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Politics

McCarthy threatens to drag GOP members from Home Jan. 6 committee after Pelosi rejects Trump allies Jordan and Banks

McCarthy threatens to pull GOP members from House Jan. 6 committee after Pelosi rejects Trump allies Jordan and Banks

U.S. Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks during a weekly news conference at the U.S. Capitol July 1, 2021 in Washington, D.C.

Alex Wong | Getty Images

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy threatened Wednesday to withdraw all his picks for the select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol invasion unless House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reinstates the two Republicans she rejected.

Less than an hour earlier, Pelosi announced that she had vetoed GOP Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Jim Banks of Indiana, two of McCarthy’s five picks, from participating in the House probe of the deadly attempted insurrection by a mob of former President Donald Trump’s supporters.

Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement she made that decision “with respect for the integrity of the investigation” and “with an insistence on the truth and with concern about statements made and actions taken by these Members.”

On the same day of the Jan. 6 invasion, in which hundreds of Trump’s supporters broke into the Capitol to try to stop President Joe Biden’s election certification, both Jordan and Banks had voted to object to the results of the election.

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McCarthy, R-Calif., in a statement called Pelosi’s move “an egregious abuse of power” and accused her of being “more interested in playing politics than seeking the truth.”

“Unless Speaker Pelosi reverses course and seats all five Republican nominees, Republicans will not be party to their sham process and will instead pursue our own investigation of the facts,” McCarthy said.

Jordan, a staunch Trump ally and the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, in a brief statement said Pelosi’s actions show that her Jan. 6 probe “is nothing more than a partisan political charade.”

Banks in his own statement said Pelosi “is afraid of the facts.”

“We said all along that this was a purely partisan exercise by the Democrats and Nancy Pelosi’s rejection of me and Jim Jordan shows once again she is the most partisan figure in America today,” Banks said.

But Pelosi earlier this month had picked a Republican — Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming — one of her eight members on the panel. 

The Democratic-led House set up the select committee after Senate Republicans blocked a bill that would have created an independent commission to investigate the attack. Six GOP senators voted to move forward with the legislation.

Pelosi’s statement Wednesday said she told McCarthy that she would appoint the other three Republican nominees to the panel, and “requested that he recommend two other Members” to replace Jordan and Banks.

When asked at the Capitol why she rejected the two Republicans, Pelosi told NBC News, “January 6th.”

McCarthy had selected Banks to serve as the top Republican on the 13-member panel.

McCarthy’s other picks included Reps. Rodney Davis of Illinois, Kelley Armstrong of North Dakota and Texas freshman Troy Nehls. 

This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.

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Health

Docs name for flu testing as Covid threatens to coincide with flu epidemic

Doctors call for flu testing as Covid threatens to coincide with flu epidemic

British doctors have urged authorities to make flu testing available amid concerns that an influenza epidemic may be about to collide with a third wave of Covid-19.

In a report published Thursday, physicians from the U.K.’s Academy of Medical Sciences warned a resurgence of respiratory viruses such as flu and RSV — a common virus that can be serious for young infants and the elderly — was likely to increase pressure on the country’s National Health Service.

The U.K. is due to lift nearly all Covid restrictions on July 19. However, the country is currently experiencing a rise in new cases of the virus, which has been linked to the highly transmissible delta variant.

On July 14, 42,302 people tested positive for Covid in the U.K., making it the country with the fourth-highest number of new cases, according to Johns Hopkins University. 

Doctors warned in Thursday’s report that overlapping symptoms between flu and Covid meant routine testing for both viruses, and possibly additional respiratory infections — known as multiplex testing — would be important ahead of an expected uptick in common winter illnesses. Medical experts have expressed concerns the U.K. could be headed for an influenza epidemic later this year, and multiplex testing would help doctors differentiate between viruses, allow them to monitor the growth of epidemics, make timely decisions about treatments and reduce transmission rates, the report said.

“We strongly support multiplex testing,” its authors said. “However, if this is not feasible, well evaluated and accurate point-of-care testing for influenza should be deployed in hospitals, primary care settings, care homes and community pharmacies.”

They added that “the symptoms of influenza and other winter respiratory viruses are typically clinically indistinguishable from Covid-19 without a test,” and warned demand for PCR tests may surge this year given the potential rise in winter diseases with similar symptoms.

A recent study of Covid symptoms in the U.K. found that the most common symptoms of the virus included a headache, sore throat and loss of smell. However, these can vary and people with the virus can also experience flu-like symptoms such as fever and a cough, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.K.’s NHS.

The AMS noted that while a successful vaccine rollout would mean mortality would be lower in the next wave than in the winter of 2020/2021, continuous transmission of Covid among the under-50s could result in higher levels of “long Covid” than seen in the previous two waves. The medical body also warned that if Covid cases rise or remain elevated throughout the fall and winter, the third wave could coincide with a resurgence of flu and RSV, adding pressure to the NHS.

Outbreaks of RSV and flu during the fall and winter may be twice as large as the numbers seen in a “normal” year, according to the report. Social distancing and lockdown measures had prevented these illnesses from spreading at their usual rates during the coronavirus pandemic, meaning population immunity may have been diminished.  

“Very low levels of influenza over the last two seasons will have led to lower levels of immunity than usually seen, which means a wave of influenza could be problematic,” the report warned. A priority should be to ensure vulnerable groups were given a flu vaccine, its authors said, although flu vaccines were less effective than those for Covid.

Around 10,000 deaths are caused by flu in a regular year in England and Wales, according to the NHS.

Meanwhile, non-infectious illnesses like asthma and stroke were also likely to be exacerbated in the winter, the AMS report warned, adding more pressure to health care services.

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Politics

Russia threatens to depart Worldwide House Station program

Russia threatens to leave International Space Station program

Since last decade, NASA has turned repeatedly to Colorado companies to produce the technology it needs to not only send astronauts on new lunar missions but also to Mars and into the depths of space. Above, the International Space Station.

NASA | Getty Images

WASHINGTON — Russia’s space chief threatened Monday to withdraw from the International Space Station program if U.S. sanctions against Moscow’s space entities are “not lifted in the near future.”

“If the sanctions against Progress and TsNIIMash remain and are not lifted in the near future, the issue of Russia’s withdrawal from the ISS will be the responsibility of the American partners,” Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin said during a Russian parliament hearing on Monday, according to an NBC translation.

“Either we work together, in which case the sanctions are lifted immediately, or we will not work together and we will deploy our own station,” he added.

In December, the Trump administration labeled Russia’s JSC Rocket and Space Center Progress and JSC Central Research Institute of Machine Building, also known as TsNIIMash, as companies with alleged ties to the Russian military. The designation requires U.S. companies to obtain licenses before selling to these foreign firms.

The U.S. Department of Commerce also included under that designation Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, or SVR, Moscow’s top spy agency, as well as 42 other Russian entities and 58 Chinese companies.

ISS Expedition 64 crew member, Russian cosmonaut Sergey Ryzhikov takes part in a training session at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Zvyozdny Gorodok [Star City], Moscow Region.

Anton Novoderezhkin | TASS | Getty Images

The U.S. Department of Treasury and NASA did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.

Launched in 1998, the ISS serves as the largest hub for scientific research and collaboration in orbit. The U.S., Russia, Canada and Japan alongside a dozen countries participating in the European Space Agency work in support of the ISS.

While Russia has previously signaled that it was considering a withdrawal from the program in order to develop a space station of its own, the ISS represents more than two decades of close collaboration between Washington and Moscow.

In a recent interview with CNN Business, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said that “it would not be good” if the Russians left the program.

“For decades, upwards now of 45 plus years [we’ve cooperated with] Russians in space, and I want that cooperation to continue,” he added.

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Health

UK lifts lockdown however India Covid variant threatens June 21 easing

UK lifts lockdown but India Covid variant threatens June 21 easing

Busy bars and restaurants on Old Compton Street, Soho, in London in April 2021.

SOPA pictures | LightRocket | Getty Images

The UK continued easing restrictions on its economy and social contact on Monday, but the spread of the variant of Covid, which first appeared in India, threatens a total lifting of the measures.

From Monday, pubs, bars and restaurants will be able to serve customers inside. Museums, cinemas and theaters can be reopened; and exercise classes and indoor sports can be resumed. In addition, up to six people or two households can socialize indoors, and gatherings of up to 30 people are allowed outdoors.

International travel can also be resumed on Monday if people are allowed to participate in foreign holidays. Countries have been put on a “green”, “amber” or “red” list – with different quarantine rules for returning to the UK – determined by their infection rate.

While the reopening is a sigh of relief for the hospitality, leisure and travel industries, the lifting of restrictions will be tempered by a surge in Covid cases attributed to a variant of the coronavirus that first emerged in India.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called for a cautious approach to the reopening, warning that the proliferation of the new variant could threaten further easing on June 21 in hopes that all restrictions on social contact would be lifted.

On Friday, Johnson said there is currently no evidence that the variant is dodging Covid vaccines used across the country, but that the new variant “could seriously disrupt our progress … and I must stress that we will do this. ” whatever it takes to protect the public. “

He said the variant was more transmissible than other strains but cautioned it wasn’t clear by how much. UK Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty speaks next to Johnson, added that there was “confidence” that the strain was “more transferable” than other variants already circulating in the country.

In cases rise

The new variant is also believed to be more transferable than a variant that first launched in the UK last fall. This became the dominant strain in the country, along with the US and parts of Europe.

On Sunday, the UK reported just over 1,900 new cases, bringing the total number of infections registered in the UK to 4,450,777. As of Sunday, 15,918 cases had been reported in the past seven days, an 8.6% increase over the May 3-9 period, according to government figures.

This surge in cases has led the government to change its vaccination strategy. Those over 50 and those at risk will receive their second dose eight weeks after the first dose rather than 12 weeks according to the previous vaccination strategy.

It was announced on Friday that the UK would be running vaccinations and testing in areas where the new variant of Covid, first discovered in India, is spreading.

To date, nearly 70% of the UK adult population have received a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine, while just over 38% have received two doses. This UK reached the milestone on Sunday of giving 20 million people a second dose of a Covid shot.

UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the government would make a decision on June 14 whether to finally lift the restrictions a week later. Speaking to Sky News on Sunday, Hancock said variants are one of the “greatest risks to this opening”.

“Because of the speed of transmission, it can really spread like wildfire among the unvaccinated groups. So it is important to vaccinate as many people as possible, especially those most susceptible to hospitalization.”

– CNBC’s Matt Clinch contributed to this story.

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Health

Cruise Line Threatens to Skip Florida Ports Over Proof-of-Vaccination Ban

Cruise Line Threatens to Skip Florida Ports Over Proof-of-Vaccination Ban

Norwegian Cruise Line threatens to keep its ships out of Florida ports after the state enacted laws prohibiting companies from requesting proof of Covid-19 vaccination in exchange for services.

The company, which plans to launch its first cruises to the Caribbean and Europe in the summer and fall, offers limited capacity trips and requires all guests and crew to be vaccinated for bookings by at least the end of October.

During a quarterly earnings call Thursday, Frank Del Rio, managing director of Norwegian Cruise Line, said the issue had been discussed with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican. Mr Del Rio said if the cruise line had to skip the ports of Florida, it could operate from other states or the Caribbean.

“We definitely hope it doesn’t come to that,” said Mr Del Rio. “Everyone wants to operate from Florida. It’s a very lucrative market. “

The conflict between Norwegian Cruise Line and Florida is one of the many that is likely to surface when it comes to how states and companies go about whether or not proof of vaccination is required. While some states are not yet taking a position on companies that require vaccines, others are already using such protocols.

At many New York events, such as Major League Baseball and National Basketball Association games, state health and safety guidelines require fans to provide a vaccination certificate or negative coronavirus test within 72 hours of attending.

“We hope this has not become legal or political football,” said Del Rio on the conference call.

Norwegian Cruise Line is headquartered in Florida, along with Royal Caribbean Cruises and Carnival Corporation. According to an economic analysis prepared for the Cruise Lines International Association last year, around 60 percent of all US cruise ships in 2019 came from ports in Florida.

In a business update on Thursday, Norwegian Cruise Line announced that bookings for the first half of 2022 were seeing “robust future demand” that was “well ahead” of 2019 bookings. By the end of the first quarter of 2021, the company announced a pre-sale of $ 1.3 billion in tickets.

Florida law not only prohibits companies from providing evidence of vaccination, but also prevents state and local authorities from closing personal learning companies or schools unless there is a hurricane emergency.

Updated

May 8, 2021, 2:21 p.m. ET

“I have refused to take the same approach as other lockdown governors,” DeSantis said in a statement on Monday when he signed the bill. “Florida protects your personal choice about vaccinations and no company or government agency can deny you services based on your choice.”

His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday and Norwegian Cruise Line could not be reached for comment.

“We hope everyone is pushing in the same direction, which means we want to safely resume the cruise, especially at the beginning,” said Del Rio on the call for winners. “In six months or a year, things could be different.”

The latest guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention allow cruise lines to conduct “simulated voyages” with volunteer passengers to see how cruise lines can safely resume operations with measures such as testing and potential quarantines.

The CDC requires cruise ships to complete test runs before they can be cleared for sailing with passengers this summer.

“It is not possible for cruises to be an activity without risk for the spread of Covid-19,” the CDC said this week. “While cruises always pose some risk to the transmission of Covid-19, CDC is committed to ensuring that cruise ship passenger operations are carried out in a way that protects crew, passengers and port personnel.”

The latest guidelines recommend but do not require that cruise ship travelers and crew members receive a vaccine when it is available to them.

Speaking at this week’s call for a prize, Mr. Del Rio said Norwegian Cruise Line had submitted a proposal to the CDC requiring vaccine detection from all crew members and passengers.

It’s unclear how much business Norwegian Cruise Line could lose by avoiding Florida ports. Of the dozen of ports listed on its website, Norwegian Cruise Line has Florida ports in Tampa, Miami, and Key West.

Mr Del Rio said “pent-up demand” helped fill bookings quickly.

“I believe it’s the # 1 destination for Americans in the Caribbean,” said Del Rio. “Who knows? This ship could prove so profitable there that it will never return to US waters.”

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World News

Insurgency threatens Mozambique’s historic pure fuel funding increase

Insurgency threatens Mozambique’s historic natural gas investment boom

Pemba, Mozambique – Families wait in front of the port of Pemba for the boat of the evacuees from the coasts of Palma on April 1, 2021. More than a thousand people evacuated from the shores of the city of Palma arrived at the seaport of Pemba after insurgents attacked Palma on March 24, 2021.

Alfredo Zuniga / AFP via Getty Images

Mozambique had placed its economic hopes on the colossal natural gas reserves discovered a decade ago – but an escalating Islamist uprising threatens to tear the carpet out from a surge in private investment.

In late March, an armed Islamist group loosely connected to ISIS and known locally as Al-Shabab – not to be confused with the Somali militant group of the same name – attacked the gas-rich city of Palma in the country’s northern province of Cabo Delgado. inflict mass civilian casualties and displace tens of thousands.

The attack came within hours after French energy giant Total announced it was resuming its Mozambique Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project, a $ 20 billion facility located on the nearby Afungi peninsula Construction is.

According to Standard Bank, up to 120 billion US dollars are at stake nationwide for LNG projects.

The International Monetary Fund expects Mozambique’s GDP to grow by 2.1% in 2021, with inflation projected at 5.3%. However, Standard Bank recently highlighted in a statement that the escalation towards guerrilla warfare could undermine the benefits of the LNG projects.

“While long-term growth prospects, aided by LNG investments, remain broadly positive, armed conflict is limiting prospects for more inclusive growth,” it said.

Tax hit

Together with the humanitarian crisis triggered by the uprising – with the warning from the United Nations World Food Program on Tuesday that almost a million people in the north of the country are suffering from severe hunger – the attacks also pose an existential threat to public finances.

“The longer the conflict pushes back the completion of the planned LNG projects, the longer it will take for the indebted Mozambican government to generate income from gas exports,” said Gerrit van Rooyen, economist at NKC African Economics.

Total has now moved all staff from its Afungi location, but van Rooyen suggested that this could be a tactic to pressure the government to improve security around the Afungi complex and accept foreign aid instead of one accept permanent exit. Total declined to comment when contacted by CNBC.

President Filipe Nyusi’s government has relied primarily on private security companies to support defense efforts while restricting access to aid workers and journalists.

In addition to Total’s LNG project, both the US energy company ExxonMobil and the Italian energy supplier Eni are carrying out separate energy projects in the country, all of which are of crucial importance for the future of Mozambique’s taxation.

The delayed start of LNG exports is likely to reduce government revenues noticeably.

Mozambican soldiers leave the tarmac of the airport in Pemba on March 31, 2021. – Sporadic clashes broke out in Palma on Tuesday as thousands of residents hid in the besieged city in northern Mozambique to escape the area overrun by militant jihadists, agencies said.

AFP via Getty Images

The Mozambican Ministry of the Economy and Finance estimated in 2018 that a 20% cost overrun and 18 month delay in two key areas of LNG projects would reduce government revenues by around 6% – nearly USD 2.5 billion – over a 25-year period. could lower.

“The longer it takes for LNG projects to reap benefits, the longer the government will have to draw on other resources and international aid to finance the country’s economic development and service its external debt,” said van Rooyen.

NKC estimates that external debt was $ 11.8 billion, or nearly 87% of GDP, at the end of 2020, with the government spending more than 13% of total revenue on interest payments over the course of the year.

The LNG projects should push growth back to over 5% per year, said van Rooyen, which – if everything goes according to plan – should help steer the country’s mountain of debt to a more sustainable level.

“Safety vacuum”

Mozambican security forces as well as private military contractors and Total’s security team were blind from last month’s raid on Al-Shabab. The ensuing struggle lasted about 12 days and counterinsurgency operations continue.

The South African 16-nation development community held an emergency meeting last week condemning the violence and promising an “appropriate regional response”.

Risk advisory agency Pangea-Risk said in a research report last week that the attack was not triggered by Total’s announcement that it would resume operations. Instead, it was said that the move took place after months of preparatory planning by militants who have been increasingly active in the region since 2017.

Pangea risk first warned in October 2020 and again on March 12, two weeks before the attack, that insurgents were planning attacks in natural gas hub cities.

Pemba, MOZAMBIQUE – The OCSV Sapura Diamante (Offshore Construction Support Vessel), a pipe-layer ship used in offshore construction, is docked in the port of Pemba, where sailboats with people displaced from the coasts of Palma and Afungi are awaited attacked by armed groups on March 30, 2021.

Alfredo Zuniga / AFP via Getty Images

“There will be a security vacuum in Cabo Delgado next month, if not longer, exposing both Palma and other places in the province to further militant attacks,” said Robert Besseling, CEO of Pangea-Risk.

According to Besseling, local sources expect a raid on the resettlement village of Quitunda near the LNG site on the Afungi peninsula in the coming weeks.

“Such a raid would put pressure on the Afungi garrison to leave the security zone around the LNG site and to use it to protect vulnerable displaced persons in Quitunda, which may violate the Mozambican government’s security treaty with Total, ” he added.

Besseling suggested that the provincial capital Pemba and the Tanzanian port city and gas center in Mtwara in the Rovuma border region between the two countries will be “very ambitious targets” for the insurgents.

Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation in Cabo Delgado is expected to worsen in the coming weeks as refugees continue to flee Palma for camps in nearby districts. The total number of displaced people is estimated at over 700,000 and is increasing.

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Business

China’s Pressured-Labor Backlash Threatens to Put N.B.A. in Undesirable Highlight

China’s Forced-Labor Backlash Threatens to Put N.B.A. in Unwanted Spotlight

The tensions between the US and China, human rights and the economy meet again uncomfortably on the basketball court.

In China, local brands are benefiting from a consumer backlash against Nike, H&M and other overseas brands for refusing to use Chinese cotton made from forced labor. Chinese brands have publicly accepted the cotton from the Xinjiang region, resulting in large sales to patriotic buyers and praise from the Beijing-controlled media.

In the United States, two of these Chinese brands, Li-Ning and Anta, adorn the feet of NBA players – and those players are amply rewarded for doing so. Two players signed advertising deals with Anta in February. Another signed this week. The Golden State Warriors’ Klay Thompson had previously signed a shoe deal with Anta that was widely reported to be worth up to $ 80 million.

Dwyane Wade, the three-time NBA champion and retired Miami Heat player, has a clothing line with Li-Ning that is so successful that he has recruited young players for the brand.

Like the overseas brands in China, the league and its players could soon feel squeezed between Washington and Beijing. Western companies are being pressured by American officials and lawmakers to respond to allegations of genocide in Xinjiang. But they are facing a consumer-centric backlash in China with celebrities severing ties with brands like Burberry and patriotic citizens burning their Nike shoes on social media.

The NBA and its athletes are familiar with the challenges of holding their own against China and maintaining access to their nearly 1.4 billion consumers. Just two years ago, China banned the NBA from state media outlets after the Houston Rockets general manager supported pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.

The league has avoided the final round of controversy so far. It can’t take long.

“It’s hard to imagine that celebrities and brand ambassadors would be able to draw that line between these negative views of China in their home countries and the increasingly clear demands in China to publicly demonstrate the use of products made in Xinjiang,” said Natasha Hassam , Director of the Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Program at the Lowy Institute in Australia.

Chinese companies are unlikely to take a significant blow themselves. The United States banned imports of Xinjiang cotton products in January, but neither Li-Ning nor Anta sell a large number of shoes there. (They are available online, however.) Still, your full support for Xinjiang could have reputational consequences for American athletes.

“It is easier for a Chinese celebrity to say that I will end my relationship with X European and that I will likely be rewarded domestically,” said Ms. Hassam. “Americans who want to benefit from the Chinese market are in a much more difficult place.”

After Li-Ning and Anta released positive statements about Xinjiang cotton last week, investors in China rocketed both companies’ shares. Chinese state media have quickly fueled the show of patriotism. At one point, a pair of Li-Ning shoes was trading under Mr. Wade’s Way of Wade line for nearly $ 7,500.

However, the statements could lead to government scrutiny of future US business operations, said Brian J. Fleming, a sanctions attorney at Miller & Chevalier Chartered.

“With their word, Anta and Li Ning are simultaneously supporting the Chinese government and reaching for US restrictions, which is a combination that is unlikely to be welcomed by the US authorities,” said Fleming.

Anta and Li-Ning did not respond to requests for comment.

Mr. Thompson, one of the NBA’s biggest stars, is known to his Chinese fans as “China Klay” and once said he wanted to be Anta’s Michael Jordan. His teammate James Wiseman and Alex Caruso from the Los Angeles Lakers signed with Anta earlier this year, according to the sportswear brand’s social media account. The Precious Achiuwa of the Heat announced this week that he would be joining Anta.

Comments from Mr. Thompson and other NBA players also went unanswered.

Outside of China, Xinjiang has become synonymous with oppression. Up to a million Uyghurs and other largely Muslim ethnic minorities have reportedly been held in detention centers. In March, Foreign Minister Antony J. Blinken accused China of continuing to commit “genocide and crimes against humanity” in the far northwest.

The NBA has strong reasons to remain silent about China. When Daryl Morey, the general manager of the Rockets, expressed his support for the Hong Kong protests on Twitter in 2019, Li-Ning and the Shanghai Pudong Development Bank’s credit card center broke their partnerships with the team. The Chinese basketball federation, of which former Rockets player Yao Ming is president, has also stopped working with the Rockets.

Mr. Morey deleted the message.

Adam Silver, the NBA commissioner, later said the Chinese government had asked the league to fire Mr Morey, a claim the Chinese Foreign Ministry was quick to deny. However, the incident scarred the NBA’s reputation for promoting free speech and severely restricted its access to the Chinese market.

China Central Television, the state television broadcaster, has stopped broadcasting NBA games following Mr. Morey’s news on Twitter. At the end of last year, coverage for Games 5 and 6 of the NBA Finals resumed for a short period of time. A week later, Mr. Morey resigned as general manager.

In a radio interview earlier this week, Mr Silver said that CCTV has stopped broadcasting NBA games, but fans can stream them through Tencent, the Chinese internet conglomerate. He said the NBA’s partnership with China is “complicated”, but that “doesn’t mean we don’t talk about what we see, you know, things in China that are inconsistent with our values.”

A league spokesman declined to comment on the article.

Money and a large Chinese fan base are at stake for players like Mr. Thompson and dozens of other American athletes, who have been heavily sponsored by Anta and Li-Ning. Mr. Thompson has partnered with Anta since 2014, which has brought him a popular shoe line and sponsored tours in China.

Newer deals between the companies and NBA players could face issues in the coming weeks as tensions between the US and China escalate. Jimmy Butler, a five-time all-star playing for the heat, and Toronto Raptors security guard Fred VanVleet signed up with Li-Ning in November. Mr. Wade, the retired Heat player, helped CJ McCollum and D’Angelo Russell, two Star Guards, close deals with Li-Ning through his line of sportswear.

“My decision to sign with Li-Ning 7 years ago was to show the next generation that this is not just a way of doing things,” Wade wrote on Twitter when he signed Mr. Russell’s contract in November 2019 announced Chance to build a global platform that provides future athletes with a canvas to create and be expressive on. “

Sopan Deb contributed to coverage from New York and Cao Li from Hong Kong.

Categories
Politics

Blinken says China threatens NATO, requires joint strategy to counter Beijing

Blinken says China threatens NATO, calls for joint approach to counter Beijing

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks after a meeting of NATO foreign ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels on March 24, 2021.

Virginia Mayo | AFP | Getty Images

WASHINGTON – Foreign Minister Antony Blinken on Wednesday issued a strong charge against China’s extensive use of coercive measures, calling on NATO allies to work with the US to push Beijing back.

Blinken said in a speech at NATO headquarters in Brussels that the US would not force its European allies to “choose between us or them”. However, he made it clear that Washington sees China as an economic and security threat to NATO allies in Europe, particularly in the area of ​​technology.

“There is no question that Beijing’s coercive behavior threatens our collective security and prosperity and is actively working to undermine the rules of the international system and the values ​​that we and our allies share,” said Blinken after two days of consultation with NATO Allies. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is an alliance of 30 member states.

The secretary said there was still room to work with China on common challenges such as climate change and health security, but urged NATO to stand together if Beijing forces any of the alliance’s members.

“We know our allies have complex relationships with China that are not always a perfect match for ours. But we need to address these challenges together. That means working with our allies to fill the gaps in areas such as technology and infrastructure who are located in Beijing to use force pressure, “said Blinken.

“If either of us is forced, we should act as allies and work together to reduce our vulnerability by making sure our economies are more integrated,” said America’s top diplomat.

Blinken evoked China’s militarization of the South China Sea, predatory economy, intellectual property theft and human rights abuses.

On Monday, the Biden government again imposed sanctions on two Chinese officials, citing their role in serious human rights violations against ethnic minorities in Xinjiang.

The Treasury Department accused China of using repressive tactics, including mass detention and surveillance, against Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in the region for the past five years.

“Targets of this surveillance are often arrested and reportedly subjected to various methods of torture and ‘political re-education’,” the Treasury Department wrote in a statement.

Beijing previously denied US allegations that it committed genocide against the Uyghurs, a Muslim population native to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in northwest China.

Blinken’s comments follow a controversial meeting between Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and China’s top diplomats Yang Jiechi and State Councilor Wang Yi in Alaska.

Before the Alaska talks, Blinken slammed China’s widespread use of “coercion and aggression” on the international stage, warning that the US would push back if necessary.

“China is using coercion and aggression to systematically undermine Hong Kong’s autonomy, undermine democracy in Taiwan, abuse human rights in Xinjiang and Tibet, and make maritime claims in the South China Sea that violate international law,” said Flashing at a press conference in Japan.

Tensions between Beijing and Washington increased under the Trump administration, which sparked a trade war and prevented Chinese tech companies from doing business in the US.

Over the past four years, the Trump administration blamed China for a variety of abuses, including intellectual property theft, unfair trade practices and, most recently, the coronavirus pandemic.

President Joe Biden, who spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping last month, previously said his approach to China would be different from that of his predecessor as he would work more closely with allies to achieve a backlash against Beijing.

“We will face China’s economic abuse,” said Biden in a speech at the State Department, describing Beijing as America’s “most serious competitor.”

“But we are also ready to work with Beijing if it is in the US interest,” said the president. “We will compete from a position of strength by improving at home and working with our allies and partners.”

Blinken, the first cabinet-level official in Biden to visit NATO, reiterated US commitment to the world’s most powerful alliance.

“We need to be able to have these tough conversations and even disagree while still treating each other with respect. In the past few years we seem to have forgotten too often who our friends are in the US. That has already changed, “said Blinken, without mentioning the” America First “policy advocated by the Trump administration.

Former President Donald Trump often disguised NATO members during his presidency and previously threatened to leave the alliance.

In December 2019, Trump told NATO leaders in London that too many members are still not making enough financial contributions and are threatening to reduce US military support if allies do not increase spending.

Trump pointed out to Chancellor Angela Merkel that she had not achieved the target of 2% of GDP set at the 2014 NATO summit in Wales.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (R) watches US President Donald Trump (R) walk past her during a family photo as part of the NATO summit at the Grove Hotel in Watford, northeast of London, on December 4, 2019.

CHRISTIAN HARTMANN

At the time, Germany was only one of 19 NATO members who had not achieved the target of 2% of GDP set at the 2014 summit.

Blinken recognized the difficult transatlantic relationship with defense finances and called for a “more holistic view of burden sharing”.

“We recognize the significant strides made by many of our NATO allies in improving defense investments,” he said, adding that “no single figure fully captures a country’s contribution to defending our collective security and interests, especially in Europe a world where an increasing number of threats cannot be confronted with military force. “

“We have to recognize that because allies have different skills and comparative strengths, they will bear their share of the burden in different ways,” said Blinken.

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Health

Excessive Turnover at Nursing Properties Threatens Residents’ Care

High Turnover at Nursing Homes Threatens Residents' Care

Exceptionally high turnover among nursing home workers likely contributed to the shocking number of deaths in facilities during the pandemic, the authors of a new study suggested.

The study, published Monday in Health Affairs, a health policy journal, provides a comprehensive overview of turnover rates in 15,645 nursing homes across the country, taking into account nearly all federal government certified facilities. The researchers found that the average annual rate was 128 percent, with some facilities having sales in excess of 300 percent.

“It was really breathtaking,” said David Grabowski, professor of health policy at Harvard Medical School and one of the study’s authors. Researchers pointed to the results to urge Medicare to publish staff turnover rates at individual locations in nursing homes to highlight substandard conditions and pressure owners to make improvements.

Inadequate staffing – and low wages – have long plagued nursing homes and the quality of care for the more than one million residents who live in these facilities. However, the pandemic has exposed these issues even more sharply. Investigations are ongoing by some states to monitor the facilities as cases in Covid are uncontrolled and deaths have skyrocketed.

The high turnover rate likely made it harder for nursing homes to conduct strong infection controls during the pandemic and led to widespread spread of the coronavirus, said Ashvin Gandhi, lead author and health economist and assistant professor at the University of California Los Angeles Anderson School of Management.

Nursing home owners blame Medicaid, the state’s program for the care of the skilled elderly, for the inadequate reimbursement.

“Recruiting and retaining workers is one of the most pressing challenges facing long-term carers and we have been calling for help for years,” said Dr. David Gifford, chief medical officer of the American Health Care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living Trading Group, said in an email statement.

“It is high time providers were given the right resources to invest in our frontline caregivers to improve the quality of care,” he said.

At least 172,000 deaths from the virus had been reported among residents or employees of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities by the end of February, according to a database compiled by the New York Times. The death toll in nursing homes alone has caused more than a third of all Covid deaths in the United States, although mortality and case rates have fallen sharply as more than 70 percent of residents have received vaccinations.

Industry criticism has also centered on the decade-long ownership of nursing homes by private equity and other private investment firms, where profits for investors took precedence over residents’ welfare. These owners have long been accused of under-staffing their facilities and underpaid workers.

Updated

March 1, 2021, 9:49 p.m. ET

Labor is one of the primary costs of running a nursing home, said Dr. Gandhi. “It’s generally not a very high-margin industry,” he said. “Any institution trying to maximize its profits will think carefully about its staffing costs.”

Nursing home staff have also shown resistance to being vaccinated against the coronavirus, making it difficult for public health officials and nursing homes to provide comprehensive vaccination coverage for a single facility. If a vaccinated nurse leaves the hospital and is replaced, the facility must ensure that the new employee is vaccinated as well, especially given the reluctance of some workers to receive a coronavirus shot.

“Trying to get a single shot is not enough,” said Dr. Gandhi. “You need continuous vaccination work.”

Registered nurses, who are the most skilled workers, had the highest turnover rates, and turnover varied widely across institutions. The states with the highest rates included Oklahoma, Montana, and Kansas. Facilities with low star ratings on the Medicare website that compared nursing homes had the highest average sales and nursing homes with high ratings had the lowest sales. Revenue was also higher at for-profit organizations owned by chains that serve Medicaid beneficiaries, according to the study.

Melissa Unger, the executive director of SEIU 503, a division of the Service Employees International Union in Oregon, said nurses have difficulty working in facilities with too few employees to adequately care for residents.

“You don’t feel good about the work you do,” said Ms. Unger, noting that many of the employees are women and people of color. “They’re doing all of this for shitty benefits and low wages.”

Summer Trosko, a union member who works at a nursing home in Oregon, said she was used to colleagues leaving burnout because of under-staffing and lack of funds. “You get tired and just can’t take it anymore and stop,” she said. Many are being replaced with people who have just graduated from high school with little education, she said.

In addition to making turnover rates available to the public, the authors point out a number of steps lawmakers could take to improve retention. Medicare could include sales in its star rating system, and Medicare and Medicaid could reward nursing homes with higher rates when they had lower sales. “If we want to change nursing homes, we have to start with the staff,” said Dr. Grabowski.

Researchers used newly available payroll-based data collected by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for Registered Nurses, Licensed Practical Nurses, and Certified Nursing Aides to calculate turnover rates in 2017 and 2018. They looked at the percentage of hours a care worker worked in a given year and calculated higher rates if the person who left the company had done more care.

Categories
Politics

Democrats’ Huge Tent Helped Them Win. Now It Threatens Biden’s Agenda.

Democrats’ Big Tent Helped Them Win. Now It Threatens Biden’s Agenda.

Mr Sanders targeted the latest news that a moderate think tank, Third Way, was working on a project to put the Democrats at the center of the mid-term election. He said topics such as reducing student debt, raising the minimum wage to $ 15 an hour and tackling climate change were “political winners”.

The American working class today – white, black, Latin American – hurts. They want us to respond vigorously, ”he said. “If we do that, I think they will reward us in 2022. If we fail, Republicans can go around and say, ‘Hey, you gave these people the House, the Senate, and the White House and they didn’t do anything for you,’ We’re not going to do well in 2022. ‘

Still, the anchoring of moderate senators – and the current respect for the president – is a challenge for activists hoping to sway the administration. And while progressive elected officials are confident Mr Biden will end up on their side, a growing chorus of activists awaits him to act more immediately.

K Trainor, a student activist who has worked with progressive groups to convert students to Democrats, said Mr Biden’s response at City Hall was deeply disappointing. She said that if the government didn’t deliver for young voters, it would be more difficult to convince them to stand in future elections.

“I think a lot of people in my generation ask, ‘Where’s the guts?'” Said Ms. Trainor. “It feels like they’re backtracking and we’re not even 100 days in.”

Rev. William J. Barber II, a co-chair of the Campaign of the Poor who organized the West Virginia workers’ meeting with Mr. Manchin, said the debate reflected an ugly underbelly of democratic politics. While poor and low-income workers, especially those who are racial minorities or young people, form the core of the democratic base, the politics that matter most to them have often been sacrificed on the basis of political calculations.

You are the human cost of the big tent, he said.

“Democrats ran on it, they put it on their platform and they said this has to be done,” said Dr. Barber. “It would be the ultimate task and betrayal to come here and have the power to do it and then retire.”