Tag: seeking

Categories
Politics

Biden and Naftali Bennett to Meet, Looking for to Burnish U.S.-Israel Relations

Biden and Naftali Bennett to Meet, Seeking to Burnish U.S.-Israel Relations

WASHINGTON – When Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett meets President Biden in the White House on Thursday, the two new leaders plan to reshape relations between their countries and strengthen bonds that have shown signs of strain.

Mr Biden, who called Bennett to congratulate him less than two hours after he was sworn in two months ago, has tried to send a clear signal that the United States supports his new, diverse coalition government.

Mr Bennett has said that he would like his administration to be known as the “Government of Good Will” and that he would like to be gentler on the United States than his longtime predecessor Benjamin Netanyahu, who often clashed with Democratic leaders.

But despite the conciliatory style, the challenge can be in the substance. Mr Biden and Mr Bennett, who have never met before, have very different views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and efforts to restore the nuclear deal with Iran.

Mr Bennett has made it clear that there will be no independent Palestinian state during his reign. The Biden government, on the other hand, has been deeply in favor of a two-state solution, which by definition includes an independent Palestinian state.

Mr Bennett is also against the United States’ re-entry into the Iran deal, which the Biden administration is investigating.

“These are two very central issues in US-Israel relations, on which there are radically different positions,” said Jeremy Ben-Ami, president of J Street, a liberal pro-Israel advocacy group. “The tone and atmosphere cannot replace the fact that there is a fundamental difference in the core issues of US-Israel relations.”

In a recent interview with the New York Times, Mr Bennett said he would expand the settlements in the West Bank, which Biden refuses. And he refused to support the American plans to reopen a consulate for Palestinians in Jerusalem.

Still, he made it clear that the meeting wanted to show that relations with the United States were on more solid ground, even if some of its policies were similar to those of Mr. Netanyahu.

“There’s a new dimension here – finding new ways to tackle problems, being very realistic, very pragmatic, and being sensible with friends,” said Bennett.

His visit comes as Mr Biden is wandering through the biggest foreign policy crisis of his young presidency, trying to evacuate all American and Afghan allies before his August 31 deadline for US troops to withdraw from the country after 20 years of war.

At home, Mr Biden has to do with countercurrents across Israel in his own party, as an energetic progressive wing and quiet change among mainstream Democrats have led many lawmakers to be more skeptical of the longtime ally.

Mr. Bennett is also the rare international leader with whom Mr. Biden, a former chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, shares no history, a distinction that even sets Mr. Bennett apart from some of his neighbors. When King Abdullah II of Jordan visited the White House last month as the first Arab leader since Mr Biden took office, the president called him a “loyal and decent friend” and remarked, “We hung out together.” a long time ago.”

Categories
Politics

Fewer than 1,000 Individuals are in search of evacuation from Afghanistan

Fewer than 1,000 Americans are seeking evacuation from Afghanistan

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks about refugee programs for Afghans who have helped the US during a briefing at the State Department in Washington, DC, on August 2, 2021.

Brendan Smialowski | Reuters

WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that fewer than 1,000 U.S. citizens may be looking for evacuation from Afghanistan.

Blinken said the US is currently “aggressively approaching about 1,000 contacts several times a day through multiple communication channels” to determine if they still wish to leave and give them instructions on how to do so. The final number could be lower, however, Blinken said.

“The US government does not follow the movements of the Americans when they travel around the world,” said Blinken. “There could be other Americans in Afghanistan who have never signed up with the embassy, ​​who ignored public evacuation instructions, and have not yet identified themselves,” he added.

“We have also found that many people who contact us and identify themselves as American citizens, even by filling out and submitting repatriation assistance forms, are in fact not US citizens, which may take some time to decide to verify,” to stay in Afghanistan, “said the country’s top diplomat.

Blinken added that the State Department has been in direct contact with an additional 500 Americans in the past 24 hours to provide instructions on how to safely get to the airport for evacuation.

Blinken’s press conference, his first since the Afghan government collapsed with the Taliban more than a week ago, comes as US and coalition forces step up emergency evacuation flights.

In the past 24 hours, Western forces evacuated 19,000 people from Kabul on 90 military cargo plane flights, which, according to the Pentagon, corresponds to a departure frequency every 39 minutes.

Evacuees wait to board a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, on August 23, 2021.

Sgt. Isaiah Campbell | US Marine Corps | via Reuters

Since the mass evacuations began on August 14, around 82,300 people have been flown out of Afghanistan. Around 87,900 people have been evacuated since the end of July, including around 4,500 US citizens and their families.

The Pentagon announced on Wednesday that 10,000 people are currently waiting for a flight at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. Approximately 5,400 U.S. soldiers assist with evacuation efforts using nearly 200 U.S. military aircraft dedicated to the mission.

President Joe Biden reaffirmed Tuesday to leaders of the G-7, NATO, the United Nations and the European Union that the United States will withdraw its military from Afghanistan by the end of the month.

The president warned that staying in Afghanistan for extended periods of time poses serious risks to foreign troops and civilians. Biden said ISIS-K, an offshoot of the terrorist group based in Afghanistan, posed a growing threat to Hamid Karzai International Airport.

“Every day we are there is another day we know that ISIS-K is trying to attack the airport and target both US and Allied forces and innocent civilians,” he said.

Read more about developments in Afghanistan:

The Taliban said Tuesday that the group would no longer allow Afghan nationals to leave the country on evacuation flights, nor would they accept an extension of the exit period beyond the end of the month.

“We are not in favor of allowing Afghans to leave the country,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told reporters during a press conference on Tuesday.

“She [the Americans] have the opportunity, they have all the resources, they can take all the people who belong to them with them, but we will not allow Afghans to leave and we will not extend the deadline, “he said. Evacuations by foreign forces after August .31 would be a “violation” of the Biden government’s promise to end the US military’s mission in the country, Mujahid said.

Categories
Health

In search of Solutions on Covid, U.F.O.s and Sicknesses, Spy Businesses Flip to Scientists

Seeking Answers on Covid, U.F.O.s and Illnesses, Spy Agencies Turn to Scientists

But the recent challenges facing intelligence agencies have required a different range of scientific expertise, including some areas in which the authorities have invested fewer resources over the years.

“This is a really interesting moment where national security interests have shifted from some of the Cold War interests,” said Sue Gordon, a former top intelligence official. “The priorities are changing now.”

Given not only the immediate unresolved security issues, but also the longer-term challenge of improving the gathering of information on climate change, Avril D. Haines, director of the National Intelligence Service, has urged authorities to provide undergraduate and postgraduate students with extensive scientific knowledge.

“The DNI believes that the changing threat landscape requires intelligence agencies to develop and invest in a talented workforce, including those with scientific and technological backgrounds,” said Matt Lahr, a spokesman for Ms. Haines. “Without this know-how, we will not only not be competitive, but also not master the challenges we are facing today.”

Officials are also trying to make wider use of existing initiatives. For example, Ms. Haines’ office has been more aggressively questioning its Science and Technology Expert Group, a group of about 500 scientists who volunteer to help intelligence agencies answer scientific problems.

Officials have asked these scientists about coronavirus mutations, as well as climate change and the availability of natural resources. While the experts in the expert group do not conduct intelligence analysis, their answers can help such analysts within the agencies draw more precise conclusions, intelligence officials said.

In other cases, the efforts to bring in external expertise are new.

During the Trump administration, the State Department hired the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine to investigate Havana Syndrome. The report concluded that a microwave weapon was a likely cause of many of the incidents but was hampered in part due to a lack of access to information; Not all material collected by the secret services was made available to scientists, officials said.

Categories
Politics

Trump, Looking for to Preserve G.O.P. Sway, Holds First Rally Since Jan. 6

Trump, Seeking to Maintain G.O.P. Sway, Holds First Rally Since Jan. 6

WELLINGTON, Ohio — Former President Donald J. Trump returned to the rally stage on Saturday evening after a nearly six-month absence, his first large public gathering since his “Save America” event on Jan. 6 that resulted in a deadly riot at the Capitol.

On Saturday, the same words — “Save America” — appeared behind Mr. Trump as he addressed a crowd of several thousand at a county fairgrounds in Wellington, Ohio, about 35 miles southwest of Cleveland.

He repeated familiar falsehoods about fraudulent 2020 votes. He attacked Republican officials for refusing to back his effort to overturn the election results — including Representative Anthony E. Gonzalez of Ohio, who voted to impeach Mr. Trump, and whose primary challenger, Max Miller, was the reason for Mr. Trump’s visit. The former president praised Mr. Miller as they appeared onstage together.

Mr. Trump remains the most powerful figure in the Republican Party, with large numbers of G.O.P. lawmakers parroting his lies about a stolen 2020 election and fearful of crossing him, and many in the party waiting to see whether he will run again for the White House in 2024.

Yet in the audience and on the stage, the scene in Ohio on Saturday was reflective of how diminished Mr. Trump has become in his post-presidency, and how reliant he is on a smaller group of allies and supporters who have adopted his alternate reality as their own. One of the event’s headliners was Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, the far-right Republican who has promoted the QAnon conspiracy theory.

Mr. Trump’s speech — low-key, digressive and nearly 90 minutes long — fell flat at times with an otherwise adoring audience. Scores of people left early as he bounced from topic to topic — immigration, Israel, Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s protective mask.

“Do you miss me?” Mr. Trump asked in one of his biggest applause lines. “They miss me,” he declared.

In interviews, many in the crowd expressed steadfast belief in Mr. Trump’s election falsehoods, and indulged his rewriting of history on the Capitol mob attack.

Tony Buscemi, 61, a small-business owner from West Bloomfield, Mich., who stood with his daughter, Natalie, in the sun-baked field where Mr. Trump spoke, said he had been at the Capitol on Jan. 6, and he claimed falsely that it had been a “mostly peaceful” gathering.

“People were praying. People were singing,” Mr. Buscemi said, adding that he might have gone inside the building himself had his daughter not persuaded him that it was a bad idea. “There was no insurrection,” he insisted. “I didn’t see anything wrong with it.”

Polling suggests that most Republicans remain skeptical of President Biden’s election victory. Thirty-six percent of Republicans said in a Monmouth University poll released on Monday that Mr. Biden had won the election fairly, while 57 percent said his victory was the result of fraud.

Still, there is evidence that Mr. Trump’s influence over Republican voters is waning — though only slightly.

In late April, 44 percent of Republicans and G.O.P.-leaning independents said in an NBC News poll that they were more supportive of Mr. Trump than of the party itself. A slightly higher share, 50 percent, said they were more apt to support the party.

It was the first time since NBC pollsters began asking the question in early 2019 that as many as half of Republicans said they were more supportive of the party than of the man.

Giovanni Russonello contributed reporting.

Categories
Politics

Congress Rushes to Assist Afghans Searching for Visas for Serving to U.S.

Congress Rushes to Help Afghans Seeking Visas for Helping U.S.

WASHINGTON – As President Biden’s September deadline for ending the long war in Afghanistan draws nearer, a bipartisan coalition in Congress is stepping up efforts to ensure that Afghans who retaliate there for cooperation with American troops and personnel go to the United States can immigrate.

The group of Republicans and Democrats, many of them military or veterans who have worked with translators, drivers and fixers in Afghanistan and other combat areas, are trying to legislate to aid the “Afghan allies,” as they are often called before American forces go home, leaving these allies unprotected against Taliban revenge attacks. Legislators want to make it easier for Afghans to qualify for a special visa, expedite the process and get them out of Afghanistan as soon as possible while they wait to be allowed to live legally in the US.

More than 18,000 Afghans who worked as interpreters, drivers, engineers, security guards and embassy workers for the United States during the war are stuck in a bureaucratic swamp after applying for a special immigrant visa – available to people who work for the government because of their work United States – some wait up to six or seven years for their applications to be processed.

The number of backward cases does not take into account family members, an additional 53,000 people, or the expected increase in requests for the withdrawal of American troops.

“We are frustrated here as lawmakers, especially those of us who have served and want to help the people who have helped us,” said Rep. Brad Wenstrup, Ohio Republican and Army Reserve colonel who served with Iraqi Collaborated with translators in Iraq in 2005 and 2006 as a combat surgeon.

Over the past few weeks, Mr Wenstrup said he had thought of the Iraqis he had served with – people who liked to sell art and pirated copies at the army base – including two killed in surprise attacks near Abu Ghraib and one third who finally got his visa and is now a US citizen and a successful cardiologist in Ohio.

“They will be your brothers and sisters,” he said.

Mr. Wenstrup is part of the Working Group Honoring Our Promises – comprised of 10 Democrats and six Republicans – that spearheaded laws introduced Thursday that would expedite special immigrant visas from Afghanistan, increasing the number available from 11,000 to 19,000. The group is also lobbying the Biden government in an unlikely attempt to initiate a mass evacuation of Afghan applicants, possibly to Guam U.S. territory, while visas can be processed.

The bill would expand the universe of eligible Afghans by removing what its proponents call “onerous” application requirements, including a “credible affidavit” of a particular threat and evidence of a “sensitive and trustworthy” job. Instead, the measure would de facto provide that any Afghan who has helped the US government will, by definition, face retaliation and apply for a visa.

“It became very clear to us that we had very little time left to help the people of Afghanistan,” said Jason Crow, a Democrat from Colorado, law sponsor and former Army Ranger who served in Iraq and Afghanistan Has. “I have very big concerns.”

While Mr Biden set September as the exit date, military officials have since indicated that the schedule has accelerated, with American forces and NATO allies planning to leave by mid-July.

Rep. Michael Waltz, Republican of Florida and former Green Beret who still serves as a colonel in the Army National Guard, said Mr. Biden was short of time to look into the situation.

“If he doesn’t act and doesn’t get these people out, blood will stick to his hands and the hands of his administration,” said Mr Waltz.

The nonprofit No One Left Behind has tracked the murder of more than 300 translators or their family members since 2014, many of whom died while waiting for their visas to be processed, according to James Miervaldis, chairman of the group and sergeant of the Army Reserve.

A death database maintained by the group serves as a catalog of horrors: an interpreter was killed in a suicide attack in front of a bank; another was captured and tortured along the Kandahar-Kabul highway; another was killed in a night attack on his home.

In a poll by the organization, more than 90 percent of the 464 Afghan allies surveyed said they had received at least one death threat because of their work with Americans.

‘They are all generally scared,’ said Mr Miervaldis.

He found that the average time an Afghan applicant waited for a special immigrant visa to be processed was 3.5 years.

“We have people who wait six years, people who wait seven years,” he said. “There is literally no opposition in Congress and it’s frustrating how slow progress is coming.”

A mass evacuation would be a logistical challenge, similar to moving a small town. To date, the Biden government has resisted such calls and the prospect seems very unlikely. In a recent interview on CNN, Foreign Secretary Antony Blinken called evacuation “the wrong word” and instead advocated improving the functioning of the visa program.

He said the Biden government recently hired 50 people to expedite the process.

“We are determined to fulfill our obligation to those who have helped us, who put their lives at risk,” said Blinken. “We have invested significant resources to ensure that the program can work quickly and effectively.”

But the pressure to do more is growing. Last week the New York Times published interviews with Afghan interpreters who said they feared for their lives while they waited for their applications to be processed.

“If the Taliban take power, they will find and kill me easily,” said one man, Waheedullah Rahmani, 27, who has been waiting for a visa decision since 2015. “Then my wife will not have a husband and my daughter will not have a father.”

The special immigrant visa has been plagued by chronic delays and congestion to varying degrees for more than a decade. Mr Crow said the problem was exacerbated by former President Donald J. Trump, who starved the program of resources and personnel, and then by the coronavirus pandemic, which suspended personal interviews and reviews.

In a January report by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “limited staffing” and “local security conditions directly related to the Covid-19 pandemic” were cited as “serious” implications for the visa application process.

Mr. Crow and Mr. Wenstrup have taken a number of steps, including this week, to speed up the process. A separate bill they drafted would remove the requirement for Afghan special immigrant visa applicants to undergo medical examinations. There is only one clinic in the country that carries out the examinations – a German facility in Kabul – where some translators have to travel far under sometimes dangerous conditions. And the exams are pretty expensive, said Mr. Crow.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, Republican from Illinois, and Earl Blumenauer, Democrat from Oregon, have taken another step to increase the number of visas available by 4,000. To date, around 15,000 visas have been approved since the program began, but only around 11,000 are still available – a number that, according to legislators, falls far short of what is needed.

“It was annoying: the dragging with the feet, the lack of coordination,” said Blumenauer. “It was incredibly frustrating. As a country, we have not met our responsibility. “

They found support in the other chamber from Senator Joni Ernst, Republican of Iowa and Lt. Col. Army National Guard, and Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Democrat of New Hampshire. The couple have written to the Biden government asking for 20,000 visas to be added to the program and a resolution to the bureaucratic problems that have caused the backlog.

“We are deeply concerned about the fate of these people after the withdrawal of US troops,” wrote the senators in a letter signed by 18 of their colleagues. “While this would be an increase compared to previous years, it is necessary to do everything in our power to support the program as long as the US has the appropriate capacities in the country.”

Ms. Shaheen last week introduced laws that would expand and modify the Afghan special visa program for immigrants, postpone medical examinations, and extend visas for spouses and children of allies killed while waiting for their visas to be processed.

“Leaders from both parties have shown their support,” said Crow. “I expect we will get expedited handling of these bills.”

The bills have attracted dozens of co-sponsors, and legislators from both parties have given the visa program strong support in the past. In December, under a huge fallback bill, Congress raised the overall visa program ceiling by 4,000 to 26,500.

Several non-profit groups and refugee lawyers are urging the Biden government to do more.

About 70 organizations recently wrote a letter to Mr. Biden urging his government to “immediately implement plans to evacuate vulnerable US-affiliated Afghans.”

Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president of the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service who organized the campaign, points to a precedent in pointing to the 1975 evacuation of 130,000 Vietnamese refugees by the Ford government via Guam to the United States; 1996 Airlift of 6,600 Iraqi Kurds out of the country; and in 1999 the evacuation of 20,000 Kosovar Albanians to Fort Dix, NJ

“We promised them that we would not turn our backs on them and leave them behind,” said Ms. Vignarajah.

Abdul Wahid Forozan, 34, was a translator for the American military in Afghanistan, came to America a year and a half ago through the Visa program, is now married, a father and works as a concierge in College Park.

In an interview, he described the decision to leave Afghanistan as difficult and painful, but said it was his only option given the death threats he faced.

“Home is loved by everyone, nobody dislikes their country,” said Mr Forozan. “But if your life is in danger, if your family’s life is in danger, if you are threatened every day, I couldn’t live in Afghanistan.”

David Zucchino contributed to the coverage.

Categories
Business

Luceo Sports activities searching for $5 million funding for growth

Luceo Sports seeking $5 million investment for expansion

Team LeBron head coach Quin Snyder trains during the 70th NBA All Star game as part of the NBA All Star Weekend 2021 on March 7, 2021 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.

Jesse D. Garrabrant | National Basketball Association | Getty Images

Luceo Sports, a software company that digitizes and animates sports betting, is looking for investors to expand its business. The company is based in Arizona and has already entered into agreements with professional basketball clubs that use the product.

In an interview with CNBC, Andy Graham, founder and CEO of Luceo, said he was looking for approximately $ 5 million to invest in sales and marketing. With Luceo’s software, teams can insert their game books and terminology and then convert drawings into motion graphics.

“It makes it a game animation so you get that sequence and timing instead of just a picture,” said Graham.

He added Luceo could help younger athletes learn game books faster, and teams could also distribute them to newly acquired players. For example, if a National Basketball Association team makes a mid-season deal, a team using Luceo can quickly create a login and give the player access to digital game books.

“We are focused on the educational aspect of the game,” said Graham. “And we remember that trainers are teachers and try to teach them good educational technology so they can create explanations to reach today’s digital learners.”

The Rosetta Stone of Sport

37-year-old Graham started Luceo in 2016 after spending time with data analytics company Synergy Sports and software company FastModel, which also makes money digitizing pro playbooks. He left FastModel in 2014 after discovering a niche in the market.

“I realized how much technology had advanced in those years (at FastModel) and I wanted to be a part of it all,” said Graham. “Ed-tech, a market that has exploded in the last few decades, and sports at all levels are just a learning and development activity.”

Luceo is a software-as-a-service company, and the company makes money on subscription, ancillary service, and transaction fees. Subscriptions are only $ 2 per month for users, while the premium Professional package is $ 15 per month. The program has an app. However, registrations are only possible through the website to avoid the fees Apple charges for digital subscriptions.

When asked about subscribers, Graham declined to give details, but added that there are around 150,000 people in the company’s “ecosystem”. Hence people who know Luceo and have access to him. The company has agreements with 11 NBA clubs, including the Utah Jazz and three college teams.

Graham also did not disclose any income. He said pro clubs usually sign annual contracts and Luceo targets everyday consumers with subscription pricing. The plan is to attract Generation Z users (ages 6 to 24) and their parents as this population group grows up in a more digitized learning environment. One of the features Graham highlighted is a playoff within the program. The activity allows athletes to use a team’s playbook to practice what to do in critical game situations.

Graham called Luceo the Rosetta Stone – popular language learning software – of sport.

“The most comprehensive digital learning platform for sport,” he said. “The more children feel that they understand the sport, or that fans understand it, or parents, the more likely they are to get involved.”

Targeting the NFL

While at Synergy, Graham said he had improved his product design and business development skills, adding that the insight “is fundamental to what I think of now”. The lessons will be essential to Luceo as the competition is fierce. According to Grand View Research, the ed-tech market is projected to reach $ 377 billion by 2028. Here, too, FastModel is a competitor and is already used by numerous basketball scouts.

The National Football League could support Luceo’s future growth. With its software, Luceo positions itself as a target group for professional football clubs and is currently working on digitized and animated football match books. Graham said he would start small and pursue high schools and college programs first.

Andrew Graham, Luceo Sports

Source: Luceo Sports

“That’s where we go,” said Graham when he finally chased the NFL business.

Luceo is gaining traction in sports and has been featured on NBATV. Sacramento Kings deputy head coach Alvin Gentry is also a supporter of the software. To take the next step, Graham needs to convince investors of Luceo’s potential. It won’t be easy, but Graham says it’s part of the “fun challenge” of running a business.

When asked to provide a brief overview of Luceo, Graham said, “I’ve already built a business that teams in the NBA and NCAA use twice. (Luceo) started small and has been up to for the past five years grown to that point, “he added. “But I have faith in the needs of the market. I know how this business works.”

Categories
Health

Pfizer and BioNTech start the method of searching for full U.S. approval for his or her Covid vaccine

Pfizer and BioNTech begin the process of seeking full U.S. approval for their Covid vaccine

Vials containing the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine on Thursday, February 11, 2021 at the vaccination site of the Sun City Anthem Community Center in Henderson, Nevada, USA.

Roger Kisby | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Pfizer and German drug maker BioNTech announced that they have begun filing for full approval of their Covid-19 vaccine for people aged 16 and over in the United States. This makes the companies the first in the nation to apply for full regulatory approval.

The Food and Drug Administration issued emergency approval for their Covid vaccine at the end of December. Since then, Pfizer has distributed 170 million doses in the US, with the goal of having 300 million doses by the end of July.

“We are proud of the tremendous progress we have made in working with the US government to deliver vaccines to millions of Americans since December,” said Albert Bourla, Pfizer CEO, in a statement. “We look forward to working with the FDA to complete this ongoing filing and support its review with the aim of ensuring full regulatory approval for the vaccine in the months ahead.”

Pfizer needs to demonstrate that it can reliably manufacture the vaccines in order to get full clearance. If approved, companies could market their shots directly to consumers and potentially change the pricing of the cans. It also allows the shot to stay in the market once the pandemic is over and the US is no longer considered an “emergency”.

It usually takes the FDA about a year or more to determine whether a drug is safe and effective for the general public. Due to the once in a century pandemic that killed nearly 600,000 people in the United States, the FDA allowed the gunshots to be used as part of an emergency clearance.

The permit grants conditional approval based on data for two months. It’s not the same as a biological license application that requires six months of data and ensures full approval. Companies apply for approval on a “rolling filing” basis, which speeds the review process by allowing the FDA to review new data as soon as the company receives it.

“The BLA filing is an important cornerstone in achieving long-term herd immunity and future COVID-19 containment,” said Dr. Ugur Sahin, CEO and Co-Founder of BioNTech, in a statement. “We are excited to be working with US regulators to apply for approval of our COVID-19 vaccine based on our key Phase 3 study and follow-up data.”

Early data from 12,000 vaccinated people aged 16 and over in this Phase 3 study showed that the shots were 91.3% effective at getting the disease up for up to six months after the second dose and 95.3% effective against severe Covid as defined by the FDA. The companies said on April 1st. The data also showed “a favorable safety and tolerability profile,” they said at the time.

The companies are awaiting FDA emergency approval to use their vaccine in children ages 12-15 and intend to apply for a full license once they have six months of data.

They said in late March that the vaccine was 100% effective in a clinical study involving more than 2,000 adolescents. They also said the vaccine produced a “robust” antibody response in the children that outperformed that in a previous study in older teenagers and young adults. The side effects were generally consistent with those seen in adults, they added.

This is the latest news. Please try again.

Categories
Business

Jill Biden, in California, Lends Assist to Farmworkers In search of Vaccinations

Jill Biden, in California, Lends Support to Farmworkers Seeking Vaccinations

During her presentation, Dr. Biden announced that the president endorsed the Farm Workers Modernization Act, a law that would give temporary legal status to seasonal workers, many of whom are undocumented, and offer a 10-year path to citizenship.

“As president, Joe fights for people who often go invisible,” said Dr. Biden. “And this is exactly the kind of immigration policy he develops – one that treats children and families with dignity and creates fair routes to citizenship, including for important workers.”

Thousands of Central Valley farm workers are slated to receive the coronavirus vaccine at Forty Acres for six weekends in March and April. California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, and partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom joined the local first lady on Wednesday. Later, Dr. Biden vaccination cards and “I got my Covid-19 vaccination buttons” to workers waiting to be vaccinated.

That year, California embarked on a breakthrough effort to provide farm workers with vaccines, many of whom are undocumented and whose working conditions have made them particularly vulnerable to the virus in confined spaces. Purdue University researchers estimate that around 500,000 farm workers tested positive for the virus and at least 9,000 have died from it. Coronavirus has killed more than 551,000 people in the United States, according to a New York Times count.

During President Biden’s first two months in office, union leaders hailed his government as one of the most work-friendly in modern history. One of his first acts was to move a bust of Mr. Chavez to the Oval Office, a decision that Dr. Biden applauded at the event on Wednesday. During her speech, the First Lady also repeated the motto of the agricultural workers’ union “Sí, se puede” or “Yes, we can” several times.

“César dared to believe that our country could change – that we could change it,” she said. “Now it’s up to us to keep that promise.”

Categories
Entertainment

Justin Bieber, Nonetheless Searching for a Sound

Justin Bieber, Still Seeking a Sound

It is with some awkwardness – confusion? – that I have to tell you that the first voice you hear on Justin Bieber’s new album, Justice, is that of Martin Luther King Jr., “Injustice everywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” King returns midway through Album back, in an interlude in which a speech is sampled about that a life without conviction and passion is no life at all, which is absolutely true.

King’s calls to action are undeniably powerful – they should be widely heard. And yet they do not feel anchored in the framework for an album by the 27-year-old pop star: a grand gesture in search of an equally ambitious commitment – political, spiritual, emotional, even musical – to strengthen it.

It just draws attention to the lingering underlying conundrum with all things Bieber has, namely that, despite some indelible hits, his fame far surpasses his catalog and that he has kept it – in an open or reluctant, destructive or self-protecting manner – throughout his career. never has rested in one place for very long and never tried to stand up for its own particularity.

Because of this, his last album, Changes, was one of his most successful, full of mid-range R&B that goes well with his slightly silky voice. It wasn’t a runaway triumph, but it was coherent and comforting, and most importantly, baggage-free. It was also a reminder that Justin Bieber, the musician and performer, may not be actively interested or particularly well-suited to the song scale that is usually prescribed for someone as popular as Justin Bieber the celebrity.

However, the disorganized, sporadically strong “justice” feels like a slap on the wrist for “change” or the version of Bieber that nursed it. Instead of settling for one groove, this album oscillates between several: quasi New Wave, Christian pop, acoustic soul and much more. Bieber’s sixth studio album, Justice, is filled with songs that feel like production practice, lightly splattered with eau de bieber, the musical equivalent of merchandise.

A variety of guest functions offer the opportunity to try out different appearances with varying degrees of success. The production of “Love You Different” with dancehall rapper Beam nods weakly to the Caribbean, but nowhere near as effective as Bieber’s 2015 smash “Sorry”. Nigerian star Burna Boy appears on “Loved by You”, but Bieber doesn’t match his guest’s casual gravitas.

“Die for You” is perhaps the most ambitious stylistic collision here. A fast-paced, synthetic duet with aspiring pop slacker Dominic Fike that dates back to the mid-1980s, but Bieber isn’t the kind of power singer who can beat the extravagance of the production. The same goes for “Unstable” with Kid Laroi, the Australian singer-rapper who knows his way around Juice with a WRLD whine – Bieber sings seriously and clearly while his partner bows in fear.

By far the most successful of the collaborations is “Peaches,” a sun-drenched and seductive R&B number starring up and coming stars Daniel Caesar and Giveon, which Bieber finds most vocally (although he was in even better shape when he debuted this song solo the Tiny Desk Concert from NPR.

More often, however, “Justice” tries to force Bieber a big-tent-pop – the John Hughes movie chords on “Hold On” or the runway walk-bop on “Somebody”. In places like “Ghost” these impulses are at least soured with the acoustic guitar, and the shift in his singing is remarkable – he switches from the accented piece to the main character.

Lyrically, “Justice” focuses on songs about triumphing over unfortunate behavior, about preaching devotion to a more powerful being – a woman, a God – who has not left you in a time of need. “You prayed for me when I was by faith / You believed in me when no one else did / It’s a miracle you didn’t run away,” he sings pointedly, “As I am”.

At the end of the album is “Lonely”, the moving piano ballad that he released last October and that felt like the cleanest break with his former self that he had ever hired for a song. These songs are Bieber at its most self-referential, least crowded, and also at its strongest – they end a steady, intimate feeling that runs through an album that does anything to distract from it.

Justin Bieber
“Justice”
(Def Jam)

Categories
Politics

Searching for Recent Begin With Iraq, Biden Avoids Setting Crimson Strains With Iran

Seeking Fresh Start With Iraq, Biden Avoids Setting Red Lines With Iran

Diplomats and military officials said Biden’s bigger goal is to reduce hostilities between the United States and Iran and its representatives in the region, including Iraq, and to seek a way back to diplomacy with Tehran. This week the United States opened new negotiations with Iran to curtail its nuclear program.

The rapprochement comes because the Biden government is simultaneously staring at deadly militias in Iraq that officials believe are acting with Tehran’s aid and perhaps orders. Attacks by Iran or its proxies on Americans could undermine the broader diplomatic aim, officials said.

They could also turn on its head a new attempt by the United States to convince Iraq to turn away from Iran – without expecting to break its spiritual, economic, and cultural ties – by offering incentives instead of threats.

“So that America can pursue our values ​​and interests worldwide, we have to get involved in the world,” said Ned Price, the spokesman for the State Department, after the attack in Erbil. “And of course there are additional risks involved in some parts of the world.”

So far, according to two senior Defense Department officials, there has been no extensive discussion in the Pentagon Central Command about a specific military response to the strike in Erbil on Monday as the US and Iraqi authorities investigate who launched the attack. Both Mr Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III, who have completed three combat tours in Iraq, have spoken to their Iraqi counterparts to offer assistance with the investigation.

Officials blame Iranian militias such as Kataib Hezbollah and Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, who have been responsible for similar previous strikes, the Erbil missiles. But officials from the White House, State Department and Pentagon have stopped making specific allegations.

“What an important test for the new government,” said Simone Ledeen, the Pentagon’s chief administrative officer until last month, on Twitter on Monday. “Will be interested to see if there is an answer.”

Iraqis have long been suspicious of American officials who, after ordering a military invasion in 2003 and the ousting of Saddam Hussein, are still held responsible for the security vacuum that followed the disintegration of the Iraqi army by the US occupation authorities. Anger at the United States rose again last month when the Trump administration pardoned four American security companies for their roles in the 2007 massacre of 17 Iraqi civilians in Nisour Square, Baghdad.

As Vice President during the Obama administration, Mr. Biden was among those who oversaw the end of the American-led Iraq war and the withdrawal of the last 50,000 combat troops in 2011, only to be surprised by the rise of Islamic State two years later.

Officials said Mr Biden has a deeply personal interest in Iraq, where his son Beau served in the Army National Guard and was exposed to toxic cremation pits that may have led to the brain tumor that killed him in 2015.

His Secretary of State, Mr Blinken, has begun what a senior State Department official on Friday referred to as a review of American policy in Iraq that will allow for a change in approach. The review will include feedback from the Pentagon before it goes to the White House, possibly as early as next month.

The government is considering bringing hundreds of diplomats, security guards and contractors back to the embassy in Baghdad. At a time of mounting tension with Iran, the numbers were reduced in May 2019, which has resulted in a fluctuating workforce since then.

The State Department is not yet ready to reopen its consulate in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, an important wiretapping post near the Iranian border, which the Trump administration closed in September 2018 after militias left the airport area where it was stationed had been shot in the air. Nobody was injured in this attack.

The department is also looking into expanding the limits the Trump administration has placed on how much power the Iraqi government can buy from Iran – an agreement that critics warn could fund Tehran’s aggression but provides a lifeline for millions of people that would otherwise get by without electricity.

Iraqi bank officials met with American diplomats this week on the issue, which is currently forcing Baghdad to ask Washington to stop buying energy every few months without imposing sanctions.

Two other government officials from Biden said the US Agency for International Development is also considering sending more humanitarian aid to parts of Iraq, mainly to the western and northern regions of the country hardest hit by the Islamic State.

But several Pentagon officials and senior military officers said it was unclear what the Biden team’s red lines look like when it comes to protecting American personnel in Iraq from Iran or its proxies.

Following a rocket attack that killed an American contractor in December 2019, the United States blamed Kataib Hezbollah and bombed five of its bases. This resulted in a siege of the U.S. embassy, ​​with protesters detaining diplomats in the extensive grounds for two days, and prompted Mr Trump to order a military strike that killed Iran’s most revered general while visiting Baghdad .

David Schenker, Trump’s deputy undersecretary of state for Middle East policy, said it was the responsibility of the Shiite-led Iraqi government to curtail Iranian-backed militias.

“I don’t think you’ll behave better in Iraq if you slander Iran,” said Schenker, now a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Middle East Policy, in an interview. “Ultimately, it’s all about Iran – the missiles, the weapons, the funding and the direction all come from Tehran.”

Military officials say 14 107-millimeter rockets were fired in the Erbil attack, but six failed. The attack on territories controlled by Kurdish forces has raised concerns about security vulnerabilities in what is considered the safest region of Iraq.

A little-known group known as Awliya al Dam or Guardians of the Blood assumed responsibility for the attack but did not provide any evidence. The group assumed responsibility for two bomb attacks on US military convoys last August.

An anti-rocket system was in place and operating at Erbil airport at the time of the attack, but the missiles landed in an area not covered by the system, an American military official said.

U.S. commanders said the 2,500 troops now residing in Iraq – roughly half the number from last summer – would not only be enough to act as a bulwark against Iranian proxies and other influences, but also to help Iraqi security forces find out remaining Islamic bags to help state fighters.

The Secretary General of the Organization of the North Atlantic Treaty, Jens Stoltenberg, announced on Thursday that it would increase its military mission in Iraq from 500 employees to 4,000 soldiers and expand training beyond Baghdad.

Jane Arraf reported from Amman, Jordan.