Month: July 2021

Categories
World News

Foxconn says iPhone manufacturing unit not impacted

Foxconn says iPhone factory not impacted

Vehicles are stranded in floodwater near Zhengzhou Railway Station on July 20, 2021 in Zhengzhou, Henan Province of China.

Zhu Zhe | Visual China Group | Getty Images

GUANGZHOU, China — Taiwan electronics manufacturer Foxconn said Wednesday that its factory in Zhengzhou — known as the world’s largest iPhone assembly plant — has not been impacted by major flooding in the city.

Zhengzhou in China’s central Henan province has been hit with torrential rain. Authorities said it rained more in an hour on Tuesday than it normally would in an average month.

The result has been intense flooding in the city of more than 10 million people. Over 100,000 people have been relocated to safety and 12 people have died, according to state media reports.

Zhengzhou, an important industrial hub, is home to a major factory run by Hon Hai Precision Industry, also known a Foxconn. It is the biggest assembly plant for Apple’s iPhones in the world. Foxconn said its operations had not been affected by the flooding.

Foxconn told CNBC that it had “activated an emergency response plan for flood control measures in that location.”

“We can confirm that there has been no direct impact on our facility in that location to date and we are closely monitoring the situation and will provide any updates as appropriate,” a company spokesperson added.

Apple did not respond to a request for comment.

‘Extremely severe’

Chinese President Xi Jinping called the flooding “extremely severe,” according to his comments published by the official Xinhua news agency.

Unverified videos circulating on Chinese social media such as Twitter-like service Weibo, showed people trapped on a train in Zhengzhou’s subway system submerged in water up to their chests.

Other images show cars floating in flooded streets.

Policemen evacuate traffic in floodwater near Zhengzhou Railway Station on July 20, 2021 in Zhengzhou, Henan Province of China.

Zhu Zhe | Visual China Group | Getty Images

Zhengzhou’s subway network has suspended its operations while hundreds of flights have been cancelled. The army has been called in to help with the rescue efforts.

Various state media reported stories of rescue efforts including 150 kindergarten teachers and students being successfully saved and people being taken off buses stuck in flooded roads.

State-backed newspaper Xinhua, citing the chief forecaster for Henan province’s meteorological station, said the heavy rainfall is expected to last until Wednesday evening.

Categories
Health

WHO chief addresses IOC in Japan, warns of recent Covid wave

WHO chief addresses IOC in Japan, warns of new Covid wave

World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus will attend a daily press conference on COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, on March 11, 2020 at WHO headquarters in Geneva.

Fabrice Coffrini | AFP | Getty Images

The world is in the early stages of another wave of Covid-19 infections and deaths, World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday.

Speaking to members of the International Olympic Committee in Tokyo, Tedros said the global failure to share vaccines, tests and treatments is fueling a “two-pronged pandemic”. Countries with adequate resources like vaccines are opening up while others lock up to slow down the transmission of the virus.

Vaccine discrepancies around the world mask a “appalling injustice,” he added.

The pandemic is a test and the world is failing.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

Director General, World Health Organization

“This is not only a moral outrage, but also epidemiologically and economically self-destructive,” Tedros said, adding that the longer the pandemic lasts, the more socio-economic turmoil it will bring. “The pandemic is a test and the world is failing.”

He warned: “19 months after the start of the pandemic and seven months since the first vaccines were approved, we are now in the early stages of another wave of infections and deaths”. Tedros added that the global threat from the pandemic will remain until all countries have the disease under control.

A festival of hope

The Tokyo Games are slated to open on Friday after being postponed last year due to the pandemic.

Rising Covid-19 cases in Tokyo have overshadowed the Olympics, which excluded all viewers from the Games this month after Japan declared a state of emergency.

The cases around the Japanese capital have increased by more than 1,000 new infections daily in the past few days. Japan has reported more than 848,000 Covid cases and over 15,000 deaths nationwide from a relatively slow vaccine adoption.

The first positive Covid-19 case hit the athletes’ village over the weekend and so far more than 70 cases have been linked to the Tokyo Games.

On Wednesday, Tedros said the Games were a celebration of “something our world needs now more than ever – a celebration of hope”. While the pandemic may have postponed the Games, he said it did not “beat” them.

Vaccine discrepancies

Tedros criticized the vaccine discrepancies between rich and low-income countries. He said 75% of all vaccine doses – more than 3.5 billion vaccinations – were given in just 10 countries, while only 1% of people in poorer countries received at least one vaccination.

“Vaccines are powerful and indispensable tools. But the world has not used them well,” he said, adding that vaccinations have not been widely available but have been concentrated in the “hands and arms of the lucky few”.

The global health authority has called for at least 70% of the population in every country to be vaccinated by the middle of next year.

“The pandemic will end when the world chooses to end it. It’s in our hands, ”said Tedros. “We have all the tools we need: we can prevent this disease, we can test for it, and we can treat it.”

He called on the world’s leading economies, by sharing vaccines and funding global efforts to make them more accessible, and incentivizing companies to expand vaccine production.

Disclosure: CNBC parent NBCUniversal owns NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. NBC Olympics owns the U.S. broadcast rights to all Summer and Winter Games through 2032.

Categories
Politics

Biden to Identify a Critic of Huge Tech because the Prime Antitrust Cop

Biden to Name a Critic of Big Tech as the Top Antitrust Cop

The White House said on Tuesday that it would nominate Jonathan Kanter to be the top antitrust official at the Justice Department, a move that would add another longtime critic of Big Tech and corporate concentration to a powerful regulatory position.

President Biden’s plan to appoint Mr. Kanter, an antitrust lawyer who has made a career out of representing rivals of American tech giants like Google and Facebook, signals how strongly the administration is siding with the growing field of lawmakers, researchers and regulators who say Silicon Valley has obtained outsize power over the way Americans speak with one another, buy products online and consume news.

Mr. Biden has named other critics of Big Tech to prominent roles, such as Lina Khan, a critic of Amazon, to lead the Federal Trade Commission. Tim Wu, another legal scholar who says regulators need to crack down on the tech giants, serves in an economic policy role at the White House. And this month, Mr. Biden signed a sweeping executive order aimed at increasing competition across the economy and limiting corporate dominance.

Mr. Kanter, 47, is the founder of Kanter Law Group, which bills itself online as an “antitrust advocacy boutique.” He previously worked at the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. His services have attracted some of the most prominent critics of Big Tech in corporate America, including Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp and Microsoft as well as upstarts like Spotify and Yelp.

If he is confirmed by the Senate, Mr. Kanter will lead a division of the Justice Department that last year filed a lawsuit arguing Google had illegally protected a monopoly over online search services. The antitrust division of the agency has also been asking questions about Apple’s business practices.

The White House took more than six months from Mr. Biden’s swearing-in to land on Mr. Kanter. The administration has had to juggle progressive and moderate factions within its own party, as well as the likelihood of Republican support in a divided Senate.

The decision won immediate approval from policymakers and advocacy groups helping to lead the charge for more stringent antitrust enforcement.

Senator Amy Klobuchar, the Minnesota Democrat who leads the antitrust subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee, called Mr. Kanter “an excellent choice,” citing his “deep legal experience and history of advocating for aggressive action.”

Sarah Miller, the executive director of the American Economic Liberties Project, a progressive advocacy group, said in a statement that “President Biden has made an excellent choice to lead the D.O.J.’s antitrust division,” noting that Mr. Kanter had “devoted his career to reinvigorating antitrust enforcement.”

Makan Delrahim, a lawyer who led the Justice Department’s antitrust efforts under President Donald J. Trump, said in a text message that Mr. Kanter would be a “great leader” of the division and called him a “serious lawyer” with private sector and government experience.

Daily Business Briefing

Updated 

July 20, 2021, 6:55 p.m. ET

The announcement may be less warmly embraced by deal-makers on Wall Street who have helped drive mergers and acquisitions volumes to record levels, propelled in part by an exuberant stock market.

Scrutiny in Washington on acquisitions has expanded beyond headline-grabbing Big Tech deals to industries like consumer goods, agriculture, insurance and health care.

The Justice Department has sued to block the proposed merger of Aon and Willis Towers Watson, its first major antitrust action since Mr. Biden took office. The F.T.C. announced in March that it was forming a group to “update” its approach to evaluating the impact of pharmaceutical deals, an industry that generally falls under its purview. That followed a report led by Representative Katie Porter, a Democrat from California, scrutinizing deals in the industry.

In recent years, Mr. Kanter built an unusual practice out of criticizing the tech giants from inside Washington’s corporate law firms. The tech giants have become lucrative clients for major law firms, often making it difficult for those firms to work for their opponents.

But last year, he left Paul, Weiss — an elite corporate litigation firm — because his portfolio representing critics of the tech giants conflicted with other work the firm was doing.

“Jonathan made this decision due to a complicated legal conflict that would have required him to discontinue important and longstanding client representations and relationships,” the firm said at the time.

Mr. Kanter’s critics are likely to question whether his previous work is a conflict of interest that should keep him out of investigations into the tech giants. Both Facebook and Amazon have asked that Ms. Khan recuse herself from matters involving the companies at the F.T.C., even though her background is as a legal scholar and not a paid representative for their rivals.

Asked whether Mr. Kanter would recuse himself from cases involving Google and Apple, a White House official simply said the administration was confident that it could move forward with his nomination given his expertise and record.

Even if Mr. Kanter has the votes to be confirmed it is likely to be months before he takes over at the Justice Department. Congress takes a long break during August — which could push his confirmation past Labor Day.

Cecilia Kang contributed reporting.

Categories
Entertainment

A part of a Seismic Shift in Ballet, Hope Muir Takes on a Main Position

Part of a Seismic Shift in Ballet, Hope Muir Takes on a Major Role

In early July, an article in The Toronto Star speculated about the pandemic-delayed, but at that point imminent, announcement of a successor to Karen Kain, the treasured former ballerina who had just stepped down as artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada after 16 years.

In the article, Tamara Rojo, Guillaume Coté and Crystal Pite, among others, were suggested as potential replacements. Hope Muir, whose appointment was announced on July 7, was not.

“The fact that they hired me and you have to Google is telling,” said Muir, 50, the current artistic director of the Charlotte Ballet in North Carolina. “I feel like more people like me, who weren’t necessarily huge stars, are going to end up in these roles, with perhaps a somewhat different approach to what ballet can be: more diverse, with more access and transparency about what you are doing.”

Muir’s appointment — she steps into the role on Jan. 1, 2022 — is part of a seismic shift in the ballet world. Over the next two years, Helgi Tomasson at San Francisco Ballet and Kevin McKenzie at American Ballet Theater will both step down; Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui will leave a vacancy at the Royal Ballet of Flanders when he moves to run the Grand Théâtre de Genève; Christian Spuck will be replaced by Cathy Marston at the Zurich Ballet when he takes over the Staatsballett Berlin.

“There is a new generation of artists,” Muir said in a Zoom interview from Charlotte. “You need people who want to have the conversations with them, listen to them and have empathy for their experience and what they want.”

Muir was born in Toronto, where she began to study ballet, but decided to dance professionally only after moving to England with her mother at 15 years old. She joined the newly formed English National Ballet School then danced with English National Ballet, Rambert and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago before becoming a freelance stager and ballet mistress. After a stint as the associate artistic director at Scottish Ballet, she took over from Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux at the Charlotte Ballet in 2017.

“I think Hope knew she wanted to be a director when she was 5,” said the choreographer Helen Pickett, who has worked regularly with Muir at the Charlotte Ballet. “She is a connector and a gatherer. She genuinely loves the community, and she has the long view. She knows ballet can evolve and she has a beautiful, keen understanding of both classical and contemporary work.”

In a wide-ranging conversation, Muir talked about her early self-doubt, her ideas for the National Ballet of Canada and whether enough is being done in the ballet world to promote diversity and change. Here are edited excerpts from the conversation.

You once said you didn’t want to direct a big ballet company. What changed your mind?

I don’t think I had the trust in my own experience at that time. I had been mostly staging work on smaller companies, and when I first applied for an artistic director job, I didn’t even get an interview. After I became assistant artistic director at Scottish Ballet, I thought, “Hang on, I have danced in a ballet company, I am working in a ballet company and I shouldn’t narrow my options.” After I came to Charlotte, I was 100 percent invested in the potential of this company, and I turned down a few offers.

But when the National Ballet of Canada approached, I paused. I was very aware that a job like this doesn’t come around that often. I sat with it for a bit, then thought, why couldn’t I do this? One thing that I kept thinking was, “You’ve not been a star, not been a prima ballerina? Will they want a big name?” I thought, “Well, why don’t I just find out?”

I think women often worry about their qualifications for a job whereas men will take their chances.

One hundred percent, this has happened to us as women. Men will apply for things they don’t have experience of; women will do the checklist: Do I meet the criteria?

What kind of artistic vision did you present to the search committee?

There wasn’t a vision statement as such. They gave the candidates a three-year programming exercise that included various anchor ballets that you had to incorporate, as well as making sure there was representation of female choreographers, Canadian choreographers, and Black, Indigenous and people of color choreographers in each season. It was a fascinating and very satisfying exercise because when you look at ballet repertory, you realize that most ballets are choreographed by white men.

There were many other elements in my presentation, but working with young choreographers is very important to me. My nature is to nurture. I take the most satisfaction in the thoughtful development of the artists and in pushing the art form forward. A ballet company today needs to lead with stories that connect and keep people interested in the classical tradition.

What will your balance between classical and contemporary be at the National Ballet of Canada?

I think the current balance between classical and contemporary is good. There are full-length ballets that we’ll keep and relationships with contemporary choreographers like Crystal Pite, which I would love to continue. I would like to work with many people who have come to the Charlotte Ballet — Christian Spuck, Helen Pickett, David Dawson, Alonso King. And I need to immerse myself in the Canadian dance scene.

There is a lot of talk about the need for more diversity, more inclusion, more female voices in ballet. Is change happening fast enough?

The conversation has started, but there is a lot of work to still do. The changes need to be thoughtful, measured and permanent.

You need to give people opportunities without tokenism, and at the right moment in their careers. I am thinking about commissioning smaller works first and asking people to come and hang out while other work is being done, because the culture and practices of a big ballet company can be intimidating. Then there are amazing people like Alonso King, who should be acknowledged as a trailblazer.

More work could be done in training to encourage girls to develop their individual voice. I started a choreographic lab here in Charlotte that runs all year, and I want to do the same in Toronto. If one opportunity a year comes up, women are often too exhausted because they dance more. This way they can pop in and out.

I am excited about all these ideas, and for my colleagues and friends who are also taking up director positions. Sometimes we get together and say, “Is someone going to come in and tell us this isn’t real?”

Categories
Health

White Home Dispute Exposes Fb Blind Spot on Misinformation

White House Dispute Exposes Facebook Blind Spot on Misinformation

“The suggestion that we did not allocate resources to combat Covid misinformation and aid vaccine roll-out is simply not supported by the facts,” said Dani Lever, a Facebook spokeswoman. “With no standard definition of vaccine misinformation and with both false and true content (often shared by mainstream media) that may discourage vaccine adoption, we focus on the results – we measure whether people using Facebook have Covid Accept -19 vaccines. ”

Facebook executives, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg, have said the company has pledged to remove Covid-19 misinformation since the beginning of the pandemic. The company said it has removed over 18 million Covid-19 misinformation since the pandemic began.

Experts investigating disinformation said the number of parts removed from Facebook wasn’t as revealing, how many were uploaded to the site, or what groups and pages people saw misinformation spreading.

“You have to open the black box that represents your content ranking and content amplification architecture. Take that black box and open it for review by independent researchers and the government, ”said Imran Ahmed, executive director of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a nonprofit dedicated to combating disinformation. “We don’t know how many Americans have been infected with misinformation.”

Ahmed’s group, using publicly available data from CrowdTangle, a program owned by Facebook, found that 12 people were responsible for 65 percent of the Covid-19 misinformation on Facebook. The White House, including Mr Biden, repeated that number over the past week. Facebook says it disagrees with the characterization of the “dozen of disinformation,” adding that some of their pages and accounts have been removed while others stop posting content that violates Facebook rules.

Renée DiResta, a disinformation researcher at Stanford Internet Observatory, urged Facebook to post more detailed data that would allow experts to understand how false claims about the vaccine affect certain communities in the country. The information known as “prevalence data” essentially examines how widespread a narrative is, e.g. B. What percentage of the people in a community see them on duty.

“The reason more detailed prevalence data is needed is because false claims are not spread equally among all audiences,” said Ms. DiResta. “To effectively counter certain false claims that communities see, civil society organizations and researchers need a better understanding of what is happening in these groups.”

Categories
Health

NYC to require vaccinations or weekly Covid exams for metropolis well being care, hospital staff: Sources

NYC to require vaccinations or weekly Covid tests for city health care, hospital workers: Sources

Bill de Blasio, Mayor of New York.

Jeenah moon | Reuters

New York City will require all employees in city health facilities and hospitals to be vaccinated or have weekly Covid tests, with positivity rates continuing to rise as the Delta variant spreads, City Hall officials told NBC New York.

Mayor Bill de Blasio will release details on the request Wednesday morning, including those that go with it, sources said. The plan targets the unvaccinated third of all healthcare and hospital workers in the city.

“It’s about the safety of a health system,” said Bill Neidhardt, the mayor’s press officer.

This is a developing story. Please check again for updates.

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World News

PEPFAR Is Nonetheless With out a Chief. H.I.V. Activists Wish to Know Why.

PEPFAR Is Still Without a Leader. H.I.V. Activists Want to Know Why.

The Biden administration has not yet nominated a leader for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, a $7 billion program that sets priorities for AIDS care worldwide — leaving countries that receive funding from the program without guidance during a pandemic that is particularly dire for those with H.I.V.

PEPFAR is led by a global AIDS coordinator, a cabinet-level position that was last held by Dr. Deborah Birx. Dr. Birx served from April 2014 to February 2020, when she left to join the White House coronavirus task force. Dr. Angeli Achrekar, a deputy, has acted as PEPFAR’s interim leader since President Biden took office.

Global health experts sharply criticized the delay in nominating a permanent chief. “Can we not think and act on two pandemics at a time?” asked Gregg Gonsalves, a longtime H.I.V. activist and an epidemiologist at the Yale School of Public Health.

PEPFAR was started in 2003 by President George W. Bush and has had bipartisan support ever since. Funds distributed by PEPFAR are used to support prevention and treatment programs, including offering voluntary male circumcision, as well as testing for H.I.V. and providing antiretroviral therapy to people of all ages.

It is widely regarded as the most successful global health program. Since its inception, the U.S. government has invested more than $85 billion in more than 60 countries, saving an estimated 20 million lives.

“PEPFAR is an example of what can be done when you combine diplomacy and global health,” said Dr. Carlos del Rio, an infectious-disease expert at Emory University in Atlanta and chair of PEPFAR’s scientific advisory board. “Throughout Africa, they love and they respect the U.S. because of PEPFAR.”

Credit…U.S. Department of State

Last week, a group of more than 50 advocacy organizations sent a letter to Mr. Biden, urging him to “immediately appoint a bold, creative and qualified” leader for PEPFAR. “This is unacceptable, particularly during a time of the dueling pandemics of H.I.V. and Covid-19,” they wrote.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted access to H.I.V. prevention, diagnosis and treatment, as well as supply chains for condoms, lubricants and antiretroviral drugs, according to a recent report from UNAIDS.

And the pandemic has reversed hard-gained progress on ending H.I.V., including a 23 percent annual decrease in new infections since 2010.

The inertia on naming a leader is particularly damaging “when more leadership, ambition and governance is sorely needed to guide global efforts to make up lost ground on the H.I.V. response,” said Suraj Madoori, a director of the Treatment Action Group, an advocacy organization based in New York.

A new study released last week showed that people living with H.I.V. have a heightened risk of serious illness and death from Covid-19. The coronavirus pandemic could also benefit from the health care infrastructure set up to provide services for H.I.V., experts noted.

“There’s a lot that can happen now, using the PEPFAR structure to confront Covid in those countries,” Dr. del Rio said.

“Not leveraging the PEPFAR infrastructure — I think it’s crazy, it’s a huge missed opportunity,” he added. “This administration has been around for six months. Why have we not appointed them?”

Dr. del Rio said PEPFAR’s chief had been noticeably absent from global conversations, including a recent U.N. resolution to end AIDS by 2030, and efforts to enable PEPFAR sites to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. It’s also important for PEPFAR’s chief to speak up for the program when budget dollars are allocated, Dr. del Rio added: “I almost feel like the program is basically at a standstill.”

The absence of a U.S. voice is also having ripple effects on many issues in African countries, said Richard Lusimbo, a program manager at Pan Africa ILGA in Uganda. Core programs for key populations like L.G.B.T.Q. people have been cut in several countries since the start of the Biden administration. In Ivory Coast, for example, the budget for key population services was cut by half.

In Kenya, a dispute between its government and the U.S. Agency for International Development has led to a shortage of antiretroviral drugs. A permanent PEPFAR leader with political power would have been able to resolve that dispute, Mr. Lusimbo said.

Mr. Biden named Samantha Power to lead USAID on Jan. 13, even before he took office. And last week, the White House announced nominees for seven other positions.

For weeks, the H.I.V. community has heard that the administration is considering five widely known global health experts to lead PEPFAR: Shannon Hader, Charles Holmes, Chris Beyrer, Vanessa Kerry and Paul Farmer. But no candidate has emerged as the front-runner.

“Unfortunately, we are watching as global support for the Covid-19 response in Africa is missing, the AIDS response is being weakened, and it is not clear who the U.S. government’s leader is on this,” Mr. Lusimbo said. “Does the administration not understand that, for our communities, the AIDS response and the Covid-19 response are critically interlinked?”

Categories
Politics

Trump good friend Tom Barrack arrested on UAE lobbying fees

Trump friend Tom Barrack arrested on UAE lobbying charges

Thomas Barrack, a private equity investor who is a close friend of former President Donald Trump, was arrested Tuesday morning in Los Angeles on federal charges of illegally operating Trump on behalf of the United Arab Emirates.

Barrack, who was charged with two other men in a seven-fold indictment in Brooklyn, New York federal court, served as chairman of Trump’s 2017 charter fund.

The Santa Monica, California resident, along with the other defendants, is charged with secretly advancing the interests of the United Arab Emirates, on the direction of senior officials in that country, by influencing the foreign policy positions of Trump’s 2016 election campaign and then the positions of the US government during the campaign Advance Trump’s presidency through April 2018.

Barrack, who never registered with the US government as an agent for the UAE, is also charged with obstruction of justice and providing several false claims during an interview with federal police officers in June 2019.

The indictment states that Barrack, 74, was informally advising American officials on Middle East policy during the indictment period and was also seeking appointment to a senior role in the U.S. government, including serving as special envoy for the Middle East.

The evidence against Barrack includes thousands of emails, text messages, iCloud recordings, flight records and social media records, prosecutors said separately on a sticky note.

Prosecutors said the “evidence for [Barrack’s] Guilt is overwhelming in this case. “

Prosecutors also said that Barrack met and assisted senior leaders of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which is a close ally of the UAE, and that he provided “UAE government officials” with sensitive, non-public information about developments within the government , including information on the positions of several senior US government officials in relation to the blockade of Qatar carried out by the United Arab Emirates and other Middle Eastern countries. ‘”

Charged with Barrack are Matthew Grimes, 27, of Aspen, Colorado, and a 43-year-old UAE citizen, Rashid Sultan Rashid Al Malik Alshahhi, who remains at large.

Grimes, who worked directly for Barrack at Barrack-founded private equity firm Colony Capital, was arrested Tuesday in California.

Grimes has a “close personal relationship” with Barrack, has made more than 50 international trips in Barrack’s private plane and lists Barrack’s $ 15 million home in Aspen as his primary residence, prosecutors said in a court filing.

“Mentioned Barrack several times [Al Malik] as the UAE’s “secret weapon” to advance its foreign policy agenda in the United States, “a Justice Department press release said.

“To promote suspected criminal conspiracy and conduct, Barrack and Grimes, with the assistance of [Al Malik], purchased a dedicated mobile phone and installed a secure messaging application to facilitate Barrack’s communications with senior UAE officials, “the department said.

Deputy Attorney General Mark Lesko, Department of National Security, Department of Justice said: “The defendants repeatedly used Barrack’s friendships and access to a candidate who was eventually elected president, senior election and government officials, and the American media to advance politics A foreign government aims without revealing its true loyalty. “

Thomas Barrack, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Colony Capital Inc., gestures during the closing reception at the Milken Institute Japan Symposium in Tokyo, Japan on Monday, March 25, 2019. The conference brings together business leaders and government officials to discuss geopolitical, economic and social problems faced by Japan. Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota / Bloomberg via Getty Images

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

“The conduct alleged in the indictment is nothing less than betrayal of these officials in the United States, including the former president,” Lesko said in a statement.

Prosecutors in a memo requesting Barracks detention in Los Angeles pending his later bail hearing in Brooklyn said that in communicating with Al Malik, Barrack “designed his efforts to obtain an official position within the government to do it would enable it to serve the interests of the United Arab Emirates and not the interests of the United States. “

“When seeking a position as US Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates or Special Envoy for the Middle East, the defendant informed Al Malik that such an appointment would” give ABU DHABI more power! “The memo states with reference to the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

“Al Malik agreed that if the defendant were successfully appointed to such an official position, it would result in the defendant delivering ‘more’ for the UAE and its efforts[v]very effective operation. ‘ The defendant agreed. “

Prosecutors found that Barrack, who is a Lebanese citizen, is extremely wealthy, has access to a private jet he flew to the UAE in March, and “has deep and longstanding ties to countries that do not have extradition treaties with the United States has “Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

A Trump spokeswoman did not respond immediately to a request for comment on Barrack’s arrest.

Matthew Herrington, an attorney for Barrack, told CNBC that his client was arrested in Los Angeles “although we cooperated with this investigation from the start.”

A Barrack spokesman said: “Mr. Barrack volunteered to investigate from the start. He is not guilty and will plead not guilty.”

Barrack stepped down as CEO of Colony Capital in 2020. In April he stepped down as Executive Chairman of the company.

The Federal Prosecutor’s Office has been investigating Barracks’ alleged work on behalf of the UAE for at least two years.

One of the events that caught their attention was an energy policy speech given by Trump as a presidential candidate in May 2016.

The indictment accuses Barrack of “including a language in which the UAE is praised” and “emailing a preliminary draft of the speech.” [Al Malik] for extradition to senior UAE officials. “

For the next two years, prosecutors claim that Barrack “sought and received instruction and feedback, including topics for discussion, from senior UAE officials in connection with national press appearances that Barrack has used to advance the interests of the UAE.”

“During that time, Barrack never registered as a lobbyist for the UAE as required by the Foreign Agents Registration Act,” the indictment said.

The indictment states that in December 2016, one month after Trump’s election, Barrack attended a meeting with Grimes, Al Malik and senior UAE government officials to advise them to create a “wish list” of US foreign policy, which the UAE wished to be carried out in different periods of time in the new administration.

The indictment also states that the following March Barrack and the other two men agreed to promote the candidacy of a person preferred by senior UAE officials for the post of US ambassador to that country.

And in September 2017, “Al Malik communicated with Barrack about the United Arab Emirates’ resistance to a planned summit at Camp David to resolve an ongoing dispute between the State of Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and other Middle Eastern governments against the President of the United States the holding of the Camp David Summit, “stated the Justice Department in its press release.” The summit never took place. “

The United Arab Emirates, which Trump did business in before he became president, established an important relationship with the United States during the Trump administration.

The UAE signed the 2020 Abraham Agreement, which took steps to normalize relations between a handful of Middle East nations, including Israel.

Last November, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the Trump administration would sell more than $ 23 billion in military equipment to the UAE “in recognition of our deepened relationships” and “in recognition of the nation’s need for advanced defense capabilities to deter and defend oneself ”. against increased threats from Iran. “

A friend of Trump for decades, Barrack appeared as an early supporter of Trump’s presidential run long before many on Wall Street viewed the property developer as a serious contender for the White House.

In the spring of 2016, when Trump started sweeping primaries, Barracks and Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump convinced him that he needed to hire a real campaign manager.

Barrack urged Trump to bring in Paul Manafort, a longtime Washington and Republican lobbyist.

Manafort eventually rose to campaign chairman for Trump before resigning in August 2016 after reports of foreign lobbying on behalf of Ukrainian politicians. Both Manafort and Barrack hoped their collaboration in 2016 would be to the benefit of every man.

Barrack wanted to be appointed Middle East envoy in a future Trump administration. But after Trump won the White House, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner intervened, and Barrack didn’t get the job.

Manafort, meanwhile, had hoped that Barracks connections in the Middle East would lead to lucrative deals for Manafort’s lobbying practice.

But the years of investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller put an end to Barrack and Manafort’s hopes of attaining prominent positions in Trump’s White House.

According to prosecutors, questions about Barrack’s foreign lobbyism first came to light during the investigation into Mueller.

By the end of his investigation, Müller had referred a total of 14 criminal cases to the public prosecutor, most of which are still sealed today.

In 2018, Manafort was found guilty by a jury of eight crimes related to foreign lobbying and tax evasion. He was imprisoned for almost two years and was released in June last year.

Trump later pardoned Manafort just before he left the White House.

Correction: Paul Manafort was convicted of eight crimes in 2018. In an earlier version, the year was incorrectly specified.

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Health

One Dose of J.&J. Vaccine Is Ineffective Towards Delta, Examine Suggests

One Dose of J.&J. Vaccine Is Ineffective Against Delta, Study Suggests

The coronavirus vaccine manufactured by Johnson & Johnson is much less effective against the Delta and Lambda variants than against the original virus, according to a new study published online on Tuesday.

The results show that the 13 million people who used the J. & J. The vaccine may need to be given a second dose – ideally one of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna mRNA vaccines, the authors said.

However, the conclusions contradict those from smaller studies published earlier this month by Johnson & Johnson, which suggest that a single dose of the vaccine is effective against the variant even eight months after being vaccinated.

The new study had not yet been peer-reviewed or published in a scientific journal and was based on laboratory experiments. However, it is consistent with observations that a single dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine – which has a similar architecture to the J. & J. Vaccine – only shows about 33 percent effectiveness against symptomatic diseases caused by the Delta variant.

“The message we wanted to get across wasn’t that people were making the J. & J. Vaccine, but we hope it will be reinforced with in the future either another dose of J. & J. or a boost with Pfizer or Moderna, ”said Nathaniel Landau, a virologist at NYU’s Grossman School of Medicine who led the study.

Other experts said the results are what they expected as all vaccines seem to work better when given in two doses. “I have always thought and often said that J. & J. Vaccine is a two-dose vaccine, ”said John Moore, a virologist at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York.

Dr. Moore pointed to several studies in monkeys and humans that showed greater effectiveness with two doses of the J. & J. Vaccine compared to a dose. He said the new study was particularly credible because it was published by a team with no ties to any of the vaccine manufacturers.

But the data from the new study “doesn’t speak about the whole nature of immune protection,” said Seema Kumar, a spokeswoman for J. & J. Company-sponsored studies suggest that the vaccine “produces strong, sustained activity against the rapidly spreading Delta variant,” she said.

The delta variant is the most contagious version of the coronavirus to date. It accounts for 83 percent of infections in the United States, said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at a Senate hearing on Tuesday.

The variant could also be responsible for a recent surge in infections: although they’re still low compared to last winter, cases are increasing in all 50 states and hospital admissions are increasing in almost all. In the two weeks ended Tuesday, there were an average of 268 deaths per day in the nation.

Delta can cause more breakthrough infections than previous forms of the virus, but more than 99 percent of hospitalizations and deaths occur in unvaccinated people. The vaccination rates in the country have stalled, almost 60 percent of adults are fully protected against the virus.

Several studies have shown that Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna’s mRNA vaccines retain their effectiveness against the coronavirus, including all variants identified so far. For example, a recent study showed that the vaccines trigger a sustained immune response in the body that can protect against the coronavirus for years.

Updated

July 20, 2021, 4:10 p.m. ET

But evidence for the J. & J. The vaccine was limited as it was introduced later than the mRNA vaccines. Most of the studies on the effectiveness of the coronavirus vaccines were conducted in medical centers and hospitals, based on samples from staff who had received the mRNA vaccines.

The J. & J. The vaccine has also been followed by reports of blood clots and a rare neurological syndrome, as well as contamination problems at a Baltimore manufacturing facility.

Small studies published by researchers associated with J. & J. suggested that the vaccine against the Delta variant was only slightly less effective than against the original virus and that the antibodies stimulated by the vaccine grew in strength within eight months.

Dr. Landau would likely have seen a similar increase in the vaccine’s effectiveness if they looked at the data over time, said Dr. Dan Barouch, a virologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. The data for the J. & J. The strength of the vaccine against the Delta variant on day 29 is not much different from what was reported in his own study, said Dr. Barouch.

“Basically, I don’t see any discrepancies,” he said. “The question is that of kinetics, it’s not just size, because immune responses are not static over time.” The new study does not consider other components of the immune system either, he added.

Dr. Landau and colleagues examined blood samples from 17 people who received two doses of an mRNA vaccine and 10 people who received one dose of the J. & J. Vaccination.

The J. & J. Vaccine started with less potency than the mRNA vaccines and showed a greater potency drop against the Delta and Lambda variants. “The lower baseline means that what is left against Delta is very weak,” said Dr. Moors. “That is a major concern.”

Very few vaccines are given as a single dose because the second dose is needed to raise antibody levels, noted Akiko Iwasaki, an immunologist at Yale University. Persons familiar with the J. & J. Vaccines “rely on this primary response to maintain high levels of antibody, which is particularly difficult against the variants,” she said.

Boosting immunity with a second dose should raise antibody levels high enough to counter the variants, she said.

For the second shot, let’s turn to an mRNA vaccine rather than another J. & J. Shot, Possibly Better: Several studies have shown that combining a dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine with a dose of the Pfizer BioNTech or Moderna vaccine is more effective than two doses of AstraZeneca.

The Food and Drug Administration has said, “Americans who have been fully vaccinated don’t need a booster right now,” and the agency is unlikely to change its recommendations based on laboratory studies. But the new data should cause the FDA to reconsider its recommendations, said Dr. Landau: “I hope you read our paper and think about it.”

Categories
Entertainment

When Do New Episodes of Ted Lasso Come Out on Apple TV+?

When Do New Episodes of Ted Lasso Come Out on Apple TV+?

Season two of Apple TV+’s buzzy, feel-fantastic comedy Ted Lasso arrives on July 23, and we can’t wait to see our favorite jovial coach back on the soccer field, bright-eyed and bushy-mustachioed. The beloved series, which is about a small-town American football coach stumbling into a coaching gig for a struggling English football team, became a comfort for many during the COVID-19 pandemic. So it’s no surprise that the show raked in accolades, including a Peabody Award and Golden Globe, and received a whopping 20 Emmy nominations. And from the early reviews and 100-percent Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it looks like the second season is already living up to the hype and then some.

Unlike the first season, the second season of Ted Lasso will only air one episode on premiere night, even though it was originally slated for two. On the bright side, the new season will feature 12 episodes that subscribers can watch every Friday at midnight Eastern on Apple TV+. And even though you won’t be able to devour all of Ted Lasso in one sitting, you will get to enjoy the weekly excitement of anticipating a gleeful Jason Sudeikis on your screen. Don’t forget to make sure your Apple TV+ subscription is all set up before the season two premiere, and if you’re not subscribed yet, you can get the service for $5 per month.

The first season, which is still available on Apple TV+, ended on a cliffhanger, with the future of the AFC Richmond team unclear. Many familiar faces will return for the new season, and word on the street is there will be some new characters like Sharon (Sarah Niles), a sports psychologist, and additional love interests. It will be interesting to see how the eternally enthusiastic Coach Ted lassoes the team back into shape (see what we did there?). “If Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks can go through some heartfelt struggles and still end up happy, then so can we,” Ted’s voiceover says in the official trailer. Need we say more? Here’s to another rollicking season!