La tormenta tropical Nate sigue ganando fuerza en su camino hacia la península del Yucatán, y podría convertirse en huracán antes de su llegada el próximo fin de semana a la costa estadounidense. El ciclón, que ha dejado más de una veintena de muertos en Centroamérica, ha llevado a evacuar zonas de Nueva Orleans. Alabama, Mississippi, Florida y Louisiana están en alerta.
La tormenta avanza hacia el norte a 21 millas por hora, y llegará esta tarde a la costa noreste de la península del Yucatán, para luego entrar en el golfo de México y tocar tierra en Estados Unidos el sábado por la noche o el domingo por la mañana. Arrastra vientos de cerca de 60 millas por hora, y el pronóstico indica que se convertirá en huracán en el golfo de México.
Sus efectos se han dejado sentir con fuertes lluvias en Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, México y Cuba, según el Centro Nacional de Huracanes. Al menos 22 personas han muerto en Centroamérica por el paso de la tormenta; en Costa Rica han fallecido 10 personas y otras 25 se encuentra desparecidas, según informa la agencia de noticias Efe.
Hay además alerta de huracán entre la frontera de los estados de Alabama y Florida y el área metropolitana de Nueva Orleans y el lago Pontchartrain. Además, hay alerta por crecidas del mar entre Morgan City (Louisiana) y la frontera entre los condados de Okaloosa y Walton (Florida), y en la rivera norte y oeste del lago Pontchartrain.
El Centro Nacional de Huracanes pronostica hasta 10 pulgadas de lluvia al este del río Mississippi, entre la costa central del golfo de México hasta el sur de los Apalaches. Además, el nivel del mar podría crecer hasta ocho pies desde el delta del Mississippi hasta la frontera entre Florida y Alabama, seis pies desde allí hasta Indian Pass (Florida), y tres pies desde allí hasta Crystal River (Florida); y hasta seis pies entre Morgan City (Louisiana) y el delta.
Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, y Florida están en estado de emergencia, y el alcalde de Nueva Orleans, Mitch Landrieu, ha ordenado la evacuación de Venetian Isles, Lake Catherine e Irish Bayou antes del mediodía del sábado. Ha decretado además el toque de queda a partir de las seis de la tarde del sábado hasta la mañana del domingo.
‘Our parents lived for their children, we live for ourselves’
Jia Shicong is a 31-year-old education project manager. She is married to Hu Xuancheng, also 31, an engineer. They have a baby girl who is one year and seven months old. They live in Xi’an, in central China
Jia Shicong with her husband, Hu Xuancheng, and their daughter. Photograph: Handout
When hearing the news today, my colleagues joked that unless the government rewards us with a flat and a degree for every single child we give birth to, the policy has nothing to do with us at all.
Chinese couples – especially women – are less willing to give birth these days. This is because the pressure is too high in today’s society. After giving birth, as a woman, you are not likely to return to work any time soon due to childcare. The more babies you have, the more you’ll have to sacrifice in your career.
In addition, when you become a parent you’ll have to think – and worry – about kids’ education in the future. Parents want the best of everything for their children, but the competition in China is way too fierce today.
In short, my generation of Chinese people is rather different from that of my parents. My parents’ generation lived for their children, but my generation lives for ourselves.”
‘If the government is serious they should improve childcare’
Wang Zhenyu is a 33-year-old researcher, married to Miao Dong, a 26-year-old freelance writer. They live in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, and have no children.
Miao Dong and Wang Zhenyu. Photograph: Handout
I don’t think the relaxation of the rules is going to be very effective at all. In China these days, there are very few people who would like to consider having more than two children. Even among those who contemplate having that many kids, it is way too costly for young couples to raise them.
But today’s announcement from the top level is a signal that the central government is worried about the demographic trends these days. It’s a big challenge ahead for our country.
I am from a village in rural China. I was born in 1987. Even though it was still under China’s one-child policy, I had two siblings. My family back then paid some penalties to the authorities, and it was fine. My wife was born in a city, and she is the only child in her family.
I like children, but the competition is way too stiff in China these days. I have many things to worry about: how to live a better life for my small family and for my wider family.
My wife does not want children. It is because she wants to pursue her own career. It’s too much of a burden to raise a child – let alone more than one.
If the government is really serious about encouraging more babies, they should improve things such as welfare, childcare and eradicating discrimination against women in workplace. On top of that, educational resources is another big issue. They will all be factored into Chinese couples’ decisions.”
‘When I was growing up as a single child I hoped for a big family’
Gloria Ai is a 34-year-old TV presenter based in Beijing. She is looking forward to having babies soon.
Gloria Ai. Photograph: Handout
I am a single child born in 1987 under the previous one-child policy. When I was growing up, I had always hoped for a big family. I enjoy being surrounded by children.
I have been running my own media business for the last few years. I understand that because I am financially well-off, I can afford to have a big family. This is a privilege. I think the new policy will allow me to do so, and would incentivise me to work harder for my children and my family.
More and more successful Chinese women around my age are becoming mothers. I have been sharing tips on better parenting with my friends of late, too.”
La juramentación de Donald Trump como presidente de EE.UU. se realizará este 20 de enero y aunque para él y su equipo es un día especial, puede que más de la mitad del país esté más interesada en otro tema: las protestas en su contra.
Según un reporte de Mashable, más de la mitad del país está realizando búsquedas relacionadas con la frase “inauguration protests” (protestas durante la inauguración o la juramentación), mientras que las búsquedas relacionadas con “attend inauguration” (asistir a la inauguración), resultaron minoritarias, según los datos de Google Trends.
Aunque estas búsquedas pueden significar muchas cosas, lo cierto es que este es un nuevo indicador de la fuerte oposición con la que Trump asumirá el poder.
Los datos muestran que al menos en 31 estados se está googleando más sobre las protestas que sobre cómo asistir a la inauguración, que es una tendencia ligeramente más popular en 17 estados. El mapa deja claro además que algunos estados en donde ganó Trump también están interesados por las protestas.
Google Trends revela el interés por las protestas en contra de Trump.
Google
Según Mashable existen varias preguntas que se están haciendo a Google y que están relacionadas con la inauguración, entre ellas “¿Quién está boicoteando la inauguración?”, que está en el primer lugar. Es de resaltar que en el quinto lugar se encuentra una pregunta más preocupante: “¿Qué es una inauguración?
¿Qué es una inauguración? la quinta pregunta más importante relacionada con la juramentación de Trump.
Google
Google también muestra cuáles son los temas que hoy preocupan más a los estadounidenses. Mientras que en 2008 durante la campaña electoral, que finalmente ganó Barack Obama, la mayor preocupación era la recesión económica, el buscador muestra que en la actualidad lo es Rusia, seguido por la inmigración, Obamacare, el empleo e ISIS.
Hasta mañana miércoles 4 de mayo, los fanáticos de Los Simpson podrán realizar preguntas para Homero en Twitter a través del hashtag #Homerlive y él las responderá en la pantalla de Fox, el domingo 15 de mayo, a las 21:30, en episodio subtitulado que se verá la misma noche que en los Estados Unidos.
En este capítulo inédito Marge, Lisa y Bart entregarán el programa a Homero, quien tomará un descanso para comentar los acontecimientos del día y responder preguntas de los fanáticos alrededor del mundo.
“Dan Castellaneta (el actor que da voz al personaje en Estados Unidos) estará en un estudio y, cuando hable, los movimientos de su cuerpo se traducirán en la animación de Homero a través del uso de una tecnología de captura de movimiento. Es muy emocionante ya que nunca he visto que esto suceda en un programa de televisión de dibujos animados”, explica Al Jean, Productor Ejecutivo de la serie.
En el siguiente video podés saber más de qué se trata:
Ciudad de México.- En redes sociales comenzó a circular un video en donde se observa cómo pierde la vida Mario Gámez Villegas, escolta del secretario de Gobierno de Guanajuato, Antonio Salvador García.
Los hechos ocurrieron en la alberca de la Procuraduría de Justicia de Guanajuato, durante unos ejercicios de adiestramiento, el pasado 21 de marzo.
En el video, con duración de menos de un minuto, se ve el momento en que Gámez Villegas se lanza desde el trampolín a la alberca.
Mario Gámez Villegas tenía 30 años; su cuerpo fue rescatado por elementos de Protección Civil y bomberos.
Los familiares del escolta denunciaron que se le obligó a aventarse a la alberca, a pesar de que advirtió que no sabía nadar.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office is expected to charge the Trump Organization and its chief financial officer with tax-related crimes on Thursday, people familiar with the matter said, which would mark the first criminal charges against the former president’s company since prosecutors began investigating it three years ago.
Any charges against the Trump Organization and Allen Weisselberg, the company’s longtime chief financial officer, would be a blow to former President Donald Trump, who has fended off multiple criminal and civil probes during and after his presidency. But the initial charges won’t implicate Mr. Trump himself, his lawyer said, falling short of an expectation built during a high-profile probe that included a battle over the former president’s tax returns that went twice to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The defendants are expected to appear in court on Thursday afternoon, the people said.
The Trump Organization and Mr. Weisselberg are expected to face charges related to allegedly evading taxes on fringe benefits, the people said. For months, the Manhattan district attorney’s office and New York state attorney general’s office have been investigating whether Mr. Weisselberg and other employees illegally avoided paying taxes on perks—such as cars, apartments and private-school tuition—that they received from the Trump Organization.
A sole focus on fringe benefits would be unusual, former prosecutors said. It is rare to charge an individual or company for failure to pay taxes on employee benefits alone, although such charges are used as part of larger cases.
A tiny religious organization tied to Amy Coney Barrett, Donald Trump’s supreme court nominee, sought to erase all mentions and photos of her from its website before she meets with lawmakers and faces questions at her Senate confirmation hearings.
Barrett, a federal appeals judge, has declined to publicly discuss her decades-long affiliation with People of Praise, a Christian group that opposes abortion and holds that men are divinely ordained as the “head” of the family and faith.
Former members have said the group’s leaders teach that wives must submit to the will of their husbands.
A spokesman for the organization has declined to say whether the judge and her husband, Jesse Barrett, are members.
But an analysis by the Associated Press shows that People of Praise erased numerous records from its website during the summer of 2017 that referred to Barrett and included photos of her and her family.
At the time, Barrett was on Trump’s shortlist for the high court seat that eventually went to Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Last week, when Barrett again emerged as a frontrunner for the court, more articles, blogposts and photos disappeared.
After an AP reporter emailed the group’s spokesman on Wednesday about members of Jesse Barrett’s family, his mother’s name was deleted from the primary contact for the South Bend, Indiana, branch. All issues of the organization’s magazine, Vine and Branches, were also removed.
Sean Connolly, People of Praise’s spokesman, confirmed in an email that information was being wiped from the group’s website.
“Recent changes to our website were made in consultation with members and nonmembers from around the country who raised concerns about their and their families’ privacy due to heightened media attention,” Connolly said.
The deletions come at a time when Barrett’s background is under intense scrutiny by US senators who will soon vote on whether to approve a lifetime appointment to the nation’s highest court, and also by women’s rights groups, religious organizations and voters who will try to determine how Barrett might rule on crucial issues that are likely to come before the supreme court.
The AP was able to track the deletions and access the missing information through the Internet Archive, a non-profit group that has saved digital versions of more than 330bn web pages since 1996.
Barrett, 48, did not mention People of Praise in her 2017 or 2020 Senate judicial vetting questionnaires, the most recent of which was released on Tuesday.
And a request to interview her made through the seventh circuit court of appeals in Chicago, where she currently serves as a judge, was declined.
The AP reported earlier this week that People of Praise’s belief system is rooted in so-called charismatic Catholicism, a movement that grew out of the influence of Pentecostalism, which emphasizes a personal relationship with Jesus and can include baptism in the Holy Spirit and “speaking in tongues”.
Founded in 1971, the group’s 22 branches organize and meet outside the purview of the Roman Catholic church and include people from several Christian denominations, though the majority of its roughly 1,800 adult members remain Catholic.
Former female members of the group told AP earlier this week that wives were expected to obey their husband’s wishes in all matters, including providing sex on demand.
One of the women also said she was forbidden from getting birth control because married women were supposed to bear as many babies as God would provide.
Current People of Praise members, including Amy Barrett’s father, told AP that suggesting male members dominate their wives is a “misunderstanding” of the group’s teachings and that women are free to make their own decisions.
“Our members are always free to follow their consciences, formed by reason and the teachings of their churches,” Connolly said on Monday. “Decision making in the People of Praise is collegial, engaging the entire community in consultation on significant matters that affect us. Additionally, women take on a variety of crucial leadership roles within People of Praise, including serving as heads of several of our schools and directing ministries within our community.”
Adult members of the group take a covenant that includes a passage where members promise to follow the teachings and instructions of the group’s pastors, teachers and evangelists.
It’s unclear whether Barrett took the covenant. But members of the organization and descriptions of its hierarchy show that members almost invariably join the covenant after three to six years of religious study or they leave, so it would be unusual for Barrett to be involved for so many years without having done so.
Among the items that were scrubbed in 2017 were select back issues of Vine & Branches that included birth and adoption announcements for some of the couple’s seven children.
Also deleted were numerous other articles involving Barrett or her family members.
NOTICIAS pudo hablar con un cibermilitante a sueldo del kirchnerista Florencio Randazzo, quien por primera vez reveló los detalles de las campañas 2.0 con las que los candidatos se embarran unos a otros. A cambio de que no se mencione su identidad –por temor a represalias–, el hombre dio ejemplos y números de cómo funciona la militancia rentada en la web.
Noticias: ¿Cuál es la función de un “fake”, como es su caso?
Cibermilitante: Como primera medida, crear una cuenta en Facebook, Twitter o cualquier red social con datos falsos que se asemejen a los de una persona real, es decir, escoger un nombre, buscar fotos, determinar sus gustos y lo más importante, una marcada ideología política que va a defender en cada publicación.
Noticias: ¿Cada uno publica lo que cree conveniente?
Cibermilitante: No. Como en todo ámbito laboral hay jerarquías. El rango más bajo es para aquellos que trabajan desde su casa y sólo tienen la autorización para dar retuit o compartir todo lo publicado en las cuentas oficiales, ya sea del candidato o la agrupación política a la que representan. Por otro lado, están los que cumplen un horario dentro de las oficinas generalmente del área de prensa y comunicación, de lunes a viernes o sábado, domingo y feriados. Ellos comparten, atacan y defienden a la persona que el jefe correspondiente a cada turno les indique. Y finalmente, quienes tienen una mayor cercanía al político pueden utilizar las redes en cualquier horario y lugar. No cualquiera llega ahí.
Noticias: ¿Qué sueldos cobran por hacer esto?
Cibermilitante: Quienes van a las oficinas y manejan una cuenta, tienen sueldos fijos de 9.000 y 10.000 pesos. Aquellos con mayor cercanía al político cobran de 20.000 en adelante, pero manejan entre cinco y diez usuarios. Y por último, los que comparten desde su casa, se les paga internet más un plus de 1.000 o 2.000 pesos, eso depende del intendente o puntero que los haya contratado.
El cibermilitante entrevistado por NOTICIAS reconoce que trabaja para Florencio Randazzo y cobra un sueldo del Estado. Cuando se le pregunta para quién hace fuerza el ministro de Interior y Transporte, su respuesta sorprende.
Noticias: ¿Adónde va el voto del randazzismo?
Cibermilitante: A Scioli no. Seguimos convencidos, más allá de la decisión de Cristina, que el candidato era Florencio. Aunque muchos de los que decían defender a Randazzo hoy levanten la bandera de Scioli. Como el caso de Diego Brancatelli, quien decía que Scioli era el “candidato de Magnetto” y hoy lo elogia como nadie.
Policía descartó que las muertes de los jóvenes de 16 años estén relacionadas con el llamado “reto de la ballena azul”.
“Los adolescentes tenían una relación sentimental pero no tenían acceso a redes sociales, descartamos que sea el tema ballena azul”, declaró el mayor Rodrigo Mancera, comandante de Infancia y adolescencia.
De acuerdo con el alto oficial, posiblemente se trató de un pacto suicida.
Los fallecidos, una joven de 16 años y un menor de la misma edad, saltaron al vacio desde un piso 13 del conjunto residencial Torres de Lucerna, ubicado en la localidad de Bosa.
“Estaban haciendo un arreglo en la terraza. El celador intentó cogerlos, pero ellos se lanzaron al piso. No había fácil acceso porque acá las terrazas tiene candado”, indicó una testigo.
Los menores, al parecer, llevaban varios días desaparecidos y sus familias los buscaban. Algunas versiones aseguran que ambos tenían heridas autoinfligidas con interioridad, pero esto no ha sido confirmada por la Policía.
El caso se conoce horas después de que Medicina Legal revelara que, en los tres primeros meses de 2017, 65 menores de edad cometieron suicidio en Colombia.
Las autoridades recomiendan, a padres y profesores, estar pendientes de las siguientes señales de alarma:
“I think it’s a big problem. The corporate media has always had a liberal bias…If you go back 20, 30 years, it would always be through a liberal prism – but they wouldn’t just do some of the stuff that they do now,” DeSantis said.
CBS News‘ “60 Minutes” was recently under fire for suggesting DeSantis gave the Publix grocery store chain preferable treatment to offer the coronavirusvaccine based on its donations to his PAC.
“60 Minutes” correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi painted DeSantis as a villain who prioritized senior citizens over teachers during the report that was peppered with jabs at the Republican governor.
Publix called the notion that it received special access “absolutely false and offensive.”
“The irresponsible suggestion that there was a connection between campaign contributions made to Governor DeSantis and our willingness to join other pharmacies in support of the state’s vaccine distribution efforts is absolutely false and offensive. We are proud of our pharmacy associates for administering more than 1.5 million doses of vaccine to date and for joining other retailers in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia to do our part to help our communities emerge from the pandemic,” a Publix spokesperson told Fox News.
Democratic state officials, conservative pundits, Floridians and journalism professors alike have called for CBS News to retract or correct the story. Instead, the network put out multiple statements defending the report but never responded to specific criticism tied to pay-for-play allegations. The long-running news magazine acknowledged the backlash on Sunday without offering an apology or correction.
In his interview with Carlson, DeSantis said that there is no accountability for the corporate press because they can continue to omit information to serve a narrative with “impunity.”
DeSantis stated his belief that the media is “actively partisan.” He went on to say that they “craft a narrative regardless of the facts – if there’s a fact that’s “inconvenient to the narrative, they’ll smother and ignore the fact to be able to continue with the narrative.”
DeSantis listed a few so-called “bombshell” stories that were eventually proven to be false – such as actor Jussie Smollett faking a hate crime, and the Russia collusion narrative.
“The phone call that Trump supposedly had with Georgia, where they fabricated the quotes. Those aren’t even real quotes. And so I think it’s a big problem for democracy.”
“I think their model is kind of smearing their opponents for clicks. And I think that worked very well for them when Trump was president because they were really playing to an enraged left-wing base,” DeSantis said.
“Now that we’re in a different environment,” he continued, “you see the ratings going down.”
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An American citizen abducted last week in Niger has been rescued during a high-risk U.S. military raid in neighboring Nigeria, officials told ABC News early Saturday.
The mission was undertaken by elite commandos as part of a major effort to free the U.S. citizen, Philip Walton, 27, before his abductors could get far after taking him captive in Niger on Oct. 26, counterterrorism officials told ABC News.
The operation involved the governments of the U.S., Niger and Nigeria working together to rescue Walton quickly, sources said. The CIA provided intelligence leading to Walton’s whereabouts and Marine Special Operations elements in Africa helped locate him, a former U.S. official said.
Then the elite SEAL Team Six carried out a “precision” hostage rescue mission and killed all but one of the seven captors, according to officials with direct knowledge about the operation.
“They were all dead before they knew what happened,” another counterterrorism source with knowledge told ABC News.
President Donald Trump called the rescue mission a “big win for our very elite U.S. Special Forces” in a tweet and the Pentagon lauded the rescue mission in a statement.
“U.S. forces conducted a hostage rescue operation during the early hours of 31 October in Northern Nigeria to recover an American citizen held hostage by a group of armed men,” said Pentagon chief spokesperson Jonathan Hoffman. “This American citizen is safe and is now in the care of the U.S. Department of State. No U.S military personnel were injured during the operation.
“We appreciate the support of our international partners in conducting this operation.”
And Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said: “Thanks to the extraordinary courage and capabilities of our military, the support of our intelligence professionals, and our diplomatic efforts, the hostage will be reunited with his family. We will never abandon any American taken hostage.”
ABC News consultant Mick Mulroy, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense and retired CIA officer, said preparations for Walton’s rescue likely started when he was abducted.
“These types of operations are some of the most difficult to execute,” he said. “Any mistake could easily lead to the death of the hostage. The men and women of JSOC [Joint Special Operations Command], and the CIA should be proud of what they did here. And all Americans should be proud of them. “
Eric Oehlerich, an ABC News consultant and retired Navy SEAL, said Walton was “lucky” that such a mission was possible such as short time after he was abducted, when others have been held for years.
“Men in these top-tier special forces units train their entire adult lives to be ready when called upon, hostage rescue operations are inherently dangerous,” he said. “Those men put someone else’s life above their own, they do so selflessly….it’s an illustration of utter commitment.”
A former U.S. counterterrorism official emphasized generally how long the odds are for rescue in the “highly dangerous” missions — less than 30%. But the official said that it’s crucial to act as quickly as possible so that hostages don’t wind up in the hands of al Qaeda or ISIS.
“The longer a hostage is held the harder it is to find an exact location to be able and conduct a rescue operation,” the official said.
U.S. and Nigerien officials had said that Walton was kidnapped from his backyard last Monday after assailants asked him for money. But he only offered $40 USD and was then taken away by force, according to sources in Niger.
Walton lives with his wife and young daughter on a farm near Massalata, a small village close to the border with Nigeria.
Nigerien and American officials told ABC News that they believed the captors were from an armed group from Nigeria and that it was not considered terror-related. But hostages are often sold to terrorist groups.
Concern grew quickly after the kidnapping that an opportunity to rescue Walton could become much more dangerous if he was taken by or sold to a group of Islamist militants aligned with either al Qaeda or ISIS and American special operations commanders felt they needed to act swiftly before that could occur, said one counterterrorism official briefed on the hostage recovery operations.
A U.S. State Department spokesperson confirmed after the kidnapping that an American citizen had been abducted in Niger and said the U.S. government was “providing their family all possible consular assistance.” The spokesperson declined to comment on the case, citing “privacy considerations,” but added, “When a U.S. citizen is missing, we work closely with local authorities as they carry out their search efforts, and we share information with families however we can.”
Another American, Christian humanitarian aid worker Jeffery Rey Woodke, 60, has been held hostage for the past four years since being kidnapped in northern Niger by armed militants.
Niger, home to 22 million people and three times the size of California, is one of many Sahel nations plagued by terrorism and instability, but its military has been a close U.S. partner in the fight against regional jihadist groups, including affiliates of both al Qaeda and ISIS.
Last week, a U.N.-backed donor summit raised $1.7 billion to support the region’s governments as Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the humanitarian crisis is at a “breaking point,” with 13.4 million people in need of assistance.
Both nations wield nuclear weapons, and Britain, China, the United States and many other countries have been urging them to step away from conflict.
At a news conference after his summit meeting in Vietnam, President Trump said that there was “reasonably decent” news coming from India and Pakistan and “hopefully it’s going to be coming to an end.”
Along the border of the disputed region of Kashmir, which has been the flash point of trouble, residents said on Thursday that artillery shelling continued but that it was lighter than the days before.
The tensions increased this month after a militant in Kashmir rammed a carload of explosives into an Indian convoy, killing at least 40 Indian troops. Jaish-e-Mohammed, an outlawed group based in Pakistan and active in the Indian-controlled areas of Kashmir, took credit for the attack, prompting India to blame Pakistan.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis not only broke from decades of precedent on Thursday when he blocked all news outlets except Fox News from covering the signing of a voting bill into law. He also may have violated the U.S. Constitution.
That’s the opinion of First Amendment experts who told the Tampa Bay Times it is illegal for DeSantis to hand-pick which media can cover a public proceeding.
“The law leaves no question as to the impropriety of banning certain media while allowing only friendly media,” said Pamela Marsh, executive director of the First Amendment Foundation, an organization that advocates for open government and represents news organizations, including the Tampa Bay Times and the Miami Herald. “That is viewpoint and content discrimination.”
Decades of precedent in federal courts have affirmed that elected officials cannot block certain news outlets from reporting on public events just because they don’t like the coverage.
In Louisiana in the 1980s, a local mayor attempted to exclude reporters from a certain newspaper from major press conferences. The newspaper sued. A federal court called the mayor’s actions “the essence of censorship forbidden by the First Amendment and so abhorred by the founding fathers,” and the newspaper won.
In 2007, an Ohio federal judge ruled against the mayor of Toledo, who had stopped notifying a local radio station of the mayor’s news conferences. The mayor’s office also blocked one of the station’s reporters from attending. The court said the mayor was attempting to “manage the news by manipulating who comes to hear what’s to be said and therefore who reports it. ” It required that the reporter be given access.
DeSantis visited West Palm Beach on Thursday to sign a controversial bill that made it more difficult to vote by mail in Florida. In his three years in office, DeSantis has frequently held similar signing ceremonies, and they are open for journalists to attend. This time, reporters and television crews that showed up to cover the signing were turned away by the governor’s staff.
The signing, however, was carried live on Fox & Friends, the conservative network’s morning show, during a 7 minute and 30-second segment. DeSantis later said he gave Fox News an “exclusive,” a term that media types and politicos use for granting a story or interview to a single outlet or reporter.
Because the bill signing was a “public proceeding,” DeSantis should not have been able to limit which news outlets could cover it, said Clay Calvert, a University of Florida law professor and director of the school’s First Amendment Project.
People who don’t have a cable subscription or who don’t watch that network wouldn’t have seen it.
“Unless you’re watching Fox, you’re going to be denied access to information,” Calvert said. “That’s troubling regardless of the First Amendment issues.”
In addition to DeSantis, several elected officials joined him in West Palm Beach for the bill signing, including Lt. Gov. Jeanette Núñez and the bill’s sponsors, Rep. Blaise Ingoglia and Sen. Dennis Baxley. Members of a local fan club for former President Donald Trump were also in attendance.
DeSantis defended only letting Fox & Friends in the room because it was aired on national television. His office did not respond to requests for comment on the First Amendment concerns.
“We did a wonderful bill signing for this great elections bill,” DeSantis said. “It was live on national television. We were happy to give them the exclusive on that. That’s broadcast to millions of people.”
Fox & Friends averages about 1.1 million viewers nationwide. Florida’s voting age population is nearly 17 million.
Fox said it did not ask DeSantis’ office for the special treatment. In a statement to the Tampa Bay Times, the network said, “FOX & Friends did not request or mandate that the May 6th event and interview with Gov. Ron DeSantis be exclusive to FOX News Media entities.”
Later, the network clarified that its producers weren’t aware that DeSantis was going to sign the bill on camera. He was booked Thursday for “an interview and not as a live bill signing.”
This is not the first time DeSantis’ administration has clashed with news organizations on access. When the coronavirus first arrived, DeSantis’s administration waited 24 hours to tell the public about a known case in Florida. Throughout the pandemic, DeSantis’ office has withheld data and reports on the outbreak from reporters, only releasing the information after news outlets sued.
Thursday’s news conference also highlights how much DeSantis has relied on Fox News to amplify his message and grow his national brand. He is a frequent guest on the show’s prime time programs, whose hosts often heap praise on the Republican governor.
And the network has in turn welcomed DeSantis, one of the most popular figures in the GOP, as often as he’s available. Hours after a national firestorm over DeSantis’ appearance on Fox & Friends, he sat down for another interview on the network, this time with Sean Hannity.
Edward Birk, a Jacksonville-based First Amendment attorney, said elected officials can grant exclusive arrangements with certain news organizations but they cannot exclude media from a public event.
“Regardless whether it violates the First Amendment, which it may,” Birk said, “it’s bad government.”
Times/Herald reporter Lawrence Mower contributed to this report.
Parece que la idea de estrellar un módulo científico sobre la superficie de Marte no ha ido tan bien como esperaban en la Agencia Espacial Europea. El módulo Schiaparelli dejó de transmitir segundos antes de tocar la superficie de Marte y todavía no han logrado recuperar la señal.
En la rueda de prensa que la ESA acaba de ofrecer, sus científicos reconocen que no tienen ni idea de lo que le ha ocurrido al pequeño módulo que formaba parte de la misión ExoMars. La sonda Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), que era el otro 50% de la misión, sí que ha logrado acoplarse con éxito a la órbita de Marte y comenzó a transmitir con normalidad a las 20:30 horas del día 19.
Con Schiaparelli no ha habido tanta suerte. Algo ha fallado en los últimos segundos del aterrizaje. La ESA aún está estudiando los datos de telemetría enviados antes de perder el contacto. Un análisis preliminar de esos datos y de las observaciones realizadas mediante el telescopio GMRT de la India revelan que el escudo térmico funcionó bien y que el paracaídas también se desplegó como estaba previsto.
Región dónde se supone que debía haber aterrizado el módulo.
Los datos se pierden poco después de desprenderse del escudo térmico. El problema podría estar en los impulsores que debían frenar el descenso. Al parecer, no se mantuvieron encendidos el tiempo suficiente. Otra versión apunta a que quizá lo hicieron a demasiada altura. Hasta que no lleguen a la Tierra el resto de datos (y con suerte alguna foto tomada por el módulo) no sabremos más.
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Pese al fracaso de esa parte de la misión, la ESA ha recalcado que el aterrizaje era solo una parte relativamente pequeña de ExoMars y que este tipo de pruebas se realizan precisamente para pulir los sistemas de cara a misiones futuras. [vía ESA]
CIUDAD DE MÉXICO, 19 de mayo.- El pastor Daniel Gloria pidió por oportunidades laborales, salud, felicidad… Sí, lo hizo, pero para que llegaran esos mensajes a través de WhatsApp.
Gloria realizó una oración en la que pidió a los fieles colocar sus celulares en una mesa central.
Ahora es tiempo de oración por los teléfonos, para que sólo reciban noticias de victoria, noticias dulces y agradables”, les dijo a los reunidos en el culto.
Tras la oración, afirmó, que los celulares que estaban sobre la mesa serían portadores de buenas noticias.
Reprendo toda mala noticia y mensajes contrarios”.
Smoke billows during a fire in an area of the Amazon rainforest near Porto Velho, Rondonia State, Brazil, Brazil earlier this week.
Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters
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Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters
Smoke billows during a fire in an area of the Amazon rainforest near Porto Velho, Rondonia State, Brazil, Brazil earlier this week.
Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters
French President Emmanuel Macron is calling on world leaders to place the massive fires destroying Brazil’s Amazon rainforest at the top of their agenda as they gather in France’s southwest for the G7 Summit.
“Our house is burning. Literally. The Amazon rain forest – the lungs which produces 20% of our planet’s oxygen – is on fire,” Macron wrote in a tweet Thursday. “It is an international crisis. Members of the G7 Summit, let’s discuss this emergency first order in two days!”
France is hosting the summit in the city of Biarritz, on the Atlantic coast, which begins on Saturday. President Trump and leaders from Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom will also attend.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres echoed Macron, saying in a tweet that “we cannot afford more damage to a major source of oxygen and biodiversity. The Amazon must be protected.”
I’m deeply concerned by the fires in the Amazon rainforest. In the midst of the global climate crisis, we cannot afford more damage to a major source of oxygen and biodiversity.
An estimated 2,500 active fires in the Amazon have caused international concern, prompting a backlash against Brazil’s right-wing president, Jair Bolsonaro, who has described measures to protect the rainforest as “obstacles” to economic growth. Bolsonaro, who took office in January, has said repeatedly that he wants to open the Amazon to development.
Many of the fires are believed to have been set by farmers clearing land. Environmentalists claim Bolsonaro’s attitude about the Amazon has encouraged them, as well as cattle ranchers, loggers and miners.
Bolsonaro has said without evidence that there is a “very strong” indication that some non-governmental organizations were setting the fires in retaliation for losing funding from his administration.
Besides France, both Germany and Norway have also weighed in on the fires, criticizing Bolsonaro’s lack of action and saying they would withhold $60 million in funds for sustainability projects in Brazil’s forests.
Onyx Lorenzoni, Bolsonaro’s chief of staff, on Thursday accused European countries of exaggerating environmental problems in an effort to stifle rainforest development.
“There is deforestation in Brazil, yes, but not at the rate and level that they say,” he said, according to the Brazilian news website globo.com.
In a tweet later on Thursday, Bolsonaro responded to Macron: “I regret that Macron seeks to make personal political gains in an internal matter for Brazil and other Amazonian countries. The sensationalist tone he used does nothing to solve the problem.”
Bolsonaro has also accused the media of hyping the fires to undermine him. “Most of the media wants Brazil to end up like Venezuela,” he said.
In an announcement this week by Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research, or INPE, the agency said there have been 74,155 fires in the country so far this year – about half in the last month and most of them in the Amazon. That represents an 84% increase from the previous year.
Federal prosecutors in the Brazilian state of Para – one of the worst hit areas – have announced an investigation into why there has been such a huge rise in wild fires this year.
Neighboring Bolivia has also struggled to contain the fires.
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