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Biden White House seeks to turn page on Trump, focus on legislative priorities

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-14/biden-white-house-seeks-to-turn-page-on-trump

The end of former President Trump’s impeachment trial opens a new chapter for his successor in the White House. But while President Biden and his team are eager to move past the impeachment, the bitterly partisan tone of the proceedings underscores the deep challenges ahead as the president and his party try to push forward their agenda and address historic crises. Biden, who was at the Camp David presidential retreat when the Senate voted Saturday to acquit Trump, had acknowledged that Democrats needed to hold the former president responsible for the siege of the U.S. Capitol but did not welcome the way it distracted from his agenda. The trial ended with every Democrat and seven Republicans voting to convict Trump, but the 57-43 vote was far from the two-thirds threshold required for conviction. Whether the seven GOP votes against Trump offered Biden any new hope for bipartisan cooperation within Congress remained an open question. In a statement, Biden referenced those GOP votes in favor of convicting the former president — and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s own indictment of Trump’s actions — as evidence that “the substance of the charge,” that Trump was responsible for inciting violence at the Capitol, is “not in dispute.” Opinion Even though he was acquitted by the Senate, Trump’s second trial proved that he abused his office (again). But he quickly moved on to the work ahead, sounding a note of unity and declaring that “this sad chapter in our history has reminded us that democracy is fragile” and that “each of us has a duty and responsibility as Americans, and especially as leaders, to defend the truth and to defeat the lies.” “It’s a task we must undertake together. As the United States of America,” Biden said. Biden made a point of not watching the trial live, choosing to comment only briefly on the searing images of the riot that gripped the nation. Though his White House publicly argued that the trial did not hinder their plans, aides privately worried that a lengthy proceeding could bog down the Senate and slow the passage of his massive COVID-19 relief bill. That $1.9-trillion proposal is just the first part of a sweeping legislative agenda Biden hopes to pass as he battles the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed more than 480,000 Americans and rattled the nation’s economy. “The No. 1 priority for Democrats and the Biden administration is going to be to deliver on the promises that have been made on the pandemic, both on the vaccine front and the economic front,” said Democratic strategist Josh Schwerin. The end of the impeachment trial frees the party to focus on less divisive and more broadly popular issues and policies, like the coronavirus relief package, which polls show has significant support among Americans. Throughout his campaign, Biden worked to avoid being defined by Trump and his controversies and instead sought to draw a contrast on policy and competence, a guiding principle that he and his aides have carried over into the White House. His team kept up a steady drumbeat of events during the trial, including an update on vaccine development and Biden’s first visit to the Pentagon as commander in chief. With the proceedings on the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue now over, the White House plans to increase its efforts to spotlight the fight against the pandemic and push past Trump’s chaos. Former Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota predicted that in a state like hers, where Trump won 65% of the vote, focusing on those urgent issues would make more headway with average voters now. “What we have to be talking about is the economy — getting the economy back working, and turning the page” on the last administration, she said. “Good policy is good politics. We need to get back to that.” Democrats have a decision to make in how to deal with Trump going forward. While the end of the impeachment trial offers a clear opportunity for the party to focus squarely on its own agenda, Trump can also be a potent political weapon for Democrats, not to mention a big driver of campaign cash. After Saturday’s vote, American Bridge 21st Century, the Democratic Party’s opposition research arm, issued a statement calling out senators from Ohio and Florida, two states that Democrats are targeting in the 2022 election, for voting against convicting Trump. “Ron Johnson, Marco Rubio, and nearly every other Senate Republican put their loyalty to Donald Trump ahead of the rule of law, the Capitol police officers who protect them every day, and the oaths they swore to uphold the Constitution,” said Bradley Beychock, the group’s president, calling the senators “spineless sycophants.” Politics Amid arguments over the relief package, the move against child poverty hasn’t gotten much attention — but its long-term impact would be major. Still, Schwerin cautioned that Trump can’t be Democrats’ “primary focus.” “We shouldn’t ignore the fact that a lot of the problems that the country is dealing with are because of Trump’s failures, but he shouldn’t be the focus of every fundraising email and press release. We should be looking forward,” he said. Biden plans to keep up a busy schedule focused on the COVID-19 pandemic in the coming week. The president will make his first official domestic trips this week: a TV town hall in Wisconsin on Tuesday to talk to Americans impacted by the coronavirus and a visit to a Pfizer vaccine facility in Michigan on Thursday. White House legislative affairs staffers were poised to work with House committees on crafting details of the relief bill, which Democrats hope to vote on next month. Still, some within the party aren’t finished with Trump. The Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a leading progressive advocacy group, issued a petition Saturday night encouraging supporters to call on attorney general nominee Merrick Garland to “investigate and prosecute Trump and his entire criminal network for law breaking.” Biden is likely to continue to face questions about how his Justice Department will handle a number of ongoing federal and criminal probes into Trump’s businesses and his conduct as president. And his aides will be watching for Trump’s next moves, particularly if he claims exoneration and heats up his political activity and even points toward a 2024 campaign. The plan, for now, is to try to ignore the former president. Former Democratic National Committee Chair Donna Brazile warned that Trump won’t make it easy but Democrats need to avoid getting sucked back into his orbit. “I don’t think Donald Trump is going to disappear from anyone’s lips any day soon, and that’s because Donald Trump will always seek to find ways to inject himself and serve himself,” she said. “While Donald Trump is figuring out who he is going to go after next, Democrats are going to figure out how they’re going to lift people up and how they’re going to protect and help the American people.”

Russia moves to extinguish pro-Navalny 'flashlight' protests

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-14/russia-moves-to-extinguish-pro-navalny-flashlight-protests

When the team of imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny urged people to come out to their residential courtyards and shine their cellphone flashlights in a display of unity, many responded with jokes and skepticism. After two weekends of nationwide demonstrations, the new protest format looked to some like a retreat. But not to Russian authorities, who moved vigorously to extinguish the illuminated protests planned for Sunday. Officials accused Navalny’s allies of acting on NATO’s instructions. Kremlin-backed TV channels warned that flashlight rallies were part of major uprisings around the world. State news agencies cited unnamed sources saying a terrorist group was plotting attacks during unapproved mass protests. The suppression attempts represent a change of tactics for the authorities who once tried to weaken Navalny’s influence by erasing him. Kremlin-controlled TV channels used to largely ignore protests called by Navalny. Russian President Vladimir Putin has never mentioned his most prominent critic by name. State news agencies referred to the politician and anti-corruption investigator as “a blogger” in the rare stories they ran mentioning him. World & Nation The sentencing of Putin critic Alexei Navalny doesn’t solve the Russian president’s problems. “Navalny went from a person whose name is not allowed to be mentioned to the main subject of discussion” on state TV, said Maria Pevchikh, head of investigations at Navalny’s Foundations for Fighting Corruption, in a YouTube video Friday. Pevchikh credited Navalny’s latest expose for the sudden surge in attention. His foundation’s two-hour-long video alleging that a lavish palace on the Black Sea was built for Putin through elaborate corruption has been watched more than 111 million times on YouTube since it was posted Jan. 19. The video went up two days after Navalny was arrested upon returning to Russia from Germany, where he spent five months recovering from nerve-agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin. The Russian government denies involvement and has said it has no evidence that Navalny was poisoned. While the high-profile arrest and the subsequent expose were a double blow to authorities, political analyst and former Kremlin speech writer Abbas Gallyamov says that keeping Navalny and his activity off the airwaves to deprive him of additional publicity no longer makes sense. “The fact that this strategy has changed suggests that the pro-government television audience is somehow receiving information about Navalny’s activities through other channels, recognizes him, is interested in his work, and in this sense, keeping the silence doesn’t make any sense,” Gallyamov said. The weekend protests in scores of cities last month over Navalny’s detention represented the largest outpouring of popular discontent in years and appeared to have rattled the Kremlin. Police reportedly arrested about 10,000 people, and many demonstrators were beaten, while state media sought to downplay the scale of the protests. TV channels aired video of empty squares in cities where protests were announced and claimed that few people showed up. Some reports portrayed police as polite and restrained, claiming officers had helped people with disabilities cross busy streets, handed out face masks to demonstrators and offered them hot tea. World & Nation President Biden had his first call with Vladimir Putin, raising concerns about Alexei Navalny’s arrest while pressing Putin on bounties on U.S. troops. Once the protests died down and Navalny ally Leonid Volkov announced a pause until the spring, Kremlin-backed media reported that grassroots flash mobs titled “Putin is our president” started sweeping the country. State news channel Rossiya 24 broadcast videos from different cities of people dancing to patriotic songs and waving Russian flags, describing them as a genuine expression of support for Putin. Several independent online outlets reported that instructions to record videos in support of Putin came from the Kremlin and the governing United Russia party, and that people featured in some of the recordings were invited to shoots under false pretenses. The Russian president’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said the Kremlin had nothing to do with the pro-Putin videos. After Navalny’s team posted its video involving the palace allegedly built for Putin, state channel Rossiya aired its own expose of Navalny. Anchor Dmitry Kiselev said that while working on the investigation in Germany, Navalny lived “in the luxury he so much despises.” The reporter sent to chronicle the allegedly luxurious lifestyle the politician maintained while abroad filmed inside a house Navalny rented but failed to capture any high-end items in the two-story building, which featured several bedrooms and a small swimming pool. She pointed to “two sofas, a TV, fresh fruit on the table” in the living room and “a kitchen with a coffee machine,” and described a bedroom as “luxurious” even though it didn’t look much different from a room in a business hotel. In recent days, official media coverage has focused on plans for this weekend’s flashlights-in-courtyards protest. Reports extensively quoted Navalny ally Volkov’s social media post announcing the event and accused him of acting on instructions from his Western handlers, pointing to an online conference with European officials he took part in the day before. World & Nation The attack on Alexei Navalny — at least the sixth such attempt against a Russian dissident in the last five years — has provoked international condemnation on a scale not seen since the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal. The political talk show “60 Minutes” devoted nearly a half-hour to the topic, calling the flashlight rally an idea from a handbook on revolutions. It aired video of protesters shining flashlights during the 2014 Maidan protests in Ukraine, mass rallies in Belarus last summer and other uprisings around the world. On Thursday, state news agencies Tass and RIA Novosti reported, citing anonymous sources, that a terrorist group from Syria was training insurgents for possible terrorist attacks in Russian cities “at locations of mass rallies.” The reports didn’t refer to any specific protests. Neither did public warnings against “unauthorized public events” the Prosecutor General’s office and Russia’s Interior Ministry issued Thursday, although the ministry mentioned events “planned for the nearest time.” “The Kremlin is awfully scared of the flashlight action,” because such a peaceful, light-hearted event would allow the opposition to build a rapport with new supporters who are not ready to be more visible and involved in the protests, Volkov said in a YouTube video. He suggested that the heavy-handed response to the announcement actually helped dispel skepticism about the courtyard demonstrations. “I saw many posts on social media [saying], ‘When Navalny’s headquarters announced the flashlight rally, I thought, what nonsense… But when I saw the Kremlin’s reaction, I realized they were right to come up with it.’”

Kosovo votes for new parliament amid the pandemic

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-14/kosovo-votes-for-new-parliament-amid-pandemic

Kosovo is holding an early parliamentary election to form a new government amid the coronavirus pandemic, an economic downturn and stalled negotiations with wartime foe Serbia. Some 1.8 million eligible voters on Sunday began casting their ballots at 2,400 polling stations. They’re electing 120 lawmakers among more than 1,000 candidates from 28 political groupings. Some 100,000 Kosovars in diaspora are also eligible to vote by mail. Those infected by the coronavirus will be able to vote through mobile polling teams. Reducing unemployment and fighting organized crime and corruption remain the biggest challenges in Kosovo. Negotiations on normalizing ties with Serbia, which stalled again last year after talks brokered by the U.S. and the European Union, have not figured high on any party’s agenda. Political parties have failed to respect many of the virus control measures, including mandatory wearing of masks, social distancing, limits on gatherings of no more than 50 people and an overnight curfew. The election was scheduled after Kosovo’s Constitutional Court rendered invalid a vote by a convicted lawmaker that helped confirm the Cabinet of Acting Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti of the center-right Democratic League of Kosovo. That Cabinet was named in June after Albin Kurti of the left-wing Self-Determination Movement party was removed as prime minister. The Serb minority has 10 seats, and 10 others belong to other minorities. The EU has sent an Elections Expert Mission to Kosovo to monitor the vote. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, a decade after a brutal 1998-1999 war between separatist ethnic Albanian rebels and Serb forces. The war ended in June 1999 after a 78-day NATO air campaign drove Serb troops out and a peacekeeping force moved in. Most Western nations recognize the country, but Serbia and allies Russia and China do not, and tensions over Kosovo remain a source of volatility in the Balkans.

New Zealand city of Auckland begins 3-day coronavirus lockdown

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-13/new-zealand-city-going-into-3-day-lockdown-after-virus-found

New Zealand’s largest city of Auckland has begun a three-day lockdown following the discovery of three unexplained coronavirus cases in the community. Health officials said Monday that the cases were of the more contagious variant first found in Britain and that genome testing hadn’t linked them to any previous known cases. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the lockdown after an urgent meeting with other top lawmakers in the Cabinet. She said they decided to take a cautious approach until they find out more about the outbreak. The lockdown, which extends through Wednesday, is the first in New Zealand in six months and represents a setback in the nation’s largely successful efforts to control the virus. It has also forced a delay in the America’s Cup sailing regatta. New Zealand had successfully stamped out community spread, and many people elsewhere in the world looked on in envy as New Zealanders went back to work and began attending concerts and sporting events without the need to wear masks or take other precautions. Indeed, Ardern on Sunday had planned to attend the Big Gay Out, an Auckland festival that celebrates the rainbow community and attracts tens of thousands of people. She ended up canceling those plans and returning to Wellington to manage the outbreak. “I’m asking New Zealanders to continue to be strong and to be kind,” Ardern said at a hastily arranged news conference. “I know we all feel the same way when this happens. We all get that sense of ‘Not again.’ But remember, we have been here before and that means we know how to get out of this again, and that is together.” Science & Medicine COVID-19 vaccines may be less effective against the coronavirus strain from South Africa, but scientists remain confident that humans have the upper hand. New Zealand’s greatest vulnerability has been at the border. New cases are regularly caught among returning travelers, all of whom are required to spend two weeks in quarantine. Despite precautions, there have been several times when the virus has leaked out from the border before being controlled again, and officials are trying to determine whether that’s happened again. In the latest case, an Auckland mother, father and daughter caught the disease. Officials said the mother works at a catering company that does laundry for airlines, and officials are investigating whether there is a link to infected passengers. Officials said the woman hadn’t been going aboard the planes herself. The rest of New Zealand outside of Auckland has also had restrictions imposed, including limiting crowd sizes to 100. “We are gathering all of the facts as quickly as we can, and the system that served us so well in the past is really gearing up to do so again,” said COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins. He described the cases as new and active. “New Zealand has kept COVID-19 contained better than almost any other country,” Hipkins said. “But as we have kept saying, there is no such thing as no risk.” New Zealand, with a population of 5 million, has reported a total of just over 2,300 cases and 25 deaths since the pandemic started. The country has been hosting the America’s Cup sailing regatta. Racing was due to continue on Wednesday in the Prada Cup challenger series, but organizers have announced that a postponement will be necessary. Italy’s Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli leads Britain’s INEOS Team UK 4-0 in the first-to-seven series. The winner will then take on Emirates Team New Zealand for the America’s Cup.

Religion and the death penalty collide at the Supreme Court

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-13/religion-and-the-death-penalty-collide-at-the-supreme-court

The Supreme Court is sending a message to states that want to continue to carry out the death penalty: Inmates must be allowed to have a spiritual advisor by their side as they are executed. The high court around midnight Thursday declined to let Alabama proceed with the lethal injection of Willie B. Smith III. Smith had objected to Alabama’s policy that his pastor would have had to observe his execution from an adjacent room rather than in the death chamber itself. The order from the high court follows two years in which inmates saw some rare success in bringing challenges based on the issue of chaplains in the death chamber. This time, liberal and conservative members of the court normally in disagreement over death penalty issues found common ground not on the death penalty itself but on the issue of religious freedom and how the death penalty is carried out. Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, one of three justices who said they would have let Smith’s execution go forward, said Alabama’s policy applies equally to all inmates and serves a state interest in ensuring safety and security. But he said it was apparent that his colleagues who disagreed were providing a path for states to follow. States that want to avoid months or years of litigation over the presence of spiritual advisors “should figure out a way to allow spiritual advisors into the execution room, as other States and the Federal Government have done,” he wrote in a dissent joined by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. Justice Clarence Thomas also would have allowed the execution of Smith, who was sentenced to die for the 1991 murder of 22-year-old Sharma Ruth Johnson in Birmingham. California The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office will not oppose the death penalty for Michael Gargiulo, despite a ban on capital punishment imposed by George Gascón. Until 2019, Alabama had allowed a Christian prison chaplain employed by the state to be physically present in the execution chamber if requested by the inmate, but the state changed its policy in response to two earlier Supreme Court cases. Robert Dunham, the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, says the court’s order will most clearly affect states in the Deep South that have active execution chambers. Dunham said most state execution protocols, which set rules on who is to be present in the death chamber, do not mention spiritual advisors. Since the 1970s, spiritual advisors have not been present in execution chambers, he said. The federal government, which under President Trump resumed federal executions following a 17-year hiatus and carried out 13 executions, allowed a spiritual advisor to be present in the death chamber. The Biden administration is still weighing how it will proceed in death penalty cases. The court’s order in Smith’s case contained only statements from Kavanaugh and Justice Elena Kagan. “Willie Smith is sentenced to death, and his last wish is to have his pastor with him as he dies,” Kagan wrote for herself and liberal justices Sonia Sotomayor and Stephen G. Breyer, as well as conservative Amy Coney Barrett. Kagan added: “Alabama has not carried its burden of showing that the exclusion of all clergy members from the execution chamber is necessary to ensure prison security.” Justice Neil M. Gorsuch and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. did not make public their views, but at least one or perhaps both of them must have voted with their liberal colleagues to keep Smith’s execution on hold. The court has been wrestling with the issue of chaplains in the death chamber since 2019, when justices declined to halt the execution of Alabama inmate Domineque Ray. Ray, a Muslim, had objected that a Christian chaplain employed by the prison typically remained in the execution chamber during a lethal injection, but the state would not let his imam be present. The next month, however, the justices halted the execution of a Texas inmate, Patrick Murphy, who objected after Texas officials wouldn’t allow his Buddhist spiritual advisor in the death chamber. Kavanaugh wrote at the time that states have two choices: allow all inmates to have a religious advisor of their choice in the execution room or allow that person only in an adjacent viewing room. Opinion Virginia becomes the first of the secessionist states to end a practice with deep roots in slavery and racism. Good for Virginia. In response, the Texas prison system changed its policy, allowing only prison security staff in the execution chamber. But in June, the high court kept Texas from executing Ruben Gutierrez after he objected to the new policy. Diana Verm, a lawyer at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which had submitted briefs in two of the spiritual advisor cases, said it was unusual for the court with its conservative majority to halt executions. “You can tell from some of the opinions that the justices don’t like the last-minute nature of execution litigation, but this is an area where they are saying: ‘Listen ... religious liberty has to be a part of the process if it’s going to happen,’” Verm said.

Maryland moves ahead with nation's first tax on internet ads

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-12/maryland-lawmakers-move-ahead-with-first-tax-on-internet-ads

Maryland lawmakers are moving forward with a first-in-the-nation tax on internet ads, to be paid by big tech companies such as Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google. It’s slated to help cover the costs of a comprehensive and pricey measure to improve K-12 education. The Maryland General Assembly, which is controlled by Democrats, overrode Republican Gov. Larry Hogan’s veto of legislation for the tax Friday. Lawmakers also voted to override Hogan’s veto of the separate education bill, which is projected to cost billions of dollars over the next decade. State Sen. James Rosapepe, a Democrat, said the measure aims to modernize the state’s tax system and make thriving big tech companies pay their fair share. “If we don’t modernize our tax system, if we don’t make sure that the new winners in the new economy pay taxes just like every small business on Main Street in Maryland, we’re going to be in deep trouble,” the College Park lawmaker said. The tax measure is set to take effect in 30 days, but supporters and opponents agree a court challenge is likely, leading to a potential injunction until the case is resolved. The bill also nearly doubles the state’s cigarette tax from $2 to $3.75 a pack and adds a new tax on electronic cigarettes. Opponents say the measure will raise costs on businesses during a pandemic. They contend that the tax on digital ads violates the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act, which prohibits discrimination against electronic commerce, as well as other federal laws. “This bill taxes the way businesses communicate with their customers,” said state Sen. Stephen Hershey, a Republican. He said the measure hits businesses “where it hurts the most: targeted, cost-effective online advertising.” Doug Mayer, a spokesman for a coalition of Maryland businesses called Marylanders for Tax Fairness, described the bill as “shortsighted, foolish, and harmful to countless small businesses and employees, and Marylanders will remember it that way.” “We will continue fighting this regressive tax wherever possible, including in a court of law,” Mayer said. State analysts have estimated the tax could raise about $250 million a year. The measure, which would require companies to file a tax return with the state, imposes a tax based on global annual gross revenues for companies that make more than $100 million worldwide. The tax rate would be 2.5% for businesses with gross annual revenue of $100 million or more; 5% for companies with revenue of $1 billion or more; 7.5% for companies with revenue of $5 billion or more and 10% for companies with revenue of $15 billion or more. Senate President Bill Ferguson, a Baltimore Democrat, has introduced legislation this session that would exempt news media from the tax. The Senate voted 29 to 17 on Friday to override Hogan’s veto on the tax measure, the minimum number of votes to reach the three-fifths needed. The House of Delegates voted to override the veto earlier in the week. The education measure, which has been years in the making, focuses on five main policy areas. They include expanding pre-K, increased teachers’ pay, college and career readiness, aid for struggling schools and accountability in implementation. It also aims to address inequities in schools that serve high numbers of children in poverty. Billions of dollars to implement it would be phased in over 10 years, reaching about $4 billion in added spending in fiscal year 2030. State Sen. Guy Guzzone, a Howard County Democrat who chairs the Senate’s budget committee, pointed out that the state has been planning for the education measure for years, and that the state already has set aside money for the first four years of the framework. “We’re going to take the same careful look at this every year to ensure it continues to keep being paid for, because that’s the responsible thing to do,” Guzzone said.

Chinese TV features blackface performers in New Year's gala

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-12/chinese-tv-features-blackface-performers-in-new-years-gala

Chinese state TV included dancers in blackface portraying Africans during a national broadcast as Asia welcomed the lunar Year of the Ox with subdued festivities Friday amid travel curbs to contain renewed coronavirus outbreaks. The “African Song and Dance” performance came at start of the Spring Festival Gala, one of the world’s most-watched TV programs. It included Chinese dancers in African-style costumes and dark face makeup beating drums. The five-hour annual program, which state TV has said in the past is seen by as many as 800 million viewers, also included tributes to nurses, doctors and others who fought the coronavirus pandemic that began in central China in late 2019. Festivities for the holiday, normally East Asia’s busiest tourism season, are muted after China, Vietnam, Taiwan and other governments tightened travel curbs and urged the public to avoid big gatherings following renewed virus outbreaks. China’s ruling Communist Party tries to promote an image of unity with African nations as fellow developing economies. But state broadcaster China Central Television has faced criticism over using blackface to depict African people in past New Year broadcasts. California Cash in the age of COVID: Asians get creative when it comes to ‘lucky’ lunar money. On Twitter, Black Livity China, a group for people of African descent who work in or with China, called the broadcast “extremely disappointing.” It noted CCTV’s 2018 Spring Festival Gala featured performers in blackface with a monkey. “We cannot stress enough the impact scenes such as these have on African and Afro-diasporic communities living in China,” the group said. Elsewhere in China, Buddhist and Daoist temples that usually are packed with holiday worshippers were closed. Streets in major cities were largely empty. Visitors gathered outside the locked gates of the Tibetan-style Lama Temple on Beijing’s north side to burn incense and pray. Ji Jianping, who wore a jacket and face mask in red, the traditional color of good fortune, said she and her family skipped visiting their hometown in the northern province of Shanxi due to the pandemic. “I wish for safety and health, as well as happiness for my family,” said Ji, 62. The government’s appeal to China’s public to avoid travel is denting spending on tourism and gifts. But economists say the overall impact might be limited if factories, shops and factories keep operating instead of taking their usual two-week break. Lifestyle If 2021 didn’t get off to the start you’d hoped, perhaps Lunar New Year is a chance at a do-over as we leave the Year of the Rat and enter the Year of the Ox. The Commerce Ministry said it found 48 million more people in Chinese cities planned to celebrate where they live instead of traveling. Departures from Beijing’s two major airports were down 75% from last year on Wednesday, the Chinese capital’s government reported. In Taiwan, merchants said this year’s sales are up 10%-20% because Taiwanese people celebrated at home with family dinners instead of traveling abroad. “Business this year is good. We have even more people,” said a sausage vendor in the capital, Taipei, who would give only his surname, Tsai. “People stay home and prepare food for year-end dinner to share with friends and family.”

Kim Jong Un lays blame on senior officials for North Korea's economic failures

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-12/kim-lays-blame-at-officials-for-n-koreas-economic-failures

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ripped into the performance of his Cabinet and fired a senior economic official he appointed a month ago, saying they’d failed to come up with new ideas to salvage an economy in decay. The report by state media on Friday comes during the toughest period of Kim’s nine-year rule. The diplomacy he had hoped would lift U.S.-led sanctions over his nuclear program is stalemated, and pandemic border closures and crop-killing natural disasters last year deepened the damage to an economy broken by decades of policy failures, including a crippling famine in the 1990s. The border closure caused trade volume with China, the main source of support for North Korea’s economy, to drop by 75% in the first 10 months of the year. Raw materials shortages caused factory output to plunge to its lowest level since Kim took power in 2011, and prices of imported foods like sugar quadrupled, according to South Korea’s spy agency. Some analysts say the current challenges may set up conditions for an economic perfect storm in the North that destabilizes markets and triggers public panic and unrest. The current challenges have forced Kim to publicly admit that past economic plans hadn’t succeeded. A new five-year plan to develop the economy was issued during the ruling Workers’ Party congress in January, but Kim’s comments during the party’s Central Committee meeting that ended Thursday were rich with frustration over how the plans have been executed so far. World & Nation After declaring three years ago that his country had fulfilled its decades-long ambition to become a nuclear power, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un turned his attention to fixing an ailing economy that was undermining his pledge to better the lives of his people. During Thursday’s session, Kim lamented that the Cabinet was failing in its role as the key institution managing the economy, saying it was producing unworkable plans while displaying no “innovative viewpoint and clear tactics.” He said the Cabinet’s targets for agricultural production this year were set unrealistically high, considering limited supplies of farming materials and other unfavorable conditions. Targets for electricity production were set too low, he said, showing a lack of urgency when shortages could stall work at coal mines and other industries. “The Cabinet failed to play a leading role in mapping out plans of key economic fields and almost mechanically brought together the numbers drafted by the ministries,” the KCNA paraphrased Kim as saying. The KCNA also said that O Su Yong was named as the new director of the Central Committee’s Department of Economic Affairs during this week’s meeting, replacing Kim Tu Il, who was appointed in January. During the January party congress, Kim Jong Un called for reasserting greater state control over the economy, boosting harvests and prioritizing the development of chemicals and metal industries. He also vowed all-out efforts to bolster his nuclear weapons program in comments that were seen as an attempt to pressure the new Biden administration. To truly revive the economy, analysts say, the country needs to invest heavily in modern factory equipment and technology, and to either import more food or improve farm productivity: a U.N. assessment in 2019 found that 10.1 million people, or 40% of the population, were food insecure and in urgent need of assistance. The border closure has hindered updates on the situation, but output of staple grains had plateaued since surging a few years ago, when farmers were allowed to retain more of their harvests instead of handing them entirely over to the government. The U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization estimates that nearly half of North Koreans are undernourished. The metal and chemical industries are crucial for revitalizing stalling manufacturing, which has been decimated by U.N. sanctions and has disrupted imports of factory materials amid the pandemic. However, most experts agree that North Korea’s new development plans aren’t meaningfully different from its previous ones that lacked substance. South Korean intelligence officials say there are also signs that the North is taking dramatic steps to strengthen government control over markets, including suppressing the use of U.S. dollars and other foreign currencies. Such efforts might compel people to exchange their foreign currency savings for the North Korean won. They demonstrate the government’s sense of urgency over its depleting foreign currency reserves, analysts say.

Alabama halts execution after court rules it can't proceed without a pastor

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-11/alabama-execution-cancelled-after-injunction-maintained

An Alabama inmate on Thursday won a reprieve from a scheduled lethal injection after the U.S. Supreme Court said the state could not proceed without his pastor in the death chamber. The lethal injection of Willie B. Smith III was called off after justices maintained an injunction issued by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals saying he could not be executed without his pastor present in chamber. Department of Corrections spokeswoman Samantha Rose said the execution would not proceed given the ruling. Alabama has maintained that non-prison staff should not be in the room for security reasons. “Alabama has not carried its burden of showing that the exclusion of all clergy members from the execution chamber is necessary to ensure prison security. So the State cannot now execute Smith without his pastor present, to ease what Smith calls the ‘transition between the worlds of the living and the dead,’ ” Justice Elena Kagan wrote in the order maintaining injunction. Smith, 51, was scheduled to receive a lethal injection at a south Alabama prison for the 1991 murder of 22-year-old Sharma Ruth Johnson in Birmingham. The Alabama attorney general declined to comment on the ruling. California The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office will not oppose the death penalty for Michael Gargiulo, despite a ban on capital punishment imposed by George Gascón. Smith had sought to allow his personal pastor in the execution chamber, something the state does not allow. “Mr. Smith pled that he believes that the point of transition between life and death is important, and that having his spiritual advisor physically present at that moment is integral to his faith,” Smith’s lawyers wrote in court documents. In the past, Alabama routinely brought in a Christian prison chaplain who would pray with an inmate if requested. The state stopped that practice after Muslim inmates asked to have an imam present, saying it would no longer allow non-prison staff in the chamber. Prosecutors said Smith abducted Johnson at gunpoint from an ATM, stole $80 from her and then took her to a cemetery where he shot her in the back of the head. Johnson was the sister of a police detective. “Over twenty-nine years ago, Smith gunned down a woman whose only crime was stopping to use the ATM,” attorneys for the state wrote in court documents seeking to let the lethal injection proceed. Justices vacated another stay issued by the 11th Circuit related to Smith’s intellectual capacity. His lawyers argued that the state failed to give the man, who has an IQ below 75, required assistance with forms affecting the timing of his execution. The Alabama attorney general’s office in court filings disputed that Smith is disabled and called it a last-minute delaying maneuver. If the execution had gone forward, it would have been the first by a state in 2021 and one of the few at the state level since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic last year. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, no state has had an execution since July 8. Opinion Virginia becomes the first of the secessionist states to end a practice with deep roots in slavery and racism. Good for Virginia. Smith took no offered meals on Thursday but did have a soda and a bag of potato chips, Alabama Department of Corrections spokeswoman Samantha Rose said. He was visited by his wife, mother, sister and stepfather, as well as an investigator for his attorney. Smith’s attorneys also argued that an execution would be a superspreader event. Some COVID-19 cases have been linked to recent federal executions. The Department of Corrections has changed some procedures in the face of the pandemic. The prison system is limiting media witnesses to one journalist, a representative from the Associated Press.

Tokyo 2020 leader relents and resigns after criticism of sexist comments

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-11/tokyo-olympics-mori-to-leave-but-gender-issue-remains

Yoshiro Mori resigned Friday as the president of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee following sexist comments implying women talk too much. “As of today I will resign from the president’s position,” he said to open an executive board and council meeting. The board was expected to pick his successor later on Friday. Mori’s departure comes after more than a week of nonstop criticism about his remarks earlier this month. He initially apologized but refused to step away, which was followed by relentless pressure from television pundits, sponsors and an online petition that drew 150,000 signatures. But it’s not clear that his resignation will clear the air and return the focus to exactly how Tokyo can hold the Olympics in just over five months in the midst of a pandemic. The Olympics are to open on July 23, with 11,000 athletes and 4,400 more in the Paralympic a month later. About 80% in recent polls in Japan say they want the Olympics canceled or postponed with clear support about 15%. Early reports said the 83-year-old Mori had picked 84-year-old Saburo Kawabuchi, the former president of the governing body of Japanese soccer and a former player himself. He played for Japan in the 1964 Olympics. Olympics The IOC called comments by Tokyo 2020 leader Yoshiro Mori ‘completely inappropriate,’ but he seems determined to stay on the job. Feb. 9, 2021 Kawabuchi is even older than Mori and will raise the issue of why a woman was not appointed. This is the center of the entire debate that Mori triggered over gender inequality in Japan and the absence of women in boardrooms, politics and sports governance. Women are also largely absence in leadership roles at the organizing committee. Kawabuchi indicated Thursday he had been contacted by Mori. But he said later he indicated he might not be the appropriate choice. Japanese media immediately pointed out there were three qualified women — all athletes and former Olympians and at least a generation younger — who could fill the job. Kaori Yamaguchi won a bronze medal in the 1988 Olympics in judo. Mikako Kotani won two bronze medals in the 1988 Olympics in synchronized swimming. And Naoko Takahashi was a gold medalist in the marathon in the 2000 Olympics. Seiko Hashimoto, the current Olympic minister and a former Olympian, has also been mentioned as a candidate. Mori’s remarks have put the spotlight on how far Japan lags behind other prosperous countries in advancing women in politics or the boardrooms. Japan stands 121st out of 153 in the World Economic Forum’s gender equality rankings. Olympics IOC and Tokyo Olympic officials remain committed to hosting the Games, despite the many challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Feb. 3, 2021 Koichi Nakano, a political scientist at Sophia University in Tokyo, characterized Japan as a country still run “by a club of old men.” But he said this could be a watershed. “Social norms are changing,” he wrote in an email to the Associated Press. “A clear majority of the Japanese found Mori’s comments unacceptable, so the problem is more to do with the lack of representation of women in leadership positions. This sorry episode may have the effect of strengthening the call for greater gender equality and diversity in the halls of power.” Though some on the street called for Mori to resign — several hundred Olympic volunteers say they are withdrawing — most decision makers including Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga stopped short of this and simply condemned his remarks. A comment a few days ago from Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda seemed to move the needle. Toyota is one of 14 so-called Olympic TOP sponsors that pay about $1 billion every four-year cycle to the International Olympic Committee. The company seldom speaks out on politics, and Toyota did not call for Mori’s resignation. But just speaking on the matter might have been enough. “The [Mori] comment is different from our values, and we find it regrettable.” Toyota said. Toyota and Coca-Cola also are major sponsors of the torch relay.

Five people linked to Proud Boys arrested for alleged roles in riot at U.S. Capitol

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-11/5-linked-to-kansas-city-metro-chapter-of-proud-boys-arrested

Five people prosecutors have linked to a Kansas City metro chapter of the Proud Boys were arrested Thursday on federal charges for their alleged roles in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. A probable cause affidavit filed in the case alleges they conspired to impede certification of the Electoral College vote. William Norman Chrestman and Christopher Charles Kuehn, both of Olathe, Kan., and Louis Enrique Colon, of Blue Springs, Mo., were charged with conspiracy, civil disorder and obstruction of an official proceeding, among other charges. Chrestman also separately faces an additional charge of threatening to assault a federal law enforcement officer. World & Nation The Canadian government has designated the Proud Boys group as a terrorist entity, the first country to designate it as such. Feb. 3, 2021 A probable cause affidavit alleges the three men wore tactical-style gear, including helmets and gloves. Chrestman also arrived with a respirator and a wooden club or ax handle disguised as a flag, and they had a piece of orange tape affixed to a backpack or headgear to distinguish them in the crowd. Also arrested on similar charges in Arizona were a brother and sister, Felicia and Cory Konold, who prosecutors contend were also linked to the Kansas City chapter of the Proud Boys. Video footage captured Chrestman at one point turning to the crowd unlawfully assembled on the Capitol grounds, and shouting: “Whose house is this?” The crowd responded “Our house!” Chrestman shouted, “Do you want your house back?” After the crowd responded, “Yes,” Chrestman shouted back: “Take it!”

U.K. judge rules that newspaper invaded privacy of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-11/uk-judge-rules-that-newspaper-invaded-meghans-privacy

A British judge ruled Thursday that a newspaper invaded the Duchess of Sussex’s privacy by publishing personal letter to her estranged father. Judge Mark Warby said Associated Newspapers misused the duchess’ private information in five February 2019 articles in the Mail on Sunday and on the MailOnline website, which published portions of a handwritten letter to her estranged father, Thomas Markle, after her 2018 wedding to Prince Harry. The judge said the duchess “had a reasonable expectation that the contents of the letter would remain private. The Mail articles interfered with that reasonable expectation.” The ruling is a major victory for Meghan, who sued the publisher for invasion of privacy and copyright infringement Entertainment & Arts Britain’s Prince Harry is suing the Mail on Sunday and its parent company over the publication of Meghan Markle’s private letter to her estranged father. Oct. 1, 2019 Associated Newspapers contested the claim, and a trial was scheduled for the fall. The duchess asked for a summary judgment to settle the case without a trial. At a hearing last month, Meghan’s lawyer, Justin Rushbrooke, argued that the publisher had “no real prospect” of winning the case. Meghan’s lawyers say the “deeply personal” five-page letter was intended for her father alone. But the defense argued Meghan wrote the letter as part of a media strategy to rebut a negative view conveyed by her father, and with help from the communications team in the royal couple’s Kensington Palace office. Thursday’s ruling means Meghan has won her case on privacy grounds, but the judge said a “limited trial” should be held to decide some of the copyright issues. Entertainment & Arts Prince Harry says it took him many years and marriage to former actress Meghan Markle to understand the extent of his privileged upbringing. Oct. 27, 2020 Meghan, an American actress and former star of TV legal drama “Suits,” married Harry, a grandson of Queen Elizabeth II, at Windsor Castle in May 2018. Their son, Archie, was born the following year. In early 2020, Meghan and Harry announced they were stepping back from royal duties and moving to North America, citing what they said were the unbearable intrusions and racist attitudes of the British media. They recently bought a house in Santa Barbara.

U.S. jobless claims fall slightly to 793,000, still a high number

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-11/us-jobless-claims-fall-slightly-to-793-000-with-layoffs-high

The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell slightly last week to 793,000, evidence that job cuts remain high despite a substantial decline in new viral infections. Last week’s total declined from 812,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said Thursday. That figure was revised higher from the previously reported figure of 779,000. Before the virus erupted in the United States in March, weekly applications for jobless aid had never topped 700,000, even during the Great Recession. The job market’s improvement slowed through the fall and in the last two months has essentially stalled. Over the last two months combined, employers cut 178,000 jobs. Nearly 10 million jobs remain lost to the pandemic. Although the unemployment rate fell in January to 6.3% from 6.7%, that was mainly because many people who had lost jobs stopped looking for work. The government doesn’t count people as unemployed unless they’re actively seeking work. All told, 20.4 million people were receiving unemployment benefits in the week that ended Jan. 23, the latest period for which data are available. That’s up from 17.8 million the week before. Business With strict limits on indoor commerce, some businesses bent or broke public health rules to serve their customers. Owners say they had little choice. The job market’s persistent weakness is fueling President Biden’s push for a $1.9-trillion economic rescue package. Biden’s proposal would extend, through August, two federal unemployment benefit programs that are set to expire in mid-March. His proposal would also raise the federal unemployment benefit to $400 a week from the current $300. Some economists, including former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, have raised concerns that such a huge spending package would risk igniting inflation by fueling a burst of consumer spending later this year as the virus is gradually brought under control. Yet on Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome H. Powell highlighted the struggling job market and said he thought that any worrisome surge in inflation would be unlikely. If it did arise, Powell said, the Fed has the financial tools it needs to quell inflation. For now, inflation remains below the Fed’s target rate. “We are still very far from a strong labor market whose benefits are broadly shared,” Powell said. A driving force behind the Biden administration’s push for more aid is the impending expiration of the extended jobless benefits in barely over a month. More than 11 million people would lose benefits as a result, according to a report by the Century Foundation. Unlike the previous expiration of extended unemployment aid, which occurred Dec. 26, the cut-off would be phased in between March 14 and April 11. Politics The pandemic has triggered potentially far-reaching changes in consumer behavior and business models, disrupting the jobs of millions of workers. The job market probably won’t be close to fully recovered by then. Many economists expect a burst of growth and hiring later this year after vaccines are more widely administered, especially if Congress provides significantly more aid to households, small businesses, states and cities. But that isn’t likely for many months. For now, the job market is sputtering. About 4 million people who are out of work have stopped searching for jobs and so aren’t counted as unemployed. Powell said that if these people were counted among the officially jobless, the unemployment rate would be nearly 10%. In his remarks to the Economic Club of New York, the Fed chairman also highlighted the uneven nature of the layoffs in this pandemic. Job losses among the highest-earning one-quarter of Americans have been just 4%, while job losses among the poorest one-quarter have been “a staggering 17%,” Powell said. Layoffs have also fallen disproportionately on Black workers. In December, Black people accounted for 18% of those who sought unemployment aid, even though they make up 13.5% of the workforce, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. By contrast, less than 50% of the applicants were white, even though 77% of workers are white.

India, China begin troop withdrawal from contested border

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-11/india-china-begin-troop-withdrawal-from-contested-border

China and India have been pulling back frontline troops along disputed portions of their mountain border where they have been in a standoff for months, officials in both countries said. The troops started the disengagement on Wednesday at the southern and northern banks of Pangong Lake in the Ladakh region, according to the officials. India and China will remove forward deployments in a “phased, coordinated and verified manner,” Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh told Parliament on Thursday. China’s Defense Ministry said in a statement Wednesday that both sides had started a “synchronized and organized” disengagement. The tense standoff high in the Karakoram mountains began in early May, when Indian officials said Chinese soldiers crossed the frontier at three different points in Ladakh, erecting tents and guard posts and ignoring verbal warnings to leave. That triggered shouting matches, stone-throwing and fistfights, much of it replayed on television news and social media. Tensions exploded into hand-to-hand combat with clubs, stones and fists on June 15 that left 20 Indian soldiers dead. China is believed to have also had casualties, but has not given any details. Since then, both countries have stationed tens of thousands of their soldiers backed by artillery, tanks and fighter jets along the fiercely contested Line of Actual Control with troops settling in for the harsh winter. The line separates Chinese-held and Indian-held territories from Ladakh in the west to India’s eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims in its entirety. It is broken in parts where the Himalayan nations of Nepal and Bhutan border China. It divides areas of physical control rather than territorial claims. India claims the Chinese-controlled Aksai Chin plateau as part of the Ladakh region. According to India, the control line is 2,167 miles long, though China says it is considerably shorter. Relations between the two countries have often been strained, partly due to their disputed border. They fought a border war in 1962 that spilled into Ladakh and ended in an uneasy truce. Since then, troops have guarded the undefined border and occasionally brawled. They have agreed not to attack each other with firearms. But in September, China and India each accused the other of sending soldiers into the other’s territory and fired warning shots for the first time in 45 years, raising the specter of full-scale military conflict. India unilaterally declared Ladakh a federal territory and separated it from disputed Kashmir in August 2019, ending Indian-administered Kashmir’s semi-autonomous status. It also vowed to take back the Aksai Chin plateau. China was among the first countries to strongly condemn the move, raising it at international forums including the U.N. Security Council.

New Capitol riot video shows Officer Goodman point Mitt Romney to safety

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-10/new-riot-video-shows-officer-goodman-point-romney-to-safety

During the impeachment trial of former President Trump on Wednesday, Democrats revealed new footage of a U.S. Capitol Police officer hailed for his heroism during the Jan. 6 insurrection, this time directing Sen. Mitt Romney to turn around and head in the opposite direction of rioters storming the building. The response under fire by Eugene Goodman and other officers during the Jan. 6 attack was central to the arguments made by impeachment managers seeking a conviction against the former president. In the footage, Romney, a Utah Republican, is seen walking toward the rioters until an officer turns him around and he runs in the other direction. “I was very fortunate indeed that Officer Goodman was there to get me in the right direction,” Romney told reporters later. Wearing a suit and tie and a mask with a blue line, Goodman stood inside the Senate chamber Wednesday, watching as the footage was shown of his efforts to save lives. “As we all know now, but for the heroism of Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman and other law enforcement officers who took [rioters] in a different direction to the police line, they very likely would have gotten here,” said Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), one of the House impeachment managers. The managers played audio and video, some never before heard or seen publicly, of badly outmanned officers trying to delay or misdirect rioters, some of whom themselves were from other law enforcement agencies. In calls made to dispatchers, officers are heard pleading for help, the desperation in their voices clear. Jan. 12, 2021 “We have been flanked and we’ve lost the line,” one officer is heard saying. Several investigations are underway to determine why agencies left law enforcement undermanned and unequipped despite weeks of warnings of violence from far-right and white supremacist groups. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund resigned the day after the riots, and acting Chief Yogananda Pittman faces a no-confidence vote from her rank and file. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick died after the attack, one of five people to be killed. Goodman became a national hero after video shot by HuffPost reporter Igor Bobic showed his response to rioters climbing the stairs near an entrance to the Senate chamber. With no other officers to be seen, he takes a half-step to his left at the top of the stairs, then walks to the right, away from the chamber. The mob follows him into a room where other officers wait. Goodman has not spoken publicly about his actions that day. He escorted Vice President Kamala Harris to her place at the inauguration ceremony two weeks after the attack. Politics Success for Democrats prosecuting Trump’s impeachment could mean doing the most damage possible to his chances of ever holding office again. Feb. 10, 2021 Other videos shown Wednesday depict officers pushing back in vain against rioters intent on stopping the certification of President Biden’s victory over Trump. Speaking during a break in Wednesday’s proceedings, Romney said seeing the images of police officers fighting off violent insurrectionists brought tears to his eyes. “That was overwhelmingly distressing and emotional,” he said. Asked about the video in which Goodman tells Romney to turn around, the senator said he didn’t know the identity of the officer before. “I look forward to thanking him when I next see him,” he said.

Jay-Z, Foo Fighters and Go-Go's nominated for 2021 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-10/jay-z-foo-fighters-and-the-go-gos-nominated-for-rock-hall

Jay-Z, Foo Fighters, Tina Turner and Iron Maiden lead this year’s nominees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a female-heavy list of 16 acts that includes for the first time the Go-Go’s, Mary J. Blige and Dionne Warwick. Artists are eligible for a nomination 25 years after the release of their first official recording. There are two newly eligible acts in Jay-Z and Foo Fighters, while artists nominated for the first time include Blige, the Go-Go’s, Iron Maiden, Warwick and Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti. Several candidates are looking for a second spot in the hall. Turner would be inducted for a second time, having gone to the hall as part of Ike & Tina Turner in 1991. Nominee Carole King, whose album “Tapestry” just turned 50, is already in the hall as a songwriter, and she would go in again this time as a performer. Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl is already in the hall as a member of Nirvana. Music Rapper Notorious B.I.G., pop superstar Whitney Houston and rock group Doobie Brothers have been tapped for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Jan. 15, 2020 If elected, King and Turner would become the second and third female artists inducted twice, following Stevie Nicks’ 2019 election; she was also in as a member of Fleetwood Mac. “This remarkable ballot reflects the diversity and depth of the artists and music the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame celebrates,” said John Sykes, chairman of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, in a statement Wednesday. “These nominees have left an indelible impact on the sonic landscape of the world and influenced countless artists that have followed them.” Other nominees this year are Kate Bush, Devo, Chaka Khan, LL Cool J, New York Dolls, Rage Against the Machine and Todd Rundgren. LL Cool J is on his sixth nomination, and Khan is on her third solo nomination. The class of 2021 will be announced in May. Entertainment & Arts In a head-scratching turn of events, singer Dionne Warwick has taken full credit for her viral tweets right after crediting her niece for writing them. Dec. 7, 2020

Union approves deal with Chicago schools to return to class

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-10/union-approves-deal-with-chicago-schools-to-return-to-class

The Chicago Teachers Union has approved a deal with the nation’s third-largest school district to get students back to class during the coronavirus pandemic, union officials announced early Wednesday. The vote by the union’s roughly 25,000 members ends the possibility of an immediate teacher lockout or strike. The agreement follows months of negotiations — which had intensified in recent weeks — with plans that included more teacher vaccinations and metrics to allow school closures when COVID-19 infections spike. The union said 13,681 members voted to approve the agreement and 6,585 voted against it. In a statement, the union described the agreement as the “absolute limit to which CPS was willing to go at the bargaining table to guarantee a minimum number of guardrails for any semblance of safety in schools.” Union President Jesse Sharkey also criticized the agreement in an email to members that was released by the union. “This plan is not what any of us deserve. Not us. Not our students. Not their families,” the email said. “The fact that CPS could not delay reopening a few short weeks to ramp up vaccinations and preparations in schools is a disgrace.” But in a statement, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and CPS CEO Janice Jackson defended the agreement, saying it “ensures families have options to choose in-person learning and make a plan that is best for them.” Further, after weeks of pointing to $100 million that has been spent to make schools safe, Lightfoot and Jackson said that the vote itself by the union “reaffirms the strength and fairness of our plan, which provides families and employees certainty about returning to schools and guarantees the best possible health and safety protocols.” The first wave of students and staff, in pre-K and special education, is due back Thursday, with parents still having the option of remote learning. Those students briefly returned last month, but then stopped amid the escalating fight with the union, which voted to continue remote teaching and reject the district’s plans. Other students in K-8 will return in the coming weeks for limited classroom instruction, with teachers returning before students. Students in K-5 would return March 1, with staff returning Feb. 22. Students in grades 6-8 would return March 8, with teachers returning March 1. No plans have been set for high school students, who’ll continue with online learning. Talks over resuming classroom instruction since going fully remote last March have been heated amid debates worldwide over reopening schools. Lightfoot had warned teachers that they would be locked out of district systems if they didn’t report for duty. The union countered by threatening to strike. Chicago Public Schools officials have insisted it is safe to have classes in person with protocols in place, like wearing face coverings and a safety plan that includes thousands of classroom air filters. District officials and Lightfoot has said remote instruction is leaving many behind, particularly Black and Latino students who make up the majority of the roughly 340,000-student district. The union contends the district’s plans fall short in protecting teachers and that not enough students have been interested in returning to fully staff more than 600 schools. The union previously voted to defy orders to return to classes and continued teaching remotely. Early parent surveys showed about 77,000 students were interested in returning to classes. When in-person school briefly resumed last month for special education and pre-K students, student attendance was roughly 19% of those eligible.

South Africa scraps AstraZeneca vaccine, will give Johnson & Johnson shots

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-10/south-africa-scraps-astrazeneca-vaccine-will-give-j-j-jabs

South Africa will give the unapproved Johnson & Johnson vaccine to its front-line health workers beginning next week as a study to see what protection it provides from COVID-19, particularly against the variant dominant there, the health minister said Wednesday. Zweli Mkhize said South Africa has scrapped plans to use the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine because it “does not prevent mild to moderate disease” of the variant. The one-shot J&J vaccine is still being tested internationally and has not been approved in any country. But Mkhize, in a nationally broadcast address, declared that the vaccine is safe, relying on tests of 44,000 people done in South Africa, the United States and Latin America. The J&J vaccine will be used to launch the first phase of South Africa’s campaign in which the country’s 1.25 million health workers will be inoculated, he said, adding that the workers will be closely monitored. “The Johnson & Johnson vaccine has been proven effective against the 501Y.V2 variant and the necessary approval processes for use in South Africa are underway,” he said. The J&J vaccine has been in clinical tests in South Africa and is in production here, under contract from J&J. Those shots will be followed by a campaign to vaccinate an estimated 40 million people in South Africa by the end of the year. The country will also be using the Pfizer vaccine and others, possibly including the Russian Sputnik V, Chinese Sinopharm and Moderna vaccines, Mkhize said. World & Nation A coronavirus variant first identified in South Africa has reached the U.S., with two cases diagnosed in South Carolina Jan. 28, 2021 South Africa had purchased 1.5 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, produced by the Serum Institute of India, and the first million doses arrived this month. The first AstraZeneca shots had been meant for front-line health workers. The locally dominant variant is more contagious and drove a resurgence of COVID-19 that caused nearly twice the cases, hospitalizations and deaths experienced in the initial surge of the disease in South Africa. South Africa and many other African and poor countries had looked to the AstraZeneca vaccine as it is cheaper and does not require storage in ultra-cold freezers. It is also being produced in large quantities in India for shipment elsewhere. An added complication for South Africa is that its AstraZeneca doses arrived with an April 30 expiration date. South Africa is looking to swap them, Mkhize said. South Africa by far has the largest number of COVID-19 cases on the African continent with nearly 1.5 million confirmed, including almost 47,000 deaths. That represents 41% of the total for all 54 nations in Africa. After a resurgence that spiked in early January, cases and deaths are now declining, but medical experts are already warning that South Africa should prepare for another surge in May or June, the start of the Southern Hemisphere’s winter. Science & Medicine Johnson & Johnson says its vaccine appears to protect against COVID-19 with just one shot Jan. 29, 2021

Trump fumes, GOP senators baffled by legal team's debut

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-10/trump-fumes-gop-senators-baffled-by-legal-teams-debut

Former President Trump fumed that his attorneys’ performance on the opening day of his second impeachment trial was a disaster, as allies and Republican senators questioned the strategy and some called for yet another shakeup to his legal team. Trump, who was watching the proceedings in Washington from his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla., was furious at what he saw, according to a person familiar with his thinking. Senators, too, criticized what they described as an unfocused and rambling performance as Trump’s team and Democratic House managers began to lay out their cases in front of the Senate jury. While it remains unlikely that more than a handful of Republicans will join Democrats in voting to convict the former president at the end of the trial, the proceedings were a chance for Trump to try to repair some of the damage to his legacy incurred over the storming of the Capitol by a mob of his supporters. Trump has been charged with inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection, and last month he became the first president in history to be impeached by the House twice. But Trump’s team — which was announced little more than a week ago — appeared unprepared as they attempted a good cop, bad cop routine that veered from flattery to legalese, and stood in dramatic contrast to Democrats’ focused emotional appeals. Trump — ever the showman — was impressed with the Democrats, who opened Tuesday’s session with powerful video that compiled scenes of the deadly attack on Congress. And he complained that his team — especially lead lawyer Bruce Castor — came off badly on television and looked weak in comparison, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. The anger was echoed by Trump allies, who blasted the lawyers both publicly and privately and with repeated profanities. “There is no argument. I have no idea what he’s doing. I have no idea why he’s saying what he’s saying,” said Alan Dershowitz, an attorney who represented Trump in his first impeachment trial, as he weighed in on Castor during an appearance on Newsmax as the session was underway. Peter Navarro, a former Trump trade advisor, had already been urging the former president to ditch his legal team and hire Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz before the trial began, warning: “You gotta get rid of those guys. These people don’t understand. This is a political trial.” Republican members of the Senate appeared equally baffled, especially at Castor, who spent much of his time buttering up senators with compliments, praising the case made by Democrats and going on tangents. GOP Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said Castor “just rambled on and on and on and didn’t really address the constitutional argument. He said Trump attorney David Schoen, who spoke second, “got around to it” and “did an effective job. But I’ve seen a lot of lawyers and a lot of arguments and that was not one of the finest I’ve seen.” Before the criticism mounted, another Trump advisor described Castor’s presentation as part of a “very clear, deliberative strategy.” The advisor said that after the Democrats’ emotionally charged opening, Castor had set about “lowering the temperature” before “dropping the hammer on the unconstitutional nature of this impeachment witch hunt.” The hammer did not appear to hit its nail. Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who voted with Democrats on Tuesday to move forward with the trial, said Trump’s team did a “terrible job” and was “disorganized,” “random” and “did everything they could but to talk about the question at hand.” GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who also voted with Democrats, said she was “perplexed” by Castor, “who did not seem to make any arguments at all, which was an unusual approach to take.” Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, one of Trump’s staunchest allies, said he didn’t think the lawyers had done “the most effective job,” while South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, another close ally of Trump’s, said he didn’t know where Castor was going with his arguments. Trump’s team did not respond to requests for comment on the day’s events or questions about whether they are planning any shakeups to the legal team. Asked for a response to the GOP criticism as he was leaving the trial, Castor — who had said during the trial that the team had “changed what we were going to do” at the last minute because the House managers had done a good job — would say only that “we had a good day.” Schoen told reporters that he hadn’t spoken yet to the president, but would “have to do better next time.” “I mean, I always hope to improve. I hope I can do that,” he said. Trump parted ways with his original impeachment team just over a week before the Senate trial was set to begin, in part because Trump wanted them to use a defense that relied on unfounded allegations of election fraud, and the lawyers were not willing to do so.

Lying on arrival could mean 10 years in prison in England

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-09/lying-on-arrival-could-mean-10-years-in-prison-in-england

Anyone arriving in England and found to have lied about a recent visit to a country on the British government’s travel ban list faces up to 10 years in prison under new tough coronavirus border policies announced Tuesday. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that starting Monday, residents of the United Kingdom and Ireland arriving in England from the places on the government’s “red list” will have to purchase a “quarantine package” that costs 1,750 pounds ($2,400) per person and covers accommodation, virus testing and other items. Individuals not abiding by the rules, including those arriving from a red list country without a hotel booked, also could be subject to a series of fines, he said. “I make no apologies for the strength of these measures because we’re dealing with one of the strongest threats to our public health that we’ve faced as a nation,” Hancock told lawmakers. “People who flout these rules are putting us all at risk.” At present, there are 33 countries, including South Africa and Portugal, as well as all of South America, from which travel to England is effectively banned, largely because of concerns over new variants of the coronavirus. However, British and Irish citizens, as well as all other U.K. residents, are permitted to enter provided they self-isolate for 10 days after their arrival. From Monday, they won’t be able to quarantine themselves at home, unlike those arriving from countries not on the “red list.” Instead, they will have to buy — through a dedicated online portal — a package that includes accommodation, food, beverages and PCR testing for “variant surveillance” on days 2 and 8 of their quarantine period. The “enhanced testing” regime, which is in addition to already-mandated predeparture tests, will be a requirement for everyone arriving in England, and anyone failing to do so will be fined. Hancock, who has responsibility for health matters in England, said the booking system will go live on Thursday and that the government has contracted with 16 hotels, for an initial 4,600 rooms. The hotels involved have not been identified “for commercial reasons.” Those failing to quarantine in a designated hotel face fines of up to 10,000 pounds ($13,800.) The harshest potential penalty of up to 10 years in prison could be assigned to those people who lie about visiting any of the 33 countries on the “red list.” “Anyone who lies on a passenger locator form and tries to conceal that they’ve been in a country on our red list in the 10 days before arrival here will face a prison sentence of up to 10 years,” Hancock said. Scotland is tightening its rules on international travel further than England, confirming it will require people arriving on all direct international flights to enter quarantine hotels. Scottish Transport Secretary Michael Matheson said England’s approach is “not sufficient.” Lobbying groups for the travel industry, one of the hardest-hit during the pandemic, said the new measures deepen a worsening 2021 outlook. “Airports and airlines are battling to survive with almost zero revenue and a huge cost base, and practically every week a further blow lands,” Karen Dee, chief executive of the Airport Operators Assn., and Tim Alderslade, chief executive of Airlines U.K., said in a statement. “Aviation-specific financial support is urgently needed to ensure our sector can get through the year.” How long the measures stay in place will depend on the path of the pandemic and whether new virus variants negate the rapid vaccine rollout in Britain. Already, some 12.65 million people have received their first dose, equivalent to around 20% of the adult population. The British government is set to announce on Monday the next stage of its vaccination rollout beyond the four groups deemed to be at most risk. The government is hoping that its rapid rollout of vaccines, in addition to its border measures and an ongoing national lockdown, will see the number of COVID-19-related deaths fall dramatically. On Tuesday, another 1,052 people were reported to have died across Britain after testing positive for the coronavirus, taking the total to 113,850, Europe’s highest pandemic death toll.

United Arab Emirates spacecraft enters orbit around Mars in historic mission

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-09/arab-spacecraft-enters-orbit-around-mars-in-historic-flight

A spacecraft from the United Arab Emirates swung into orbit around Mars on Tuesday in a triumph for the Arab world’s first interplanetary mission. Ground controllers at the UAE’s space center in Dubai rose to their feet and broke into applause when word came that the craft named Amal, the Arabic word for hope, had reached the end of its seven-month, 300-million-mile journey and had begun circling the red planet, where it will gather data on Mars’ atmosphere. The orbiter fired its main engines for 27 minutes in an intricate, high-stakes maneuver that slowed the craft enough for it to be captured by Mars’ gravity. It took a nail-biting 11 minutes for the signal confirming success to reach Earth. Tensions were high: Over the years, Mars has been the graveyard for a multitude of missions from various countries. A visibly relieved Omran Sharaf, the mission’s director, declared, “To the people of the UAE and Arab and Islamic nations, we announce the success of the UAE reaching Mars.” Two more unmanned spacecraft from the U.S. and China are following close behind, set to arrive at Mars over the next several days. All three missions were launched in July to take advantage of the close alignment of Earth and Mars. Amal’s arrival puts the UAE in a league of just five space agencies in history that have pulled off a functioning Mars mission. As the country’s first venture beyond Earth’s orbit, the flight is a point of intense pride for the oil-rich nation as it seeks a future in space. An ebullient Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan, the UAE’s day-to-day ruler, was on hand at mission control and said: “Congratulations to the leadership and people of the UAE. ... Your joy is indescribable.” About 60% of all Mars missions from Earth have ended in failure, crashing, burning up or otherwise falling short in a testament to the complexity of interplanetary travel and the difficulty of making a descent through Mars’ thin atmosphere. A combination orbiter and lander from China is scheduled to reach the planet on Wednesday. It will circle Mars until the rover separates and attempts to land in May to look for signs of ancient life. A rover from the U.S. named Perseverance is set to join the crowd next week, aiming for a landing Feb. 18. It will be the first leg in a decadelong U.S.-European project to bring Mars rocks back to Earth to be examined for evidence that the planet once harbored microscopic life. If it pulls this off, China will become only the second country to land successfully on Mars. The U.S. has done it eight times, the first almost 45 years ago. A NASA rover and lander are still working on the surface. For months, Amal’s journey had been tracked by the UAE’s state-run media with rapturous enthusiasm. Landmarks across the UAE, including Burj Khalifa, the tallest tower on Earth, glowed red to mark the spacecraft’s anticipated arrival. Billboards depicting Amal tower over Dubai’s highways. This year is the 50th anniversary of the country’s founding, casting even more attention on Amal. If all goes as planned, Amal over the next two months will settle into an exceptionally high, elliptical orbit of 13,670 miles by 27,340 miles, from which it will survey the planet’s mostly carbon dioxide atmosphere at all times of day and in all seasons. It joins six spacecraft already operating around Mars: three U.S., two European and one Indian.

California panel calls for overhaul of sentencing laws

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-02-09/california-sentencing-law-overhaul

California should allow all but death row inmates and those serving life without parole to request lighter sentences after serving at least 15 years as part of a dramatic overhaul of the state’s sentencing laws recommended Tuesday by an advisory committee to Gov. Gavin Newsom. The state also should limit sentencing enhancements that can add years to underlying prison terms but are imposed with “extreme racial disparities,” the committee said. As one example, it said 99% of those given a gang enhancement in Los Angeles County are people of color. “If all 10 recommendations were adopted, they would impact almost every area of California’s criminal legal system, from driving infractions to life in prison, and probably everybody behind bars would be affected in some way,” committee chairman Michael Romano told the Associated Press. “We can improve public safety and reduce incarceration at the same time,” said Romano, who directs the Stanford Three Strikes Project. It previously helped persuade California voters to ease the state’s three strikes law that was considered the nation’s toughest law aimed at repeat offenders. The committee made up of current and former lawmakers, judges and academics aimed at having a broad impact with its unanimous proposals, including addressing racial and economic disparities in traffic tickets, where unpaid fines can turn into a mountain of debt and eventually a jail sentence. Committee members recommended that driving without a license and driving with a suspended license based on a previous failure to pay a fine or appear in court be reduced from misdemeanors to infractions, with reduced fines and fees. Some of California’s largest counties and state lawmakers already have moved in that direction, with former Gov. Jerry Brown in 2017 ending the suspension of licenses for people who did not pay court fees. The committee heard from major law enforcement groups during eight public hearings. San Mateo County District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe, who addressed the committee on behalf of the state prosecutors’ association, said some recommendations like the traffic offense reductions would be “a positive step forward.” Others, like limiting judges’ discretion on gang enhancements “could be steps in the wrong direction.” Glen Stailey, president of the California Correctional Peace Officers Assn., said in a statement the group is concerned “about potential negative impacts on public safety” from some recommendations while California Police Chiefs Assn. president Eric Nuñez said his organization looks forward to reviewing the report. The recommendations come in the first report from the California Committee on the Revision of the Penal Code that Newsom swore in little more than a year ago. Previous reform reports generally gathered dust, including a similar review from 1963-1969 and more recently Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 2006 commission to review sentencing guidelines. But Democrats now hold supermajorities in both Legislative chambers and with the blessing of fellow Democrat Newsom have already passed piecemeal sentencing changes. The committee deliberately stuck with proposals that Democrats can pass with a simple majority and don’t require voters’ approval. “We really did try to find areas where there were obvious problems, where almost everybody agreed there was a problem, craft solutions where there was broad consensus also keeping in mind solutions that had a realistic chance of being enacted,” Romano said. They include allowing anyone who has served more than 15 years to request that their sentence be reconsidered if they can show that “continued incarceration is no longer in the interest of justice.” Nearly 30,000 of California’s 114,000 inmates had served more than 15 years in state prison as of last June, according to the report. The committee stopped short of saying the proposal should apply to those on death row or those serving life-without-parole, which would require supermajorities and approval by voters. Resentencing would be automatic if law enforcement officials recommend it on the grounds that the original sentence was unjust or because they say the person demonstrated “exceptional rehabilitative achievement.” All sentences that would bring less than one year behind bars should be served in county jails rather than state prisons, because research shows offenders tend to do better if they stay closer to home and benefit from more rehabilitation programs, the committee said. About 14,000 people annually serve less than a year in a state penitentiary and sending them to local jails would be a burden, said Cory Salzillo, spokesman for the California State Sheriffs’ Assn. “Many jails don’t have the capacity to take on more offenders,” Salzillo said. No one should serve more than five years in county jail, the panel said, a change from current law. Lower level thefts should be misdemeanors unless they involved serious injury or use of a weapon, it said. Committee members reported their review of the criminal code found laws that were “badly outdated” or “incoherent.” The state’s robbery law hasn’t been updated since 1872, for instance, while several conflicting provisions govern which inmates should be considered for parole. The proposal doesn’t seek to do away with the state’s more than 150 different sentence enhancements. But it says judges should consider dismissing them if the offense is nonviolent; related to mental health issues, childhood trauma or prior victimization; or is triggered by an old conviction, particularly if the offender was a juvenile at the time, among other considerations. Gang enhancements should be limited to organized, violent criminal enterprises, among other restrictions, the committee recommended. “It is difficult to imagine a statute, especially one that imposes criminal punishments, with a more disparate racial impact,” the committee said.

What's ahead as Trump impeachment trial begins

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-09/explainer-whats-ahead-as-trump-impeachment-trial-begins

Former President Trump’s historic second impeachment trial will force the Senate to decide whether to convict him of incitement of insurrection after a violent mob of his supporters lay siege to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Although Trump’s acquittal is expected, Democrats hope to gain at least some Senate Republican votes by linking Trump’s actions to a vivid description of the violence, which resulted in five deaths and sent lawmakers fleeing for safety. The House impeached Trump on Jan. 13, one week later. Trump’s lawyers say the trial should not be held at all because the former president is now a private citizen. They argue that he did not incite the violence when he told his supporters to “fight like hell” to overturn his defeat. A look at the basics of the impeachment trial: How does the trial work? As laid out by the Constitution, the House votes to impeach and the Senate then holds a trial on the charge or charges. Two-thirds of senators present can convict. The House appointed nine impeachment managers, who will present the case against Trump on the Senate floor. Trump’s defense team will have equal time to argue against conviction. The chief justice of the United States normally presides over the trial of a president, but because Trump has left office, the presiding officer will be Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who is the ceremonial head of the Senate as the longest-serving member of the majority party. Once the senators reach a final vote on the impeachment charge — this time there is just one, incitement of insurrection — each lawmaker will stand up and cast their vote: guilty or not guilty. How long will the trial last? Likely more than a week. The agreement between Senate leaders provides for up to 16 hours for both prosecutors and the defense to make their arguments, starting Wednesday, with no more than eight hours of arguments per day. Later, there will be time for senators to ask questions, and there could be additional procedural votes. Under the agreement, the trial will open Tuesday with four hours of debate on whether the trial is constitutional. The Senate will then vote on whether to dismiss the charge against Trump. If that vote fails, as expected, the House managers will begin their arguments Wednesday and continue into Thursday. Trump’s lawyers are likely to begin their arguments Friday and finish Saturday. That almost certainly means a final vote on Trump’s conviction won’t happen until next week. Trump’s first impeachment trial, in which he was acquitted on charges that he abused power by pressuring Ukraine to investigate now-President Joe Biden, lasted almost three weeks. But this one is expected to be shorter, as the case is less complicated and the senators know many of the details already, having been in the Capitol during the insurrection. And although the Democrats want to ensure they have enough time to make their case, they do not want to tie up the Senate for long. The Senate cannot confirm Biden’s Cabinet nominees and move forward with their legislative priorities, such as COVID-19 relief, until the trial is complete. Will there be witnesses? It appears unlikely, for now, though that could change as the trial proceeds. Trump himself has declined a request from the impeachment managers to testify. Although Democrats argued vociferously for witnesses in the last impeachment trial, they were not allowed to call them after the GOP-controlled Senate voted against doing so. This time, Democrats feel they don’t need witnesses because they can rely on the graphic images of the insurrection that played out on live television. They also argue that the senators were witnesses themselves. If the managers do decide they want to call witnesses, the bipartisan agreement for the trial allows them to ask for a vote. The Senate would have to approve subpoenaing any witnesses for the trial. Why try Trump when he is out of office? Republicans and Trump’s lawyers argue that the trial is unnecessary, and even unconstitutional, because Trump is no longer president and cannot be removed from office. Democrats disagree, pointing to opinions of many legal scholars and the impeachment of a former secretary of war, William Belknap, who resigned in 1876 just hours before he was impeached over a kickback scheme. Although Belknap was eventually acquitted, the Senate held a full trial. And this time, the House impeached Trump while he was still president, seven days before Biden’s inauguration. If Trump were convicted, the Senate would take a second vote to bar him from holding office again, Schumer said Monday. Democrats feel that would be an appropriate punishment. In response to GOP efforts to dismiss the trial, Democrats argue that there should not be a “January exception” for presidents who commit impeachable offenses just before they leave office. They say the trial is necessary not only to hold Trump properly accountable but also so they can deal with what happened and move forward. “You cannot go forward until you have justice,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi last week. “If we were not to follow up with this, we might as well remove any penalty from the Constitution of impeachment.” How is this trial different from Trump’s first trial? Trump’s first trial was based on evidence uncovered over several months by the House about a private phone call between Trump and the president of Ukraine, as well as closed-door meetings that happened before and afterward. Democrats held a lengthy investigation and then compiled a report of their findings. In contrast, the second trial will be based almost entirely on the visceral experience of a riot that targeted the senators themselves, in the Capitol building. The insurrectionists even breached the Senate chamber, where the trial will be held. The fresh memories of Jan. 6 could make it easier for the House impeachment managers to make their case, but it doesn’t mean the outcome will be any different. Trump was acquitted in his first trial a year ago Friday with only one Republican, Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, voting to convict, and there may not be many more guilty votes this time around. In a test vote Jan. 26, only five Senate Republicans voted against an effort to dismiss the trial — an early indication that Trump is likely to be acquitted again. What will Trump’s lawyers argue? In a brief filed Monday, they argued that the trial was unconstitutional, that Trump did nothing wrong and that he did not incite the insurrection during his Jan. 6 speech to supporters. While the House impeachment managers say Trump is “singularly” responsible for the attack on the Capitol, Trump’s lawyers say the rioters acted on their own accord. They suggest that Trump was simply exercising his 1st Amendment rights when he falsely disputed the election results and told his supporters to fight — a term they note is often used in political speeches. The brief goes after the impeachment managers personally, charging that the Democrats have “Trump derangement syndrome,” are “selfish” and are only trying to impeach Trump for political gain. There was no widespread fraud in the election, as Trump claimed falsely over several months and again to his supporters just before the insurrection. Election officials across the country, and even former Atty. Gen. William Barr, contradicted his claims, and dozens of legal challenges to the election put forth by Trump and his allies were dismissed. What would acquittal mean for Trump? A second impeachment acquittal by the Senate would be a victory for Trump — and would prove he retains considerable sway over his party, despite his efforts to subvert democracy and widespread condemnation from his GOP colleagues after Jan. 6. Still, acquittal may not be the end of attempts to hold him accountable. Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) floated a censure resolution after last month’s vote made clear that Trump was unlikely to be convicted. Although they haven’t said yet if they will push for a censure vote after the impeachment trial, Kaine said last week that “the idea is out there on the table and it may become a useful idea down the road.

CBO says $15 wage would reduce poverty and increase debt

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-08/budget-office-15-wage-would-reduce-poverty-increase-debt

Increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour would reduce the number of Americans living in poverty and boost wages for millions of Americans while adding to the federal debt and joblessness, a new report from the Congressional Budget Office projects. The federal deficit would increase by about $54 billion over 10 years under a Democratic proposal to gradually increase the federal minimum wage to $15, largely because the higher wages paid to workers, such as those caring for the elderly, would contribute to an increase in federal spending, the estimate found. Democrats are pushing to include the higher minimum wage as part of their $1.9-trillion COVID-19 relief plan. House committees this week will begin crafting the legislation along the lines that President Biden has requested, but it’s unclear whether the minimum wage proposal will make it into the final product. The bill is expected to include another round of direct payments to Americans, an expansion of the child tax credit and aid to states and local governments. The decision on the minimum wage is a key early test for Biden as he seeks to build public support for his proposal and navigate differences within his own party about how far the COVID-19 legislation should go. Voices on the left including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the author of the wage legislation, want Democrats to fight now for the pay increase, but some moderates are wary, fearing the effect on small businesses during the pandemic. The report from the Congressional Budget Office cites several positive and negative effects from raising the minimum wage. On the positive, the number of people living in poverty would fall by about 900,000 once the $15 wage was fully in place in 2025. On the negative, the number of people working would decline by about 1.4 million. Rep. Bobby Scott, the Democratic chair of the House Education and Labor Committee, said the report strengthened the case for including the $15 minimum wage in the COVID-19 relief bill. He emphasized that the report projected that 17 million workers making below the minimum wage would see a pay increase once the requirement was in place. An additional 10 million workers making slightly more than the proposed minimum could also see a boost in pay. Business A Congressional Budget Office report says a higher minimum wage will cost jobs, but also that millions will benefit. Feb. 8, 2021 “At a time when many of our essential workers are still not being paid enough to provide for themselves and their families,” Scott said, “we must do everything in our power to give these workers a long-overdue raise.” But lawmakers worried about the ability of small businesses to pay the higher minimum wage will undoubtedly point to the job losses that the CBO said would occur. Business groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said they could support efforts to increase the minimum wage but cited $15 as too high. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden remained “firmly committed” to a $15 minimum wage. But Psaki also noted that the Senate parliamentarian had the final say on whether the minimum wage hike survived in the final package. The fast-track process that Democrats are using does not allow changes to spending or taxes that are “merely incidental” to a larger policy purpose. The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour and has not changed since 2009. Most states also have minimum wage laws. Employees generally are entitled to the higher of the two minimum wages. Currently, 29 states and Washington, D.C., have minimum wages above the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Also Monday, Democratic lawmakers unveiled legislation to permanently expand the child tax credit, with backers saying that Democratic leadership has agreed to include their legislation for one year as part of the COVID-19 relief measure. Under the legislation, the value of the tax credit would become fully refundable and would be expanded from $2,000 to $3,000 for children ages 6 though 17, and from $2,000 to $3,600 for children younger than 6. World & Nation Treasury’s Janet Yellen says the U.S. is in a ‘deep hole’ but Biden’s $1.9-trillion plan could generate enough growth to restore full employment by next year. Feb. 7, 2021 “If we don’t act now, we’ll miss a historic opportunity to give millions of children a brighter future,” said Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.). Democratic lawmakers are also pushing for payments to be made on a monthly basis rather than in an annual lump sum. “If we can land men on the moon, then we can get a monthly check out to folks,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the chair of the House Appropriations Committee. Perhaps the biggest question in the COVID-19 relief bill is who will get another round of stimulus payments. In December, lawmakers approved $600 checks for individuals making up to $75,000 a year and $1,200 for couples making up to $150,000, with payments phased out for higher incomes. Many lawmakers have called for the next round of government checks to be more specifically targeted to those whose incomes have been harmed by the pandemic. Psaki said that Biden believed families making $275,000 or $300,000 might not need direct checks, but the terms of the relief payments were still being debated. “There is a discussion right now about what that threshold will look like. A conclusion has not been finalized,” Psaki said. “His view is that a nurse, a teacher, a firefighter who’s making $60,000 shouldn’t be left without any support or relief either.”

House Democrats propose $1,400 payments in first draft of COVID-19 relief bill

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-08/dems-propose-1-400-payments-as-part-of-biden-virus-relief

House Democrats on Monday released the first draft text for key pieces of legislation that will comprise President Biden’s COVID-19 relief bill. The legislative language from the Ways and Means, Financial Services and Education and Labor Committees show Democrats are forging ahead with plans to bump the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025 and make another round of stimulus payments. Billions of dollars are planned for airline staff, airports and trains. In all, 12 committees are meeting in the coming days to assemble the stimulus bill for a House floor vote during the week of Feb. 22. Once the bill goes to the Senate, it is designed to be passed with just 50 members plus the tie-breaking vote of Vice President Kamala Harris using a special budget fast-track procedure. The House Ways and Means Committee’s draft measures would send $1,400 payments to individuals earning up to $75,000 or couples making $150,000. Those payments phase out so singles earning more than $100,000 or married taxpayers making $200,000 and up get nothing. Eligibility would be based on 2019 or 2020 income. The bill would also send $1,400 payments to adult and child dependents in households that qualify. The Ways and Means plan also includes: Business A Congressional Budget Office report says a higher minimum wage will cost jobs, but also that millions will benefit. Feb. 8, 2021 Biden campaigned on an expanded child tax credit, which has been a longtime goal of Democrats, who are already beginning a push to make the more generous provision a permanent fixture of the tax code. Republicans such as Sens. Mitt Romney of Utah and Marco Rubio of Florida have also expressed support for a larger child credit. The draft bill by Education and Labor Chair Bobby Scott (D-Va.) includes Biden’s minimum-wage proposal, which also phases out the lower wage for tipped workers. The committee, set to meet Tuesday to hold votes on the bill, estimates that 27 million workers would see a pay increase under the provision by 2025, if it passed. The Financial Services Committee is charged, under the terms of the 2021 budget adopted last week by Congress, with drafting legislation totaling $75 billion in deficit increases. Chair Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) will convene the panel on Wednesday to vote on this portion of the bill. Politics Amid arguments over the relief package, the move against child poverty hasn’t gotten much attention — but its long-term impact would be major. Feb. 5, 2021

Next stop Mars: 3 spacecraft arriving in quick succession

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-08/next-stop-mars-3-spacecraft-arriving-in-quick-succession

After hurtling hundreds of millions of miles through space since last summer, three robotic explorers are ready to hit the brakes at Mars. The stakes — and anxiety — are sky high. The United Arab Emirates’ orbiter reaches Mars on Tuesday, followed less than 24 hours later by China’s orbiter-rover combo. NASA’s rover, the cosmic caboose, will arrive on the scene a week later, on Feb. 18, to collect rocks for return to Earth — a key step in determining whether life ever existed on Mars. Both the UAE and China are newcomers to Mars, where more than half of Earth’s emissaries have failed. China’s first Mars mission, a joint effort with Russia in 2011, never made it past Earth’s orbit. “We are quite excited as engineers and scientists, at the same time quite stressed and happy, worried, scared,” said Omran Sharaf, project manager for the Emirates Mars Mission. All three spacecraft rocketed away within days of one another last July, during an Earth-to-Mars launch window that occurs only every two years. That’s why their arrivals are also close together. Entertainment & Arts The Getty Foundation announces the 45 SoCal institutions that will receive research grants for ‘Pacific Standard Time: Art x Science x L.A.’ Jan. 27, 2021 Called Amal, which means “hope” in Arabic, the Gulf nation’s spacecraft is seeking an elliptical orbit that will keep it 13,500 to 27,000 miles above the Martian surface — all the better to monitor the weather. China’s duo — called Tianwen-1, or “Quest for Heavenly Truth” — will remain paired in orbit until May, when the rover separates to descend to the dusty, ruddy surface. If all goes well, it will be only the second country to land successfully on the red planet. The U.S. rover Perseverance, by contrast, will dive in straightaway for a harrowing sky-crane touchdown similar to the Curiosity rover’s grand Martian entrance in 2012. The odds are in NASA’s favor: It’s nailed eight of its nine attempted Mars landings. Despite their differences — the 1-ton Perseverance is larger and more elaborate than the Tianwen-1 rover — both will prowl for signs of ancient microscopic life. Perseverance’s $3-billion mission is the first leg in a U.S.-European effort to bring Mars samples to Earth in the next decade. “To say we’re pumped about it, well, that would be a huge understatement,” said Lori Glaze, NASA’s planetary science director. Perseverance is aiming for an ancient river delta that seems a logical spot for once harboring life. The landing zone in Jezero Crater was so treacherous that NASA nixed it for Curiosity, but so tantalizing that scientists are keen to get hold of its rocks. “When the scientists take a look at a site like Jezero Crater, they see the promise, right?” said Al Chen, who’s in charge of the entry, descent and landing team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. “When I look at Jezero, I see danger. There’s danger everywhere.” Steep cliffs, deep pits and fields of rocks could cripple or doom Perseverance, following its seven-minute atmospheric plunge. With an 11½-minute communication lag each way, the rover will be on its own, unable to rely on flight controllers. Amal and Tianwen-1 will also need to operate autonomously while maneuvering into orbit. Until Perseverance, NASA sought out flat, boring terrain on which to land — “one giant parking lot,” Chen said. That’s what China’s Tianwen-1 rover will be shooting for in Mars’ Utopia Planitia. NASA is upping its game thanks to new navigation technology designed to guide the rover to a safe spot. The spacecraft also has a slew of cameras and microphones to capture the sights and sounds of descent and landing, a Martian first. Faster than previous Mars vehicles but still moving at a glacial pace, the six-wheeled Perseverance will drive across Jezero, collecting core samples of the most enticing rocks and gravel. The rover will set the samples aside for retrieval by a fetch rover launching in 2026. Opinion Hundreds of scientists, writers and academics from 30 countries are demanding that we acknowledge that widespread social collapse is “a credible scenario this century.” Jan. 31, 2021 Under an elaborate plan still being worked out by NASA and the European Space Agency, the geologic treasure would arrive on Earth in the early 2030s. Scientists contend it’s the only way to ascertain whether life flourished on a wet, watery Mars 3 billion to 4 billion years ago. NASA’s science mission chief, Thomas Zurbuchen, considers it “one of the hardest things ever done by humanity and certainly in space science.” The U.S. is still the only country to successfully land on Mars, beginning with the 1976 Vikings. Two spacecraft are still active on the surface: Curiosity and InSight. Smashed Russian and European spacecraft litter the Martian landscape, meanwhile, along with NASA’s failed Mars Polar Lander from 1999. Getting into orbit around Mars is less complicated but still no easy matter, with about a dozen spacecraft falling short. Mars fly-bys were the rage in the 1960s and most failed; NASA’s Mariner 4 was the first to succeed, in 1965. Six spacecraft currently are operating around Mars: three from the U.S., two from Europe and one from India. The UAE hopes to make it seven with its $200-million-plus mission. The UAE is especially proud that Amal was designed and built by its own citizens, who partnered with the University of Colorado at Boulder and other U.S. institutions, not simply purchased from abroad. Its arrival at Mars coincides with this year’s 50th anniversary of the country’s founding. “Starting off the year with this milestone is something very important for the people” of the UAE, said Sharaf. China hasn’t divulged much in advance. Even the spacecraft’s exact arrival time on Wednesday has yet to be announced. The China Academy of Space Technology’s Ye Peijian noted that Tianwen-1 had three objectives: orbiting the planet, landing, and releasing the rover. If successful, he said in a statement “it will become the world’s first Mars expedition accomplishing all three goals with one probe.” The COVID-19 pandemic has complicated each step of each spacecraft’s 300-million-mile journey to Mars. It even kept the European and Russian space agencies’ joint Mars mission grounded until the next launch window in 2022. The flight control rooms will contain fewer people on the big day, with staff spread over a wider area and working from home. Desks have dividers and partitions. Masks and social distancing are mandatory. Perseverance’s deputy project manager, Matt Wallace, who’s working his fifth Mars rover mission, said the pandemic wouldn’t dampen the mood come landing day. “I don’t think COVID’s going to be able to stop us from jumping up and down, and fist-bumping,” he said. “You’re going to see a lot of happy people no matter what, once we get this thing on the surface safely.”

Water cannon fired at protesters as tensions rise in Myanmar

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-07/water-cannon-fired-at-protesters-as-tensions-rise-in-myanmar

Tension in the confrontations between the authorities and demonstrators against last week’s coup in Myanmar boiled over Monday, as police fired a water cannon at peaceful protesters in the capital, Naypyitaw. On Sunday, in the town of Myawaddy on Myanmar’s eastern border with Thailand, police shot into the air in an evident effort to disperse a rowdy crowd. There had been no initial reports of injuries, but the Assistance Assn. for Political Prisoners, an independent watchdog group, said one woman had been shot, without providing further details. There have been no signs that either protesters or the military was backing down in their confrontation over who is the country’s legitimate government: Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party, which won a landslide victory in November’s election, or the junta that formed one week ago and which claims the polls were marred by voting fraud. Nonviolent protests demanding the release of the detained Suu Kyi and restoration of her government have spread all over the country, with awareness of them growing after the authorities on Sunday lifted a brief ban on internet access. State media appear to have ignored the protests, but videos and reports on the demonstrations were being posted by social media users. World & Nation The Myanmar military has taken control of the country under a one-year state of emergency, and detained political leaders such as Aung San Suu Kyi. Feb. 1, 2021 There were reports of new protests Monday in Kachin state in the north, Mon state in the southeast, Tachileik, a border town in eastern Shan State, Naypyitaw and Mandalay, the country’s second largest city, where there were marchers and a procession of motorbikes. The protests in Naypyitaw, ongoing for several days, have been especially unusual, because a great part of the city’s population are civil servants and their families. The city was purpose-built under a previous military government, has a heavy military presence and lacks the tradition of protest of the former capital, Yangon. A morning protest in Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city, swelled rapidly with the crowd exceeding a thousand demonstrators at a major downtown intersection. They chanted slogans, raised a three-finger salute and carried placards saying, “Reject the military coup” and “Justice for Myanmar.” Some smaller groups broke off from the main protest and headed to the Sule Pagoda, a past rallying point for major protests against previous ruling juntas. On Sunday, the golden-domed pagoda served as a rallying point for tens of thousands of demonstrators, as it did protesters against military rule during a massive 1988 uprising and again during a 2007 revolt led by Buddhist monks. The military used deadly force to end both of those uprisings, with estimates of hundreds if not thousands killed in 1988. While riot police have watched the protests this past week, soldiers have been absent and there have been no reports of major clashes. The growing protests are a sharp reminder of the long and bloody struggle for democracy in a country that the military ruled directly for more than five decades before loosening its grip in 2012. Suu Kyi’s government, which also won a landslide election in 2015, was the first led by civilians in decades, though its power was limited by a military-drafted constitution. A call for a general strike was issued late Sunday by several activist groups in Yangon, but it was not clear if it had been widely circulated or adopted by the informally organized civil disobedience movement at the forefront of the protests. Opinion The Myanmar democracy was fragile, but now that it’s broken, the world needs to help get the country back on a democratic course. Jan. 31, 2021 The Assistance Assn. for Political Prisoners in Myanmar, an independent watchdog group, says 165 people, mostly politicians, had been detained since the Feb. 1 coup, with just 13 released. One foreigner has been confirmed held by the authorities, Sean Turnell, an economist at Australia’s Macquarie University who was an advisor to Suu Kyi’s government. He was detained Saturday under unclear circumstances. A statement issued Monday by the office of Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said he was being provided with consular support and described him as ” a highly regarded advisor, member of the academic community.” “We certainly believe he should be immediately released,” it said. The military has accused Suu Kyi’s government of failing to act on its complaints that November’s election was marred by fraud, though the election commission said it had found no evidence to support the claims. The elected lawmakers of Suu Kyi’s party have asked for international recognition as the country’s government after meeting online Friday to declare themselves as the sole legitimate representatives of the people. The military barred them from convening Parliament last week.

Yellen: Biden's plan could restore full employment by 2022

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-07/yellen-bidens-plan-could-restore-full-employment-by-2022

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Sunday the country was still in a “deep hole,” with millions of jobs lost, but that President Biden’s $1.9-trillion relief plan could generate enough growth to restore full employment by next year. Republican senators argued that Biden’s proposal was too expensive, and they cited criticism from Larry Summers, a treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton, that passage of the measure could run the risk of triggering runaway inflation. Summers also contended that Biden’s plan would make less money available for other initiatives such as improving the nation’s infrastructure. Yellen, a former Federal Reserve chair who is the first woman to lead the Treasury Department, said the central bank had the tools to handle any potential inflationary threat. She said the urgent need now was to deal with the problems raised by the pandemic-induced recession: as joblessness, lost small businesses and reopening schools. “We face a huge economic challenge here and tremendous suffering in the country. We have got to address that,” Yellen said. “That’s the biggest risk.” Yellen appeared on the CBS program “Face the Nation” and CNN’s “State of the Union.” Lifestyle I enjoyed so many deep, fulfilling, nourishing relationships and friendships with people from work. Now, so many of them are gone. And it’s doubtful I will ever — ever — see them again. Feb. 6, 2021 The House and Senate last week approved the legislation necessary to pass Biden’s package through a process known as reconciliation, which only requires 51 votes in the Senate. The Senate is split 50-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris the tiebreaking vote. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has said she hopes to approve the specific budget details of the Biden proposal over the next two weeks, aiming to get the measure through Congress before current unemployment benefits run out in mid-March. Republicans cited the warnings raised by Summers that the $1.9-trillion plan was too large and that Biden was violating his campaign promise to work with Republicans once elected. “Larry Summers is a liberal Democrat ... in favor of big government spending, and he has said this is way too much,” said Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) in an appearance on CNN. Biden and his team have argued that a big economic package is needed to avoid the mistakes made in 2009 when the Obama administration was unable to get increased support through Congress, resulting in a long, slow recovery after the 2008 financial crisis. The government reported Friday that the economy only created 49,000 jobs in January after having lost jobs in December. Yellen said the recent jobs reports raised fears that the job market was stalling with 10 million people still unemployed and 4 million who had dropped out of the labor market. “We’re in a deep hole with respect to the job market,” Yellen said, “and a long way to dig out.” Citing a report from the Congressional Budget Office, Yellen said the unemployment rate could remain elevated for years to come and it could take until 2025 to get unemployment back to 4%. The jobless rate stood at a half-century low of 3.9% a year ago before the pandemic hit. She said if Biden’s relief package was approved, the country could get back to full employment by next year. “There’s absolutely no reason why we should suffer through a long, slow recovery,” Yellen said.

Wyoming GOP censures Rep. Liz Cheney over impeachment vote

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-06/wyoming-gop-censures-rep-liz-cheney-over-impeachment-vote

The Wyoming Republican Party voted overwhelmingly Saturday to censure U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney for voting to impeach President Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Only eight of the 74 members of the state GOP’s central committee stood to oppose censure in a vote that didn’t proceed to a formal count. The censure document accused Cheney of voting to impeach even though the U.S. House didn’t offer Trump “formal hearing or due process.” “We need to honor President Trump. All President Trump did was call for a peaceful assembly and protest for a fair and audited election,” said Darin Smith, a Cheyenne attorney who lost to Cheney in the Republican U.S. House primary in 2016. “The Republican Party needs to put her on notice.” World & Nation This racist history in rural Alabama has had lasting implications on how Africans Americans view healthcare in America. Feb. 5, 2021 Added Joey Correnti, GOP chairman in Carbon County, where the censure vote was held: “Does the voice of the people matter and if it does, does it only matter at the ballot box?” Cheney has said repeatedly she voted her conscience in backing impeachment for the riot, which followed a rally where Trump encouraged supporters to get rid of lawmakers who “aren’t any good, the Liz Cheneys of the world.” Far from leading a peaceful demonstration, Trump “summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack,” Cheney said in a statement ahead of the Jan. 13 impeachment vote. In a statement after the state GOP vote, Cheney said she remained honored to represent Wyoming and will always fight for issues that matter most to the state. “Foremost among these is the defense of our Constitution and the freedoms it guarantees. My vote to impeach was compelled by the oath I swore to the Constitution,” Cheney said. Republican officials said they invited Cheney but she didn’t attend. An empty chair labeled “Representative Cheney” sat at the front of the meeting room. The censure vote was the latest blowback for Cheney for joining nine other Republican representatives and all Democrats in the U.S. House in voting to impeach. Just three months after winning a third term with almost 70% of the vote, Cheney already faces at least two Republican primary opponents in 2022. They include Republican state Sen. Anthony Bouchard, a gun-rights activist from Cheyenne, who was at the meeting but not among those who spoke. Smith also has said he is deliberating whether to run for Congress again. On Jan. 28, Republican U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida led a rally against Cheney in front of the Wyoming Capitol. About 1,000 people took part, many of them carrying signs calling for Cheney’s impeachment though several were supportive. Cheney will remain as the third-ranking member of the House GOP leadership, however, after a 145-61 vote by House Republicans on Wednesday to keep her as conference committee chair. Trump faces trial in the U.S. Senate over allegedly inciting insurrection when a mob of supporters stormed into and rampaged through the Capitol after the nearby rally led by Trump and close allies. Censure opponents mainly came from Casper, Wyoming’s second-largest city, and the Jackson Hole area near Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks. “Let’s resist this infusion of left-wing cancel culture to try to censure and get rid of anybody we disagree with,” said Alexander Muromcew with the Teton County GOP. Momentum for censure had been growing for weeks as local Republicans in about a dozen of Wyoming’s 23 counties passed their own resolutions criticizing her impeachment vote.

Egypt releases Al Jazeera journalist detained since 2016

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-06/egypt-releases-al-jazeera-journalist-detained-since-2016

Egyptian authorities on Saturday freed an Al Jazeera journalist after more than four years in detention, his family lawyer said. Mahmoud Hussein walked free from a police station Saturday afternoon, a few days after a court ordered his conditional release pending investigations into charges of publishing false information and belonging to a banned group, lawyer Gamal Eid said. The lawyer said Hussein will have to report to a nearby police station twice a week. The journalist’s daughter, Zahraa Hussein, confirmed the news in a Facebook post, saying her father had arrived home. Al Jazeera also reported his release. World & Nation CAIRO -- Deposed President Mohamed Morsi has had his first conversations with his family since the coup that overthrew him and defiantly declared that he is still Egypt’s legitimate leader, according to a Turkish news report. Sept. 18, 2013 Hussein, an Egyptian working for the Qatar-based satellite network, was detained at the Cairo airport in December 2016, when he arrived on a family vacation from Doha, the network said. Since the 2013 ouster of President Mohamed Morsi, a leader of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, Egyptian authorities and pro-government media have portrayed Al Jazeera as Egypt’s national enemy for its sympathy toward Islamists, especially the Muslim Brotherhood. The network, especially its Arabic service, and its staff have been embroiled in the wider political rift between Cairo and Doha. Egyptian authorities have blocked Al Jazeera’s news website since 2017, along with dozens of other news sites deemed too critical of the government. Hussein’s release came a month after Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain ended their dispute with Qatar, which started in 2017 and included the four countries severing their diplomatic diplomatic and economic ties with energy-rich Qatar. The four countries accused Qatar of cozying up to Iran and financing extremist groups in the region. Doha denied the charges. Al Jazeera was at the center of the dispute. The four nations demanded its closure among other measures, which Qatar rejected. Egypt ranks near the bottom of press freedom indexes. It’s third on the list of the world’s top jailers of journalists, behind China and Turkey, according to a report by the Committee to Protect Journalists released in December. Authorities have in recent years launched a wide-ranging crackdown on dissent, jailing thousands of people, mainly Morsi’s Islamist supporters but also a number of well-known secular activists.

Biden says 'erratic' Trump shouldn't get intelligence briefings

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-06/biden-says-erratic-trump-shouldnt-get-intel-briefings

President Biden said Friday that Donald Trump’s “erratic behavior” should prevent him from receiving classified intelligence briefings, a courtesy that historically has been granted to outgoing presidents. Asked in an interview with CBS News what he feared if Trump continued to receive the briefings, Biden said he did not want to “speculate out loud” but made clear he did not want Trump to continue getting them. “I just think that there is no need for him to have the intelligence briefings,” Biden said. “What value is giving him an intelligence briefing? What impact does he have at all, other than the fact he might slip and say something?” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said earlier this week that the issue of granting Trump intelligence briefings was “something that is under review.” Some Democratic lawmakers, and even some former Trump administration officials, have questioned the wisdom of allowing Trump to continue to be briefed. Politics President Biden and his coronavirus relief plan are broadly popular, thanks to consistent messaging and Republicans consumed with intraparty fights. Susan Gordon, who served as the principal deputy director of national intelligence during the Trump administration from 2017-19, in a Washington Post op-ed last month urged Biden to cut off Trump. “His post-White House ‘security profile,’ as the professionals like to call it, is daunting,” Gordon wrote days after a pro-Trump mob laid siege to the U.S. Capitol as lawmakers sought to certify his defeat in November’s election. “Any former president is by definition a target and presents some risks. But a former president Trump, even before the events of last week, might be unusually vulnerable to bad actors with ill intent.” Whether to give a past president intelligence briefings is solely the current officeholder’s prerogative. Biden voiced his opposition to giving Trump access to briefings as the former president’s second impeachment trial is set to begin next week. Biden, however, said Friday that his hesitance to allow Trump access to the briefing was due to the former president’s “erratic behavior unrelated to the insurrection.” Politics Amid arguments over the relief package, the move against child poverty hasn’t gotten much attention — but its long-term impact would be major. Gordon also raised concerns about Trump’s business entanglements. The real estate tycoon saw his business founder during his four years in Washington and is weighed down by significant debt, reportedly about $400 million. Trump during the campaign called his debt load a “peanut” and said he did not owe any money to Russia. “Trump has significant business entanglements that involve foreign entities,” Gordon wrote. “Many of these current business relationships are in parts of the world that are vulnerable to intelligence services from other nation-states.” Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, also urged Biden to cut off briefings for Trump. “There’s no circumstance in which this president should get another intelligence briefing,” Schiff said shortly before Trump ended his term last month. “I don’t think he can be trusted with it now, and in the future.”

Texas woman charged in Capitol riot can go on Mexico trip, judge says

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-05/judge-texan-charged-in-capitol-riot-can-go-on-mexico-trip

A federal judge on Friday granted permission for a West Texas flower shop owner charged in last month’s riot at the U.S. Capitol to take a work-related four-day trip to Mexico. U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden said in the order granting Jenny Cudd’s request for travel later this month that neither her pretrial services officer nor prosecutors opposed the request. He also noted that she had no criminal history and said there was no evidence she was a flight risk or posed a danger to others. Cudd was initially charged last month with entering a restricted building and disorderly conduct. She was released on a personal recognizance bond. On Wednesday, a federal grand jury indicted her on those two charges and three additional charges: obstruction of an official proceeding, disorderly conduct in the Capitol, and parading, demonstrating or picketing in the building. She was seen in a Facebook video during the U.S. Capitol riot saying, “We did break down” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s door. But Cudd, a former Midland mayoral candidate, later said that she didn’t personally go into Pelosi’s office or see people break the door and that when she said “we,” she meant all of the people who were at the Capitol. She said she didn’t do anything violent or destroy any property. Technology and the Internet Normalizing surveillance tactics that have been used disproportionately on Black and brown communities may have big consequences, activists and academics warn. After the riot at the Capitol, Cudd’s Midland shop, Becky’s Flowers, was flooded with dozens of one-star reviews in which she was called a traitor and domestic terrorist, along with photos of her inside the Capitol. In asking permission for travel, Cudd’s attorneys said the trip to Mexico’s Caribbean coast was for a “work-related bonding retreat” with her colleagues and their spouses. They said the trip was prepaid and planned before the Capitol riot. On Jan. 6, a mob of then-President Trump’s supporters broke into the Capitol to interrupt the electoral vote count. Five people died, including a Capitol police officer.

Kings can't keep pace with Golden Knights in 5-2 loss

https://www.latimes.com/sports/hockey/story/2021-02-05/kings-golden-knights-gamer-for-feb-6-paper

Nic Hague and William Karlsson each had a goal and two assists as the Vegas Golden Knights returned to action after being sidelined due to COVID protocols and beat the Kings 5-2 Friday night. Vegas was playing for the first time since Jan. 26 after being shut down due to the NHL’s virus protocols. The Golden Knights, who took a 5-0 lead in the game, showed no signs of rust for a team that hadn’t played and practiced just twice. Hague opened the scoring 50 seconds in with the game’s first shot. Mark Stone and Jonathan Marchessault followed with goals 62 seconds apart later in the period. “I felt we had great energy this morning,” said Vegas coach Peter DeBoer, who returned from quarantine at Friday’s morning skate. “Reports from coaches were the guys were really dialed in and really working hard. You’re always surprised you’re up 5-0 in this league — that’s a rarity — but I wasn’t surprised with our energy to start.” Hockey The Ducks beat the Kings 3-1 on Tuesday at Staples Center in a game in which Arthur Kaliyev made his debut and found the net. Feb. 3, 2021 Cody Glass also scored for Vegas, while Marc-Andre Fleury improved to 4-0-0 after making 27 saves. Fleury, who has allowed just five goals in his first four starts of the season, ranks second in the league with a 1.25 goals-against average and third with his .944 save percentage. Hague’s three points were a single-game career-high, while Karlsson registered his 100th and 101st assists as a Golden Knight. “Good defense leads to offense, and if we’re able to break pucks out quickly and generate odd-man rushes and then for our D, we always talk about getting up in the play,” Hague said. “That’s how I scored tonight, just tried to go up and be in that second layer and the puck finds me there.” Austin Wagner scored his first goal of the season for the Kings, while Dustin Brown scored his fourth, all on the power play. It was Brown’s 100th career power-play goal, as he passed Butch Goring and took over sole possession of seventh on Los Angeles’ all-time scoring list with 661. Goaltenders Jonathan Quick and Calvin Peterson combined to make 32 saves. Quick allowed Vegas’ first four goals. Vegas’ efficiency was off the charts in the first 20 minutes, as it scored three goals on four high-danger chances, nine shots on goal, and 11 scoring chances. Highlights from the Kings’ 5-2 road loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday night. “Their speed overwhelmed us early, that’s pretty evident,” Los Angeles coach Todd McLellan said. “The transition from offense to defense and their defensemen jumping into the rush. Our D handling anything outside with any type of pace, we did a poor job. It took us quite a while to adapt to it and by then it was too late.” The Golden Knights waited a little longer to attack in the second period, this time striking 95 seconds in. Karlsson took a two-line pass from Marchessault, waltzed into the zone, and beat Quick with a wrist shot that ended the night for Los Angeles’ starter on the first shot of the period. Later in the second, Glass welcomed Peterson to the game when he punched home a rebound during Vegas’ first power-play opportunity of the contest. Wagner and Brown scored their goals in the third period, ruining Fleury’s bid for back-to-back shutouts. Kings defenseman Austin Strand also made his NHL debut, while forward Martin Frk sustained a lower-body injury during the second period and did not return. McLellan said he hadn’t checked in with team trainers, but it “didn’t look good. I’m sure he’s going to be out for a while.” Golden Knights and the Kings close their two-game series at T-Mobile Arena in a matinee clash on Super Bowl Sunday.

Biden administration pledges more support for minority businesses

https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2021-02-09/biden-administration-pledges-more-support-for-minority-businesses

The Biden administration promised Black business executives on Friday that it planned to make sure that the government’s economic support programs were able to reach minority-owned businesses. Vice President Kamala Harris and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the new administration intended to address problems in delivering aid to minority businesses in the government’s Paycheck Protection Program, which provides loans to small businesses that can be forgiven as long as the businesses retain their employees or hire them back. Harris and Yellen spoke at a virtual meeting with officials representing some of the 140 chapters of the Black Chambers of Commerce around the country. The appearance was part of the administration’s ongoing effort to win support for President Biden’s $1.9-trillion coronavirus relief program. Biden and Harris told the executives that there would be an effort to simplify the application forms and to provide support for businesses trying to access the loans being administered by the Small Business Administration and the Treasury Department. Business Policymakers are looking to California to show it’s possible to phase out fossil fuels. But, as rolling blackouts last summer showed, challenges lie ahead. Feb. 11, 2021 Yellen said she had focused much of her economics research over the years on racial disparities in economic outcomes. She said when she began her studies around 1963, the average Black family had roughly 15% of the household wealth of the average white family, and this difference was essentially unchanged more than half a century later. She said the rate of unemployment among Black Americans was twice the unemployment rate among white Americans in the early 1960s and that that rate has remained steady over the last half-century, as well. Yellen said the country was set back by the 2008 financial crisis and the long, slow recovery from that economic downturn, with Black unemployment peaking at almost 17% compared with a high of 9.2% for white unemployment during that period. “That is what economic crises do,” Yellen said. “They hit people of color harder and longer. ... I am worried that the current crisis will do that again” unless action is taken. California White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki tweeted the president’s support for Newsom after she was asked about the topic during a briefing. Feb. 9, 2021 Harris said the administration is determined to improve the federal loan program with a high priority on providing more assistance to small businesses seeking the loans. Yellen said the administration believes it has learned from the failures exposed during the first round of paycheck loans. She said the Biden administration was taking steps to ensure that businesses left out of the first round of loan applications would receive support in the next round. Harris said the $1.9-trillion support package would also be a major provider of jobs. “We need to get through some dark months here and deal with the pandemic and get the economy on track,” Yellen said. She said the country faced some long-standing economic inequalities that the administration was committed to addressing.

COVID-19 vaccines contribute to drop in coronavirus cases at U.S. nursing homes

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-05/coronavirus-cases-drop-at-us-homes-for-elderly-and-infirm

Coronavirus cases have dropped at U.S. nursing homes and other long-term care facilities over the past few weeks, offering a glimmer of hope that health officials attribute to the start of vaccinations, an easing of the post-holiday surge and better prevention, among other reasons. More than 153,000 residents of the country’s nursing homes and assisted living centers have died of COVID-19, accounting for 36% of the U.S. pandemic death toll, according to the COVID Tracking Project. Many of the roughly 2 million people who live at such facilities remain cut off from loved ones because of the risk of infection. The virus still kills thousands of them weekly. The overall trend for long-term care residents is improving, though, with fewer new cases recorded and fewer facilities reporting outbreaks. Coupled with better figures for the country overall, it’s cause for optimism even if it’s too early to declare victory. “We definitely think there’s hope and there’s light at the end of the tunnel,” said Marty Wright, who heads a nursing home trade group in West Virginia. Nursing homes have been a priority since vaccinations began in mid-December, and the federal government says 1.5 million long-term care residents have already received at least an initial dose. Researchers and industry leaders say they are seeing marked improvements after months in which some nursing homes lost dozens of residents to the disease and had to keep others in semi-isolation for protection. Some 2,000 nursing homes are now virus-free, or about 13% nationally, according to an industry group, and many are dealing with far fewer cases than before. In West Virginia, where about 30% of the state’s roughly 2,080 COVID-19 deaths occurred at long-term care centers, fewer outbreaks are happening and fewer residents are requiring hospitalization, said Wright, chief executive of the West Virginia Health Care Assn. Pennsylvania-based Genesis HealthCare, which operates more than 325 nursing homes, assisted-living facilities or senior living communities in 24 states, has seen similar improvements, said spokeswoman Lori Mayer. The American Health Care Assn. and National Center for Assisted Living, an industry trade organization, said Thursday that data from about 800 nursing homes where initial vaccine doses were administered in late December offered promising results. Cases among residents fell by 48% at homes where immunizations had occurred, compared to a 21% decline at non-vaccinated facilities nearby. Meanwhile, cases among employees dropped by 33% at vaccinated homes, compared to 18% at non-vaccinated facilities. Science & Medicine COVID-19 vaccines may not be particularly effective in the elderly residents of long-term care facilities. A look at why they are getting them first. Dec. 4, 2020 After reaching a high of almost 73,600 new weekly cases in long-term care facilities nationwide in mid-December, the number was down 31% by late January, to about 50,000 new cases per week, an Associated Press analysis found. Still, the most recent weekly count is 18% higher than the seven-day period that ended on Thanksgiving, when numbers started climbing. The weekly count of new deaths remains stubbornly high, with a record 7,042 recorded during the seven-day span that ended Jan. 14 and only a slight decline since. By comparison, for the seven days that ended on Thanksgiving, 3,181 deaths were recorded. More encouragingly, the COVID Tracking Project found that only 251 facilities reported new outbreaks recently, compared to 1,410 in early January. Dr. David Gifford, chief medical officer for the national association, said the numbers show signs for hope since they indicate vaccines might decrease the spread of COVID-19, something that wasn’t assessed in clinical trials. “If verified with additional data, this could expedite the reopening of long-term care facilities to visitors, which is vital to residents’ health and wellbeing,” he said in a statement. Science & Medicine Health officials set aside carefully considered plans for rolling out COVID-19 vaccines and made the shots widely available. That may hasten the pandemic’s end. Jan. 16, 2021 Experts caution that only some of the improvement can be linked to vaccines. Studies from Israel show it takes a patient about 12 days for the first of the two-dose Pfizer or Moderna vaccines to provide meaningful protection, said Roni Rosenfeld, a computational epidemiologist who heads the Machine Learning Department at Carnegie Mellon University. Despite all the long-term care facility residents and workers who have received at least one dose of vaccine, those doses haven’t had enough time to work for most people, he said this week. “The vaccine likely contributed, but very, very little,” said Rosenfeld. Health officials say other factors are likely playing a larger role, including an ebb in the post-holiday surge, an ever-larger number of people who are immune because they’ve had the disease, behavioral changes and more abundant protective gear. And they caution that there are still threats lurking, including more contagious strains of the virus and a reluctance by many nursing home workers to get vaccinated. At Arbor Springs Health and Rehabilitation Center in Opelika, Ala., where 19 patients died of COVID-19 early in the pandemic, none of the roughly 115 patients are infected now, said Mark Traylor, who heads the facility’s parent company, Traylor-Porter Healthcare. “We look after each other in here. We take care of each other,” resident Susan McEachern said Wednesday as she and a friend — both wearing masks — sat in a communal room that was recently reopened because many residents had been vaccinated. Science & Medicine Confusion over the terms ‘variant’ and ‘strain’ predate this coronavirus. It seems virologists never got around to defining their terms. Feb. 4, 2021 Traylor said a better understanding of how to prevent the spread of the virus and how to treat COVID-19 was the difference between “looking into an abyss” during those first weeks of the crisis and visitors now being allowed back on a limited basis. “We’re going to be in great shape once we get everybody vaccinated,” said Traylor. PruittHealth, which operates about 100 nursing homes in the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida, has 29 locations that are free of COVID-19 and fewer patients overall testing positive in recent weeks, said CEO Neil Pruitt. Although more than 70% of PruittHealth’s eligible nursing home residents have been immunized, only 27% of its employees have agreed to be vaccinated, Pruitt said. Without a big improvement in that employee figure, he’s worried cases could spike again once people start traveling over spring break. “Right now, I’m not confident,” he said. Associated Press writers Carla K. Johnson in Washington state, Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tenn., Nicky Forster and photographer Julie Bennett in Opelika contributed to this report.

California lawsuit seeks moratorium on new cellphone towers at Lake Tahoe

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-05/suit-seeks-moratorium-on-new-cellphone-towers-at-lake-tahoe

A federal lawsuit seeking a moratorium on construction of new cellphone towers at Lake Tahoe claims Verizon Wireless and regional regulators are failing to adequately consider potential harm to public health and the environment under antiquated rules that turn a blind eye to modern technology. A local resident and conservation groups who filed the suit in U.S. District Court in Sacramento say they’re trying to protect the same majestic views Mark Twain wrote about in the 1860s at the mountain lake straddling the California-Nevada line. They accuse Verizon and the Tahoe Regional Protection Agency of engaging in the kind of shenanigans Huckleberry Finn and other Twain fictional characters used to dupe unsuspecting victims. The lawsuit alleges Verizon and its local agent, Sacramento-Valley Limited Partnership, laid the groundwork for the most recently proposed 112-foot tower in South Lake Tahoe, Calif., with false promises to bring a high-speed broadband network to everyone at the lake. “In what appears to be a classic ‘bait and switch’ scheme, the telecoms had promised fiber-optic infrastructure at Tahoe in exchange for massive subsidies but now push their wireless agenda for greater profits,” the suit says. “The telecoms routinely claim that further facilities are justified to meet a ‘coverage gap’ and provide for additional capacity, but they have actually created that ‘gap’ and lack of capacity themselves by failing to provide the promised fiber network,” it said. Our oceans. Our public lands. Our future. Get Boiling Point, our new newsletter exploring climate change and the environment, and become part of the conversation — and the solution. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. Verizon Wireless doesn’t comment on pending litigation, spokeswoman Heidi Flato wrote in an email. The lawsuit says the Tahoe Regional Protection Agency has taken an illegal “piecemeal” approach to permitting, fragmenting individual projects to intentionally minimize cumulative harm. “Tahoe deserves a higher standard of protection. It’s a national treasure, an international treasure,” said Greg Lien, a lawyer for the plaintiffs. Monica Eisenstecken, who lives 150 feet from the proposed tower between the lakeshore and Heavenly Ski Resort, filed suit in December with Tahoe Stewards LLC, Tahoe For Safer Tech and Environmental Health Trust. Congress created the Tahoe Regional Protection Agency to protect the lake in 1969, the nation’s first bistate compact. It became the first regional environmental regulator when it adopted regulations in 1980. The lawsuit says the agency performed no comprehensive planning “and routinely approves new wireless infrastructure with essentially no environmental review whatsoever, often at the staff level and commonly without notice to adjacent property owners.” It also accuses the agency of a conflict of interest because the chairwoman and two board members also serve on the board of the Tahoe Prosperity Center, which it calls a “pro-telecom lobbying entity.” Center CEO Heidi Hill Drum declined comment. The suit says hundreds of studies have warned about human health dangers, and damage that radiofrequency radiation emitted by the towers can cause to wildlife and the environment — something that’s disputed by the Federal Communications Commission and American Cancer Society, among others. The most recent example of “piecemeal” permitting came last summer when TRPA allowed the cutting of 31 trees averaging 70 feet high on a lot next to the proposed tower, the suit says. Lien said the tower and tree-cutting should have been considered simultaneously. “You can’t cut them down first and then say, ‘We’re sorry we can’t screen this from view now’ and the public is stuck with an eyesore,” he said. TRPA spokesman Jeff Cowen insisted they’re conducting the appropriate analysis. “We do understand the community’s concerns about the safety of cell towers. But the agency is simply not charged with implementing federal regulations regarding communications. Federal regulators set those emissions standards for cell towers,” he said. Cowen said tree-cutting had been permitted as part of a cell tower project that previously was approved but never built. “This is basically permitting of an earlier approved project,” he said. Opinion Why are cellphone towers so utterly ugly? Oct. 16, 2013 Cowen said the lawsuit is premature because the agency hasn’t even set a hearing yet on the tower, which is expected to be a “monopine” made to look like a pine tree. He dismissed concerns about a conflict. “TRPA takes financial conflicts of interest very seriously” but sees no conflict here because the Tahoe Prosperity Center is not-for-profit. Unlike cities or counties, Lien said TRPA is not bound to defer to FCC standards, “which are antiquated and never designed to look at environmental effects, which of course was TRPA’s mission since it was created.” “In 1980, nobody had a cellphone,” he said.

Jamaica faces marijuana shortage as farmers struggle

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-12/jamaica-faces-marijuana-shortage-as-farmers-struggle

Jamaica is running low on ganja. Heavy rains followed by an extended drought, an increase in local consumption and a drop in the number of marijuana farmers have caused a shortage in the island’s famed but largely illegal market that experts say is the worst they’ve seen. “It’s a cultural embarrassment,” said Triston Thompson, chief opportunity explorer for Tacaya, a consulting and brokerage firm for the country’s nascent legal cannabis industry. Jamaica, which foreigners have long associated with pot, reggae and Rastafarians, authorized a regulated medical marijuana industry and decriminalized small amounts of weed in 2015. People caught with 2 ounces or less of cannabis are supposed to pay a small fine and face no arrest or criminal record. The island also allows individuals to cultivate up to five plants, and Rastafarians are legally allowed to smoke ganja for sacramental purposes. But enforcement is spotty as many tourists and locals continue to buy marijuana on the street, where it has grown more scarce — and more expensive. Heavy rains during last year’s hurricane season pummeled marijuana fields that were later scorched in the drought that followed, causing tens of thousands of dollars in losses, according to farmers who cultivate pot outside the legal system. “It destroyed everything,” said Daneyel Bozra, who grows marijuana in the southwest part of Jamaica, in a historic village called Accompong founded by escaped 18th century slaves known as Maroons. Worsening the problem were strict COVID-19 measures, including a 6 p.m. curfew that meant farmers couldn’t tend to their fields at night as is routine, said Kenrick Wallace, 29, who cultivates two acres in Accompong with the help of 20 other farmers. He noted that a lack of roads forces many farmers to walk to reach their fields — and then to get water from wells and springs. Many were unable to do those chores at night due to the curfew. Wallace estimated he lost more than $18,000 in recent months and cultivated only 300 pounds, compared with an average of 700 to 800 pounds the group normally produces. Activists say they believe the pandemic and a loosening of Jamaica’s marijuana laws has led to an increase in local consumption that has contributed to the scarcity, even if the pandemic has put a dent in the arrival of ganja-seeking tourists. “Last year was the worst year. ... We’ve never had this amount of loss,” Thompson said. “It’s something so laughable that cannabis is short in Jamaica.” Tourists, too, have taken note, placing posts on travel websites about difficulties finding the drug. Paul Burke, CEO of Jamaica’s Ganja Growers and Producers Assn., said in a phone interview that people are no longer afraid of being locked up now that the government allows possession of small amounts. He said the stigmatization against ganja has diminished and more people are appreciating its claimed therapeutic and medicinal value during the pandemic. Burke also said that some traditional small farmers have stopped growing in frustration because they can’t afford to meet requirements for the legal market while police continue to destroy what he described as “good ganja fields.” The government’s Cannabis Licensing Authority — which has authorized 29 cultivators and issued 73 licenses for transportation, retail, processing and other activities — said there is no shortage of marijuana in the regulated industry. But farmers and activists say weed sold via legal dispensaries known as herb houses is out of reach for many given that it still costs five to 10 times more than pot on the street.

Biden meets with House Democrats in push for $1.9-trillion coronavirus relief plan

https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2021-02-05/biden-pushes-for-relief-bill

President Biden met Friday with leading House Democrats who aim to put his $1.9-trillion coronavirus relief package on a fast track to becoming law, drawing on new signs of strain in the economy to push for its approval. “We can’t do too much here, we can do too little,” he told them. “Real, live people are hurting. And we can fix it. And we can fix it and the irony of all ironies is when we help them, we are also helping our competitive capacity, through the remainder of this decade.” The Senate early Friday approved a measure that would let Democrats muscle the relief plan through the chamber without Republican support. Vice President Kamala Harris was in the chair to cast the tie-breaking vote, her first. Senate Democrats applauded after Harris announced the 51-50 vote at around 5:30 a.m. The action came after a grueling all-night session, where senators voted on amendments that could define the contours of the eventual COVID-19 aid bill. The budget package now returns to the House, where it will probably be approved again Friday to reflect the changes made by the Senate. The measure can then work its way through committees so that additional relief can be finalized by mid-March, when extra unemployment assistance and other pandemic aid expires. It’s an aggressive timeline that will test the ability of the new administration and Congress to deliver. The push for stimulus comes amid new signs of a weakening U.S. economy. Employers added just 49,000 jobs in January, after cutting 227,000 jobs in December, the Labor Department said Friday. Restaurants, retailers, manufacturers and even the healthcare sector shed workers last month, meaning that private employers accounted for a meager gain of 6,000 jobs last month. Politics Amid arguments over the relief package, the move against child poverty hasn’t gotten much attention — but its long-term impact would be major. Feb. 5, 2021 “At that rate, it’s going to take 10 years until we hit full employment,” Biden said at the meeting with House Democrats. “That’s not hyperbole. That’s a fact.” The unemployment rate fell to 6.3% from 6.7%, but that was mostly due to a decline in the number of people who were either working or looking for a job — a sign that some people are dropping out of the labor force. The U.S. economy is 9.9 million jobs shy of its pre-pandemic level. Biden, who has been meeting with lawmakers in recent days to discuss the package, welcomed the leaders of House committees who will be assembling the bill under the budget process known as reconciliation. Biden also delivered remarks Friday on the economy as he keeps up the pressure on Congress to “act big” on his relief package. Money for vaccine distributions, direct payments to households, school reopenings and business aid are at stake. The Senate passed an amendment 99-1 that would prevent the $1,400 in direct checks in Biden’s proposal from going to “upper-income taxpayers.” But the measure, proposed by Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), is ultimately symbolic and nonbinding and does not specify at what level a person qualifies as upper income. Politics President Biden and his coronavirus relief plan are broadly popular, thanks to consistent messaging and Republicans consumed with intraparty fights. Feb. 5, 2021 The marathon Senate session brought test votes on several Democratic priorities, including a $15-an-hour minimum wage. The Senate by voice vote adopted an amendment from Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) opposed to raising the wage during the pandemic. Ernst said a wage hike at this time would be “devastating” for small businesses. None of the amendments to the budget are binding on Democrats as they draft their COVID plan, but passage of a wage increase could prove difficult. Even if a $15 wage can get past procedural challenges in the final bill, passage will require the support from every Democrat in the 50-50 Senate, which could be a tall order. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the new chairman of the Senate Budget Committee and a vocal proponent of the wage increase, vowed to press ahead. “We need to end the crisis of starvation wages,” he said.

Why the job market is in for a long and bumpy recovery

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-02-05/coronavirus-jobs-unemployment-january

As David Spatafore looks at the COVID-19-depressed economy, he sees good times just ahead. “Our plan right now is kind of shooting for summertime to be like the Roaring ’20s,” said the owner of San Diego restaurant company Blue Bridge Hospitality. Pent-up demand after almost a year of social distancing and lockdowns has created a big reservoir of consumer demand, he thinks, and hungry customers will soon come surging back. But there’s a catch: Spatafore doesn’t expect to hire back all of the almost 400 employees he had at the peak of his business before the new coronavirus struck. Many economists agree with Spatafore — on both counts: the revival of the economy by Labor Day, but after an initial burst of hiring, a bleaker outlook for jobs. On Friday, the pandemic’s capacity to throw previously self-supporting Americans out of the job market was demonstrated once more on a nationwide scale when the Labor Department released a new round of jobs data. Despite some plateauing of new coronavirus cases and a surge of hope as the Biden administration pushed to accelerate vaccinations, job growth essentially stalled in January for the second month in a row. The economy added a measly 49,000 jobs last month after losing 227,000 in December. The nation’s unemployment rate went down to 6.3% from 6.7%, but that was largely because hundreds of thousands of people dropped out of the labor force. More workers were hit with permanent layoffs last month, and 40% of the 10 million officially unemployed now have been without work for more than six months. The economic impact of the pandemic has sometimes stemmed from government-mandated lockdowns and distancing requirements, but the more far-reaching effects may involve acceleration and intensifying trends already at work. Even if President Biden is relatively successful in dealing with the challenges, most analysts expect recovery on the jobs side to be long and slow. Stock markets have already bounced back. And the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has projected U.S. economic output to fully recover this summer, but not the jobs — not until 2024. Mark Zandi of Moody’s Analytics predicted all the jobs will return by May 2023, assuming $2 trillion in additional fiscal spending — still more than three years for a full recovery. The pandemic has triggered potentially far-reaching changes in consumer behavior and deeply rooted business models. It has also accelerated changes that were already underway before the coronavirus swept across the country. Many of these changes may be welcomed, but they will also disrupt the jobs of millions of workers and businesses even if new job opportunities eventually arise. Some jobs will shift from urban business districts to more residential areas as more people work from home. The Labor Department said 23% of employed people worked from home in January. Also likely to outlast the pandemic: the surge in online shopping and home delivery of everything from prescription drugs to fresh vegetables, and the rise of gig and contract jobs. There may be fewer salesclerks at stores but more retail customer service reps handling online orders. And many of the pre-pandemic jobs just won’t exist at all. For several years, Lillian Isabella, an actress and playwright, supplemented her income by playing the role of a patient to help medical students prepare for an exam testing their bedside skills. She’s one of hundreds of people across the country who have played “standardized patients” in various programs to turn out better doctors. But last week, after putting that test of clinical skills on pause during the pandemic, U.S. medical licensing officials decided to abolish it for good — a painful reminder of how the economic pain of COVID-19 can touch even the smallest nooks and crannies of the economy. “When it was on, it was a pretty good form of steady work,” said Isabella, 31, who lives in New York. In San Diego, Spatafore sees some of those same factors at play in his company, which operates a half-dozen restaurants, a beach club, dessert shop and a public market. In March, Spatafore laid off most of his employees, calling them in one by one. His business survived the spring lockdowns with the help of family members and a $1.2-million forgivable government loan, and then got back up to 280 employees last summer before the latest COVID-19 surge knocked his payroll back down under 100. “It’s been a roller coaster of 11 months,” he said. Now he’s climbing up again, but even if conditions are as they were before the coronavirus outbreak, Spatafore doesn’t see his staffing returning to pre-pandemic levels. During the last year, his two pizzerias, for example, went from full-service, dine-in businesses to a self-pickup counter service, first out of necessity but then because the change turned out to be a successful model. “We’re not going to go back, which means that we wouldn’t hire back waiters and waitresses and as many busboys,” he said. In January, U.S. employment at restaurants and bars went nowhere, and now accounts for nearly one-fourth of the jobs yet to be recovered. Other leisure and travel-related jobs also remain deep in the hole. The hotel industry was shaken after Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates’ prediction in November that more than 50% of business travel will be lost in the pandemic’s aftermath. Some hoteliers are talking about possibly cleaning rooms only on demand — and for a fee — which would probably cut back on the need for housekeeping employees, said Robert Cole, a senior analyst at Phocuswright, a travel market research firm. Other hotels now employ touchless check-in and check-out. “It’s going to be fits and starts and a very bumpy road,” Cole said of hiring and recovery of hotel employment and business. The retail landscape is also shifting. Employment at stores in January remained about 330,000 shy of year-ago levels, but there’s been almost as many new jobs in warehousing and delivery services over the last year. At Comfort One Shoes, the retail shoe chain in the Washington, D.C., area, sales last year were about half of what they were in 2019, said Garrett Breton, the company’s president. But online revenues were up more than 120%. He has 45 employees at the moment and is projecting it’ll go up to about 75 when things return to normal, compared with more than 100 before the pandemic, in part because of the hit to traditional shopping areas. “I think that the urban downtown centers are scarred deeply and will not return just because people are vaccinated,” he said. Jed Kolko, chief economist at the online jobs site Indeed, expects employment in most sectors to snap back, but the longer-term outlook for some is filled with more risks. “Some of the biggest unknowns about what happens after the pandemic are how big some of these shifts will be — from in-person retail to delivery, from office to remote work, from spending going down for services to different goods,” he said. “Some of that may be permanent.”

Alexei Navalny in Moscow court again, accused of defaming a WWII veteran

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-05/navalny-in-court-again-accused-of-defaming-a-wwii-veteran

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny appeared in a Moscow court on Friday for the second time this week, this time on a charge of defaming a World War II veteran. The politician, who was ordered earlier this week to serve two years and eight months in prison, slammed the new hearing as a “disgusting PR trial” intended by the Kremlin to disparage him. Last June, Russia’s Investigative Committee launched a probe into Navalny on charges of defamation, after the politician slammed people featured in a video promoting the constitutional reform that allowed an extension to President Vladimir Putin’s rule as “corrupt stooges,” “people without conscience” and “traitors.” The authorities maintained that Navalny’s comments “denigrate [the] honor and dignity” of a World War II veteran featured in the video. If convicted, Navalny faces a fine or community service. “This trial was conceived as some kind of PR trial, because the Kremlin needs headlines, ‘Navalny slandered a veteran’,” the politician said in the courtroom Friday. World & Nation The sentencing of Putin critic Alexei Navalny doesn’t solve the Russian president’s problems. Last month the 44-year-old Navalny, an anti-corruption investigator and Putin’s most prominent critic, was arrested upon returning from Germany, where he spent five months recovering from a nerve-agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin. Russian authorities rejected the accusations. A Moscow court on Tuesday found that Navalny violated probation terms of his suspended sentence from a 2014 money-laundering conviction, and ordered him to serve two years and eight months in prison. The politician’s arrest and jailing triggered massive protests across Russia, in which tens of thousands took to the streets to demand his release. Many protesters also chanted slogans against Putin in the largest show of discontent in years. Thousands of protesters have been detained.

A glance at Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's incendiary words

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-04/a-glance-at-rep-marjorie-taylor-greenes-incendiary-words

Freshman Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican, was likely to be stripped of her committee assignments by the House Democratic majority Thursday over racist remarks, her embrace of conspiracy theories and her past endorsement of violence against leading Democratic officials. Greene, 46, is a newcomer to politics, and previously worked for her family’s construction business in Georgia. She was labeled a “future Republican Star” by former President Trump, whose political style she emulates. Here’s a look at some of Greene’s past statements and social media posts, many of which were deleted after the liberal group Media Matters unearthed them online. In 2017, Stephen Paddock opened fire from a hotel room window overlooking an outdoor country music festival in Las Vegas, killing 58 people. Afterward, Greene suggested that the shooting might have been staged. “How do you get avid gun owners and people that support the 2nd Amendment to give up their guns and go along with anti-gun legislation?” Greene asked in an online video. “You make them scared, you make them victims and you change their mindset and then possibly you can pass anti-gun legislation. Is that what happened in Las Vegas?” “I don’t believe [Paddock] pulled this off all by himself, and I know most of you don’t either,” Greene said. Politics House Democrats are mounting an effort to formally rebuke Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a newly elected Georgia Republican with a history of making racist remarks, embracing conspiracy theories and endorsing violence directed at Democrats. Feb. 1, 2021 In 2018, a poorly maintained electrical grid sparked a California wildfire that killed 84 people. In a Facebook post in November of that year, Greene falsely speculated that darker forces were at work. Connecting a series of scattershot points, Greene suggested a bank controlled by the Rothschild family, who are Jewish, a utility company responsible for the fire and then-Gov. Jerry Brown had a compelling motive to spark the blaze: clearing the path for a high-speed rail project Brown wanted. She also floated the possibility that the fires could have been started by “lasers or blue beams of light” shot down from space by allies of Brown who were said to be in the solar energy industry. “There are too many coincidences to ignore,” she wrote. In February 2019, Greene appeared in an online video filmed at the U.S. Capitol, arguing that Democratic Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan weren’t “really official” members of Congress because they didn’t take the oath of office on the Bible. Both women are Muslim. “I really want to go talk to these ladies and ask them what they are thinking, and why they are serving in our American government,” Greene said. “They really should go back to the Middle East.” Tlaib was born in Detroit. Omar was born in Somalia and came to the U.S. when she was 12, becoming a U.S. citizen five years later. In May 2018, a Facebook user purporting to be the mother of a New York police officer falsely claimed that the officer had seen a video taken from the laptop of disgraced former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) that showed Hillary Clinton and a top aide cutting off a child’s face. Greene “liked” the comment and replied, “Most people honestly don’t know so much. The [mainstream media] disinformation warfare has won for too long!” Greene once suggested in an online video that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) could be executed for treason. “She’s a traitor to our country, she’s guilty of treason,” Greene says in the video, which CNN first reported. “And it’s, uh, it’s a crime punishable by death is what treason is. Nancy Pelosi is guilty of treason.” She also “liked” a January 2019 Facebook post that called for “a bullet to the head” of Pelosi. In November 2018, Greene shot a video in which she talked about the 9/11 terrorist attacks, referring to a “so-called” plane that crashed into the Pentagon. She added, “It’s odd, there’s never any evidence shown for a plane in the Pentagon.” She also “liked” a comment posted by a Facebook user in 2018 who falsely argued that 9/11 was “done by our own Gov.” Greene responded: “That is all true.”

Stocks rise, buoyed by company earnings and hopes for more COVID-19 stimulus

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-04/solid-company-earnings-and-hopes-for-aid-send-stocks-higher

A broad rally Thursday on Wall Street added to the stock market’s solid gains this week and pushed the Standard & Poor’s 500 index and the Nasdaq composite to all-time highs. Strong company earnings and optimism that Washington can reach a deal for another round of fiscal stimulus for millions of Americans who need it have kept investors in a buying mood this week. The S&P 500 rose 1.1%, eclipsing the record high it set early last week. The three major stock indexes are on track for weekly gains of more than 3%, an encouraging start to February after a late fade in January. Financial and technology companies led the way higher. Small-company stocks also had a strong showing, another bullish signal that investors are feeling more optimistic about the economy. “The path of least resistance seems to be higher,” said Brian Price, head of investment management for Commonwealth Financial Network. “We had a few minor pullbacks since the start of the year, but it really seems an extension of what we saw in the fourth quarter where it seems the market is anticipating lockdowns ending, people going back to work and economies broadly opening.” The S&P 500 index rose 41.57 points to 3,871.74. It was the index’s fourth straight gain. The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 332.26 points, or 1.1%, to 31,055.86. The technology-heavy Nasdaq advanced 167.20 points, or 1.2%, to an all-time high of 13,777.74. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks climbed 42.72 points, or 2%, to 2,202.42. Volatility spiked last month amid worries about the timing and scope of another round of stimulus spending by the Biden administration and unease over the effectiveness of the government’s distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. A wave of selling left the S&P 500 down 3.3% for the week. Stocks have shaken off those concerns. This week, the S&P 500 is up 4.2%, more than making up for its pullback last week. “There are a lot of reasons to be optimistic and, obviously, there’s a tremendous amount of stimulus in the system with talks of more,” Price said. Wall Street continues to be focused on individual company earnings. Shares of EBay rose 5.3% and PayPal climbed 7.4% after both companies reported results that blew away Wall Street’s expectations. “We’re really impressed with how corporate America has come through earnings season so far,” said Jeff Buchbinder, equity strategist at LPL Financial. The performance is a surprising and welcome about-face from early projections for weak profits. Tech companies are doing particularly well, but financial and smaller companies are also releasing surprisingly good results, he said. Heading into the current round of quarterly earnings reports, analysts were expecting profits to shrink about 13%, according to FactSet. With about half of companies reporting, the S&P 500 is now showing earnings growth of just under 1%, and estimates for the next quarter and all of 2021 are improving. Shares of the beaten-down companies that have been of intense interest to retail investors fell again. GameStop slid 42.1%, continuing is sharp decline following its meteoric rise over the previous two weeks. At $53.50 a share, it’s still well above the $17 price it fetched at the beginning of the year. It traded as high as $483 last Thursday. AMC Entertainment dropped 21%. In Washington, President Biden urged Democratic lawmakers to “act fast” on his economic stimulus plan but also said he’s open to changes. Democrats and Republicans remain far apart on support for Biden’s $1.9-trillion stimulus package, but investors are betting the administration will opt for a reconciliation process to get the legislation through Congress. In economic data, the number of Americans who filed for unemployment benefits fell below 800,000 last week, which was better than economists’ expectations but still remains high due to the pandemic. The Labor Department is due to report its January jobs data Friday. Wall Street is expecting the closely watched report will show the U.S. economy added 100,000 jobs last month. That would follow a loss of 140,000 jobs in December. Meanwhile, vaccine distribution continues to move ahead, and Wall Street expects an eventual fiscal aid package from Washington to give the economy another jolt. “Each passing day with a million-plus shots going into people’s arms gets us closer to full reopening,” Buchbinder said. “This economy, we think, will really be rolling in the next couple of months.”

U.S. unemployment claims fall to 779,000, but job cuts grind on

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-04/us-unemployment-claims-fall-to-779-000-but-job-cuts-grind-on

The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits declined to 779,000 last week, a still-historically high total that shows that a sizable number of people keep losing jobs to the COVID-19 pandemic. Last week’s total dropped from 812,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said Thursday, and is the lowest in two months. Still, before the virus erupted in the United States in March, weekly applications for jobless aid had never topped 700,000, even during the Great Recession. Thursday’s report reflects a U.S. job market that is still suffering from the pandemic, with hiring having weakened for six straight months. It is a key reason why President Biden is pushing Congress to enact a $1.9-trillion economic rescue program, on top of a $900-billion federal aid package that was approved late last year. All told, 17.8 million people were receiving unemployment benefits in the week that ended Jan. 16, the latest period for which data are available. That’s down from 18.3 million from the week before. Despite the generally dim picture of the economy, some hopeful signs have emerged this week. Auto sales rose solidly in January, and a gauge of business growth in the service sector picked up. So did spending on home construction. That doesn’t mean a rebound is near in the job market, which typically lags behind recoveries in the broader economy. Employers have been hesitant to hire at a time when consumer spending has faltered. The government’s jobs report for January, to be released Friday, is expected to show a modest hiring gain of perhaps 100,000, according to data provider FactSet. The unemployment rate is forecast to remain stuck at a high 6.7% for a third straight month. An increase in hiring would represent a welcome improvement over December, when employers cut jobs for the first time since April. Yet with the economy still down nearly 10 million jobs from a year ago, a gain of that modest size would provide little benefit for most of the unemployed. Once vaccinations become more widely distributed and administered in the coming months, economists expect growth to accelerate at a sustained clip, particularly if Congress provides significantly more aid to households, small businesses and states and cities. Some analysts predict that under those circumstances, economic growth could surpass 6% for 2021. Consumer spending did pick up in January, according to debit and credit card spending tracked by Bank of America, after $600 checks were distributed to most adults under last year’s $900-billion aid package. Michelle Meyer, U.S. economist at Bank of America, estimates that those checks are being spent faster than the similar but larger $1,200 payments that were distributed last spring. Still, Americans are saving the bulk of the payments, Meyer said in a research note. That growing pool of savings could help fuel increased consumer spending once the pandemic is brought under control. At the same time, small businesses struggled through most of January and likely held back overall hiring last month, according to Homebase, a provider of work scheduling systems to small firms. Homebase said the proportion of its clients that were closed, mostly because of government restrictions, rose from December to January, and the number of employees working declined. Although the $900-billion stimulus bill enacted in December extended federal unemployment programs and provided $300 in weekly jobless aid, many states have yet to distribute the money, according to a report this week from the Century Foundation. The report found that just 38 states were paying benefits under a federal extended aid program as of Jan. 30. Just 40 states were issuing checks under a separate jobless aid program for freelancers and the self-employed. The delays in many cases stemmed from former President Trump’s hesitation in signing the stimulus bill, which he finally did Dec. 27. That was one day after the two programs had expired, which meant that previous recipients had to reapply for the programs and states had to await guidance from the Labor Department on the details of the extensions. Many states use antiquated software for their unemployment benefit systems, which can be difficult to update when jobless aid programs change.

Ohio police officer charged with murder in Andre Hill death

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-03/ohio-police-officer-charged-with-murder-in-andre-hill-death

A white Ohio police officer was indicted Wednesday on a murder charge in the latest fallout following the December shooting death of 47-year-old Andre Hill, a Black man, the state’s attorney general said. Columbus Police Officer Adam Coy was indicted by a Franklin County grand jury following an investigation by the Ohio attorney general’s office. The charges faced by Coy, a 19-year veteran of the force, also include dereliction of duty for failure to use his body camera and for failing to tell the other officer he believed Hill presented a danger. “In this case, the citizens of Franklin County, represented by the individual grand jurors, found probable cause to believe that Mr. Coy committed a crime when he killed Andre Hill by gunfire,” Atty. Gen. Dave Yost said at a news conference Wednesday night. He added, “Truth is the best friend of justice, and the grand jury here found the truth.” Coy and another officer had responded to a neighbor’s nonemergency call after 1 a.m. on Dec. 22 about a car in front of his house in the city’s northwest side that had been running, then shut off, then turned back on, according to a copy of the call released in December. Police body-camera video showed Hill emerging from a garage and holding up a cellphone in his left hand seconds before he was fatally shot by Coy. There is no audio because Coy hadn’t activated the body camera; an automatic “look back” feature captured the shooting without audio. World & Nation A white Ohio police officer was fired Monday after bodycam footage showed him fatally shooting 47-year-old Andre Hill, a Black man holding a cellphone, and refusing to administer first aid for several minutes. Dec. 28, 2020 In the moments after Hill was fatally shot, additional body-cam video shows two other Columbus officers rolled Hill over and put handcuffs on him before leaving him alone again. None of them, according to the footage released, offered any first aid even though Hill was barely moving, groaning and bleeding while lying on the garage floor. Coy, who had a long history of complaints from citizens, was fired on Dec. 28 for failing to activate his body camera before the confrontation and for not providing medical aid to Hill. A message was left Wednesday with Coy’s attorney seeking comment. The union representing Columbus police officers issued a short statement saying it will wait to see how the case plays out. Coy “will have the ability to present facts on his behalf at a trial just like any other citizen,” said Keith Ferrell, president of the local Fraternal Order of Police. “At that time, we will see all the facts for the first time with the public as the process plays out.” The indictment of Coy comes less than a week after Columbus Police Chief Thomas Quinlan was forced out of his role after Mayor Andrew Ginther said he lost confidence in his ability to make the necessary changes to the department. Hill’s family, while still grieving his death, is happy with the indictment, which they see as a first step, attorney Michael Wright said. “It’s important to start holding these officers accountable for their bad actions and their bad acts,” Wright said. “I think it will go a long way for one, the public to trust law enforcement, for two, to potentially change the behavior of officers and their interaction with individuals that shouldn’t be killed or should not endure excessive force.” This is the second Columbus police officer recently charged with murder. Former vice squad Officer Andrew Mitchell was charged in 2019 with fatally shooting a woman during a 2018 undercover prostitution investigation. Mitchell also faces federal charges of forcing women to have sex with him under threat of an arrest, pressuring others to help cover up crimes and lying to federal investigators when he said he’d never had sex with prostitutes. He has pleaded not guilty.

Study finds AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine may reduce virus transmission

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-03/study-finds-covid-19-vaccine-may-reduce-virus-transmission

AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine does more than prevent people from falling seriously ill — it appears to reduce transmission of the coronavirus and offers strong protection for three months on just a single dose, researchers said Wednesday in an encouraging turn in the campaign to suppress the outbreak. The preliminary findings from Oxford University, a co-developer of the vaccine, could vindicate the British government’s controversial strategy of delaying the second shot for up to 12 weeks so that more people can be quickly given a first dose. Up to now, the recommended time between doses has been four weeks. The research could also bring scientists closer to an answer to one of the big questions about the vaccination drive: Will the vaccines actually curb the spread of the coronavirus? It’s unclear what implications, if any, the findings might have for the two other major vaccines being used in the West, Pfizer’s and Moderna’s. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the United States’ top infectious disease expert, dismissed the idea of deliberately delaying second shots, saying the U.S. will “go by the science” and data from the clinical trials. The two doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are supposed to be given three and four weeks apart, respectively. Still, the research appears to be good news in the desperate effort to arrest the spread of the virus and also suggests a way to ease vaccine shortages and get shots into more arms more quickly. California The sites will be run by the federal government. One will be at Cal State Los Angeles, the other at the Oakland Coliseum. Feb. 3, 2021 The makers of all three vaccines have said that their shots proved to be 70% to 95% effective in clinical trials in protecting people from illness caused by the virus. But it was unclear whether the vaccines could also suppress transmission of the virus — that is, whether someone inoculated could still acquire the virus without getting sick and spread it to others. As a result, experts have been saying that even people who have been vaccinated should continue to wear masks and keep their distance from others. Oxford’s study, however, found that the vaccine not only prevented severe disease but also appeared to cut transmission of the virus by two-thirds. The study has not been peer-reviewed yet. Volunteers in the study underwent regular nasal swabs. The level of virus-positive swabs — from both those who had COVID-19 symptoms and those who had none — was 67% lower in the vaccinated group. “That’s got to have a really beneficial effect on transmission,” Oxford lead researcher Sarah Gilbert said at a meeting of the New York Academy of Sciences. The researchers also looked at how likely people who have been vaccinated are to get a symptom-free infection. In one subset of volunteers, there were 16 asymptomatic infections among the vaccinated and 31 in an unvaccinated comparison group. Pfizer and Moderna also are studying the effect of their vaccines on asymptomatic infections. Only the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are being used in the United States. Britain is using both AstraZeneca’s and Pfizer’s. AstraZeneca’s has also been authorized by the 27-nation European Union. Pfizer has not endorsed the British government’s decision to lengthen the time between doses. California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he believes California’s educators can return to their classrooms provided proper safety measures and supports are in place Feb. 3, 2021 Meanwhile, a United Nations-backed program to supply COVID-19 vaccines to the neediest people worldwide is gearing up after a troubled start. The COVAX Facility announced plans Wednesday for an initial distribution of about 100 million doses by the end of March and more than 200 million more by the end of June to dozens of countries. Nearly all of the doses expected for the first phase are due to come from AstraZeneca and its partner, the Serum Institute of India. The rollout will be contingent on the World Health Organization authorizing the AstraZeneca shot for emergency use, which is expected to happen this month. About 190 countries and territories are participating in COVAX, which has seen wealthy nations scoop up vaccine supplies, sometimes at premium prices. The pandemic’s worldwide death toll has surpassed 2.2 million, including more than 450,000 in the U.S., according to Johns Hopkins University data. New cases per day in the U.S. and the number of Americans in the hospital with COVID-19 have dropped sharply in the last few weeks, but the death rate is still running at close to all-time highs at an average of about 3,100 a day. Fatalities often lag behind the infection curve, because it can take weeks to sicken and die of COVID-19. As the Super Bowl approaches, Fauci is warning people against inviting others over for game day parties, urging viewers to “just lay low and cool it” to avoid turning Sunday’s big game into a superspreader event. “You don’t want parties with people that you haven’t had much contact with,” he told NBC’s “Today” show. “You just don’t know if they’re infected.”

Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who was killed in riot, lies in honor

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-02/capitol-police-officer-who-died-after-riot-lies-in-honor

Slain Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick was lying in honor in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday evening, allowing his colleagues and the lawmakers he protected to pay their respects and to remember the violent attack on Congress that took his life. Sicknick died after defending the Capitol on Jan. 6 against the mob that stormed the building and interrupted the electoral count after then-President Trump urged supporters on the National Mall to “fight like hell” to overturn his defeat. The U.S. Capitol Police said in a statement that Sicknick, who died the next day, was injured “while physically engaging with protesters,” though a final cause of death has not yet been determined. The arrival of Sicknick’s remains at 9:30 p.m. was solemn, with dozens of Capitol Police standing at attention as his urn was carried up the Capitol steps. There was a viewing period for Capitol Police overnight, and lawmakers were to pay tribute at a ceremony Wednesday morning. A ceremonial departure for Arlington National Cemetery was planned later in the day. World & Nation The 42-year-old officer was only the fifth person to lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda, a designation for those who are not elected officials, judges or military leaders. Feb. 3, 2021 Members of Congress remain shaken by the attack and are grappling with what it means not only for the future of the country, but for their own security as elected representatives. While lawmakers were united in denouncing the riots, and Trump’s role in them, the parties are now largely split on how to move forward. House Democrats impeached Trump a week after the attack, sending a charge of “incitement of insurrection” to the Senate, where Republicans are not expected to provide the votes necessary to convict him. At the same time, the building has been cut off from the public, surrounded by large metal fences and defended by the National Guard. Sicknick, 42, of South River, N.J., enlisted in the National Guard six months after graduating high school in 1997, then deployed to Saudi Arabia and later Kyrgyzstan. He joined the Capitol Police in 2008. Like many Capitol Police officers, he often worked security in the Capitol itself and was known to lawmakers, staff and others who passed through the building’s doors each morning. Politics Impeachment managers say Trump summoned a mob to D.C. and aimed it “like a loaded cannon” at the Capitol. Trump’s defenders say it was free speech. Feb. 2, 2021 There are still questions about his death, which was one of five as a result of the rioting. As the mob forced its way in, Sicknick was hit in the head with a fire extinguisher, two law enforcement officials said. He later collapsed, was hospitalized and died. The officials could not discuss the ongoing investigation publicly and spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Investigators are also examining whether he may have ingested a chemical substance during the riot that may have contributed to his death, the officials said. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) and Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced last week that Sicknick would lie in honor, which is reserved for a select few. In a joint statement they said his heroism “helped save lives, defend the temple of our democracy and ensure that the Congress was not diverted from our duty to the Constitution.” His sacrifice, they said, “reminds us every day of our obligation to our country and to the people we serve.” Pelosi said in a letter to colleagues Tuesday that the Capitol Police “demonstrated extraordinary valor” on Jan. 6 and urged members to pay their respects. She has also encouraged members to take advantage of trauma resources available to congressional employees. Politics Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says she hid in her office bathroom during the Capitol insurrection as a man tried to find her, and says she was assaulted in the past. Feb. 1, 2021 She said that protecting the Capitol and the lawmakers who work there is a “highest priority” and that there will be a need for extra money to do so. During the assault, many of the insurrectionists called out for members, including Pelosi. They also targeted Vice President Mike Pence, who was in the building to preside over the electoral count. “The insurrectionist attack on January 6 was not only an attack on the Capitol, but was a traumatic assault targeting Members,” she said.

Myanmar, Burma and why the different names matter

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-02/explainer-myanmar-burma-and-why-the-different-names-matter

This week, the military upended years of quasi-democratic rule in Myanmar, with soldiers taking control of the country in a carefully orchestrated coup. The military said the seizure of power was necessary because the government had failed to act on unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud in November elections, which the party of the country’s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, won in a landslide. It claims the takeover was legal. But where exactly did the coup happen? Was it in Myanmar, as the the country is officially called? Or was it in Burma, the name Washington continues to use? The answer is complicated. Because when it comes to Myanmar, pretty much everything is political. Including language. Why are there two names for one country? For generations, the country was called Burma, after the dominant Burman ethnic group. But in 1989, one year after the ruling junta brutally suppressed a pro-democracy uprising, military leaders suddenly changed its name to Myanmar. By then, Burma was an international pariah, desperate for any way to improve its image. Hoping for a sliver of international legitimacy, it said it was discarding a name handed down from its colonial past and to foster ethnic unity. The old name, officials said, excluded the country’s many ethnic minorities. At home, though, it changed nothing. In the Burmese language, “Myanmar” is simply the more formal version of “Burma.” The country’s name was changed only in English. It was linguistic sleight of hand. But few people were fooled. Much of the world showed defiance of the junta by refusing to use the new name. When did things change? A little over a decade ago, the country began a stumbling semi-democratic transition. The military retained extensive political power, but opposition leaders were freed from prison and house arrest, and elections were allowed. Longtime pro-democracy activist Suu Kyi became the country’s civilian leader. Over the years, many countries and news outlets, including the Associated Press, had begun using the country’s official name. As repression eased and international opposition to the military became less vocal, “Myanmar” became increasingly common. Inside the country, opposition leaders made clear it didn’t matter much anymore. Unlike most of the world, the U.S. government still officially uses “Burma.” But even Washington has mellowed its stance. In 2012, during a visit to the country, then-President Obama used both “Burma” and “Myanmar.” An advisor to Myanmar’s president called that “very positive” and said it was an “acknowledgment of Myanmar’s government.” What now? Washington’s response to the coup seemed designed to highlight old criticisms, with both Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and President Biden pointedly avoiding the country’s legal name. “The United States removed sanctions on Burma over the past decade based on progress toward democracy,” Biden said in a statement. “The reversal of that progress will necessitate an immediate review of our sanction laws.” Most other countries, though, continued to call it Myanmar.

Senate confirms Pete Buttigieg as Transportation secretary

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-02/senate-confirms-pete-buttigieg-as-transportation-secretary

The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Pete Buttigieg as Transportation secretary, the first out gay person to take a Cabinet post, tasked with advancing President Biden’s ambitious agenda of rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure and fighting climate change. Buttigieg, a 39-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Ind., and Biden’s onetime rival during the Democratic presidential primaries, was approved on a 86-13 vote. Praised by Biden as bringing a “new voice” to the administration, Buttigieg takes over a Transportation Department with 55,000 employees and a budget of tens of billions of dollars. He has pledged to quickly get to work promoting safety and restoring consumer trust in America’s transportation networks as airlines, buses, city subway systems and Amtrak reel from plummeting ridership in the COVID-19 pandemic. He is expected to play an important role in promoting Biden’s sweeping green initiatives, helping to oversee stronger automotive fuel economy standards to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support the president’s push later this year on a $2-trillion climate and infrastructure plan. That plan will be focused on rebuilding roads and bridges and expanding zero-emission mass transit while boosting electric vehicle infrastructure, including building 500,000 charging stations over the next decade. Politics Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer announced senators will vote Tuesday on a first step toward approving President Biden’s COVID-19 aid package. Feb. 2, 2021 Before approval by the full Senate, Buttigieg had cleared the Senate Commerce Committee on a 21-3 vote. Some Republican senators during his hearing signaled likely fights ahead over the cost and scope of updating the nation’s roads and bridges, rails and airports, questioning in particular the administration’s interest in redirecting money for climate initiatives. But they said they would look forward to further discussions with Buttigieg, including on their desired local projects. “Transportation issues historically have been addressed on a bipartisan basis, and I expect to continue that practice with Mr. Buttigieg,” said Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, the top Republican on the panel, who praised his “impressive credentials” and intellect. Biden hasn’t indicated how he intends to pay for an infrastructure plan, coming on top of the administration’s proposed $1.9-trillion virus relief plan that has met some headwinds in Congress. Buttigieg’s suggestion during his hearing that a gas tax hike might be needed was immediately walked back by his spokesman afterward. “We need to build our economy back, better than ever, and the Department of Transportation can play a central role in this,” Buttigieg said at his confirmation hearing last week, noting that the transportation sector, particularly car emissions, is the single biggest contributor in the U.S. to global warming. He stressed that creating jobs, tackling the climate crisis and addressing racial and economic inequality will drive funding decisions at the department. The Afghanistan war veteran burst onto the national scene in 2019 after launching a long-shot presidential bid, introducing himself to voters as “Mayor Pete” and drawing initial skepticism due to his youth and limited government experience. He outperformed expectations after zeroing in on a message of generational change, finishing the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses in a virtual tie with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. But Buttigieg struggled to appeal to Black voters and dropped out of the race after a crushing loss to Biden in the South Carolina primary. Buttigieg chose to quickly endorse Biden, helping him solidify centrist support against Sanders’ strong liberal challenge. Buttigieg, a Harvard graduate and Rhodes scholar, now points to his experience as a mayor and on the campaign trail as valuable to his ground-level approach to improving transportation. He described initiating a “smart streets” program to make South Bend’s downtown more pedestrian- and bicyclist-friendly while spurring hundreds of millions of dollars in economic investment. He’s also expected to be a regular presence on TV, helping to sell the president’s policies as he did during Biden’s campaign. Since he was nominated, Buttigieg has appeared on “The View,” “The Tonight Show,” MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” as well as Fox local affiliates, addressing topics such as Donald Trump’s impeachment, the treatment of veterans and his goals of promoting green-friendly travel. Buttigieg brings diversity to the Cabinet. There hasn’t been an out gay Cabinet secretary before. Under President Trump, Richard Grenell, who is gay, served as acting director of national intelligence, but did not have to face Senate confirmation as an acting director. In the late 1990s, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott blocked a confirmation vote on President Clinton’s pick for ambassador to Luxembourg, James Hormel, over his sexual orientation; Clinton ultimately installed Hormel with a recess appointment. “Congratulations to Secretary Pete Buttigieg on his historic confirmation,” Alphonso David, president of Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ advocacy group, said after the vote. “This confirmation breaks through a barrier that has existed for too long, where LGBTQ identity served as an impediment to nomination or confirmation at the highest level of government.”

Ocasio-Cortez talks Capitol attack, past sexual assault

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-02/ocasio-cortez-talks-capitol-attack-past-sexual-assault

A teary-eyed Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Monday recounted hiding in her office bathroom as a man repeatedly yelled, “Where is she!” during the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, and also revealed a sexual assault in her past as she talked about trauma. Ocasio-Cortez, during an Instagram live video, became emotional as she remembered the terror of the day, and she chastised those she said wanted Americans to put the day behind them and not recognize the lingering effects of such an event. “These folks who tell us to move on,” she said, “that it’s not a big deal, that we should forget what’s happened, or even telling us to apologize, these are the same tactics of abusers.” She went on to say, “I’m a survivor of sexual assault. ... When we go through trauma, trauma compounds on each other.” She didn’t say anything else about that experience. Ocasio-Cortez said the atmosphere around the Capitol and Washington had started to feel more tense and volatile in the days before the insurrection. On that day, she said she was in her office when she heard repeated bangs on the door, like someone was trying to get in. Her legislative director told her to hide, and she went into the bathroom. That was when she heard a man yelling and trying to find her. “I have never been quieter in my life,” she said. She came out shortly after, when her legislative director told her to, and saw a Capitol police officer in the office. She said the officer told them to go to another building but didn’t say specifically where or escort them, leaving her feeling unsafe. “You don’t know if that person was actually trying to protect you or not,” she said.

Wall Street's GameStop bug may have mutated; silver surges

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-01/wall-streets-gamestop-bug-may-have-mutated-silver-surges

The erratic trading in shares of underdog companies such as GameStop that turned markets combustible last week appears to have migrated to commodities, sending silver prices surging to an eight-year high. Silver futures jumped more than 9% on Monday to $29.42 an ounce with #silversqueeze trending on Twitter. That exuberance spread to companies that mine precious metals, especially silver. Shares of Pan American Silver surged 12.1%, First Majestic Silver rose 22.1%, Hecla Mining spiked 28.3%, and Coeur Mining soared 23.1%. Some analysts called the price jump the latest assault by the smaller investors who sent GameStop soaring recently. But many of those same traders instead called it a trap set by hedge funds to divert their attention away from GameStop, as the saga captivating Wall Street gets even more dramatic. An online army of Reddit traders banded together in the last week to snap up thousands of shares of GameStop, AMC and other struggling chains, stocks that have been heavily shorted (bets that the stock will fall) by a number of hedge funds. In the process, they’ve done heavy damage to those hedge funds in a stunning reversal of financial power on Wall Street. Some of these smaller traders believe the hedge funds that were pillaged last week are behind the surge in silver. Communications on messaging boards say hedge funds have now become active on Reddit anonymously, attempting to drive them out of GameStop bets and into silver, but only after hedge funds had taken huge positions. “IT’S A TRAP!” one Redditor warned, though no one really seemed certain. Meanwhile, GameStop shares dropped 30.8% to $225, but the stock price has been tremendously volatile of late. Last week a 44% drop Thursday was followed by a 68% jump Friday. The number of GameStop shares that have been shorted was slashed by more than half in recent days, according to a report Monday by the analytics firm S3 Partners. Last week’s turmoil caused hedge funds to pull back on their investments by the sharpest degree since February 2009, during the market collapse caused by the financial crisis, according to Goldman Sachs, which provides services such as clearing and consulting to hedge funds. Goldman says hedge funds have been getting out of both short sales and more traditional investments that bank on rising prices “in every sector,” according to a Goldman Sachs report Monday. Even so, hedge funds’ exposure to the stock market remains close to record levels. That means there’s still risk for more sell-offs by hedge funds. The narrative has burst from financial pages, reaching even the White House, where President Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen were peppered with questions about it last week. On Monday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked about GameStop and said that the incident/market volatility raises “an important set of policy issues.” “We think congressional attention to these issues is appropriate,” Psaki said. The story has also moved out of Reddit chatrooms and into places where silver actually trades hands. Coin dealers were overwhelmed by orders Monday. The Silver Mountain, a Netherlands bullion dealer, said on its website that, “Due to extreme market volatility we cannot accept any new orders at this moment,” adding it hoped to reopen by the afternoon.

Man arrested after livestream shows 2 bodies in Vacaville apartment

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-02-01/california-man-arrested-after-livestream-shows-2-bodies

Police have arrested a man in connection with the killings of two women after a caller reported seeing a social media livestream over the weekend showing an armed person inside an apartment with two bodies on the floor. The Vacaville Police Department said officers went to the Rocky Hill Veterans Apartments at 12:42 a.m. Saturday in response to a call from a woman about the livestream. “The video showed the man carrying a handgun and two women lying on the floor — not moving,” the department said in a Facebook post. A SWAT team and negotiators were called in when officers found the man had barricaded himself in the apartment, police said. The rest of the building was evacuated after negotiations proved unsuccessful. Officers made entry, using “distraction devices and chemical agents” and captured the man after a brief struggle in which at Taser was used, authorities said. Raymond Michael Weber, 29, of Sacramento was booked into the Solano County Jail. “Officers additionally found two women deceased inside of the apartment. The cause of their death remains under investigation and their identities are being withheld pending next-of-kin notifications,” the department said. Online Solano County jail records show Weber was being held without bail on suspicion of murder and was scheduled for a court appearance Tuesday. It was not immediately known whether he had an attorney.

Hate groups migrate online, making tracking more difficult

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-01/hate-groups-migrate-online-making-tracking-more-difficult

During one of the most politically divisive years in recent memory, the number of active hate groups in the U.S. actually declined as far-right extremists migrated further to online networks, reflecting a splintering of white nationalist and neo-Nazi groups that are more difficult to track. In its annual report, released Monday, the Southern Poverty Law Center said it identified 838 active hate groups operating across the U.S. in 2020. That’s a decrease from the 940 documented in 2019 and the record-high of 1,020 in 2018, said the law center, which tracks racism, xenophobia and anti-government militias. “It is important to understand that the number of hate groups is merely one metric for measuring the level of hate and racism in America, and that the decline in groups should not be interpreted as a reduction in bigoted beliefs and actions motivated by hate,” said the report, first shared exclusively with the Associated Press. The Montgomery, Ala.-based law center said many hate groups have moved to social media platforms and use of encrypted apps, while others have been banned altogether from mainstream social media networks. Still, the law center said, online platforms allow individuals to interact with hate and anti-government groups without becoming members, maintain connections with like-minded people, and take part in real-world actions, such as last month’s siege on the U.S. Capitol. World & Nation Right-wing extremists’ ranks are growing as they attract Trump supporters Jan. 27, 2021 White nationalist organizations, a subset of the hate groups listed in the report, declined last year from 155 to 128. Those groups had seen huge growth the previous two years after being energized by Donald Trump’s campaign and presidency, the report said. The number of anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim and anti-LGBTQ hate groups remained largely stable, while their in-person organizing was hampered by the coronavirus pandemic. Bottom line, the levels of hate and bigotry in America have not diminished, said SPLC President and CEO Margaret Huang. “What’s important is that we start to reckon with all the reasons why those groups have persisted for so long and been able to get so much influence in the last White House that they actually feel emboldened,” Huang told the AP. Business In the world of pseudonymous internet message boards, revolts come in all forms. Last week they gave us the Great GameStop Stock Uprising. Jan. 31, 2021 Last month, as President Biden’s administration began settling in, the Department of Homeland Security issued an early national terrorism bulletin in response to a growing threat from home-grown extremists, including anti-government militias and white supremacists. The extremists are coalescing under a broader, more loosely affiliated movement of people who reject democratic institutions and multiculturalism, Huang said. The SPLC’s report comes out nearly a month after a mostly white mob of Trump supporters and members of far-right groups violently breached the U.S. Capitol building. At least five deaths have been linked to the assault, including a Capitol police officer. Some in the mob waved Confederate battle flags and wore clothing with neo-Nazi symbolism. Federal authorities have made more than 160 arrests and sought hundreds more for criminal charges related to the deadly Jan. 6 assault. Authorities have also linked roughly 30 defendants to a group or movement, according to an AP review of court records. That includes seven defendants linked to QAnon, a once-fringe internet conspiracy movement that recently grew into a powerful force in mainstream conservative politics; six linked to the Proud Boys, a misogynistic, anti-immigrant and anti-Semitic group with ties to white supremacism; four linked to the Oath Keepers, a paramilitary organization that recruits current and former military, law enforcement and first-responder personnel; four linked to the Three Percenters, an anti-government militia movement; and two leaders of “Super Happy Fun America,” a group with ties to white nationalists known for organizing a so-called “straight pride” parade in downtown Boston in 2019. Bipartisan critics of Trump have blamed him for inciting the attack on the Capitol, which some far-right groups have declared a success and are using as a recruitment tool to grow membership, according to the SPLC. Opinion Antiabortion extremists are not happy about President Biden’s recent actions in support of abortion. Jan. 31, 2021 The final year of the Trump presidency, marked by a wide-ranging reckoning over systemic racism, also propelled racist conspiracy theories and white nationalist ideology into the political mainstream, the law center said. According to an SPLC survey conducted in August, 29% of respondents said they personally know someone who believes that white people are the superior race. The poll also found that 51% of Americans thought the upheaval and vandalism that occurred across the country around Black Lives Matter demonstrations were a bigger problem than excessive force by police. Protests over the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd last May spurred a push to make the November election a referendum on white supremacy. Nestled in Trump’s baseless claims of widespread voter fraud was a reality that turnout among Black and Latino voters played a significant role in handing victory to Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the first woman and first person of Black and South Asian heritage to hold that office. During his inaugural address, Biden issued a strong repudiation of white supremacy and domestic terrorism, which is rare for such consequential speeches. The SPLC made several recommendations for the new administration in its latest report. It called for establishing offices within the Department of Homeland Security, the Justice Department and the FBI to monitor, investigate and prosecute cases of domestic terrorism. It also urged improving federal hate crime data collection, training, and prevention; and for enacting federal legislation that shifts funding away from punishment models and toward preventing violent extremism. People who support or express hatred and bigotry are not always card-carrying members of far-right groups. But that doesn’t mean they can’t be activated into violence, said Christian Picciolini, a former far-right extremist and founder of the Free Radicals Project, a group that helps people disengage from hate organizations. It also doesn’t mean that they can’t be reached and de-radicalized, he said. “We have to have kind of a dual approach to stop what’s happening now, but also to make sure that we are not creating a problem for us in the future, to understand how the propaganda is spread that is recruiting these people,” Picciolini said. “Right now, it’s in a very self-service format online,” he added. “We’re facing a really big problem.”

Trump names two lawyers to impeachment defense team

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-31/trump-names-2-lawyers-to-impeachment-defense-team

Donald Trump announced Sunday that a criminal defense lawyer and a former county prosecutor who was criticized for his decision to not charge actor Bill Cosby in a sex crimes case will lead his impeachment defense team, one day after it was revealed that the former president had parted ways with an earlier set of attorneys. The two representing Trump will be defense lawyer David Schoen, a frequent television legal commentator, and Bruce Castor, a former district attorney in Pennsylvania. Both attorneys issued statements through Trump’s office saying that they were honored to take the job. “The strength of our Constitution is about to be tested like never before in our history. It is strong and resilient. A document written for the ages, and it will triumph over partisanship yet again, and always,” said Castor, who served as district attorney for Montgomery County, outside of Philadelphia, from 2000 to 2008. World & Nation The detentions come after days of escalating tension between Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy and Myanmar’s powerful military. Feb. 1, 2021 The announcement Sunday was intended to promote a sense of stability surrounding the Trump defense team as his impeachment trial nears. Several South Carolina lawyers had been set to represent him at the trial, which starts the week of Feb. 8. Trump’s team had initially announced that Butch Bowers, a South Carolina lawyer, would lead his legal team after an introduction from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham. But that team unraveled over the weekend due to differences over legal strategy. One person familiar with their thinking said Bowers and another South Carolina lawyer, Deborah Barbier, left the team because Trump wanted them to use a defense that relied on allegations of election fraud, and the lawyers were not willing to do so. The person was not authorized to speak publicly about the situation and requested anonymity. Trump, the first president in American history to be impeached twice, is set to stand trial in the Senate on a charge that he incited his supporters to storm Congress on Jan. 6 as lawmakers met to certify Joe Biden’s electoral victory. Republicans and Trump aides have made clear that they intend to argue the trial is unconstitutional because he is no longer in office. Many legal scholars say there is no bar to an impeachment trial despite Trump having left the White House. One argument is that state constitutions that predate the U.S. Constitution allowed impeachment after officials left office. The Constitution’s drafters also did not specifically bar the practice. Castor, a Republican who was the elected district attorney of Pennsylvania’s third-most populated county, decided against charging Cosby in an alleged 2004 sexual encounter. He ran for the job again in 2015, and his judgment in the Cosby case was a key issue used against him by the Democrat who defeated him. Castor has said that he personally thought Cosby should have been arrested, but that the evidence wasn’t strong enough to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. In 2004, Castor ran for state attorney general unsuccessfully. In 2016, he became the top lieutenant to the state’s embattled attorney general — Kathleen Kane, a Democrat — as she faced charges of leaking protected investigative information to smear a rival and lying to a grand jury about it. She was convicted, leaving Castor as the state’s acting attorney general for a few days. Schoen met with financier Jeffrey Epstein about joining his defense team on sex trafficking charges just days before Epstein killed himself in a New York jail. In an interview with the Atlanta Jewish Times last year, Schoen said he had been approached by Trump associate Roger Stone before Stone’s trial and was later retained to handle his appeal. Trump commuted Stone’s sentence and then pardoned him. Neither Schoen nor Castor immediately returned phone messages seeking comment Sunday evening.

Body found in San Diego park is missing 21-year-old, family says

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-01-31/family-body-found-in-san-diego-park-is-missing-21-year-old

The body of a 21-year-old man who went missing while out for a run was found in water at a San Diego area wilderness park, his family said. Volunteers joined authorities in searching for Max Lenail, who disappeared Friday at sprawling Mission Trails Regional Park. A man’s body was found by hikers near a waterfall Saturday afternoon, said San Diego police Officer Darius Jamsetjee. Jamsetjee said that while police believe the body is that of Lenail, final confirmation will come from the medical examiner’s office, which will also determine the cause of death. Lenail’s parents each posted messages online announcing their son had been found dead, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. “It is every parent‘s worst nightmare,” his mother, Laurie Yoler, wrote on Facebook. His father, Ben Lenail, said on Facebook that he believes his son had a “freak accident.” “He knew the wilderness, but he probably slipped and then hit his head and died of a combination of head trauma and hypothermia,” Ben Lenail said. In 2017 Max Lenail began attending Brown University in Rhode Island, where he studied biology, the newspaper said.

Israel to give some COVID-19 vaccines to Palestinians

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-31/israel-to-give-some-coronavirus-vaccines-to-palestinians

Israel has agreed to transfer 5,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to the Palestinians to immunize front-line medical workers, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s office announced Sunday. It was the first time that Israel has confirmed the transfer of vaccines to the Palestinians, who lag far behind Israel’s aggressive vaccination campaign and have not yet received any vaccines. The World Health Organization has raised concerns about the disparity between Israel and Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, and international human rights groups and United Nations experts have said Israel is responsible for the well-being of Palestinians in these areas. Israel says that under interim peace agreements reached in the 1990s it is not responsible for the Palestinians and in any case has not received requests for help. Gantz’s office said early Sunday the transfer had been approved. It had no further details on when that would happen. There was no immediate comment from Palestinian officials. Israel is one of the world’s leaders in vaccinating its population after striking procurement deals with international drug giants Pfizer and Moderna. The Health Ministry says nearly one-third of Israel’s 9.3 million people have received the first dose of the vaccine, while about 1.7 million people have received both doses. World & Nation Ultra-Orthodox demonstrators have clashed with Israeli police in two major cities as authorities continue to struggle to enforce coronavirus restrictions. The campaign includes Israel’s Arab citizens and Palestinians living in annexed east Jerusalem. But Palestinians living in the West Bank under the autonomy government of the Palestinian Authority and those living under Hamas rule in Gaza are not included. The Palestinian Authority has been trying to acquire doses through a WHO program known as COVAX. But the program, which aims to procure vaccines for needed countries, has been slow to get off the ground. The dispute reflects global inequality in access to vaccines, as wealthy countries vacuum up the lion’s share of doses, leaving poorer countries even further behind in combating the public health and economic effects of the pandemic. It has also emerged as another flashpoint in the decades-old Mideast conflict, even as the virus has wreaked havoc on both sides.

2 identified as Proud Boys members indicted on federal conspiracy charges in Capitol riot

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-30/federal-conspiracy-charges-for-2-proud-boys-in-capitol-riot

Two men identified as members of the Proud Boys have been indicted on federal conspiracy and other charges in the Capitol riot as prosecutors raise the stakes in some of the slew of cases stemming from the Jan. 6 insurrection. Dominic Pezzola, a former Marine who authorities say was seen on video smashing a Capitol window with a stolen Capitol Police riot shield, and William Pepe, who authorities said was photographed inside the building, were arrested earlier in the month on federal charges that included illegally entering a restricted building. The two, both from New York state, have been indicted in Washington on charges that newly include conspiracy. “The object of the conspiracy was to obstruct, influence, impede and interfere with law enforcement officers engaged in their official duties in protecting the U.S. Capitol and its grounds,” the indictment says, accusing Pezzola, Pepe and unnamed others of leading a group of Proud Boys and others to the Capitol and moving police barricades there. Pezzola took an officer’s shield and used it to break the window, according to the indictment, which was filed in court Friday. Pezzola’s lawyer Michael Scibetta said Saturday that he was researching the charges and hadn’t been able yet to discuss the indictment with his client, who is being held without bail. A lawyer for Pepe, Shelli Peterson, declined to comment. Politics Marjorie Taylor Greene returned to her conservative northwest Georgia district this week to find a small but growing number of locals questioning her antics. Jan. 30, 2021 Three self-described members of a paramilitary group were charged with conspiracy this month and accused of plotting to attack the Capitol. But the new charges against Pezzola and Pepe appear to be the first conspiracy cases involving alleged members of the Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group that includes white supremacists and encourages violence. Michael Sherwin, the acting U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., said in a court filing Friday that Pezzola “showed perseverance, determination, and coordination in being at the front lines every step along the way before breaking into the Capitol,” and that his actions in shattering the window and allowing an initial group of rioters to stream through “cannot be overstated.” Pezzola was seen on video inside the Capitol with a cigar, having what he called a “victory smoke,” and boasting that he “knew we could take this” over, Sherwin wrote. The prosecutor argued that the remarks showed Pezzola “invested a significant personal effort to take over the Capitol and that he did so in coordination with others.” An unidentified witness told the FBI that Pezzola was with a group at the Capitol whose members said they would have killed anyone they got hold of, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) and then-Vice President Mike Pence, according to prosecutors. The witness added that people in the group said they’d return on the “20th” and kill everyone they could. The presidential inauguration was Jan. 20. In a search of Pezzola’s home in Rochester, FBI agents found a computer thumb drive with hundreds of files detailing how to make firearms, poisons or explosives, Sherwin wrote in arguing that Pezzola should continue to be held without bail. Pezzola, 43, served six years stateside in the Marines as an infantryman and was discharged in 2005 at the rank of corporal, service records show. His lawyer has said his client is self-employed and a family man. Pepe, 31, was photographed inside the Capitol and later identified as a Metro-North Railroad train yard laborer who had called in sick on Jan. 6 to go to Washington for a protest by supporters of then-President Trump, according to a Jan. 11 criminal court complaint. Pepe, who lives in Beacon in New York’s Hudson Valley, has since been suspended without pay from his job at the New York City-area commuter railroad. At Trump’s urging, thousands of protesters streamed to the Capitol. Some then stormed it, temporarily disrupting Congress’ certification of President Biden’s victory. Overall, federal authorities have charged more than 150 people in the siege. The Justice Department said both Pepe and Pezzola have gone to Proud Boys gatherings and have tactical vests emblazoned with the group’s logo. The group is known for violent confrontations with antifascists and other ideological opponents at protests. Trump told the group to “stand back and stand by” when asked at a September debate whether he would condemn white supremacist and militia groups. Shortly before the Capitol riot, the Proud Boys’ leader, Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, was arrested in Washington and ordered to stay out of the city after being accused of vandalizing a Black Lives Matter banner at a historic Black church in December.

For Biden, protecting the environment means filling vacant science jobs

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-02/biden-environmental-challenge-filling-vacant-scientist-jobs

Polluting factories go uninspected by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Leadership positions sit vacant at the U.S. Geological Survey’s climate science centers. And U.S. Department of Agriculture research into environmental issues important to farmers is unfinished. The ranks of scientists who carry out environmental research, enforcement and other jobs fell in several agencies — sharply in some cases — under President Trump, federal data shows. Veteran staffers say many workers retired, quit or moved to other agencies amid pressure from an administration they regarded as hostile to science and beholden to industry. That poses a challenge for President Biden, who must rebuild a depleted and demoralized workforce to make good on promises to tackle climate change, protect the environment and reduce pollution that disproportionately affects poor and minority communities. “It’s going to take a long time to undo the damage that the Trump administration has done,” said Kyla Bennett, a former EPA enforcement official who now directs science policy for Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a watchdog group. Bennett said many scientists left as Trump’s administration rolled back regulations and undercut climate work, leaving agencies with less experience, a work backlog and unfinished research. Toward a more sustainable California Get Boiling Point, our newsletter exploring climate change, energy and the environment, and become part of the conversation — and the solution. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. Employment data show more than 670 science jobs lost at the EPA, 150 at the USGS, which researches human-caused climate change and natural hazards, and 231 at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. At the USDA, more than one-third of staff members — almost 200 people — left the agency’s Economic Research Service and its National Institute of Food and Agriculture in the 2019 fiscal year, after the Trump administration moved their jobs from Washington, D.C., to the Kansas City, Mo., area. “The loss of experienced staff was deep,” said spokesman Matt Herrick, who provided figures showing even deeper losses at one point. “We lost too many of the nation’s best economists and agricultural scientists.” Gone are specialists working on such things as crops, wetland loss, climate policy and soil conservation, said Laura Dodson, acting vice president of the union representing research service workers. The findings on science job losses are based on payroll records released to the advocacy group Union of Concerned Scientists through a public records request and on USDA attrition data. Not all agencies saw drops under Trump, and the drain of science jobs from the USGS and the EPA began before he took office. The EPA lost more than 3,500 employees — 22% of its workforce — over the past two decades, according to budget documents. At the USGS, 1,230 science jobs were lost since 2000, a 17% drop. Politics Environmental justice groups in California and elsewhere are muscling for influence in Washington, unleashing long-simmering tensions in the broader movement. Jan. 30, 2021 Priorities change from one presidency to the next, said Daren Bakst, senior fellow with the conservative Heritage Foundation. Under Trump, the EPA emphasized cleanups of Superfund sites and shifted away from climate change. “It doesn’t mean anything improper’s been done,” said Bakst. “There’s going to be ideological people within the federal government civil service, and some didn’t want to work in the Trump administration.” But those who experienced cuts under Trump say his administration brought something new: intense political pressure aimed at agencies at odds with its pro-industry agenda and a willingness to thwart legitimate science. A 2018 Office of Inspector General investigation at the Department of Interior, which oversees the USGS, found that 16 employees assigned new duties under Trump viewed their moves as retribution for work on climate change, energy and conservation. And the administration removed or blocked some knowledgeable scientists from boards that advise the EPA about everything from air pollution to toxic chemicals in favor of industry insiders, said Christopher Zarba, former director of the EPA’s Science Advisory Board. “It’s very intentional, to get rid of experts because they stand in the way of unfettered industrial use of federal resources,” said Joel Clement, a former Interior Department climate scientist who resigned in 2017 and filed a still-pending whistleblower complaint following his reassignment to an accounting office. Clement is now a senior research fellow at Harvard University and the Union of Concerned Scientists. Scientists say federal environmental research could be hobbled for years by the loss of experienced scientists. “We’re just not putting out as many reports; we’re not putting out as much research because there’s not enough staff to get it done,” said the USDA’s Dodson, who works on biotechnology issues, including genetically modified seeds. The Trump administration said the relocation to Kansas City was intended to save money. But Dodson believes it was designed to get rid of career scientists, noting that then-acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney bragged that the move helped streamline government by encouraging scientists to quit. “This was meant to hinder the work of a scientific agency,” Dodson said. Politics A divided Congress could make climate action harder, but there’s a huge amount Joe Biden can do on his own. Nov. 8, 2020 At the EPA, remaining staff are taking on more work, leaving little time to train newer employees, said Justin Chen, an environmental engineer and union representative in the Dallas enforcement division. Inspections and compliance monitoring by the agency fell 28% under Trump, EPA figures show. New civil enforcement cases fell more than 20%. Criminal cases increased over that period, although the number of defendants charged dropped sharply. Almost 200 scientists left the EPA’s Office of Research and Development, including Dan Costa, who headed the climate and energy research program until 2018, when he said it became clear the Trump administration did not value scientists or climate research. “We had a big bull’s-eye on us,” Costa said. “People couldn’t use the word ‘climate.’” The EPA did not answer emailed questions about staff losses. The Fish and Wildlife Service did not respond to a request for comment. Key USGS leadership posts went unfilled at regional climate science centers and approval of research grants was delayed, said Robin O’Malley, who spent 38 years with the agency and retired in 2019 as director of the center in Colorado. “We could barely do anything,” O’Malley said. “It’s been a morale disaster and an operational disaster.” Some delays occurred in research to help deal with increasingly intense wildfires in the Rocky Mountains, and in studies of migratory birds facing habitat losses, scientists said. A USGS spokesman declined to answer questions about research delays and job losses but said hiring decisions are moving forward. While Biden has promised to make climate science a top priority, scientists say it will take time to hire and train new staff. Meantime, there are fewer experts to build criminal cases against polluters, said Joyce Howell, an EPA attorney in Philadelphia. The effects could be felt for years, she added, because it takes a long time to investigate and prosecute violations. “You just don’t have as many environmental cases, you don’t prosecute everyone,” Howell said.

Biden faces renewed pressure to secure release of U.S. contractor in Afghanistan

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-30/biden-faces-calls-to-secure-release-of-us-man-in-afghanistan

As the Biden administration considers whether it should pull remaining U.S. troops out of Afghanistan in the coming months, some fear for the fate of an American who could be left behind: an abducted contractor believed held by a Taliban-linked militant group. On the one-year anniversary of Mark Frerichs’ abduction, family members and other supporters are urging the Biden administration not to withdraw additional troops before the Navy veteran is released from captivity. Frerichs was abducted one year ago Sunday while working in the country on engineering projects. U.S. officials believe he is in the custody of the Haqqani network, though the Taliban has not publicly acknowledged holding him. “We are confident that he’s still alive and well,” his sister, Charlene Cakora, said in an interview with the Associated Press. “We don’t have any thinking that he’s dead or that he’s injured.” For U.S. diplomats, Frerichs’ captivity is a piece of a much larger geopolitical puzzle that aims to balance bringing troops home, after a two-decade conflict, with ensuring regional peace and stability. Biden administration officials have made clear that they are reviewing a February 2020 peace deal between the United States and the Taliban, concerned over whether the Taliban are meeting its commitment to reduce violence in Afghanistan. The Trump administration, which had made the release of hostages and detainees a priority, ended without having brought home Frerichs, who is from Lombard, Ill. He is one of several Americans the Biden administration is inheriting responsibility for, including journalist Austin Tice, who went missing in Syria in 2012, as well as U.S. Marine Trevor Reed and Michigan corporate executive Paul Whelan, both of whom are imprisoned in Russia. It is unclear to what extent, if at all, Frerichs’ fate will be complicated by the declining American military presence in Afghanistan committed to by the Trump administration. Days before President Biden took office, the Trump administration announced that it had met its goal of reducing the number of troops in Afghanistan to about 2,500, part of a broader plan to remove all forces by May. The Biden administration must determine how to handle that commitment. New Secretary of State Antony Blinken held his first call Thursday with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and told him the Biden administration was reviewing the peace deal. A State Department description of the conversation did not mention Frerichs. Separately, the Pentagon said the Taliban’s refusal to meet commitments to reduce violence in Afghanistan is raising questions about whether all U.S. troops will be able to leave by May. Frerichs’ supporters are concerned that a drawdown of military personnel from Afghanistan leaves the U.S. without the leverage it needs to demand his release. “Further troop withdrawals that are not conditioned upon the release of American hostages will likely make it harder to subsequently secure their release,” the two Democratic senators from Illinois, Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin, wrote Biden in a letter provided to the AP. In an interview, Duckworth said she wrote Biden and Blinken to stress “that this needs to be a priority, that we need to bring him home.” She said Lloyd Austin, the new Defense secretary, had given assurances that any negotiations about military presence would include discussion about detainees “as opposed to us just unilaterally pulling out of there.” Representatives of the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, which advocates for hostages, told new national security advisor Jake Sullivan in a conversation during the presidential transition period about concerns that Frerichs and Paul Overby, an American writer who disappeared in Afghanistan in 2014, weren’t adequately prioritized during discussions with the Taliban, according to the organization’s executive director, Margaux Ewen. The State Department is offering $5 million for information leading to Frerichs’ return. “American citizen Mark Frerichs has spent a year in captivity. We will not stop working until we secure his safe return home,” said State Department spokesman Ned Price. Frerichs remains in Afghanistan despite a year of steady diplomatic negotiations, including peace talks in November with then-Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo and Taliban and Afghan negotiators. The U.S. and Taliban signed a peace deal last February, but, much to his family’s frustration, Frerichs’ return was not made a predicate for the agreement, even though he had been abducted weeks earlier. “I don’t want any troops to start packing up and heading out until Mark gets home safely, because I don’t think we really have a leg to stand on once they’re all out of there,” Cakora said. “You don’t leave Americans behind, and I just really want to make sure that he’s home safe.” Blinken told reporters Wednesday that the Biden administration wanted to take a detailed look at that deal, saying. “We need to understand exactly what is in the agreement” before deciding how to proceed. He said the administration had asked Trump’s special envoy for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, to remain on the job for continuity’s sake. In his call with Ghani the following day, according to the State Department, Blinken expressed “robust diplomatic support” for the peace process but said the U.S. was reviewing the peace deal to assess whether the Taliban was living up to its commitment to “cut ties with terrorist groups.” There were other internal government discussions in the Trump administration. The Taliban had asked for the release of a combatant imprisoned on drug charges in the U.S. as part a broader effort to resolve issues with Afghanistan. That request prompted dialogue between the State Department and the Justice Department about whether such a release could happen, though it ultimately did not, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss the private discussions and spoke on condition of anonymity. It is unclear whether those conversations will pick up in the new administration. A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment.

Fences around U.S. Capitol highlight delicate dance over safety and access

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-30/capitol-fences-highlight-delicate-dance-over-safety-access

The terrace on the west side of the Capitol used to be a popular place for tourists and Washingtonians alike to watch the sun dip behind the Lincoln Memorial at the far end of the National Mall. Then came the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The terrace has been closed to the public ever since. It’s a sad fact of life in the nation’s capital that security measures are seldom temporary. So when the Capitol Police force’s acting chief said permanent fences around the Capitol complex should be part of the “vast improvements” in security needed to protect the building and the lawmakers who work inside, the reaction from members of Congress, local lawmakers and neighborhood residents was swift and emphatically negative. World & Nation House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says lawmakers face threats of violence from an “enemy” within Congress and more money is needed to protect them. “D.C. does not support it,” said D.C. councilman Charles Allen, whose district includes the Capitol Hill neighborhood. U.S. Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-Va.) said on Twitter, “I believe we can keep Members, press, staff, my constituents, and all those who work here safe without walling off the symbol of our democracy. It’s the People’s House — let’s keep it that way.” A petition being circulated online at change.org against making permanent the temporary fences that were erected after a mob loyal to former President Trump stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 had roughly 1,500 signatures by midafternoon Friday. “Visitors and residents of D.C. would be punished by a permanent fence, a permanent scar on our beautiful city, and would lose access to this beautiful beacon of democracy,” the petition reads. The grounds of the Capitol attract crowds for public events, daily exercise, even intimate moments. Allison Cunningham, the petition’s drafter, remembers going to the Capitol grounds to watch the Discovery space shuttle on its final flight atop a Boeing 747 in 2012. “It’s a beautiful and unique place where people love to walk their dogs, take family photos or photos to announce their engagement,” said Cunningham, a former Capitol Hill staffer who lives in the area and works in government affairs. Security doesn’t have to be unsightly, said Susan Piedmont-Palladino, an architecture professor and coordinator of urban design at Virginia Tech. She pointed to the creation of a pedestrian plaza in front of the White House that grew out of the decision to close Pennsylvania Avenue to vehicular traffic following the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995. World & Nation The bombs were left at the Republican and Democratic national committee offices on Jan. 5, the FBI says. It’s unclear if they were related to the Capitol riot. “We have gotten some beautiful improvements to the city out of fear,” she said. The plaza and Lafayette Park also have been closed since the summer, blocked by fences similar to those at the Capitol. Asked Friday whether President Biden would consider taking down that new fencing at the White House, Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that, while “we’d all like” for it to be removed, she had nothing further to share on the issue. The Supreme Court also is blocked off from the public by temporary fences. When the court invoked security concerns to close its front doors to the public in 2010, Justice Stephen G. Breyer lamented what would be lost with people no longer able to enter the building by climbing 44 steps beneath the iconic phrase “Equal justice under law” etched in the pediment above. “To many members of the public, this Court’s main entrance and front steps are not only a means to, but also a metaphor for, access to the Court itself,” Breyer wrote, adding that “potential security threats will exist regardless of which entrance we use.” To Piedmont-Palladino, the real challenge in what she called an ongoing minuet between security and access “doesn’t involve keeping people away. It involves making that space more welcoming to civic behavior,” she said. Associated Press staff writer Alexandra Jaffe contributed to this report.

Cowboys for Trump leader in solitary confinement after refusing coronavirus test

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-29/cowboys-for-trump-leader-refuses-virus-test-in-jail

The jailed leader of Cowboys for Trump has been held in solitary isolation for two weeks after he refused to take a coronavirus test and rejected initial offers to speak with an attorney or judge following his arrest in connection with the Jan. 6 siege on the U.S. Capitol, a federal judge said Friday in a court order. Couy Griffin, a county commissioner from southern New Mexico and founder of a group of horseback- riding supporters of former President Trump, has been charged by federal prosecutors with knowingly entering the Capitol grounds with the intent to disrupt government business. He was arrested Jan. 17 when he returned to Washington, vowing opposition to President Biden’s election victory and inauguration. U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui on Friday threatened Griffin with contempt of court if he fails to appear by phone or videoconference at a detention hearing in the coming days. Faruqui noted that Griffin has been yelling at officers and banging on the door of his jail cell. “This matter will not move forward to a detention hearing until the defendant appears,” the judge wrote. World & Nation The bombs were left at the Republican and Democratic national committee offices on Jan. 5, the FBI says. It’s unclear if they were related to the Capitol riot. Griffin has said he wasn’t involved in violence at the U.S. Capitol and never went inside the building but waded among throngs of Trump supporters on an exterior balcony. Federal prosecutors want Griffin held without bail as a flight risk and danger to others, citing a history of threatening comments, racial invective, access to firearms and vows that Biden would never be president. Faruqui said Griffin can leave solitary isolation if he cooperates. “Simply taking a COVID-19 test, something hundreds of millions of people have safely done across the world, will allow the defendant to exit isolation,” the judge wrote.

Indian farmers begin hunger strike amid fury against Modi

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-30/indian-farmers-begin-hunger-strike-amid-fury-against-modi

Indian farmers and their leaders spearheading more than two months of protests against new agriculture laws began a daylong hunger strike Saturday, directing their fury toward Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government. Farmer leaders said the hunger strike, which coincides with the anniversary of the death of Indian independence leader Mohandas Gandhi, would reaffirm the peaceful nature of the protests. “The way the government is spreading planned lies and violence is condemnable,” according to Samyukta Kisan Morcha of United Farmers’ Front, a coalition of farmers unions. It includes hundreds of protest leaders taking part in the strike. Farmers are demanding the withdrawal of laws passed by Parliament last September. They say the legislature will favor large corporations, devastate the earnings of many farmers and leave those with small plots behind. The long-running protests have largely been peaceful but violence erupted on Tuesday, India’s Republic Day, when tens of thousands of farmers riding tractors and on foot stormed the 17th century Red Fort in a brief but shocking takeover. World & Nation The presence of women in India’s biggest mass movement in years reflects profound opposition to a slate of agriculture reforms. Clashes between the protesters and government forces left one protester dead and nearly 400 police officers injured. Officials did not say how many protesting farmers were injured, but television channels showed many of them bloodied after police in riot gear hit them with batons and fired tear gas. Police also filed cases against journalists, activists and opposition politicians, accusing them of sedition and inciting violence. Modi and his allies have described the laws as necessary to modernize Indian agriculture. But farmers have vowed to stay at protest sites until the laws are repealed. Since November, tens of thousands have hunkered down at the edge of the capital while multiple rounds of talks with the government have been unsuccessful. World & Nation India’s effort to gain protected status for basmati rice exports in Europe has irked Pakistan, the world’s No. 2 producer. The protests by farmers, the most influential voting bloc in India and the economy’s bloodline, pose the biggest challenge to Modi. They brought together 16 opposition parties on Friday when they boycotted the president’s address to Parliament. Sporadic clashes between protesters, police and unidentified groups shouting anti-farmer slogans have broken out since Tuesday’s tractor rally. On Friday, a group of around 200 people, claiming to be local residents, barged into one protest site despite heavy security, threw stones at farmers and damaged tents pitched by them. The group demanded that farmers vacate the area and said they had “insulted” the national flag during their tractor parade on Republic Day. The protesting farmers, however, alleged that the vandals were largely made up of members of a Hindu nationalist group that has close ties with Modi’s party.

State bar looking into lawyer Lin Wood, who pushed voter fraud claims

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-02/state-bar-looking-into-lawyer-who-pushed-voter-fraud-claims

The organization that licenses lawyers in Georgia has opened an inquiry into attorney Lin Wood, who gained national attention since the general election for persistent, unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud. The State Bar of Georgia “is proceeding with an inquiry” under the bar rule that has to do with mental incapacity or substance abuse “to the extent of impairing competency as a lawyer,” Chief Operating Officer Sarah Coole confirmed in an email Friday. The bar’s investigative process is confidential, but Coole said she could confirm it because Wood himself had “made this matter public.” “I am fighting battles on every front. The State Bar of Georgia told me today they would demand a mental health exam from me if I wanted to keep my law license,” Wood wrote in a post on the social media platform Telegram that was last edited Thursday evening. “I asked what I had done wrong, I was only told it was about my social media comments. My speech,” Wood wrote. Coole did not respond to a follow-up email asking whether the state bar’s inquiry had to do with Wood’s social media posting. Reached by text message Friday, Wood said he had not received any written communication or telephone call from the state bar. Asked how the licensing body communicated an intent to demand a mental health exam, Wood said to ask the state bar. Politics House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is facing unrest from opposing ends of the Republican spectrum over Reps. Liz Cheney and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Feb. 3, 2021 Posting again on Telegram Friday, Wood wrote: “IF the State Bar of Georgia formally requests that I submit to a mental health examination in order to maintain my license to practice law, I will respectfully decline to do so. I am of sound mind and I have not violated any rule of professional conduct.” Wood vowed to fight the state bar with litigation if necessary. “I hope the State Bar will not foolishly seek what they have no right to have,” he wrote, later adding that it will “have to face the consequences of its choices.” The state bar rules say that if its disciplinary board finds that a lawyer may be “impaired or incapacitated to practice law” as result of mental illness, cognitive impairment or substance abuse, the board may make a confidential referral to an appropriate medical or mental health professional for evaluation. Politics Impeachment managers say Trump summoned a mob to D.C. and aimed it “like a loaded cannon” at the Capitol. Trump’s defenders say it was free speech. Feb. 2, 2021 A lawyer’s refusal to participate in the evaluation or any recommended treatment may be grounds for further action, “including emergency suspension proceedings,” the rules say. Wood has long been known for his representation of high-profile clients — including Richard Jewell, who was wrongly accused in the 1996 Olympic bombing in Atlanta — particularly in defamation cases. After the general election in November, Wood was prolific on Twitter, pledging his support for then-President Trump and insistently perpetuating the false claim that the election was rigged. The social media platform eventually banished him, saying he violated its rules. He also issued a post on Parler that seemed to call for the killing of former Vice President Mike Pence. Wood filed legal challenges to the outcome of the presidential election on his own and in coordination with another conservative attorney, Sidney Powell, who was booted from the former president’s legal team but continued to fight on his behalf. The pair drew criticism from Republican leaders after they encouraged Georgia voters not to cast ballots in a U.S. Senate runoff election, saying it would be rigged and questioning whether the two Republican candidates had adequately supported Trump. The two Republican candidates — David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler — both lost their races. State and federal officials have repeatedly said there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud, and dozens of lawsuits making such allegations were rejected by the courts.

Bay Area customers sue Subway, claiming tuna is ‘anything but tuna’

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-29/2-customers-sue-subway-claiming-tuna-is-anything-but-tuna

Two San Francisco Bay Area residents have sued the fast-food chain Subway, alleging that its tuna is “anything but tuna” and calling it “tuna salad” constitutes fraud and false advertising. Karen Dhanowa and Nilima Amin of Alameda County claim in their lawsuit filed last week in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California that Subway has been trying to “capitalize on the premium price consumers are willing to pay for tuna,” the East Bay Times reported Thursday. The plaintiffs had samples from several California restaurants analyzed, and the filling was determined to be “a mixture of various concoctions that do not constitute tuna, yet have been blended together by defendants to imitate the appearance of tuna,” according to the complaint, which doesn’t say precisely what the lab tests discovered. In a statement, Subway called the accusations “reckless and improper.” “The taste and quality of our tuna make it one of Subway’s most popular products and these baseless accusations threaten to damage our franchisees, small business owners who work tirelessly to uphold the high standards that Subway sets for all of its products, including its tuna,” the company said. The plaintiffs are represented by Lanier Law Firm of Houston and Shalini Dogra of the Dogra Law Group of Santa Monica. The attorneys did not make their clients available for comment. According to the suit, the attorneys for Dhanowa and Amin are hoping to get the claim certified as a class action, which would allow other customers who purchased Subway’s tuna sandwiches and wraps after Jan. 21, 2017, in California to join the case. The company said the lawsuit seems to be “part of a trend in which the named plaintiffs’ attorneys have been targeting the food industry in an effort to make a name for themselves.” “Subway will vigorously defend itself against these and any other baseless efforts to mischaracterize and tarnish the high-quality products that Subway and its franchisees provide to their customers, in California and around the world, and intends to fight these claims through all available avenues if they are not immediately dismissed,” it said.

GameStop soars again; Wall Street bends under the pressure

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-01-29/gamestop-stock-market-wall-street

GameStop’s stock is back to the races Friday, and the overall U.S. market is down again, as the saga that’s captivated and confused Wall Street ramps up the drama. GameStop shot up more than 70% in afternoon trading, clawing back most of its steep loss from the day before, after Robinhood said it will allow customers to start buying some of the stock again. GameStop has been on a stupefying 1,900% run over the last three weeks and has become the battleground where swarms of smaller investors see themselves making an epic stand against the 1%. The moves are reverberating across Wall Street, as concerns rise about how much damage the frenzy could do as its effects spill out into the broader market. The big professional investors who had been banking on a drop for GameStop’s stock are taking sharp losses. Investors say that’s pushing them to sell other stocks they own to raise cash, and that is helping to pull down parts of the market completely unrelated to the revolt by Main Street investors. The assault is directed squarely at hedge funds and other Wall Street titans that had bet the struggling video game retailer’s stock would fall. A couple have already essentially admitted defeat, with one saying Friday it would stop publishing reports on stocks it expects to fall. The army of smaller and novice investors, meanwhile, is pledging to keep up the momentum for GameStop’s stock in hopes of inflicting more pain on the financial elite. The volatility around GameStop and a few other stocks has drowned out many of the other issues weighing on markets, including the virus, vaccine rollouts and potential aid for the economy. “Our consideration is whether this is something that is a long-term influence or contained within a handful of companies,” said Tom Hainlin, national investment strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. Technology and the Internet The day-trading app just blocked some stocks that had rocketed in price on a wave of financial brinksmanship. Now everyone is mad. Jan. 28, 2021 Meanwhile, calls for regulators to step in are growing louder on Capitol Hill, and the Securities and Exchange Commission says it’s carefully monitoring the situation. The S&P 500 was down 2.2%, as of 12:52 p.m. Eastern time. Some of the heaviest weights on the index were Apple, Microsoft and other Big Tech stocks that have been big winners for professional and other investors over the last year. The index is on track for its worst week in three months, with a 3.5% loss. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 640 points, or 2.1%, to 29,963, and the Nasdaq composite was 2.3% lower. Other forces were also weighing on the market. Johnson & Johnson fell 6.7% for one of the larger losses in the S&P 500 after it said its vaccine appears to protect against COVID-19, though not as powerfully as rivals. Analysts said the results, which would require just one shot instead of the two required by other vaccine makers, were below expectations. Business A deep probe of the drama involving Robinhood would cast a rare spotlight on arcane parts of the stock market designed to prevent catastrophe. Jan. 29, 2021 Some reports on the economy came in better than expected, though they remain weak. One showed Americans’ incomes rose in December, and another said their spending didn’t fall by as much as economists expected. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rallied to 1.07% from 1.03% from late Thursday. “Our perspective is we still have a glass half full mentality,” Hainlin said. “Support from the Fed, a fiscal package and progress on the vaccines will ultimately overcome the challenges of COVID-19 and economic reopening.” Elsewhere, investors watched virus infection spikes in Europe and Asia, renewed travel curbs and negotiations in Washington over President Biden’s proposed $1.9-trillion economic aid package. Hopes for such stimulus for the economy have carried the S&P 500 and other major indexes back to record highs recently, along with enthusiasm about COVID-19 vaccines and the Federal Reserve’s pledge to keep the accelerator floored on its help for the economy. Low interest rates from the Fed can act like steroids for stocks and other investments. “We are still moving towards a recovery from the pandemic, just a heck of a lot bumpier than anyone had expected,” said Stephen Innes of Axi in a report. Stocks fell across Asian and European markets. But Wall Street’s focus remains squarely on GameStop and other stocks like it. AMC Entertainment jumped 60.4%, and headphone company Koss nearly doubled. After their success with GameStop, traders have been looking for other downtrodden stocks in the market where hedge funds and other Wall Street firms are betting on price drops. By rallying together into these stocks, they are triggering something called a “short squeeze.” In that, a stock’s price can explode higher as investors who had bet on price declines scramble to get out of their trades. Company Town AMC’s stock plummeted the day after surging thanks to a social media campaign by retail investors. Jan. 28, 2021 The smaller investors, meanwhile, have been crowing about their empowerment and saying the financial elite are simply getting their comeuppance after years of pulling away from the rest of America. “We’ve had their boot on our necks for so ... long that the sudden rush of blood to our brains when we have just a chance of getting free has made me feel ... well, it’s made me feel,” one user wrote on a Reddit discussion about GameStop stock. “I’ve been isolated throughout this entire pandemic and live in a state far from home or any sense of community, ”another user replied. “I’d kind of just... given up. These last few weeks I’ve started caring again; feeling impassioned again; wanting more again.” Most of Wall Street and other market watchers say they expect the smaller-pocketed investors who are pushing up GameStop to eventually get burned. The struggling retailer is expected to still lose money in its next fiscal year, and many analysts say its stock should be closer to $15 than $330. In response, many users on Reddit have said they can keep up the pressure longer than hedge funds can stay solvent, although they often use more colorful language. The SEC said Friday that it is evaluating “the extreme price volatility of certain stocks’ trading prices,” warning that such volatility can expose investors to “rapid and severe losses and undermine market confidence.”

FBI: Pipe bombs at RNC, DNC were planted night before Capitol riot

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-29/fbi-pipe-bombs-at-rnc-dnc-were-planted-night-before-riot

Two pipe bombs left at the offices of the Republican and Democratic national committees, discovered just before thousands of pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol, were actually placed the night before, federal officials said Friday. The FBI said the investigation had revealed new information, including that the explosive devices were placed outside the two buildings between 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, the night before the riot. The devices were not located by law enforcement until the next day. It is not clear whether that means the pipe bombs were unrelated to the next day’s riot or were part of the riot planning. Both buildings are within a few blocks of the Capitol. The incident has been particularly concerning for law enforcement as officials step up security preparations ahead of the Senate’s impeachment trial of former President Trump. For weeks, investigators have been worried about the potential for attacks on soft targets in the nation’s capital. World & Nation House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says lawmakers face threats of violence from an “enemy” within Congress and more money is needed to protect them. Jan. 28, 2021 U.S. Capitol Police and agents from the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were called to the Republican National Committee’s office around 12:45 p.m. on Jan. 6. About 30 minutes later, as the agents and bomb technicians were still investigating at the RNC, another call came in for a second, similar explosive device found at the Democratic National Committee headquarters nearby. The two explosive devices were very similar, and both were about a foot long with end caps and wiring that appeared to be attached to a timer, two law enforcement officials familiar with the matter have told the Associated Press. Investigators are still examining the devices and their components to determine the specific compounds inside the pipe bombs, but they both appeared to contain an unknown powder and some metal, the officials said. The officials could not discuss an ongoing investigation publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity. Politics Legal experts say the 1st Amendment does not protect a president whose speech incites a mob, while some say Trump’s actions didn’t reach that level. Jan. 28, 2021 The FBI released additional photos of the explosive devices on Friday, including a photograph that showed one of the devices placed under a bush. Officials have also increased the reward in the case to $100,000. Steven D’Antuono, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s office in Washington, said earlier this week that locating the person who planted the pipe bombs was a top priority for federal agents, though officials have only released grainy surveillance camera images of a potential suspect. On Friday, the FBI said the person wore a gray hooded sweatshirt, a face mask and Nike Air Max Speed Turf sneakers in yellow, black and gray, and had been carrying a backpack.

Johnson & Johnson's one-dose shot prevents COVID-19, but less than some others

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-29/j-j-1-dose-shot-prevents-covid-19-but-less-than-some-others

Johnson & Johnson’s long-awaited vaccine appears to protect against COVID-19 with just one shot — not as strong as some two-shot rivals but still potentially helpful for a world in dire need of more doses. J&J said Friday that in the U.S. and seven other countries, the single-shot vaccine was 66% effective overall at preventing moderate to severe illness, and much more protective — 85% — against the most serious symptoms. There was some geographic variation. The vaccine worked better in the U.S. — 72% effective against moderate to severe COVID-19 — compared to 57% in South Africa, where it was up against an easier-to-spread strain of the virus. “Gambling on one dose was certainly worthwhile,” Dr. Mathai Mammen, global research chief for J&J’s Janssen Pharmaceutical unit, told the Associated Press. With vaccinations off to a rocky start globally, experts had been counting on a one-dose vaccine that would stretch scarce supplies and avoid the logistics nightmare of getting people to return for boosters. Science & Medicine There’s little data to guide women who are pregnant, or trying to become pregnant, about whether to take a COVID-19 vaccine. Here’s what to consider. But with some other competing vaccines shown to be 95% effective after two doses, at question is whether somewhat less protection is an acceptable tradeoff to quickly get more shots to people. The company said within a week, it will file an application for emergency use in the U.S., and then abroad. It expects to supply 100 million doses to the U.S. by June, and expects to have some ready to ship as soon as authorities give the green light. These are preliminary findings from a study of 44,000 volunteers that isn’t completed yet. Researchers tracked illnesses starting 28 days after vaccination — about the time when, if participants were getting a two-dose variety instead, they would have needed another shot. After day 28, no one who got vaccinated needed hospitalization or died regardless of whether they were exposed to “regular COVID or these particularly nasty variants,” Mammen said. When the vaccinated did become infected, they had a milder illness. Defeating the scourge that has killed more than 2 million people worldwide will require vaccinating billions, and the shots being rolled out in different countries so far all require two doses a few weeks apart for full protection. Early data is mixed on exactly how well all the different kinds work, but shots made by Pfizer and Moderna appear to be about 95% protective after the second dose. But amid shortages, some countries have advised delaying the second dose of certain vaccines despite little data on how that would affect protection. All COVID-19 vaccines train the body to recognize the new coronavirus, usually by spotting the spikey protein that coats it. But they’re made in very different ways. J&J’s shot uses a cold virus like a Trojan horse to carry the spike gene into the body, where cells make harmless copies of the protein to prime the immune system in case the real virus comes along. World & Nation A coronavirus variant first identified in South Africa has reached the U.S., with two cases diagnosed in South Carolina Rival AstraZeneca makes a similar cold virus vaccine that requires two doses. Both the AstraZeneca and J&J vaccines can be stored in a refrigerator, making them easier to ship and to use in developing countries than the frozen kind made by Pfizer and Moderna. It’s not clear exactly how well the AstraZeneca version, being used in Britain and several other countries, works. Tests in Britain, South Africa and Brazil suggested two doses are about 70% effective although there are questions about how much protection older adults get. An ongoing U.S. study may provide more information. J&J said its vaccine works consistently in a broad range of people: A third of participants were over age 60, and more than 40% had other illnesses putting them at risk of severe COVID-19, including obesity, diabetes and HIV. J&J said the vaccine is safe, with reactions similar to other COVID-19 shots such as fever that occur when the immune system is revved up. Although it released few details, the company said there were no serious allergic reactions. But occasionally other COVID-19 vaccines trigger such reactions, which can be reversed if promptly treated — and authorities have warned people to be on the lookout regardless of which type of vaccine is used. J&J had hedged its bets with a study of a two-dose version of its vaccine, which is still underway. Friday’s interim results come on the heels of another vaccine in final testing. Novavax reported this week that its vaccine appears 89% effective in a U.K. study and that it also seems to work — though not as well — against new mutated versions of the virus circulating in Britain and South Africa. A larger study in the U.S. and Mexico is still enrolling volunteers. The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

A year into pandemic, California's broken unemployment agency still hurting those in need

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-01-29/california-unemployment-agency-unprepared-covid-19-backlog-fraud-struggles

Nearly a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, California’s beleaguered unemployment benefits system remains mired in dysfunction, leaving many jobless workers in dire straits after their efforts to receive financial assistance have been stymied by jammed phone lines, overwhelmed staff and failed technology. Millions of out-of-work Californians are still waiting for money they desperately need to feed and clothe their families and avoid ending up on the streets. Payments have instead gone to fulfill fraudulent claims filed in the names of prison inmates, infants, retirees and people living in other states, with a deluge of applications for benefits coming from criminal gangs operating in Russia, China and Nigeria. Adding insult to injury, state officials acknowledged this week that more than $11 billion in benefits were paid on fraudulent claims during the last year — some 10% of all money paid — and another $19 billion is under investigation for potential fraud. Now, two new state audits have confirmed what many lawmakers feared was true: The state Employment Development Department failed to prepare for the unprecedented flood of unemployment claims during the pandemic, neglected to fix problems officials identified more than a decade ago during the Great Recession and all but ignored warnings of widespread fraud for months. “It is clear that this system has broken and will need to be completely overhauled to ensure that these problems never occur again,” said Assemblyman Rudy Salas (D-Bakersfield), chairman of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee, which ordered the emergency auditing of the agency. The pair of reports on the EDD’s failings from California State Auditor Elaine Howle paints a sobering picture of an agency in crisis, concluding that the state agency “had no comprehensive plan” for the pandemic-spurred recession which “worsened EDD’s already poor performance,” and failed to act on problems that have plagued its unemployment insurance program for at least a decade. California In addition to the confirmed fraud, the state has stopped tens of billions of dollars in payments on bogus claims through tougher security measures, officials said. Jan. 25, 2021 “EDD has for years been aware of many of the problems in its [unemployment insurance] claims processing and customer assistance efforts that this report identifies,” said the first audit report released Tuesday. “Nonetheless, EDD did not take adequate steps to address these deficiencies.” A second report released Thursday concluded that “EDD did not take substantive action to bolster its fraud detection efforts for its UI program until months into the pandemic.” The EDD’s failure to heed warnings to address its vulnerability to fraud has hamstrung its ability to get money out to those filing legitimate unemployment claims, state lawmakers say. More than 2.1 million claims for unemployment benefits are currently on hold, stuck in a backlog of delayed applications or suspended while the EDD double checks identities to prevent fraud. And though California is the cradle of the tech industry, state government has also fallen perilously behind in replacing its outdated computer systems, exacerbating its problems with promptly paying out jobless benefits. Just 76.3% of first-time claims in California were approved within 21 days last month, far short of the federal standard of 87%. Most other states are approving more claims faster. One of those affected by the EDD’s ongoing troubles is Mary Lopez, whose housekeeping jobs dried up with the COVID-19 pandemic. The 50-year-old Fullerton woman said she has ended up sleeping in an RV parked on the street, sometimes scrounging for food in a dumpster behind a nearby store. Lopez, who is disabled, said she thought state unemployment benefits would have helped keep a roof over her head, but that hope evaporated when her benefits were frozen in October alongside many other claims and she was told she needed more proof of her identity. California The audit noted that in May 2020, the Employment Development Department was warned that California was likely to see $1.2 billion in potential fraud. Jan. 28, 2021 Despite spending hours on the phone trying to get through to the EDD, Lopez said she has been unable to receive her benefits. The agency‘s hotline often hangs up on her before she can talk to a live representative, an experience reported by thousands of other claimants over the past year that the EDD said months ago it was working to fix alongside issues with its computer systems. “I go to bed hungry most of the time and I’m freezing,” Lopez said. “I think it’s disgusting the way we have all been treated by EDD. I don’t want to be on the streets living like this.” The audit findings released this week mirror conclusions reached by a strike team of government experts appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, which said in September that the EDD should be overhauled and called delays in approving benefits and other problems “unacceptable.” “The state must deliver this benefit to those who qualify within a time frame that’s relevant to the well-being of the claimant, and it was failing to do that for too many Californians,” the report said. When California entered 2020 with record low unemployment ahead of the pandemic, the EDD had just 20 staffers verifying the identities of claimants, its call center was operating only four hours a day and a years-old project to modernize its outdated technology was was moving at a snail’s pace. Though EDD has taken steps since March to improve those lagging operations, bringing in thousands of additional workers and hiring private contractors to process claims online, progress has been far outpaced by demand. In the two months after the state’s March 2020 stay-at-home order put many Californians out of work, some 4.1 million claims for unemployment benefits were filed with the state, overwhelming a system staffed for more auspicious economic times. California has now processed 19.4 million applications for unemployment benefits since the COVID-19 pandemic began and has paid out $114 billion in benefits, nearly five times the amount paid during the worst year of the Great Recession in 2010. California The state auditor’s report was ordered by lawmakers who criticized California’s unemployment agency for a backlog of claims and failing to prevent widespread fraud. Jan. 26, 2021 As of this month, more than 3.9 million Californians were still receiving some form of unemployment benefits. In announcing the strike team last July, Newsom directed action to eliminate the backlog of some 1 million claims delayed longer than 21 days — many of which required additional information from claimants — “no later than the end of September,” a spokesperson for the governor said at the time. But when that deadline arrived, the Newsom administration said the backlog had grown to some 1.6 million claims and it promised to eliminate the backlog by the end of this month. As of Monday, nearly all of the claims in the original backlog from September have been resolved, and the rest will be cleared by the end of this month, according to agency spokeswoman Loree Levy. But hundreds of thousands of new claims have come in since September and the backlog of claims stood at 941,000 as of last week. “While it may be true the claims sitting in backlog in October may not be the same claims sitting there today, the fact remains they [EDD officials] have been unable to meet the challenge, and this comes at the cost of unemployed Californians who are desperately trying to cover the most basic expenses of food and rent,” said Assemblyman Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica). To turn the agency around, Newsom brought in six new top managers to the agency in recent months, including Rita Saenz, who was appointed to succeed retiring agency director Sharon Hilliard on Jan. 1. The governor touted Saenz, a government affairs consultant who was the director of the California Department of Social Services from 1998 to 2004, as “well-prepared to lead EDD at what is sure to be one of the most difficult moments in the Department’s history.” Saenz acknowledged in testimony to a legislative committee on Tuesday that the agency was not ready to handle the torrent of unemployment claims. “Simply, we were not prepared,” Saenz told lawmakers. “We were not prepared for the global crisis and the extraordinary strain on the existing employment insurance system. We have an ancient IT system. We have done our best to modernize it, but we still have a lot of problems.” In an interview, Saenz said similar problems have occurred all over the country, adding that “there is no way the state governments could have anticipated the volume of claims that we are facing.” John Thomas Flynn, who was California’s first chief information officer from 1995 to 1999 and previously headed the technology office for the state of Massachusetts, disputed the assessment that California could not have taken steps in anticipation of a spike in unemployment. He said there are states that modernized their unemployment systems in recent years, including Massachusetts, Texas, Nevada and Washington, “who were prepared and had far fewer problems” than California. “Unfortunately, while there have been fits and starts at EDD over the years, there has never been a sense of urgency to address the problem once and for all,” said Flynn, a senior advisor for MeriTalk, which provides analysis and events aimed at improving government information technology. A budget report released by the governor on Jan. 8 underscored Flynn’s point. A project to modernize EDD’s antiquated technology was still floundering in September, when the governor’s strike team said it had been in the planning process for three years. “The contractor has not yet been selected and not a single line of software code has been written,” the strike team found. The strike team recommended the EDD rethink the long-term project and an evaluation is underway. To address the crisis in the short term, EDD approved contracts with private firms including identify verification service ID.me, which began in October to process new claims electronically, reducing the number of applications that must go through a manual process. Saenz said she is evaluating additional ways to further improve EDD operations. “I’m looking to make an assessment of how the department and its business offices need to be reorganized in order to give us a ship that is agile and responsive,” Saenz said, offering no timeline for when the assessment will be complete. In the months after the pandemic began, the EDD added the manpower of some 5,000 people through hiring, contracts and transfer of state employees from other jobs to boost efforts to answer phones and process claims. In April, a call center answering phone calls from claimants was expanded from operating four hours a day, five days a week to 12 hours a day, seven days a week. But unemployed Californians have continued to report disconnected calls and difficulty reaching a live service representative. Though the EDD received 4.8 million phone calls from Dec. 20 to Jan. 2, just 8% — 400,397 — of them were answered by staff, the agency reported this month. “EDD has at times been unable to help virtually any of the claimants that contact its call center and has not answered all web correspondence that claimants submit,” said the audit released Tuesday. Mary Anne Babcock lost work as a gig driver and is living in a van in Temecula without access to unemployment benefits since her EDD debit card was frozen more than three months ago. After enlisting help from her state senator, her card was unfrozen, but payment of benefits owed is still pending. Numerous calls to EDD to get help on the phone have been unsuccessful, she said. “I’ve lost my home, my job, my benefits and my mind. I’m living in my van, with no hope,” she said. EDD officials said they notified claimants on New Year’s Eve that, in an attempt to prevent fraud, the agency was suspending payments on 1.4 million claims pending new identity verification. That has left many jobless Californians struggling to be recertified so they can pay their rent and buy groceries, even after Congress agreed to extend $300 supplemental weekly benefits. As the official ultimately responsible for the EDD, Newsom has voiced his own frustration with its problems, saying in September that the delays were “unacceptable and so was the condition of the system when we inherited it.” The troubles at the EDD represent a political liability for the governor, becoming an issue in a recall campaign that has submitted 720,000 signatures — about half of those needed to qualify the measure for the ballot and of which only 410,000 have been verified. “His crisis at the Employment Development Division has been one of his biggest failures,” said Randy Economy, a senior advisor for the recall campaign. Newsom announced a budget this month for the fiscal year beginning July 1 that includes an additional $766.3 million and 3,976 positions in the unemployment insurance program “to align with projected workload increases as a result of rising unemployment due to the COVID-19 pandemic.” The budget also includes $11.4 million for the California Department of Technology to review and improve services for key departments including the EDD. But lawmakers said this week that they have run out of patience with EDD as their offices continue to be flooded with desperate calls from constituents seeking help on stalled claims. And with the state audit outlining a host of problems more than a decade old, it remains unclear when and if the troubled agency will get its house in order. “EDD has failed to deliver,” said Assemblyman Phil Ting (D-San Francisco), the Assembly’s budget chairman. “I know constituents who became homeless because it took so long for them to receive their unemployment benefits.”

China executes finance official in bribery case

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-29/china-finance-official-executed-in-bribery-case

The former head of a Chinese state-owned asset management company was executed Friday on charges of taking bribes in an unusually severe penalty for a recent corruption case. Lai Xiaomin of China Huarong Asset Management Co. was among thousands of officials snared in a long-running anti-graft campaign led by President Xi Jinping. Others including China’s former insurance regulator have been sentenced to prison. Lai, 58, was put to death by a court in Tianjin, east of Beijing, the government announced. The Second Intermediate People’s Court of Tianjin ruled in January that death was justified because Lai took “especially enormous” bribes to make investments, offer construction contracts, help with promotions and provide other favors. Lai asked for or collected $260 million over a decade, the court said. It said one bribe exceeded $93 million. He was also convicted of embezzling more than $4 million and starting a second family while still married to his first wife. Lai “endangered national financial security and financial stability,” said a commentary on the state TV website. The death penalty “was his own responsibility, and he deserved it,” the commentary said. Most death sentences imposed by Chinese courts are suspended for two years and usually are commuted to life. Death penalties without the chance of a reprieve are rare. Huarong is one of four entities created in the 1990s to buy nonperforming loans from government-owned banks. They expanded into banking, insurance, real estate finance and other fields. Lai was placed under investigation by the ruling Communist Party’s anti-corruption watchdog in 2018 and expelled from the party later the same year. Lai also was accused of squandering public money, illegally organizing banquets, engaging in sexual dealings with multiple women and taking bribes, the anti-corruption agency said in 2018. Investigators seized tens of millions of dollars in cash from Lai’s properties, the Chinese business news magazine Caixin reported in 2018.

Tanzania's leader denies COVID. Now countrymen push back

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-29/tanzanias-leader-denies-covid-now-countrymen-push-back

Tanzania’s president says God has eliminated COVID-19 in his country. His own church now begs to differ. From the local Catholic authority warning this week of a new wave of coronavirus infections to government institutions now requiring staffers to take precautions, populist President John Magufuli is being openly questioned as the African continent fights a strong resurgence in cases and deaths. “We are not an island,” the Catholic secretariat of the Tanzania Episcopal Conference said in a widely shared statement this week. It urged followers, which include the president, to pray but also to adopt measures long practiced in the rest of the world, including avoiding public gatherings and close personal contact. The church’s newspaper on Friday stressed in a large front-page headline: “There is corona.” Tanzania has tried to be an island since April, when the East African country of 60 million people stopped updating its number of virus infections at 509 cases. Some health officials who questioned Magufuli’s stance that COVID-19 had been defeated were fired. The government promoted international tourism, eager to avoid the economic pain of neighbors who imposed lockdowns and curfews. The president even praised Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi for not wearing a face mask during a visit this month, calling it another sign that Tanzania is free of the virus. World & Nation Dubai is being blamed by several countries for spreading the coronavirus abroad after the city opened itself to New Year’s revelers. But pandemic concerns have returned to the spotlight in Tanzania as the world focuses on the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines. While other African countries seek millions of doses, Magufuli this week accused people who had been vaccinated overseas of bringing the virus back into Tanzania. He also questioned whether the vaccines work. “If the white man was able to come up with vaccinations, then vaccinations for AIDS would have been brought, tuberculosis would be a thing of the past, vaccines for malaria and cancer would have been found,“ he said on Wednesday. “Be firm,” he added. “Vaccines are inappropriate.” He urged the health ministry not to rush into vaccinations without being satisfied about their safety. He offered no evidence for his claims. African health officials were already worried about misinformation campaigns around COVID-19 vaccines as the first doses begin arriving on the continent of 1.3 billion people. Magufuli’s stance contrasts sharply with other African heads of state like President Wavel Ramkalawan of the Seychelles, who publicly received his first vaccine shot this month and urged citizens to do the same. Asked about Tanzania on Thursday, Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director John Nkengasong told reporters that “if we do not fight this as a collective on the continent, we will be doomed.“ The World Health Organization’s Africa chief, Matshidiso Moeti, told reporters that “we are re-initiating communication at the highest level of leadership” in Tanzania and seeking the government’s collaboration “for the sake of the people of the country and neighboring countries, as well as for the sake of the world.” She urged Tanzania to prepare for COVID-19 vaccines, and to share its virus data with the WHO. World & Nation A coronavirus variant first identified in South Africa has reached the U.S., with two cases diagnosed in South Carolina Some Tanzanians, from longtime critics of the president to civil society leaders, have issued a new round of exasperated warnings against trying to ignore a global pandemic. “Tanzanians have the right to vaccination against COVID,” opposition leader Zitto Kabwe tweeted after the president’s comments, saying a government that doesn’t protect its citizens lacks legitimacy. He and others had watched as people took few to no virus precautions during a deeply flawed election that returned Magufuli to power last year. Others worry that Tanzania is hurting itself and its economy, warning of travel bans against its citizens, the loss of tourism revenue and dangerous health implications for years. “By denying the pandemic, Tanzania may well have put itself at the back of a very long waiting list” for vaccines, Aidan Eyakuze, who leads the Twaweza East Africa initiative promoting government transparency, wrote this month for the Citizen local newspaper. While Magufuli shows little sign of changing his stance on COVID-19, his own colleagues appear to be moving ahead to tackle infections. Government institutions are issuing circulars requiring employees to cut down on meetings and communicate with management remotely. The finance minister has thanked God for protecting the country but now tells colleagues to listen to science as well. The health ministry did not respond to a request for comment — but it recently raised prices for coronavirus testing. Many health workers remain hesitant to speak openly. Science & Medicine Novavax Inc. says its COVID-19 vaccine appears 89% effective, based on early findings from a British study. In Tanzania’s commercial capital, Dar es Salaam, the president’s outlook had some supporters, or at least some concern about what it might mean if his COVID-19 denial is proven false. “If the virus is present in our country, then we live in fear as this will mean that we stop working,” said Twalib Mwanjala, a motorcycle taxi driver. “Most Tanzanians are low-income earners.” Another resident, Waziri Juma, added: “Coronavirus has not yet gotten into Tanzania, and we do not have corona. If the country had the virus, then the relevant ministry would issue a statement. But for now, people should stop being fearful and work hard.” AP journalist Tom Odula in Nairobi contributed to this report.

Tashi Wangchuk, an advocate of Tibetan culture, is released from Chinese prison

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-29/tibetan-culture-advocate-released-after-5-year-prison-term

A Tibetan shopkeeper convicted of inciting separatism based on his comments in a New York Times documentary was released Friday after serving a five-year prison sentence, advocacy groups said. Tashi Wangchuk’s release was reported by the writers group PEN America and the International Campaign for Tibet. There was no official comment and his lawyer did not answer calls to his cellphone. Tashi was detained on Jan. 29, 2016, after his comments appeared complaining about the erosion of Tibetan culture and language in the tightly secured region. Tashi never received a fair trial and was a victim of a “broader campaign of Chinese authorities cracking down on ethnic minority rights,” PEN spokesperson Stephen Fee said in a statement. He is now expected to remain under police supervision during a five-year period during which his political rights will be suspended. World & Nation Nearly 40 mainly Western countries are criticizing China’s treatment of minority groups, especially in Xinjiang and Tibet, and expressing grave concern at the impact of its new national security law on human rights in Hong Kong. Rights groups had condemned the sentence, saying Tashi, now 37, had committed no crime under either international law or the Chinese Constitution. Tashi was detained two months after the video and an accompanying article were released. He pleaded not guilty to the charge of incitement to separatism. The case highlighted the authoritarian government’s extreme sensitivity to issues involving ethnic minorities — especially Tibetans and Uighurs native to the northwestern region of Xinjiang — as well as the risks Chinese citizens run when criticizing government policies to foreign media. The nine-minute video made by the New York Times in 2015 was presented as the sole evidence against Tashi. It described how Tashi tried to sue local officials for denying Tibetans education in their own language and Buddhist culture. The Times’ website is blocked in China. World & Nation Teachers and students have refused to comply with a new bilingual education program in Inner Mongolia. The state is cracking down in response. In the documentary, Tashi, described as a shopkeeper, spoke extensively in China’s main language, Mandarin, about the “pressure and fear” felt by Tibetans and his worry that their culture is being wiped out through the steady erosion of their language. The Himalayan region is almost entirely off limits to foreign media. As with Xinjiang, rights groups report frequent detentions, economic marginalization, a suffocating security presence and heavy pressure to assimilate culturally and linguistically with China’s Han majority while pledging loyalty to the ruling Communist Party.

Dubai blamed for coronavirus cases abroad after allowing New Year's festivities

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-28/dubai-blamed-for-virus-cases-abroad-questions-swirl-at-home

After opening itself to New Year’s revelers, Dubai is now being blamed by several countries for spreading the coronavirus abroad, even as questions swirl about the city-state’s ability to handle reported record spikes in virus cases. The government’s Dubai Media Office says the sheikhdom is doing all it can to handle the pandemic, though it has repeatedly declined to answer questions from the Associated Press about its hospital capacity. “After a year of managing the pandemic, we can confidently say the current situation is under control and we have our plans to surge any capacity in the healthcare system should a need rise,” it said. However, Nasser Shaikh, Dubai’s former finance minister, offered a different assessment Thursday on Twitter and asked authorities to take control of a spiraling caseload. “The leadership bases its decisions on recommendations from the team, the wrong recommendations which put human souls in danger and negatively affect our society,” he wrote, adding that “our economy requires accountability.” Science & Medicine Novavax Inc. says its COVID-19 vaccine appears 89% effective, based on early findings from a British study. Dubai, known for its long-haul carrier Emirates, the world’s tallest building and its beaches and bars, in July became one of the first travel destinations to describe itself as open for business. The move stanched the bleeding of its crucial tourism and real estate sectors after lockdowns and curfews cratered its economy. As tourism restarted, daily reported coronavirus case numbers slowly grew but mostly remained stable through the fall. But then came New Year’s Eve — a major draw for travelers from countries otherwise shut down over the virus who partied without face masks in bars and on yachts. For the last 17 days, the United Arab Emirates as a whole has reported record daily coronavirus case numbers as lines at Dubai testing facilities grow. In Israel, more than 900 travelers returning from Dubai have been infected with the coronavirus, according to the military, which conducts contact tracing. The returnees created a chain of infections numbering more than 4,000 people, it said. Tens of thousands of Israelis had flocked to the UAE since the two countries normalized relations in September. Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis, an Israeli Health Ministry expert, was quoted by Channel 13 TV as complaining in a call with other officials that a few weeks of travel had been more deadly than decades of no relations with the Arab nation. Since late December, Israel has required those coming from the UAE to go into a two-week quarantine. Israel later shut down its main international airport through the end of the month over rising cases. In the United Kingdom, tabloids have splashed shots of bikini-clad British influencers partying in Dubai while the country struggled through lockdowns trying to control the virus. Britain in mid-January closed a travel corridor to Dubai that had allowed travelers to skip quarantine over what was described as a significant acceleration in the number of imported cases from the UAE. “International travel, right now, should not be happening unless it’s absolutely necessary,” Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the BBC this week. “No parties in Paris or weekends in Dubai. That is not on and in most cases, it’s against the law.” World & Nation The European Union’s dispute with AstraZeneca has intensified, with the drugmaker denying it had pulled out of talks on COVID-19 vaccine supplies. Meanwhile, mutated strains of the coronavirus have been linked back to Dubai. The U.K. instituted a travel ban Friday barring direct flights to the UAE over the spread of a South African variant of the coronavirus. Denmark already discovered one traveler coming from Dubai who tested positive for the South African variant, the first such discovery there. Like Britain, Denmark has residents who traveled to Dubai for the New Year. In the Philippines, health authorities say they discovered a British strain infecting a Filipino who made a business trip to Dubai on Dec. 27. He returned to the Philippines on Jan. 7 and tested positive. He “had no exposure to a confirmed case prior to their departure to Dubai,” the Philippines Department of Health said. In the time since, Filipino authorities have discovered at least 16 other cases of the British variant, including two coming from Lebanon. As daily reported coronavirus cases near 4,000, Dubai has fired the head of its government health agency without explanation. It stopped live entertainment at bars, halted nonessential surgeries, limited wedding sizes and ordered gyms to increase space between those working out. It also now requires coronavirus testing for all those flying into its airport. The UAE had pinned its hopes on mass vaccinations, with Abu Dhabi distributing a Chinese vaccine by Sinopharm and Dubai offering Pfizer-BioNTech’s inoculation. The UAE says it has given 2.8 million doses so far, ranking it among the top countries in the world. However, people including Shaikh now question Dubai’s capacity to handle the increasing cases. Hospitals contacted by the AP largely referred questions back to Dubai’s government, which repeatedly declined to comment. Dubai’s Saudi German Hospital responded saying it was “hoping to read the real news,” without elaborating. World & Nation A coronavirus variant first identified in South Africa has reached the U.S., with two cases diagnosed in South Carolina Dr. Santosh Kumar Sharma, medical director of Dubai’s NMC Royal Hospital, told the AP “the number of cases [is] ever rising,” with over half its beds occupied by coronavirus patients. The World Health Organization said that before the pandemic, the UAE had nearly 13,250 hospital beds for a country of over 9 million people. It said Dubai and the UAE’s northern emirates built field hospitals amid the pandemic with some 5,000 beds, with Abu Dhabi building more. But Dubai closed its 3,000-bed field hospital in July — the same day it reopened for tourism. Both Dubai and the UAE’s Health Ministry now advertise for nurses on Instagram. “The sad thing is that great efforts have been made since January 2020 for us to come and undermine them with our own hands,” Shaikh wrote. “What makes things worse is the lack of transparency.” Yet that came after the UAE’s autocratic government told those worried earlier this week to “refrain from questioning the efforts of all those who have worked to contain this pandemic.” Associated Press writers Josef Federman in Jerusalem and Isabel DeBre in Dubai contributed to this report.

Democrats to 'act big' on $1.9-trillion aid; GOP wants plan split

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-28/democrats-to-act-big-on-1-9t-aid-gop-wants-plan-split

Democrats in Congress and the White House on Thursday rejected a Republican pitch to split President Biden’s $1.9-trillion COVID-19 rescue plan into smaller chunks, with lawmakers appearing primed to move the sweeping economic and coronavirus aid forward without GOP help. Democrats said the stubbornly high unemployment numbers and battered U.S. economy leave them unwilling to spend time courting Republican support that might not materialize. They also don’t want to curb the size and scope of a package that they say will provide desperately needed money to distribute vaccines, reopen schools and send cash to American households and businesses. Biden has been appealing directly to Republican and Democratic lawmakers while signaling his priority to press ahead. “We’ve got a lot to do, and the first thing we’ve got to do is get this COVID package passed,” Biden said Thursday in the Oval Office. The standoff over Biden’s first legislative priority is turning the new rescue plan into a political test — of his new administration, of Democratic control of Congress and of the role of Republicans in a post-Trump political landscape. Politics Legal experts say the 1st Amendment does not protect a president whose speech incites a mob, while some say Trump’s actions didn’t reach that level. Jan. 28, 2021 Success would give Biden a signature accomplishment in his first 100 days in office, unleashing $400 billion to expand vaccinations and to reopen schools, $1,400 direct payments to households, and other priorities, including a gradual increase in the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. Failure would be a high-profile setback early in his presidency. Democrats in the House and Senate are operating as though they know they are working within a small timeframe. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco are laying the groundwork to start the go-it-alone approach as soon as next week. They are drafting a budget reconciliation bill that would start the process to pass the relief package with a simple 51-vote Senate majority — rather than the 60-vote threshold typically needed in the Senate to advance legislation. The goal would be passage by March, when jobless benefits, housing assistance and other aid is set to expire. Schumer said he drew from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s advice to “act big” to weather the COVID-19 economic crisis. “Everywhere you look, alarm bells are ringing,” Schumer said from the Senate floor. World & Nation President Biden took his first steps to reverse the Trump administration’s healthcare policies, including expansion of Obamacare. Jan. 28, 2021 Senate Republicans in a bipartisan group warned their colleagues in a “frank” conversation late Wednesday that Biden and Democrats are making a mistake by loading up the aid bill with other priorities and advancing it through Congress without their support, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private session. Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), a former White House budget director under President George W. Bush, wants a deeper accounting of what funds remain from the $900 billion coronavirus aid package from December. “Literally, the money has not gone out the door,” he said. “I’m not sure I understand why there’s a grave emergency right now.” Biden spoke directly with Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who is leading the bipartisan effort with Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) that is racing to strike a compromise. Collins said she and the president had a “good conversation.” “We both expressed our shared belief that it is possible for the Senate to work in a bipartisan way to get things done for the people of this country,” she said. World & Nation House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is intensifying the pressure on a controversial Republican freshman who has espoused conspiracy theories and “liked” social media posts that doubted the veracity of school shootings. Jan. 28, 2021 The emerging debate is highly reminiscent of the partisan divide over the 2009 financial rescue in the early months of the Obama administration, when Biden was vice president, echoing those battles over the appropriate level of government intervention. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that although Biden wants a bipartisan package, the administration is opposed to breaking it up to win Republican support. “We’re open for business and open to hear from members of Congress on that,” she said, noting that lawmakers are not “wallflowers.” But, she said, “we’re not going to do this in a piecemeal way or break apart a big package that’s meant to address the crisis we’re facing.” On Thursday, more than 120 economists and policymakers signed a letter in support of Biden’s package, saying the $900 billion that Congress approved in December before he took office was “too little and too late to address the enormity of the deteriorating situation.” Employers shed workers in December, retail sales have slumped, and COVID-19 deaths kept rising. More than 432,000 people in the U.S. have died from the coronavirus as of Thursday. At the same time, the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits remained at a historically high 847,000 last week, and a new report said the U.S. economy shrunk by an alarming 3.5% last year. Business Hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. economy shrank in 2020 by the largest amount in 74 years but grew 4% in the final three months. Jan. 28, 2021 “The risks of going too small dramatically outweigh the risks of going too big,” said Gene Sperling, a former director of the White House National Economic Council, who signed the letter. The government reported Thursday that the economy showed dangerous signs of stalling in the final three months of last year, ultimately shrinking in size by 3.5% for the whole of 2020 — the sharpest downturn since the demobilization that followed the end of World War II. The decline was not as severe as initially feared, largely because the government has steered roughly $4 trillion in aid, an unprecedented emergency expenditure, to keep millions of Americans housed, fed, employed and able to pay down debt and build savings amid the crisis. Republican allies touted the 4% annualized growth during the last quarter, with economic analyst Stephen Moore calling the gains “amazing.” Republicans have also raised concerns about adding to the deficit, which skyrocketed in the Trump administration under the GOP-led Congress. Republican Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, the third-ranking party leader, said Biden should stick to the call for unity he outlined in his inaugural address, particularly with the evenly split Senate. “If there’s ever been a mandate to move to the middle, it’s this,” he said. “Let’s just go off the cliff.” But Democrats argue that low interest rates make the debt manageable and that the possibility of returning to work will do more to improve people’s well-being. The days and weeks ahead, against the backdrop of Trump’s impeachment trial on a charge of inciting an insurrection with the U.S. Capitol siege, will set the tone, tenor and parameters of what will be possible in Washington. Politics The overwhelming number of GOP senators declaring the trial illegal casts doubt on the likelihood of conviction. Jan. 26, 2021

Pelosi wants security money to face 'enemy' within House

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-28/pelosi-wants-security-money-to-face-enemy-within-house

Lawmakers face threats of violence from an “enemy” within Congress, and more money is needed to protect them, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday, a startling acknowledgment of escalating internal tensions over safety since this month’s Capitol attack by supporters of former President Trump. The California Democrat’s remarks came as the acting chief of the Capitol Police said separately that “vast improvements” are needed to protect the Capitol and adjacent office buildings, including permanent fencing. Such barricades have ringed the complex since the deadly Jan. 6 riot, but many lawmakers have long resisted giving the nation’s symbol of democracy the look of a besieged compound, and leaders were noncommittal about the idea. Pelosi focused her comments on the anxiety and partisan frictions that have persisted in Congress since Trump supporters’ assault on the Capitol, which led to five deaths. She told reporters she thinks Congress will need to provide money “for more security for members, when the enemy is within the House of Representatives, a threat that members are concerned about.” Asked to clarify what she meant, Pelosi said, “It means that we have members of Congress who want to bring guns on the floor and have threatened violence on other members of Congress.” She did not suggest how much money might be needed. Some lawmakers who voted for this month’s House impeachment of Trump have reported receiving threats, and initial moves to enhance safety procedures have taken on clear partisan undertones. Some Republicans have loudly objected to having to pass through newly installed metal detectors before entering the House chamber, while Pelosi has proposed fining lawmakers who bypass the devices. Pelosi did not say whom she meant by her reference to an “enemy” within the House, and a spokesperson provided no examples when asked. First-term Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who has expressed support for baseless QAnon conspiracy theories, has liked Facebook posts that advocated for violence against Democrats and the FBI. One post suggested shooting Pelosi in the head. Asked to comment, Greene sent a written statement accusing Democrats and journalists of attacking her because she is “a threat to their goal of Socialism” and supports Trump and conservative values. Earlier this month, the HuffPost website reported that Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), set off a newly installed metal detector while trying to enter the House chamber and was found to be carrying a concealed gun. Other Republicans have also talked about carrying firearms, which lawmakers are permitted to do, though not on the House or Senate floors. Since the attack, the Capitol grounds have been surrounded by barrier fences and patrolled by National Guard troops. Yogananda D. Pittman, acting chief of the Capitol Police, said in a statement that based on security assessments by her agency and others, some changes should be lasting. “In light of recent events, I can unequivocally say that vast improvements to the physical security infrastructure must be made to include permanent fencing, and the availability of ready, backup forces in close proximity to the Capitol,” said Pittman, whose agency provides security for Congress. Pelosi took no immediate stance about Pittman’s proposal for permanent fencing. Drew Hammill, Pelosi’s spokesperson, said the speaker would await a Capitol security review led by retired Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré “to understand what infrastructure changes are necessary.” Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), took the same approach, telling reporters he would “defer to the experts.” Others panned the permanent fencing suggestion. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), said she was “adamantly opposed” and had heard no justification for its need. First-term Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.), a former Marine, said it would be wrong to turn the Capitol into a ”fortress.” Pelosi met with Honoré but revealed little about what she learned. His review is expected to be completed no earlier than March 5, she said. Pelosi said he was examining ways to protect lawmakers “in terms of their service here, their service home, their transportation in between.” Lawmakers have already been told they can tap accounts they use for office expenses for some security steps, and Pelosi mentioned the possibility of air marshals but provided no detail. Prosecutors have charged more than 200 people for their roles in the riot, and others have been arrested after posting threats against members of Congress. The public is barred from carrying firearms on Capitol grounds. Members of Congress can keep guns in their offices or transport them on the campus if they’re unloaded and securely wrapped. On Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security issued a national terrorism bulletin warning of the possibility of more violence from people motivated by antigovernment sentiment after President Biden’s election. The department did not cite any specific plots. A Senate trial on whether to punish Trump is set to begin next month, following his House impeachment on a charge of inciting the insurrection at the Capitol. Trump made incendiary remarks to a throng of supporters that day, urging them to march to the building. Lawmakers at the time were formally certifying Biden’s election victory, which Trump has repeatedly and falsely attributed to fraud. Fram writes for the Associated Press.

Novavax vaccine seems effective against COVID-19 in early U.K. study

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-28/novavax-vaccine-seems-effective-against-covid-19-in-uk-study

Novavax Inc. said Thursday that its COVID-19 vaccine appeared to be 89% effective based on early findings from a British study and that it also seemed to work — though not quite as well — against new strains of the virus circulating in the U.K. and South Africa. The announcement comes amid worry about whether a variety of vaccines being rolled out around the world will be effective against worrisome new variants, and at a time when new shots are needed to boost scarce supplies. The study of 15,000 people in Britain is still underway. But an interim analysis found 62 participants so far had been diagnosed with COVID-19. Six were from the group that received the vaccine, and the rest had received dummy shots. The infections occurred at a time when Britain was experiencing a jump in coronavirus cases that involve a more contagious variant. A preliminary analysis found that more than half of the trial participants who had become infected had the new strain. The numbers are very small, but Novavax said they suggested the vaccine was nearly 96% effective against the older coronavirus and nearly 86% effective against the new variant. Scientists have been even more worried about a strain first discovered in South Africa that carries different mutations — and results from a smaller Novavax study suggest the vaccine does work but not nearly as well as it does against the variant from Britain. The South African study included some volunteers with HIV. Among the HIV-negative volunteers, the vaccine appeared 60% effective. Including the volunteers with compromised immune systems, overall the protection was 49%, the company said. Although genetic testing still is underway, so far about 90% of the COVID-19 illnesses found in the South African study appear due to the new strain. The preliminary findings may help Novavax win authorization for its vaccine in Britain, but the U.S. government is funding a far larger study that’s still recruiting volunteers. Vaccines against COVID-19 train the body to recognize the new coronavirus, mostly the spike protein that coats it. But the Novavax candidate is made differently than the first shots being used. For what’s called a recombinant protein vaccine, the Maryland company uses genetic engineering to grow harmless copies of the coronavirus spike protein in insect cells. Scientists extract and purify the protein and then mix in an immune-boosting chemical.

General Motors sets goal of going largely electric by 2035

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-28/general-motors-sets-goal-of-going-largely-electric-by-2035

General Motors has set a goal of making the vast majority of the vehicles it produces electric by 2035, and the entire company carbon neutral, including operations, five years after that. The Detroit automaker’s push into electric vehicles has gone into overdrive this year. GM has already announced that it will invest $27 billion in electric and autonomous vehicles in the next five years, a 35% increase over plans made before the pandemic. It will offer 30 all-electric models worldwide by the middle of the decade. By the end of 2025, 40% of its U.S. models will be battery electric vehicles. The company plans to include crossovers, SUVs, sedans and trucks in its electric vehicle lineup. Business The Los Angeles Economic Development Corp. sees California as a world hub for electric mobility. March 3, 2020 GM said Thursday that it will source 100% renewable energy to power its U.S. sites by 2030 and global sites by 2035. That’s five years faster than its previously announced global goal. And it has a goal of making all new light-duty vehicles, the vast majority of its fleet, fully electric within 14 years. The company will concentrate on offering zero-emissions vehicles in different prices ranges. It’s also working with others, including the Environmental Defense Fund, to build out the necessary infrastructure to power its electric vehicles and to promote their use. To account for carbon emissions that it cannot eliminate, GM expects to invest in carbon credits or offsets. The 112-year-old auto giant unveiled a new corporate logo this month to signify its new direction as it openly pivots to electric vehicles. It wants to be seen as a clean vehicle company, rather than a builder of cloud-spewing gas-powered pickups and SUVs. GM scrapped its old square blue logo for a lower case gm surrounded by rounded corners and an “m” that looks like an electrical plug. It also announced a new partnership with Microsoft this month with hopes of accelerating its rollout of electric, self-driving cars. GM’s push for carbon neutrality comes a day after President Joe Biden signed executive orders that include moving to an all-electric federal vehicle fleet. His goal is to transform the nation’s heavily fossil-fuel powered economy into a clean-burning one. So far, Wall Street has cheered the shift by GM, which says the industry has reached a history-changing inflection point for mass adoption of electric vehicles. Its shares this year have outpaced even high-flying Tesla, rising more than 20% to date. Shares rose almost 2% Thursday. Business The automaker blamed aggressive price cutting in China, supply chain costs and a big pay package for CEO Elon Musk and other executives for lower operating margins in the fourth quarter of 2020. Jan. 27, 2021

Deshaun Watson has requested a trade from Houston Texans

https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2021-01-28/ap-source-qb-watson-requests-trade-from-houston-texans

Quarterback Deshaun Watson has requested a trade from the Houston Texans, a person familiar with the move told the Associated Press. The person was not authorized to speak publicly about the request and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity Thursday. Watson has a no-trade clause in his four-year, $156-million contract, so he could have some control over where he might be dealt. A source told the AP on Wednesday night that the Texans had hired David Culley as their new coach. He takes over for interim head coach Romeo Crennel, who stepped in when Bill O’Brien was fired in October after an 0-4 start. The same source who told the AP about the trade request said Watson made the request before Culley’s hire. He has been unhappy with the direction of the team for some time and Sports Illustrated reported weeks ago that Watson was upset the team didn’t initially request to interview Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy for its coaching vacancy. Rams Aaron Rodgers, Deshaun Watson, Dak Prescott and Sam Darnold are among the quarterbacks the Rams might target if Jared Goff is no longer their starter. Jan. 28, 2021 The Texans eventually interviewed Bieniemy, as well as Indianapolis defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus, Buffalo assistant head coach/defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, Detroit coach Jim Caldwell, former Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis and Carolina offensive coordinator Joe Brady before landing on Culley. Watson, a three-time Pro Bowler, wasn’t just unhappy about the way Houston went about its coaching search. He was also upset that owner Cal McNair did not take his opinion into account when hiring general manager Nick Caserio, according to reports from ESPN and the NFL Network. The Texans, who had years of woes at quarterback before drafting Watson, don’t want to part with the talented 25-year-old who led the NFL in yards passing this season. But so far they have been unable to change his mind about his desire to leave.

Brokerages limit trading in GameStop, sparking outcry

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-28/robinhood-restricts-stock-trading-in-gamestop-other-cos

Robinhood and other retail brokerages are taking steps to tamp down the speculative frenzy surrounding companies such as GameStop, but the actions only sparked more volatility in the market and an outcry from users of the platforms and some members of Congress who say small investors are being treated unfairly. GameStop stock has rocketed from below $20 earlier this month to close around $350 Wednesday as a volunteer army of investors on social media challenged big institutions who had placed market bets that the stock would fall. The action was even wilder Thursday: The stock swung between $112 and $483. It was down 28% at $250 in afternoon trading. Robinhood said Thursday that investors would only be able to sell their positions and not open new ones in some cases. Robinhood will also require investors to put up more of their own money for certain trades instead of using borrowed funds. Besides GameStop, Robinhood said trading in stocks such as AMC Entertainment, Bed Bath & Beyond, Blackberry, Nokia, Express Inc., Koss Corp., American Airlines, Tootsie Roll, Trivago and Naked Brand Group would be affected by the new restrictions. Interactive Brokers also limited options trading in AMC, BlackBerry, Express, GameStop and Koss. Clients can close out positions, but not buy more options, a move the company said was due to extraordinary volatility in the markets. It also tightened margin requirements indefinitely on “short stock positions.” Business The GameStop frenzy recalls stock market manias of the past. They all end in tears. Jan. 27, 2021 Charles Schwab and TD Ameritrade took similar steps to restrict trading on their platforms Wednesday. The frenzy surrounding shares of GameStop, AMC and others has drawn in an influx of investors with little or no experience trading stocks. That poses a challenge for brokerages that cater to small investors, said Andy Nybo, managing director at Burton-Taylor International Consulting. “The brokers were forced to take action because they would be in the firing line if an unsophisticated investor loses money,” he said. Robinhood’s stated goal is to “democratize” investing and to bring more regular people into investing. The company has forced huge, ground-shaking changes for the brokerage industry, such as its decision to charge zero commissions for customers trading stocks and exchange-traded funds. That’s why some users took Thursday’s actions as an affront. At least one lawsuit was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in New York claiming Robinhood manipulated the market by restricting investors’ access to trading GameStop. Robinhood investor Carlos Amaya said the app’s action Thursday was a disappointment to users like him who prided themselves on being a “different breed of investors.” Business The GameStop stock-trading frenzy is all about punishing short sellers, but why? Jan. 26, 2021 The 28-year-old school operations manager in Washington, D.C., said his parents emigrated from El Salvador and he was the first person in his family to buy stocks when he started using the app in 2017. He’s since made several thousand dollars. “We pride ourselves in the name Robinhood because we’re trying to make more money and be the next people at the top,” he said. “You would expect Robinhood to let us do our thing instead of blocking us and saying it’s for our protection.” Ziad Cohen, another Robinhood user, said he’ll ditch the trading portal once he sells his GameStop shares. He bought 85 shares last week, and says he is ahead by $20,000, even with the stock’s decline Thursday. The 19-year-old college student from Los Angeles plans to use that money to pay rent and his student loans. “I feel pretty good about it,” Cohen said. Investors upset over the trading portals’ restrictions are getting some sympathy from some members of Congress. Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, who is set to become chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, announced that he will hold a hearing on the GameStop situation. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) called Robinhood’s actions “unacceptable,” noting that as a member of the House Financial Services Committee, she’d support a hearing, if necessary, to explore why the online brokerage is blocking small investors from buying stocks while hedge funds “are freely able to trade the stock as they see fit.” Kalen Holliday, a spokeswoman for Interactive Brokers, said the company’s restrictions apply both to individual and institutional investor accounts. Business Hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. economy shrank in 2020 by the largest amount in 74 years but grew 4% in the final three months. Jan. 28, 2021 Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, whose California district sits in Big Tech’s Silicon Valley, said the GameStop episode “has demonstrated the power of technology to democratize access to American financial institutions, ultimately giving far more people a say in our economic structures.” In a statement Thursday, Khana called for “more regulation and equality in the markets,” and accused Wall Street of spending billions to “crush” GameStop and “put workers out of business” instead of investing in future technology. The recent surge in GameStop has been the product of a tug-of-war between small investors and some big institutions. Citron Research and Melvin Capital had placed bets that GameStop shares would fall as the company tries to transform itself from a bricks and mortar retailer to a seller of online video games. But smaller investors rallied to the stock. By sending GameStop shares soaring higher, they forced the big players to cover their bets by buying the stock, increasing the price even further. But there is some concern that small investors could face significant losses when and if stocks like GameStop plummet. The Securities and Exchange Commission said Wednesday that it is monitoring the stock and options markets. Protecting investors is one of the jobs of the SEC, but it’s not clear what the agency can do in a case like GameStop, said Chester Spatt, a former chief economist at the SEC and a finance professor at Carnegie Mellon University. Smaller investors are using Reddit and other discussion boards to encourage each other to buy GameStop, but that may not be much different than big investment houses giving their brokers marching orders each morning on which stocks to try to push that day, he said. “There’s not necessarily the obvious coordination here that one thinks of in a case of manipulation,” Spatt said. “But regulators may view this as a mechanism for manipulation.” Regardless, Spatt said regulators will likely feel pressure to look at it deeply. “At some point, things shooting up in these kinds of ways are going to come crashing down,” he said. “People are going to be crying out, ‘Where were you, and why didn’t you protect these investors?’” Robinhood itself has been the target of regulators, settling charges late last year of not getting the best prices for investors trading on its app and that it didn’t fully disclose the risks involved in trading stocks and options.

Bernie Sanders' mittens and memes help raise $1.8 million for charity

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-27/bernie-sanders-mittens-memes-help-raise-1-8m-for-charity

About those woolly mittens that U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders wore to the presidential inauguration, sparking endless quirky memes across social media? They’ve helped raise $1.8 million in the last five days for charitable organizations in Sanders’ home state of Vermont, the independent senator announced Wednesday. The sum comes from the sale of merchandise with the Jan. 20 image of him sitting with his arms and legs crossed, clad in his brown parka and recycled-wool mittens. Sanders put the first of the so-called Chairman Sanders merchandise, including T-shirts, sweatshirts and stickers, on his campaign website Thursday night, and the first run sold out in less than 30 minutes, he said. More merchandise was added over the weekend and sold out by Monday morning, he said. “Jane and I were amazed by all the creativity shown by so many people over the last week, and we’re glad we can use my internet fame to help Vermonters in need,” Sanders said in a statement, speaking for his wife. “But even this amount of money is no substitute for action by Congress, and I will be doing everything I can in Washington to make sure working people in Vermont and across the country get the relief they need in the middle of the worst crisis we’ve faced since the Great Depression.” Sanders’ mittens were made by Jen Ellis, a Vermont elementary school teacher who has a side business creating mittens out of recycled wool. His inauguration look, also featuring a winter jacket made by Burton Snowboards, sparked countless memes from the photo taken by an Agence France-Presse photographer: The former presidential candidate could be found on social media taking a seat on a subway, the moon and a couch with the cast of “Friends,” among other creative locales. Television “I was just ... trying to keep warm,” Sen. Bernie Sanders tells Seth Meyers of the viral moment of him looking cold and uncomfortable at the inauguration. Ellis said on social media over the weekend that Sanders called to tell her that “the mitten frenzy” had raised an enormous amount of money for Vermont charities although she was not authorized to disclose the amount yet. “But it’s BIG and it’s amazing! Thank you!! Generosity brings joy,” she tweeted. She also said she made three more pairs of mittens and donated two for fundraising to Passion 4 Paws Vermont and Outright Vermont, and would be auctioning a pair on EBay for her daughter’s college fund. The groups that will benefit from the proceeds of the Chairman Sanders items include Area Agencies on Aging to fund Meals on Wheels throughout Vermont, Vermont community action agencies, Feeding Chittenden, Chill Foundation, senior centers in Vermont and Bi-State Primary Care for dental care improvements in the state, Sanders’ office said. Sander’ attire has also sparked other charitable endeavors. A crocheted doll of Sanders in his garb was auctioned online, and Burton Snowboards donated 50 jackets to the Burlington Department for Children and Families in Sanders’ name, his office said. Getty Images confirmed that it will donate its proceeds as part of the licensing agreement to put the photo on the merchandise to Meals on Wheels of America. Rathke writes for the Associated Press.

GOP to stay neutral should Trump run again

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-27/ap-exclusive-gop-to-stay-neutral-should-trump-run-again

The head of the Republican National Committee on Wednesday declined to encourage former President Trump to run for the White House in 2024, saying the GOP would stay neutral in its next presidential primary. In an interview, RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel also described the pro-Trump conspiracy theory group known as QAnon as “dangerous.” The national GOP, under McDaniel’s leadership, spent the last four years almost singularly focused on Trump’s 2020 reelection. But should he run again in 2024 — and he has publicly and privately suggested he wants to — the national party infrastructure would not support his ambitions over other prospective candidates in accordance with party rules, she said. “The party has to stay neutral. I’m not telling anybody to run or not to run in 2024,” McDaniel told the Associated Press when asked whether she wanted to see Trump run again in the next presidential election. “That’s going to be up to those candidates going forward. What I really do want to see him do, though, is help us win back majorities in 2022.” Politics From Virginia races this year to the 2022 midterm, Republicans will face contests that pit Trump loyalists against those who want to distance the party from him. Jan. 27, 2021 Just months removed from the last presidential election, several Republican prospects have already begun jockeying for position for the 2024 contest. McDaniel is far more focused on the 2022 midterm election, in which Republicans have an opportunity to break the Democrats’ monopoly on Congress. McDaniel is in a difficult political position as she begins her new term as the national GOP chairwoman. She has been a devoted Trump loyalist, but as the RNC leader, she is also tasked with helping her party recover from its painful 2020 election season in which Republicans lost the Senate and the White House and failed to win back the House. Trump’s fervent base continues to demand loyalty to the former president, even as some party officials acknowledge that Trump’s norm-shattering behavior alienated elements of the coalition the GOP needs to win future elections. Tensions are especially high within the party as the Senate prepares for Trump’s second impeachment trial. Ten House Republicans voted this month to impeach the former president on a charge of inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, and on Tuesday, five Senate Republicans voted to move forward with a trial that could ultimately ban him from holding public office ever again. Politics The overwhelming number of GOP senators declaring the trial illegal casts doubt on the likelihood of conviction. Jan. 26, 2021 In the interview, McDaniel called for Republican unity and discouraged elected officials from attacking other Republicans — even those who voted to impeach Trump. She declined to single out any specific Republicans when pressed, however, including Trump loyalist Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who is traveling to Wyoming this week to campaign against Rep. Liz Cheney, the highest-ranking House Republican that supported Trump’s impeachment. “If we’re fighting each other every day and attacking each other and brandishing party purism, we’re not going to accomplish what we need to to win back the House and take back the Senate, and that’s my priority,” McDaniel said. She also forcefully condemned the pro-Trump QAnon movement, a large group of conspiracy theorists who were a visible presence at the Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6. Trump repeatedly declined to denounce the group while in the White House. “I think it’s really important after what’s just happened in our country that we have some self-reflection on the violence that’s continuing to erupt in our country,” McDaniel said. “I think QAnon is beyond fringe. I think it’s dangerous.” Politics Republicans see no need to censure or formally condemn Trump’s role in the riot at the Capitol Jan. 27, 2021 Moving forward, she said that voters, not Trump, are the head of the Republican Party, although Trump continues to maintain “a huge, huge presence” with his base. McDaniel said she’s expecting several Republican leaders to play a significant role in the party’s future, mentioning former Vice President Mike Pence and Nikki Haley, the former ambassador to the United Nations. Both are also considered potential 2024 presidential contenders. She also downplayed reports that Trump is considering leaving the GOP and starting a new party, warning that such a move would divide Republicans and “guarantee Democrat wins up and down the ticket.” “It would be basically a rubber stamp on Democrats getting elected. And I think that’s the last thing that any Republican wants,” she said. “It’s clear that he understands that.”

U.S. terrorism alert warns of politically motivated violence

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-27/us-terrorism-alert-warns-of-politically-motivated-violence

The Department of Homeland Security issued a national terrorism bulletin Wednesday warning of the potential for lingering violence from people motivated by anti-government sentiment after President Biden’s election, suggesting the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol may embolden extremists and set for the stage for additional attacks. The department did not cite a specific threat but pointed to “a heightened threat environment across the United States” after Biden took office last week and said it believed it would persist. It did not mention any ideological or political affiliation, instead warning more broadly about “individuals frustrated with the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition, as well as other perceived grievances and ideological causes fueled by false narratives.” These individuals, the department said, could continue to mobilize a broad range of ideologically motivated actors “to incite or commit violence.” It is not uncommon for the federal government to warn local law enforcement through bulletins and advisories about the prospect for violence tied to a particular date or event, such as July 4. But this particular bulletin, issued through the the department’s National Terrorism Advisory System, is notable because it effectively places the Biden administration into the politically charged debate over how to describe or characterize acts motivated by political ideology and suggests that it sees violence aimed at overturning the election as akin to terrorism. The wording of the single-page document suggests that national security officials see a connective thread in violence over the last year motivated by anti-government grievances, whether over COVID-19 restrictions, the 2020 election results or police use of force. It also singles out racially motivated acts of violence such as the 2019 rampage targeting Latinos in Texas, as well as the threat posed by extremists motivated by foreign terrorist organizations. The alert comes at a tense time, just weeks after the riot at the Capitol by supporters of then-President Trump who were seeking to overturn the presidential election. The Department of Homeland Security also notes violent riots in “recent days,” an apparent reference to events in Portland, Ore., linked to anarchist groups. The alert was issued by acting Homeland Security Secretary David Pekoske. Biden’s nominee for the Cabinet post, Alejandro Mayorkas, has not been confirmed by the Senate.

Cannes Film Festival, canceled in 2020, is postponed yet again

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-27/cannes-film-festival-canceled-in-2020-is-postponed-to-july

The Cannes Film Festival, canceled altogether last year due to the pandemic, is postponing this year’s edition from May to July in hopes of having an in-person festival. Cannes officials announced Wednesday that this year’s festival would take place July 6-17, about two months after its typical period. Organizers of the French Riviera festival, which had run for nearly 75 years with few interruptions, are hoping the coronavirus recedes enough by summertime to hold the event. Movies Check out these underseen gems from the Cannes Film Festival, which had to cancel its 2020 edition due to COVID-19. May 22, 2020 Cannes last year first looked at a postponement of its 73rd festival to June or July before ultimately canceling. The festival still went ahead with a selection announcement to celebrate the films it had planned to include in its prestigious lineup. This year, organizers are intent on having a festival, one way or another. No details were announced Wednesday on what shape a 2021 edition might take.

Justice Department rescinds ‘zero tolerance’ immigration rule

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-26/ap-exclusive-doj-rescinds-zero-tolerance-immigration-rule

The Justice Department on Tuesday rescinded a Trump-era memo that established a “zero tolerance” enforcement policy for migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, which resulted in thousands of family separations. Acting Atty. Gen. Monty Wilkinson issued a new memo to federal prosecutors across the nation, saying the department would return to its previous policy and instructing prosecutors to act on the merits of individual cases. “Consistent with this longstanding principle of making individualized assessments in criminal cases, I am rescinding — effective immediately — the policy directive,” Wilkinson wrote. Wilkinson said the department’s principles have “long emphasized that decisions about bringing criminal charges should involve not only a determination that a federal offense has been committed and that the admissible evidence will probably be sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction, but should also take into account other individualized factors, including personal circumstances and criminal history, the seriousness of the offense, and the probable sentence or other consequences that would result from a conviction.” World & Nation A federal judge has barred the U.S. government from enforcing a 100-day deportation moratorium that is a key immigration priority of President Biden. Jan. 26, 2021 The zero-tolerance policy meant that any adult caught crossing the border illegally would be prosecuted for illegal entry. Because children cannot be jailed with their family members, families were separated and children were taken into custody by the Department of Health and Human Services, which manages unaccompanied children at the border. While the rescinding of zero tolerance is in part symbolic, it undoes the Trump administration’s massively unpopular policy responsible for the separation of more than 5,500 children from their parents at the U.S-Mexico border. Most families have not been prosecuted under zero tolerance since 2018, when the separations were halted, though separations have continued on a smaller scale. Practically, the ending of the policy will affect mostly single men who have entered the country illegally. Prosecutions had dropped sharply after the Trump administration declared a pandemic-related health emergency that allows them to immediately expel Mexicans and many Central Americans without considering immigration laws. “While policies may change, our mission always remains the same: to seek justice under the law,” Wilkinson wrote in the memo, which was obtained by the Associated Press. President Biden has issued an executive order to undo some of former President Trump’s restrictive policies, but the previous administration had so altered the immigration landscape that it will take a while to untangle all the major changes. Some of the parents separated from their children were deported. Advocates for the families have called on Biden to allow those families to reunite in the United States. World & Nation It’s taken only days for Democrats gauging how far President Biden’s immigration proposal can go in Congress to acknowledge it will likely be more modest. Jan. 23, 2021 Then-Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, along with Trump and other top leaders in his administration, were bent on curbing immigration. The zero-tolerance policy was one of several increasingly restrictive policies aimed at discouraging migrants from coming to the southern border. Trump’s administration also vastly reduced the number of refugees allowed into the U.S. and all but halted asylum at the border through a combination of executive orders and regulation changes. The policy was a disaster; there was no system created to reunite children with their families. A report from the Justice Department’s inspector general, released this month, found that the policy led to a $227-million funding shortfall. Children suffered lasting emotional damage from the separations, and the policy was criticized as grossly inhumane by world leaders. The policy began April 6, 2018, under an executive order that was issued without warning to other federal agencies that would have to manage the policy, including the U.S. Marshals Service and the Department of Health and Human Services. It was halted June 20, 2018. A federal judge ordered the families to be reunited. The watchdog report also found that Sessions and other top officials knew the children would be separated under the policy and encouraged it. Justice officials ignored concerns from staff about the rollout and did not bother to set up a system to track families in order to reunite them. Some children are still separated. California During his first days in office, President-elect Joe Biden plans to unveil a legislative proposal that would include a path to citizenship for 11 million immigrants in the U.S. illegally, according to activists in communication with his transition team. Jan. 16, 2021

In a nod to diversity, Army loosens rules on hairstyles, grooming

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-26/let-down-your-hair-new-army-rules-for-ponytails-nail-color

Female soldiers can let their hair down and flash a little nail color under new rules being approved by the Army. But male soldiers will still have to shave. Army leaders announced Tuesday that they are loosening restrictions on various grooming and hairstyle rules, as service leaders try to address long-standing complaints, particularly from women. The changes, which also expand allowances for earrings and hair highlights and dyes, are particularly responsive to women of various ethnicities, and will allow greater flexibility for braids, twists, cornrows and other styles more natural for their hair. The new regulations take effect in late February and come after months of study, following a directive by then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who ordered a review of military hairstyle and grooming policies in July. The review was part of a broader order to expand diversity within the military and reduce prejudice, after widespread protests about racial inequality across the U.S. last summer. “These aren’t about male and female,” Sgt. Maj. Michael Grinston, the Army’s top enlisted leader, said during a Facebook Live presentation on Tuesday about the latest changes. “This is about an Army standard and how we move forward with the Army, and being a more diverse, inclusive team.” The Army announcement has been long planned, but it came just days after the first Black secretary of Defense — Lloyd J. Austin III — took over. Austin has vowed to try to root out racism and extremism in the ranks and foster more inclusion. Esper and many of the service leaders have also been taking steps to make the military more diverse, particularly in the higher ranks. World & Nation Amid a national conversation about race, the U.S. military is rethinking its traditional embrace or tolerance of Confederate Army symbols. June 10, 2020 As an example, Esper last summer ordered that service members’ photos no longer be provided to promotion boards. Officials said studies showed that when photos are not included “the outcomes for minorities and women improved.” On Tuesday, Army Sgt. Maj. Brian Sanders told reporters that the panel recommending the new grooming changes considered a variety of factors, including cultural, health and safety issues. He said the tight hair buns previously required by the Army can trigger hair loss and other scalp problems for some women. And larger buns, needed to accommodate thick or longer hair, can make a combat helmet fit badly and potentially impair good vision. At the same time, he said that changes, such as allowing women in combat uniforms to wear earrings such as small gold, silver and diamond studs, let them “feel like a woman inside and outside of uniform.” He added, “At the end of the day, our women are mothers, they’re spouses, they’re sisters, they definitely want to be able to maintain their identity, and that’s what we want to get after.” In many cases — such as the earrings — the changes simply let female soldiers wear jewelry or hairstyles that are already allowed in more formal, dress uniforms, but were not allowed in their daily combat uniforms. Army leaders said women will now be able to wear their hair in a long ponytail or braid and tuck it under their shirt. Sanders said that allowing that gives female soldiers, particularly pilots or troops at a firing range, greater ability to turn their head quickly, without the restraints that the buns created. The new regulations also allow the exact opposite. Female soldiers going through Ranger or special operations training get their heads shaved, like male soldiers do. But when they leave training, their hair is too short, based on the Army’s previous minimum length requirements. Now there will be no minimum length rules. For men, however, the perennial request to allow beards is still a no-go. Grinston’s answer to the question from the online audience was short and direct: “No.” He noted that the Army already makes exceptions for medical and religious reasons. Also, male soldiers still can’t wear earrings. The new lipstick and nail polish rules allow men to wear clear polish, and allow colors for women, but prohibit “extreme” shades, such as purple, blue, black and “fire engine” red. Men will also be able to dye their hair, but the colors for both genders are limited to “natural” shades. Prohibited colors include blue, purple, pink, green, orange or neon. In another sign of the times, the new rules state that soldiers will now automatically receive black and coyote-colored face masks. They are also permitted to wear camouflage-colored masks, but have to buy those themselves. The Army also is taking steps to change wording in regulations to remove racist or insensitive descriptions. References to “Fu Manchu” mustache and “Mohawk” hairstyle have been removed, and replaced with more detailed descriptions of the still-banned styles.

Senate confirms longtime Biden confidant Antony Blinken as secretary of State

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-26/senate-confirms-antony-blinken-as-71st-secretary-of-state

The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Antony Blinken as America’s top diplomat, tasked with carrying out President Joe Biden’s commitment to reverse the Trump administration’s “America First” doctrine that weakened international alliances. Senators voted 78-22 to approve Blinken, a longtime Biden confidant, as the nation’s 71st secretary of State, succeeding Mike Pompeo. The position is the most senior Cabinet position, with the secretary fourth in the line of presidential succession. Blinken, 58, served as deputy secretary of State and deputy national security advisor during the Obama administration. He has pledged to be a leading force in the administration’s bid to reframe the U.S. relationship with the rest of the world after four years in which President Trump questioned longtime alliances. Blinken is expected to start work Wednesday after being sworn in, according to State Department officials. “American leadership still matters,” Blinken told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at his Jan. 19 confirmation hearing. “The reality is, the world simply does not organize itself. When we’re not engaged, when we’re not leading, then one of two things is likely to happen. Either some other country tries to take our place, but not in a way that’s likely to advance our interests and values, or maybe just as bad, no one does and then you have chaos.” Blinken vowed that the Biden administration would approach the world with both humility and confidence, saying, “We have a great deal of work to do at home to enhance our standing abroad.” Politics Among his latest executive orders, President Biden signs one seeking to better track hate crimes against Asian Americans. Jan. 26, 2021 Despite promising renewed American leadership and an emphasis on shoring up strained ties with allies in Europe and Asia, Blinken told lawmakers that he agreed with many of Trump’s foreign policy initiatives. He backed the so-called Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Israel and several Arab states, and a tough stance on China over human rights and its assertiveness in the South China Sea. He did, however, signal that the Biden administration was interested in bringing Iran back into compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal from which Trump withdrew in 2018. Trump’s secretaries of State nominees met with significant opposition from Democrats. Trump’s first nominee for the job, former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, was approved by a 56 to 43 vote and served only 13 months before Trump fired him by tweet. His successor, Pompeo, was confirmed in a 57-42 vote. Opposition to Blinken centered on Iran policy and concerns among conservatives that he would abandon Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran. Blinken inherits a deeply demoralized and depleted career workforce at the State Department. Neither Tillerson nor Pompeo offered strong resistance to the Trump administration’s attempts to gut the agency, which were thwarted only by congressional intervention. Although the department escaped proposed cuts of more than 30% of its budget for three consecutive years, it has seen a significant number of departures from its senior and rising midlevel ranks, Many diplomats opted to retire or leave the foreign service given limited prospects for advancement under an administration that they believed didn’t value their expertise. A graduate of Harvard University and Columbia Law School and a longtime Democratic foreign policy presence, Blinken has aligned himself with numerous former senior national security officials who have called for a major reinvestment in American diplomacy and renewed emphasis on global engagement. Blinken served on the National Security Council during the Clinton administration before becoming staff director for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when Biden was chair of the panel. In the early years of the Obama administration, Blinken returned to the NSC and was then-Vice President Biden’s national security advisor before he moved to the State Department to serve as deputy to Secretary of State John Kerry, who is now serving as special envoy for climate change.

Vanessa Bryant shares touching letter from Gigi's friend on her 'angel of a daughter'

https://www.latimes.com/sports/lakers/story/2021-01-26/vanessa-bryant-instagram-kobe-gianna-gigi-anniversary-angel

Vanessa Bryant marked the one-year anniversary of the death of her husband, Kobe, and their daughter Gianna by sharing a beautiful letter on Instagram. It was written by one of Gigi’s close friends, classmate Aubrey Callaghan. Bryant said she received permission from Callaghan to share the touching note with the world. “My mind constantly thinks of your beautiful daughter,” Callaghan wrote of Gianna, who was 13 when she, her father and seven others died in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26, 2020, in Calabasas. “Her smile and attitude push me to be better. You have probably heard this, but if I ever become a mom, I hope my daughter turns out exactly as yours did.” A post shared by Vanessa Bryant 🦋 (@vanessabryant) In the 12 months since the tragedy, Vanessa Bryant has used Instagram to help her through the grieving process, posting emotional tributes and sharing wonderful memories. The letter from Callaghan is an amazing addition to that collection. “I hope that in the midst of your intense sadness you catch a glimpse of joy in who the daughter you created and raised was,” Callaghan wrote. “You did it right Mrs. Bryant, and we are all eternally grateful to you. I am so, so blessed I got to have time with your angel of a daughter, and thank you for giving me that chance. I love you and I’m thinking of you as we remember and honor her life.” Sports Kobe Bryant, daughter Gianna and seven others perished in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26, 2020. Here’s our coverage on the one-year anniversary of the tragedy. Jan. 24, 2021 Vanessa Bryant responded to Callaghan on Instagram: “I love you Aubz (as my Gigi would call you). Thank you so much for beautifully sharing some of your memories of my Gigi with me and allowing me to share them here on my ig. My Gigi is INCREDIBLE and I truly appreciate your thoughtful letter. She loves you so much.” She added: “I miss my baby girl and Kob-Kob so much, too. I will never understand why/how this tragedy could’ve happened to such beautiful, kind and amazing human beings. It still doesn’t seem real. Kob, we did it right. Gigi, you still make mommy proud. I love you!”

Teen abortion drama 'Never Rarely Sometimes Always' tops Independent Spirit noms

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-26/never-rarely-sometimes-always-tops-spirit-awards-noms

The teen abortion drama “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” landed a leading seven nominations, Chadwick Boseman was posthumously nominated and women dominated the director category in the Film Independent Spirit Awards nominations announced Tuesday. The 36th Spirit Awards, like most awards shows during the pandemic, are adjusting to the difficult circumstances. Tuesday’s nominees were announced virtually, with taped messages from Olivia Wilde, Laverne Cox and Barry Jenkins — who was joined by his dog, Chauncey Wang-Jenkins. The awards, usually held in a massive tent on Santa Monica Beach the day before the Oscars, have been postponed to a primetime broadcast on IFC on April 22, three days before the Academy Awards. “2020 was obviously hell on earth, but one glorious lifeline these past few months has been the ability to watch so many great films and shows,” said Josh Welsh, president of Film Independent, in the presentation streamed on YouTube. Eliza Hittman’s “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” a Pennsylvania’s teen’s odyssey in getting an abortion, racked up nominations for feature film, director and female lead for Sidney Flanigan. It was followed closely by Lee Isaac Chung’s Korean immigrant family drama “Minari,” with six nominations including feature film, director, male lead for Steven Yeun and supporting nods for Yeri Han and Yuh-jung Youn. Chloé Zhao’s “Nomadland,” starring Frances McDormand, scored five nods, including feature, director and female lead for McDormand. The other nominees for best feature were Kelly Reichardt’s “First Cow” (also up for director and supporting male for Orion Lee) and George C. Wolfe’s adaptation of August Wilson’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” Viola Davis and Boseman, the two stars of “Ma Rainey,” were also nominated, as was Glynn Turman. Those five films have been regularly celebrated in a pandemic-marred awards season that has accelerated lately with the American Film Institute’s picks for the best 10 films of 2020 and the National Board Review nominations, coming later Tuesday. “Nomadland” took top honors at the Gotham Awards earlier this month. Television Five television categories will be added to the 2021 Film Independent Spirit Awards, which traditionally honor the best in independent cinema. Sept. 29, 2020 At the Spirits, nominees are limited to films made for less than $22.5 million. Last year, Lulu Wang’s “The Farewell” won best feature, while Adam Sandler (“Uncut Gems”) and Renée Zellweger (“Judy”) took the top acting awards. This year, Netflix led all studios with 16 nominations. Four out of five nominees for directing were women: Reichardt, Zhao, Hittman and Emerald Fennell (for “Promising Young Woman”). Overall, 42% of nominees were women and 37% were people of color. Carey Mulligan, star of Fennell’s revenge drama, was among the nominees for female lead, along with Davis, Flanigan, McDormand and Nicole Beharie (“Miss Juneteenth”). In the male lead category, Yeun and Boseman were joined by Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”), Adarsh Gourav (“The White Tiger”) and Rob Morgan (“Bull”). Movies From ‘Uncut Gems’ to ‘The Farewell,’ here’s the complete list of winners of Film Independent’s Spirit awards. Feb. 8, 2020 The Spirits’ Robert Altman Award, an honor for a film’s ensemble, will go to Regina King’s feature film directorial debut, “One Night in Miami ...,” a fictional account of a 1960s meeting of Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Sam Cooke and Jim Brown. The nominees for documentary are “Collective,” “Crip Camp,” “Dick Johnson Is Dead,” “Time” and “The Mole Agent.” Up for international film are “Bacurau,” “The Disciple,” “Night of the Kings,” “Preparations to be Together for an Unknown Period of Time” and “Quo Vadis, Aida?”

Biden expected to issue sweeping moratorium on new oil drilling on public lands

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-26/ap-sources-biden-to-pause-oil-drilling-on-public-lands

President Biden is set to announce a wide-ranging moratorium on new oil and gas leasing on U.S. lands as his administration moves quickly to reverse Trump administration policies on energy and the environment and address climate change. Two people with knowledge of Biden’s plans, speaking to the Associated Press, outlined the proposed moratorium, which will be announced Wednesday. They asked not to be identified because the plan has not been made been public and some details remain in flux. The move follows a 60-day suspension of new drilling permits for U.S. lands and waters announced last week and follows Biden’s campaign pledge to halt new drilling on federal lands and end the leasing of publicly owned energy reserves as part of his plan to address climate change. The moratorium is intended to allow time for officials to review the impact of oil and gas drilling on the environment and climate. Environmental groups hailed the expected moratorium as the kind of bold, urgent action needed to slow climate change. “The fossil fuel industry has inflicted tremendous damage on the planet. The administration’s review, if done correctly, will show that filthy fracking and drilling must end for good, everywhere,” said Kierán Suckling, executive director at the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group that has pushed for the drilling pause. Oil industry groups slammed the move, saying Biden had already eliminated thousands of oil and gas jobs by killing the Keystone XL oil pipeline on his first day in office. “This is just the start. It will get worse,” said Brook Simmons, president of the Petroleum Alliance of Oklahoma. “Meanwhile, the laws of physics, chemistry and supply and demand remain in effect. Oil and natural gas prices are going up, and so will home heating bills, consumer prices and fuel costs.” Kathleen Sgamma, president of the Western Energy Alliance, which represents oil and gas drillers in Western states, said the expected executive order is intended to delay drilling on federal lands to the point where it is no longer viable. “The environmental left is leading the agenda at the White House when it comes to energy and environment issues,” she said, noting that the moratorium would be felt most acutely in Western states such as Utah, Wyoming and North Dakota. Biden lost all three states to former President Trump. The drilling moratorium is among several climate-related actions Biden will announce Wednesday. He also is likely to direct officials to conserve 30% of the country’s lands and ocean waters in the next 10 years, initiate a series of regulatory actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and issue a memorandum that elevates climate change to a national security priority. He also is expected to direct all U.S. agencies to use science and evidence-based methods to make policy decisions and announce a U.S.-hosted climate leaders summit on Earth Day, April 22. The conservation plan would set aside millions of acres for recreation, wildlife and climate efforts by 2030, part of Biden’s campaign pledge for a $2-trillion program to slow global warming. Under Trump, federal agencies prioritized energy development and eased environmental rules to speed up drilling permits as part of the Republican’s goal to boost fossil fuel production. Trump consistently downplayed the dangers of climate change, which Biden, a Democrat, has made a top priority. On his first day in office last Wednesday, Biden signed a series of executive orders that underscored his different approach — rejoining the Paris climate accord, revoking approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada and telling agencies to immediately review dozens of Trump-era rules on science, the environment and public health. World & Nation The leader of Canada’s Alberta province wants President-elect Joe Biden to give Ottawa a chance to make the case for the Keystone XL oil pipeline. Jan. 19, 2021 A 60-day suspension order at the Interior Department did not limit existing oil and gas operations under valid leases, meaning activity would not come to a sudden halt on the millions of acres of lands in the West and offshore in the Gulf of Mexico where much drilling is concentrated. The moratorium also is unlikely to affect existing leases. Its effect could be further blunted by companies that stockpiled enough drilling permits in Trump’s final months to allow them to keep pumping oil and gas for years. The pause in drilling is limited to federal lands and does not affect drilling on private lands, which is largely regulated by states. Oil and gas extracted from public lands and waters account for about a quarter of annual U.S. production. Extracting and burning those fuels generates the equivalent of almost 550 million tons of greenhouse gases annually, the U.S. Geological Survey said in a 2018 study. Under Trump, Interior officials approved almost 1,400 permits on federal lands, primarily in Wyoming and New Mexico, over a three-month period that included the election, according to an Associated Press analysis of government data. Those permits, which remain valid, will allow companies to continue drilling for years, potentially undercutting Biden’s climate agenda. Daly writes for the Associated Press

SoCal Edison to pay $2.2-billion settlement in deadly 2018 Woolsey fire

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-26/utility-to-pay-2b-settlement-in-deadly-2018-california-fire

Southern California Edison will pay $2.2 billion to settle insurance claims from a deadly, destructive wildfire sparked by its equipment in 2018, the utility announced Monday. Edison, which acknowledged no wrongdoing, said the agreement covers all claims in pending lawsuits from insurance companies related to the Woolsey fire, which blackened 151 square miles of Los Angeles and Ventura counties. Three people died in the November 2018 fire and more than 1,600 homes and other buildings were destroyed. In addition, Edison said it has finalized settlements from the December 2017 Thomas fire and mudslides a month later on land that had burned. “We have made another significant step toward resolving pending wildfire-related litigation,” Edison Chief Executive Pedro Pizarro said in the statement announcing the settlements. Total expected losses for the 2017 and 2018 events are estimated to be $4.6 billion, the statement said. “The settlement was fair to all and consistent with prior cases against Edison and other utilities,” Craig Simon, co-lead counsel for the insurance companies, said in a statement to the Ventura County Star. Investigations determined that Edison equipment sparked both the Woolsey and Thomas fires. In recent years, utility equipment has been blamed for multiple wildfires across the state. The state’s largest utility, Pacific Gas & Electric, was forced into bankruptcy in 2019 after facing liability for devastating blazes in Northern California.

Biden orders COVID-19 travel restrictions and adds South Africa to the list

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-25/biden-orders-covid-19-travel-restrictions-adds-south-africa

President Biden on Monday reinstated COVID-19 travel restrictions on most non-U.S. travelers from Brazil, Ireland, the United Kingdom and 26 other European countries that allow travel across open borders. He also added South Africa to the list. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said South Africa was added to the restricted list because of concerns about a strain of the coronavirus that has spread beyond that nation. “This isn’t the time to be lifting restrictions on international travel,” Psaki said. The prohibition Biden is reinstating suspends entry to nearly all foreign nationals who have been in any of the countries on the restricted list at any point during the 14 days before their scheduled travel to the U.S. Science & Medicine Coronavirus mutations are on the rise. The longer it takes to vaccinate people, the more likely we’ll see a variant that eludes our tests, treatments and vaccines. Jan. 19, 2021 Top U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci called Biden’s decision to reinstate the travel restrictions — and expand them to include South Africa — “prudent.” “We have concern about the mutation that’s in South Africa,” Fauci told “CBS This Morning” on Monday. “We’re looking at it very actively. It is clearly different and more ominous than the one in the U.K., and I think it’s very prudent to restrict travel of noncitizens.” Biden reversed an order from President Trump in his final days in office that called for the relaxation of the travel restrictions as of Tuesday. Trump’s move was made in conjunction with a new requirement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that all international travelers to the U.S. obtain a negative coronavirus test within three days of boarding their flight. Last week, Biden expanded on the CDC requirement and directed that federal agencies require international travelers to quarantine upon arrival in the U.S. and obtain another negative test to slow the spread of the virus. Those requirements also go into effect Tuesday. Science & Medicine British scientists have bolstered their case that the new coronavirus variant spreads more easily than its predecessors. It could be worse in the U.S., they warn. Jan. 10, 2021 The State Department said in a statement that U.S. citizens should reconsider nonessential travel abroad, noting that access to testing in some nations remains difficult. The agency also cautioned Americans to consider ahead of international travel how they’d pay for healthcare and additional lodging costs if they became infected or hospitalized while traveling. The 26 European countries impacted by the ban’s reinstatement are part of the border-free Schengen zone. They include Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Biden’s team had announced that he would reimpose the travel restrictions, but the addition of South Africa to the restricted travel list highlights the new administration’s concern about mutations in the virus. The South Africa strain has not been detected in the United States, but another strain that originated in the United Kingdom has been detected in several states. Science & Medicine California scientists have discovered a new coronavirus strain that appears to be propagating faster than any other variant in the Golden State. Jan. 23, 2021 Fauci said there is “a very slight, modest diminution” of the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines against those variants, but “there’s enough cushion with the vaccines that we have that we still consider them to be effective against both the U.K. strain and the South Africa strain.” He warned that additional mutations are possible and said scientists are preparing to adapt the vaccines if necessary. “We really need to make sure that we begin, and we already have, to prepare if it’s necessary to upgrade the vaccines,” Fauci said. “We’re already taking steps in that direction despite the fact that the vaccines we have now do work.”

GameStop soars as swarming small investors face down hedge funds

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-25/smaller-investors-face-down-hedge-funds-as-gamestop-soars

A head-scratching David and Goliath story is playing out on Wall Street over the stock price of a money-losing video game retailer. An army of smaller-pocketed, optimistic investors is throwing dollars and buy orders at the stock of GameStop — in direct opposition to a group of wealthy investors who are counting on the stock price to plunge. The resulting action is wild, with GameStop’s stock soaring nearly 145% in less than two hours Monday morning, only for most of the gains to disappear quickly afterward. The struggling company has lost $1.6 billion over the last 12 quarters, and its stock fell for six straight years before rebounding in 2020. So, it might seem like a strange place for the locus of so much movement. But GameStop has been a target of many professional investors, who say the company will continue to founder as sales of games continue to go online. These investors have been betting that GameStop’s stock will fall. They “shorted” the stock, which means they borrowed shares and sold them, hoping to buy them back at a cheaper price and pocket the difference. But such bets have been disastrous recently. GameStop was trading at less than $18 a few weeks ago. Its stock shot higher after the company named three new directors to its board Jan. 11 to help speed its turnaround, including a co-founder of online pet-supply retailer Chewy. The thought was that the move would help GameStop’s digital transformation. A cavalcade of smaller investors, meanwhile, has been exhorting one another on the internet to keep the stock’s momentum flying toward the moon. Many are pitching it as a battle of regular people versus hedge funds and big Wall Street firms. It took just five days for GameStop’s stock to double after announcing its board shake-up. On Friday, it surged 51%, a larger gain than big stocks such as Apple or Exxon Mobil have ever had in a day. For GameStop, the 51% move was only its second-best day of the month — and the month isn’t over. The meteoric rise pushed some short sellers to get out of their bets, done by buying shares of the stock, and that helped accelerate its momentum even further. On Monday, the push and pull was so extreme that trading in GameStop’s stock was temporarily halted at least nine times because of volatility. It closed Monday at $76.79, after swinging between $65.01 and $159.18 earlier in the day. “This is quite the experience for my first month in the stock market. Holding till infinity,” posted one user on a Reddit discussion about GameStop stock. A moment later, another user said, “We’re literally more powerful than the big firms right now.” That same sentiment carried well beyond internet message boards to Wall Street itself. “As someone who started trading stocks in the late 90s in college, I would always remember watching when the small retail trading groups would get crushed by hedge funds and savvy short-sellers,” Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA, said in a report. “What happened with GameStop’s stock is a reminder of how times are changing.”

Moderna says vaccine works against variants but will test a booster for South Africa strain

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-25/the-latest-moderna-will-test-booster-dose-for-virus-variant

Moderna says its COVID-19 vaccine protects against worrisome emerging variants of the coronavirus, but it’s taking the precaution of testing a possible booster dose against the strain discovered in South Africa. In Monday’s announcement, Moderna Chief Executive Stephane Bancel said the move was out of “an abundance of caution” after preliminary lab tests suggested its shot produced a weaker immune response to that variant. Vaccine manufacturers have been testing their shots against mutated strains, including two that first emerged in Britain and South Africa. In a study conducted with the National Institutes of Health, Moderna used blood samples from eight vaccine recipients, and some immunized monkeys, in laboratory tests against the mutated viruses. The vaccine was effective against both variants, but researchers found a sixfold drop in levels of “neutralizing antibodies” against the strain from South Africa. Moderna said while the levels still were protective, it has begun developing a booster vaccine targeted to that new strain, called the B.1.351 variant. In addition, Moderna will test if simply giving an extra dose of the original vaccine could be helpful. Pfizer, which makes a similar COVID-19 vaccine, has previously reported that its shot also appears effective against the strain from Britain. But other research has raised questions about the variant from South Africa.

Mexico's president says he has tested positive for the coronavirus

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-24/mexicos-president-says-hes-tested-positive-for-covid-19

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Sunday he has tested positive for the coronavirus and has mild symptoms of COVID-19. López Obrador, who has been criticized for his handling of the pandemic in Mexico, said on his official Twitter account that he is undergoing medical treatment. “I regret to inform you that I am infected with COVID-19,” he tweeted. “The symptoms are mild but I am already under medical treatment. As always, I am optimistic. We will all move forward.” López Obrador, 67, has been criticized for not setting a public example of protective measures against the virus. He has rarely been seen wearing a mask and has kept up a busy travel schedule, taking commercial flights. He has resisted locking down the economy, noting the devastating effect it would have on Mexicans who live day to day. Early in the pandemic, asked how he was protecting Mexico, López Obrador removed two religious amulets from his wallet and proudly showed them off. “The protective shield is the ‘Get thee behind me, Satan,’” López Obrador said, reading off the inscription on the amulet. “‘Stop, enemy, for the heart of Jesus is with me.’” The announcement of his positive test came shortly after news emerged that he would speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday about obtaining doses of the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine. Mexican Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said via Twitter that the two leaders would speak about the bilateral relationship and supplying doses of the vaccine. The vaccine has not been approved for use in Mexico, but the government is desperate to fill supply gaps for the Pfizer vaccine. Mexico has been given more than 618,000 doses. Mexico has registered nearly 150,000 COVID-19 deaths and more than 1.7 million infections. Hospitals in the capital, Mexico City, have been near capacity for weeks as a surge of cases followed the holiday season.

Center-right incumbent wins Portugal's presidential election

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-24/center-right-incumbent-wins-portugals-presidential-election

Portugal’s president was returned to office for a second term Sunday, in an election held amid a devastating COVID-19 surge that has made the European country one of the worst in the world for cases and deaths. Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who had been widely expected to win, captured 61% of the vote. Socialist candidate Ana Gomes came second with 13%, but close behind in third was André Ventura, a newly arrived right-wing populist whose 12% was a stunning development. Such a showing for Ventura would have been unthinkable until recently and will send a shudder through Portuguese politics. Company Town A Times review of court filings, CBS’ internal communications and interviews with two dozen current and former CBS television station employees found that many were troubled by the outcome of the investigation and questioned the company’s commitment to cleaning up its culture. Jan. 24, 2021 Four other candidates ran for head of state. Rebelo de Sousa, a center-right moderate and former leader of Portugal’s Social Democratic Party, will serve a second and final 5-year term. One of the reelected president’s first tasks will be to decide next month whether to approve a new law allowing euthanasia. Parliament has passed the bill, but the head of state could try to block it or send it to the Constitutional Court for vetting. The turnout was just shy of 40% — significantly lower than in recent elections and apparently confirming concerns that some people would stay away for fear of becoming infected with COVID-19. Political leaders said that when the pandemic began to worsen, there was no longer enough time to change the Portuguese Constitution to allow the election’s postponement. Portugal has the world’s highest rates of new daily infections and deaths per 100,000 population, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, and its public health system is under huge strain. Rebelo de Sousa devoted most of his victory speech to the pandemic, saying his first thoughts went to its victims and promising to work for an economic recovery once it was over. “Everything starts with the battle against the pandemic,” he said. Rebelo de Sousa, 72, was long viewed as the clear front-runner. He is an affable law professor and former television personality who as president has consistently had an approval rating of 60% or more. He collected more votes Sunday than in his 2016 victory. He has worked closely with the center-left minority Socialist government, supporting its pandemic efforts. He also has endeared himself to the Portuguese with his easygoing style. Photographs of him taken by passersby in public places, such as one last year of him standing in line at a supermarket wearing sneakers and shorts, routinely go viral. With the country in lockdown, the election campaign featured none of the usual flag-waving rallies. Restrictions on movement were lifted for polling day. Authorities increased the number of polling stations and allowed for early voting to reduce crowding on election day. In other precautions, voters were asked to bring their own pens and disinfectant to polling stations. Everyone voting wore a mask and kept a safe distance from each other. Prime Minister António Costa, in a tweet, urged people to turn out for the ballot, saying that “unprecedented planning” had gone into ensuring that the vote could take place safely. Portugal has 10.8 million registered voters, around 1.5 million of them living abroad. Every Portuguese president since 1976, when universal suffrage was introduced following the departure of a dictatorship, has been returned for a second term. No woman or member of an ethnic minority has ever held the post.

New leaders named at U.S.-funded international broadcasters

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-24/new-leaders-named-at-us-funded-international-broadcasters

The Biden administration on Sunday installed new heads of three federally funded international broadcasters after abruptly firing President Trump appointees at the U.S. Agency for Global Media. Kelu Chao, the acting chief executive of the agency, made the announcement after dismissing the previous directors of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks late Friday, just a month after they had been named to the posts. Daisy Sindelar will be acting head of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, replacing Ted Lipien until a permanent president is named. Bay Fang will return to her post as Radio Free Asia president, replacing Stephen Yates. Kelley Sullivan will become acting Middle East Broadcasting Networks president, replacing Victoria Coates. “I have great faith in these leaders in ensuring the highest standards of independent, objective and professional journalism,” Chao said. Politics Get ready for the same tough-as-nails obstructionist we saw when Obama was in office. Jan. 23, 2021 The moves follow the forced resignation of Trump’s hand-picked agency head, Michael Pack, only two hours after Joe Biden took office as president on Wednesday. The director of the Voice of America and his deputy were soon removed and the chief of the Office of Cuba Broadcasting stepped down. Pack had been accused by Democrats and others of trying to turn VOA and the other networks into pro-Trump propaganda machines. Chao on Sunday also announced new corporate board directors for the three broadcasters, replacing the board directors named by Pack just days before his departure. The new directors are Karen Kornbluh, ambassador to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development under President Obama, who will serve as chair; Ryan Crocker, who was an ambassador to Iraq, Syria and other countries; and public relations executive Michael Kempner. “Now more than ever, U.S. international media must serve as an accurate, reliable source of news and information in places where illuminating truth is needed the most,” Kornbluh said.

In Zimbabwe, fourth Cabinet member dies of COVID-19 amid surge

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-24/fourth-zimbabwean-cabinet-member-dies-of-covid-19-in-surge

Four Zimbabwean Cabinet ministers have died of COVID-19, three within the last two weeks, highlighting a resurgence of the disease that is sweeping through this southern African country. President Emmerson Mnangagwa said the coronavirus was reaping a “grim harvest” in the country. “The pandemic has been indiscriminate. There are no spectators, adjudicators, no holier than thou. No supermen or superwomen. We are all exposed,” Mnangagwa said in a nationally televised address. Mnangagwa presided at the burial of one Cabinet minister last week, shortly after the death of the foreign minister was announced. Then came the death of the transport minister. Several other high-profile politicians and prominent Zimbabweans also have died recently. World & Nation Mexico’s vaccination plan has been delayed after Pfizer said it would be shipping fewer doses of the shots than originally planned. Jan. 24, 2021 The opposition accuses the government of using COVID-19 as a weapon by detaining its members of parliament, officials and other critics in overcrowded jails where the disease is easily transmitted. Critics also accuse the government of neglecting the public hospitals, where many ill with COVID-19 cannot get the oxygen needed to survive. Many of the country’s elites are treated at expensive private facilities or fly out of the country for care. The government says it is doing its best and that, despite the wide political and economic differences, fighting the virus is everyone’s war. Zimbabwe, like many other African countries, initially recorded low numbers of COVID-19 but recently experienced a surge in cases. There are fears that a new, more infectious variant of the virus came to the country when scores of thousands of Zimbabweans living in South Africa returned home for the holiday season. The country of 15 million recorded a total of 31,007 cases, including 974 deaths, on Saturday, up from the slightly more than 10,000 cases and 277 deaths at the beginning of December, according to government figures. Zimbabwe’s COVID-19 fatality rate has doubled recently, with the seven-day rolling average of daily deaths rising over the last two weeks from 0.10 deaths per 100,000 people on Jan. 9 to 0.28 deaths per 100,000 people on Saturday, according to Johns Hopkins University. In poor areas such as Chitungwiza, the sprawling residential area about 18 miles southeast of Harare, gravediggers are overwhelmed. “Coronavirus, this is something I used to read about in the news, [but] it is here on our doorsteps now. People are dying,” said Coleta Moyana, a Chitungwiza resident. Officials are seeking more burial space to accommodate rising numbers of deaths. Many people are not being tested, nor are they going to hospitals for help, said a doctors association, noting that, on some days, nearly half of COVID-19 deaths happen outside hospitals. “Those undiagnosed cases are super-spreading,” the Zimbabwe Senior Hospital Doctors Assn. said earlier this month. “COVID-19 is affecting everyone, but it is not affecting everyone equally. It has entrenched and exacerbated the extreme inequalities and injustices that existed before the pandemic,” Itai Rusike, director of the Harare-based organization, Community Working Group on Health, told the Associated Press on Sunday. “The majority of poor Zimbabweans without medical insurance end up dying at home,” he said. Zimbabwe has not yet received any vaccines. Mnangagwa on Saturday said the government health officials were still deciding which vaccine to acquire. “Our experts are very close to finalizing the course to recommend … and it will be quite soon,” he said.

Ultra-Orthodox protesters clash with Israeli police over coronavirus restrictions

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-24/israeli-police-ultra-orthodox-protesters-clash-over-schools

Ultra-Orthodox demonstrators clashed with Israeli police in two major cities on Sunday as authorities faced new difficulties in enforcing coronavirus restrictions in the country’s religious communities. The clashes occurred in Jerusalem and Ashdod as police attempted to close religious schools that had opened in violation of lockdown orders. Throughout the pandemic, many major ultra-Orthodox sects have flouted safety regulations, continuing to open schools, pray in synagogues and hold mass weddings and funerals. This has contributed to a disproportionate infection rate, with the ultra-Orthodox community accounting for over one-third of Israel’s coronavirus cases, despite making up just over 10% of the population. In Jerusalem, police fired tear gas and putrid-smelling water to disperse a crowd of hundreds of ultra-Orthodox residents outside a reopened school. Demonstrators cried “get out of here, Nazis” at officers who were filmed arresting participants. In the coastal city of Ashdod, police scuffled with dozens of protesters outside an ultra-Orthodox school. At least five police officers were wounded in the disputes and at least four people were arrested, according to Hebrew media reports. World & Nation Israel’s socialized and highly digitized healthcare system has aided rapid COVID-19 vaccine rollout. But Palestinians will have to wait. With the country experiencing a raging coronavirus outbreak, the Israeli government last week extended the country’s third nationwide lockdown until the end of January. Israel’s Health Ministry has recorded over 595,000 cases of the virus since the start of the pandemic and 4,361 deaths. New cases of the disease continue to climb, even as the country has launched a massive vaccination campaign. Sunday’s clashes were the latest incident of heightened tensions over enforcement of lockdown rules in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods in Israel. On Friday, ultra-Orthodox Israelis attacked a police vehicle in the city of Bnei Brak, outside Tel Aviv. A crowd pelted the police car with stones and punctured its tires.

Indonesia to deport Russian social media star who held party

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-24/indonesia-to-deport-russian-social-media-star-who-held-party

A Russian social media celebrity was being deported from Indonesia on Sunday after he held a party attended by more than 50 people at a luxury hotel on the resort island of Bali despite coronavirus restrictions. The party held Jan. 11 violated health protocols put in place to fight the spread of the virus, said Jamaruli Manihuruk, chief of the Bali regional office for the Ministry of Law and Human Rights. Sergei Kosenko, who has more than 4.9 million followers on his Instagram account, arrived in Indonesia in October on a tourist visa. Immigration officials in Bali decided to examine Kosenko’s activities after he posted to social media a video of him and a female passenger riding a motorcycle off a pier and into the sea. The stunt was condemned by many Indonesians as reckless and potentially hazardous to the environment. Manihuruk said the immigration investigation found Kosenko took part in activities that violated his tourist visa, such as promoting companies and products. World & Nation A French prosecutor said police detained seven people Saturday, including two alleged organizers, after a New Year’s Eve rave party drew at least 2,500 people in western France despite a coronavirus curfew and other restrictions. After the announcement of his deportation, Kosenko told reporters at the immigration office in Bali that he was sorry. “I love Bali. I am sorry and I apologize,” Kosenko said. The deportation comes just days after Indonesia deported an American woman who had been living on Bali over her viral tweets that celebrated the island as a low-cost, “queer-friendly” place for foreigners to live. Her posts were considered to have “disseminated information disturbing to the public,” which was the basis for her deportation. Indonesia has temporarily restricted foreigners from coming to the country since Jan. 1 to control the spread of COVID-19, and public activities have been restricted on Java and Bali islands. Bali regional office for the Ministry of Law and Human Rights recorded 162 foreigners have been deported from Bali in 2020 and 2021. Most of them are being deported for violating the visit visa.

Trapped for 2 weeks, 11 workers rescued from China gold mine

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-24/trapped-for-2-weeks-11-workers-rescued-from-china-gold-mine

Eleven workers trapped for two weeks inside a Chinese gold mine were brought safely to the surface on Sunday. State broadcaster CCTV showed workers being hauled up one by one in baskets on Sunday afternoon, their eyes shielded to protect them after so many days in darkness. One worker was reported to have died from a head wound following the blast that deposited massive amounts of rubble in the shaft Jan. 10 while the mine was still under construction. The fate of 10 others who were underground at the time is unknown. Authorities have detained mine managers for delaying reporting the accident. The official China Daily said on its website that seven of the workers were able to walk to ambulances on their own. State broadcaster CCTV showed numerous ambulances parked alongside engineering vehicles at the mine in Qixia, a jurisdiction under Yantai in Shandong province. Increased supervision has improved safety in China’s mining industry, which used to average 5,000 deaths per year. However, demand for coal and precious metals continues to prompt corner-cutting, and two accidents in Chongqing last year killed 39 miners.

Jimmie Rodgers, singer of 'Honeycomb' and other hits, dies at 87

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-23/jimmie-rodgers-singer-of-honeycomb-and-other-hits-dies

Jimmie Rodgers, singer of the 1957 hits “Honeycomb” and “Kisses Sweeter Than Wine” whose career in music and movies was disrupted by a severe head injury a decade later, has died at age 87. Rodgers died from kidney disease on Jan. 18 in Palm Desert, and had also tested positive for COVID-19, publicist Alan Eichler said Saturday, citing family members. Rodgers performed for $10 a night around Nashville while stationed there with the U.S. Air Force after the Korean War. He appeared on a talent show and got an audition with Roulette Records, which signed him after hearing him perform “Honeycomb,” a song by Bob Merrill. With a style of singing and playing guitar that included elements of country, folk and pop, the Camas, Wash., native recorded many other Top 10 hits during the late 1950s, including “Secretly,” “Oh-Oh, I’m Falling in Love Again,” and “Are You Really Mine?” Rodgers continued making albums for the better part of the 1960s, producing music that ranged from covering traditional songs like “The Wreck Of The ‘John B.’” and “English Country Garden” to popular fare such as the ballad “Child of Clay.” He had established himself on television with performances on variety shows when he moved into acting in movies during the 1960s. His film credits included “The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come” and “Back Door to Hell” with a young Jack Nicholson. In 1967, Rodgers was found in his car on a Los Angeles freeway suffering from a fractured skill and other injuries. He said he had pulled over and stopped in response to a driver behind him who was flashing his lights and that an attack from an an off-duty police officer had caused his head injuries. “I rolled the window down to ask what was the matter,” he told the Toronto Star in 1987. “That’s the last thing I remember.” Los Angeles police officers insisted that Rodgers had injured himself in a fall while drunk. Rodgers filed a lawsuit and agreed to a $200,000 settlement. He subsequently developed a condition that caused spasms in the muscles of his voice box. He also had occasional seizures, which he said were due to the attack. After his initial recovery, Rodgers had a summer TV show on ABC in 1969 and also performed at his own theater in Branson, Mo. In a 2016 interview with the Spectrum, a Utah newspaper, Rodgers recalled finding a $10 guitar and singing when he was in the Air Force and stationed in Korea in 1953. “We were sitting on the floor with only candles for light, and these tough soldiers had tears running down their cheeks. I realized if my music could have that effect, that’s what I wanted to do with my life,” he said. Survivors include his wife, Mary Louise Biggerstaff, and five children from three marriages.

Blacklisted screenwriter Walter Bernstein, who wrote 'The Front,' dies at 101

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-23/screenwriter-walter-bernstein-dies-at-101

Screenwriter Walter Bernstein, among the last survivors of Hollywood’s anti-communist blacklist whose Oscar-nominated script for “The Front” drew upon his years of being unable to work under his own name, died Saturday. He was 101. The cause was pneumonia, according to his wife, the literary agent Gloria Loomis. A World War II correspondent for the military who also had been published in the New Yorker, Bernstein was at the start of what seemed a promising film career when the Cold War and anti-communist paranoia led to his being blacklisted in 1950, a fate which ruined the lives of many of his peers and led some to suicide. Job offers to Bernstein were rescinded and onetime friends stopped speaking to him. FBI agents looked through his trash, showed up at his door and followed him outside. “I was starting to look around when I left my house, looking over my shoulder when I walked down the street, bracing myself for the inevitable encounter,” he wrote in his memoir “Inside Out,” published in 1996. “Even expecting it, I was startled when it came, and there would be the sudden sour taste of fear for a moment and then a shaming wave of anger, not at them but at myself for being afraid. I could never really get angry at them. They were only doing their job, like delivering milk.” Unwilling to provide the House Un-American Activities Committee names of suspected communists, the way director Elia Kazan and others had been spared from banishment, Bernstein found employment through the use of “fronts,” people willing to lend their names (and receive part of the proceeds) for scripts he had written. His fronts included an actor’s wife hoping to help her husband break through in movies and a friend of a friend, named Leo, who had a gambling habit to support. Few were aware at any given time that Bernstein had contributed to such hit CBS television series as the crime drama “Danger” and to “You Are There,” hosted by Walter Cronkite and featuring reenactments of historical events ranging from the Boston Tea Party to the death of Cleopatra. While many were blacklisted just for supporting left-wing causes, Bernstein actually was a member of the American Communist Party and remained so until 1956, when the Soviet Union invaded Hungary and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev revealed the many brutalities of Joseph Stalin, who had died three years earlier. Bernstein would remember his decision with “relief” over no longer abiding Soviet dogma and “sadness” for the people who were fellow idealists. “I had left the Party, but not the idea of socialism,” he wrote in his memoir, “the possibility that there could be a system not based on inequality and exploitation.” The blacklist began to weaken in the late ’50s and ended for Bernstein in 1959 with “That Kind of Woman,” starring Sophia Loren. He was soon working on “The Magnificent Seven,” the Hollywood adaptation of Akira Kurosawa’s classic “Seven Samurai,” and on an A-list film that ended in tragedy, “Something’s Gotta Give.” Marilyn Monroe was cast as a shipwreck survivor who returns to her husband and children after being presumed lost. But Monroe was often late or absent altogether from the set and was fired in June 1962. Two months later, she was found dead from an apparent suicide. In the 1970s, Bernstein was able to use his own story for what became his most acclaimed project, “The Front,” starring Woody Allen as a stand-in for blacklisted writers and featuring Bernstein’s friend Zero Mostel, who also had been ostracized in the ’50s. Bernstein received an Academy Award nomination in 1977 and a Writers Guild of America prize for best screen drama. Around the same time, Allen gave him an acting cameo in the Oscar-winning “Annie Hall.” His other writing credits included the Burt Reynolds football comedy “Semi-Tough” and films by such old friends as Martin Ritt (“The Front,” “The Molly Maguires,” a story of rebelling miners he once cited as his personal favorite) and Sidney Lumet (“Fail-Safe”). Bernstein himself directed “Little Miss Marker,” a 1980 release based on the Damon Runyon short story. In 1994, he received a lifetime achievement award from the Eastern branch of the Writers Guild. Into his 90s, he taught screenwriting at New York University and was an advisor to the Sundance Institute, founded by Robert Redford. Bernstein was married four times and had five children. Over his long life, he also enjoyed an eclectic range of friends and acquaintances, from authors Irwin Shaw and Shirley Jackson to songwriter Irving Berlin and actress Bette Davis, who, Bernstein was surprised to learn, shared his admiration for the writings of Karl Marx. “The most wonderful books,” she called them. Descended from Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe, Bernstein was born and raised in New York City and by his teens had found his passions for movies and politics. As an undergraduate at Dartmouth College, he reviewed movies for the campus newspaper until he was fired for panning the popular 1937 fantasy “Lost Horizon.” In his spare time, he read Marx and Engels, Steinbeck and Dreiser, and sought out films by Sergei Eisenstein and other Russian directors. “The books had opened my head,” he wrote. “The movies opened my heart.” He was drafted in 1941 and spent much of World War II as a reporter for the Army publication Yank, filing dispatches from the Middle East, Sicily and Yugoslavia, where he became the first American to interview the country’s longtime leader, Josip Broz Tito. After the war ended, in 1945, he joined the staff of the New Yorker and received a 10-week contract to work for Columbia Pictures in Hollywood. He stayed 10 months, long enough to be noticed by government agents and to discover his love for movies wasn’t dispelled by learning how they were made. “I had been initiated into the mystery, participated in the sacred process,” he wrote in his memoir. “Making a movie was like building a cathedral, the hard and skilled work of many hands. Then you looked at it when it was finished and, if you were blessed, you saw Chartres. If not, you saw St. Patrick’s on Fifth Avenue. It was still a cathedral. Even as an acolyte I could still enter the dark, embracing cave and feel mysteriously freed.” Italie writes for the Associated Press.