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This is not the way Republicans wanted to begin the year.

Missouri’s Roy Blunt on Monday became the fifth Republican senator to announce he will not seek reelection, a retirement wave that portends an ugly campaign season next year and gives Democrats fresh hope in preserving their razor-thin Senate majority.

History suggests Republicans are still well-positioned to reclaim at least one chamber of Congress next year. But officials in both parties agree that the surge of GOP departures will make the Republicans’ challenge more difficult in the Senate.

“Any time you lose an incumbent, it’s bad news,” said Republican strategist Rick Tyler, who briefly worked for failed Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin nearly a decade ago. “Missouri’s not necessarily a safe state for Republicans. Democrats have won there.”

The 71-year-old Blunt’s exit is a reminder of how the nation’s politics have shifted since the rise of Donald Trump. Blunt and his retiring GOP colleagues from Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Alabama represent an old guard who fought for conservative policies but sometimes resisted the deeply personal attacks and uneven governance that dominated the Trump era.

Their departures will leave a void likely to be filled by a new generation of Republicans more willing to embrace Trumpism — or by Democrats.

Several Missouri Republicans are expected to seek the nomination to replace Blunt, but none will be more divisive than former Gov. Eric Greitens, who resigned in 2018 amid the fallout of a sex scandal and ethics investigation. Missouri’s Republican base has since rallied behind him, believing he was unfairly prosecuted.

Greitens was considering running for the GOP nomination even before Blunt’s announcement. He is expected to announce his candidacy as soon as Tuesday morning.

Two leading Missouri Democrats, former Sen. Claire McCaskill and 2016 Senate candidate Jason Kander, both said they would not run for the open seat.

Ahead of Greitens’ announcement, some Republicans worried that he could jeopardize the Senate seat if he emerges as the party’s nominee.

Steven Law, a key ally of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and CEO of the Senate Leadership Fund, warned that Republicans may be beginning to repeat the mistakes of 2010, when the GOP lost the Senate majority by embracing flawed far-right candidates.

Law cited Greitens’ looming announcement specifically.

“We have an opportunity to win back a majority,” Law said. “But in 2010, that opportunity was lost on the Senate side because of unelectable candidates who got nominated.”

Back in 2010, tea party favorite Christine O’Donnell beat a longtime GOP congressman in the Delaware Senate primary before losing by a landslide in the general election following reports of personal financial difficulties, questionable use of campaign funds and allegations that she had “dabbled into witchcraft.”

Two years later in Indiana, Richard Mourdock defeated six-term Sen. Richard Lugar in the 2012 GOP primary, but he imploded after a debate in which he said pregnancy resulting from rape “is something that God intended.” In Missouri, Republican nominee Akin lost after he insisted on a local talk show that women’s bodies have ways to avoid pregnancy in cases of “legitimate rape.”

In the decade since Akin’s debacle, Missouri’s politics, like the nation’s, have evolved in a way that gives both parties opportunities.

States like Missouri, Ohio and Iowa, recently considered swing states, are trending away from Democrats. At the same time, previous red states like North Carolina and Georgia are trending away from Republicans.

Missouri hasn’t elected a Democratic senator since McCaskill beat Akin in 2012. Trump carried the state last November by 15 percentage points. Trump carried Ohio, where Republican Sen. Rob Portman will not seek reelection next year, by 8 percentage points. The former president won by the same margin in Iowa, where 87-year-old Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley is considering retirement.

Democrats are expected to be more competitive in North Carolina, where Trump eked out a victory by just 1 percentage point, and in Wisconsin, should Republican Sen. Ron Johnson follow through with a campaign promise not to seek more than two terms.

Democrats have not lost any incumbents to retirement, but they are defending vulnerable incumbents in Georgia and Arizona, among others.

They have no margin for error. Republicans will claim the Senate majority for the last two years of President Joe Biden’s term if they pick up even one additional seat next November.

The party that occupies the White House traditionally suffers significant losses in the first midterm election of a new president. President Barack Obama’s Democratic Party, for example, lost 63 seats in the House and six in the Senate in 2010.

Democrats are hopeful that Trump will become an unwitting ally in 2022. The former Republican president has vowed to play an active role in the midterms, particularly by supporting pro-Trump candidates in primary elections. That leaves little room for well-established Republicans like Blunt who are popular statewide.

“The challenge for Republicans will be the race to the bottom in the Republican primaries,” said Morgan Jackson, a leading Democratic strategist based in North Carolina. “It’s not about what you say, it’s about how loud and angry you say it. That’s a very different view of the world.”

Jackson said “it’s a safe bet” Republicans will win the House majority, but he’s optimistic that Trump’s meddling in Senate primaries will help limit Democrats’ losses.

“Maybe it won’t be a good cycle, but maybe it won’t be a bad cycle,” he said.

J.B. Poersch, who leads the Democratic-allied Senate Majority PAC, noted that Republicans are focused on the nation’s culture wars, while Democrats are in the process of sending billions of dollars to working-class Americans affected by the pandemic. That contrast will help Democrats, he said.

“There is a working-family economic argument that Democrats can still make in the middle of the country, in places like Missouri and Ohio, and keep them competitive,” he said.

Meanwhile, Blunt predicted political success for Republicans in Missouri and beyond during a Monday news conference. He also reflected upon the 2010 election, when Democrats were punished nationwide after embracing Obama’s fiscal stimulus and health care overhaul.

“I think 2022 will be a great year in the country and I think it will be a fine year in this Senate race,” Blunt told reporters. “The Republican Party will be just fine.”

Source Article from https://apnews.com/article/senate-elections-michael-brown-todd-akin-rick-tyler-elections-755ac1dbd8c7dd6219af73f1b185d49a

MINNEAPOLIS — More witnesses, including a mixed martial arts fighter and the teenager who recorded a video showing the death of George Floyd, took the stand Tuesday in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

Two other witnesses – a 911 dispatcher and a cashier working across the street – testified Monday, and lawyers for the defense and prosecution opened the trial by laying out their case. Here’s what you missed.

Floyd, a Black man, died in police custody on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, who is white, pinned his knee against Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes as Floyd cried out “I can’t breathe” more than 20 times. Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

Follow the trial:Sign up here to get updates and analysis from the courtroom via SMS.  Follow USA TODAY Network reporters on Twitter here, or get email updates by subscribing to the Daily Briefing newsletter.

Latest updates:

  • Darnella Frazier, the teenager who recorded the infamous video showing the arrest and death of George Floyd, testified Tuesday.
  • Judge Peter Cahill denied a state motion first thing Tuesday to keep all audio and video of four key witnesses from being made public.
  • While Cahill said the witnesses, including the now-18-year-old woman who was 17 at the time and filmed the bystander video that went viral, would be allowed to be referred to by first name only, they would not speak or spell their names on camera or audio. 
  • Monday evening, about 200 protesters rallied outside the county building to demand justice.
  • Police, sheriffs deputies and the National Guard were on high alert, although they maintained a deliberately low-key presence Monday.

Source Article from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/03/30/derek-chauvin-trial-live-tuesday-witnesses-take-stand-donald-williams/7018720002/

President Trump made a brief stop to lay a wreath at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington.

[Sign up for the Morning Briefing newsletter for a look at what you need to know to begin your day.]

On Saturday, Mr. Trump proposed to end the partial government shutdown after Democrats extended a proposal of their own on Friday, having added $1 billion in border spending to their offer. If he got $5.7 billion for a border wall, Mr. Trump said, he would restore for three years the protections known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, and Temporary Protected Status, or T.P.S.

Republicans had hoped his plan would put Democrats in a corner, but Democrats called it a nonstarter, prompting attacks from the president on the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi. And her relationship with her counterpart in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, who presumably would need to make a deal with her, is fraught. Immigrants in Texas are skeptical of the president’s proposal.

While Mr. Trump has projected confidence in public, he has expressed private frustration over what he views as negative coverage. Many Republicans concede, also in private, that he has made strategic errors and allowed dysfunction to continue.

Last week things got personal, too: Ms. Pelosi threatened to cancel the president’s State of the Union address; Mr. Trump retaliated by denying her military transport to Afghanistan. And then she accused the Trump administration of leaking her plans to fly commercial, prompting her to postpone the trip, citing security concerns.

Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/21/us/politics/government-shutdown-update.html

Image copyright
AFP

Image caption

Trump triunfó en todos los estados pese a la alianza de última hora de sus rivales para bloquearlo

El magnate inmobiliario Donald Trump y la exsecretaria de Estado Hillary Clinton volvieron a erigirse en los triunfadores de una nueva jornada de primarias de cara a las elecciones presidenciales de Estados Unidos.

“En lo que a mí me concierne, esto ya se ha acabado”, dijo Trump ante una multitud de seguidores en Nueva York.

Trump arrasó en los cinco estados en los que se celebraron primarias del Partido Republicano, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pensilvania y Rhode Island.

En el lado demócrata, la exsecretaria de Estado Hillary Clinton se impuso en Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland y Pensilvania mientras su competidor, el senador Bernie Sanders, venció en Rhode Island.

Image copyright
Reuters

Image caption

Hillary Clinton superó la barrera de los 2.000 delegados con sus victorias de este martes.

Trump se ve ganador

Las proyecciones señalan que Trump supera ya la barrera de los 900 delegados, cuando necesita 1.237 para asegurarse la nominación como candidato del Partido Republicano en las elecciones presidenciales de noviembre.

Expertos en política estadounidense señalan que en cualquier caso Trump quedará por delante de sus rivales, el senador Ted Cruz y el gobernador John Kasich.

Francamente, si Hillary Clinton fuera un hombre, no creo que consiguiera ni el 5% de los votos”

Agregan que la única opción que tienen Cruz y Kasich es evitar que el empresario neoyorquino llegue a los 1.237 delegados y provocar una “convención negociada”.

Para Trump, Cruz y Kasich están “perdiendo el tiempo”.

Trump también dedicó un momento a atacar a Clinton, que se perfila como clara favorita en el Partido Demócrata, y de quien dijo que sería una “presidenta terrible” que no tiene “ni la fuerza ni la energía”.

“Francamente, si Hillary Clinton fuera un hombre, no creo que consiguiera ni el 5% de los votos”, dijo.

“Lo único que tiene es la carta de que es mujer. Y lo más bonito es que no gusta a las mujeres”.

Image copyright
AP

Image caption

Cruz y Kasich anunciaron recientemente una alianza contra Trump.

Demócratas

Por su parte, Clinton También volvió a referirse al líder republicano Donald Trump, de quien dijo que su propuesta no aumentará las oportunidades ni reducirá las desigualdades entre los estadounidenses.

Este martes, Clinton ganó cómodamente por más de 12 puntos en Delaware, Maryland y Pensilvania, pero en Connecticut, sin embargo, su victoria fue bastante más ajustada.

En Rhode Island, la única victoria que pudo cantar Sanders, el senador se impuso por más de 13 puntos.

Image copyright
Reuters

Image caption

Bernie Sanders anunció que seguirá en la carrera demócrata.

Clinton suma 2.137 entre delegados y superdelegados, más del 89% de los 2.383 que se requieren para ser asegurarse la candidatura demócrata. En ese partido siguen en juego 651 delegados.

Pese a lo cerca que está Clinton del número que necesita, de acuerdo a las reglas de las primarias demócratas, ningún precandidato puede cantar victoria hasta la convención de julio.

Clinton llamó a los partidarios de Bernie Sanders a “unificar el Partido Demócrata” pensando en las elecciones presidenciales del 8 de noviembre.

Source Article from http://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias/2016/04/160426_primarias_estados_unidos_trump_clinton_bm



A la dura crítica realizada ayer por el Arzobispo de Buenos Aires, cardenal Mario Poli, quien definió a la tapa de Noticias como de “muy mal gusto”, se sumaron hoy representantes de la comunidad judía y dirigentes políticos, quienes coincidieron en el cuestionamiento a la publicación que dirige Jorge Fontevecchia.


La revista “revela una vez más la absoluta incoherencia de aquellos medios que se cansaron de instalar acusaciones contra Cristina y el FPV sobre violencia y división en la sociedad”, señalaron en un comunicado los intendentes del Frente para la Victoria agrupados en Oktubres.


“Nada es más nefasto y bajo que pretender instalar comercialmente una revista apelando a la agresividad, resentimiento y desconsideración de la investidura presidencial, con altas dosis de misoginia y burla a todos los que profesamos el cristianismo.

Peor aún en estas fechas de oración, reflexión, reunión familiar y búsqueda de paz”, señalaron.


Por su parte, el rabino Marcelo Polakoff, presidente de la Asamblea Rabínica Latinoamericana y líder espiritual de la comunidad judía de Córdoba, dijo a Télam que “el escándalo no se conjuga con los fines últimos del periodismo” y que este tipo de tapas “resultan ofensivas”.


“Aún cuando la libertad de expresión sea un valor esencial de toda democracia, tiene que estar acompañada por otros no menos esenciales como el respeto a la religiosidad y la investidura presidencial”, agregó.


En tanto, el rabino Daniel Goldman, de la Comunidad Bet-El y uno de los creadores del Instituto del Diálogo Interreligioso junto al musulmán Omar Abboud y el padre Guillermo Marcó, adhirió a las expresiones de monseñor Poli, quien ayer consideró a la tapa como “de muy mal gusto porque la Semana Santa no es para eso”, y porque “no se debe hacer eso con la figura de ningún presidente”.


“Si hay un grupo que sea mayoritario o minoritario que se siente incómodo por algo que tiene que ver con un elemento tan raigal como es la vida religiosa, hay que tener cuidado y respeto por la sensibilidad del otro”, agregó.


Los intendentes agrupados en Oktubres señalaron también que “es obligación y responsabilidad de todos los titulares de las distintas fuerzas políticas, jefes de bloque, candidatos y, principalmente, autoridades nacionales y provinciales del Partido Justicialista, manifestar el más enérgico rechazo a semejante falta de respeto”.


Los jefes comunales Hernán Yzurieta (Punta Indio), Eduardo “Bali” Bucca (Bolívar), Maru Martini (Bariloche), Santiago Maggiotti (Navarro), Francisco Durañona (San Antonio de Areco), Francisco Echarren (Castelli), Patricio Mussi (Berazategui), Juan Pablo de Jesús (Partido de la Costa) y Juan Pablo Anghileri (General Rodríguez), reiteraron en su nota su más “enérgico rechazo”.


El intendente de Berazategui, en diálogo con Télam, remarcó el llamado a repudiar la nueva agresión de Fontevecchia “porque se trata de un nuevo ataque a la investidura presidencial y a la democracia”.


“Como joven hijo de la democracia me duele ver que los gorilas de siempre usan el poder de los medios para atacar, con aquella vieja visión de usar los medios para poner los presidentes que ellos quieren y fundamentalmente echar a los que les molestan”, agregó Mussi.


No es la primera vez que la revista que dirige Jorge Fontevecchia ataca la investidura presidencial y a la presidenta Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, concitando el repudio de personalidades y organizaciones sociales y políticas por sus fotos de tapa.


La última vez que Fontevecchia consiguió que se hable de “la tapa de Noticias” fue en diciembre de 2013 cuando presentó en su portada un fotomontaje con el rostro de la Presidenta y un cuerpo desnudo. El título de aquella nota fue “La reina está desnuda. Secretos de una ausencia inquietante”.


Otra tapa que provocó el repudio masivo a Noticias fue la que en septiembre de 2012 presentaba una ilustración que mostraba a la mandataria en un supuesto éxtasis sexual, bajo el título “El goce de Cristina”. 

Source Article from http://www.telam.com.ar/notas/201404/59930-critican-el-nuevo-ataque-de-la-revista-noticias-a-la-investidura-presidencial.html

Source Article from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/12/20/moderna-booster-effective-against-omicron-study-shows-covid-19-news/8963500002/

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Washington (CNN)Republican Florida Sen. Rick Scott said Sunday that President Donald Trump’s threat to place immigrants into so-called sanctuary cities might just be the President trying to “make everybody crazy.”

Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/14/politics/rick-scott-trump-sanctuary-cities/index.html

via press release:

NOTICIAS  TELEMUNDO  PRESENTS:

“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.

Source Article from http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2014/07/31/noticias-telemundo-presents-muriendo-por-cruzar-this-sunday-august-3-at-6pm/289119/


En NOTICIAS de esta semana:

Operación marginal: La historia de “El Polaquito” y su uso político. Verdades a medias, contradicciones y peleas mediáticas. El aprovechamiento de esta realidad lamentable como excusa para plantear la baja en la edad de imputabilidad. La pelea por el territorio. Detalles de la insólita denuncia judicial contra el periodista y el Gobierno.

Lázaro Báez estafado: El supuesto testaferro de CFK sospecha que su amiga íntima Liliana Costa le está sacando dinero.

Ranking de los 100 más honestos: como todos los años, NOTICIAS encargó una encuesta para medir esta virtud en personalidades públicas. Curiosamente más de la mitad de los elegidos resultaron ser políticos, figuraron muchos funcionarios del Gobierno y Cristina dio el batacazo. El peor año del Papa.

Además

Esteban Bullrich: los secretos de la “Torre” del PRO. Sus 2,02 de altura y la genealogía familiar que lo relaciona con Marcelo T. de Alvear y el Patio Bullrich.

Juego de tomos: “Game of Thrones” propició el salto de otras sagas de libros medievales y fantásticos a la tele. Boom de armaduras y dragones.

La deco consciente: la novedad en arquitectura sustentable es el respeto a la condición “cruelty free” y de comercio justo. Se impone “glam” naturista.

Una cuestión de soberanía: cómo y por qué afectaría al país un acuerdo con la empresa Hughs por el ARSAT-3.









Source Article from http://noticias.perfil.com/2017/07/21/politica-salvaje-operacion-polaquito/

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Source Article from http://www.lasvegasoptic.com/content/noticias-april-25-2014

Source Article from https://www.texastribune.org/2021/07/15/texas-democrat-joe-moody-legislature/

Continue reading the main story Foto

Un cartel de Pédro Sánchez, líder del PSOE, en Madrid

Credit
Susana Vera/Reuters

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España: Crisis en el PSOE

Pedro Sánchez, el líder del Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE), sobrevivió a un intento de varios miembros veteranos de su partido de sacarlo de su cargo, en medio de una prolongada crisis política en España. Sin embargo, su futuro todavía es incierto pues 17 miembros del comité ejecutivo del partido dijeron que dimitían en protesta. La revuelta interna en contra de Sánchez y la pelea por el liderazgo del PSOE son los primeros movimientos inesperados en la política española y podrían tener algún resultado tras meses de incertidumbre.

Rusia, implicada en el derribo del vuelo de Malaysia Airlines en Ucrania

Una investigación liderada por los Países Bajos llegó a la conclusión de que Rusia trasladó, a petición de los separatistas respaldados por el gobierno ruso, el sistema de misiles tierra-aire que se usó hace dos años para derribar un avión comercial de Malaysia Airlines mientras volaba sobre Ucrania, que causó la muerte de 298 personas. El informe confirma el papel que desempeñó Moscú en el despliegue del sistema de misiles así como en la operación de encubrimiento. La investigación es relevante ya que presenta pruebas que son admisibles en un juicio y al mismo tiempo intenta establecer un caso más sólido contra Rusia.

Detengan los bombardeos en Alepo: Estados Unidos

Estados Unidos advirtió este miércoles que suspendería las conversaciones con Rusia sobre la guerra en Siria y que desecharía los planes de un ataque militar conjunto en contra de los yihadistas a menos que los ejércitos ruso y sirio dejen de bombardear Alepo. Esta ha sido la advertencia más dura que el secretario de Estado estadounidense, John Kerry, ha hecho a su contraparte ruso, el ministro de Relaciones Exteriores, Sergey V. Lavrov, desde que el 9 de septiembre ambos países colaboraron para lograr el cese al fuego que fracasó la semana pasada. El gobierno de Obama no mencionó qué pasos seguirían si los esfuerzos diplomáticos fallan por completo.

Más soldados estadounidenses para recuperar Mosul

El presidente de Estados Unidos, Barack Obama, autorizó el envío de otros 615 soldados estadounidenses a Irak para apoyar a las fuerzas iraquíes en la batalla para recuperar Mosul del Estado Islámico, informaron funcionarios de Estados Unidos el miércoles. El secretario de Defensa, Ash Carter, dijo que las tropas adicionales apoyarían con cuestiones logísticas así como en fortalecer los servicios de inteligencia del ejército iraquí en la batalla por Mosul. Es decir, muy pronto habrá 5265 soldados estadounidenses en Irak, a siete años de que el gobierno de Obama retiró a las tropas de Estados Unidos por completo del país asiático.

Afganistán: Ataque aéreo causa la muerte de 13 personas

Trece personas murieron en la provincia de Nangarhar, al este de Afganistán, por un ataque aéreo este miércoles. Los funcionarios señalaron que las víctimas eran integrantes del Estado Islámico; sin embargo, residentes denunciaron que se trataba de civiles. Desde hace tiempo, este lugar ha sido uno de los pocos campos fértiles de actividades del Estado Islámico en Afganistán. Un portavoz del ejército estadounidense, el general brigadier Charles H. Cleveland, dijo que un “ataque aéreo antiterrorista” había sucedido el miércoles en ese lugar, pero que no podía dar más detalles y agregó que la evaluación de este ataque estaba en curso.

Amnistía Internacional cancela publicación de informe sobre tortura en Tailandia

Según el grupo, las autoridades tailandeses no permitieron que AI presentara públicamente un informe que acusa a la junta militar de tortura y abuso. Minutos antes de que la presentación empezara en un hotel en Bangkok, policías vestidos de civil advirtieron a dos funcionarios de AI que estarían violando las leyes laborales de Tailandia si hablaban en público, según Yuval Ginbar, uno de los funcionarios del grupo. Amnistía Internacional decidió cancelar el evento. Ginbar dijo que no le quedaba claro cómo estarían violando la ley local, pues él y su colega tenían pasaportes del Reino Unido y de Indonesia.

Obama y Bill Clinton viajan a Israel a darle el último adiós a Shimon Peres

Varios líderes mundiales viajaron a Israel a rendirle homenaje a Shimon Peres, nobel de la paz y ex primer ministro, que murió el miércoles (hora local). Peres, de 93 años, falleció dos semanas después de sufrir lo que su doctor describió como un “infarto masivo”. El líder será recordado por su lucha incansable por construir el impresionante poderío militar israelí, así como por buscar la paz con los vecinos árabes de Israel.

Según la cancillería israelí, la delegación de Estados Unidos incluirá al presidente Barack Obama, al expresidente Bill Clinton y al secretario de Estado, John Kerry.

Source Article from http://www.nytimes.com/es/2016/09/29/un-vistazo-al-mundo-este-jueves-29-de-septiembre/


Hoch Zwei/Corbis via Getty Images

A Donald Trump no le va a gustar esto…

Twitter está trabajando en una herramienta que permitirá a los usuarios marcar y bloquear noticias falsas y contenido ofensivo compartido en la red social, según The Washington Post.

La herramienta estaría en constante desarrollo y todavía está siendo pulida, dice el reporte, pero no hay una fecha próxima para que ésta salga al público. Incluso, el Post dice que Twitter podría nunca lanzarla, aun cuando es algo que mucho hace falta en esa red social, que está plagada de cuentas que publican contenido falso para desinformar o para crear confusión. 

Emily Horne, una portavoz de Twitter, dijo al Post que Twitter “no tiene planes actuales” de lanzar la función, aunque no quiso dar comentarios en qué se está probando específicamente. “No hay planes de lanzar ningún producto que coincida con esto”, dijo Horne sobre esta supuesta herramienta.

Horne dirigió al Post a una entrada de blog publicada hace un mes en donde se mencionan nuevas prácticas para combatir el uso de spam. El propio Jack Dorsey, presidente ejecutivo, ha dicho que la seguridad, el respeto y compartir información verídica es una de las funciones primordiales

Facebook y Google, dos fuentes de información masivas, ya han lanzado modificaciones a su funcionamiento en un esfuerzo por hacer que la información compartida sea real y confirmada. Google, por ejemplo, tiene integración con iniciativas para revisar comprobar que la información en artículos sea real. Facebook hace lo propio al evitar que administradores de páginas pueda editar la imagen, titular y descripción de una página.

Source Article from https://www.cnet.com/es/noticias/twitter-bloquear-noticias-falsas/

A diez minutos del final del partido el defensa de la selección chilena, Gonzálo Jara, protagonizó un encontrón con el delantero de Uruguay Edison Cavani, quien terminó expulsado del partido de cuartos de final de la Copa América.

El partido que finalizó con la cuenta mínima en favor de Chile se mantuvo paralizado luego de que Jara introdujera su dedo en el trasero del jugador Uruguayo, acto seguido Cavani le respondió con un manotazo de vuelta, lo que terminó con una pelea entre los jueces del partido y parte de la selección uruguaya.

El accionar de Jara estalló en redes sociales y un sin fin de memes han hecho alusión al acto del seleccionado chileno.

Source Article from http://www.elmostrador.cl/noticias/pais/2015/06/24/el-proctologo-jara-realizo-profundo-examen-a-cavani-en-pleno-partido-con-chile/

Two senior officials at the U.S. Government Publishing Office, based in Washington, D.C., betrayed “public trust” and eroded employee morale by hiring unqualified workers, including an official’s son, the agency’s Office of Inspector General said in an internal report.

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Two senior officials at the U.S. Government Publishing Office, based in Washington, D.C., betrayed “public trust” and eroded employee morale by hiring unqualified workers, including an official’s son, the agency’s Office of Inspector General said in an internal report.

Eslah Attar/NPR

Allegations of cronyism, wasteful spending and other misconduct are roiling a little-known federal agency in charge of producing and distributing the government’s official documents, including paper questionnaires for the upcoming 2020 census.

According to an internal watchdog report obtained by NPR, two officials at the U.S. Government Publishing Office — previously known as the Government Printing Office — allegedly violated federal laws and regulations by filling agency jobs with unqualified candidates, including an official’s son. The GPO’s Office of Inspector General has not finalized its findings, but in June, it sent an interim report to the joint congressional committee that oversees the agency.

Lawmakers on the Senate Rules and Administration Committee have “sought additional information regarding allegations of misconduct at the GPO,” according to Katie Boyd, spokeswoman for Chairman Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo. His committee shares oversight of the GPO with the House Administration Committee.

The inspector general’s office found “mismanagement, misuse of position, and disregard” for hiring and contracting rules by two of the agency’s most senior managers over the course of four years, beginning in 2014 during the Obama administration, according to the report.

The Government Publishing Office is responsible for providing the country with income tax forms, Social Security cards, U.S. passports and other official documents. With $117 million in appropriations from Congress this fiscal year and two facilities in Washington, D.C., and Mississippi, the GPO employs about 1,700 workers.

Census printing contract also problematic

An earlier inspector general investigation, first reported by NPR, found that GPO officials violated contracting rules and procedures in awarding the 2020 census printing contract to a company that, less than four months later, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In July, the Justice Department ended that $61 million contract.

The GPO was expected to announce a replacement contractor by November, but that hasn’t happened even as a crucial deadline nears. According to the Census Bureau, printing for the 2020 census must start by June 2019 to avoid disrupting the final preparations for the constitutionally mandated head count.

The inspector general’s office is continuing to investigate the awarding of the original 2020 census contract. It also plans to review the process for the new contract, including “any breakdowns in policies, process and internal controls,” according to a new annual work plan that the IG office provided to NPR.

Meanwhile, the agency is without a permanent director. Its last permanent director — Davita Vance-Cooks, appointed by President Barack Obama — left in November 2017. After she left, two officials retired after serving as the agency’s acting leader for a combined eight months.

In June, President Trump nominated Robert Tapella as the next GPO director. Tapella previously led the agency under Presidents Obama and George W. Bush. He has yet to be called for a Senate confirmation hearing.

“Betraying the public trust”

According to the Office of Inspector General’s June report on management problems at the GPO, the investigation was spurred by multiple complaints of misconduct. Investigators said they conducted interviews, reviewed internal documents and consulted the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, D.C.

The report is “part of an active and ongoing investigation, and the matters have not been finalized,” the GPO’s current inspector general, Melinda Miguel, said in an email. Miguel confirmed that the document obtained by NPR is a copy of the original report that the agency’s then-acting inspector general, Stephen Roy, prepared for members of Congress.

The report focuses on Herbert Jackson Jr., the GPO’s current acting head who has served as the chief administrative officer, and Andrew Sherman, a former acting deputy director whose retirement from the agency was announced two days before the report was submitted to Congress.

From 2014 to 2018, Jackson and Sherman “orchestrated a scheme to bypass the competitive hiring process and engaged in cronyism, thereby betraying the public trust,” Roy wrote in the report.

“The improper hiring of two otherwise ineligible employees was conducted openly and without regard for those employees who try to work within the rules, resulting in an erosion of morale and perpetuating the appearance that GPO senior leadership is subject to different standards of conduct,” Roy wrote.

The inspector general determined that the payments made to the two “ineligible” employees — totaling nearly $440,000 — were “wasteful” because laws about hiring and contracting for the federal government, “put in place to safeguard taxpayer dollars, were not followed.”

Both Jackson and Sherman declined to comment to NPR after multiple requests.

In an email to NPR, the GPO’s chief public relations officer, Gary Somerset, said that the agency cannot comment at this time about the interim IG report because “this issue is still part of an ongoing IG investigation.”

Jackson and Sherman “did not dispute the vast majority of facts” in the report, according to Roy, who now serves as the assistant inspector general for investigations at the agency. But, according to correspondence with the joint committee that oversees the GPO, Sherman has questioned the credibility of the investigation.

The report details the two cases of alleged cronyism.

In 2014, Jackson’s son, Herbert Jackson III, joined the GPO through an internship program. He was appointed to a position with a GPO division that Jackson indirectly supervised. Then-Director Vance-Cooks was informed of the arrangement, which Roy reported violated federal law and agency policy. Investigators with the IG’s office found that Vance-Cooks “allowed the situation to persist without taking action.” She has not responded to multiple requests for comment from NPR.

The Government Publishing Office’s then-Director Davita Vance-Cooks (left) inspects the production run of President Trump’s 2018 fiscal year federal budget with Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney in 2017 at the GPO’s plant in Washington, D.C.

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The Government Publishing Office’s then-Director Davita Vance-Cooks (left) inspects the production run of President Trump’s 2018 fiscal year federal budget with Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney in 2017 at the GPO’s plant in Washington, D.C.

Carolyn Kaster/AP

Sherman, who was acting deputy director at the time, did not take steps to remedy the situation until he “became aware” of the investigation in May, Roy wrote. At that time, Sherman reassigned the GPO unit where Jackson’s son worked to be under the chain of command of the agency’s Office of the Director rather than under Jackson.

But, Roy wrote in the report, the new arrangement still violated policies that prohibit Jackson’s son from working at an agency where Jackson, as a senior GPO manager, could influence his son’s advancement. Both direct and indirect supervision are generally prohibited.

According to the IG report, the employment of Jackson’s son, who worked at the GPO over four years, cost taxpayers more than $109,000.

Herbert Jackson III could not be reached for comment.

The other case involved a family friend of a staffer for the House Appropriations Committee who played a key role in GPO funding. In 2014, that friend, Kimberly Travis, was appointed to the GPO as an employee communications specialist. After her appointment ended, investigators found that she was later placed on multiple personal services contracts at the GPO, despite not qualifying as an expert or consultant. Payments to her cost taxpayers a total of more than $328,000, according to the IG report.

“Sherman’s efforts to keep Travis employed at GPO contributed to an overall deterioration of employee morale,” Roy wrote in the report.

Sherman ordered Travis’ contract to be terminated in June, after he found out the Office of Inspector General was investigating. According to the report, Sherman acknowledged that Travis should have been removed from the GPO earlier.

Travis has not responded to requests for comment.

A worker checks copies of the 2012 fiscal year budget appendix before they are stacked at the Government Publishing Office in Washington, D.C.

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A worker checks copies of the 2012 fiscal year budget appendix before they are stacked at the Government Publishing Office in Washington, D.C.

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Plans for a “vigorous oversight regime”

Findings from GPO inspector general investigations can be referred to the Justice Department for criminal or civil charges.

Oversight of the GPO, a legislative branch agency, falls to lawmakers on the Joint Committee on Printing, which is made up of members of both the Senate Rules and Administration Committee and the House Administration Committee. Under the law, the committee “may use any measures it considers necessary to remedy neglect, delay, duplication, or waste.”

The spokesman for the Democrats on the House Administration Committee, Peter Whippy, says they “plan to implement a vigorous oversight regime” over the GPO when the Democrat-controlled House takes office next month. A spokeswoman for the committee’s Republicans, Courtney Parella, wrote in an email: “The committee can’t comment at this time.”

Roy addressed the seven-page report to the leaders of the joint committee: Sen. Blunt and Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Ill.

“Because this report implicates the two most senior GPO managers, I am reporting this issue directly to the Committee in the belief that the Committee has the authority to address these problems,” Roy wrote.

Noting that the investigation is ongoing, Katie Boyd, spokeswoman for Blunt, said in an email that the senator “will review the final report when it is completed” and that the committee “will remain actively engaged in oversight.”

It is unclear who will lead internal oversight at the GPO in the new year. This month, Florida’s Gov.-elect Ron DeSantis announced the GPO’s current inspector general, Melinda Miguel, is leaving the agency to serve in his administration.

Source Article from https://www.npr.org/2018/12/31/676559496/cronyism-wasteful-spending-accusations-roil-government-publishing-office

São Paulo – Oil barrel prices have bottomed out to their lowest in two years this week due to heightened supply and weak demand. The industry expects prices to remain around US$ 85 per barrel of the Brent Crude oil type (traded on the London Stock Exchange) for the next few months. If the trend bears out, major oil companies will have to revise their investment and debt plans. Even major global producing and exporting countries will need to cut down their spending.

According to the global news director at New York’s commodities consulting firm Platts, John Kingston, oil prices are bearish because the world economy is in “big trouble” and recovering slowly. Conversely, production and supply are on the way up.

“Demand is sluggish and growth is very slow around the world, which is still depending on the recovery of the United States’ economy,” Kingston told ANBA.

The director of the Brazilian Infrastructure Centre (CBIE), Adriano Pires also believes the world economy is recovering very slowly. He remarks that recent conflicts in Middle East countries like Palestine and Syria, coupled with the Ukrainian crisis, had postponed the price drop. Besides, the United States’ output is strong right now and investment projects rolled out over the past few years are beginning to bear fruit, causing exploration to increase.

Pires notes, however, that the commodity’s price has ups and downs. It peaked in 1973 and 1989, and plummeted in 1986 and throughout the 1990s. In 2008, however, oil sold for as much as US$ 140. By October 15th, 2012, the Brent barrel was selling for US$ 115.07. A year later, it cost US$ 110.86. This Thursday (16th), it closed at US$ 86.12.

Prices may keep falling, but not much further. Pires expects them to remain close to US$ 80. They may even increase slightly in the days leading up to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) meeting scheduled for late November. Countries like Venezuela and Libya want to reign in output so prices will rise, driving up revenues. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, for their part, would rather wait longer before slowing the output down.

The impact will likely not be as strongly felt by the United States. The country is producing oil domestically through unconventional gas extraction, thus reducing its dependence on imports and their influence on the country. Extraction of this type of gas and oil costs more, but Kingston claims some producers can “withstand” prices as low as US$ 70. “It all depends on the extraction technology and the productivity it affords,” he says.

The effects on Brazil

Low oil prices may influence the Brazilian federal government and Petrobras’ decisions in the short, medium and long run. According to Pires, plummeting oil prices relieve pressure on the government to raise fuel prices, which have been kept lower than they should be in order to curb rising inflation.

On the one hand, lower prices will also drive down costs for Petrobras. The downside is they should weigh down on the state-owned company’s revenues. “These prices will cut losses for Petrobras, but they will also jeopardize its investments, because the company is working with a price estimate of US$ 100 until 2018, and then with US$ 95. If this scenario persists, then Petrobras and other oil companies will have to reformulate their investment strategies,” he asserts.

*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum

Source Article from http://www2.anba.com.br/noticia/21865563/oil-and-gas/cheap-oil-may-change-companies-plans/

Source Article from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2021/06/16/delta-variant-us-risk-effect-vaccine-efficacy/7692591002/

President Joe Biden’s latest vaccination push is the most aggressive effort yet by his administration to get the raging coronavirus pandemic under control.

Critics see the move by the president as a reversal of his previous promise to avoid vaccine mandates. Federal health officials, however, believe it is the next step in the fight against the highly contagious delta variant, which is killing more than 1,500 Americans every day, according to a CNBC analysis of Johns Hopkins University data, and filling hospitals in unvaccinated pockets of the country to the brim.

“We’re going to protect vaccinated workers from unvaccinated coworkers,” Biden said Thursday in announcing the plan. “We’re going to reduce the spread of Covid-19 by increasing the share of the workforce that is vaccinated in businesses all across America.”

The multipronged approach affects hundreds of public and private companies and tens of millions of American workers. It mandates vaccines and eliminates testing options for federal government employees, including those in the health-care sector, and calls for stiff penalties for those who don’t comply.

Here’s what you need to know about Biden’s latest bid to get more Americans vaccinated.

Where vaccination is mandatory, with no testing option

Where vaccination or weekly testing is mandatory

Despite the broad scope of the president’s push, most U.S. workers, more than 80 million, will still have the option of proving they are not carrying the virus by submitting to weekly Covid tests.

To boost the pace of daily shots, which have slowed down after a spike in mid-August, the president ordered the Department of Labor to create a new rule requiring any company with more than 100 employees to mandate vaccines for their employees or weekly Covid tests for workers who cite religious or health reasons for not getting vaccinated. However, those reasons for opting out are likely to be more scrutinized by employers going forward.

The new rule will be implemented by the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA. OSHA can issue an emergency temporary standard if it proves that employees are in danger and that the proposed rule can avert that danger.

Employers will also be ordered to provide paid time off for employees to get vaccinated. This applies to both the public and private sectors.

“No one should lose pay in order to get vaccinated or take a loved one to get vaccinated,” Biden said.

Consequences for violating the rules

Most Americans support vaccine mandates in workplaces, with 62% of Americans backing the idea, according to an August poll by USA Today and Ipsos.

Still, among the 29% of U.S. voters who are unvaccinated, 83% say they do not plan to get the lifesaving shots, a new CNBC survey shows.

Employees who fail to comply with the new mandates could face a range of consequences, including termination, as companies feel pressure to fall in line.

Companies will face a $13,600 penalty per violation of the OSHA rule, though the new rules could take some time to implement and enforce. OSHA has experienced a steady decline in staffing and currently provides one inspector for every 83,000 workers, according to the AFL-CIO, the largest federation of unions in the U.S.

Appeal to unvaccinated Americans

In his announcement, Biden questioned why 80 million Americans have still not received the shots after they were made free and accessible and were approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

“What more is there to wait for? What more is there to see?” Biden said. “We’ve been patient, but our patience is wearing thin.”

Biden appealed to those running large entertainment venues, sports arenas and movie theaters to require vaccination or proof of a negative test for entry. New York City and San Francisco already require proof of vaccination for activities such as dining indoors and attending movies and entertainment venues, with New York City requiring proof of at least one dose and San Francisco requiring proof of full vaccination.

Biden also asked physicians across the country to “reach out to unvaccinated patients … and make a personal appeal to them to get the shot.”

About 75% of U.S. adults have received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine and about 54% of all Americans are fully vaccinated, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. Experts are still split on what percentage of a population needs to be vaccinated in order for the population to reach herd immunity, though estimates range between 70% and 90%.

“This is not about freedom or personal choice. It’s about protecting yourself and those around you,” Biden said.

Source Article from https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/10/what-you-need-to-know-about-president-joe-bidens-new-vaccine-mandates.html

CLOSE

Hillary Clinton is poking fun at the latest news surrounding President Trump and Russia. Veuer’s Nick Cardona has that story.
Buzz60

President Donald Trump’s vanquished 2016 Democratic opponent appears to be relishing his recent difficulties with news reports about his relationship with Russia. 

“Like I said: A puppet,” Hillary Clinton tweeted Monday, referencing a famous exchange between her and Trump during their third and final presidential debate.

On Oct. 19, 2016, Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin did not respect the former secretary of state. 

“Well, that’s because he’d rather have a puppet as president of the United States,” Clinton replied.

“No puppet,” Trump said, talking over her. “You’re the puppet. No, you’re the puppet.” 

Flashback: Trump, Clinton disagree over who’s Putin’s ‘puppet’

“It’s pretty clear you won’t admit the Russians have engaged in cyber attacks against the United States of America, that you encouraged espionage against our people, that you are willing to spout the Putin line, sign up for his wish list, break up NATO, do whatever he wants to do and that you continue to get help from him because he has a very clear favorite in this race,” Clinton continued. 

More: Senate reports find millions of social media posts by Russians aimed at helping Trump, GOP

Clinton’s tweet reiterating her claim that Trump is a Russian puppet comes after news reports over the weekend that added fuel to the debate over Trump’s Russia ties.

The New York Times reported Friday that the FBI investigated whether Trump was working on Putin’s behalf after he fired director James Comey. And on Sunday, The Washington Post reported that Trump went to “extraordinary lengths” to conceal details from his conversations with Putin. 

“I never worked for Russia,” Trump told reporters Monday. He said the very question was a “disgrace” and repeated his belief that the investigation into his potential ties Russian election meddling was  “a whole big fat hoax.”

Trump: NYT report on FBI fear that he worked for Russia is ‘most insulting article’ ever

Washington Post: President Trump went to ‘extraordinary lengths’ to hide details of Putin meetings

 

Source Article from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2019/01/14/hillary-clinton-tweet-donald-trump-russia-puppet/2570599002/