Indian PM Narendra Modi has received his first shot of the country’s domestically produced Covid-19 vaccine, Covaxin, kicking off the second stage of the nation’s massive inoculation drive, which is now focused on the elderly.
India entered its next stage of the mass-vaccination campaign on Monday, expanding the drive to include people aged over 60 and those over 45 who have chronic illnesses. The 70-year-old prime minister became the first person to get the jab at Delhi’s AIIMS hospital.
“Remarkable how our doctors and scientists have worked in quick time to strengthen the global fight against Covid-19,” Modi wrote on Twitter.
I appeal to all those who are eligible to take the vaccine. Together, let us make India Covid-19 free!
While Modi himself did not specify which vaccine he took, footage from the scene clearly shows it was India’s homegrown solution Covaxin. The drug, based on inactivated coronaviruses, was hastily approved for emergency use back in January.
Took my first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at AIIMS.
Remarkable how our doctors and scientists have worked in quick time to strengthen the global fight against COVID-19.
I appeal to all those who are eligible to take the vaccine. Together, let us make India COVID-19 free! pic.twitter.com/5z5cvAoMrv
Despite receiving the approval, the vaccine’s manufacturer, Bharat Biotech, has still not submitted efficacy data of the ongoing Phase III clinical trials. This lack of data has prompted concerns over Covaxin’s safety and efficacy.
India began its massive vaccination drive in mid-January, using both AstraZeneca and Covaxin in the program. The first phase of the immunization drive focused primarily on healthcare workers. However, these turned out to be very reluctant to take Covaxin, with only some 11 percent of them opting for the domestically developed solution. Last week, India’s government said it would allow people to choose their vaccination centers, effectively enabling them to choose between AstraZeneca and Covaxin, which previously was not an option.
India has recorded more than 11 million cases of Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic with over 150,000 people succumbing to the disease. The country has set an ambitious goal of vaccinating a whopping 300 million people by August, more than a quarter of its massive 1.37 billion population.
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New York Governor Cuomo’s attempt to apologize after two former aides accused him of sexual harassment backfired online, after he suggested his “good-natured” teasing about personal life was “minsinterpreted” as flirtation.
A day after emphatically denying any improper conduct towards his second accuser, former aide Charlotte Bennet, Cuomo appeared to make a U-turn on Sunday, admitting that some of his “jokes” might have come across the wrong way.
In a lengthy statement, the embattled governor said that he “now understands” that some of his interactions with the staffers “may have been insensitive or too personal.” He insisted, though, that he did not mean any harm, arguing that “some of the things” he said “have been misinterpreted as unwanted flirtation.”
“To the extent anyone felt that way, I am truly sorry about that,” Cuomo wrote. He appeared to blame the purported misunderstanding on him being “playful” and making “jokes.”
“I have teased people about their personal lives, their relationships, about getting married or not getting married. I mean no offense and only attempt to add some levity and banter to what is a very serious business,” Cuomo said.
The mea culpa, however, did not sit well with those critical of the governor, sparking a fresh wave of indignation.
New York City Council Deputy Leader Jimmy Van Bramer tweeted that Cuomo has implicated himself with the statement, accusing him of “justifying sexual harassment as 'well intentioned humor.'”
“It doesn’t absolve him, it implicates him,” Bramer wrote.
Cuomo and his staff have been hunkered down for days no doubt with crisis management teams and THIS is the statement they come out with?! Justifying sexual harassment as “well intentioned humor” that’s been misunderstood? It doesn’t absolve him, it implicates him. https://t.co/Wg8EMMRRus
A member of a sexual harassment working group in New York, Erica Vladimer, lambasted the letter as “an absolutely disgusting, gaslighting response.” There was no ownership of his actions, and it instead blamed his victims for "misinterpreting" his "playfulness,” she said.
This is an absolutely disgusting, gaslighting response. No ownership of his actions, blaming his victims for "misinterpreting" his "playfulness." https://t.co/i5Cz8gnGluhttps://t.co/41izprmy8i
A New York City Council candidate and self-described progressive Chris Sosa has accused Cuomo of “pure survivor-blaming,” labeling the statement as “a sexual harassment bingo card.”
"Playful," "jokes" "teasing," "banter," "misinterpreted," "sorry" you "felt that way," "never inappropriately touched." This new statement from Gov. Cuomo reads like a sexual harassment bingo card. Paragraphs of pure survivor-blaming. Impeach Cuomo now. pic.twitter.com/l3COvXlklj
Journalist Megyn Kelly, who was first to conduct on-camera interview with Biden accuser Tara Reade, ripped Cuomo’s response to the allegations, accusing the governor of trying to trying to portray his accusers as “stupid.”
“So, [Cuomo]’s accusers are too stupid to understand that this was just the same 'playful' Guv that we saw… at *press conferences??* Is it 'playful' to touch one’s employees’ legs & kiss them on the lips against their will?”
So, @NYGovCuomo’s accusers are too stupid to understand that this was just the same “playful” Guv that we saw...at *press conferences??* Is it “playful” to touch one’s employees’ legs & kiss them on the lips against their will? Bc better men than A Cuomo have been fired for that. https://t.co/y6uaCtOXCm
As calls for Cuomo’s immediate resignation have been mounting, the governor first chose former federal judge Barbara Jones to conduct an “outside review” of the claims. After the proposal was rejected amid concerns that the investigation could be influenced by Cuomo himself, the governor asked New York’s attorney general Letitia James and the chief appellate court judge to jointly choose an independent counsel. However, this proposal also faced pushback, with James demanding the governor make a referral “solely to her office,” giving her subpoena powers. Eventually, Cuomo’s cabinet conceded, with James saying on Sunday that she would hire a law firm to investigate the claims made by Cuomo’s former staffers, Charlotte Bennett and Lindsey Boylan.
Once a media darling, hailed for his “virus leadership” amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, Cuomo has suffered a rapid fall from grace since it was revealed that his office underreported the number of nursing homes deaths by as much as 50 percent in an apparent bid to avoid giving the Trump administration political ammunition. The governor has been the subject of a preliminary FBI probe into his handling of the data.
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Iran was behind the explosions on an Israeli-owned ship in the Gulf of Oman last week, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed. The Jewish state reportedly retaliated by launching a missile attack in Syria.
The incident on Thursday evening involving the MV ‘Helios Ray’ was “clearly” Iran’s doing, Netanyahu said on Monday in an interview with the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation. He added that Tehran was “Israel’s biggest enemy” and said his country was “beating it all across the region.”
#BREAKING: "Iran is behind the attack on an Israeli ship this weekend in the Gulf of Oman", Israel PM Netanyahu tells @kann_news
The direct accusation by the prime minister mirrors the words of Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz, who said on Saturday that the military’s assessment pointed to Iran’s culpability. Gantz, who is also Netanyahu’s top challenger in the upcoming general election, explained the conclusion by reference to the vessel’s relative proximity to Iran at the time of the explosions, as well as the general hostility between the two nations.
The two blasts, which Israeli media described as the result of missile strikes, punctured holes in the ship’s hull, but didn’t injure any crew members, according to the ship’s owner.
On Saturday evening, the Syrian government reported that its air defenses had repelled an Israeli missile attack over Damascus, intercepting most of the projectiles launched from the area of the Israel-controlled Golan Heights.
Israel routinely launches such barrages, usually without acknowledging responsibility, at what sources in the Israeli government describe as Iranian targets in Syrian territory. Many observers speculated that the latest attack had been conducted in retaliation for the incident involving the MV ‘Helios Ray’.
Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Yerevan to demand the resignation of embattled Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan and reinstatement of control over disputed Nagorno-Karabakh in a torch-lit march.
The nationalists hit the streets of the Armenian capital on Sunday, marching with lit torches and Armenian flags to folk tunes that blared from a car. As the music paused, protesters chanted “Free and independent Armenian” and “Retake Nagorno-Karabakh” among other slogans. The protesters have also repeatedly called for Pashinyan’s resignation.
The fiery procession, led by the supporters of Sasna Tsrer right-wing party, coincided with a concert, organized by a more moderate part of the opposition, which likewise wants Pashinyan gone.
Pashinyan has been in hot water since November, when he signed an unpopular ceasefire deal with Azerbaijan, under which major parts of the disputed region passed to Azeri control. The PM was branded a “traitor” by political opponents for signing the Russia-brokered agreement. Pashinyan later insisted that it was the army that implored him to sign the deal, citing depleted resources and the lack of replacements. The PM defended the agreement, arguing that it saved ethnic Armenian troops from a complete “collapse.”
The fresh wave of protests against the once popular politician started on Thursday after Armenian military commanders and two former presidents, Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan, issued a joint statement, urging Pashinyan to resign.
The call came after the Prime Minister sacked the deputy head of the General Staff, Tigran Khachatryan, who publicly ridiculed his claims that Russian-made Iskander missiles in service with the Armenian armed forces underperformed during the conflict with Azerbaijan. Moscow insists that the state-of-the-art hardware hadn’t been used in Nagorno-Karabakh at all.
Pashinyan then made an attempt to fire the head of the General Staff, Onik Gasparyan, but the motion was blocked by Armenian President Sarkissian as unconstitutional on Saturday.
Thousands of opposition supporters have been protesting in Yerevan this week, erecting barricades and setting up an encampment in the center of the capital. They say that they’ll stay in the streets until Pashinyan’s resignation, with more rallies scheduled for Monday.
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White House adviser Anthony Fauci and his media allies have joined forces in rebuking Kristy Noem after the lockdown-skeptic South Dakota Governor had the temerity to criticize the Covid czar’s forecast she said hadn’t come true.
Noem on Saturday took on Fauci’s lockdown advice while making her case at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) for conservative values and respecting individual liberties.
"He told me that on my worst day, I'd have 10,000 patients in the hospital," Noem said. "On our worst day, we had a little over 600. Now, I don't know if you agree with me, but Dr. Fauci is wrong a lot."
The comments were met with loud cheers and thunderous applause at CPAC – and scathing mainstream media coverage over the weekend. Fauci was on Sunday brought on CBS News' "Face the Nation" program to brush off Noem’s comments.
"It's unfortunate, but it's not really helpful," Fauci said. "Sometimes you think things are going well, and just take a look at the numbers. They don't lie." He added that "now is not the time to declare victory," although it’s unclear what he was referring to since Noem hasn't celebrated beating Covid in her speech.
Fauci on Noem bragging at CPAC about ignoring the public health advice of experts: "It's unfortunate, but it is not really helpful ... just take a look at the numbers. They don't lie." pic.twitter.com/CWPooZWRBR
Interviewing Fauci was Margaret Brennan, who helpfully set up her question about Noem's attack by saying with incredulity that the governor got a standing ovation Saturday at the CPAC conference in Orlando "when she said she ignored the medical advice of experts and specifically you."
Noem has too appeared for an interview with Brennan later on "Face the Nation," responding that she’s never ignored medical advice. The governor said what she did was to take into account input from experts in deciding to tell citizens the truth about Covid-19 risks and give them responsibility for making their own family health decisions.
Fauci has long been held up as a hero by Democrat politicians and mainstream media outlets, which used him to criticize former President Donald Trump, despite the fact that he flip-flopped on Covid-19 recommendations and admitted to purposely deceiving the public about targets for vaccination rates. One of his most loyal allies, CNN, stepped in again to defend Fauci.
"That's outrageous," CNN medical analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner said on Saturday of the standing ovation for Noem. He blamed the Republican governor for the "thousands of people" who have died from Covid-19 (the current South Dakota's Covid-linked deaths stand at 1,888 people per John Hopkins university), claiming that "her science denialism has resulted in the propagation of that disease unnecessarily throughout her state mercilessly, so I side with Tony Fauci."
South Dakota has been a target for media attacks because as the only US state that hasn't ordered any lockdowns or mask mandates during the pandemic, it's a real-life counterpoint to the states that have crippled their economies or imposed restrictions on personal freedoms to mitigate the spread of Covid-19. Noem has been labeled "ill-informed,""reckless" and a "denialist."
Brennan continued on that theme Sunday, suggesting that Noem's policies were contrary to CDC guidelines and were at least partly to blame for South Dakota having the eighth-highest rate of Covid-19 deaths per capita in the US. Noem replied that CDC recommendations have changed repeatedly, in some cases because of political pressure, and that South Dakota has "followed the science" in a way that also considers the economic and social wellbeing of citizens.
Noem added that South Dakota's Covid-19 cases peaked earlier than those in other parts of the country, but now are much lower than in many states. She argued that the important question to explore is whether draconian mitigation measures would have helped. "What we're seeing is that the mandates aren't necessarily working."
In fact, New Jersey and New York – Democrat-run states with some of the most stringent Covid-19 policies – have the highest death rates in the nation. New Jersey has a 23 percent higher death rate than South Dakota. New Jersey's December jobless rate was 7.6 percent, compared with South Dakota's 3 percent, and the state said the figure would have been far higher if it had counted residents who gave up looking for work.
Nevertheless, Brennan cut off Noem as she was explaining her lockdown-free approach by posing a catch question "how do you justify the death of your constituents?"
Where Brennan and other media outlets left off in vilifying Noem, Fauci fans on social media picked up. Twitter users called the CPAC crowd "repulsive" and "outrageous beyond belief" for its applause of Noem, while others blasted the governor for insulting Fauci and "killing" people. Commenters also labeled Noem "un-American," a "disgraceful liar" and "vile."
"Imagine having the highest per-capita deaths of any state and thinking that makes you a great leader," anti-Republican commentator W.L. Hearns said. Author Keith Devlin called Noem's comments "science denialism" and said of CPAC: "GOP's arrogance and the ignorance on full display at their cult fest."
Ironically, it’s not Noem’s, but New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s state that long had the highest number of Covid-19 deaths – before recently being overtaken by California – and still has the second-highest rate of deaths per capita. And yet, Cuomo wrote a book on his successes in managing the pandemic crisis and won an Emmy Award for his Covid-19 briefings. He was celebrated for his leadership despite ordering nursing homes to accept people infected with Covid-19, before being accused this month of covering up the state's high rate of nursing home deaths.
In her CPAC speech, Noem recalled an interview on ABC's Sunday morning news show last November. Host George Stephanopoulos interviewed Cuomo just before Noem, asking what advice he might give the South Dakota governor on dealing with the pandemic. Reflecting on all that has come to light about Cuomo in recent months and about South Dakota's comparatively stronger performance, she said, "So who really needed the advice?"
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A passenger plane was forced to return to the airport in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum after an angry cat, which somehow got into the cockpit, attacked the pilots shortly after takeoff, local media reports.
This Wednesday's flight of the Sudanese Tarco airline bound for Qatar’s capital, Doha, was proceeding in a totally routine manner – that is, until a most unlikely passenger caused an emergency mid-air.
Having departed from the Khartoum International Airport, the plane was in the air for roughly half an hour when an unregistered passenger was spotted inside the pilot’s cabin. The passenger in question was a ferocious cat, according to a report by the local news outlet Al-Sudani.
The feline clearly wasn’t a big fan of flying as it acted aggressively and attacked the crew. Apparently, after all attempts to restrain the furry hijacker failed, the pilot made a decision to turn the plane around and return to the Sudanese capital.
In its quest to investigate the spurr-ious story, Al-Sudani obtained information that the aircraft had spent a night stationed at a hangar at the Khartoum airport ahead of the flight. Their source suggested that the cat likely sneaked aboard during cleaning or engineering review and hid inside the cabin to surprise the pilots later.
As baffling as the incident may sound, this is not even the first “hijacking” attempt of the kind. In 2004, a Belgian airliner with 62 people on board was forced to return to Brussels after one “well-traveled” feline called Gin went berserk in the cockpit following an unexplained escape from a travel bag. The stressed cat sneaked into the pilot cabin when the meal was being served to the crew and then became “very aggressive and scratched the co-pilot,” leading to the unexpected landing. The very same year a seemingly unrelated cat-attack took place on board the national Bangladeshi carrier. A pilot was reportedly offered first aid after being pounced on by a stray cat en route to Dhaka – but the crew decided to complete the flight regardless. The attacker then bizarrely managed to evade security and escaped, only to be caught in the airport hours later.
In 2013, a Saudi cargo flight from Riyadh to Hong Kong was cancelled at the last moment after the pilot terrified a furry stowaway by starting the engine – and paid for it with a few scratch injuries. Local media claimed the cat was never found.
While Saturday Night Live’s ratings fell during the Trump years, it wasn’t the writers’ fault for churning out ‘Orange Man Bad’ sketches, Vanity Fair claims. No, it was Donald Trump’s fault for being so “noxious.”
By the time Donald Trump left office, Saturday Night Live’s reliance on the divisive president as a source of material had worn thin. 2019’s season opened to the show’s lowest ratings in five years, parodies of Robert Mueller, Rudy Giuliani and Jeff Sessions fell flat, and former cast member Gary Kroeger admitted last year that Alec Baldwin’s Trump impersonation had been “done to death.”
But one can’t blame the writers and cast, Vanity Fair claimed in an article on Sunday. They were simply “choking on the noxious fumes of the last presidency.” Vanity Fair described the laugh-free cold-opens of the Trump era as “a form of torture,” but blamed Trump and his “acts of amoral carnage and buffoonery,” rather than bad writing and uninspired acting, as othershave.
“The liberation of Saturday Night Live is real. Since the inauguration, the show has gotten stronger every week, as if the writers are recovering lung capacity after choking on the noxious fumes of the last presidency,” the article said. All that was missing was a description of Trump himself pumping poison into the studio, presumably while cackling as the liberals inside coughed and hacked.
To Vanity Fair, the new Saturday Night Live, which on Saturday featured impressions of Dr. Anthony Fauci, a defense of Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief act, and jibes at Republican ‘QAnon Congresswoman’ Marjorie Taylor Greene, was a welcome change, and the magazine didn’t hesitate to share the best moments with readers.
Check out the cast competing for a vaccine shot from Fauci (“We’re low on Moderna, but we do have the Kirkland signature vaccine from Costco,” the good doctor quips back)! Marvel as they examine whether “workout mirrors [are] in fact the work of the devil?” Laugh until your sides split as they poke fun at Netflix’ obsession with “murder shows!”
“Wouldn’t a liberal wish list be avocado toast with Chrissy Teigen?” Colin Jost joked in defense of Biden’s Covid bill against Republican attacks.
Vanity Fair is a liberal magazine, and perhaps SNL’s break from Trump content is doing wonders for its writers’ blood pressure. They’re probably in agreement with the mainstream media journalists eager for a chance to switch their brains off for the next four years and let Biden do his thing, after the stress of having to stoke scandal after scandal during Trump’s tenure.
If so, one can forgive them their elation and allow them to gush a little. They can kick back and watch some Trump-free content, comfortable in the knowledge that Biden is bombing Syria, but professionally, and lovingly.
But when the jokes start landing flat, and the “noxious” Donald Trump isn’t around to blame, they may not be as entertained.
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Former President Donald Trump has called for breaking up giant technology companies and taking away their Section 230 liability protections. He argued that the Big Tech mutes conservative voices like his own.
"The time has come to break up Big Tech monopolies and restore fair competition," Trump said Sunday at the CPAC conference in Orlando. "Republicans, conservatives must open our platforms and repeal section 230 liability protections,” he added.
While in the past the public had a chance to hear both sides of the argument before making an informed decision, the big tech censorship disproportionately targeted conservatives, depriving them of the right to be heard, Trump argued.
You would win, you would lose... But now there is no debate, because they refuse allow our side to even speak or to be heard
If the power of the big tech cannot be curbed on the federal level immediately, Trump urged "every state in the union where we have the votes" to "punish Big Tech with major sanctions whenever they silence conservative voices." He noted that Texas and Florida “are doing this” already.
Florida Governor Gov. Ron DeSantis has been championing a bill seeking to rein in tech companies by allowing users to bring a "cause of action" against platforms violating Florida law. The bill, if becomes law, would bar platforms from rapidly changing their policy and enforcing it selectively against users. Under the law, consumers would have the right to “opt-out” from algorithms that shadowban certain information. “As these companies have grown and their influence expanded, big tech has come to look more like big brother with each passing day,” DeSantis said, as he voiced support for the bill in early February.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott earlier this month announced his office was working on a bill to “prevent social media providers like Facebook & Twitter from cancelling conservative speech.” The bill will reportedly give the state more leverage to regulate social media companies, and allow Texans, yanked off social media platforms over political or religious views, the right to take Twitter and Facebook to court.
Trump made his comments on Silicon Valley giants and the censoring of conservative voices – including his own social media accounts – after calling for reforms to ensure "fair, honest and secure elections." For instance, he said, the US must end mass mail-in voting, require voter identification, verify that each voter is a legal citizen and provide chain-of-custody protection for all ballots.
"All the election-integrity measures in the world will mean nothing if we don't have free speech," he stressed.
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The idea of giving people certificates confirming their vaccination may help the British economy recover from an unprecedented crash due to the coronavirus outbreak, according to the country’s finance minister, Rishi Sunak.
Sunak said the documents would potentially allow people to visit venues or events, thus, helping the economy to get back on track after a series of lockdowns imposed to contain the pandemic dragged it into its steepest crash in 300 years.
“Obviously, it is a complicated but potentially very relevant question for helping us reopen those parts of our country like mass events,” Sunak said in an interview with the BBC on Sunday.
Last week, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the government would discuss the scientific, moral, philosophical and ethical issues of introducing vaccine passports for immunized people, stressing that the move may help entertainment and hospitality venues to reopen.
The UK’s mass vaccination program was launched on December 8. Over 19 million people have reportedly received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine as of February 27. British authorities expect the immunization campaign to help in easing the third national lockdown and protect the most vulnerable groups by spring.
Earlier this week, the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that Covid-19 levels have fallen across the UK to rates similar to mid-October 2020, with slightly more than 421,000 cases in the community for the week ending February 19.
The economy shrank 9.9 percent in 2020, the latest report by the ONS revealed earlier this month. Moreover, the UK was the first nation to face one of the new and more contagious variants of the coronavirus.
A junior judo event in Dagestan erupted into a mass melee as competitors and dozens of fans traded blows.
The tournament at the Ali Aliyev Sport Complex in Kaspiysk witnessed ugly scenes as the brawl was captured on camera and quickly shared across social media on Saturday.
Footage of the carnage starts with one of the competitors seen leaning over the barriers, throwing punches.
By that point a broader punch-up is already underway as dozens of spectators trade blows.
Десятки зрителей устроили массовую драку в Каспийске прямо во время Первенства СКФО по дзюдо среди юниоров. В побоище участвовали даже спортсмены. pic.twitter.com/cauanYwMme
The brawling competitor was then seen returning to the mat, where he throws out punches and kicks at several fans.
It’s unclear what exactly sparked the mass ruckus, although judo trainer Khabib Magomedov later claimed that the unrest had not been started by either of the competitors on the mat.
“It all started when the athletes wrestled for more than 10 minutes. One of the Dagestani spectators either shouted, or waved his hand, or shouted ‘Hurray!’, And the Ossetian fans did not like it,” Magomedov was quoted as saying.
“And a fight began which the athletes were dragged into, as an eyewitnesses explained to me.”
A plastic surgeon in California attended a virtual court hearing in relation to a traffic violation from an operating theater while a patient was on the table. The court was not exactly pleased with his multitasking, however.
The usually mundane traffic violation hearing at Sacramento Superior Court was spiced up this week when the defendant, Dr. Scott Green attended via Zoom from his surgery room, baffling other participants. The bizarre in-court surgery, which was livestreamed online, was first reported by the Sacramento Bee newspaper.
“Hello, Mr. Green? Hi. Are you available for trial?” the courtroom clerk asked the defendant, who was wearing a full surgical garb with a patient lying just out of the camera’s view.
“It kind of looks like you’re in an operating room right now?”
As a police officer who was summonsed for the trial raised her eyebrows in disbelief, the doctor acknowledged that he was operating but said he was ready to partake in the trial anyway.
Yes, I’m in an operating room right now. Yes, I’m available for trial. Go right ahead.
“I have another surgeon right here who’s doing the surgery with me, so I can stand here and allow them to do the surgery also,” Green explained, as he apparently continued to work while waiting for the judge to enter the group call.
When Court Commissioner Gary Link appeared, he was baffled by the scene as well, hesitating to proceed with the hearing. Ultimately, he postponed the trial, saying that he would set a new date when the defendant was “not actively involved or participating and attending to the needs of a patient.” Green signaled that the surgery had turned out to be more complicated than expected.
The bizarre combination of surgery with legal proceedings did not escape the eye of California’s Medical Board, and now Dr. Green might find himself in more trouble on top of the alleged traffic violation. The board said on Saturday that it was “aware of the incident and will be looking into it, as it does with all complaints it receives.”
Green himself was not exactly talkative and ignored most requests for comment from the US media. Asked by NBC News about the affair and the Bee’s report, the doctor claimed it was “not accurate and I have nothing to say” before hanging up on the reporters.
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With Donald Trump out of office and after Ricky Gervais’ take-no-prisoners performance last year, the Golden Globes won’t get political this year, host Tina Fey said. “I wonder why?” commenters replied.
Tina Fey and Amy Poelher were announced last January as this year’s hosts, after comedian Ricky Gervais used his hosting gig to roast the elitism of the virtue-signalling celebrities in attendance.
Gervais’ Jeffrey Epstein jokes must have touched a nerve, as Fey and Poehler are about as far from his brand of edgy, offensive humor as possible, and they’ve promised a toned-down show this year.
“We just want to make it a fun hang out for people at home, kind of a stress reliever,” Fey told podcaster Jill Rappaport this week. “So I don’t think you can expect much politics at all. It doesn’t seem like a venue for political jokes.”
Much like at any star-studded awards ceremony, political jokes were a given at the Golden Globes during Donald Trump’s term in office. Jimmy Fallon fired off some groan-inducing Trump jokes in 2017 (several referencing Russia, of course), and Meryl Streep followed them up with a rambling tirade against Trump’s supposedly “racist” rhetoric. Seth Meyers used the stage to bash Trump again the following year, and Andy Samberg and Sandra Oh gave the president a pass in 2019, opting instead to celebrate the “diversity” of Hollywood.
However, cynical commenters suspected that Fey and Poehler were putting down politics this year because Trump, a reliable punching bag for liberal entertainers, is finally out of office.
“Maybe because the people she would have to make fun of are on the blue team?” one commenter wrote. “Political jokes were fine when it was red team being made fun of and called out.”
This year’s show broadcasts on Sunday night, but Fey and Poehler won’t even be in the same room. The show is a virtual one, with Fey presenting from New York and Poehler from Los Angeles, with no live audience at all.
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Golf stars are set to honor Tiger Woods following his recent car accident by wearing Woods' famous red and black colors during the final day of WGC-Workday Championship - but fans are wondering if the tributes are necessary.
Woods suffered serious injuries to his legs in a crash in Los Angeles on Tuesday morning in which he lost control of his SUV as it struck a center median, crossed into an opposing lane of traffic before hitting a tree and rolling over several times.
The 15-time Major winner has since been transported to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center where he is being treated for his injuries as he recovers from compound fractures, as well as a shattered ankle.
The accident slammed the door shut on Woods' proposed comeback at the Masters in August in early April after back surgery - and has left significant questions as to whether or not Woods will ever compete at the top level of golf again.
But some of Tiger's peers, including Northern Irish star Rory MacIlroy, have reportedly made clear that they will honor the injured player at the upcoming WGC-Workday Championship event by wearing Wood's famous red and black colors on the course.
.@McIlroyRory will wear black pants and a red shirt in the final round of the @WGCWorkday to show support for @TigerWoods. I’m certain he won’t be the only one.
Fans feared the worst when news of Woods' accident began filtering out over social media, and doubly-so when images of the golfer's wrecked SUV began traversing the social media landscape.
Some were reminded of the initial reports some 13 months prior of the helicopter crash which cost the lives of another United States sports superstar, Kobe Bryant.
Woods, thankfully, escaped significant injury - but some critics of the the tribute say that it is an overly-effusive one for the golfer, who didn't suffer any life-threatening injuries in the horror smash.
You guys know he’s still alive...right? This “tribute” is so bizarre to me.
Woods has remained tight-lipped since Tuesday's crash, with a carefully manicured statement appearing on his social media on Saturday which said that the golfer was "recovering and in good spirits", while also requesting "continued privacy".
But he will no doubt have heard of the tribute planned for him by McIlroy and others - even if a section of his more hardline supporters don't exactly think it is necessary.
And you can be sure that Nike, the apparel brand who have sponsored Woods for much of his career, will be overjoyed that Woods' famous black & red color scheme will be center stage at upcoming golf events, even when their big-money business partner is off the fairway for the time being.
Archaeologists are gushing after “an extraordinary find” of a perfectly preserved chariot with “no parallel in Italy thus far” was made at Pompeii.
The “exceptional discovery” has already been described by one expert in the ancient world as the equivalent of discovering a Roman-era sports car.
“Many of the vehicles I’d written about before ... are your standard station wagon or vehicle for taking the kids to soccer. This is a Lamborghini. This is an outright fancy, fancy car,” said Eric Poehler, a classics professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
The chariot boasts four iron wheels, with luxurious metal arm and backrests, and a comfortable seat for two people, all adorned with iron components, and beautiful bronze and tin decorations featuring satyrs, nymphs, and cupids.
The chariot managed to survive in such pristine condition as it was stored in a portico that shielded it from both the eruption of Mount Vesuvius that buried Pompeii nearly 2,000 years ago, and those of subsequent centuries. During that initial eruption, the portico’s walls and ceiling collapsed and packed the site with volcanic ash.
Over the centuries, looters and grave robbers had tunneled through the area, located some 23km (14 miles) to the southeast of Naples, but had somehow managed to avoid digging through the exact point where the ‘sports car’ chariot was stored.
Since it was discovered on January 7, archaeologists have undertaken weeks of painstaking work at the Unesco World Heritage Site to unveil the long-lost Lambo’. The Pompeii team used specialized techniques to remove it without damaging it or its surroundings because, given how many treasures the lost city is still throwing up to this day, this may well not be the last.
Canelo Alvarez didn't have much time for two ring-crashers attempting to promote the upcoming Jake Paul vs. Ben Askren fight, as he kicked the pair out of the ring while giving his post-fight interview after beating Avni Yildirim.
It was very much 'business as usual' for Mexican superstar Canelo in Miami, Florida Satrday night as he earned the 55th win of his career, forcing the outmatched Turk to quit on his stool at the end of the third round - but as he dissected the win in his post-fight interview, a commotion caught the Mexican's eye.
Just behind him in the ring, a pair of unknown masked men were seen wearing T-shirts promoting the upcoming Paul vs. Askren fight on April 17 before Canelo angrily motioned for them to leave, with the broadcast catching audio of the Mexican star appearing to refer to the opportunistic duo as "f*ckers."
The motivations of the pair - beyond simply promoting April's fight - is unclear, but Canelo has made clear his opposition to the current trend of YouTube stars entering the world of boxing, while also reserving some harsh words for the Paul brothers.
Last year, Canelo bemoaned the Paul brothers' newfound influence in the sport, saying that they were "disrespecting boxing".
"I truly believe that it’s a lack of respect. It’s all based on money. It’s all for money. I’m focused right now on other projects," Canelo told TMZ about the potential of a fight with Logan Paul.
"I have other stuff going on, and I would invite him for a sparring session so that he truly knows what it’s all about."
Whether or not this was a coordinated effort by the Pauls to get back at Canelo for some of his prior comments remains to be seen but one can expect that Triller, who will broadcast the April fight between Paul and Askren, would certainly have been pleased with the free advertising.
Vanessa Bryant, the widow of late NBA icon Kobe Bryant, has hit out at actress Evan Rachel Wood over a tweet she posted in the aftermath of the basketball star’s death in which Wood labeled Bryant “a rapist.”
“What has happened is tragic. I am heartbroken for Kobe's family,” Wood had tweeted last year in the aftermath of the helicopter crash in California which killed Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, and seven others.
“He was a sports hero. He was also a rapist. And all of these truths can exist simultaneously.”
Despite the tweet being in existence for more than a year, it has only just been seen by Vanessa Bryant, who this weekend posted her fury at the “vile” comments from the Westworld actress.
LA Lakers icon Bryant was accused of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old Colorado hotel employee in 2003, although the charges were later dropped when the woman declined to testify.
She later brought a civil case against Bryant, which was settled out of court in 2005.
Following Bryant’s death at the age of 41, Wood wasn’t the only one to drag up the rape allegations against the star.
On January 29 of last year, film producer Abigail Disney tweeted: "The man was a rapist. Deal with it."
Vanessa Bryant also shared that tweet with the same message she had sent to Wood.
The tweets are along the same lines as a message last year which saw Washington Post reporter Felicia Sonmez get suspended, after she posted a link to a story about Bryant’s rape case just hours after the basketball star’s death.
Sonmez was later reinstated by the paper, but not before receiving a massive backlash including death threats.
Elsewhere, it was reported this weekend that lawyers for Vanessa Bryant had filed a complaint to name and shame the Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies who shared “unauthorized” photos of her husband and daughter and other victims of the helicopter crash which killed them.
Earlier in February, officials at the US National Transportation Safety Board concluded that helicopter pilot Ara Zobayan had violated safety rules when he decided to fly through thick cloud on the day of the crash.
Zobayan was likely experiencing "spatial disorientation in limited visibility conditions" when he crashed into the hillside in Calabasas, officials said.
At least two arrests were made after a mostly peaceful protest in Portland turned violent. Banks and other businesses were trashed as beleaguered residents pleaded with protesters to “go home!” and leave them in peace.
A group of dozens of people were reportedly demonstrating against immigration policy under the Biden administration in the Pearl District in downtown Portland, but quickly began vandalizing the area.
Businesses had their windows smashed, vehicles were vandalised and graffiti was sprayed over a number of walls in the area, as video uploaded to social media purports to show.
Video also purported to show residents arguing with the 'protesters' telling them to 'go home' and berating them for haranguinging an old man walking with a cane as he crossed the street. As protesters shouted "Go home!" at the police, so too did residents shout "Go home!" at the protesters.
People who live in the Pearl are fighting back with words - yelling at members of the group to stop threatening an older man they are targeting. #koin6news#pdx#pnwpic.twitter.com/qGgGYnQP5z
A Chipotle restaurant on Northwest Lovejoy Street was attacked with patrons still inside at approximately 9:30pm.
Overnight, #antifa destroyed numerous businesses in Portland's Pearl District as part of a pre-planned riot. People were inside this Chipotle at 1201 NW Lovejoy when antifa attacked the building. Watch this video with sound on. #PortlandRiotspic.twitter.com/2LfMAaSrjy
Several other businesses were trashed and at least two people were arrested: one 31-year-old male for criminal mischief and one 17-year-old male for interfering with a peace officer.
Portland Police declared the protest "destructive" at roughly 10pm and ordered the crowds to disperse and “immediately stop participating in criminal activity.”
Bicycle mounted police arrived on scene, one of whom crashed into a person wearing a 'press' vest, sparking a ferocious war of words and shouting match between police and protesters at an intersection.
Video of Portland Police finally arriving to the #antifa riot in NW Portland. An officer on a bicycle runs into one of the men standing in the street. He has "press" markings on his clothing. #PortlandRiotspic.twitter.com/O1BofCVEnd
Portland police said they had limited resources to respond to the riot, as they had to deal with multiple shooting incidents happening across the city.
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Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez overpowered Avni Yildirim to retain his WBC and WBA super-middleweight titles as the Mexican star forced the Turkish mandatory challenger to quit on his stool after the third round out their contest Florida.
In a heavily one-sided contest, Alvarez bludgeoned Yildirim with some brutal body shots, also dropping him in the third round with a straight right hand.
The challenger recovered to see out the round, but rather than see their man take more punishment, Yildirim’s corner stepped in to wave off the fight despite the Turk appearing to signal he would be willing to continue.
Such was Alvarez’s dominance, that seemed like a kind decision as the Mexican picked apart a mostly static target in a routine night’s work for a man who recorded the 55th win of his 58-fight professional career.
Alvarez threw 67 punches to Yildirim's 11 during the three rounds, with observers claiming the Turkish fighter was nothing more than a punchbag.
Just caught up with the
Canelo v Yildirim fight, all about levels, Yildirim shouldn’t of been in there, had been out of the ring for two years and it showed, was nothing more than a punch bag for Canelo. Looking forward to
Canelo v Saunders May 8th 🥊🔥
The promoters clearly knew how the fight would pan out.
The dust had barely settled at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens before they announced that British WBO super-middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders would be next up for Alvarez in May.
"No one has done it, I want to make history,” said Alvarez, 30, of his unification fight with Saunders, which could see him move closer to being crowned the first-ever undisputed champion at 168lbs in boxing history.
The fourth major belt at 168lbs is held by Caleb Plant, an unbeaten American.
Alvarez added: "I don’t want to be equal to anyone. I want to make my own history and when they talk about boxing that they always remember: Canelo. I respect everyone in history, but I want to make my own history and I respect everyone.”
Brit boxer Saunders, 31, is unbeaten in 30 fights and has held the WBO super-middleweight title since beating Shefat Isufi in May 2019.
Four-division world champion Alvarez is widely regarded as boxing’s pound-for-pound king.
The only blemishes on his remarkable record came in a majority decision defeat to Floyd Mayweather in 2013 and two draws – one against fellow Mexican Jorge Juarez early in his career, and another against Kazakh rival Gennady Golovkin in 2018.
In the latter case, Alvarez would rectify that with a decision victory 12 months later.
A new Covid-19 vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson has been approved for emergency use in the US. The jab, which comes in a single-shot form, has already been rolled out in South Africa.
The US has now approved its third vaccine, with the J&J jab joining Pfizer and Moderna in the ongoing battle against the coronavirus.
“The authorization of this vaccine expands the availability of vaccines, the best medical prevention method for Covid-19, to help us in the fight against this pandemic, which has claimed over half a million lives in the United States,” Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock said in a statement late on Saturday.
Unlike most of the anti-coronavirus solutions already present in the market, the J&J jab comes in a single-dose form, making its distribution considerably easier. It can also be stored in regular refrigerators, while both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines require extremely low temperatures to prevent spoiling.
The pharma giant unveiled the results of the vaccine’s late-stage trials last month. The J&J shot demonstrated rather modest efficacy, averaging 66 percent. It has been tested across several countries and showed mixed results ranging from 72 percent in the United States to a mere 57 percent in South Africa.
Johnson & Johnson submitted its vaccine to the World Health Organization (WHO) last week, seeking approval for its emergency use on the international field. The authorization would give the company the option to join the COVAX program, led by the UN’s health watchdog.
So far, the J&J vaccine has only seen action in South Africa, after the country hastily searched for new options when its mass vaccination campaign stalled. South Africa began its immunization drive early in February, using the AstraZeneca vaccine. The process, however, was halted just a few days after its start, due to a limited-scope study that suggested the shot fared extremely poorly against the local extra-contagious Covid-19 variant.
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The Texas freeze that led to numerous blackouts has made the state painfully aware of the shortcomings of its power grid, but the real problem is much larger, and goes way beyond Texas.
We have just witnessed the damage caused by poorly designed energy grids—rolling blackouts, skyrocketing electricity prices, people sleeping in their cars and in one insulated room to keep warm. At the same time a weaponized right wing media swings into action blaming wind turbines and the green new deal for Texas’s energy woes. There is a pattern here. These are variants of stories told after California’s forest fires and resulting power outages. But we see no easy end of power outages that have plagued electricity supply in recent years while adverse weather events seem to get more frequent and impactful. (See Figure 1)
But this is the bottom line. In a way an electric system is like maintaining a car. Spend adequately on repairs maintenance etc. and reliable performance is reasonably assured. Or one could skimp repeatedly on maintenance, save a lot of money over the years and take one's chances on vehicle reliability. The electric system in Texas was built it appears around the latter proposition. Their reserve margins are the lowest in the country (about eight percent). And this is the third time the electric system failed to perform adequately in winter (1989, 2011 and 2021). Our point here is that any system that consistently fails in this manner regardless of the governance regime is designed that way— despite claims and protests to the contrary. This is a big problem for any region because an increasingly digital economy requires highly reliable electricity service. And what is being provided at present in ERCOT is anything but.
Figure 1. Major disturbances and unusual occurrences on USA electric grids
Now let’s add another ingredient to the mix. Automobile makers are in a very clear transition from internal combustion to electric vehicles. A key step we believe to decarbonize the economy. But first as a society we have to decarbonize our electricity supply, and then sell decarbonized electricity to the transportation sector (which plan, if successfully executed could reduce carbon emissions by 40 percent or more).
But how will the electricity grid handle this incremental demand from the transportation sector well as the needs of existing customers under the increasingly stressful conditions imposed by climate change? One obvious answer: upgrade and expand. If the grid does not, outsiders — including industrial consumers acting to protect their individual electric supply — will.
We have previously written that decarbonizing and modernizing the US’s existing electricity plant (whose average age is 35 years) could cost $7-8 trillion. Electricity suppliers might need 20 years to complete the job, meaning $350-400 billion per year to get into shape. Currently, they spend about $150 billion per year which means a lot of catching up to do.
Those numbers look huge, but the actual payments will stretch out over decades like a mortgage. And financings of this magnitude will make little dent in US capital markets, where the electricity industry accounts for only 3-4 percent of total capital expenditures and financing. In order to pay for new equipment, without government subsidy, we calculate that electricity suppliers would have to raise prices by 3 - 4 percent per year in real terms. (Academic studies optimistically calculate no price increase under the right operating conditions.) The electric bill equals about two percent of the US’s gross domestic product and the household bill about two percent of household income. Paying for modernization and decarbonization together, spread over decades, would add about $45 each year to the average household electric bill. Not an enormous burden, and one that could be spread to mitigate financial hardship.
Admittedly, we should view long term projections with caution. Markets, technology, institutions and solutions change over time. What the numbers show, at best, is that the electric industry can finance modernization and decarbonization without placing undue burdens on consumers. That should be enough to encourage faster action.
What will encourage the industry to raise the ante? Legislation in Congress reprises Obama administration policies: a mix of emissions restrictions, generous tax handouts and regulatory incentives. The industry pushed back then and might do so again, considering that the courts have become friendlier to business. Overall, greenhouse gas emissions per kwh generated fell about two percent per year during the Obama presidency and three percent per year during Trump’s term, largely for economic reasons. Generators shifted from burning coal (high carbon content) to natural gas (lower carbon content) because gas was cheaper. In order to approach zero in 20 years, greenhouse gas emissions per kwh must fall more than ten percent a year.
We believe that policy makers would accelerate decarbonization and modernization of the electricity sector by making it a business opportunity for electric companies to embrace rather than as an environmental compliance problem, using tried and true components such as securitization to pay for the most polluting regulated power stations if retired promptly, granting higher returns on assets that support decarbonization, and a bonus to electric companies for the fossil-free electricity that they produce or deliver. Add a Federal guarantee for the securitization bonds or any other deferrals designed to smooth the price impact of the capital program, and that will lower costs to consumers at practically no cost to the government.
(For details of proposed policies, see blog page, lenhyman.com.) Businesspeople do not oppose or stall policies that might raise their profits.
We can’t argue that with the notion that recent polar vortex events or summer wildfires reveal serious shortfalls in electricity regulation, governance and market structure. And this includes lack of financial accountability. But from an operating perspective we also see inadequate reserve capacity, plants in the wrong place or unable to stand up to severe weather. Combine those inadequacies with the need to decarbonize, and it all adds up to a lot of capital spending. Even if the energy market decentralizes—we would think the ERCOT disaster drives people away—some public or private corporation has to spend money for a modernized electricity grid. And needless to say energy consumers will eventually pay. However the good news is if we start this massive grid redesign and rebuilding process now at least the cost of money is very low.
By Leonard Hyman and William Tilles for Oilprice.com
