One person was killed and four others have sustained injuries after a semi-truck crashed into a residence in Mesa, Arizona. Police are still investigating how the accident happened.
The vehicle swerved off a road on Thursday night, barreling through a concrete wall before slamming into a house.
According to the Mesa Police Department, 10 people, some of them children, were inside the home when the crash occurred. Five people were injured, including two who were in critical condition. One of the seriously injured victims later died, local media reported, citing the police. The driver was among those hurt.
Dozens of emergency vehicles rushed to the scene and police closed the road.
Neighbors were forced to temporarily evacuate the area due to concerns that the accident may have caused a fuel or gas leak. However, they were given the all-clear a short time later.
The authorities are still trying to determine the circumstances surrounding the crash.
The first case of a new, more infectious Covid-19 strain has been identified in Florida – the third US state to spot a mutant variant first seen in the UK. The find came as Florida broke its record for daily infections.
“Florida has evidence of the first identified case of the UK Covid-19 variant in Martin County,” the state’s health department announced in a tweet late on Thursday, adding “The individual is a male in his 20s with no history of travel.”
The Department is working with the CDC on this investigation. We encourage all to continue practicing Covid-19 mitigation.
Florida has evidence of the first identified case of the UK COVID-19 variant in Martin County. The individual is a male in his 20s with no history of travel. The Department is working with the CDC on this investigation. We encourage all to continue practicing COVID-19 mitigation.
The health agency noted, however, that it anticipates “little to no impact” on the effectiveness of any of the coronavirus vaccines currently approved for use in the US.
The announcement follows similar notices from officials in Colorado and California this week, which reported the country’s first two cases of the new strain. As in Colorado, the carrier in Florida is a 20-something male with no recent travel history.
Hours before the health department publicized the arrival of the mutant bug on Thursday, it reported a record-breaking 17,192 new cases across the state, shattering the previous high of 16,653 tallied the day prior, and even topping a combined two-day total of 17,345 reported in November.
First detected in the UK in September, the new strain has set off alarm bells for health officials around the world, prompting travel restrictions on those departing Britain in dozens of countries. Some experts have estimated the variant to be some 70 percent more infectious than other known types, though it is not believed to be more lethal or to produce more severe symptoms.
To date, Florida has reported a total of 1.3 million coronavirus infections and in excess of 21,000 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, putting it in the top-three states in the country in terms of combined cases. Nationwide, nearly 20 million people have tested positive for the virus, with more than 345,000 fatalities.
Virginia school teacher Rodney Robinson, named National Teacher of the Year in 2019, came under fire and later apologized for a Twitter message suggesting US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell should be attacked by a neighbor.
Robinson tweeted on Thursday that he had made a “bad joke” and that “no one should be assaulted.” The apology came a day after he had asked, in a since-deleted tweet, “Who are Mitch McConnell's neighbors? I’m just saying Rand Paul’s neighbor did what a true Kentucky hero should do. It’s your turn to step up.”
Paul, who, like McConnell, is a Republican, is Kentucky’s other Senator. In 2017, he was tackled to the ground by a neighbor in a dispute over the disposal of garden refuse, sustaining six broken ribs and requiring the removal of part of his lung. Three years on, Paul said he hadn’t had a day or night without pain since the attack and had suffered several bouts of pneumonia, leading to hernia surgery caused by incessant coughing.
Paul’s wife, Kelley, was aghast at Robinson’s tweet calling for McConnell to suffer the same fate. “I am so disgusted by this, I have no words,” she said. “The 2019 National Teacher of the Year is celebrating the violent assault on my husband … This hateful thug is calling for more violence on Senator McConnell.”
I am so disgusted by this I have no words. The 2019 “National Teacher Of The Year” is celebrating the violent assault on my husband that resulted in 6 broken ribs and part of his lung being removed. This hateful thug is calling for more violence on Sen McConnell. @jackhttps://t.co/JLraxwLaZD
Kelley Paul tagged Twitter chief Jack Dorsey in her tweet, but the social media company took no action against Robinson, who deleted his message himself. Twitter has previously suspended accounts, such as that of radio host Alex Jones, for allegedly inciting violence.
Robinson’s Twitter messages were hidden from everyone other than his approved followers, as of Thursday afternoon. The teacher, who is black, initially blamed the backlash over his McConnell tweet on “conservative bots” and said no one had complained “until I promoted black medical awareness.”
Facing mounting pushback over his comment, Robinson said he hadn’t been aware Rand Paul had been seriously injured, and referred to the unprovoked assault from behind as a “fight.”
“I was 100% wrong for the Rand Paul/Mitch McConnell joke and once again apologize for my actions. I own this mistake and hopefully my record proves this an anomaly to what I represent,” he said.
Robinson, who taught history to students inside the Richmond Juvenile Detention Center, was named National Teacher of the Year by the Council of Chief State School Officers. While his call to attack the Senate leader made waves online, it is unlikely to cost him his job. Richmond Public Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras thanked Robinson via Twitter for his “heartfelt apology” and added, “Words matter – across the political spectrum.”
However, some observers argued that the apology did not go far enough, and that Robinson was unfit to educate young people. One commenter asked, “So the cancel culture only applies when it’s directed at someone on the right?”
Here for the ratio. Real humans were pissed off that you openly advocated for political violence. I'd hate for you to be teaching my children.
The Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) terrorist group has claimed responsibility for a knife attack on police officers in Russia’s Chechen Republic that left one serviceman killed. The two attackers were shot dead on the spot.
The group made the claim through one of its mouthpieces, Al-Naba newspaper, on Friday, Reuters reported. It has not produced any evidence in support of its involvement in the assault, the agency said.
The incident unfolded in Chechnya’s capital city, Grozny, on Monday. Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov reported that two knife-wielding attackers charged at the officers patrolling traffic in the city’s downtown, killing one of the patrolmen and seriously injuring another.
The attackers were taken out by responding officers, who were reportedly stationed nearby and opened fire. Both suspects were said to hail from the neighboring Republic of Ingushetia, and had moved to Chechnya in 2012, where they worked at a bakery.
The relationship between the two neighbouring regions has been rocky at times, primarily due to a long-running territorial dispute over an administrative border, which saw Ingushetia erupt in mass protests in 2018 due to what some locals deemed an “unfair” border deal. The agreement was eventually upheld by Russia’s Constitutional Court.
Following the attack, relatives of the two men, who turned out to be brothers, demanded that Chechen authorities prove they were terrorists and to hand over their bodies, urging a release of a video of the showdown. Kadyrov held his ground, slamming the elders for making “irresponsible statements” and labelling the alleged attackers the “enemies of Allah.” On Thursday, the relatives acknowledged the apparent guilt of the two of their compatriots after reviewing CCTV footage of the incident, and extended condolences to the victims of the attack.
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Dozens of vehicles were set ablaze across Strasbourg, France after groups of vandals flouted an 8pm curfew order, taking to the streets for a fiery New Year’s custom that’s seen hundreds of cars torched over previous holidays.
At least 30 vehicles were destroyed amid the arson on Thursday night, according to police sources cited by French daily Le Figaro.
“We are already at a certain number of burnt vehicles,” said the office of Josiane Chevalier, the prefect of the Bas-Rhin region, which contains Strasbourg, adding that several arrests were made throughout the night.
Smoldering cars, as well as those fully engulfed in flames, were seen in videos posted to social media, in some cases setting off loud blasts as the vehicles’ fuel ignited.
Warning that there would be no “concession” to vandals earlier on Thursday, Chevalier said the city “cannot afford to have the same record as last year” and that authorities had done everything in their power to curtail the car-burnings.
In 2019, some 220 cars in the city were incinerated in a relentless string of vandalism on New Year’s night.
In addition to a nationwide 8pm curfew and a number of street closures in Strasbourg, fireworks have been banned for the entire month of December, while local police set up “mobile forces” in “strategic locations” across the city, according to Annie Bregal, Bas-Rhin’s director of public security. A total of 100,000 officers and gendarmes were stationed throughout France to enforce the restrictions. Sales of fuel at the retail level have also been temporarily banned.
The measures did little to stop the rampage on Thursday night, however, with throngs of vandals hitting the streets despite the curfew and sizable law enforcement presence, which included a police helicopter, filmed shining a spotlight on the city below. The ban on fireworks also appears to have been largely ignored, as firecrackers and mortars were heard throughout the night.
👮♀️ Nouvel An 👮
Comme prévu, les forces de l’ordre sont très présentes sur l’Eurométropole de #Strasbourg et les signalements d’incidents sont déjà nombreux sur les réseaux sociaux.
Comme on le craignait, la nuit risque d’être longue et sous tension pour les forces de l’ordre. pic.twitter.com/EGdV3UdoPP
Strasbourg is not the only city to partake in the annual New Year’s arson-fest, with a record 1,457 cars burned last year in France as a whole, according to media reports. The year prior saw 1,290 vehicles torched. The destruction has become something of a yearly rite in French suburbs since 2005, when riots gripped Paris and other towns for three weeks, sending countless buildings and cars up in smoke and resulting in at least three deaths.
Three people have been injured in a reported knife attack in downtown London that sparked a massive police response. Footage from the scene shows ambulance crews and police cars at the site of the incident.
The incident unravelled on Edgware Road just a half-hour after the city, under a strict lockdown, ushered in the New Year. Speaking to The Daily Star, a spokesperson for the ambulance service said that two men were taken to “a major trauma centre” and one female victim transported to a hospital as result of the attack.
#Westminster
BREAKING: Two men and a woman have been rushed to hospital following serious violence in central-London.
Two men suffered multiple stab wounds on Edgware Road, W2, while a woman sustained a head injury.
Westminster Police confirmed that a stabbing took place, cordoning off the crime scene and closing down the street to traffic until 6 am. They have also enforced a Section 60 order, which allows police to carry out “stop and search” efforts in a designated area.
A Section 60 has been authorised from 0117 hours until 0600 hours by Insp HUGHES. The authority is for North Westminster. This is due to a stabbing that occurred on Edgware Road.
New York’s iconic Times Square – usually the site of raucous and massive celebrations on New Year’s Eve – will be nearly deserted this year, with crowds banned from the area for the first time in over a century thanks to Covid-19.
A first in the 116-year history of the traditional ‘ball drop,’ Times Square will be closed to spectators as the city rings in the New Year, an event that’s previously drawn crowds in excess of 1 million. Instead, revelers will have to watch the show from afar via live broadcast, in what the Times Square Alliance, the organizer behind the annual New Year’s bash, said would be a “virtually enhanced, visually compelling” but “very different” celebration compared to years past.
City authorities have been adamant that the typically jam-packed gathering is off the table as the coronavirus pandemic drags into 2021. During a Wednesday press conference, NYPD Chief Terence Monahan was emphatic that residents and tourists must keep away from the venue.
“My message to those ringing in the New Year please stay at home,” Monahan said. “There are absolutely no spectators allowed in Times Square. There are no public fireworks in Coney Island and there is no midnight run in Central Park.”
Don’t even attempt to come down there and watch it… Anyone that starts to gather, they’re going to be told to move along. We are not going to allow people to stand on the street corner and stare up.
This #NewYearsEve will be unlike any in the past due to COVID-19. Please take note of these street closures that will be in place in the days leading up to the ball drop, and know that there will be no pedestrians or spectators allowed in Times Square this year. pic.twitter.com/Pbom4vA5uf
Though the square will prohibit visitors, the streets won’t be entirely vacant, with a number of live performances scheduled for broadcast on TV, headlined by R&B singer Andra Day and featuring artists Jennifer Lopez, Pitbull and Machine Gun Kelly, among others.
In addition to the musical acts, the Times Square Alliance will also host a small number of guests for a socially-distanced “Heroes of 2020” event, inviting 39 individuals who represent “a sampling of first responders, frontline workers, researchers, artists and activists who sacrificed in 2020 to provide care and support for their communities.”
A once-in-a-century occurrence, the ban on crowds was met with disappointment by many, as netizens shared photos of a desolate Times Square on Thursday evening, some deeming the sight “surreal” and “like something out of an episode of ‘The Twilight Zone.’”
This is stunning. Normally by now Times Square is crowded, some people having spent the night for a good spot, even lining up the day before. Now, empty as it gets. https://t.co/aT2IgzjGwQ
Others took the hit in stride, poking fun at the otherwise gloomy situation. One commenter suggested the square’s live audience ought to be replaced with “cardboard cutouts,” apparently taking inspiration from the “cardboard fans” employed by sports leagues in the US and beyond.
Times Square is supposed to be empty this year. They should fill the place with cardboard cutouts. Although the entire “SNL” crew and the cast of “Hamilton” may be there because @NYGovCuomo gives gives them special privileges.
New Year’s gatherings at Times Square stretch back more than 100 years, to the early 20th century. Though the square has drawn crowds and fireworks since as early as 1904, the famous ‘ball drop’ didn’t begin until several years later, in 1907. The event has continued annually ever since, enduring calamities ranging from both World Wars to the 1918 Spanish Flu outbreak – though some years have been more subdued than others.
While the square will be virtually unoccupied as the clock strikes midnight and brings an eagerly awaited end to 2020, viewers can still tune into the festivities and performances through a livestream hosted by the Times Square Alliance.
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Within minutes of Brexit taking effect, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted a message to Brussels that Scotland might be rejoining the EU “soon,” following up on a recent demand for another independence referendum.
“Scotland will be back soon, Europe. Keep the light on,” Sturgeon said as clocks struck midnight in Brussels and the UK’s exit from the European Union became official on Friday.
The United Kingdom’s divorce from the continental block after 45 years of membership was the result of a protracted process following the 2016 referendum, which the Tory government expected would fail. Instead, a narrow majority in England and Wales backed Brexit while Scotland overwhelmingly voted to remain – by 62 percent to 38 percent.
Sturgeon came to lead the Scottish National Party (SNP) after the failure of the first Scottish independence referendum in 2014. Only 45 percent of Scots voted to leave the UK, with 55 percent choosing to remain, in part due to warnings from Brussels that an independent Scotland would not automatically become an EU member and would have to negotiate entry from scratch.
That ratio has now been reversed, according to recent polls. Research from Ipsos MORI in October said that support for Scottish independence was at 58 percent, an all-time high. Other polls show support for secession at anywhere between 51 and 59 percent.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and the complicated Brexit negotiations have both been blamed for the growth of separatist sentiments in Scotland. Whatever may be the case, Sturgeon was quick to embrace the cause and told the BBC in November she favored a new referendum as soon as the next Holyrood is elected in May. The SNP is a favorite to win the election.
"Who do we want to be in the driving seat of shaping Scotland's future?" Sturgeon said at the SNP annual conference in mid-December. "The Scottish government has not got everything right, far from it. But I doubt there are many people in Scotland who would have wanted Westminster to be more in charge of our pandemic response.”
She added that she’d “never been so certain” that Scotland would become an independent nation.
Johnson has said the 2014 referendum was a generational event and its outcome should be respected. Scotland and England have been under the same crown since 1603 and in a formal state union since the Kingdom of Great Britain was established in 1707.
The Grafton hospital employee who admitted to deliberately removing 57 vials of Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine from cold storage – and was fired over it – has now been arrested on three felony charges, police have announced.
The hospital employee was arrested on Thursday on “recommended charges” of first degree of recklessly endangering safety, adulterating a prescription drug, and criminal damage to property – all felonies. He is currently being held in the Ozaukee County jail, but his name has not yet been released to the public.
BREAKING: An arrest has been made in connection with the alleged tampering of COVID-19 vaccines in Grafton. More from the Grafton Police Department: pic.twitter.com/undwgPD49c
Aurora Health, which runs the hospital where the incident occurred, revealed earlier in the day that the pharmacist in question had been fired. An initial investigation suggested he had “inadvertently” left the vials – each containing 10 doses of the vaccine – out of the refrigerators needed to maintain their integrity overnight. The vials spoiled and had to be “discarded.”
The pharmacist subsequently admitted in writing that he did so deliberately, Aurora Health said, prompting the company to fire him and alert the authorities, including the FBI. His motives have not been revealed.
Both vaccines currently approved for use against the coronavirus in the US need to be kept in cold storage before being administered. The Moderna jabs arrive frozen at between -25°C and -15°C (-13°F and 5°F) and must be stored in refrigerators between 2°C and 8°C (36°F and 46°F), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Moderna vaccine was approved for emergency use on December 18 – a week after the Pfizer jab also received emergency authorization from the US health authorities. Both vaccines were developed and approved in under a year. The process normally takes much longer, but was expedited by the Trump administration’s program, dubbed ‘Operation Warp Speed’.
As demand for the vaccines outstrips supply in some parts of the US, politicized claims made about their safety during and after the November election campaign have created an additional problem for the health authorities.
Another wrinkle in their distribution has been created by ideological proposals to make them “equitable” and to prioritize groups “disproportionately impacted” by the pandemic, rather than frontline healthcare workers and seniors in nursing homes, who are judged to be at highest risk from the virus.
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France’s European Affairs minister has said that Brexit is an act of self-punishment for Britain and claims the UK government came to its senses after realizing the consequences of a no-deal Brexit would be “an economic disaster.”
Speaking to France’s LCI television on Thursday, European Affairs Minister, Clement Beaune claimed it was a “historically sad day” as the UK becomes the first nation to ever leave the EU, but believes France and its European partners were right to hold their ground over key issues during Brexit negotiations.
The United Kingdom is punishing itself with Brexit… We did not punish anyone, but we also had to show the price to pay [for] leaving.
Beaune, who previously demanded EU negotiators not to “sacrifice” French fishermen for Brexit, claims that Britain came to realize the real price of failing to reach a deal.
“Britain realized that having no access to the European market would be an economic disaster… This is why, in the deal that was reached, there is access to the European market, but while respecting our conditions and rules,” he asserted.
The Minister believes that France and the EU will learn a number of lessons from the UK’s withdrawal from the 27-nation bloc, adding “Brexit must be a lesson, we must push forward better, faster and stronger as Europeans.”
Beaune claims that Franco-German relations have also improved as a result of Brexit and believes Europe’s resolve will be stronger because of it.
The UK’s transition period with the EU will officially end on Thursday evening and a new, long-negotiated relationship will replace it after London and Brussels reached a post-Brexit trading agreement on Christmas Eve.
Donald Trump is just a few days away from going to the “dustbin of history”, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has said, reiterating Tehran’s resolve to avenge the death of General Qassem Soleimani assassinated by the US.
Speaking during a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Rouhani harshly criticized his US counterpart, focusing on the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani, ordered personally by Trump at the beginning of 2020.
The assassination has greatly backfired for Trump, not only dealing great damage to the US position in the Middle East region, but ultimately becoming a factor in his political downfall, Rouhani argued.
“The enemy’s goal was to break the resistance in the region with the martyrdom of Martyr Soleimani, but it was the other way around and the spirit of resistance in the region boosted,” the president stated, adding that the impending end of Trump’s term in office is likely to bring more stability for the region, as well as the whole world.
Iran’s leader didn’t hold back while criticizing Trump, calling him a “criminal” whose life was about to “end”, apparently referring, however, more to the US president’s political career rather than his physical existence.
One of the effects of this stupid and disgraceful act was that Trumpism ended and in a few days, the life of this criminal will end, and he will go to the dustbin of history, and we are very happy about this and we believe that the period after Trump will be a better condition for regional and global stability.
General Soleimani, commander of the Quds force within Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was killed on January 3 outside Baghdad International Airport by a US drone strike, as he was traveling in a car alongside high-ranking Iraqi military officials, including Iraqi paramilitary chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. The assassination has been widely cheered by Trump, who called Soleimani a “monster” allegedly responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Americans.
The killing prompted a furious reaction from Tehran, that went as far as launching missile strikes on several military installations across Iraq, that housed troops of the US-led coalition. While US authorities, including Trump, have tried hard to downplay the impact of the attacks, dismissing them as a vanity show of force, it emerged later that dozens of soldiers received “traumatic brain injuries” during the strikes.
The assassination, however, has not only angered Iran, but was widely perceived as an insult and a breach of allied obligations in Iraq. The killing prompted the Iraqi parliament to show rare unity and pass a non-binding resolution urging the full withdrawal of all foreign troops from the country – primarily, those of the US and its coalition allies.
Soleimani’s murder also triggered a chain of attacks on US installations across Iraq, military and diplomatic alike. The repeated shelling of the facilities prompted Washington to abandon several military bases, returning full control of them to the Iraqi government. The constant threat of attacks has also prompted Washington to install additional defenses at its already heavily fortified embassy in Baghdad’s Green Zone.
The defenses were put through test earlier this month, when the embassy came under a new barrage of rockets. Multiple videos from the scene showed rapid fire guns engaging the incoming targets.
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Footage showing a penny farthing bicycle rider slamming into the side of a DPD delivery van has sparked fierce debate online about whether Victorian-era modes of transport are road safe in the 21st century.
The viral video was reportedly shot in Stoke Newington, north London and shows the cyclist ploughing into the side of a delivery van which cut right in front of him at high speed.
It’s understood the rider was bruised but not badly hurt, despite being sideswiped and slamming spread-eagled to the ground with only his earmuffs and gloves for protection.
Modern iterations of the quaint conveyance, which dates back some 150 years, can have brakes fitted to the rear wheel, but it is unclear if this bike did – judging by the speed at which it slammed into the van, though, maybe not.
The bicycle’s iconic big wheel can reach up to 53 inches (130cm) in diameter and creates a notoriously wide turning circle, making it somewhat cumbersome to manoeuvre, especially through London traffic.
The somewhat bawdy bikes were common on British roads in 1870s and 1880s but were rendered obsolete by more modern, geared bicycles with much smaller front wheels and functioning brakes – something which the online commentariat were quick to point out, as locked-down Londoners debated who was in the wrong in the crash.
Clearly a Victorian crash for cash scam.
But on a serious note, if that is an authentic penny farthing it will have no brakes and has no place being ridden on the road.
Fixed-gear bikes are pretty popular, especially in cities. Look them up and you’ll see that most of them have no brakes, and they’re ridden safely all across the globe every day. Drivers like this, however, are incredibly unsafe. 100% the driver’s fault.
The biker reportedly had right of way along the thoroughfare but was sideswiped by a delivery driver seemingly desperate to make his next drop off. Many criticised the driver for his apparent disregard for the safety of other road users, regardless of their outdated mode of transport.
“This collision is 0% the rider's fault. He had right of way, the van driver cut him up, end of story,”wrote one Twitter user.
“The mental gymnastics to defend appalling driving standards, from a professional driver no less is staggering,”added another.
Rt.com has contacted DPD for comment about the incident.
“I have been informed by the person that shot the video that the van stopped and details were exchanged,” said a commenter claiming to be the bike maker, as cited by the Daily Mail.
“I have identified the bike as one that I manufactured and am now in the process of contacting my customers to find out who the rider was.”
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UFC pundit and podcast superstar Joe Rogan was among those left in disbelief after the woke mob forced a UK fitness magazine to apologize for a “toxic” message encouraging women to “burn off Christmas calories.”
You would imagine that one of the purposes of a fitness magazine is to encourage its readers exercise, but a seemingly harmless call for women to get active on Boxing Day by the UK edition of Women’s Fitness led to the publication being accused of “concerning and problematic language.”
“Are you getting out for a run, walk or cycle today? It’s a great day to burn off those Christmas calories… post your pics here!” the magazine urged its followers on Twitter… only to ride into a row with the right-on brigade.
Are you getting out for a run, walk or cycle today? It’s a great day to burn off those Christmas calories… post your pics here! pic.twitter.com/aG7vQIp9nu
Psychiatrist and author Dr Sarah Vohra replied to the post accusing the magazine of a “damaging marketing campaign.”
“Hugely concerning and problematic language,” pontificated Vohra.
“We shouldn’t be ascribing moral labels to food and exercise or encouraging people to adopt an earn and burn mentality; it’s the fall out from these damaging marketing campaigns that I see only too well in clinic.
“As a mainstream fitness magazine, why not use the opportunity to promote the positive mental and physical health benefits to be gained from going outdoors/ exercise; improved mood, better sleep, more energy etc. Disappointing.”
Hugely concerning and problematic language. We shouldn’t be ascribing moral labels to food and exercise or encouraging people to adopt an earn and burn mentality; it’s the fall out from these damaging marketing campaigns that I see only too well in clinic. 1/2
As a mainstream fitness magazine, why not use the opportunity to promote the positive mental and physical health benefits to be gained from going outdoors/ exercise; improved mood, better sleep, more energy etc. Disappointing. 2/2
Other upset observers were quick to take offense, with one writing: “I find it really sad that in 2020 you’re promoting the need to ‘burn off’ Christmas calories.
“I think that’s a very triggering and outdated message to be sharing. You’re encouraging women to work out from a place of guilt/shame which I think is very dangerous and negative.”
I find it really sad that in 2020 you’re promoting the need to ‘burn off’ Christmas calories😢 I think that’s a very triggering and outdated message to be sharing. You’re encouraging women to work out from a place of guilt/shame which I think is very negative and dangerous
Another Twitter user concurred, complaining: “You really need to think about what you are posting and the negative effects it will have!”
Concerned by the growing tide of self-righteous anger, Women’s Fitness replied to Dr Vohra in an attempt to explain its innocuous post.
Sorry to hear you've seen some distressing examples of food issues. We weren't saying people had to burn off calories. The reality is that some people will have eaten more than usual and may be feeling that they want to do something about it. Or some people may feel OK with it.
“Sorry to hear you've seen some distressing examples of food issues. We weren't saying people had to burn off calories,” the magazine groveled.
“The reality is that some people will have eaten more than usual and may be feeling that they want to do something about it. Or some people may feel OK with it.”
The magazine then issued a general apology to anyone “upset” by its call to exercise.
Sorry to anyone upset by our recent post about getting out and burning off Xmas calories. We were trying to encourage you to exercise, share your pics and to not to wait until January if you have fitness or weight-loss goals. We know that not everyone exercises for weight loss. pic.twitter.com/sRTC4omxu8
“Sorry to anyone upset by our recent post about getting out and burning off Xmas calories. We were trying to encourage you to exercise, share your pics and to not to wait until January if you have fitness or weight-loss goals. We know that not everyone exercises for weight loss,” read the contrite message.
The bizarre tale made its way to UFC pundit and podcast king Rogan, so often a bastion of common sense in the face of the virtual-signaling hordes.
“This is so dumb it hurts my feelings,” wrote Rogan as he shared the story with his 11.7 million followers on Instagram.
Rogan wasn’t the only one dumbfounded by the magazine’s apology.
“Everyone is offended by everything,” read one reply, while another wrote: “Woke culture sucks.”
Mobilizing on Twitter, a fellow member of the anti-woke resistance sarcastically wrote: “Exactly, a fitness magazine should NOT discuss fitness. I also get triggered when GQ talks about fashion, Sports Illustrated mentions sports, Entertainment mentions celebrities, or when Rolling Stone has the nerve to discuss music. How. Dare. They."
Exactly, a fitness magazine should NOT discuss fitness. I also get triggered when GQ talks about fashion, Sports Illustrated mentions sports, Entertainment mentions celebrities, or when Rolling Stone has the nerve to discuss music. How. Dare. They.
Nothing wrong with this post at all. Everyone knows it’s natural to eat more and kinda binge over Christmas. Yes, it’s positive for people to take action and burn calories. If you don’t want to, don’t. Imagine being offended at being encouraged to exercise.
Others questioned whether the outrage was, in fact, meant as satire – but alas, it seems those who complained were completely earnest.
Such are the perilous times in which we live, when even a fitness magazine encouraging its readers to exercise comes with all sorts of problematic strings attached.
A scientist who advises the UK government has warned that yet another national lockdown may be just around the corner as the new virus variant rampages across the country and case numbers in Britain continue to rise.
Speaking on Thursday morning, Mike Tildesley, a member of the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), told BBC Radio that more of the country may need to be in Tier 4, the level with the toughest regional measures, or a total national lockdown.
“Cases are rising in a really concerning way, so I suspect that unfortunately we will see a ramping-up even further of restrictions, probably more of the country being in Tier 4 or ultimately probably a national lockdown before we get to the end of January,” he said.
Tildesley’s predictions come as an additional 20 million people wake up under Tier 4 measures after Health Secretary Matt Hancock made the decision to extend the toughest restrictions to three-quarters of the population.
Hancock’s announcement on Wednesday means that only the Isles of Scilly, a picturesque archipelago off Cornwall, is not subjected to Tier 3 or Tier 4 measures and is the only place in all of England where pubs are open.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke of his “bitter regret” but said the country was forced to take further action.
On Wednesday the UK announced that the Covid-19 vaccine produced by AstraZeneca had been approved and rollout would begin on January 4.
The good news was tempered by the surging infection rates across the country, as a new virus variant, prevalent across the UK, is “56% more transmissible,” according to the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
On Wednesday health authorities registered 50,023 new infections and 981 deaths.
A black man has tested positive for Covid-19 soon after a maskless white officer mistakenly detained him at a mall in Virginia, his fiancee has said. Police previously apologized and admitted the officer had broken Covid-19 rules.
Jamar Mackey got tested three days after the altercation with a maskless officer, and the positive result arrived on Christmas Eve, the man’s fiancee, Shantel Covil, told local news channel WAVY-TV.
“I’m very angry that they put my family at risk. Me and Jamar, that’s one thing. But our kids, that’s what upsets me the most,” Covil said.
They arrested him, of course, no gloves, no masks. They took us out of our bubble, out of our safe space… We are around each other all the time.
Covil said Mackey has gone into quarantine with mild symptoms, including a “low grade fever, a cough, and a sore throat.”
It is not clear how and when he was infected.
The man wrongfully detained by @vbpd, Jamar Mackey, has tested positive for #coronavirus per his fiancé. Mackey has mild symptoms. We are waiting to hear from @vbpd. pic.twitter.com/EPoh8RH9CA
Mackey was handcuffed and briefly detained while having lunch with Covil, their 13-year-old-son, and a baby in the mall food court in Virginia Beach, Virginia on December 19. The officer was not wearing a mask when he detained Mackey, who had a mask, and escorted him to the parking lot. The video of the incident has since gone viral.
The officer did not initially explain to Mackey why he was being apprehended. “I want to talk to you, OK?” he said after approaching Mackey in the mall. The man repeatedly asked the officer to state what was going on, to which he replied, “Listen I’m gonna explain all of this,” and continued to escort Mackey out of the mall.
The officer mentioned they were looking for a man who drove a black truck. “Y’all got the wrong person. We don't even have a black truck,” Mackey replied.
On the parking lot, they were approached by another officer who suggested that they must have had detained the “wrong” person. Mackey was released shortly afterward.
The officer then told Covil that Mackey matched the description of a man who had used stolen credit cards. “I sincerely apologize. It was a complete misunderstanding,” the officer said in the video.
“This ain’t the f**king ‘70s! It’s 2020! That’s what we march for! That’s why we say ‘Black Lives Matter!’” Mackey angrily shouted at the officers. “Look how y’all treating us! Y’all see why we fight!”
“You have a right to be upset, sir,” the officer said.
Virginia Beach Police Chief Paul Neudigate apologized to Mackey and his family two days after the incident. He promised the issue of the officer not wearing a mask would be “addressed” in an internal review.
“We are required to wear masks. We set the standard, we set an example for our community,” the police chief said.
The Virginia Beach Police Department could not say if the officer involved in the incident had Covid-19, due to health privacy laws, TV channel WVEC reported.
A man in Russia’s Urals region has been convicted of murder after a young boy was hit by a stray bullet from his rifle. While he didn’t actually pull the trigger, he was found guilty anyway for his role in the tragic event.
The Sverdlovsk Regional Court on Wednesday ruled that Alexander Borisov was responsible for the killing. He was also indicted on an additional charge of hooliganism over the incident in which seven-year-old Yegor Korkunov was killed in August last year.
Borisov, who was under the influence of alcohol at the time, decided to give an impromptu shooting lesson to a mentally disabled teenager in a communal garden.
According to prosecutors, Borisov handed over a loaded air rifle and instructed the teen on where to shoot. The court ruled that although the second man pulled the trigger, he was unable to fully understand the danger. Despite warnings from passersby that they were close to an outdoor climbing frame where children were playing, 12 shots were fired.
One of those hit Yegor Korkunov, who had been 36 meters away, across a dirt road. According to local media, the boy was admitted to hospital in Ekaterinburg, where he remained in a coma for months before dying late last year. Although Borisov had been arrested for the shooting, his charges were later upgraded to murder.
As a result of Wednesday’s verdict, Borisov will spend the next nine years in a maximum-security penal colony. He will also have to pay close to 2 million rubles (over $25,000) to the boy’s family.
Speaking outside the court, Yegor’s mother, Anna Korkunova, slammed the verdict. “I believe that his guilt has been proven, but the term is very short,” she said. “I would be more relieved if he were given fifteen years.”
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Neighbors don’t always make the best of friends but, faced with growing international tensions, China and Russia are being drawn closer together. It comes as Chinese citizens increasingly write off better relations with the US.
A new poll published by the widely read Global Times newspaper, which has close links to the ruling Chinese Communist Party, found that over half of the nearly 2,000 respondents viewed Russia as the country’s most important relationship.
There was a sharp reduction in the number of people saying that ties with the US had the biggest impact on China, dropping to only 47.5 percent, compared to 82.1 percent when the question was asked last year.
Diao Daming, an expert on US studies at the Renmin University of China in Beijing, said the results showed Chinese people are “seriously offended by the unilateral moves made by the US government to harm bilateral ties; but, on the other [hand], their favorable impression toward American society and culture has not been affected too much by some irresponsible moves made by US politicians.”
At the same time, China’s official state news network Xinhua reported on Monday that the country’s premier, Xi Jinping, and Russian President Vladimir Putin had shared warm words over future partnerships earlier this week. According to the outlet, which is closely linked with Chinese decision makers, the two leaders resolved to “unswervingly develop the comprehensive strategic partnership” between their countries.
Beijing has become the most significant commercial partner for Moscow, and the country is the leading destination for the export of Russian commodities, and a source of more than $56 trillion in imports. Some Western commentators have previously argued that China, the world’s most populous country, would struggle to see Russia as an equal partner given its growing monopolization of world trade. However, shared political obstacles with the EU and the US appear to be playing a role in the two nations stepping towards closer and closer political ties.
Shares in Asia-Pacific were trading higher on the final day of this year as vaccine rollout elevated hopes for next year’s economic recovery. However, the market’s optimism also pushed the dollar lower.
While some markets of the region are already closed for holidays, like bourses in South Korea and Japan, most of the stock markets that were open on Thursday edged higher.
Most of the gains were seen in China, the only major economy set to expand this year, with its benchmark Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 Index adding nearly two percent to reach its historic peak. Other major indices in China were also up on Thursday after official data showed that activity in the country’s services and manufacturing sector expanded again this month, although at a slower pace than in November.
Meanwhile MSCI Asia Pacific Index – the gauge of Asian Pacific shares outside Japan – rose 0.1 percent to its latest peak, according to Reuters.
Trading in Australia went against the trend, with All Ordinaries index losing more than one percent. The drop came as the government introduced harsher restrictions amid a rising number of coronavirus infections in some parts of the country.
The rally in the region could have also been driven by the developments on a China-EU trade deal, which is meant to expand access to each other’s markets. After a year of talks, the two sides reached an agreement “in principle” on Wednesday.
While stock markets mostly bottomed out after the coronavirus pandemic caused a panic sell-off in March and have even hit new highs since then, the US dollar is finishing the year lower. The dollar index was 0.1 percent down on Thursday, while for the whole year it lost around eight percent against a basket of major currencies.
US stock futures were little changed before the last trading session of 2020, with investors waiting for data on initial jobless claims.
With all the originality of a Hollywood remake, the story about some state paying militants in Afghanistan bounties for targeting US troops has made a comeback. This time the villain is China, rather than Russia or Iran.
Secret intelligence indicates that “non-state actors” in Afghanistan were paid to carry out attacks against US troops, according to sources. President Trump was briefed on the intelligence. The bounties were presumably offered at a sensitive time when the US and the Taliban were engaged in talks on a peace deal.
If you think that was a recap of the “Russian bounties to Taliban” story from this summer, you’re wrong. It’s actually this week’s news first brought by Axios and later reported by all the other outlets with access – traditionally – to unnamed sources. The party that was allegedly paying the bounties is China.
The Trump administration is declassifying uncorroborated intelligence that indicates China offered to pay non-state actors in Afghanistan to attack American soldiers.https://t.co/XMxddVSUFy
But the confusion is understandable, since all the same plot twists have appeared at least twice before. June reports said it was Russia that was supposedly incentivizing the Taliban to fight its sworn enemy, though the actual bad guy, according to US media, was Trump for not showing Moscow its place.
In August, bounties were reported as coming from Iran. That case didn’t make as much of a splash in the US media – possibly because calling Trump soft on Iran would have been too far detached from reality even for his biggest critics. The fresh scoops featuring China don’t even mention the Iranian remake.
New: US intelligence indicates Iran paid bounties to Taliban for targeting American troops in Afghanistan - @ZcohenCNN reporting https://t.co/1JifNbHpHK
The third instalment was met with glee by Trumpworld, which challenged the media to deliver the same wall-to-wall coverage it did with the first run featuring Russia. During the presidential campaign, Trump worked hard to make his Democratic rival Joe Biden appear a China toadie, so the political motivation here is quite transparent.
I look forward to wall-to-wall media coverage from the pro-China US media about the latest Intel on China putting bounties on US soldiers. 🙄 https://t.co/g7KzSb9E4Y
If early signs are an indicator, Trump supporters will likely be disappointed. Sources are already telling their media contacts the China intelligence is “very thin,” amounts to “rumors,” and is “less” credible than what they had on Russia, much to the chagrin of Trump officials.
And whoever said “very thin” is someone who is a political operative. Intel is assessed.
And the Russian bounties story never panned out. “It just has not been proved to a level of certainty that satisfies me,” Gen. Frank McKenzie, the commander of US troops in Afghanistan, said in September.
The latest scoop comes with a promise that the US will declassify whatever info it has to back the claim of Chinese bounties. If true, it would be a rare opportunity for the general public to judge it themselves rather than rely on the vague intelligence assessments and assurances of unnamed-sources-friendly journalists.
The Algerian government has reached an agreement with Russia to obtain doses of the Sputnik V vaccine, the world’s first-registered inoculation against Covid-19. Distribution is scheduled to begin next month.
“Algeria's health minister has confirmed that a contract was signed ... for the purchase of a vaccine against coronavirus with a Russian laboratory,” said Communications Minister Ammar Belhimer on Wednesday, according to local media.
While Belhimer also suggested vaccine-related talks were ongoing with “other foreign parties,” he did not elaborate further.
Health Minister Abderrahmane Benbouzid stated earlier in December that authorities were still weighing their options with regard to immunizations, and that a “final decision” had not been made, pointing out that there are hundreds of research initiatives ongoing worldwide. He nonetheless pledged to select from “the most advanced vaccines” and vowed the jab would be provided “free of charge for all categories of the population.”
The administration of Sputnik V is slated to start sometime in the coming weeks, Belhimer said, consistent with the January deadline set by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune earlier this month.
Wednesday’s announcement comes less than a day after Tebboune returned to Algeria after a two-month stay in Germany, where he received treatment for Covid-19 after contracting the illness himself. The 75-year-old statesman, reportedly a heavy smoker, was hospitalized in October with what the government later acknowledged was a coronavirus infection. Though Tebboune completed treatment in late November, he remained in the country to recover for several more weeks.
To date, Algeria has recorded just shy of 100,000 coronavirus infections and more than 2,700 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
A continent away, Bolivian health officials also announced a deal for some 2.6 million doses of the Sputnik V jab on Wednesday, becoming the third Latin American state to secure the vaccine, behind Argentina and Venezuela. Among dozens of nations that have expressed an interest in the inoculation, Belarus and Hungary have also received shipments.
Sputnik V – known formally as Gam-COVID-Vac – became the world’s first-registered vaccine for the coronavirus in August, showing some 95-percent effectiveness against the illness, according to Moscow’s Gamaleya Institute, which developed it.
The Russian Federal Medical-Biological Agency unveiled another potential breakthrough on Wednesday, reporting progress in the first effective antiviral treatment for Covid-19. Other antiviral drugs, namely remdesivir, have shown less promising results for coronavirus patients, with the World Health Organization warning in November that there is little evidence that remdesivir improves recovery.
An employee deliberately removed vials of Moderna Covid-19 vaccine from a Wisconsin hospital refrigerator, destroying around 500 doses, an internal probe has found. The FBI and police are now investigating the incident.
“The individual in question today acknowledged that they intentionally removed the vaccine from refrigeration,” Advocate Aurora Health said in a statement.
We are more than disappointed that this individual’s actions will result in a delay of more than 500 people receiving their vaccine.
The organization, which runs 26 hospitals, said the employee in question had been fired and authorities had been notified about the incident.
It was earlier revealed that 57 vials of the Moderna vaccine had been taken out of a pharmacy refrigerator at Aurora Medical Center in Grafton, Wisconsin overnight, after which more than 500 doses of the vaccine had been “discarded.” The center's officials said at the time that the vaccine had been removed from the freezers “inadvertently.”
The Moderna vaccines arrive frozen at between -25°C and -15°C (-13°F and 5°F) and must be stored in refrigerators between 2°C and 8°C (36°F and 46°F), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Police confirmed to the media that they have launched an investigation regarding an employee “tampering” with the vials, and that the FBI and Food and Drug Administration were working on the case as well.
A large crowd has gathered in Minneapolis near the scene of a traffic stop that ended in a deadly shootout, marking the first police-involved killing since the death of George Floyd.
Police shot and killed a man in an exchange of gunfire, after pulling his vehicle over on Wednesday night, the city’s police force said. The individual was pronounced dead by medical personnel who came to his aid. A female passenger in the car was not injured, and no officers involved in the incident were wounded, a spokesperson for the Minneapolis police department said.
Police Chief Medaria Arradondo said during a press conference that officers were making a traffic stop involving a man who was suspected of being involved in a felony case when the individual opened fire on police. The officers then returned fire, killing the man, Arradondo claimed. He promised to release body camera video documenting the alleged shootout on Thursday.
The incident rekindled anti-police sentiment in the city, with several hundred people assembling at the scene about an hour after the shooting.
Part of the large crowd is surrounding a Minneapolis PD squad off Cedar with chants of "Fu*k 12" and "ACAB".
Highly organized with like what we saw during the summer.. Many came prepared in gas masks and the usual BLM "marshalls" are watching the crowd, some in yellow vests. pic.twitter.com/mIP74LfVyl
The crowd shouted obscenities at police as they blocked the street. One video purportedly taken at the site shows a group of angry residents chasing away a police cruiser.
Police in riot gear were later dispatched to the area. According to reports, officers complained that protesters were throwing “ice balls” at them.
Minneapolis Police are now in riot gear on 36th and Cedar. The crowd will over 200 protesters. pic.twitter.com/Yzba2hN9N3
A journalist on the ground said that the situation had become “extremely volatile and uneasy.”
The shooting occurred less than one mile (1.6 km) from the street corner where George Floyd died at the hands of Minneapolis officers. His death sparked riots in the city that quickly spread across the United States and even abroad, and led to nationwide efforts to “defund” police departments accused of racist, violent behavior.
