President Biden said Friday that the Delta variant of COVID-19 won’t trigger new lockdowns in the US, but that it may cause more infections in regions with lower vaccination rates.
“No, it’s not a lockdown, but some areas will be very hurt,” Biden said at the White House as he celebrated the administration of 300 million vaccine shots during his first 150 days in office.
“Where people have gotten two shots, that Delta variant is highly unlikely to result in anything other than, I mean, it’s — the existing vaccines are very effective,” he said.
The US mass-vaccination campaign began six months ago under President Donald Trump and more than 65 percent of US adults have received at least one shot. According to CDC data, 55.4 percent of adults are fully vaccinated.
President Biden noted that vaccines seem to be effective against the Delta variant.AP
The Delta variant contributed to an unexpected surge in new cases in India in April and May, and it’s blamed for an increase this month in UK diagnoses.
Preliminary research indicates that vaccines are effective against the mutation.
“It’s a variant that is more easily transmissible, potentially deadlier and particularly dangerous for young people,” Biden said Friday.
“But the good news is we have the solution. The science and the data are clear. The best way to protect yourself against these variants are to get fully vaccinated. So please, please, if you have one shot, get the second shot as soon as you can.”
States and major US cities lifted most COVID-19 rules, including mask mandates and occupancy restrictions on businesses, this month due to high rates of vaccination and plummeting infections.
Biden also noted that areas where there are fewer people vaccinated could see an uptick in positive cases. Andre Penner/AP
Polling indicates that Republicans and African-Americans are less likely to get vaccinated. Many southern states, along with conservative-leaning Indiana, Kansas, North Dakota, Idaho and Wyoming, have lower rates of vaccination, according to government data.
Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Georgia on Friday to promote vaccination at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where Martin Luther King Jr preached in the 1960s. Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) was formerly the church’s pastor.
“Getting vaccinated is about building the power of community. Getting vaccinated is about building the power of our country, and we can do this Georgia,” Harris said.
Many states have lifted mask mandates following the CDC’s revised guidelines for vaccinated Americans this spring.Christopher Sadowski
She added: “let us work together and do everything that we know is within our power to get in front of this thing and then let’s translate that power into everything else that is before us in terms of the unfinished work that needs to be done.”
Kellyanne Conway embarrassed CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta during a press gaggle on Tuesday, referring to him as a ‘smarta–‘ unliked by other reporters. Acosta questioned Conway about whether President Trump would tell the truth when addressing the nation Tuesday night, prompting the heated exchange.
Kellyanne Conway embarrassed CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta during a press gaggle on Tuesday, referring to him as a “smarta–” unliked by other reporters.
Acosta asked Conway if she could promise that President Trump would tell the truth when addressing the nation on Tuesday night.
“Yes, Jim,” Conway shot back, “Can you promise that you will? The whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God? Am I allowed to mention ‘God’ to you?”
Acosta – who has emerged as a household name for interruptions when Trump and members of his administration are made available to the press – responded by telling Conway that he doesn’t have an “alternative facts” problem like she does.
“Make sure that goes viral. This is why I’m one of the only people around here who gives you the time of day,” Conway said. “You’re such a smarta– most of the time and I know you want this to go viral.”
Conway then told Acosta that “a lot of these people” don’t like him, while pointing to his peers.
“Don’t you put it back in my face for all corrections your network needs to issue,” she continued, mocking CNN. “I was on your network 25 or 26 times in 2018. I’m one of the last people here who even bothered to go on, and the disrespect you show to me personally, I’ll look past it.”
CNN’s White House correspondent Jim Acosta asks Sarah Sanders about Mueller investigation, President Trump’s level of confidence in his advisers.
Last year Acosta was briefly banned from the White House after he engaged in a contentious back-and-forth with Trump during a Nov. 7 press conference. During the now-infamous moment, Acosta refused to pass the microphone to a female White House aide.
Acosta’s press pass was restored on Nov. 19 after CNN argued that keeping him out of the White House violated the network and Acosta’s First and Fifth Amendment rights.
To coincide with Acosta being allowed to return to the White House, Press Secretary Sarah Sanders implemented a series of rules to govern White House press conferences going forward.
The CNN reporter has been praised by liberal comedians such as Jimmy Kimmel, and even appeared in the most recent season of the Netflix political drama “House of Cards.”
Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what’s clicking on Foxnews.com.
The Biden administration has upgraded its traveladvisory for India to an outright ban as the COVID-19crisis in the country continues to spiral out of control — something President Biden once said would “not stop” coronavirus.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced the ban Friday afternoon, saying the decision was made on the advice of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“The administration will restrict travel from India starting immediately,” Psaki told reporters. “The policy will be implemented in light of extraordinarily high COVID-19 caseloads and multiple variants circulating in India.”
President Biden has previously been critical of travel bans implemented by then-President Donald Trump as a tool to fight the spread of COVID-19, saying they “will not stop” the disease.
“Banning all travel from Europe — or any other part of the world — will not stop it,” Biden tweeted in March 2020 at the very start of the pandemic.
“A wall will not stop the coronavirus,” he wrote. “Banning all travel from Europe — or any other part of the world — will not stop it. This disease could impact every nation and any person on the planet — and we need a plan to combat it.”
El video es un gran negocio en las redes sociales, y Twitter espera ganar algo de dinero de la mano de Bloomberg.
La plataforma de medios sociales se está asociando con la compañía de medios financieros para transmitir noticias 24/7, según un reporte del Wall Street Journal. El canal será anunciado este mismo lunes y se lanzará hacia el final del año, según el informe. La cadena mostrará reportes en vivo de periodistas de Bloomberg de todo el mundo, en lugar de reflejar la programación de TV de la agencia de noticias.
También incluirá algunos videos publicados por los usuarios de Twitter, según el WSJ.
Twitter ha intentado durante mucho tiempo profundizar en el juego de los streams en vivo, firmando un acuerdo con la NFL en abril del año pasado para transmitir fútbol americano en su plataforma.
Sin embargo, Amazon le ganó la jugada, tras anotarse los derechos de los partidos del jueves por la noche para la temporada 2017-18. El acuerdo con Bloomberg, no obstante, parece tener menos que ver con acercar a los espectadores de Bloomberg a Twitter, y más centrado en atraer a aquellos que prefieren no recibir sus noticias en la televisión.
Twitter y Bloomberg declinaron hacer comentarios al respecto.
Decenas de personas esperaban angustiadas la noche del domingo por información sobre sus familiares, a dos cuadras del club nocturno de Orlando en el que un asaltante solitario mató a cuando menos 50 personas e hirió a otras 53, en lo que es considerado como el peor tiroteo masivo en la historia de Estados Unidos.
Algunos estaban allí para expresar su solidaridad con las víctimas del tiroteo, mientras otras buscaban averiguar el paradero de sus seres queridos.
Entre ellos Rafael Rivera, un vecino del sector de origen puertorriqueño, quien expresó su preocupación por dos de sus amigos que se encontraban en el club Pulse en la madrugada del domingo y de quienes no ha tenido noticia desde entonces.
“Si no están acá, vamos a ir de hospital en hospital hasta que los encontremos”, dijo Rivera. “Estamos todos preocupados, orando y esperando que estén bien”.
Al parecer las víctimas son en su mayoría de origen hispano, ya que los sábados en la noche era fiesta latina, aseguró Siomaira Hernández, quien frecuentaba el lugar.
De hecho, las autoridades han dado a conocer hasta ahora los nombres de siete víctimas mortales, todas hispanas. Ellos son Edward Sotomayor Jr., de 34 años, Stanley Almodovar III, de 23 años, Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, de 20 años, Juan Ramón Guerrero, de 22 años, Eric Iván Ortiz-Rivera, de 36 años, Peter O. González-Cruz, de 22 años y Luis S. Vielma, de 22 años.
De acuerdo con versiones periodísticas, en el interior de la discoteca todavía hay decenas de cadáveres en proceso de identificación.
La tragedia ocurrió la madrugada del domingo, cuando Omar Mateen, un ciudadano estadounidense de origen afgano, ingresó al local armado con un fusil de asalto AR-15 y una pistola de mano y comenzó a disparar sobre una multitud de al menos 300 personas. El Pulse es uno de los clubes gay más populares de Orlando.
La ex esposa de Omar Mateen, presunto responsable por la masacre en Orlando que dejó un saldo de al menos 50 muertos, identificó estas fotografías subidas a la red social My Space, en declaraciones al diario Washington Post.
Fotos tomadas de My Space
En las cercanías del club, personas de diferentes orígenes, nacionalidades, identidades sexuales y religiones también acudieron al lugar a expresar su voz de rechazo. Uno de ellos, Hasan Shibly, director ejecutivo del Consejo de las Relaciones Americanas e Islámicas, dijo que estaba allí para reiterar que el autor de la masacre no representaba la ideología de la religión islámica.
“Estoy acá para rechazar todo tipo de violencia contra mis conciudadanos de la Florida”, dijo Shibly.
Cientos de personas se presentaron también a las instalaciones de OneBlood con el objetivo de donar sangre para los heridos. Sin embargo, esta organización se ciñe a las normas de la FDA (Administración de Alimentos y Drogas), que no permite que las personas que hayan tenido relaciones homosexuales durante el último año, donen su sangre.
El presidente Barack Obama calificó el ataque contra un club nocturno de Orlando como un acto de terror y odio. Un hombre armado atacó la madrugada del domingo una discoteca gay en Orlando, matando al menos a 50 personas y dejando heridas a otras 53.
Casa Blanca
Mientras tanto, los helicópteros sobrevolaban el lugar de los hechos, y las autoridades vigilaban el perímetro. Algunas personas, como Ángel Ayala repartían agua a quienes se encontraban afuera del área acordonada.
“En estos momentos de necesidad sentimos que nos tenemos que desbordar y ayudar a los familiares de las víctimas y aportar un granito de arena de la forma en la que podamos”, dijo Ayala.
The outbreak took its toll on Chinese shares when markets reopened on Monday following the Lunar New Year holiday. The Shanghai Composite index closed nearly 8% lower, its biggest daily drop for more than four years.
What measures has the US taken?
On 23 January, the US ordered the departure of all non-emergency US personnel and their family members from the city of Wuhan in Hubei province, where the virus originated.
Less than a week later, the US allowed for the voluntary departure of non-emergency personnel and relatives of US government employees from China.
On 30 January, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global health emergency over the new virus.
Following this, the US ordered the departure of all US personnel family members under the age of 21 in China.
Any US citizen who has been in Hubei province will be subject to 14 days’ quarantine upon returning to the US.
What are other countries doing to stem the outbreak?
On Monday, Hong Kong said it was suspending from midnight local time (16:00 GMT) 10 out of 13 border crossings with mainland China.
Media captionIndonesians evacuated from Wuhan are sprayed with disinfectant
Various countries have imposed varying travel restrictions and other preventative measures, including:
Denying entry to all foreign visitors who have recently been to China: US, Australia, Singapore
Denying entry to foreigners travelling from mainland China: New Zealand, Israel. (Russia will also apply these restrictions, though not through Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport)
Denying entry to foreigners who have visited Hubei province: Japan, South Korea
Temporarily suspending all flights to mainland China: Egypt, Finland, Indonesia, the UK, Italy
Closing the border with China: Mongolia, Russia (partially)
The body that represents some of the world’s largest cruise ship operators, the Cruise Lines International Association, announced on Monday that passengers and crew members who had recently travelled to China would not be allowed to board vessels.
How did China react to the US measures?
In a news briefing on Monday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said the US actions “could only create and spread fear” instead of offering assistance.
She said the US was the first country to impose a travel ban on Chinese travellers and the first to suggest a partial withdrawal of its embassy staff.
“It is precisely developed countries like the US with strong epidemic prevention capabilities… that have taken the lead in imposing excessive restrictions contrary to WHO recommendations,” Ms Hua said, according to a Reuters report.
But Ms Hua also said that China urgently needed “medical masks, protective suits and safety goggles”.
Media captionAerial time-lapse shows a Wuhan hospital being built in 10 days
Do the travel bans work?
Global health officials have advised against the bans.
The WHO has warned that closing borders could even accelerate the spread of the virus, if travellers enter countries unofficially.
“Travel restrictions can cause more harm than good by hindering info-sharing, medical supply chains and harming economies,” the head of the WHO, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said last week.
The WHO instead recommends introducing screening at border crossings.
On Monday, Dr Tedros again praised China for its commitment to fighting the coronavirus, stressing that the only way to defeat it was for all countries to work together “in a spirit of co-operation”.
How deadly is the virus?
More than 75,000 people may have been infected in the city of Wuhan, experts say.
But estimates by the University of Hong Kong suggest the total number of cases could be far higher than the official figures.
A report on the early stages of the outbreak by the Lancet medical journal said most patients who died from the virus had pre-existing conditions.
The report found that, of the first 99 patients treated at the Jinyintan Hospital in Wuhan, 40 had a weak heart or damaged blood vessels. A further 12 had diabetes.
Most people infected are likely to fully recover – just as they would from a normal flu.
An expert at China’s National Health Commission (NHC) said that one week was sufficient for a recovery from mild coronavirus symptoms.
How has the coronavirus outbreak affected you? Has your family been affected? What about your business or your travel plans? You can share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
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WASHINGTON – Today’s off-year elections are state and local affairs, but they will still tell us something about the national political scene one year before the 2020 election.
How much redder is rural America growing as the blueness of cities spreads to the suburbs?
Will the governors’ races in Kentucky, Mississippi and – later this month in Louisiana –be more evidence that voters are increasingly unwilling to vote one way for federal office and another for state leaders?
And then there’s what the elections could say about the popularity of President Donald Trump.
The president tried to push GOP gubernatorial candidates over the finish line while staying clear of Republicans’ efforts to hold onto their narrow majority in the Virginia state legislature – all while fighting a growing impeachment inquiry in Washington.
“There is no getting away from what is happening nationally, even in these off-year elections,” said Page Gardner, president of the Voter Participation Center, which tries to increase engagement among unmarried women, young people and people of color. “At the end of the day, whatever you say, you’re running in an operating environment that is being defined by his presidency.”
Here’s a look at what to watch for when the results come in.
Kentucky governor’s race
Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin is the best example of a Trump proxy on the ballot today.
Besides sharing Trump’s pugilistic style, Bevin has also tied himself closely to Trump.
“Matt’s proudly pro-life, against sanctuary cities for illegal immigrants and against impeaching our president,” says one of Bevin’s ads that ends with him waving from Air Force One with Trump.
President Barack Obama nominated her to the United States District Court for New Jersey in 2010. She had previously served as a magistrate judge and an assistant federal public defender.
Last week, Judge Salas was assigned to a class-action lawsuit a group of investors filed against Deutsche Bank, contending that the firm failed to flag questionable transactions that were made from the account of the financier Jeffrey Epstein, who died last August while in jail awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Image caption
Donald Trump y Hillary Clinton siguen con paso firme en las primarias.
El republicano Donald Trump y la demócrata Hillary Clinton se impusieron en la mayoría de elecciones primarias celebradas este martes en Estados Unidos.
Trump logró la victoria en Florida, Illinois y Carolina del Norte, y sufrió su único revés de la noche a manos de John Kasich en Ohio, una derrota que le da vida a la carrera republicana por la nominación de cara a las elecciones presidenciales del próximo mes de noviembre.
El triunfo del multimillonario en Florida precipitó la decisión del candidato de origen cubano Marco Rubio de suspender su campaña.
Image copyright Getty
Image caption
Este martes se votaron las primarias en cinco estados: Florida, Carolina del Norte, Illinois, Misuri y Ohio.
Los analistas consideraban que Rubio debía ganar las primarias de su estado natal para mantenerse a flote en la contienda republicana, algo que no sucedió.
“No es el plan de Dios que sea presidente en 2016 o quizá nunca”, dijo el senador de Florida de 44 años.
Las elecciones de este martes eran clave dentro del extenso calendario de las primarias republicanas, pues el ganador en Florida y Ohio se llevaba todos los delegados en juego en esos estados.
En el bando demócrata, con sus victorias frente a Bernie Sanders en Florida, Ohio, Illinois y Carolina del Norte, Hillary Clinton sigue con paso firme en el camino para ser la aspirante de su partido a la Casa Blanca.
Kasich planta cara
En Ohio el que consiguió la victoria en el bando republicano no fue Trump, sino John Kasich, actual gobernador del estado.
De esta manera Kasich logró frenar, aunque sea temporalmente, el avance triunfal hacia la nominación del magnate neoyorquino.
Kasich es visto por muchos republicanos como una alternativa a Trump, a pesar de su mal desempeño en las primarias celebradas hasta la fecha. El gobernador de Ohio sólo ha logrado la victoria en su estado.
Image copyright Reuters
Image caption
John Kasich logró la victoria en las primarias republicanas de Ohio, donde es gobernador.
El propio Kasich no ha descartado que sus compañeros lo voten finalmente como candidato del partido para las presidenciales en caso de que en julio, mes en que se realiza la convención republicana, Trump no haya llegado los 1.237 delegados necesarios para lograr automáticamente la nominación.
De hecho, según el periodista de la BBC Jon Sopel, en su discurso en Palm Beach, Trump parecía más preocupado por la derrota en Ohio que por las victorias logradas en al menos Florida, Illinois y Carolina del Norte.
“La victoria de John Kasich significa que la batalla por la nominación republicana no sólo continúa, sino que además podría prolongarse hasta la convención en julio”, señaló Sopel.
Image caption
Marco Rubio anunció que suspende su campaña tras perder en Florida.
Hasta ahora en las urnas el multimillonario solo ha encontrado un real competidor en Ted Cruz, quien, a falta de que se conozca el resultado de Misuri, parece que no ganará en ninguna de las cinco primarias celebradas este martes.
“Nadie más tiene la capacidad matemática que yo (de vencer a Trump). Sólo una campaña ha vencido a Donald Trump una y otra vez a lo largo y ancho del país desde Alaska hasta Maine”, dijo Cruz, al tiempo que convocó a los seguidores de Rubio a votarlo.
Image copyright Getty
Image caption
Tras conocerse su victoria en Florida, Trump habló ante sus seguidores en Palm Beach: “Tenemos que unificar a nuestro partido”.
Donald Trump ha encontrado una fuerte resistencia en las últimas semanas ha sido dentro de su propio partido.
Miembros influyentes del Partido Republicano, como el candidato a la presidencia en 2012, Mitt Romney, consideran que el magnate no cuenta con la preparación necesaria para ser presidente de EE.UU.
En Florida, tras conocerse los resultados de este martes, Trump dijo a sus seguidores que era una “maravillosa noche” y les alentó: “Tenemos que unificar a nuestro partido”.
La mujer que pisa fuerte
Image copyright Getty
Image caption
Las primarias de este martes dejaron a Hillary Clinton en posición de ventaja frente a Bernie Sanders en la carrera por la nominación del Partido Demócrata.
Con sus victorias en al menos Florida, Ohio, Illinois y Carolina del Norte, Hillary Clinton se posiciona cada vez más como la probable candidata demócrata a la presidencia por delante de su contrincante Bernie Sanders.
Los resultados del martes fueron un duro golpe para Sanders, quien esperaba que su victoria de la semana pasada en Michigan le sirviera para conquistar estados demográfica y económicamente similares, como Illinois y Ohio, algo que no sucedió.
Al conocerse los resultados, Sanders declaró: “Una vez más les pido que miren afuera de la caja, afuera del status quo“.
Image copyright AP
Image caption
El demócrata Bernie Sanders no se rinde pese a las derrotas de este martes.
Por su parte, la ex secretaria de Estado y ex primera dama dijo en Florida: “Estamos cerca de asegurarnos la nominación del Partido Demócrata y ganar estas elecciones en noviembre”.
Clinton también dedicó parte de su discurso a Trump: “Cuando escuchamos a un candidato a la presidencia apoyar la deportación de 12 millones de inmigrantes y prohibir la entrada a Estados Unidos a todos los musulmanes, cuando él apoya la tortura, eso no lo hace fuerte. Lo hace estar equivocado“.
Last week, a three-minute clip of Pelosi speaking at the Center for American Progress was uploaded on Facebook by a group called “Politics WatchDog.” Experts believe the video was slowed down, and Pelosi’s pitch manipulated, to make her sound as if she were drunk and slurring her words.
While copies of the clips were removed on YouTube, the original video remains on Facebook, where it has racked up millions of views.
Clinton blasted the social media giant’s inaction.
“When Facebook refused to take down a fake video of Nancy Pelosi, it wasn’t even a close call,” Clinton told the graduates. “The video is sexist trash. And YouTube took it down but Facebook kept it up.”
The former presidential candidate then suggested that a message be sent to Facebook to show opposition to the tech giant’s decision, and she warned that the site would be “flooded” with “false and doctored videos” if nothing happens.
Hurricane Dorian posed an increasing menace to Florida Thursday as it pushed over open waters after doing limited damage in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Dorian was expected to grow into a potentially devastating Category 3 hurricane before hitting the U.S. mainland late Sunday or early Monday somewhere between the Florida Keys and southern Georgia.
“Hurricane Dorian looks like it will be hitting Florida late Sunday night,” President Donald Trump tweeted. “Be prepared and please follow State and Federal instructions, it will be a very big Hurricane, perhaps one of the biggest!”
Dorian blew through the Virgin Islands as a Category 1 hurricane on Wednesday while raking nearby Puerto Rico with high winds and rains.
The storm caused an islandwide blackout in St. Thomas and St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and scattered power outages in St. Croix, government spokesman Richard Motta said. The storm also downed trees and at least one electric pole in St. Thomas, he said.
And there were no reports of serious damage in the British Virgin Islands, where Gov. Augustus Jaspert said crews were already clearing roads and inspecting infrastructure by late Wednesday afternoon.
Early Thursday, Dorian was centered about 150 miles (240 kilometers) north-northwest of San Juan, Puerto Rico. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said its top winds were blowing at 85 mph (140 kph) as the storm moved northwest at 13 mph (20 kph).
The Hurricane Center projected the storm could have winds of 125 mph (200 kph) by the time it reaches the mainland. Also imperiled were the Bahamas, with Dorian’s forecast track running just to the north of Great Abaco and Grand Bahama islands.
In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for counties that could be in the storm’s path, and he urged people to have a week’s worth of supplies on hand.
County governments along the state’s central east coast distributed sandbags and many residents rushed to warehouse retailers to load up on water, canned food and emergency supplies.
Puerto Rico seemed to be spared any heavy wind and rain, a huge relief on an island where blue tarps still cover some 30,000 homes nearly two years after Hurricane Maria. The island’s 3.2 million inhabitants also depend on an unstable power grid that remains prone to outages since it was destroyed by Maria, a Category 4 storm.
Several hundred customers were without power across Puerto Rico, said Ángel Figueroa, president of a union that represents power workers.
Police said an 80-year-old man in the northern town of Bayamón died Wednesday after he fell trying to climb up to his roof to clear it of debris ahead of the storm.
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Asked twice in her first press briefing in six weeks whether the job of Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta was in jeopardy, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders pointedly declined to endorse the embattled department head.
Acosta—the only Hispanic member of Trump’s cabinet—has faced sharp criticism for the leniency he showed as a U.S. attorney in Miami to Jeffrey Epstein, an accused sexual predator. Epstein is alleged to have engaged in the sex trafficking of underaged girls, yet the plea deal to which he ultimately agreed—and which Epstein brokered—had him admit guilt only on two minor prostitution charges.
Though that deal was struck 11 years ago, full details have only recently been brought to public attention. The revelations about Epstein, which come during a time of #MeToo and a broader conversation about disparities in the criminal justice system, have led to calls for Acosta’s resignation.
Sanders did little to tamp down speculation about Acosta’s future in the Trump administration. Asked by a reporter if Trump had any “misgivings” about Acosta’s role in the Epstein deal, Sanders said only that the matter was “currently under review.” She added that the White House was “certainly looking at it.”
A short time later, Sanders was asked by another reporter whether Trump had “full confidence” in Acosta or whether the Labor Secretary was “possibly leaving.”
Related: Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta:
President Donald Trump signs an executive order on a revised Cuba policy aimed at stopping the flow of U.S. cash to the country’s military and security services while maintaining diplomatic relations, Friday, June 16, 2017, in Miami. From left are, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., Florida Gov. Rick Scott, Cary Roque, Vice President Mike Pence and Labor Secretary Alex Acosta. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
President Donald Trump, Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta, third from left, Ivanka Trump, the daughter of President Donald Trump, second from right, and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, right, tour the Waukesha County Technical College in Pewaukee, Wis., Tuesday, June 13, 2017. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
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Sanders passed up the opportunity to reaffirm Trump’s support for Acosta. “I am not aware of any personnel changes,” Sanders said, repeating her previous statement that “those things are currently under review.” She did not say what that review entailed.
Sanders did not immediately respond to a subsequent request for comment.
Were Acosta to either depart or face dismissal, he would be one of a legion of department heads and top-level advisers to leave the administration, including press secretary Sean Spicer, chief of staff Reince Priebus, chief of staff John Kelly, deputy chief of staff Joe Hagin, chief strategist Steve Bannon, communications director Mike Dubke, communications director Hope Hicks, communications director Bill Shine, chief counsel Don McGahn, Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, U.S. attorney general Jeff Sessions, national security adviser Mike Flynn, national security adviser H.R. McMaster, secretary of state Rex Tillerson, Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, FBI director James Comey, and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley.
What the documents say: A memo the committee obtained that was sent by White House trade adviser Peter Navarro in March 2020 warned that the then-isolated cases of Covid-19 would balloon into “a very serious public health emergency” and lamented that “movement has been slow” to prepare. The memo advised the president to shore up domestic supply chains for PPE and accelerate development of diagnostics and therapeutics.
In the months that followed, according to other documents the committee released Wednesday, Navarro and other senior officials and outside advisers pushed federal agencies to give no-bid contracts for pharmaceutical ingredients and other supplies to companies that were recently formed and had political ties with the Trump administration.
One deal under investigation is a $354 million contract awarded to the Phlow Corporation — a first-time government contractor that had incorporated just a few months before receiving the funds. It was the largest contract ever awarded by BARDA, and it followed a series of emails from Navarro to agency leaders in March of 2020.
“Phlow needs to get greenlit as soon as humanly possible…Please move this puppy in Trump time,” he wrote. In a subsequent message he said: “My head is going to explode if this contract does not get immediately approved.”
Steven Hatfill, an adjunct assistant professor at George Washington University with ties to White House political advisor Stephen Bannon, was also involved in brokering the contract, the committee said.
The panel is also investigating a $3 million federal contract given to a company formed by former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Zachary Fuentes to provide respirator masks to the Navajo Nation through the Indian Health Services. Fuentes’ company received the contract just 11 days after its creation.
“When the respirator masks were delivered, IHS determined that they were unsuitable for use in a medical or surgical environment,” the committee wrote, asking for further records detailing how the contract was negotiated.
Why it matters: The Trump administration’s Covid contracting received some scrutiny last year. A plan to loan Eastman Kodak $765 million to shift to producing drug ingredients was scuttled after suspicious stock trades on the eve of the loan’s announcement prompted the U.S. International Development Finance Corp to cite “recent allegations of wrongdoing.”
But Democrats in charge of oversight panels on Capitol Hill say there is still more to uncover, in part because the Trump administration did not respond to requests for documents. Republicans on the committees are complaining that the panels are focusing too much on the past and failing to hold the Biden administration accountable.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday that the U.S. hopes to gain access soon to a former Marine who was arrested in Russia on espionage charges and that “if the detention is not appropriate we will demand his immediate return.”
Paul Whelan, who is head of global security for a Michigan-based auto parts supplier, was arrested on Friday. In announcing the arrest three days later, the Russian Federal Security Service said he was caught “during an espionage operation,” but it gave no details.
Whelan, 48, was in Moscow to attend a wedding when he suddenly disappeared, his brother David Whelan said Tuesday.
Pompeo, speaking in Brazil, said the U.S. is “hopeful within the next hours we’ll get consular access to see him and get a chance to learn more.”
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The U.S. has “made clear to the Russians our expectation that we will learn more about the charges and come to understand what it is he’s been accused of and if the detention is not appropriate we will demand his immediate return,” Pompeo said.
Whelan’s family said in a statement David Whelan posted on Twitter, “We are deeply concerned for his safety and well-being. His innocence is undoubted and we trust that his rights will be respected.”
The Russian spying charges carry a prison sentence of up to 20 years.
David Whelan said in an interview that his brother had been to Russia several times previously, so when a fellow former Marine was planning a wedding in Moscow with a Russian woman he was asked to go along to help out.
The morning of his arrest, he had taken a group of wedding guests on a tour of the Kremlin museums. The last time anyone heard from him was at about 5 p.m. and then he failed to show up that evening for the wedding, his brother said.
“It was extraordinarily out of character,” he said.
The family feared he had been mugged or was in a car accident, David Whelan said, and it was when searching the internet on Monday that he learned of the arrest.
“I was looking for any stories about dead Americans in Moscow, so in a way it was better than finding out that he had died,” he said.
The State Department said Monday it had received formal notification from the Russian Foreign Ministry of the arrest and was pushing for consular access. David Whelan said the family was told by the U.S. Embassy in Moscow they have not been able to speak to Paul Whelan.
David Whelan said he has no idea why his brother was targeted by the Russian security services. Paul Whelan had traveled to Russia in the past for work and to visit friends he had met on social networks, his brother said.
“I don’t think there’s any chance that he’s a spy,” David Whelan told CNN on Wednesday.
Paul Whelan did multiple tours in Iraq with the Marine Corps, his brother said. He now lives in Novi, Michigan, and is director of global security for BorgWarner, where he has worked since early 2017.
“He is responsible for overseeing security at our facilities in Auburn Hills, Michigan and at other company locations around the world,” company spokeswoman Kathy Graham said in a statement.
She said BorgWarner does not have any facilities in Russia.
Paul Whelan previously worked for Kelly Services, which does maintain offices in Russia, his brother said.
The arrest comes as U.S.-Russian ties are severely strained, in part over Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
A Russian gun rights activist, Maria Butina, is in U.S. custody after admitting she acted as a secret agent for the Kremlin in trying to infiltrate conservative U.S. political groups as Donald Trump was seeking the presidency. She pleaded guilty in December to a conspiracy charge as part of a deal with federal prosecutors.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed that the case is fabricated and that Butina entered the guilty plea because of the threat of a long prison sentence.
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Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to this report.
Hace menos de una semana el combate a los distintos focos de incendios forestales que azotaban al país movilizó no solo a los esfuerzos nacionales, si no que además llevó a que el Gobierno solicitara apoyo internacional.
Una de las preguntas que más rondó en la opinión pública tenía directa relación con quiénes debían ser los encargados primeramente del combate del fuego. El equipo de investigación de Ahora Noticias indagó a una serie de empresas españolas que han ganado licitaciones de Conaf, pero que tienen varias denuncias en su contra, tanto en su país como en otras naciones.
Colusión, tráfico de influencias, sobornos y cohecho internacional, entre otros delitos, han llevado a que la justicia investigara a fondo a las empresas de Faasa, Inaer y Martínez Vidau, para descubrir cómo llegaban a ganar varios concursos públicos.
El “Modus Operandi” también se habría repetido en el país ganando licitaciones en áreas que hace pocos días estuvieron en un arduo combate con el fuego, dejando damnificados además de miles de hectáreas quemadas.
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