Tag: Death

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Health

LA well being officers are probing loss of life of an individual who had monkeypox

LA health officials are probing death of a person who had monkeypox

A health care worker administers a dose of the JYNNEOS monkeypox vaccine at a pop-up vaccination clinic in Los Angeles, California, on August 9, 2022.

Patrick T Fallon | AFP | Getty Images

Los Angeles health officials are investigating the death of a person who had monkeypox.

dr Rita Singhal, Los Angeles County director of disease control, said it was not clear what role monkeypox may have played in the person’s death. Officials have no further details at this time, Singhal said.

“This is one of two deaths in the United States currently being investigated to determine if monkeypox was a contributory cause of death,” Singhal told reporters during a Thursday news conference.

Texas health officials last month reported the death of an adult in the Houston area who was diagnosed with monkeypox. According to health officials, the person had a severely compromised immune system.

Monkeypox is rarely fatal, but people with weak immune systems are at higher risk of serious illness. The virus causes a painful rash that resembles blisters or pimples.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found in a report released Thursday that 38% of the 2,000 patients diagnosed with monkeypox between May and July were HIV positive. According to the study, people with monkeypox and HIV were hospitalized more often than people without HIV.

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The US is trying to contain the world’s largest monkeypox outbreak, with more than 21,000 cases in all 50 states, Washington DC and Puerto Rico, according to the CDC.

Nine deaths from monkeypox have been confirmed worldwide since the outbreak began, according to CDC data. Deaths have occurred in Belgium, Brazil, Cuba, Central African Republic, Ecuador, Ghana, India, Nigeria and Spain.

More than 56,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported in 96 countries since the outbreak began, according to CDC data.

Monkeypox is mainly spread during sex among gay and bisexual men, although anyone can get monkeypox through close contact with someone who is infected or through contaminated materials such as towels and bed sheets.

Federal health officials said this week the outbreak appears to be slowing as vaccines, tests and treatments have become more widely available. Demetre Daskalakis, deputy chief of the White House monkeypox response team, said it took 25 days for cases to double in August, compared with eight days in July.

The US has administered more than 460,000 doses of monkeypox vaccine to date. About 1.6 million gay and bisexual men who have HIV or are taking medication to reduce their risk of HIV infection are at highest risk from monkeypox, according to the CDC.

The monkeypox vaccine Jynneos is given in two doses 28 days apart. CDC officials say getting the second shot is crucial for people at risk. After the second dose, it takes two weeks for the immune system to reach its maximum response.

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World News

King Charles’s Ascension After Loss of life of Queen Elizabeth: Updates

King Charles's Ascension After Death of Queen Elizabeth: Updates

LONDON — No sooner had the long-awaited news broke – Queen Elizabeth II was dead – than Britain activated Operation London Bridge, the carefully choreographed funeral schedule taking the country through the rituals of honor and mourning to begin with her funeral ten days later culminate.

But the plan, with its metronomic precision, masks something far worse: a rupture in the national psyche. The Queen’s death last week at the age of 96 is a truly traumatic event, leaving many in this stoic country fearful and unattached. As they come to terms with the loss of a figure who embodied Britain, they are unsure of their nation’s identity, their economic and social well-being, or even their role in the world.

For some, it almost seems like the London Bridge is down.

Such trauma was not entirely unexpected: Elizabeth reigned for 70 years, making her the only monarch most Britons have ever known. But the fear runs deeper, say scholars and commentators, a reflection not only of the queen’s long shadow but also of the unsettled land she leaves in her wake.

From Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic to the serial scandals that recently ousted Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the end of the second Elizabeth era was a time of endless turmoil for Britain.

Recognition…James Hill for the New York Times

In just two months since Mr Johnson announced his resignation, inflation has skyrocketed, a recession looms and household energy bills have nearly doubled. Nearly lost in the global flood that followed the Queen’s death, after three days in office, new Prime Minister Liz Truss rolled out an emergency plan to limit energy prices to an estimated $100 billion.

“It all feeds a sense of uncertainty and insecurity that has been there because of Brexit and then Covid and now with a new prime minister who is very inexperienced,” said Timothy Garton Ash, Professor of European Studies at Oxford University. The queen, he said, is the stone, “and then the stone is removed.”

Not just the rock, but the rhythm of everyday British life: her image is printed on pound notes and postage stamps, her royal monogram – ER for Elizabeth Regina – is emblazoned on flags and red post boxes across the country.

At the formal proclamation of her son Charles as King on Saturday, the void left by the Queen was palpable. Her empty throne, initialed ER, loomed before an assembly of the new monarch; his heir, Prince William; the Archbishop of Canterbury; and the Prime Minister and her six living predecessors.

For older Britons in particular, the loss is “deep and personal and almost familial,” Mr Johnson said, paying tribute to the Queen in Parliament on Friday, four days after she accepted his resignation in one of her final acts.

“Perhaps part of it is that it has always been there, an unchanging human reference point in British life,” he said. “The person who appears most often in our dreams according to all the polls. So unchanging in her North Star charisma that we may have lulled ourselves into thinking that in a way she might be eternal.”

Recognition…Andrew Testa for the New York Times

Beyond the Queen’s permanence, said Mr Johnson and others, was her immense global prestige. It was a living connection to World War II, after which Winston Churchill helped draw the map of the post-war world while sitting around a conference table in Yalta with Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin.

Mr. Johnson and Ms. Truss have reverted to that role with their staunch support for Ukraine. But Britain these days is less of a major power at the center of global decision-making and more of a mid-size cheering from the sidelines. It is fitting that Churchill, in 1965, was the last Briton to receive a state funeral – before that of the Queen, which was scheduled for September 19 at Westminster Abbey.

“My personal reflection is that there will probably never be an occasion where another British personality is so mourned around the world,” said Professor Garton Ash of Oxford. “It’s a final moment of British greatness in a way.”

For all her displays of power, the queen did not project her influence through political or military power, but through an abiding duty to the country. Her military service and dignified administration contrasted with Britain’s often unruly policies, not to mention the foreign strongmen she sometimes had to entertain.

Some said she was a pioneer in practicing what later became known as “soft power.”

“I cannot lead you into battle,” said the Queen in 1957. “I do not give you laws or administer justice, but I can do something else. I can give you my heart and devotion to these ancient islands and to all the peoples of our Brotherhood of Nations.”

Recognition…Andrew Testa for the New York Times

In the parks and squares around Buckingham Palace, where crowds gathered on Saturday, their loss was spoken of on a political and personal level. “She meant reliability and stability,” said Kate Nattrass, 59, a healthcare recruiter from Christchurch, New Zealand, a member of the British Commonwealth.

But the Queen did so at the cost of great personal sacrifice. “In many ways, she was a woman stripped of her ability to be herself,” Ms Nattrass said. “That’s probably why she missed a lot of her own family.”

Callum Taylor, 27, an actor from the north west English city of Preston, traveled to London to leave yellow roses on the palace gates. He said he heard yellow was one of Elizabeth’s favorite colors. Mr Taylor admitted he wasn’t sure of his information but added: “I think we all felt like we knew her.”

While the Queen has long been revered – the swelling crowds at her platinum anniversary celebrations in June were a testament to her enduring popularity – her post-Brexit role has arguably become even more important.

With Britain no longer part of the European Union, the country’s pro-Brexit government resorted to symbols of its imperial past, ordering that the Union Jack be regularly hoisted from public buildings and pushing projects like a new royal yacht (neither King Charles III Ms. Truss seems particularly interested).

Recognition…Pool photo by WPA

Respect for the Queen has masked the cracks that have widened in the UK since Brexit. Scotland and Northern Ireland each now have significant sections of the population favoring separation from the kingdom, and it’s not clear if King Charles will give them a more compelling reason to stay.

In Scotland, where the Queen died at her beloved Balmoral Castle, a 2014 independence referendum was defeated by 55 to 44 percent of the vote. The Scottish National Party, which controls the country’s parliament, is determined to hold another vote.

Many in Ireland still remember the Queen’s landmark visit in 2011, when she charmed the public and spoke candidly about Britain’s strained relationship with its neighbour. “From a historical perspective,” she said, “we can all see things that we wish had been done differently or not at all.”

In Northern Ireland, on the other hand, the Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein became the largest party after the May elections. Sinn Fein is also within striking distance of becoming the largest party in the Irish Republic, a milestone that could accelerate their quest for Irish unity.

Dealing with the recalcitrant stay-at-home northern union parties is a headache for the British government. Ms Truss is following Mr Johnson’s lead in threatening to overturn post-Brexit trade deals in Northern Ireland, which are part of his exit deal with the European Union.

Recognition…James Hill for the New York Times

Centrifugal forces are even greater in outlying British dominions such as Jamaica, the Bahamas and St. Lucia, where the predominantly black population is demanding a reckoning with the racist legacy of British colonialism. Barbados will sack the Queen as head of state in 2021, and Jamaica could soon follow.

On a trouble-prone trip through the Caribbean last March, Prince William and his wife Catherine faced demands for slavery reparations and demanded that they confess that Britain’s economy “was built on the backs of our ancestors”.

Vernon Bogdanor, an authority on constitutional monarchy at King’s College London, said Charles was a departure from other royals as he sought to appeal to those on the fringes of society. He cited Charles’ visits to Tottenham, north London, following riots following a police shooting in 2011.

Partly for this reason, Professor Bogdanor said that the new king could surprise those who are skeptical of his ability to replace his mother. Still, he acknowledged a surprisingly deep sense of loss at the Queen’s death.

“I feel more affected than I thought,” he said. “It’s not unexpected when someone dies at 96. The only explanation I can think of is that people instinctively felt how much she cared about the country.”

Recognition…Andrew Testa for the New York Times

Saskia Solomon contributed to the coverage.

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Health

Texas reviews what often is the first U.S. dying from monkeypox

Texas reports what may be the first U.S. death from monkeypox

Texas health officials said Tuesday that a patient diagnosed with monkeypox died in what may be the nation’s first-known fatality from the virus.

The patient was an adult with a severely compromised immune system who lived in the Houston area, health officials said. The case is under investigation to determine what role monkeypox played in the individual’s death, officials said.

“Monkeypox is a serious disease, particularly for those with weakened immune systems,” said Dr. John Hellerstedt, the Texas state health commissioner. “We continue to urge people to seek treatment if they have been exposed to monkeypox or have symptoms consistent with the disease.”

Monkeypox is generally not life threatening, but people with compromised immune systems are at higher risk of severe disease. Patients typically develop lesions that often look similar to pimples or blisters and cause excruciating pain.

Eight countries have reported a total of 15 deaths from monkeypox since the global outbreak began this year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Deaths were previously reported in Cuba, Brazil, Ecuador, Ghana, India, Nigeria, Spain and the Central African Republic.

The US is battling the largest monkeypox outbreak in the world right now. More than 18,000 cases have been reported across the country, with infections now confirmed in every state as well as Puerto Rico and Washington, DC, according to CDC data.

Across the world, nearly 49,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported in 99 countries, the data shows.

The virus is primarily spreading through sexual contact among gay and bisexual men, according to the CDC. About 94% of confirmed cases were associated with sex and nearly all of the patients are men who have sex with men, Demetre Daskalakis, deputy head of the White House monkeypox response team, told reporters Friday.

The outbreak in the US is disproportionately affecting Black and Hispanic men. About 30% of monkeypox patients are white, 32% are Hispanic and 33% are Black, according to CDC data. Whites make up about 59% of the US population while Hispanics and Blacks account for 19% and 13%, respectively.

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky on Friday said health officials are cautiously optimistic the spread of the virus may be slowing as new cases fall in major cities.

“We’re watching this with cautious optimism, and really hopeful that many of our harm-reduction messages and our vaccines are getting out there and working,” Walensky told reporters Friday.

The US is hoping to contain the outbreak by administering vaccines, expanding testing, distributing antiviral treatments, and educating gay and bisexual men about the virus.

The federal government has distributed 1.5 million doses of the monkeypox vaccine so far. More than 3 million doses should be available to states and local jurisdictions when the latest distribution round is complete, according to Dawn O’Connell, head of the office responsible for the national stockpile at the Health and Human Services Department.

The monkeypox vaccine, called Jynneos, is administered in two doses 28 days apart. It is the only vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the US for monkeypox. Jynneos is manufactured by Bavarian Nordic, a biotech company based in Denmark.

To increase the limited supply, the FDA has authorized a different method to administer the vaccine. The vaccine is now being given through intradermal injection for adults, or between the layers of the skin. This method uses a lower volume dosage which allows health-care providers to extract five doses from each vial.

There is no data on the real-world efficacy of the vaccine in the current outbreak, according to the CDC. But health officials have emphasized that it’s crucial for people to receive two doses in order to trigger the strongest response from the immune system. Protection against the virus is likely highest two weeks after the second dose, according to the CDC.

The World Health Organization and the CDC have said people at high risk can reduce their chances of exposure to monkeypox by limiting their sexual partners until the second week after they receive the second dose of the vaccine. People can also reduce their risk of exposure by avoiding sex parties until they are vaccinated, according to the CDC.

For people who have monkeypox or whose partners have the virus, the best way to avoid infection is by avoiding sex of any kind while sick, according to the CDC. It’s particularly important to avoid touching any rash and not to share objects or materials such as towels, sex toys, fetish gear or tooth brushes.

The CDC is also encouraging people to exchange contact information with any new sexual partners.

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World News

Shashi Tharoor Is Cleared in India in Loss of life of Sunanda Pushkar

Shashi Tharoor Is Cleared in India in Death of Sunanda Pushkar

NEW DELHI – An Indian court on Wednesday acquitted an influential politician of all charges related to his wife’s death in a case long criticized as politically motivated by the country’s largest opposition party.

Shashi Tharoor, a member of parliament for India’s opposition National Congress, was charged with cruelty and assisted suicide in 2018, four years after his wife, Sunanda Pushkar, was found dead under mysterious circumstances.

The charges were dismissed by a Delhi court, effectively releasing Mr Tharoor in a case that preoccupied India’s political and media circles for years and which highlighted the details of his personal life.

A lawyer for Mr Tharoor argued that the cause of Ms. Pushkar’s death was still not clearly established, undermining the incitement to suicide.

In a statement on Twitter, Mr. Tharoor thanked the court and called the charges against him “absurd”.

“This brings a meaningful conclusion to the long nightmare that enveloped me after the tragic death of my late wife, Sunanda,” he said.

Mr. Tharoor, 65, a former diplomat and cabinet minister who represents a parliamentary constituency in the southern state of Kerala, married Ms. Pushkar in 2010, the third marriage for each of them. The couple, who often posed for photos and shared them online, were regulars in India’s party circles, and none of them shied away from sharing their thoughts on Twitter.

In early 2014, Ms. Pushkar shocked her social media followers by accusing her husband of having a “maddening affair” with a Pakistani journalist, which both Mr. Tharoor and the journalist denied. The public argument with his wife became an embarrassment for Mr. Tharoor, who had served at a high level with the United Nations in New York, as discussion about her personal life intensified on social media platforms and in the news media.

Credit…Manoj Verma / Hindustan Times, via Getty Images

When tweets were posted from his account, apparently aimed at the Pakistani journalist, Mr Tharoor said his Twitter account had been hacked. Ms. Pushkar, in turn, told reporters that she was planning to get a divorce.

But within a day, the couple made a statement on Facebook stating that they were “happily married.”

A day later, on January 17th, Mr. Tharoor said he found Ms. Pushkar dead in the deluxe hotel in Delhi where they were staying. She was 52.

Mr Tharoor was faced with a barrage of allegations, rumors and suspicions. In 2015, New Delhi police announced they had filed a preliminary murder case without naming a suspect. Three years later, they said they had “medico-legal and forensic evidence” linking Mr. Tharoor to his wife’s death.

Among those who pressured the police to bring charges against Mr. Tharoor was Subramanian Swamy, a member of parliament for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who insisted that Ms. Pushkar had been poisoned. Mr. Swamy has also tried to take legal action against other members of the Congress Party.

Supporters of Mr Tharoor, widely viewed as material for the prime minister, said he threatened the BJP and was trying to ruin his reputation.

In 2018, Mr. Swamy offered to assist the court in indicting Mr. Tharoor. His application was rejected.

Mr Swamy expressed his dissatisfaction with the court ruling on Wednesday and said in an interview that he would offer his help again if appealed.

“It’s all there and I don’t know how the Delhi police argued the matter,” he said.

Mr Tharoor said the court ruling would allow his family to finally mourn Ms. Pushkar in peace.

“I have patiently endured dozens of unsubstantiated allegations and defamations in the media, borne by my belief in Indian justice, which is confirmed today,” he said. “In our judiciary, the process is all too often a punishment.”

If you have thoughts of suicide, call the US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (TALK). In India, contact 91-9820466726 or visit the Aasra.info website for more resources.

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Politics

After Trumka’s Demise, A.F.L.-C.I.O. Faces a Crossroads

After Trumka’s Death, A.F.L.-C.I.O. Faces a Crossroads

Richard Trumka’s twelve years as AFL-CIO president coincided with the ongoing decline of the organized workforce, but also with opportunities such as the election of a devout US president. With Mr Trumka’s death last week, the association faces a fundamental question: What is the purpose of the AFL-CIO?

For years, union leaders and senior officials have split into two big camps on this issue. On one side are those who argue that the AFL-CIO, which has around 12 million members, should play a supportive role for its constituent unions – that it should help build consensus on political and political priorities, for them To lobby Washington, provide research and communication support, and identify the best ways to organize and negotiate.

On the other side of the debate are those who argue that the Federation should play a leading role in building the labor movement – by investing resources in organizing more workers; by entering new branches of the economy; by funding non-traditional workers’ organizations, such as those representing undocumented workers; and by forging deeper alliances with other progressive groups, such as civil rights activists.

As President, Mr. Trumka identified more with the first approach, which several current and former union officials felt was particularly valuable given its close ties to President Biden. Liz Shuler, who has been acting president since Mr. Trumka’s death and hopes to succeed him, is said to have a similar orientation.

But while the association ponders its future, there is an inescapable fact that could sway the discussion: Mr Trumka’s approach did not seem to solve an existential crisis for the U.S. labor movement, where unions make up only 7 percent of the private sector workforce.

“The level of collective bargaining coverage of American workers is not comparable to that of any other similar democracy,” said Larry Cohen, a past president of Communications Workers of America. “If you’re not there to grow, you are in trouble. You’re just playing defense. You’ll be here until someone turns off the light. “

Funding for a dedicated department dedicated to the organization fell significantly during Mr Trumka’s presidency, to around 10 percent by 2019, according to documents on the Splinter website.

Ms. Shuler said in an interview on Friday that the department’s budget does not reflect other resources put into organizing, such as the millions of dollars the AFL-CIO sends to state unions and local labor councils that play an important role can organize campaigns.

Although union membership fell about 1.5 percentage points to below 11 percent during Mr. Trumka’s tenure, his influence in Washington contributed to several successes. These included a more worker-friendly revision of the North American free trade agreement, tens of billions of dollars in government aid to stabilize union pension plans, and a job creation bill now passing through Congress.

The economic rescue plan that Mr Biden signed in March sent hundreds of billions of dollars in aid to state and local governments that saw public sector unions, increasingly the face of the labor movement, as lifeguards.

But the cornerstone of Mr. Trumka’s plan to revitalize work was a law pending passage: the Right to Organize or PRO Law. The law would make organizing easier by prohibiting employers from requiring workers to attend anti-union meetings and fines against employers who violate labor laws. The association invested heavily in choosing officials who could help pass the measure.

During an interview with the New York Times in March, Mr. Trumka identified the PRO Act as the workers’ last best hope. “Because of growing inequality, our economy is on the way to implosion, ”he said. “We have to find a way so that workers have more power and employers less. And that works best with the PRO Act. “

Ms. Shuler repeated this point, arguing that if the measure becomes law, the workforce will be prepared for a resurgence. “We have everything in harmony,” she said. “All that’s left is the PRO Act to unleash what I would say the potential for unprecedented organizing.”

But so far, workers’ hopes for a bill strongly opposed by Republicans and the business community have been dubious. While the House of Representatives passed the bill in March and Mr Biden strongly supports it, the odds are high in a divided Senate.

When asked if the AFL-CIO could support Mr Biden’s multi-trillion dollar job plan if it comes to a vote with no prospect of the PRO Act being passed, Mr Trumka refused to consider the option that he would have to make such a decision.

“I don’t see that,” he said in an interview. “This president and this government understand the power to resolve inequalities through collective bargaining.”

An alternative approach could have given higher priority to building power outside Washington by adding union membership and increasing the influence of non-union workers.

Daily business briefing

Updated

Aug 6, 2021, 6:12 a.m. ET

According to Mr. Cohen, former communications workers leader, one benefit of a large investment in organizing is that it allows the labor movement to bet in a variety of industries and jobs where workers are increasingly excited about union work , but in which traditional unions do not have a large presence – like the video game industry and other technology sectors.

Such funds can help workers who want to organize their free time from colleagues, as well as a small cadre of professionals to help them. “You have 100 people you pay $ 25,000 a year for and 15 full-time employees, and people can build where they live,” Cohen said.

Stewart Acuff, the AFL-CIO’s organizing director from 2002 to 2008 and then special assistant to its president, said the association’s role in organizing should include more than just directly funding these efforts. He said it was imperative to give membership a higher priority to all organized labor, as he had attempted under Mr. Trumka’s predecessor.

“We have challenged all levels of the labor movement to spend 30 percent of their resources on growth,” said Acuff, who criticized the leadership of the Federation under Mr. Trumka. “This wasn’t just referring to organizers. It meant using access to every lever, “such as pressure on companies to be more accepting of unions.

Mr Acuff also said the AFL-CIO must be more willing to place long bets on organizing workers who, with more members, may not pay off in the short term but help build power and influence for workers.

He cited the $ 15 struggle and a union, a year-long campaign to improve wages and facilitate union formation for fast food and other low-wage workers. The campaign, which received tens of millions of dollars from the Service Employees International Union, was successful in many ways, despite the fact that it produced few new union members. The AFL-CIO supported the US $ 15 battle but did not provide direct financial support.

Mr Cohen and Mr Acuff both cited the importance of building long-term alliances with outside groups – such as those advocating for civil rights or immigration or environmental issues – that can increase the power of workers, such as calling for an employer to resign while in a union Campaign.

During his tenure, Mr. Trumka tried at times to cultivate such alliances, but he was often hampered by resistance within the Federation.

Amid the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, for example, Mr Trumka attempted to throw the AFL-CIO’s weight behind civil rights matters, including a speech he gave in Ferguson, Missouri, after a young black man, Michael Brown, who was there in 2014 shot by a police officer.

But Mr Trumka faced a backlash on that front from more conservative unions who felt that the AFL-CIO’s real job was to focus on economic issues that affect members rather than issues like civil rights.

“There have been some unions – not just construction – that have felt that the work is not what we should be focusing on,” said Carmen Berkley, a former director of the AFL’s civil, human and women’s rights division -CIO, in an interview last year.

Since Mr Trumka’s death, union leaders have begun to discuss what the association’s organizational and political challenges mean for the election of a successor. According to its bylaws, the AFL-CIO’s Executive Board will meet within three weeks to elect a successor for Mr. Trumka’s term, which expires next year.

One of the top candidates will be Ms. Shuler, who became the acting president after the death of Mr. Trumka as secretary / treasurer. If the Council selects Ms. Shuler to succeed Mr Trumka, this could advance her to the presidency next year and consolidate the direction of the Federation, a prospect that some reformers within the labor movement are concerned about.

Some of these reformers support Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, as the next president of the Federation. Ms. Nelson has advocated redirecting much of the tens of millions of dollars the labor movement spends on political activities to help more workers unionize.

But Ms. Shuler insists that choosing between investing in the organization and the other priorities of the association is the wrong one.

“I don’t think they’re mutually exclusive,” she said. “After the way modern organizations work, you no longer have large institutional budgets filled with line items. We organize everything related to the campaign. We’ll identify a target where it’s hot. ”Then, she said, the organizations raise money and get things done.

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Politics

Last lacking individual recognized, dying toll 98

Final missing person identified, death toll 98

People visit the memorial which contains pictures of some of the victims from the partially collapsed 12-story Champlain Towers South Condo building on July 15, 2021 in Surfside, Florida. 92 victims have been identified while the search and recovery work is nearing completion.

Joe Raedle | Getty Images

The last person missing in the collapse of a residential complex in Surfside, Florida has been recovered and identified, bringing the death toll to 98, according to Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.

The remains of Estelle Hedeya, 54, were finally identified by authorities, the victim’s younger brother told the Associated Press. A total of 242 people are now recorded, said Levine Cava.

“Although we have identified all of the missing reported victims, the Miami-Dade police are continuing their ongoing search and recovery efforts on the evidence pile to ensure that all identifiable human remains are recovered,” Levine Cava said during a press conference Monday.

Miami-Dade Police Department director Alfredo Ramirez found that human remains had been recovered from the “secondary site” of the collapse, where the remaining portion of the condo building stood before it was demolished three weeks ago.

“We are recovering human remains and will continue to process them […]”said Ramirez.” We are still working on the stacks of evidence and will continue until we think we have done all we can.

The fire department ended their search for bodies on Friday when the heap of debris was almost completely swept away from the collapse site. Miami-Dade Police Department officials were forced to stop efforts to recover the remains and personal effects.

“Nothing we can say or do will bring back those 98 angels who left grieving families, loved ones and loved ones in this community and around the world,” said Levine Cava. “But we did everything we could to bring the families out of school. I am particularly proud that, thanks to this tireless effort, we were finally able to close down all the people who reported missing relatives.”

The news comes more than a month after the sudden collapse of the 12-story Champlain Towers South. First responders pursued an emotional and tireless search that shifted from rescue to recovery after officials said the possibility of finding someone alive was “near zero”.

Search teams had spent weeks tackling the dangers of the rubble, including severe weather conditions that temporarily halted their work. Ultimately, they cleared more than 14,000 tons of concrete and rubble from the construction site.

As their search neared the end, authorities focused on helping victims and families affected by the collapse. This includes the provision of resources by a family counseling center, which offers psychological counseling as well as financial and housing assistance, among other things.

Last week, a judge ruled that victims and families affected by the collapse should initially receive at least $ 150 million in compensation.

The compensation includes insurance for the Champlain Towers South building and the expected proceeds from the sale of the land on which the condominium building once stood.

While the exact cause of the collapse is still unknown, a 2018 report shows the 40-year-old building suffered significant structural damage, with cracks in the underground parking garage and waterproofing problems under the pool.

Recent reports also show that the repeal of a law in Florida in 2010 that required condos to schedule repairs may also have contributed to the collapse.

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Entertainment

Cannes: This Is the Solely Factor Gaspar Noé Fears About Demise

Cannes: This Is the Only Thing Gaspar Noé Fears About Death

CANNES, France — Gaspar Noé is a Cannes Film Festival fixture, but this year, he’s arriving just under the wire: After the director shot his new film “Vortex” in April and May under a cloud of secrecy, he rushed to complete it in time for a festival premiere. On Friday night, the last regular day of the festival, the film finally debuted; Noé had finished it just days before.

Maybe it’s fitting that “Vortex” arrived at the end of the festival, since Noé is chronicling what happens at the tail end of our lives. In split screen, the film follows an elderly married couple as they muddle around their cluttered Paris apartment. One camera follows the wife (Françoise Lebrun), stricken with dementia, as she struggles to make sense of her surroundings; the other follows her husband (the film director Dario Argento) as he deals with her condition and places calls to his mistress.

Though Noé has sent a jolt through past festivals with provocative projects like “Irreversible,” “Climax,” and the pornographic 3-D film “Love,” his new film exudes a different, more contemplative vibe. When we spoke earlier this week, Noé said that change in attitude happened after major events in his own life. Here are edited excerpts from our conversation:

When did the idea of old age and death start to feel more real to you?

There are shifting points in your life. My mother died in my arms, and when that happens, your perception of what’s real changes a bit. I also had a sudden brain hemorrhage a year and a half ago and I almost died of it. They said, “There is a 10 percent chance you will survive without brain damage.” Miraculously, I did.

When you get close to those situations — a car crash, a disease or whatever — the problem is not if you should have an afterlife, which of course I don’t believe in. The problem is what all the people around you are going to do with your stuff, with your books, with the bills you didn’t pay? My main concern when I was on that hospital bed was, “If I die, no one’s going to be able to manage all the books I have on the shelves.” The mess that you carry with you is the thing that keeps you alive.

What was your first experience with an older person who was losing their mental faculties?

When I was 8 or 9 years old, I met a friend who had a senile grandmother in his house. I would come and talk to the grandma and she says, “Who are you? You’re not my grandson.” I remember giving different answers to the same question, because as a kid, you can have fun with it. When it’s your own mother or father who starts losing his mind, it’s much more traumatic.

You’ve been carrying around the idea for “Vortex” for a long time. How different would it have been if you made it years ago?

Two years ago, I wouldn’t have done it with the split screen. For example, I really liked the movie “The Father,” but it’s a theater play, it’s very artificial. I said, “Well, I’m not going to do something like that movie. Let’s try to do something that could be playful in its form.” Then I found this concept of shooting the movie with two cameras, and each camera is following one of the characters as if their lives were both complementary and separate. It’s a story of two tunnels of life.

Dario Argento is better known as a film director, and he has never led a movie as an actor. How did you convince him?

When I started preparing this movie, he was my very first idea, but I didn’t know if he would accept or not. And so one morning, I met him at his place, I came with this 10-page script and we watched “Love” together, which was probably not a good idea. I was asking him to be in a serious movie and the same time, we were watching this erotic movie I made. In the morning! But finally, he accepted on one condition. He said, “Oh, I’d like the character to have a mistress.” I said, “Of course.” I like making movies with people who own their character and their dialogue.

You’re really asking Argento and Françoise Lebrun to confront the end of their lives by playing these characters. Was that difficult for them?

When I see them, they’re not afraid of death. They’re afraid of not being fun! They’re very playful, and neither of them are anguished people. It seems the moment you’re born, you’re aware of the void you’re standing on. But in their cases, they have all this future life in front of them that they want to play with, even if it’s not long. And movies are a game.

A few years ago, I spoke to you at Cannes after your film “Climax” got great reviews. You told me you were a little startled by that reaction. Usually, they’re more polarizing.

I’m happy when the movies are well-received, it’s just that I’m so used to having bad reviews. I enjoy them — sometimes I put bad reviews on the wall — but I think you pay more attention to the reviews when you’re in doubt of the feeling you delivered. The film directors of the past usually say that their favorite movies were the ones that were most hated when they came out. “Irreversible” was probably my meanest, dirtiest movie and that was my only commercial success to this day! And the one that could have turned into a success was “Love,” but it was sold to Netflix. Everybody has seen it, but I didn’t get one cent of that. It’s like a ghost blockbuster.

“Love” even became a TikTok meme and topped Netflix’s most-viewed list.

In America and Europe, anyone who wants to jerk off and doesn’t know where to find a magazine at their parents’ home just puts on Netflix and sees the erotic movie that is recommended. So I guess the whole planet was jerking off to that movie for two, three years.

People at Cannes have been comparing “Vortex” to Michael Haneke’s “Amour.” Would you agree?

You know what? Haneke didn’t invent senility. He didn’t invent age. I was very touched when I saw “Amour.” My mother was in the process of dying, and I think I never cried more in a dark theater than when I saw that movie. But I would have made this movie even if “Amour” hadn’t existed.

Do you fear dying?

No. Because of this brain hemorrhage, I feel like I have extra time and I want to enjoy it.

There are also filmmakers who pursue a sort of immortality through their work. Is that something that you derive any power from?

I think it’s easier if you’re a writer or a painter. For example, my father was a painter and once he does a painting, the painting is always there and it doesn’t change. If you’re a director, your movies are now shown [via a Digital Cinema Package] that has a code key where if you don’t have the number, you cannot open that hard disk. Probably all the movies that we’re filming today, in the near future, you won’t be able to open all those little black boxes. So even with movies, you cannot think of immortality. If your movie lasts even 10 or 20 years after your own death, that’s great.

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Politics

15 extra our bodies recovered, dying toll rises to 79

15 more bodies recovered, death toll rises to 79

Search and Rescue teams look for possible survivors and to recover remains in the collapsed 12-story Champlain Towers South condo building on July 07, 2021 in Surfside, Florida. Officials say the death toll climbed to 36 today, with 109 still unaccounted for.

Joe Raedle | Getty Images

Search teams have recovered 15 more bodies from the rubble of the collapsed condominium building in Surfside, Florida, bringing the death toll to at least 79 people as of Friday afternoon, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said during a press conference. 

Levine Cava said 61 people are still unaccounted for and detectives are working to verify that each individual listed as missing was actually in Champlain Towers South when it collapsed over two weeks ago.

“In the midst of this terrible tragedy, and we’re so grateful, very grateful to all of those across our community and the world who continue to keep us in your prayers, and in your hearts,” Levine Cava said.

The painstaking search shifted from a rescue effort to a recovery operation on Wednesday after authorities decided that there was little hope of finding people alive in the rubble. But authorities vowed to continue the search for victims until they have cleared all the debris at the site, according to Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett. 

Burkett commended search teams for their work, noting that the pile of debris that was initially four to five stories high is now near ground level.

The National Institute of Technology, or NIST, is making “very significant progress” with its investigation into the cause of the collapse, Levine Cava added. NIST teams have collected over 200 pieces of evidence, which have been sent to a physics measurement lab in Washington to assist with analysis. NIST is also using drones and lidar scanners, tools that measure the distance of an object on the Earth’s surface using light, in the probe. 

Levine Cava said Thursday that the public also has “a very important role to play in this investigation.” She urged the public to submit any photos or videos related to the collapse to NIST’s website. 

Champlain Towers North, the identical sister property of the collapsed condominium building, is also being evaluated, Burkett said. Engineers and authorities are using ground-penetrating radar and are taking samples of concrete to determine the structure’s salt content and strength. 

Meanwhile, alternative housing arrangements have been made for residents of the sister property who wanted to evacuate. 

Laura Solla weeps as she places flowers near the memorial site for victims of the collapsed 12-story Champlain Towers South condo building on July 08, 2021 in Surfside, Florida.

Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images

The exact cause of the collapse of Champlain Towers South remains unknown. 

Recent evidence points to structural flaws in the building far before the collapse, such as a 2018 report that reveals the 40-year-old building had waterproofing issues beneath the pool and cracking in the underground parking garage. 

Experts have also said that the repeal in 2010 of a Florida law that required condominium buildings to plan for repairs may have contributed to the collapse.

Several resources are being provided to families and individuals affected by the collapse. The Family Assistance Center continues to offer mental health counseling as well as financial and housing assistance, among other critical services. 

Authorities announced Thursday that nearly 200 families have been served by the center. 

Levine Cava also said Thursday that rescue teams are collecting and cataloguing personal items found in the rubble of the condominium building, such as photos, technology devices, documents and jewelry. Authorities are developing a process for families and survivors to reclaim missing belongings that have been found.

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World News

A French Teenager’s Anti-Islam Rant Unleashed Demise Threats. Now 13 Are on Trial.

A French Teenager’s Anti-Islam Rant Unleashed Death Threats. Now 13 Are on Trial.

PARIS – The 16-year-old French woman shared very personal details about her life, including her attraction to women, on a livestream on Instagram. Just no black or Arab women, she said.

When in January 2020 her Instagram account received insults and death threats in response to her comments, some of which said it was an affront to Islam, teenage Mila dug in and quickly posted another video.

“I hate religion,” she said. “The Koran is a religion of hatred.” She also used profanity to describe Islam and the crudest of images to refer to God.

The subsequent onslaught of threats after the video went viral brought 13 people to justice for online harassment.

The case has put the spotlight on the heated French debate over freedom of expression and blasphemy, especially when it comes to Islam. It is also a landmark test of recent legislation expanding France’s definition of cyber-harassment in relation to attacks on the internet, where vitriol is abundant but less modulated debate.

“We set the rules for what is acceptable and what is not,” said Michaël Humbert, the presiding judge, at the hearing.

Some looked back into history to capture the brutality of what Mila was witnessing online. Mila’s attorney said she had been digitally stoned. The prosecutor spoke in the case of a “Lyncherei 2.0”.

More than a year after Mila – the New York Times withholds her last name for being the subject of harassment – posted her videos, her life remains in a turmoil. She lives under police protection and no longer goes to school in person.

The 13 accused, some of whom are teenagers themselves, are on trial in Paris, most of them charged with death threats. You face jail time. The verdict is expected on Wednesday.

Most defendants have regretted the tone of their online comments – but the case has taken on a life of its own.

It exposed the deep polarization in French society over freedom of expression following the terrorist attacks on Charlie Hebdo, the satirical newspaper that published the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, and the decapitation last year of a teacher who showed similar cartoons during a class Discussion about freedom of expression.

Some of the defendants said they had no intention of harassing or threatening Mila. They were just kidding, venting, or trying to attract followers, they said.

But many of the comments were extremely snappy. The process only affects messages sent in November after Mila posted another video describing her continued online harassment – and reiterating some of her own crude imagery that sparked a flurry of new digital attacks.

When the presiding judge read some of them out loud at the trial, they made them gasp.

One of an 18-year-old psychology student named N’Aissita said: “It would be a real pleasure for me to tear your body apart with my finest knife and let it rot in the forest.” Another of a 19-year-old aspiring customs officer named Adam said, “Someone is going to come to your home, someone is going to tie you up and torture you.”

(A court clerk refused to fully identify the defendants to the Times; it is customary in France, especially in cases involving juveniles, not to publish the names of defendants unless they are public figures. )

Mila has repeatedly said that she does not want to be co-opted by politicians of any ideology. But many conservatives have stood up for her cause, and she says she feels abandoned by feminist and LGBTQ advocacy groups, accusing them of being afraid to defend their right to criticize religions for fear of offending Muslims.

“I am being abandoned by a fragile and cowardly nation,” she said.

For Mila’s defenders, the virulence directed against them shows that France’s model of secularism and freedom of expression is under attack.

“We went crazy,” said President Emmanuel Macron in an interview last year when asked about Mila. In France any religion could be criticized, “and because of this criticism we must not tolerate violence”.

Mr Macron himself was at the center of the violent tug-of-war over French values ​​and the treatment of its Muslim citizens. He has vowed to defeat Islamist “separatism” or the undermining of French values ​​of secularism and freedom of expression. Several terrorist attacks in the past year have hardened the mood in French society towards extremists in their midst and aroused fear among some French Muslims that they would be unjustly stigmatized.

In a television interview several weeks after her first video, Mila said that she was targeting Islam as a religion, not those who practice it in peace, and she apologized for hurting these people with her comments.

That’s an important difference in France, which criminalizes some hate speech but doesn’t prohibit blasphemy. The law distinguishes between ridiculing a religion and vilifying its believers. On this basis, prosecutors quickly closed an investigation they had opened against Mila on suspicion of incitement to racial hatred.

Instead, based on the Cyber ​​Harassment Act passed in 2018, the police opened an investigation into those who followed them online. The law allows prosecutors to seek convictions against molesters who knew they were contributing to a wider wave of abuse, even if they didn’t coordinate with each other and even if they only posted or sent a comment.

In a recent book, Mila went back on some of her regrets, saying that at the time of the television interview, she was desperate to calm the situation but should not apologize for the legal use of her freedom of speech.

The defendants were charged with online harassment, which resulted in a prison sentence of up to two years and a fine of € 30,000, or nearly $ 36,000. Those charged with death threats face up to three years in prison and a fine of 45,000 euros.

Defense lawyers asked why these 13 were chosen when thousands of people attacked Mila online.

The prosecutor said he expected to hold others accountable as well.

“Social media is not a lawless wild west,” said prosecutor Grégory Weill, who heads a new office that deals with hate speech and online harassment across France.

Nevertheless, Mr. Weill requested only short suspended sentences for 12 of the defendants, all of whom were first-time offenders. (He recommended that the charges against the 13th be dropped.) The court could be more severe in all of the sentences it imposes.

For two long days last month, the case against the 13 unfolded in a crowded courtroom.

Mila’s mother said her daughter experienced an endless “tsunami” of news that caused nightmares, depression and trauma. Mila fought vigorously against critics, but also in tears.

“I feel like I have rows of knives in my back all the time,” she said.

She turned down suggestions to leave social media, where she still clashes with critics, but also posts typical teenage content, like videos of herself lip-syncing songs.

“I see it like a woman who was raped on the street and who is told not to go out again so that she doesn’t get raped again,” said Mila. She added that she doesn’t like all religions, not just Islam.

Richard Malka, Mila’s attorney, castigated the defendants as easily offended, but slow to realize the consequences of their actions.

“You made them all radioactive,” said Mr. Malka. “You condemned her to loneliness.”

Although some of the defendants claimed to be Muslim, some of them claimed to be atheists. Some said Mila’s comments pissed them off because they had Muslim friends or found their videos disrespectful, which made them stop thinking.

“I reacted in the heat of the moment,” said Axel, a 20-year-old from southwest France, in court. “I don’t pay attention to religion, but all religions should be equal and respected.”

One of the defendants, Corentin, a 23-year-old school observer, said he could not understand religious intolerance. In his Twitter post wishing Mila would die, Corentin said he was not a criminal offense because he was “knowledgeable and an unbeliever”.

And when Mila’s attorney argued that religions deserve no respect and that respecting religious beliefs “leads to horror,” disagreed with N’Aissita, the psychology student who wrote about Mila’s knife.

“If religious beliefs had been respected, we wouldn’t be here,” she replied.

Categories
Politics

Loss of life toll rises in Florida apartment tower collapse

Death toll rises in Florida condo tower collapse

This aerial view, shows search and rescue personnel working on site after the partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside, north of Miami Beach, on June 24, 2021.

Chandan Khanna | AFP | Getty Images

The death toll has risen to nine people after a 12-story condominium building collapsed in Florida, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said at a press conference Sunday morning.

“We’ve identified four of the victims and notified the next of kin…We are making every effort to identify those others who have been recovered and additionally contacting their family members as soon as we are able,” Levine Cava said.

Champlain Towers South collapsed suddenly early Thursday morning in Surfside, Florida, just north of Miami Beach.

Search and rescue teams created a 125-feet-long trench at the rescue site on Saturday, which allowed authorities to recover additional bodies and human remains, Levine Cava said.

Miami-Dade police on Saturday night identified four of the deceased as Stacie Dawn Fang, 54; Antonio Lozano, 83; Gladys Lozano, 79; and Manuel LaFont, 54.

Authorities said 156 people remained missing as of Saturday.

Levine Cava and Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett told press on Sunday morning that searchers contained fire in the rescue site on Saturday and are continuing rescue operations. Teams from Mexico and Israel are aiding rescue efforts, according to Levine Cava and Burkett.

“We don’t have a resource problem. We’ve had a luck problem. We just need to start to get a little more lucky right now,” Burkett said on ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday morning.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at the press conference Sunday that debris will be moved from the rescue site to a separate location for forensic analysis.

Authorities are still investigating the cause of Thursday’s collapse. An engineer in a 2018 report warned of “major structural damage” in the condo building that collapsed. The report identified issues with waterproofing below the pool deck and “abundant cracking” in the underground parking garage.

Levine Cava on Saturday ordered a 30-day audit of all residential properties, five stories or higher, that are 40 years or older and fall under the county’s jurisdiction. The mayor encouraged cities to do their own building reviews as well.

Surfside has authorized a voluntary evacuation of residents of Champlain Towers North, the sister property of the collapsed building built. The town’s building inspector did not find any immediate causes of concern in the sister property, Levine Cava told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on Sunday morning.