para abrir a debate el sistema de salud Credit
Tom Brenner/The New York Times
Los republicanos del senado estadounidense no pudieron ponerse de acuerdo. Hoy el órgano legislativo pasó de debatir posibles medidas para sustituir la Ley de Salud Asequible, u Obamacare, a intentar votar solamente sobre si revocarla, con un voto final que rechazó hacerlo.
El debate comenzó desde ayer, pero fue necesario que el vicepresidente Mike Pence –quien también funge como presidente del senado– emitiera su voto para romper un empate, 51-50. Después la votación de la primera de tres medidas no avanzó por la noche, razón por la cual quedó claro que no había votos suficientes.
Anteojos que pertenecían a una víctima del campo de concentración y exterminio Credit
Pawel Sawicki/Museo Estatal Auschwitz-Birkenau, vía Musealia
Por primera vez en la historia, algunos artefactos que forman parte del Museo Estatal Auschwitz-Birkenau dejarán esa sede para viajar por el mundo.
El tour del museo llegará primero a España y es parte de un esfuerzo para generar mayor conocimiento y entendimiento del Holocausto entre jóvenes de todo el planeta. El Museo de Ana Frank ya tomó acciones similares con renovaciones pensadas para atraer a un público más joven que no está tan familiarizado con lo sucedido durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial.
Han muerto cuatro personas cruzando el río Bravo desde el lunes Credit
Ruben R. Ramirez/El Paso Times
El domingo murieron diez personas que habían sido traficadas en un tráiler hacia San Antonio, uno de ellos guatemalteco y al menos siete mexicanos, y las autoridades anunciaron hoy que también han fallecido cuatro personas durante esta semana intentando cruzar el río Bravo de México a Estados Unidos. Se suman al rastro de cuerpos en la frontera, muchos de ellos todavía no identificados.
Del otro lado, acompañamos a agentes del Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas durante un día de labores en California, estado en el que las autoridades locales usualmente no colaboran con las federales en materia migratoria, y hablamos con los familiares de quienes fueron detenidos.
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner y el entonces ministro de Planificación, Julio de Vido, en 2014 Credit
Juan Mabromata/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
• En Argentina también hay un fuerte debate en el congreso sobre la posible expulsión de Julio de Vido, exministro de Planificación que está bajo investigación por un incidente ferroviario que dejó 51 muertos. La votación probablemente será apretada, pero es probable que no sea expulsado de su cargo actual como diputado, lo que sería una victoria para el kirchnerismo al que pertenece. Además, hay rumores de que el juez Claudio Bonadio, quien ha presentado la mayoría de los cargos en contra de la expresidenta Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, podría ser apartado de la investigación de uno de los escándalos que la rodean, Los Sauces.
En esta foto del 8 de enero de 1959, Fidel Castro le habla a sus partidarios en la base militar Columbia, hoy conocido como Ciudad de la Libertad, en Cuba
Credit
Associated Press
• Hace exactamente 64 años fue el asalto del Cuartel Moncada, el cual resultó en la formación del Movimiento 26 de Julio y, después, en la Revolución cubana. Pero ¿qué es ahora de esa revolución?
El presidente colombiano Juan Manuel Santos dicta un discurso ante el congreso el 20 de julio Credit
Juan Paez/European Pressphoto Agency
• El congreso colombiano aprobó ayer la creación de dieciséis circunscripciones especiales, o “escaños de la paz”, para que las zonas más afectadas por el conflicto guerrillero con las Farc tengan una representación en las próximas legislaturas.
El presidente brasileño Michel Temer da un discurso en Brasilia, el 25 de julio Credit
Eraldo Peres/Associated Press
• A una semana de que la Cámara de Diputados de Brasil vote si aceptar o no los cargos por corrupción contra el presidente Michel Temer, lo que resultaría en un juicio ante el Supremo Tribunal Federal y su salida temporal del puesto, parece que el mandatario cuenta con los votos suficientes para salvarse. De acuerdo con medios locales, los legisladores ahora esperan que el procurador general saliente, Rodrigo Janot, presente otras acusaciones.
El cardenal George Pell a su salida del tribunal en Melbourne Credit
Mark Dadswell/Reuters
El cardenal australiano George Pell, uno de los principales asesores del papa Francisco, compareció esta mañana ante una corte en Melbourne por acusaciones de ofensas sexuales. Pell no se pronunció a su salida de la corte.
El caso penal contra el cardenal es una prueba para el papa Francisco y sus promesas de reformar el Vaticano.
En junio, el fiscal general Jeff Sessions testificó ante el Comité de Inteligencia del Senado. Credit
Eric Thayer para The New York Times
El presidente Donald Trump ha tomado una postura pública en contra de su propio fiscal general, Jeff Sessions. En entrevista con The New York Times la semana pasada, se dijo decepcionado de que Sessions se haya recusado de la investigación sobre posibles vínculos entre el equipo de campaña y Rusia, críticas que escaló en Twitter esta semana al calificarlo como “MUY débil”. Se cree que pronto podría orillarlo a renunciar o, quizá, despedirlo.
Sus declaraciones hacen parecer como si la Casa Blanca estuviera en confrontación directa con el Departamento de Justicia encabezado por Sessions, y ha despertado temores entre algunos funcionarios y aliados: “Si descarta así a alguien que le dio su apoyo de manera temprana, ¿quién está a salvo?”, preguntó Mark Krikorian, del Center for Immigration Studies y partidario de medidas migratorias apuntaladas por el fiscal general.
Novak Djokovic durante el partido de cuarta ronda de Wimbledon contra Adrian Mannarino, el 11 de julio Credit
Glyn Kirk/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
El tenista serbio Novak Djokovic anunció hoy que no participará en ningún torneo durante lo que queda de 2017 por problemas con su codo derecho. Es quizá un buen momento para preguntarse: ¿quién es realmente Djokovic, quien a momentos ha sido el payaso ‘Djoker’ y en otros el jugador al que todos deben temer, y quién quiere ser?
Por el momento, parece que la dupla Rafael Nadal-Roger Federer vuelve a ser la principal rivalidad en el mundo del tenis, como si fuera 2005.
Donald Trump frente a tropas apostadas en Europa el 27 de mayo Credit
Darrin Zammit Lupi/Reuters
El presidente Donald Trump anunció hoy que las personas transgénero no podrán ser parte de las fuerzas armadas estadounidenses, en ninguna capacidad. “Nuestro ejército debe enfocarse en la victoria decisiva y apabullante, y no puede quedar agobiado por los tremendos costos médicos y la irrupción que implicaría tener a transgéneros en el ejército. Gracias”, tuiteó el mandatario.
No queda claro qué sucederá con las personas transgénero que ya están en el ejército. Algunas de ellas incluso han sido parte de una campaña del Departamento de Defensa: apenas en mayo publicaron un video sobre Zane Alvarez, apostado en Alemania.
Chelsea Manning, exsoldado quien peleó a favor de que se permitiera tal acceso, intentó suicidarse en varias ocasiones por no recibir tratamiento médico completo durante su transición, cuando estaba en prisión por haber filtrado documentos a WikiLeaks.
Liu estaba detenido y no pudo recibir en persona el Premio Nobel de la Paz en 2010. La actriz noruega Liv Ullman leyó parte de un texto del disidente: “No tengo enemigos: mi última declaración ante la corte”. Credit
Odd Andersen/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
La muerte del Premio Nobel de la Paz Liu Xiaobo a principios de julio conmocionó al mundo, no solo porque falleció después de no recibir el tratamiento adecuado para el cáncer que tenía mientras estaba en prisión, sino porque era uno de los principales y más visibles disidentes chinos. Los que quedan ahora se cuestionan qué pueden hacer realmente.
• Los niños que ven a fumadores en la pantalla grande son mucho más propensos a empezar a fumar. Por ello, expertos ahora abogan por que las películas en las que hay personajes con tabaquismo tengan una clasificación mayor y solo sean aptas para menores que van en compañía de adultos.
• Mientras acumulamos más años de vida, es menos probable que podamos dormir más tiempo. Resulta que este “síndrome de abuelo” se debe a un instinto de supervivencia. Averigua por qué.
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