Month: July 2021

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Health

5 issues to know earlier than the inventory market opens Thursday, July 1

5 things to know before the stock market opens Thursday, July 1

Here are the most important news, trends and analysis that investors need to start their trading day:

1. Stock futures steady after turning in a strong first half of 2021

The New York Stock Exchange welcomes executives and guests of Clear Secure, Inc. (NYSE: YOU), on June 30, 2021, in celebration of its Initial Public Offering.

NYSE

U.S. stock futures were steady Thursday on the first day of the third quarter on Wall Street. Investors hope the second half of 2021 remains as strong as the first half. The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Wednesday rose 210 points, moving within 0.8% of its latest record close in early May. Dow stock Walgreens Boots Alliance rose about 2% in the premarket after the drug store chain reported strong quarterly results and outlook. It also unveiled more details about its turnaround strategy. The S&P 500 on Wednesday ticked higher for its fifth-straight record close. The Nasdaq fell slightly from a record close in the prior session.

2. Wall Street’s June, second-quarter and year-to-date numbers

Wednesday was the last day of June, the second quarter, and the first half of the year.

  • Ahead of the new trading day, the S&P 500 was up 14.4% year to date. The Dow and Nasdaq were each up more than 12% so far in 2021. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq turned in gains for June. The Dow fell modestly. All three benchmarks were up solidly in the second quarter.
  • U.S. oil prices rose around 2.5% on Thursday to above $75 per barrel, the highest level since 2018. As of Wednesday’s settle, West Texas Intermediate crude was up strongly in June and in the second quarter. WTI has risen more than 51% for the year.
  • Bitcoin fell roughly 3% on Thursday but remained above $33,000. The world’s biggest cryptocurrency by market value, which saw an all-time high in April near $65,000 and recent lows below $29,000 last week, closed out the first half of the year down about 47% from its record.

3. Bond yields tick higher after new Covid-era low jobless claims

The 10-year Treasury yield, which began 2021 below 1% and spiked to 14-month highs above 1.77% in March, ticked higher Thursday to around 1.47%. Investors got another read on the U.S. labor market before the bell. After two straight weeks above 400,000, the government reported a lower-than-expected 364,000 new filings for unemployment benefits for last week, a new pandemic-era low. The government releases its June employment report Friday.

4. Krispy Kreme’s IPO prices below expected range, set to debut again

Krispy Kreme doughnuts go into production at the opening of the store at Harrods in London, Britain, October, 3, 2003.

David Bebber | Reuters

Krispy Kreme returns to the public markets Thursday, the morning after pricing 29.4 million initial public offering shares below the expected range at $17 per share. The IPO raised nearly $500 million, valuing the doughnut chain at $2.7 billion. Krispy Kreme, founded in 1937, was taken private by Keurig-owner JAB Holding in a $1.35 billion deal in 2016. It first went public in 2000. The company is set to begin trading Thursday on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “DNUT.”

In what was the biggest U.S. listing by a Chinese company since 2014, ride-hailing giant Didi started trading Wednesday morning and ended the day with a valuation of more than $68 billion. A slew of other firms, including Clear Secure and LegalZoom, popped in debuts Wednesday.

5. Trump Organization and its CFO indicted by Manhattan grand jury

Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg looks on as then-U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York, May 31, 2016.

Carlo Allegri | Reuters

The Trump Organization’s chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, surrendered to the Manhattan district attorney’s office on Thursday after a grand jury indicted him and former President Donald Trump’s company in a criminal case over its business dealings. The indictments against the firm and Weisselberg, handed up by a New York grand jury, are expected to be unsealed in court Thursday afternoon in Manhattan, a Trump representative told NBC News. NBC previously reported the charges center around allegations of Weisselberg and other Trump Organization executives receiving benefits without reporting them properly on their tax returns.

— NBC News and Reuters contributed to this report. Follow all the market action like a pro on CNBC Pro. Get the latest on the pandemic with CNBC’s coronavirus coverage.

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Entertainment

5 Issues to Do This Weekend

5 Things to Do This Weekend

Have you ever wondered what marathoners go on in their minds during the 42.2 miles to the finish line? Then the author Melanie Jones gives you access to the thoughts of a first-time runner in “Endure”. At the location-specific performance in Central Park, viewers wear audio devices while they walk three miles (at their own pace) with a marathon runner (Casey Howes or Mary Cavett) and listen to their inner monologue.

“Literally every human experience and thought comes to life in a long race,” said Jones, who has competed in marathons and Iron Man triathlons.

Jones worked with director Suchan Vodoor for over a decade to deliver what feels like “The Loneliness of the Distance Runner” and “Eat Pray Love”.

Tickets to the show (which begins Saturday and runs through August 8) are $ 44.99; Visit runwomanshow.com for more information. And although the show is completely outdoors, it follows strict Covid-19 safety protocols. Be sure to wear comfortable shoes.
JOSE SOLÍS

Greenwich Village is as deeply anchored in music history as any other neighborhood in Manhattan; Stroll the streets and pass the places where Pete Seeger, Odetta, Bob Dylan and the like became the figureheads of an American folk revival in the 1950s and 60s.

Founded in 1987 to honor this legacy, the Greenwich Village Folk Festival once organized annual concerts to showcase established and emerging folk talent, but lost momentum in the mid-1990s. However, since the pandemic began, the practice has been revitalized with online live streams held every first Sunday of the month.

Don’t expect conventional patriotic performances at the July 4th edition, which will be streamed for free on the festival’s YouTube channel and website from 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The cast – including prolific songwriter and instrumentalist John McCutcheon; Diana Jones, whose latest album takes the migration crisis into account; and the music satirist Roy Zimmerman – rather follow the time-honored folk tradition of critical political engagement.
OLIVIA HORN

The Flux Quartet has excellent taste in American chamber music. For evidence, watch the first show in a recent series of two concerts recorded for the Library of Congress website. In this one-hour opening set, the group focuses on pieces by black composers who have also played an important role in the jazz tradition.

The saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell’s “9/9/99, With Cards” uses a notation system with which the composer also helped orchestras to improvise. The jubilant, lyrical quality of “Revival” by violinist Leroy Jenkins is reminiscent of his ability to write for string quartet. And the saxophonist Ornette Coleman’s “A Dedication to Poets and Writers” receives a gentle, winning interpretation.

While Coleman is the best-known name, the de facto star of the program is another saxophonist, Oliver Lake, whose music can be heard three times. (The pianist Cory Smythe is a guest at one of these performances.) As on the heady album by the Flux Quartet with the composer’s works from 2017, Lake sings on the saxophone for the feverish and happy “5 Sisters”.
SETH COLTER WALLS

CHILDREN

Instead of celebrating July 4th with a barbecue, families can join the New-York Historical Society for a barbecue.

The organization will present Independence Day @ Home With DCHM on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Eastern Time. (The initials stand for the DiMenna Children’s History Museum, the association’s youth department.) From their own kitchen on Zoom, participants can watch the museum directors prepare and test festive dishes – veggie burgers, pork and chives dumplings and ice cream Know everyone about vacation quizzes.

Chefs of all ages can register on the association’s website, which also lists the recipes and equipment they need. The free program will be fully interactive and allow young historians to answer multiple-choice questions such as, “Which US President was born on July 4th?”

In addition to learning the story, the children also get a foretaste of it. The menu’s dessert, orange blossom cinnamon ice cream, is based on an English recipe in a book by Ann Fanshawe. She wrote about her “ice cream” in 1665.
LAUREL GRAVE

TO DANCE

Since the pandemic forced dance classes to go online, the Cumbe Center for African and Diaspora Dance, a studio in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, has maintained a strong virtual presence. After the return of face-to-face meetings, the center continues to host a series of courses on Zoom for dancers of all levels, in addition to some new outdoor offerings.

If you want to start the holiday weekend with movement, the Cumbe Calendar has many online options. On Friday evenings, Julio Jean teaches Afro-Haitian dance for beginners and Vado Diomande leads an advanced dance class from Ivory Coast. Saturday brings Rhythm and Flow Yoga with Carmen Carriker; Orisha Dance (dances of the Yoruba deities) with Tony Yemaya; and JamDown Caribbean Dance Fitness with Jennine Hamblin, aka JennyJam. (There are no classes on this Sunday or Monday.)

Payment for most virtual courses is staggered between $ 7 and $ 25; To register and for more information, visit cumbedance.org.
SIOBHAN BURKE

Categories
Politics

Trump Group and High Government Are Indicted in Tax Investigation

Trump Organization and Top Executive Are Indicted in Tax Investigation

After raising their sons on Long Island, Mr. Weisselberg and his wife moved into a Trump-branded building on Manhattan’s West Side, where they lived rent-free for years. He bought a home in South Florida, not far from Mr. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, and traveled there and back on weekends on Mr. Trump’s jet. His older son, Barry, went to work for the company managing Wollman Rink in Central Park and acted as the D.J. for Mr. Trump’s Christmas parties, where Allen Weisselberg let loose on the dance floor, according to people who attended. In 2004, Mr. Weisselberg appeared in an episode of “The Apprentice,” Mr. Trump’s reality television show.

“They are like Batman and Robin,” said Barry Weisselberg’s ex-wife, Jennifer, who has aided Mr. Vance’s investigation after a contentious divorce. “They’re a team. They’re not best friends. They don’t spend all their time together, but the world became so insular for Allen that he did not know anything else.”

Mr. Weisselberg had become so woven into the fabric of the Trump Organization that when Mr. Trump moved into the White House in 2017, he entrusted Mr. Weisselberg, along with the former president’s adult sons, with running his company. His earnings reflected his importance: Between 2007 and 2017, his total pay averaged nearly $800,000 a year; in 2018, he earned more than $977,000 in salary and deferred compensation, according to tax return data obtained by The New York Times as part of an investigation published last year.

A lawyer for Mr. Weisselberg, Mary E. Mulligan, declined to comment. A lawyer for the Trump Organization could not immediately be reached for comment.

Even before the indictment, Mr. Weisselberg had in recent years been drawn publicly into Mr. Trump’s controversies and scandals, including investigations over the misuse of charitable funds by the Donald J. Trump Foundation and payments to women on Mr. Trump’s behalf to buy their silence about affairs they said they had with Mr. Trump.

Mr. Trump’s former lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, testified in Congress that Mr. Weisselberg had helped orchestrate a cover-up to reimburse him for a $130,000 payment to the adult film actress Stormy Daniels, and that together they had concocted phony valuations of the company’s real estate holdings to suit Mr. Trump’s needs at any given moment.

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Health

Are masks coming again? The Delta variant has some completely different officers rethinking precautions.

Are masks coming back? The Delta variant has some different officials rethinking precautions.

In May, federal health officials in the United States said that fully vaccinated individuals no longer need to be masked, even indoors. The council paved the way for a national reopening that continues to gain momentum.

But that was before the spread of the Delta variant, a highly infectious form of the virus that was first discovered in India and later identified in at least 85 countries. It now accounts for one in five infections in the United States.

Concerned about a global surge in cases, the World Health Organization last week reiterated its longstanding recommendation that everyone should wear masks.

Los Angeles County health officials followed on Monday, recommending that “everyone, regardless of vaccination status, should wear masks as a precaution in public places indoors.”

Barbara Ferrer, the county’s public health director, said the new recommendation was because of the increase in infections, an increase in cases due to the worrying Delta variant, and the continued high numbers of unvaccinated residents, especially children, black and Latin American residents, and important workers.

About half of Los Angeles County’s residents are fully vaccinated, and about 60 percent have received at least one dose. While the number of positive tests in the county is still below 1 percent, the rate has increased, added Dr. Ferrer added, and the number of reinfections in residents who were previously infected and not vaccinated has increased.

As far as Los Angeles County has managed to control the pandemic, it was due to a multi-faceted strategy that combined vaccinations with health restrictions to curb new infections, said Dr. Ferrer. Natural immunity among those already infected has also kept transmission low, she noted, but it is not clear how long the natural immunity will last.

“We don’t want to go back to lockdown or disruptive mandates here,” said Dr. Ferrer. “We want to stay on the path we are currently on, which keeps the transmission by the community very low.”

Health officials in Chicago and New York City said this week they had no plans to re-examine masking requirements. Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have declined to comment, but have also shown no intention of revising or re-examining the masking recommendations for fully vaccinated individuals.

But the Delta variant’s trajectory outside of the United States suggests that concerns are likely to increase.

Categories
World News

Nio shakes off chip scarcity with greater than 8,000 deliveries in June

Chinese electric car makers target Europe as competition heats up

Nio plans to begin deliveries of its ET7 electric sedan in 2022.

Evelyn Cheng | CNBC

BEIJING — Chinese electric car start-up Nio said Thursday it delivered more than 8,000 cars in one month for the first time.

The company delivered 8,083 vehicles in June, bringing the second-quarter total to 21,896 cars, according to a release. That quarterly figure came in on the high end of Nio’s forecast for deliveries of between 21,000 and 22,000 vehicles in the three months ended June.

Nio’s U.S.-listed shares are up 9% so far this year. The company has typically delivered more electric cars a month than two other U.S.-listed electric car start-ups, Xpeng and Li Auto. Their shares are up about 3.7% and 21%, respectively, so far this year.

The strong second-quarter performance came despite a decline in monthly deliveries in May from April — which the company had attributed to the global semiconductor shortage.

Nio’s June figures also brought deliveries for the first half of the year to more than 41,900, close to surpassing the total for all of last year of 43,728 cars.

However, the start-up’s deliveries still fall far short of industry giant Tesla, which delivered 184,800 vehicles worldwide in the first quarter alone.

Tesla’s shares are down more than 3.5% for the year so far.

Read more about electric vehicles from CNBC Pro

Categories
Health

Who can journey to Phuket? Vaccinated vacationers who comply with guidelines

Who can travel to Phuket? Vaccinated tourists who follow rules

From July 1, tourists can visit Phuket without quarantine for the first time since March 2020.

In Thailand’s much-discussed “sandbox” pilot, the largest island has reopened to vaccinated travelers willing to stick to a laundry list of rules designed to safely resume tourism amid the pandemic.

The plan depends on a concerted vaccination campaign to vaccinate 70% of Phuket’s population, a goal local authorities achieved earlier this month as 74% of the population were vaccinated.

Local media has questioned this number, which is in stark contrast to Thailand’s nationwide immunization rate of around 4%. But confirmed Covid cases have dropped dramatically in Phuket. The island saw single-digit daily cases this week, while Thailand reported its third highest daily case count – 5,406 infections – overall on June 27.

The “sandbox” plan makes Phuket a testing ground for protocols which, if successful, are likely to roll out in other parts of Thailand – and possibly other destinations in Southeast Asia – later this year.

A test of the tourists’ appetite for rules

But Phuket, like most of Southeast Asia, doesn’t make it easy for tourists to enter.

According to the Thai Tourism Authority (TAT), to avoid quarantine in Phuket, visitors must provide:

  • A vaccination card with a vaccine approved by the World Health Organization or Thai Health Authorities issued at least 14 days prior to arrival; Children traveling with you are allowed
  • A negative RT-PCR test (performed within 72 hours of departure)
  • A minimum of $ 100,000 in health insurance to cover the stay
  • An admission known as a certificate of entry to enter
  • Proof of payment for a 14-day stay and necessary Covid tests or for a stay of less than two weeks, travelers must also present confirmed departures from Thailand
  • Evidence that travelers have spent the past 21 days in a low or medium risk country on a list on the Thai Department of Disease Control website that is mainly in Thai

A selection of countries and territories on Thailand’s list

Australia, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Myanmar, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States

Source: TAT; updated June 29; List not exhaustive

Upon arrival, travelers must undergo a health screening and download a monitoring application called ThailandPlus. They also have to do and pay for a Covid-19 test and wait for the results at their hotel. Additional tests are required on travel day 6 or 7, for longer stays again on day 12 or 13.

Those who tested negative can travel freely around Phuket and other parts of Thailand after 14 days, as long as they practice social distancing, undergo temperature checks and wear masks, according to the tourism authority’s website.

Masks are required in public areas such as the beach and in cars.

Authorities recommend tourists to use SHA + restaurants and taxis in Phuket, but do not have to.

Pakin Songmor | Moment | Getty Images

Tourists are required to pay in advance and stay in hotels or host families that are “SHA +” certified, which means they have met safety and health agency measures and vaccinated more than 70% of the staff.

Anyone who tests positive “will be referred to specific health facilities at their own expense for medical treatment,” according to the TAT website.

More visitors than Rome in happier times

With almost 11 million arrivals, Phuket was the 15th most visited city in the world in 2019, according to a report by consultancy Euromonitor International entitled “Top 100 City Destinations”.

Wedged between Mumbai (No. 14) and Rome (No. 16), the island, with its estimated 420,000 inhabitants, towered above the list of international travelers but no domestic visitors, day-trippers and cruise passengers.

The entire travel industry awaits the reopening of Phuket.

Jade Chandhakant

Regional Director of Trip.com

Despite the island’s popularity, Phuket reopening is expected to be subdued. Spring Covid outbreaks in Thailand, combined with meandering schedules, rule changes, and late government approval for the “sandbox” program last week, may have put off summer tourists who have likely made other plans by now.

There is a preference for domestic travel and a persistent aversion to flying among countries returning summer, especially the types of long-haul flights required to reach Thailand from the United States or Europe.

Thailand’s neighbors are unlikely to pack their bags either. Tourism has not started in earnest again anywhere in Southeast Asia, where strict quarantines and sluggish vaccination campaigns have nearly ended the summer tourist prospects.

Unvaccinated tourists can visit Phuket but must be quarantined for 14 nights in designated hotels.

Pone-Pluck | Moment | Getty Images

That’s not good news for Thailand, as almost 72% of its overnight guests were from Asia in 2019, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization. Almost a quarter of all tourists to Thailand come from China, which does not yet allow residents to travel freely for leisure tourism.

According to the Bangkok Post, 1,500 people are expected to arrive in Phuket, which would be a long way from the daily average of 25,000 tourists it received before the pandemic.

But it’s a start, and Thai officials hope to replicate it elsewhere soon.

What’s next?

With its sugar-sweet beaches and lively nightlife, Phuket isn’t the only “sandpit” Thailand has in the making.

The islands of Koh Samui, Koh Pha Ngan and Koh Tao were reopened to vaccinated travelers on July 15 following a similar scheme. The cultural enclave of Chiang Mai, a city in the north of the country, could soon follow suit.

If Thailand’s sandbox program proves successful, other countries could take similar action, said Jade Chandhakant, Trip.com’s regional director for Thailand and Vietnam.

According to the Thai Tourism Authority, direct flights to Phuket are operated by British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways.

Pakin Songmor | Moment | Getty Images

“The entire travel industry is expecting Phuket to reopen,” he said. “We hope that the reopening of Phuket will mark the beginning of more ‘sandboxes’ and that this is a surefire way to resume recreational tourism in Southeast Asia.”

As for Thailand, whatever the outcome, the country may push for a reopening. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha indicated in a speech on June 16 that his goal was to open all of Thailand by mid-October.

He said Thailand “cannot wait for a time when everyone is fully vaccinated with two vaccinations to open the country or when the world is free of the virus”.

“I know there is some risk involved in making this decision because if we open up the country there will be an increase in infections no matter how good our precautions are,” he said. “Now is the time to take this calculated risk.”

Categories
Politics

Trump Group expects to be charged Manhattan DA case

Trump Organization expects to be charged Manhattan DA case

CNBC policy

Read more about CNBC’s political coverage:

A spokesman for DA Cyrus Vance Jr. has repeatedly declined to comment on the investigation or the timing of possible charges.

Ronald Fischetti, a Trump organization attorney and company spokesman, did not immediately respond to requests from CNBC for comment.

If the Trump organization is convicted of a crime, the company could face fines or behavioral restrictions.

Fischetti told CNBC last week, “In my 50+ years of practice, I’ve never seen prosecutors target a company for employee compensation or fringe benefits.”

“The IRS did not want to and did not file such a case,” said the attorney. “Even the financial institutions that caused the 2008 financial crisis, the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, have not been prosecuted.”

Fischetti also confirmed the likelihood of criminal charges against the company last week.

“It looks like they’re going to bring charges against the company, and that’s totally outrageous,” Fischetti told NBC News at the time.

“They couldn’t get Allen Weisselberg to cooperate and tell them what they wanted to hear and so they are going to pursue these allegations and they couldn’t get him to cooperate because he wouldn’t say that Donald Trump knew or Had information he “may not have properly deducted the use of cars or an apartment.”

Categories
Health

As Covid Rages, Putin Pushes Russians to Get a (Russian) Vaccine

As Covid Rages, Putin Pushes Russians to Get a (Russian) Vaccine

MOSCOW — President Vladimir V. Putin urged Russians to get vaccinated against the coronavirus on Wednesday — his most extensive comments on the matter yet — as his country scrambles to contain a vicious new wave of the illness.

Speaking at his annual televised call-in show, Mr. Putin spent the opening half-hour trying to convince Russians to get one of the country’s four domestically produced shots. It was the latest instance of a marked change in tone about the pandemic from Russian officials, who for months did little to push a vaccine-wary public to get immunized but are now starting to make vaccination mandatory for some groups.

“It’s dangerous, dangerous to your life,” Mr. Putin said of Covid-19. “The vaccine is not dangerous.”

Only 23 million Russians, or about 15 percent of the population, have received at least one vaccine dose, Mr. Putin said. Polls this year by the independent Levada Center showed that some 60 percent of Russians did not want to be vaccinated. Analysts attribute Russians’ hesitancy to a widespread distrust of the authorities combined with a drumbeat of state television reports that described the coronavirus as either mostly defeated or not very dangerous to begin with.

Mr. Putin revealed that he himself had received the Sputnik V vaccine this year — the Kremlin had previously refused to specify which shot he had been given — and that he had experienced a brief fever after the second dose. But his message remained muddled, as he questioned the safety of Covid-19 vaccines in general.

“Thank God we haven’t had tragic situations after vaccinations like after the use of AstraZeneca or Pfizer,” Mr. Putin said.

Mr. Putin spoke just as his handling of the pandemic — long touted by the Kremlin as superior to the approach taken in the West — threatened to turn into a major debacle. While Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine is widely seen as safe and effective, most Russians have been avoiding it and other available, domestically produced shots. As a result, the country is suffering through a harrowing new wave of the pandemic, with the delta variant of the coronavirus spreading fast.

Russia’s biggest cities, Moscow and St. Petersburg, have been reporting more than 100 deaths per day recently, setting records; nationwide, the number of reported new cases per day has doubled to more than 20,000 in recent weeks, with 669 deaths reported on Wednesday. The official toll is likely to be a significant undercount.

Regional officials in Moscow and elsewhere have resisted lockdowns. But, almost certainly with Mr. Putin’s blessing, they have made vaccination mandatory for large groups of people in their regions, such as service workers. That has prompted an outcry from many Kremlin critics and supporters alike.

“I don’t support mandatory vaccination, and continue to have this point of view,” Mr. Putin said, putting the responsibility for such orders on regional officials.

Updated 

June 30, 2021, 9:29 p.m. ET

The renewed surge of the coronavirus could derail the Kremlin’s message of competence in comparison to Western dysfunction just as parliamentary elections approach in September. Mr. Putin’s most vocal opponents have already been jailed, exiled or barred from running, but obvious election fraud or a poor showing by his governing United Russia party could still weaken the president’s domestic authority.

Mr. Putin’s annual call-in show, first broadcast in 2001, has turned into a bedrock of how he has communicated with Russians during two decades of rule. More than a million questions were submitted ahead of time by phone, text message and smartphone app, state news media reported. They covered things like the cost of airline tickets, problems with building regulations, illegal logging and high food prices.

The lengthy session affords the president a chance to show that he is in charge, in command of the details of a plethora of issues and concerned about the welfare of regular Russians. It also allows him to blame problems on lower-level officials, while casting himself as the savior of the common citizen.

But it has also underlined the weakness of the top-down system of governance over which Mr. Putin presides. To solve even the most minor issues, it seems, Mr. Putin himself sometimes needs to get involved.

For instance, after a sheep breeder in the Caucasus republic of Ingushetia told Mr. Putin that he had been having trouble finding a plot of land to rent, the president pledged to speak to the region’s governor.

“Sheep breeding is very important,” Mr. Putin said. “People who do this deserve support.”

Mr. Putin spent much of the show focused on domestic issues. He shot down online rumors of new fees for farmers, pledging that “no one is planning a tax on livestock.” A woman’s smartphone video from a grocery store showed the high cost of carrots and other staples. Mr. Putin pledged to address the matter, noting that it was a global problem and that “the vegetable harvest is soon, and I hope this will have an impact on prices.”

But Mr. Putin was at his most animated when he was asked about geopolitics. Responding to a question about Ukraine, he repeated his oft-stated contention that Russians and Ukrainians were “one people” and that the country had turned into a puppet of the United States. He rejected another viewer’s idea that last week’s incident surrounding a British warship approaching Crimea could have touched off World War III.

But he warned that any attempt by the West to build up a military presence in Ukraine, Russia’s biggest western neighbor, would pose an existential threat.

“This creates significant problems for us in the security sphere,” Mr. Putin said. “This touches the existential interests of the Russian Federation and the Russian people.”

Some of the questions during the nearly four-hour show came as live phone or video calls, while others were prerecorded videos. Mr. Putin at times appeared confused as to whether or not a question was being asked in real time, talking back at some of the recorded videos. After some technical difficulties about two hours in, the hosts said that the show was coming under a denial-of-service cyberattack.

“Everyone talks about Russian hackers,” one of the hosts quipped.

Oleg Matsnev contributed reporting.

Categories
Entertainment

Jamie Spears Stays A part of Britney Spears’ Conservatorship

BEVERLY HILLS, CA - FEBRUARY 11: Singer Britney Spears walks the red carpet at the 2017 Pre-GRAMMY Gala and Salute to Industry Icons Honoring Debra Lee at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on February 11, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Scott Dudelson / Getty Images)

The battle for Britney Spears’ conservatories continues. According to diversity, new court documents filed Wednesday showed that LA judge Brenda Penny has denied the 39-year-old singer’s request to remove her father, Jamie Spears, as her co-restorer. Britney’s attorney Samuel Ingham III filed the application on her behalf back in November 2020. At that time, Samuel said on behalf of Britney that she was “afraid of her father” and would not perform again with his involvement. Despite hearing Britney’s explosive testimony last week, the judge ruled that Jamie would keep his career charge.

Britney has been under the direction of her father Jamie since 2008, with Jodi Montgomery, a licensed restorer, stepping in as co-restorer in 2019. During her June 23 trial, Britney shared harrowing details of the abuse she suffered from the Conservatory, including being forced to tour and take medication, and not being able to marry or have children. “It’s not okay to force myself to do something I don’t want to … I really believe that these conservatories are abusive. I don’t feel like I can live a full life, “said Britney. “It is my wish and my dream that this will come to an end.”

Both Jodi and Jamie have since responded to Britney’s shocking testimony with testimony from their respective attorneys, essentially shifting the blame on one another. In addition to requesting an investigation, Jamie claims Jodi was responsible for Britney’s “troubles and suffering”. “Ms. Spears informed the court on June 23 that she was opposed to a restoration and disclosed her ongoing disputes with Ms. Montgomery over her medical treatment and other personal care issues,” said Jamie’s attorney Vivian Lee Thoreen. “These statements contradict the idea that Ms. Spears would seek to make Ms. Montgomery her permanent curator of the person.”

Meanwhile, Jodi says she was a “tireless advocate” for Britney and that Jamie, as the controller of her estate, was responsible for approving all expenses. “Practically speaking, since everything costs money, no expenses can be made without Mr. Spears and Mr. Spears’ approval,” said Jodi’s statement. “Ms. Montgomery has worked on Britney’s behalf for any expenses Britney has requested and any expenses recommended by Britney’s medical team.”

Categories
Health

Johnson & Johnson Covid vaccine might shield individuals in opposition to the delta variant

Biden surgeon general pick says U.S. racing to adapt against new Covid strains

U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy told CNBC on Wednesday there is reason to be hopeful that people who received the single-shot Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine may be protected against the virus’ delta variant.

Murthy pointed to data that showed the Oxford-AstraZeneca shot is highly effective against hospitalization from the more contagious variant. He also said people should think of the AstraZeneca vaccine “as a cousin” to J&J’s shot since it was “built on a similar platform.”

“While we are still awaiting direct studies of Johnson & Johnson and the delta variant, we have reasons to be hopeful, because the J&J vaccine has proven to be quite effective against preventing hospitalizations and deaths, with all the variants that we’ve seen to date,” Murthy told “The News with Shepard Smith.”

World Health Organization officials urged fully vaccinated people to continue to wear masks, social distance and practice other pandemic-related safety measures as the delta variant spreads across the globe.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, however, affirmed Wednesday that it’s leaving it up to states and local health officials to set guidelines around mask-wearing.

Murthy said the CDC guidance was based on giving people flexibility.

“The CDC, in its guidance, essentially, was giving people flexibility and choice but wanted people to know that, if you are fully vaccinated, your risk of getting this virus or passing it on is low, which is why it said masks are not required indoors or outdoors, if you are fully vaccinated,” Murthy said. 

Authorized vaccines from Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech and Johnson & Johnson have demonstrated to be highly effective in preventing Covid, especially against severe disease and death.