On February 26, the World Health Organization said that for the first time
the virus was spreading faster outside China, where it originated.
Globally, more than 80,000 people in about 40 countries have been infected
with the new coronavirus, which emerged in December. The vast majority remain
in China.
Covid-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus, has
killed more than 2,700 people so far.
On February 26, authorities reported a total of 400 cases – a rise of 80
from February 25.
The worst-affected areas are in the industrial north of Italy – Lombardy,
the region around Milan, and Veneto near Venice. The outbreak has killed 12
people in the country so far.
Government officials have sought to reassure the public, and insisted steps
were being taken to prevent the spread of the disease.
Schools, universities and cinemas have been closed and several public events
cancelled.
Eleven towns at the epicenter of the outbreak – home to a total of 55,000
people – have been quarantined.
There are fears that the outbreak may tip Italy into economic recession.
EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides told reporters after meeting the
Italian health minister in Rome: “This
is a situation of concern, but we must not give in to panic.
“There are still many unknowns about this virus and in
particular its origin and how it spreads.”
In the past two days, Austria,
Croatia, Greece, Norway, Switzerland, Georgia and North Macedonia reported
their first coronavirus cases. Many of them involved people who had been to
Italy.
Maria Sharapova has decided to retire from tennis
at the age of 32.
In an article written for Vogue and
Vanity Fair, the five-time Grand Slam
champion said her body “had become a distraction” after a struggle
with shoulder injuries.
Maria Sharapova won her first Grand Slam at Wimbledon in 2004 at the age of
17 and completed the career slam – all four major titles – by winning the
French Open in 2012.
The former champion has dropped to 373 in the world, her lowest ranking
since August 2002, and has lost in the first round of her past three Grand Slam
tournaments.
In announcing her retirement, Maria Sharapova said: “I’m new to this, so please forgive me. Tennis – I’m saying
goodbye.
“Looking back now, I realize that
tennis has been my mountain. My path has been filled with valleys and detours,
but the views from its peak were incredible.
“After 28 years and five Grand
Slam titles, though, I’m ready to scale another mountain – to compete on a
different type of terrain.
“That relentless chase for
victories, though? That won’t ever diminish. No matter what lies ahead, I will
apply the same focus, the same work ethic, and all of the lessons I’ve learned
along the way.
“In the meantime, there are a few
simple things I’m really looking forward to: A sense of stillness with my
family. Lingering over a morning cup of coffee. Unexpected weekend getaways.
Workouts of my choice (hello, dance class!)”
Maria Sharapova said her 6-1, 6-1 first-round defeat by Serena Williams at
2019 US Open was the “final signal”.
She did not play again in 2019 after that defeat at Flushing Meadows and has
played just twice in 2020, including a straight sets loss to Croat Donna Vekic
in the Australian Open first round, her last competitive appearance..
Maria Sharapova shot to stardom in 2004 aged just 17 when victory over
Serena Williams saw her become the third-youngest woman to win the Wimbledon
singles title.
She would go on to become one of the most high-profile names in women’s
sport, winning 36 singles titles and earning more than $38 million in prize
money.
In 2005, Maria Sharapova became the first Russian woman to become world No 1, and won her second Grand Slam singles title at the US Open in 2006.
Iran’s deputy health minister Iraj Harirchi and a lawmaker have both tested positive for the new coronavirus, as the country struggles to contain an outbreak that has killed 15.
Iran is one of three hot-spots outside China causing concern that the virus could be becoming a pandemic.
On February 24, Iraj Harirchi denied covering up the scale of the outbreak. He appeared in physical discomfort as he spoke to reporters.
Meanwhile, Tehran lawmaker Mahmoud Sadeghi has also been infected.
Iran has reported 95 cases, but the actual number is thought to be higher.
According to the director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), the
sudden increase in cases in countries outside China is “deeply concerning”.
On February 25, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Washington was
concerned that Iran may have concealed “vital details” about its
outbreak and urged all nations to “tell the truth about the
coronavirus”.
More people have died in Iran from the new coronavirus than anywhere else
outside China. Iran and China have strong trading links.
The other countries currently in the spotlight are Italy and South Korea, where cases have surged in recent days.
Hosni Mubarak’s death was confirmed by Egyptian state news on February 25.
Earlier in the day, the Al-Watan website
reported that he died at a military hospital.
He underwent surgery in late January and was photographed with his grandson
as he recovered.
On February 23, however, Hosni Mubarak’s
son Alaa said that the former president remained in intensive care.
Born in 1928, Hosni Mubarak entered
the air force as a teenager and went on to play a key role in the 1973
Arab-Israeli war.
He became president less than a
decade later, following the assassination of President Anwar Sadat, and played
a key role in the Israel-Palestinian peace process.
However, despite the billions of dollars
in military aid Egypt received during his time in office, unemployment, poverty
and corruption continued to grow.
Discontent boiled over in January
2011, after similar protests in Tunisia led to the overthrow of the president
there. Hosni Mubarak was forced to step down 18 days later.
Just over a year after Hosni Mubarak’s
overthrow, Mohamed Morsi, an Islamist politician, won Egypt’s first democratic
presidential election.
Mohamed Morsi lasted less than a
year in office. Amid mass protests, he was ousted in a military coup led by General
Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
General Sisi went on to win two
presidential elections. Mohamed Morsi died in prison in 2019.
Having plants inside the office is not only a nice touch of style which makes the place look better, and there is in fact a lot more behind it than just aesthetic value. In fact having plants in the office, real or fake, have been proven to increase the mood of employees and clients, it has been found to have a huge impact on productivity and in the case of real plants, they have been shown to help reduce illness and therefore the amount of sick days which are taken. This however is something which not all businesses are keen on managing, despite the numerous benefits, which is why more companies are looking to make the most of indoor plant hire.
Seasonal Changes
Changing the plants in the office as the seasons begin and end is
going to be a costly job and likely a job that nobody really wants to do. This is of course one reason why many offices put their faith
in fake plants, but there really is no substitute for fresh seasonal plants
throughout the office. When you use a plant hire company however you can take
all of the difficulty out of this and make sure that your office is using the
plants which are in season right now. A hire company will come out and switch
them up when the new plants of the season are in bloom.
Expertise
Instead of buying flowers which don’t bloom or plants which die
because of the office environment, you can count on the fact that you will have
spectacular plants which are absolutely ideal for your workspace when you use a
hire company. The reason for this is that these working at the business have
expertise which you perhaps don’t, and they will be able to select the perfect
plant arrangement for your workspace, taking into consideration everything
about the environment where the plants will be.
Design
Whilst the benefits of having plants in the office or the
workplace most certainly do extend beyond their aesthetic value, this is
something which we just cannot avoid, and you want plants to look great. Once
again, this may be an area which the business doesn’t exactly specialize in,
which is why outsourcing the selection and the placement of the plants and
flowers makes for such a great idea. The guys in these teams know what looks
great with what and how to install the right amount of plants and flowers in
the right places, to make sure that your office or workspace looks great.
Psychology
Smells and colors which are given off plants have a huge impact on
your staff’s productivity levels, and hiring plants will ensure that you get
the right selection to help increase productivity. This can help avoid doing
the opposite, which would happen if you decided to pick up some lavender for
the office, which is known to send people to sleep.
Get the look and the impact of the perfect plants and flowers by
hiring a company to manage it.
Most coronavirus infections are in China,
the original source of the virus, where 77,000 people have the disease and
nearly 2,600 have died. The number of new cases there is now falling.
More than 1,200 cases have been confirmed in about 30 other countries and
there have been more than 20 deaths. Italy reported four more deaths on
February 24, raising the total there to seven.
China’s government announced a ban on the consumption of wild animals and a
crackdown on the hunting, transportation and trade of prohibited species, state
media say.
It is thought that the outbreak originated at a market in the city of Wuhan
selling wild animals.
On February 24, China reported 409 new infections, the bulk of which were in
Wuhan.
South Korea has the largest number of confirmed cases outside China. On February 24, the Asian country reported another 231 COVID-19 infections on taking the total there to more than 830. Eight people have died.
Around 7,700 troops have been quarantined after 11 military members were
infected.
However, the biggest virus clusters have been linked to a hospital and a
religious group near the south-eastern city of Daegu.
Italy has the largest number of cases in Europe, 229, and
announced a series of drastic measures over the weekend to try to contain the
outbreak.
In the regions of Lombardy and Veneto, a lock-down is in place in several
small towns. For the next two weeks, 50,000 residents will not be able to leave
without special permission.
Even outside the zone, many businesses and schools have suspended
activities, and sporting events have been cancelled.
Three deaths announced on February 24 were all in Lombardy, Italian media
reported.
It is not yet clear how the virus entered the country, officials said.
On
February 23, Iran announced it had 61 confirmed cases of coronavirus,
most of them in the holy city of Qom. Twelve of those infected have died, the
highest number of deaths outside China.
On February 24, a lawmaker in Qom accused the government of covering up the
extent of the outbreak, saying there were 50 deaths in the city alone. However,
the country’s deputy health minister quickly denied the claim.
On the same day, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain reported their first cases, all involving people who had come from Iran. Officials in Bahrain said the patient infected there was a school bus driver, and several schools had been closed as a result.
Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was
convicted in New York City of third-degree rape and first-degree criminal sexual
act.
The 67-year-old was cleared of the most serious count of predatory sexual
assault. He faces up to 25 years in prison.
Harvey Weinstein still faces charges in Los Angeles of assaulting two women
in 2013.
At least 80 women had accused him of misconduct stretching back decades,
including actresses Gwyneth Paltrow, Uma Thurman and Salma Hayek.
The allegations were at the center of the #MeToo movement that inspired
women to go public with misconduct allegations against powerful men.
Haevey Weinstein once enjoyed phenomenal success with Oscar winners such Pulp Fiction, Good Will Hunting, The King’s
Speech and Shakespeare in Love.
The jury of seven men and five women reached their verdict on February 24,
the fifth day of deliberations.
Harvey Weinstein – who denied all charges – was convicted of assaulting
former production assistant Mimi Haleyi in 2006 and raping Jessica Mann, a
former aspiring actress, in 2013. The judge ordered him sent to jail
immediately.
However, the jury acquitted him on
two counts of predatory sexual assault, which carried a potential life
sentence, and first-degree rape of Jessica Mann.
In the minutes after the verdict, Harvey
Weinstein showed no emotion as he talked to his lead lawyer Donna Rotunno. He
will be sentenced on March 11.
The third-degree rape charge in New
York is defined as engaging in intercourse with a person who is incapable of
consent, or under age 17, or who has not given consent for a reason other than
the inability to consent.
Prosecutors portrayed Harvey Weinstein
as a serial predator who used his position of power in Hollywood to manipulate
and attack women.
The defense team said intercourse between
Harvey Weinstein and the accusers was consensual, and that the accusers used
the relations to advance their careers. The allegations amounted to “regret
renamed as rape”, the defense said. Two of the accusers kept in contact
with Harvey Weinstein and had intimate relations with him after the alleged
attacks, they pointed out.
Mimi Haleyi, who had worked on one of Harvey Weinstein’s TV productions,
said she was assaulted by the producer after he invited her to his Lower
Manhattan home.
Jessica Mann said that she found
herself in an “extremely degrading” relationship with him that did
not involve intercourse until he raped her in a New York City hotel room in
2013.
She said he was a “Jekyll and
Hyde” figure who could be charming in public but showed his dark side when
they were alone.
Another one of Harvey Weinstein’s
accusers, actress Annabella Sciorra, told jurors he raped her in her apartment
one night in the mid-1990s.
Her allegation was too old to be
charged as a separate crime, but prosecutors used it in an attempt to
demonstrate that the accused was a repeat offender.
Following the verdict, Annabella
Sciorra said: “I spoke for myself
and with the strength of the 80-plus victims of Harvey Weinstein in my
heart.”
Three other also women testified they were lured to apparent work meetings
with Harvey Weinstein, then assaulted.
Donna Rotunno told reporters outside the courthouse: “The fight is not over…Harvey is unbelievably strong. He took it
like a man and he knows we will continue to fight for him and he knows that
this is not over.”
The lawyer said her client was disappointed, but “mentally tough”.
Vanessa Bryant, the widow of NBA legend Kobe
Bryant, is suing the owner of the helicopter that crashed last month, killing
her husband and 13-year-old daughter, Gianna.
Kobe Bryant, Gianna and seven others died when the helicopter they were in
crashed in fog on January 26.
In the lawsuit, Vanessa Bryant says the pilot was negligent for flying in
such poor weather.
The lawsuit was filed shortly before a memorial service held in Los Angeles.
It says that Island Express Helicopters and the pilot, Ara George Zobayan,
had a “duty to use that degree of care that an ordinarily careful and
prudent pilot would use under the same or similar circumstances”.
The lawsuit alleges that the pilot – who died in the crash – did not assess
weather data before taking off.
It also says the pilot did not abort the flight despite the treacherous
conditions.
Island Express Helicopters authorized the flight “with full knowledge
that the subject helicopter was flying into unsafe weather conditions”,
the complaint says.
Vanessa Bryant is seeking undisclosed compensatory and punitive damages.
The company has suspended operations.
The aircraft – a Sikorsky S-76B – went down into a hillside outside the city
of Calabasas.
Conditions were foggy when the flight took off, and local police had
grounded their helicopters due to the poor weather.
The pilot asked air traffic controllers for a special clearance, known as
Special Visual Flight Rules, to fly in less than optimal weather, said NTSB
board member Jennifer Homendy, who went to the crash scene to collect evidence.
The helicopter, she added, circled in the air for 12 minutes before being
given the clearance. The pilot then asked controllers for “flight
following”, an assistance given to helicopters to avoid collisions, but
was told the craft was too low to be picked up by radar.
Minutes later, the pilot said he was “climbing to avoid a cloud
layer”, she added. The helicopter climbed and began a left descending
turn, according to radar data, before communication was lost. All those on
board were killed.
Kobe and Gianna Bryant were remembered in a “Celebration of Life”
memorial at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on February 24.
Beyoncé opened the service with her 2013 hit XO, which she said was one of Kobe Bryant’s favorite songs.
Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Bryant’s former teammate Shaquille O’Neal
were among those attending.
The Staples Center was Kobe Bryant’s home arena for much of his 20-season
career with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Speaking at the event, Vanessa Bryant said of her husband: “He was mine. He was my everything,”
and called her daughter Gianna an “amazingly sweet and gentle
soul” whose smile took up her entire face.
Island Express Helicopters was limited to operating when the pilot was able to see clearly while flying.
The world should do more to prepare for a
possible coronavirus pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said.
However, the WHO said it was too early to call the outbreak a pandemic but
countries should be “in a phase of preparedness”.
A pandemic is when an infectious disease spreads easily from person to
person in many parts of the world.
More cases of respiratory disease Covid-19 continue to emerge with outbreaks
in South Korea, Italy and Iran causing concern.
However, most infections are in China, the original source of the virus,
where 77,000 people have the disease and nearly 2,600 have died. The number of
new cases there is now falling.
More than 1,200 cases have been confirmed in about 30 other countries and
there have been more than 20 deaths. Italy reported four more deaths on
February 24, raising the total there to seven.
Worldwide stock markets saw sharp falls because of concerns about the
economic impact of the virus.
China said it would postpone the annual meeting of the National People’s
Congress in March, to “continue the efforts” against the coronavirus.
The meeting, which approves decisions made by the Communist Party, has taken
place every year since 1978.
The proportion of infected people who die from Covid-19 appears to be
between 1% and 2%, although the WHO cautions that the mortality rate is not
known yet.
On February 24, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain reported their
first cases, all involving people who had come from Iran. Officials in Bahrain
said the patient infected there was a school bus driver, and several schools
had been closed as a result.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, chief of the WHO, told reporters on February 24
that the number of new cases in recent days in Iran, Italy and South Korea was
“deeply concerning”.
However he added: “For the moment
we are not witnessing the uncontained global spread of this virus and we are
not witnessing large scale severe disease or deaths.
“Does this virus have pandemic potential?
Absolutely, it has. Are we there yet? From our assessment, not yet.”
“The key message that should give
all countries hope, courage and confidence is that this virus can be contained,
indeed there are many countries that have done exactly that,” he added.
“Using the word ‘pandemic’ now
does not fit the facts but may certainly cause fear.”
However, Mike Ryan, head of WHO’s health emergencies program, said now was
the time to make “do everything you would do to prepare for a
pandemic”.
France’s ex-PM François Fillon has appeared in
court for his role in a “fake jobs” scandal.
The politician is accused of paying his Welsh wife Penelope Fillon hundreds of thousands of euros for work she allegedly never did when employed as his assistant.
Both appeared on February 24, but made no statement. They deny the
allegations.
Though the trial was due to start on February 24, the court delayed it until
February 26, as there is currently a lawyers’ strike in France.
The former prime minister has been
in politics for decades. After serving as lawmaker and in a number of
ministerial roles, he became France’s prime minister between 2007 and 2012
under former President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Ahead of the 2017 presidential election, Francois Fillon won the center-right
Republican party’s presidential primary, and in January 2017 was the clear
frontrunner in the polls.
However, Fillon’s bid for the top job fell apart later that month.
Le Canard Enchaîné, a satirical
magazine, alleged that Penelope Fillon – formally employed as her husband’s
parliamentary assistant for about six years in the 1990s and 2000s – never
actually did her job. What’s more, she was paid €831,400 ($900,000) in the
role.
Francois Fillon denied the allegations. He said his opponents were trying to
sabotage his campaign through his wife, and vowed to press on with the
election.
As the scandal grew the former prime minister apologized
“profusely” for employing family members, saying that though legal
the practice had caused “mistrust”.
However, his poll ratings dropped sharply. He came third in the first round
of voting, missing out on the second-round run-off.
Le Canard Enchaîné published
numerous allegations against Francois Fillon and his family.
According to the publication, Penelope Fillon made €100,000 writing just a
handful of articles for a literary publication La Revue des Deux Mondes. The magazine is owned by a billionaire
friend of the family, Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière.
From 2002 to 2007, Penelope Fillon worked for her husband’s successor as a
lamaker, Marc Joulaud. He has also been placed under formal investigation.
During a brief stint working for her husband between 2012 and 2013, Penelope
Fillon allegedly did not have a work email or parliamentary pass.
Two of the Fillons children have also been caught up in the scandal.
Marie and Charles Fillon were both paid for legal work by their father’s office – yet Le Canard Enchaîné reported that neither were qualified lawyers at the time.
The entire cast of Friends is to reunite for a one-off special on the HBO Max
streaming service, more than 15 years since the show ended.
The unscripted episode will be launched in May. A date is yet to be
announced.
Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry
and David Schwimmer will all appear.
Matthew Perry posted on Instagram: “It’s happening.”
The actor posted the text along with a photo of the cast from the 1990s. The
rest of the cast then started sharing the same post.
Friends aired from 1994 until
2004. The final show was watched by 52.5 million viewers in the US, making it
the most watched TV episode of the 2000s.
The show has since picked up legions of younger fans through Netflix.
Rumors of a reunion intensified after Jennifer Aniston posted a photo of the
cast together on Instagram in October.
HBO Max has now secured rights to the show’s back catalogue for $425 million.
Kevin Reilly, chief content officer for HBO Max said the reunion special
will capture the spirit of a time when “friends – and audiences – gathered
together in real time”.
The cast will be involved in producing the episode.
According to Variety, each actor is expected to receive $2.5 million for taking part in the special, which will be available when HBO Max – a new subscription streaming service – launches.
According to recent reports, US intelligence
agencies have warned that Russia is attempting to help President Donald Trump
get re-elected in November.
It appears the comments came in a closed-door briefing to the House
Intelligence Committee on February 13.
President Trump was reportedly enraged, complaining that Democrats would use
the information against him.
Donald Trump replaced his acting intelligence chief, Joseph Maguire, on
February 20.
The New York Times reported that
President Trump was particularly angry that Adam Schiff, the Democrat who led
the impeachment proceedings against him, was at the briefing.
Donald Trump, impeached by the House of Representatives for abuse of power
and obstruction of Congress, was acquitted after a two-week trial in the
Republican-controlled Senate.
During the House intelligence briefing, President Trump’s supporters argued
that he had taken a hard stance with Russia, and that European ties and
security had been strengthened as a result, the newspaper added.
Adam Schiff later tweeted that if Donald Trump was in any
way “interfering” with the sharing of information between US
intelligence agencies and Congress regarding foreign interference in the
election process, the president was “jeopardizing” attempts to stop
it.
Joseph Maguire was a favorite to be nominated for the permanent Director of
National Intelligence (DNI) post, the Washington
Post said.
However, the publication said President Trump changed his mind when he found
out about the briefing, and what he called the “disloyalty” of his
staff.
The president announced this week that Joseph Maguire would be replaced by
Richard Grenell, the US ambassador to Germany and a Trump loyalist.
Two Trump administration officials
told the New York Times that the
replacement of Joseph Maguire, so soon after the contentious briefing, was a
coincidence.
US intelligence officials say Russia
interfered in the 2016 presidential election to boost Donald Trump’s campaign
and cause chaos within the US electoral process.
Democrats criticized the president
for appointing Richard Grenell, who has previously played down the extent of
Russian interference in the last election, and has celebrated the rise of
far-right politicians in Europe.
Ned Price, a former aide to President Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama, said the president had “dropped the charade that he has any use for intelligence”.
Stress is a part of everyday life, but that
doesn’t mean we have to suffer under the massive weight it can often bring into
our lives. Believe it or not, you don’t need to take medication to get your
stress under control.
There are plenty of ways to manage stress
naturally, so you don’t have to worry about harmful side-effects or becoming
dependent on OTC or prescription drugs.
Whether you’re someone that’s suffering from
anxiety, depression, or you’re just prone to being stressed out, these natural
remedies will help you re-center yourself and reach a point of calm in your
day.
Is Stress Really Dangerous?
We hear all the time about how stress can be “dangerous”, but is it really so bad for the body and mind? According to Healthline, stress can have numerous effects on both halves of your wholeness, from making it harder to control emotions to heart problems and much more. (The full article can be found here)
All kinds
of life occurrences can stress us out. Little things like missing a phone
charger or forgetting the spaghetti sauce at the store can cause stress, and
bigger things like our jobs, children, and relationships can cause more than
their share of stress.
Stress becomes dangerous when it starts
affecting things like mood, appetite, and behavior.
People with depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions are particularly impacted by stress. Stress can increase the volatility of symptoms, cause erratic behavior, and make the condition seem even worse overall. When your body and mind scream “Listen to me, I’m hurting!” it’s time to listen up.
Stress Management
Learning to manage stress can not only protect
both your physical and mental health, but it can also help you feel better
about life in general. When stress becomes overwhelming, it can be difficult to
view things through a positive lens, which can make life seem dull and grey.
Life is beautiful and full of opportunities, so let’s take a look at some
natural ways to manage stress so you can take control of your life and your
health.
Take Up An Instrument
or Other Creative Hobby
Did you know that things like art, musical instruments, and other creative hobbies make excellent stress-reducers? Creating music reduces stress by offering the brain a positive outlet for negative feelings, and giving that stressed-out mind something constructive to focus on.
An instrument can be a great way to get in tune
with your emotions, as the music sometimes says what your words cannot.
Things like painting, drawing, and crafts also
help reduce stress in a similar way. Sometimes, it’s just a good thing to see
all of your stress channeled into a beautiful painting or crafty project. Try
an instrument or some other creative hobby as a stress-reducer, and you’ll find
that what was once a negative experience becomes something positive and
constructive.
Exercise Daily
You knew this one was coming, right? Every guru
says exercise to reduce your stress,
but there’s a reason it’s one of the best medicines for stress. Getting your
body moving increases blood flow to the brain and the body, and can have the
following positive effects:
Increased libido
Improved mood &
outlook
An increase in your
energy and motivation
Reduce the risk of
disease (specifically heart disease)
Improve memory and
cognitive function
Improve the quality of
your sleep
Reduce your BMI
Give yourself a confidence
boost
All of these positive effects work hand-in-hand to help reduce your stress. The healthier your body is, the healthier your mind will be, and vice-versa. The two are endlessly connected, and what affects one can affect the other.
Spend Quality Time With
Loved Ones
Remember that “high” you feel after you spend
quality time with the people you love? A girlfriend, boyfriend, or spouse? A
grandparent? A child? You probably feel much less stressed out after spending
quality time with family (at least you should!)
and that’s because spending time with those you love reduces the levels of
cortisol in your body (this is a stress hormone).
That means it’s time to make that trip to see
grandma and grandpa or schedule some time with your wife/significant other.
The people in our lives provide vital support
in times of crisis, and without them, life can seem lonely. Humans are very
much social creatures, and if friends and family can help reduce stress
naturally, that’s all the more reason to make time for them!
Stress is Here to Stay
People spend entire lifetimes searching for
ways to completely eliminate stress, but the fact is, this isn’t possible.
Stress is a necessary part of life, but it’s up to us to determine what
stressors are worth dealing with and to find new and productive ways of
reducing stress’s effects on our bodies and minds.
Drinking alcohol with your friends is like a rite of passage. Unfortunately, this rite of passage can become toxic, lead to many health problems depending on how often someone drinks and the quantity of alcohol consumed, and it can create many other problems in your life. Not everyone is addicted to alcohol, but there are many people who are and the sooner they quit drinking, the better. If you’re considering hanging up your drinking shoes, here are seven helpful tips for quitting alcohol.
Consider rehab and AA.
Depending on how much a person drinks, quitting cold turkey can be dangerous and even life-threatening as alcohol withdrawals can be lethal. Many people consider rehab as it gives them a setting and support system for quitting, not to mention people in rehab are monitored around the clock and can detox safely.
Many alcoholics, whether they opt for rehab or not, go to Alcoholics Anonymous because it’s a support system in which people can relate to one another and the members encourage each other to stay sober. AA allows people to talk through their problems and get to the root of why they abused alcohol in the past.
Another option is therapy. If considering this option, we encourage people to visit withtherapy.com as WithTherapy “is a matchmaker that uses science to pair you with a personalized shortlist of therapists.” Therapy can give you a space to talk about your thoughts, feelings, and problems, but unlike AA, it takes place in a personal setting, with just you and your therapist.
Write down why you want to quit and what drinking is costing you.
Similar to creating goals, writing down why you want to quit and what drinking is costing you can help you realize the harms of drinking and all the benefits of staying sober. Like a goals list, you should constantly monitor your why so it stays fresh in your brain. While creating this list, you’ll get a better and more realistic idea of why drinking is detrimental to your life. This list isn’t meant to shame you—it’s meant to make you see more clearly.
Tell your loved ones about your decision.
Telling your friends and family members about your decision can help you create a support system as well as take the peer pressure of drinking off you. They’ll also see how important this decision is for you and that you’re trying to better your life.
Build a strong support team.
On that note, building a strong support team is essential when trying to quit alcohol because there are going to be times when all you want to do is drink. You’ll try to reason with yourself that you’re only going to have one beer or glass of wine, but, unfortunately, willpower is tougher to achieve when you have an addiction.
A support team will cheer you on and help you reach sobriety. Whether it be AA or your loved ones or both, creating a strong support team can help you quit alcohol.
You might be able to go to bars someday and not drink, but when your sobriety journey is fresh, it’s best to stay away from all temptations. This can include bars or restaurants. Don’t keep alcohol in your home when you’re trying to quit. Many alcoholics will only go to places where alcohol is present—you should take the opposite approach, within reason, and steer clear of places that serve alcohol or prioritize it.
Replace drinking with new activities.
Replacing drinking with new activities, such as hiking, going to the movies, reading, or sports, allows you to get your mind off drinking while enjoying something you like. The key, of course, is finding a new activity or hobby that you enjoy. Some people even replace drinking with eating or indulging in desserts, which is perfectly fine as long as you don’t create a new problem.
Don’t give up or beat yourself up if you slip.
Sobriety isn’t a clear and straight path. Some people go off the trail while others are strong enough to eventually have one beer at a time. Everyone’s journey is different, although if you’re an alcoholic and have problems, it’s probably best to stay away from alcohol. If you do slip, don’t beat yourself up. Acknowledge you slipped, get help from your support team, and continue on with your sobriety. Life and people aren’t meant to be perfect.
If you decide to seek therapy or other forms of professional health, we encourage you to choose Cheap health insurance options that support these medical benefits. You can compare health insurance with iSelect and ensure you’re covered and receive quality care.
A gunman shot dead nine people
“of migrant background” at two shisha bars Hanau, Germany, on
February 19.
The suspect and his mother were
later found dead in his flat.
Germany’s federal prosecutor Peter
Frank said material the suspect Tobias R had posted online showed a
“deeply racist mindset”.
Tobias R, 43, had also been influenced
by conspiracy theories, Peter Frank said.
Chancellor Angela Merkel said there
were many signs Tobias R had acted out of racism.
Speaking in Berlin, the chancellor
said: “Racism is a poison. Hate is a
poison and this poison exists in our society and is already to blame for many
crimes.”
Turkey says at least five of the
dead were Turkish citizens. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he
expected Germany to “throw light on all aspects” of the attack.
According to the prosecutor, the investigation into the
deadly gun attack in Hanau is focusing on whether others knew about or helped
organize it.
Peter Frank said six people had also been injured in the attack, one of them
seriously.
Shortly after the attacks the suspect and his 72-year-old mother were found
in his apartment, both also shot. A gun was found next to the suspect’s body.
The prosecutor said investigators wanted to establish any links the suspect
may have had in Germany or potentially also abroad.
The shootings took place around 22:00 on February 19, and the first target
was the Midnight shisha bar in the city centre of Hanau. Witnesses reported
hearing about a dozen gunshots.
The suspect then traveled by car to the Kesselstadt neighborhood, some 1.5
miles away, and opened fire at the Arena Bar & Cafe.
Shisha bars are places where people gather to smoke a pipe known as shisha
or hookah. Traditionally found in Middle Eastern and Asian countries, they are
also popular in many other parts of the world.
The shootings sparked a manhunt. Police identified the gunman through
information from witnesses and surveillance cameras. On February 20, they
stormed the suspect’s home, near the scene of the second shooting.
Hanau, in Hesse state, is a city of 100,000 residents about 15 miles east of
Frankfurt.
The victims included German citizens and foreigners aged between 21 and 44,
Germany’s federal prosecutor said.
Among the dead were “several victims of Kurdish origin”, the
Kon-Med association of Kurds in Germany said. It said it was
“furious” that authorities were not doing more to fight extremism.
Tobias R had posted videos and a kind of manifesto on his website, Peter
Frank said.
In the manifesto he wrote that people from more than 20 countries including
Turkey and Israel should be “destroyed”, AFP reported.
In her statement, Chancellor Merkel said there were “many indications
at the moment that the perpetrator acted on right-wing extremist, racist
motives, out of hatred towards people of other origins, religion or
appearance”.
Hesse state Interior Minister Peter Beuth said the suspect had not
previously been known to the authorities.
The Bild tabloid reports the
suspect had a firearms license, and that ammunition and gun magazines were
found in his car.
Gun laws in Germany are among the most stringent in the world, and were tightened further in recent years after other mass shootings.
Silicon Valley icon and Cut, Copy and Paste inventor Larry Tesler has died at the age of 74.
Larry Tesler started working in
Silicon Valley in the early 1960s, at a time when computers were inaccessible
to the vast majority of people.
It was thanks to Tesler’s
innovations – which included the “cut”, “copy” and
“paste” commands – that the personal computer became simple to learn
and use.
Xerox, where Larry Tesler spent part
of his career, paid tribute to him.
The company tweeted: “The inventor of cut/copy & paste,
find & replace, and more, was former Xerox researcher Larry Tesler.
“Your workday is easier thanks to his revolutionary
ideas.”
Larry Tesler was born in the Bronx,
New York, in 1945, and studied at Stanford University in California.
After graduating, he specialized in
user interface design – that is, making computer systems more user-friendly.
Larry Tesler worked for a number of major tech firms during his long career. He started at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (Parc), before Steve Jobs poached him for Apple, where he spent 17 years and rose to chief scientist.
After leaving Apple, Larry Tesler
set up an education start-up, and worked for brief periods at Amazon and Yahoo.
Possibly his most famous innovation, the cut and paste command, was reportedly
based on the old method of editing in which people would physically cut
portions of printed text and glue them elsewhere.
The command was incorporated in Apple’s software on the Lisa computer in
1983, and the original Macintosh that was released the following year.
One of Larry Tesler’s firmest beliefs was that computer systems should stop
using “modes”, which were common in software design at the time.
Modes allow users to switch between functions on software and apps but make
computers both time-consuming and complicated.
So strong was this belief that Larry Tesler’s website was called
“nomodes.com”, his Twitter handle was “@nomodes”, and even
his car’s registration plate was “No Modes”.
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama with The Right Honorable Motsoahae Thomas Thabane, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Lesotho (Official White House Photo by Amanda Lucidon)
The prime minister of Lesotho, Thomas Thabane, is
to be charged with the murder of his estranged wife Lipolelo Thabane, police
announced.
The 80-year-old announced he would be stepping down in July because of old
age, without commenting about the case.
Thomas Thabane’s current wife, Maesaiah, has already been charged with the
murder.
The prime minister would be the first leader in southern Africa to be
charged with murder while in office, in a case that has shocked the tiny
mountain kingdom.
Lipolelo Thabane, 58, was shot dead two days before her husband became prime
minister in 2017.
At the time, Thomas Thabane described his wife’s killing as
“senseless” but police now accuse him of being involved in her
killing.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Paseka
Mokete was quoted by Reuters as saying: “The
prime minister is going to be charged with the murder.
“The police are preparing directives and he will probably
be charged tomorrow [February 21].”
Thomas Thabane said on state radio
that he had served the nation “diligently” and he would retire at the
end of July, Reuters reports.
He was quoted as saying: “I’ve worked for a peaceful and stable
Lesotho. Today… at my age, I have lost most of my energy.”
The ruling All Basotho Convention
had given Thomas Thabane a deadline of February 20 to resign.
Lipolelo Thabane was gunned down at close range on the side of a dirt road
while returning to her home in a small village on the outskirts of the capital,
Maseru.
She was involved in bitter divorce proceedings with Thomas Thabane when she
was killed.
At the time, the prime minister was living with Maesaiah, 42, as if she were
his wife.
However, Lipolelo Thabane had already won a separate legal battle to be
recognized as first lady, as opposed to Maesaiah.
Maesaiah Thabane accompanied the prime minister to his inauguration,
following his estranged wife’s death.
Two months later Maesaiah and Thomas Thabane got married in a Catholic
ceremony held at a packed stadium in Maseru.
Maesaiah Thabane was charged with her rival’s murder on February 5, and is
out on bail of about $67.
The prime minister’s current wife has also been charged with the attempted
murder of a family friend Thato Sibolla, who was with Lipolelo Thabane at the
time of the shooting and is expected to be a key witness in the murder case.
Maesaiah Thabane has not yet been asked to enter a plea.
Passengers who tested negative for
the new coronavirus on the Diamond Princess cruise ship have begun leaving the
quarantined vessel in Japan amid heavy criticism over the country’s handling of
the outbreak.
According to a Japanese health
expert who visited the cruise ship at the port in Yokohama, the situation on
board was “completely chaotic”.
US officials said moves to contain
the coronavirus “may not have been sufficient”.
Passengers have described the
difficult quarantine situation on the cruise ship.
According to recent reports, at least
542 passengers and crew on the Diamond Princess have so far been infected by
the Covid-19 virus – the biggest cluster outside mainland China.
The Diamond Princess was carrying
3,700 people in total.
Meanwhile, several nations have
evacuated their citizens from the vessel as the number of confirmed cases
continues to rise.
On January 16, hundreds of American passengers were removed and placed in
quarantine.
The US, the UK, Canada and Australia will place all those released from the
Diamond Princess in another 14 days’ quarantine when they return home.
However, several experts have questioned the effectiveness of the quarantine
measures on the Diamond Princess.
Japan’s Kentaro Iwata, professor at the infectious diseases division of Kobe
University, described the situation on board as “completely inadequate in
terms of infection control”.
After visiting the ship, Prof. Kentaro Iwata posted a video to YouTube
stating that the quarantine measures he witnessed failed to separate the
infected from the healthy.
The professor reported:
Passengers and crew members were moving freely between the green zone, which is supposedly infection-free, and the virus-hit red zone;
People were eating together and sharing living quarters;
A failure to wear protective clothing, including among medical staff
No professional infection control specialist on board.
Prof. Iwata said he was more afraid of catching the virus on board than he had been working in the field in Africa during the Ebola epidemic and in China during the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) outbreak.
Knowing your net worth is very important for making big
financial decisions that are in your best interest. It’s also important to know
if you want to truly understand the state of your current financial health and
come up with the right solutions that will help you improve it.
So, what is your net worth? And what does it mean exactly?
Your net worth is how much money you are technically worth when looking at all
the money you have, the assets you own, and the debts you’ve incurred, and it’s
kind of like a financial report card or a snapshot of your current financial
situation.
How to Calculate your Net Worth
Calculating your net worth is actually pretty simple and
shouldn’t take you too long to figure out, especially is you just need an
estimated net worth.
First Step
The first thing you need to do is make a list of all your
assets. Your assets are literally everything you own. This includes the money
in your bank accounts and the worth of the house you live in. These plus
retirement accounts, the cash in your wallet, savings and investment accounts
along with higher value material possessions like your car or expensive
artwork, fur coats, or high-end furniture. Add all of these up to get a total
value for your assets.
Second Step
Next, you will need to make a list of your liabilities which admittedly isn’t as fun to think about as your assets. Add up all your debts like your mortgage, car loans, personal loans, title loans, credit card debt, student loans, and any other type of debt you might have. This number will be the total value of your liabilities.
Third Step
The final step is easy enough with a calculator: simply
subtract your liabilities from your assets and, simple as that, that number is
your net worth!
Easy Ways to Track your Net Worth
Now tracking your net worth is a different story, not because it requires a different calculation, but because doing that calculation every single month is time consuming and unappealing. Luckily, there are a few ways you can track your net worth more easily without so many calculations.
Personal Capital
Personal Capital is a website that equips you with some great tools to watch your money and what makes it even better is that it is completely free. You’d be able to access all your debts and assets in one single place you don’t have to add them up every time.
2. Mint from Intuit
Another great online management
tool you can use is Mint. Mint is from Intuit and features both a website and
an app for both iOS and Android users. Mint will keep close track of all your
bank accounts, investment accounts, along with all your credit cards and
student loans. Plus, you can use it to create your own budget and categorize
your spending so you can slowly increase your net worth over time. Mint is also
conveniently free
In order to improve your financial situation, you need to
know where you currently stand and the best way of doing that is through
knowing your net worth!
The judge in the Harvey Weinstein trial has
warned the lead defense lawyer, Donna Rotunno, not to talk to the press, after
she penned an opinion piece on February 15.
Writing in Newsweek, Donna Rotunno
called on jurors to “do what they know is right”.
However, Donna Rotunno told Justice James Burke the piece was not intended
to address the jury directly.
The row came before the jury of seven men and five women were sent away to
try to reach a verdict.
The jury has now finished the deliberations for the day, after asking for
clarification of legal terms and for plans of the apartment where one of the
alleged assaults took place.
Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to assaulting
former production assistant Mimi (Miriam) Haleyi and raping former actress
Jessica Mann.
The trial began in New York in January.
Accusations of misconduct against
Harvey Weinstein by dozens of women helped drive the #MeToo movement.
Only two of the accusers’ cases,
those of Mimi Haleyi and Jessica Mann, have led to individual criminal charges
in New York, but the testimony of others is being used as supporting evidence.
Judge James Burke instructed jurors
on February 18 before they retired to consider their verdict.
As the court session opened, prosecutors asked the judge to instruct jurors
to ignore the Newsweek piece as it
was “100% inappropriate”.
The judge refused the prosecutors’ request, but restated a ban he imposed at
the beginning of the trial on both defense and prosecution from giving media
interviews.
He told Donna Rotunno: “I would
caution you about the tentacles of your public relations juggernaut.”
She responded: “This is an op-ed
about the jury system as a whole, about the criminal justice system as a
whole.”
In the Newsweek piece, Donna
Rotunno accused her opponents of trying to influence the trial.
She wrote: “The mocking of Mr.
Weinstein’s walker, the unflattering courtroom-artist sketches of his body, the
countless critical op-eds and biased stories, and the convenient timing of the
politically-motivated charges in Los Angeles were all designed to pre-determine
his guilt.”
Adding: “I implore the members of
this jury to do what they know is right and was expected of them from the
moment they were called upon to serve their civic duty in a court of law.”
However, Judge Burke asked the defense:
“You don’t think addressing the jury in the first person isn’t
problematic?”
Prosecutors have argued Harvey Weinstein was a “seasoned” predator
who preyed on aspiring young actresses.
The 67-year-old’s defense team said his actions were consensual, including
in one “loving” relationship. They also said prosecutors had failed
to present any forensic evidence or eyewitness accounts.
Harvey Weinstein denies five charges, including rape and assault, relating
to two accusers. The jury must reach unanimous verdicts on each count.
The Hollywood mogul, who never took the stand during the trial, could face
life behind bars if convicted.
Once one of Hollywood’s most decorated and lauded producers, Harvey Weinstein
has been accused of misconduct by more than 80 women.
However, few of the
The judge in the Harvey Weinstein trial has
warned the lead defense lawyer, Donna Rotunno, not to talk to the press, after
she penned an opinion piece on February 15.
Writing in Newsweek, Donna Rotunno
called on jurors to “do what they know is right”.
However, Donna Rotunno told Justice James Burke the piece was not intended
to address the jury directly.
The row came before the jury of seven men and five women were sent away to
try to reach a verdict.
The jury has now finished the deliberations for the day, after asking for
clarification of legal terms and for plans of the apartment where one of the
alleged assaults took place.
Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to assaulting
former production assistant Mimi (Miriam) Haleyi and raping former actress
Jessica Mann.
The trial began in New York in January.
Accusations of misconduct against
Harvey Weinstein by dozens of women helped drive the #MeToo movement.
Only two of the accusers’ cases,
those of Mimi Haleyi and Jessica Mann, have led to individual criminal charges
in New York, but the testimony of others is being used as supporting evidence.
Judge James Burke instructed jurors
on February 18 before they retired to consider their verdict.
As the court session opened, prosecutors asked the judge to instruct jurors
to ignore the Newsweek piece as it
was “100% inappropriate”.
The judge refused the prosecutors’ request, but restated a ban he imposed at
the beginning of the trial on both defense and prosecution from giving media
interviews.
He told Donna Rotunno: “I would
caution you about the tentacles of your public relations juggernaut.”
She responded: “This is an op-ed
about the jury system as a whole, about the criminal justice system as a
whole.”
In the Newsweek piece, Donna
Rotunno accused her opponents of trying to influence the trial.
She wrote: “The mocking of Mr.
Weinstein’s walker, the unflattering courtroom-artist sketches of his body, the
countless critical op-eds and biased stories, and the convenient timing of the
politically-motivated charges in Los Angeles were all designed to pre-determine
his guilt.”
Adding: “I implore the members of
this jury to do what they know is right and was expected of them from the
moment they were called upon to serve their civic duty in a court of law.”
However, Judge Burke asked the defense:
“You don’t think addressing the jury in the first person isn’t
problematic?”
Prosecutors have argued Harvey Weinstein was a “seasoned” predator
who preyed on aspiring young actresses.
The 67-year-old’s defense team said his actions were consensual, including
in one “loving” relationship. They also said prosecutors had failed
to present any forensic evidence or eyewitness accounts.
Harvey Weinstein denies five charges, including rape and assault, relating
to two accusers. The jury must reach unanimous verdicts on each count.
The Hollywood mogul, who never took the stand during the trial, could face
life behind bars if convicted.
Once one of Hollywood’s most decorated and lauded producers, Harvey Weinstein
has been accused of misconduct by more than 80 women.
However, few of the complaints have led to criminal charges.
When you seek the advice of a health care professional and undergo medical testing, you likely assume that the diagnosis you ultimately receive will be correct. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case, but when do you have a case for medical malpractice from a misdiagnosis, and when is it considered part of the practice of medicine?
In a general sense, while there
are a lot of variables, if a doctor doesn’t make both a timely and accurate
diagnosis of a harmful medical condition, you might be able to file a lawsuit
for medical malpractice. It’s certainly possible in medical situations that a
doctor could have made a diagnosis to the best of their ability, and even if it
were wrong, it would be legal medical negligence.
The following are some things to
know.
Common Misdiagnosis Situations
There are certain scenarios that can lead to a delayed
diagnosis or the wrong diagnosis. Examples include:
Failure to screen for a disease or medical condition
Not following up on the possible causes of symptoms
Misdiagnosis is one of the top reasons for patient deaths,
and there are often thousands of patients in the U.S. alone each year that are
misdiagnosed, or deal with delayed diagnosis or missed diagnosis.
Many patients who aren’t properly diagnosed also aren’t ever
referred to anyone for a second opinion.
What Do You Have to Show?
With medicine, there is always a degree of uncertainty,
which is why it’s called the “practice” of medicine. Legally doctors aren’t
held responsible for all errors in diagnostics. For a patient who brings forth
a malpractice suit, they would need to show three things.
First, you need to prove there was a doctor-patient relationship.
The second thing you need to show is that another doctor in
a similar situation and a similar medical role or practice wouldn’t have made
the same mistake your doctor made. That shows the doctor was potentially
negligent if another doctor wouldn’t have missed the diagnosis in the same way.
The third thing you’ll need to prove is that the negligence of the doctor caused injury or harm to the patient.
Doctors are required to provide a duty of care to all
patients, and if a doctor doesn’t meet the minimum standards, then they’ve
breached that.
Other conditions misdiagnosed are stroke and chronic kidney
disease.
When a person is misdiagnosed, or their diagnosis is
delayed, it can increase the potential for complications, or expose them to
risky treatments that aren’t necessary. It can also increase the risk of death
or contribute to someone undergoing an unneeded surgery.
Was the Patient Harmed by the Misdiagnosis?
One of the main considerations to keep in mind with a
medical malpractice lawsuit, whether it’s from a misdiagnosis or something
similar, is that you’ll need to show some harm. If you can’t show this, it can
weaken the potential for a successful lawsuit.
You need to be able to show that if a diagnosis had been
made in a timely way, then the condition wouldn’t have progressed in the way
that it did.
There are some rare cases in which a doctor may wrongly
diagnose a person with something worse than what they have or something when
they have nothing at all and you may be able to get damages for that as well if
you can show it led to stress, anxiety, medical issues or unnecessary
treatment.
Who Can Be Sued?
Typically if you were going to sue for a misdiagnosis, you
would sue your primary doctor. In some cases, although rare, other
professionals in the health care industry might be liable if their negligence
played a role in the patient’s harm.
This could include any specialists, lab techs, and nurses
who saw the patient.
A hospital or health care facility can’t be sued because
doctors are independent contractors. Doctors aren’t employees of the hospital,
so the facility can’t be held responsible if they are negligent.
If you or a loved one suffered as the result of a misdiagnosis or a delayed diagnosis, it might be worth having a conversation with a legal professional. It can be tough to prove in some instances, but if you can prove negligence led to harm you may be able to recover damages.
The Trump administration’s budget proposal for the new fiscal year includes a plan that would spin out the Center for Tobacco Products as a separate agency from the Food and Drug Administration, according to The Hill. Presently, the FDA regulates all tobacco products in the United States along with foods, prescription drugs and over-the-counter medications.
The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009 gave the FDA the authority to regulate tobacco products. In the years since, however, the nature of the tobacco industry was transformed by the advent of vaping products and e liquid. While the total number of tobacco products on the market once numbered in the dozens – and most of those were grandfathered by the Tobacco Control Act – there are now hundreds of vaping products on U.S. shelves being sold without approval, and the FDA needs to receive and begin processing pre-market applications for those products by May.
The FDA has repeatedly stated that it lacks the resources to
promptly process pre-market applications for vaping products while handling all
of its other duties.
Why Has the Trump Administration Proposed a New Tobacco Control Agency?
According to the administration’s budget proposal, the
reasons for spinning out the Center for Tobacco Products into a separate agency
are twofold.
The creators of the Tobacco Control Act didn’t
envision how the tobacco industry would change in the future. Vaping is an
extremely complex issue, and a separate agency would have its own budget and
resources for handling that.
The core mission of the FDA is to regulate and
ensure the safety of foods and medications. When one really thinks about it, the
addition of tobacco product regulation to the FDA’s existing duties isn’t
entirely logical; tobacco products don’t promote health. In the words of White
House Domestic Policy Council head Joe Grogan, tobacco products have “no
redeeming qualities,” and tasking the FDA with regulating those products is a
“huge waste of time” for an agency created for the promotion of public health.
How Has Vaping Increased the Complexity of Tobacco Regulation?
When the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act
of 2009 was signed into law by President Obama, the tobacco industry was very
different from today. No one could have anticipated how the industry would
change in the coming decade. The reasons for the complexity surrounding tobacco
regulation in 2020 are as follows:
The Tobacco Control Act established a
grandfather date of 2007 for existing tobacco products, allowing those products
to remain on the market with a handful of changes:
Descriptive terms like “Light” and “Ultra-Light”
were no longer allowed because those terms implied that those products were
less harmful.
Flavored cigarettes – apart from menthol – were
no longer allowed.
Companies couldn’t bring new tobacco products to
the market without first submitting applications to the FDA proving that those
products were beneficial to public health and wouldn’t encourage new nicotine
uptake. Effectively, the law made it illegal to release a new combustible
cigarette brand in the United States; no combustible cigarette benefits public
health.
Vaping didn’t achieve mainstream popularity
until after the signing of the Tobacco Control Act.
In 2016, the FDA announced that it deemed vaping
products to be tobacco products and would regulate them as such under the
provisions of the Tobacco Control Act.
No vaping product currently sold in the United
States was available in 2007. Therefore, every vaping product on the market is an
unapproved “new tobacco product” requiring a pre-market application.
When the Tobacco Control Act was signed into law, lawmakers
expected that the FDA would receive new tobacco product applications only
rarely. Instead, the agency may have to process hundreds of new product
applications in 2020. It’s an enormous burden that the FDA isn’t equipped to
handle.
Expert Opinions on Trump’s Tobacco Control Proposal
Some experts believe that the FDA is already doing a well
enough job of regulating tobacco and vaping products and have applauded the
agency’s efforts to ramp up its capabilities in advance of the May 2020
pre-market application deadline for vaping products. Recently departed FDA head
Scott Gottlieb – a vocal proponent of vaping’s potential as an agent for
tobacco harm reduction – stated that he found tobacco regulation an extremely
productive use of his time when he was the agency’s commissioner.
Some also believe that keeping the authority to regulate
tobacco products within the FDA is the right decision because the agency is
theoretically insulated from outside political pressure. Creating a separate
agency for tobacco regulation, those people say, gives tobacco companies a
potential opportunity to meddle.
At the time of writing, no one from the vaping industry has
commented about the budget proposal. The reason for the silence from the
industry may be the fact that the organizational realignment wouldn’t
fundamentally change anything about the way in which the government regulates the
vaping industry. Pre-market applications for all vaping products will still be
due by May 2020, and those applications will still be too expensive for most of
the industry’s small businesses to put together. The realignment wouldn’t solve
the core problem with vaping product regulations in the United States: Applying
the same rules to both vaping products and tobacco products simply doesn’t make
sense.
Will the Trump Administration’s Budget Proposal Pass?
The idea of creating a new government agency for tobacco product
regulation is just one section of the Trump administration’s proposed $4.8
trillion budget for the upcoming fiscal year, and the budget requires approval
from the House of Representatives and the Senate before it can be enacted. Since
the Democratic party controls the House of Representatives, it is extremely
unlikely that the proposed budget will be passed in its current form. In
particular, the idea of creating a new tobacco control agency seems to have
little support among lawmakers.
The Tobacco Control Act presents an additional challenge in
the implementation of the Trump administration’s budget proposal. Since the law
tasks the FDA with the job of regulating tobacco products, an amendment to the
law would likely be necessary before that responsibility
could legally be transferred to another government agency.
Chinese health officials have released the first details of more than 44,000 cases of new coronavirus, Covid-19, in the largest study since the outbreak began.
Data from the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CCDC) finds
that more than 80% of the cases have been mild, with the sick and elderly most
at risk.
The research also points to the high risk to medical staff.
On February 18, a hospital director in the city of Wuhan died from the virus.
Liu Zhiming, 51, was the director of the Wuchang Hospital in Wuhan – one of
the leading hospitals in the virus epicenter. He is one of the most senior
health officials to die so far.
Hubei, whose capital is Wuhan, is the worst affected province in China.
The report by the CCDC shows the
province’s death rate is 2.9% compared with 0.4% in the rest of the country.
The findings put the overall death
rate of the coronavirus at 2.3%.
China’s latest official figures
released on February 18 put the overall death toll at 1,868 and 72,436
infections.
Officials reported 98 new deaths and
1,886 new cases in the past day, with 93 of those deaths and 1,807 infections in
Hubei province – the epicenter of the outbreak.
According to Chinese authorities, more
than 12,000 people have recovered.
The study, published in the Chinese Journal of Epidemiology on
February 17, looked at more than 44,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in China as
of February 11.
While the results largely confirm previous descriptions of the virus and
patterns of infection, the study includes a detailed breakdown of the 44,672
confirmed cases across all of China.
The study finds that 80.9% of infections are classified as mild, 13.8% as
severe and only 4.7% as critical. The number of deaths among those infected,
known as the fatality rate, remains low but rises among those over 80 years
old.
Looking at the sex ratio, men are more likely to die (2.8%) than women
(1.7%).
The research also identifies which existing illnesses put patients at risk.
It puts cardiovascular disease at number one, followed by diabetes, chronic
respiratory disease and hypertension.
Pointing out the risk to medical staff, the study says that a total of
3,019 health workers have been infected, 1,716 of which were
confirmed cases. Five had died by February 11, which was the last day of
data included in the research.
On February 13, China broadened its definition of how to diagnose people,
including “clinically diagnosed cases” which previously were counted
separate from “confirmed cases”.
Looking forward, the study finds that
“the epidemic curve of onset of symptoms”
peaked around January 23-26 before declining up to February 11.
It suggests that the downward trend in the overall
epidemic curve could mean that “isolation of whole
cities, broadcast of critical information (e.g., promoting hand
washing, mask wearing, and care seeking) with high frequency through
multiple channels, and mobilization of a multi-sector rapid
response teams is helping to curb the epidemic”.
The authors also warn that with many people returning from a long holiday,
the country “needs to prepare for the possible rebound of the epidemic”.
China’s response to the new coronavirus has seen the lockdown of Wuhan – the largest city in Hubei – and the rest of the province as well as severe travel restrictions on movements across the country.
The Boy Scouts of America has filed for bankruptcy
protection following multiple abuse lawsuits.
The BSA says the move will allow it to build a
compensation fund for abuse victims.
As a result of the move, all civil lawsuits against it are put on hold.
The BSA is struggling with declining membership as well as abuse claims.
Chief executive Roger Mosby said in a statement: “The BSA cares deeply about all victims of abuse and sincerely
apologizes to anyone who was harmed during their time in scouting. We are
outraged that there have been times when individuals took advantage of our
programs to harm innocent children.”
Court papers filed in Delaware listed liabilities of up to $1 billion and
assets of as much as $10 billion, reports say.
The filing was made under Chapter 11
of the US bankruptcy code which allows the group to keep operating and pay its
creditors over time.
The bankruptcy allows the BSA to
bring all of the lawsuits into one court and try to negotiate a settlement,
rather than using its funds to fight each case in court.
The group said it was setting up a
trust fund to compensate victims.
Roger Mosby said in a statement: “While we know nothing can undo the
tragic abuse that victims suffered, we believe the Chapter 11 process – with
the proposed trust structure – will provide equitable compensation to all
victims while maintaining the BSA’s important mission.”
According to the Wall Street Journal, the BSA has 261
councils which operate local troops and own assets including land in many
states. The bankruptcy move is designed to protect those councils, which hold
about 70% of all BSA assets, the publication says.
In its statement, the BSA said the councils, which are legally separate and financially independent of the national organization, had not filed for bankruptcy.
Harris County State District Judge Chip Wells is set to rule this week on the high stakes divorce battle involving eccentric Houston billionaire Ed Bosarge.
Attorneys for Marie Bosarge claim the billionaire owns mansions, yachts and even a Bahamian Island but is trying to leave her penniless after their 30 years of marriage. One of their Houston mansions was originally put on the market for $43 billion.
Ed and Marie Bosarge had only one house and faced
foreclosure when they got married. They amassed a fortune during their
decades-long marriage. Experts say Bosarge may have $2.3 billion in secretive
South Dakota trusts created to cheat his wife.
Her lawyer says that fraudulent scheme even included trying to hide in the trust a 43-carat diamond necklace he gave Marie for Christmas.
Wells hasn’t ruled whether the divorce case will go to a
jury, but when Ed Bosarge’s lawyers suggested the judge had no choice but to
end the lawsuit, Wells exploded from the bench.
“I don’t think the laws of South Dakota frees him of an
obligation he made when he got married,” Judge Wells angrily told Ed Bosarge’s
lawyers. “Scheme may be the key word. Play this game. Fraud on the community
estate. I promise you it’s not going to go well. I don’t have to tolerate your
disrespect.”
Attorney Bucky Allshouse says if Ed Bosarge gets away with
his plan then no wife would be safe.
“I want him to be fair. You know, we made our money in
Houston. It’s community property. It’s fifty-fifty. I want what’s fair,” said
Marie Bosarge.
