The “cancer clusters” found in The Fifth Ward and Kashmere Gardens may not be the end of the frightening medical reality for folks who live in a section of The Fifth Ward.
New studies confirm leukemia rates up to 600 percent higher and reveal another chemical problem – high levels of arsenic in the groundwater behind a swath of the neighborhood.
Tonight (May 18, 2021) at 7 pm, Houston attorney Jason Gibson will brief the community on the current lawsuits against Union Pacific. Union Pacific is accused of poisoning the air, soil, and water with toxic chemicals, including creosote – a wood preservative used in railroad ties.
“Union Pacific has knowingly been an underground poisoner, concealing creosote contamination for decades,” says Gibson.
“There is no longer any doubt about the contamination. My job is to hold Union Pacific accountable.”
The town hall will be held at Norton Memorial Temple Church of God in Christ. 5008 Lucille Street, Houston, Texas 77026.
Please contact The Gibson Law Firm or Dolcefino Consulting for additional information.
According to the TMZ website, the ceremony took place at Ariana Grande’s property in Montecito, a celebrity hotspot in southern California where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle also live.
Who is Dalton Gomez?
Dalton Gomez was raised in southern California and has been working in the luxury real estate market for five years, according to his biography on the AKG website.
Ariana Grande shared news of their engagement just before Christmas on Instagram, showing a pearl and diamond ring on her left hand.
“Forever n then some,” the singer captioned the post.
Ariana Grande has been dating Dalton Gomez for just over a year.
In February 2020, the singer was spotted by the press kissing her new love interest, Dalton Gomez, at a restaurant in Los Angeles.
Then in May, they made their first public appearance together as a couple in the lockdown music video to Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber’s collaboration, Stuck With U.
The following month, she posted a picture of them in each other’s arms on Instagram.
In October 2020, Ariana Grande released her sixth album, Positions, which topped the US charts.
Ariana Grande was previously engaged to comedian and actor Pete Davidson, but they called off their high-profile relationship two years ago.
Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to “continue to respond forcefully” to rocket attacks as conflict with Palestinians in Gaza enters a seventh day.
Israeli air strikes in Gaza killed at least three Palestinians early on May 16, health officials said.
Palestinian militants fired rockets towards Tel Aviv, causing people there to flee to bomb shelters.
The international community has called for an end to the escalating conflict.
On May 15, President Joe Biden phoned PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to express concern about the situation.
A UN Security Council meeting is set to take place later on May 16.
Since the fighting began on May 10 at least 148 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian officials, and Israel has reported 10 dead, including two children. Israel says dozens of militants are among the dead in Gaza, while Palestinian health officials say their death toll includes 41 children.
Speaking in a TV address late on May 15, PM Netanyahu said the strikes would continue for “as long as necessary” and that everything possible was being done to limit civilian casualties.
“The party that bears the guilt for this confrontation is not us, it’s those attacking us,” he said.
The flare-up of violence over the last six days came after weeks of increasing Israeli-Palestinian tension in East Jerusalem, which culminated in clashes at a holy site revered by both Muslims and Jews. Hamas – the Palestinian militant group that runs Gaza – began firing rockets after warning Israel to withdraw from the site, triggering retaliatory air strikes.
Ten members of one family were killed by an Israeli air strike at a refugee camp west of Gaza City.
A five-month-old baby, Omar Al-Hadidi, was the only survivor, after his mother, four siblings, aunt and four cousins died.
The baby’s father, Mohammad Al-Hadidi, was not at home at the time.
“There were no rockets there, just women and children, no rockets, just peaceful children celebrating [Muslim festival] Eid, what have they done to deserve this?” he told Reuters.
A doctor treating Omar said: “He was in a bad condition. His thigh bone is broken and he has bruises all over his body but thankfully after first inspection he is stable.”
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Palestinian militants had launched 278 rockets from Gaza, with homes hit in the southern cities of Ashdod, Beersheba and Sderot.
The IDF also said “many dozens” of rockets that crossed into Israel had been intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system.
A rocket hit a street in Ramat Gan, a suburb of Tel Aviv, killing a man. He was reportedly hit by shrapnel in his apartment.
On May 15, an Israeli air strike destroyed a high-rise building housing media organizations, including The Associated Press and Al-Jazeera, plus a number of offices and apartments.
In a statement released shortly afterwards, the Israeli military said the building had housed military assets belonging to Hamas. The building’s landlord has denied this.
UN Secretary General Antonio Gutteres said he was “deeply disturbed” by the strike on the building.
“The secretary-general reminds all sides that any indiscriminate targeting of civilian and media structures violates international law and must be avoided at all costs,” his spokesman said.
The AP said the block had been hit roughly an hour after Israeli forces ordered people to evacuate.
The news organization’s CEO, Gary Pruitt, said: “This is an incredibly disturbing development. We narrowly avoided a terrible loss of life. A dozen AP journalists and freelancers were inside the building and thankfully we were able to evacuate them in time.”
Hashim Hasabelrasoul Hashim & Jimmy Nguyen (Image source: Bitcoin Association)
Bitcoin Association, a Switzerland-based non-profit organization that advances the adoption of the Bitcoin SV blockchain is leading the Blockchain for Government Initiative by successfully finishing a week-long official visit to the Republic of the Sudan last April. Bitcoin Association was invited and hosted by the country’s Ministry of Telecommunication and Digital Transformation to explore how blockchain technology can aid the African nation advance into the digital world. The highlight of the visit was a two-day event that was Sudan’s first-ever Blockchain Summit & Workshop.
“In Sudan, we are in a transition period after thirty years of sanctions and thirty years of a bad regime. Now we are in a transition period in which we want to reform our country and reform the government. Digital transformation is a key pillar in this reformation. We are working on building a national strategy for digital transformation that aims to change the government from manual to digital, to make sure that the government will be more efficient, more smart, more in control and more transparent,” Hashim Hasabelrasoul Hashim, Minister of Telecommunication and Digital Transformation for the Republic of the Sudan, said in an interview.
Civil wars, armed conflicts against neighboring countries and an authoritarian president who ruled the country for three decades have hindered the country’s growth. As Sudan transitions into a democracy, its government is doing its best to propel the nation forward into the digital age in order to uplift its people and economy. And the Bitcoin SV (BSV) blockchain is certainly the most innovative and effective way to do it.
“I can clearly see a role for blockchain throughout different verticals within the government; digital identification is one of many, financial inclusion, digital certifications and many more to come, where we can benefit from blockchain. We want to be the first and lead on this technology in the country because it will enable us to really depend on real data that is secure,” Hashim added.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpKlubwe8Nk
The delegation, headed by Bitcoin Association Founding President Jimmy Nguyen, was composed of CEOs and founders of businesses from various industries that have successfully built platforms on the BSV blockchain. Aside from the two-day workshop, the BSV delegation, who are all experts in their fields, also conducted separate meetings with the Central Bank of Sudan, the Ministry of Telecommunication & Digital Transformation, the Ministry of Interior Affairs, leading telecommunications company SudaTel, and the 249 Startups hub for Sudanese entrepreneurs.
“Blockchain can help us to build a better world and our trip to Sudan left us feeling even more inspired to make that vision a reality… As we explore opportunities for initial blockchain projects in Sudan, we know that BSV’s massive scaling and focus on data network capabilities can provide the blockchain power needed to advance digital transformation for Sudan and greater Africa,” Nguyen said.
BSV’s Blockchain for Government Initiative is geared towards providing accurate Bitcoin education and the global adoption of blockchain technology by national governments, NGOs and the public sector with the ultimate goal of advancing digital transformation and inducing economic growth. Because Bitcoin SV has restored the original Bitcoin protocol and unleashed the unlimited scaling potential of its blockchain through the release of the Genesis Upgrade last year, it is more than capable of handling the big data being generated by governments on a daily basis. Instant microtransactions allow it to be cost-efficient; and data is secure, transparent and clean.
The UN fears a “full-scale war” after the deadly exchange of fire between Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli military has escalated significantly.
More than 1,000 rockets have now been fired by Palestinian militants over 38 hours, Israel said, most at Tel Aviv.
Israel has carried out deadly air strikes, bringing down two tower blocks in Gaza on May 11.
Israeli Arabs have also staged violent protests in a number of Israeli towns.
The city of Lod, near Tel Aviv, has been put under a state of emergency.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he was “gravely concerned” by the ongoing violence.
Six Israelis have died and in Gaza at least 43 Palestinians, including 13 children, have been killed since May 10, the health ministry said.
The latest fatality was an Israeli citizen, who was killed when an anti-tank guided missile, fired from the northern Gaza Strip, struck a jeep on the border. Two other people were injured.
The fighting follows weeks of rising tension stoked by violent confrontations between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters at a site in Jerusalem that is holy to both Muslims and Jews.
Israel’s military says this is the biggest exchange since 2014.
Of the 1,050 rockets and mortar shells that have now been fired from Gaza, 850 had landed in Israel or were intercepted by its Iron Dome air defense system, and 200 failed to clear the border and landed back in Gaza, the Israeli army said.
Video footage from the city showed rockets streaking through the night sky, some exploding as they were hit by Israeli interceptor missiles.
Loud booms and air-raid sirens were heard across targeted cities, which included Tel Aviv, Ashkelon, Modiin, and the southern city of Beersheba, as Palestinian militants tried to overwhelm missile defenses.
The rocket fire escalated after the two residential tower blocks were brought down in Gaza. Israel said it was targeting rocket launch sites, high-rise buildings, homes and offices used by Hamas, the militant group that rules Gaza.
Hamas said it was incensed by the “the enemy’s targeting of residential towers”.
Residents had been warned to evacuate the buildings before the fighter jets attacked, however health officials said there were still civilians deaths.
US state department spokesman, Ned Price said Israel had the right to defend itself but the Palestinian people also had the right to safety and security.
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said the Israeli strikes were “just the beginning”.
“Terror organizations have been hit hard and will continue to be hit because of their decision to hit Israel,” he said.
“We’ll return peace and quiet, for the long term.”
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said in a televised address: “If [Israel] wants to escalate, we are ready for it, and if it wants to stop, we’re also ready.”
Protests by Israeli Arabs in Lod escalated to full-scale rioting, with protesters throwing rocks at police, who responded with stun grenades.
A 52-year-old father and his 16-year-old daughter reportedly died when a rocket hit their car, with a number of other people injured in clashes, Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
The violence caused Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to declared a state of emergency in Lod on May 11. It was the first time the government had used emergency powers over an Arab community since 1966, The Times of Israel said.
PM Netanyahu, who went to the city to call for calm, said he would impose a curfew if necessary.
Israeli media reported that synagogues and several businesses had been set on fire, while Reuters said there were reports a car driven by an Arab resident had been stoned.
Ben Gurion Airport, Israel’s main international hub and one of the country’s busiest, briefly halted flights on May 11 and an energy pipeline between the cities of Eilat and Ashkelon was hit.
There has also been unrest in other cities with a large Israeli Arab population, as well as in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk has said his rocket company SpaceX will now accept the meme-inspired cryptocurrency dogecoin as payment.
In a tweet he said SpaceX will launch the “DOGE-1 Mission to the Moon” early next year.
His announcement came as dogecoin continued to fall after he said on TV that dogecoin was a “hustle”.
Last month, Elon Musk tweeted that SpaceX was going to put a “literal Dogecoin on the literal moon”.
Canada’s Geometric Energy Corporation announced the dogecoin-funded mission on May 9, although the statement did not reveal its financial value.
“This mission will demonstrate the application of cryptocurrency beyond Earth orbit and set the foundation for interplanetary commerce,” SpaceX Vice President of Commercial Sales Tom Ochinero was quoted as saying in the statement.
Elon Musk’s tweets in recent months have helped to turn the once-obscure digital currency, which was started as a social media joke, into the world’s fourth-biggest cryptocurrency.
Dogecoin has soared by more than 800% over the last month, with its total market value rising above $70 billion, according to cryptocurrency data tracker CoinGecko.com.
However, dogecoin lost more than a third of its price on May 9, after Elon Musk called it a “hustle” while he was hosting the Saturday Night Live show.
In February, electric carmaker Tesla, where Elon Musk is chief executive, said it bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin and was planning to accept the cryptocurrency as payment for its vehicles.
The announcement was seen as another major step towards the mainstream acceptance of bitcoin and helped to boost the price of the cryptocurrency to a fresh record high of nearly $62,000.
Last month, Tesla announced that its profits for the first three months of the year were $438 million, up from $16 million last year, bolstered by sales of Bitcoin and environmental credits.
Elon Musk also revealed on Saturday Night Live that he has Asperger’s syndrome.
People with Asperger’s interpret the environment around them differently to other people.
It is thought to be the first time Elon Musk has spoken about his condition.
According to Chinese media, debris from the Long March-5b rocket booster that had been hurtling back towards Earth has disintegrated over the Indian Ocean.
The bulk of the Chinese rocket was destroyed during the re-entry, but parts landed at a location 72.47° East and 2.65° North, China’s state-run media reported.
The point lies west of the Maldives.
US and European tracking sites had been monitoring the uncontrolled fall of the Long March-5b vehicle.
Chinese state media said parts of the rocket re-entered the atmosphere at 10:24 Beijing time on May 9.
US Space Command said in a statement that it could “confirm the Chinese Long March-5b re-entered over the Arabian Peninsula”. It was “unknown if the debris impacted land or water,” the agency said.
Ahead of the rocket’s re-entry there were fears that debris could come down in an inhabited area. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said China had been negligent in letting the rocket fall out of orbit.
However, space experts had predicted that the chances of anyone actually being hit by a piece of space junk were very small, not least because so much of the Earth’s surface is covered by ocean, and huge land areas are uninhabited.
The main segment from the Long March-5b vehicle was used to launch the first module of China’s new space station last month.
At 18 tonnes it is one of the largest items in decades to have an undirected dive into the atmosphere.
The US said last week it was watching the path of the object – but had no plans to shoot it down.
The experts predicted that most of the vehicle would burn up during its final plunge through the atmosphere, although there was always the possibility that metals with high melting points, and other resistant materials, could survive to the Earth’s surface.
When a similar core stage returned to Earth a year ago, piping assumed to be from the rocket was identified on the ground in Ivory Coast, Africa.
China has bridled at the suggestion that it has been negligent in allowing the uncontrolled return of so large an object.
Commentary in the Chinese media had described Western reports about the potential hazards involved as “hype” and predicted the debris would fall somewhere in international waters.
To the first-time reader who doesn’t know better, a term like “sandwich generation” brings up a pleasant image of being comfortably nestled between two warm slices of Americana. Guess again. Think vise grip, not bakery goods. That’s how much pressure is involved.
The term describes a state of being where an individual or couple is raising children and taking care of aging parents at the same time, while still trying to plan for retirement. It’s a tough situation. Doing it all successfully requires careful planning and financial discipline.
Let’s put ourselves into the sandwich for a few moments—you know what they say: Don’t judges someone until you’ve walked a mile in their sandwich. Or perhaps you’re already there. Maybe you’re on your way there and wondering if you need a personal loan to manage it. Either way, we’re going to cover some strategies that could make your life easier.
Make your retirement savings a priority
After you’re seated on an airplane and the doors have closed, a flight attendant stands up and does a short presentation about emergency exits and breathing masks that drop from the ceiling. They say, “Please put on your own mask before attempting to help someone else.”
It’s good advice in all areas of life. For those in the sandwich generation, make your retirement savings a priority. If you spend it all taking care of aging parents, your children will have to do the same for you. Do you really want to perpetuate that cycle? And do you trust them enough to put your golden years in their hands?
Even if your faithful brood does have the ways, means, and desire to care for you as you age, you’ll still be robbing them of generational wealth that could be accumulating interest or capital gains. Max out your retirement accounts. Everything else should come later.
Life insurance is a necessity
Don’t look at this as putting a price on your own head, even though it is. Life insurance is absolutely necessary when you have multiple individuals counting on you for financial support. What happens if you get hit by a truck or killed in the Zombie Apocalypse?
It’s not necessary to spend a lot on insurance. Term life is cheap, and you can set the benefit amount. Whole or universal life is more expensive, but it could be a good choice if you’re young and have small children. That cash value could come in handy later on.
As for other insurances, try to keep deductibles low so emergencies don’t empty your bank account. Take out life insurance policies on your parents, if that’s who you’re taking care of. Make sure you have disability insurance, just in case injuries prevent you from working.
Spend your parents’ money first
They’ll be eligible for Social Security at a certain age, but Medicare won’t kick in until they’re broke—so spend your parents’ money first. Get their assets down to zero as quickly as possible so the government can start paying its fair share.
Think of this as using existing wealth to help build new wealth. By slowly liquidating your parents’ assets to take care of them, you’re better able to properly care for and save money for your children. While you’re at it, spend a few dollars on yourself. You deserve it. #TREATYOSELF
You likely know what it means to complain about something. You can complain if Wendy’s screws up your drive-through order or if the government fails to deliver your stimulus check. But if you use the term “complaint” in a legal setting, it means something very specific.
In this article, we’ll talk about what a legal complaint is and what happens when you make one. We’ll also speak about amended complaints, another legal term about which it’s good for you to know.
What is a Complaint?
In legal terms, a complaint occurs when you start an action against someone, either an individual or a company, that has harmed you. The complaint to the court gets your case started. By the time you register a complaint, you have probably already hired a lawyer to help you with the various legal hurdles with which you’ll have to contend.
You can add as many defendants to a complaint as you want, assuming you’re not including them baselessly. You and your lawyer must prove your assertion that all of these entities harmed you, so you can’t frivolously add people or businesses just because you feel like it. Doing so will probably hurt your case and make victory less likely.
When Can You Amend a Complaint?
If you want to amend your original legal complaint, there are two likely reasons why you would do that. The first is because the original defendant’s lawyer might file a motion to dismiss. You can block that by claiming that more individuals or entities than you first named caused your injuries or hardship.
The second reason is that you find out additional information after you file the first complaint. For example, maybe a pharmaceutical company harmed you. You ingested one of their drugs over the years and contracted cancer because of it.
You can sue the manufacturing company because they failed to test the drug for side effects. However, you might later find that there was an independent body that did some testing, but it wasn’t sufficient. You can name the testing company in the amended complaint.
Can You Do That at Any Time?
It would be nice if, as the injured party, you could add to the complaint at any time. You can’t, though. There are certain protections in place to prevent you from amending the complaint with impunity.
You can only add to the complaint for a certain designated period. That period usually changes depending on what state you’re in when you file the complaint. You typically have a few weeks to do it.
If the allotted time has elapsed, and you still want to amend the original complaint, you need to ask the court for permission to do that. It’s up to the court to decide whether to allow you to do so.
If the court feels like you’re not treating the defendants fairly, then it could deny that request. If so, you’ll have to move forward with the original complaint as it stands.
Are There Additional Fees or Summons When You Amend a Complaint?
You have to pay a modest fee when you file a complaint as part of the legal process. If you amend the complaint, then generally, you don’t have to pay the court any additional money. You don’t need to issue the defendant another summons, either, unless the new complaint names a completely new individual or entity who must now appear to defend themselves.
All you have to do is file a new complaint. In this new one, you’ll name any additional people or entities who you feel harmed you.
How Long Do the Defendants Have to Respond?
The defendants have to respond to the complaint as part of the legal process that could lead to a courtroom showdown between the defendant’s lawyer and your own. That’s assuming you couldn’t settle out of court.
How long the defendants have to respond depends on what state you’re in and whether the court accepted a newly amended complaint version. Generally, the court will not give the defendant longer than a few weeks to answer. In their response, they will indicate whether they plan to try to settle with you or continue on to a courtroom appearance.
Billionaire couple Bill and Melinda Gates have announced their divorce after 27 years of marriage, saying “we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple”.
The pair tweeted: “After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage.”
They first met in the 1980s when Melinda joined Bill’s Microsoft firm.
Bill and Melinda Gates have three children and jointly run the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The foundation has spent billions fighting causes such as infectious diseases and encouraging vaccinations in children.
The Gates – along with investor Warren Buffett – are behind the Giving Pledge, which calls on billionaires to commit to giving away the majority of their wealth to good causes.
Bill Gates is the fourth wealthiest person in the world, according to Forbes, and is worth $124 billion.
He made his money through the company he co-founded in the 1970s, Microsoft, the world’s biggest software company.
Bill and Melinda both posted the statement announcing their divorce on Twitter.
“Over the last 27 years, we have raised three incredible children and built a foundation that works all over the world to enable all people to lead healthy, productive lives,” the statement read.
“We continue to share a belief in that mission and will continue our work together at the foundation, but we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in the next phase of our lives.
“We ask for space and privacy for our family as we begin to navigate this new life.”
Melinda Gates, now 56, joined Bill’s Microsoft as a product manager in 1987, and the two sat together at a business dinner that year in New York.
They began dating, but as Bill Gates told a Netflix documentary: “We cared a lot for each other and there were only two possibilities: either, we were going to break up or we were going to get married.”
Melinda said she found Bill Gates – methodical it seems even in matters of the heart – writing a list on a whiteboard with the “pros and the cons of getting married”.
Bill and Melinda Gates got married in 1994 on the Hawaiian island of Lanai, reportedly hiring all the local helicopters to stop unwanted guests flying over.
Bill Gates, 65, stepped down from Microsoft’s board last year to focus on his philanthropic activities.
Three people have been killed and some two dozen injured after a boat got into trouble off the coast of San Diego in a suspected smuggling operation.
The overcrowded 40-foot cabin cruiser broke up on a reef near Point Loma on May 2, tipping some 30 people into the water, officials said.
A major rescue operation was launched to help the injured on shore and retrieve seven people from the sea.
Officials said the boat captain was in custody on suspicion of smuggling.
Jeff Stephenson, Supervisory Border Patrol Agent, said: “Every indication from our perspective is that this was a smuggling vessel used to smuggle migrants into the United States illegally.
“We haven’t confirmed the nationality of the people involved, but our agents are with many of them at the hospital and the man who we believe was the operator… The investigation’s still unfolding.”
Rescuers were alerted to the incident near the Cabrillo National Monument, at about 10:30 local time.
Rick Romero, of the San Diego Fire Rescue Lifeguard, said first reports indicated three or four people needed help but they quickly realized it was “going to be a bigger situation with more people”.
“Once we arrived on scene, the boat had basically been broken apart,” he said.
“Conditions were pretty rough: five to six feet of surf, windy, cold.”
He said people were in the water being taken out to sea by the rip current, while people on shore were needing CPR and treatment for hypothermia and other injuries.
Footage from the scene showed large pieces of debris washing up on the beach. Jet skis, three more rescue boats and cliff-top equipment were brought in to help with the rescue.
At the same news conference, Jeff Stephenson said it was not yet known where the boat had come from but many smuggling boats come from Mexico’s Baja coastline.
“The smugglers, they don’t care about the people they’re exploiting. All they care about is profit to them,” he said.
“These people are just commodities. So you can see that in the way they treat them, inadequate safety equipment, really poorly equipped vessels and giving them minimal.”
Jeff Stephenson said there had been a 92% increase in the number of apprehensions linked to smuggling by sea in 2020, compared with the previous year.
US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) had announced on April 30 that it was beefing up its patrols of the coastline over the weekend to try and deter smugglers.
Border patrol agents detained 21 people – 15 men and six women – found on a small open boat, a panga, off the coast of San Diego on April 29. They were Mexican nationals with no legal status to enter the US, the CBP said. Two suspected smugglers who were on board the boat will face federal charges.
Save your money: this piece of financial advice is universal. It doesn’t matter who you ask, everyone knows that having an emergency fund is essential. What’s less obvious is how you build it or where to put it all. That’s where asking the right questions can come in handy. Below, you’ll find the answers to five important questions about your emergency fund.
1. How Much Should I Save?
A prevailing rule of thumb for emergency savings is to squirrel away enough to cover three to six months of living expenses.
But how much you need to feel safe in an emergency is subjective. It depends on a lot of factors, like your risk tolerance, support system, and the emergency itself.
2. What if an Emergency Arrives Before I’ve Saved Enough?
Emergencies don’t follow a strict schedule like your rent payments or utilities. They arrive sporadically throughout the year, usually when you’re least prepared to handle them.
If you don’t have adequate savings for an unexpected emergency repair or medical expense, you might need to borrow money. There are personal loans like an online installment loan or line of credit that can be your safety net when your savings fall short.
3. Should I Save or Pay off Debt?
It can be challenging to juggle both of these goals simultaneously. If you’re on a tight budget, you might have to choose one or the other.
In that case, it’s essential you make any minimum payment on installment loans and line of credit personal loans. This will protect you from late fines, extra interest charges, and potential damage to your credit.
If you have any leftover cash, put it toward a small emergency fund, aiming for something like $1,000 rather than the usual six months of expenses. Savings win over debt here because it’ll help you avoid adding to your debt.
Once you feel secure, start using your expendable cash on debt payments. Choose between the avalanche and snowball methods to find out which debt you should target first.
Use your emergency fund on unpredictable, essential expenses that you didn’t think to include in your budget. Think medical expenses not covered by insurance or auto or household repairs that you can’t ignore.
If you still aren’t sure, it’s helpful treating your fund like it’s an installment loan.
Necessity: Due to their cost, you would only ever take out an installment loan online if you couldn’t wait to pay a bill or repair. Installment loans are designed to help with unavoidable, unexpected emergencies that you can’t delay. So is your emergency fund.
Repayment: An essential part of the borrowing process is paying back your installment loan. The same goes for your emergency fund. You should pay back whatever you take so that you’re prepared for the next unexpected expense.
5. Am I Making the Most out of My Savings?
Consider where you keep your emergency fund. A stack of cash under the mattress isn’t just old-fashioned. It’s also not using your money to its full potential because you won’t earn interest on this cash.
Interest is a two-way street. It’s something you pay whenever you borrow money, but it’s something you earn when you save it.
Shop around for savings accounts with a high interest rate without penalizing you for taking out your money out of the blue.
Did this answer your most burning questions about saving? If not, keep asking until you build out savings that can handle any emergency.
The United States will share up to 60 million doses of its AstraZeneca vaccine with other countries as they become available, the White House has announced.
The doses will be able to be exported in the coming months after a federal safety review.
The US has a stockpile of the vaccine even though its regulators have not yet authorized it for public use.
Critics have accused the government of hoarding the vaccine, while other countries are in desperate need.
Last month President Joe Biden pledged to share about 4 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine with Mexico and Canada – both of which have approved the vaccine.
The crisis in India has also piled pressure on the Biden administration to share US health resources.
On April 26, the White House said it expected that about 10 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine could be released when the FDA finishes its review in the coming weeks.
It said that another 50 million doses were in various stages of production.
At a news briefing, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said FDA officials would carry out quality checks on doses before they were exported.
She added: “Our team will share more details about our planning and who will be receiving offers from here, but we’re in the planning process at this point in time.”
The US has already announced that it will provide raw materials for Indian vaccine manufacturers as the country battles a devastating surge in cases.
In a “warm and positive” phone call with Indian PM Narendra Modi on April 26, President Biden promised more emergency assistance “including oxygen-related supplies, vaccine materials and therapeutics”, a White House statement said.
Washington is also looking at supplying oxygen, Covid tests, personal protective equipment (PPE) and the antiviral drug remdesivir to India’s health service.
The FDA has so far authorized three vaccines against Covid- 19: Pfizer BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson (Janssen). Experts say it looks likely that these will provide all the country’s needs and the AstraZeneca jab may not be needed.
According to the latest figures, more than 53% of adults in the US have so far received at least one dose of vaccine.
It will be remembered as a flash in the pan, but the recently proposed European Super League rocked soccer and, indeed, world sports to its foundations. It was an attempted power grab by the money men involved in the once beautiful game but one that was crushed by fans across the world.
With the teams confirmed, announcing their plans to break away and create a European Super League it looked like a done deal. It seemed so certain experts working on sports betting in Las Vegas were even making moves to accept bets on the competition’s first winners.
Cue a vicious backlash from supporters who said it went against everything the sport stood for. They rolled up their sleeves and, strengthened by the teams not invited to join the ESL; football supporters made their feelings clear. The competition wasn’t wanted, they would never support it, and it was a non-starter.
European Super League explained
What exactly is all the fuss about, and what is the European Super League? It was a football competition proposed to replace the UEFA Champions League. It was to consist of two leagues of teams with a round-robin format. The three highest finishing sides would progress to the knockout stages with a selection of others involved in a playoff to join them. The play would then start to whittle down the teams until left with two who met in the final.
Sounds exciting. What was the problem? The main problem for most football fans was the Super League was a closed shop, reserved for the wealthiest sides to get even richer. The 18 to 20 teams would rake in a massive income for their involvement, leaving everyone else on the outside looking in. No relegation sits well with the business heads behind the idea, but it wasn’t something that appealed to the average fan who viewed it as a robbery of all they held dear in sport.
Protests in England made government act
Six English Premier League clubs – Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool and Man City – were involved in the ESL, making the shock announcement last week. It was a plan that must’ve been going on behind the scenes for quite some time, but the news seemed to catch most sports lovers off-guard. Added to the heightened tensions of the coronavirus lockdown that has seen supporters locked out of stadiums for more than a year in some parts of Europe, it was a recipe for disaster. This became obvious very quickly.
Hundreds of English football followers broke covid laws to gather in protest. They took their opposition to the streets, their team’s home arena, and even the training field. They acted swiftly, making worldwide news and causing panic. Police and club security were drafted in to help control the protests, which caught the eye of the UK government in London. British prime minister Boris Johnson became one of the most high profile names to break cover and condemn the English sides for their involvement in the Super League.
Clubs back down with some even apologising
Manchester City was the first club to announce their withdrawal, quickly followed by fellow English team Chelsea who informed the media of their sudden change of heart. Later that evening, the remaining Premier League teams pulled out.
The co-owner of Manchester United, Joel Glazer, penned an open letter to fans of the Red Devils in which he apologized for the club’s involvement in the European Super League and said they aimed to rebuild trust with fans. Across the city and Manchester City’s CEO, Ferran Soriano, wrote to fans and apologized for the mistake made and for the anguish it has caused during the fallout.
Liverpool John Henry was forced into a climb-down after he withdrew the Reds from the competition just 48 hours after signing up for it. An embarrassing episode for all concerned but not one a simple apology will fix. Fans and pundits are out for blood, and we could see heads roll. In the coming weeks, it’s possible those involved in the process of signing clubs up to the ESL scheme could lose their job or be shamed into selling up and moving on. The Super League is dead in the water, but we’ve not heard the last of this.
Nomadland has scooped three Oscars including best picture, while Anthony Hopkins and Daniel Kaluuya have won acting awards.
Nomadland’s Chloe Zhao made history as the first woman of color and second woman to win best director.
Anthony Hopkins, 83, is the oldest winner of best actor, while Daniel Kaluuya is the first black British actor to win an Oscar – for the best supporting award.
British actress-turned-writer/director Emerald Fennell won a screenplay award.
She won best original screenplay for Promising Young Woman, which she also directed.
Frances McDormand won best actress for her role in Nomadland, while veteran South Korean actress Yuh-Jung Youn won best supporting actress for Minari.
The awards were handed out in one of the grand halls at Los Angeles’s stylish Union Station to allow for a Covid-safe ceremony, while many UK-based nominees were at a venue in London – although Anthony Hopkins was at neither.
Anthony Hopkins won best actor for his masterful performance as a man suffering with dementia in The Father, 29 years after he won his first Oscar for The Silence of the Lambs.
The actor’s victory was the biggest surprise of the night. The award had been tipped to go to the late Chadwick Boseman, who died at the age of 43 last August, for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
It was perhaps a surprise to Sir Anthony himself, who was neither in LA nor at the British Film Institute in London, the ceremony’s UK venue.
Anthony Hopkins was thought to be in his native Wales, and there was not an option to appear via Zoom, meaning he did not appear on screen or in person.
The Father also won best adapted screenplay for Sir Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller, who called Sir Anthony “the greatest living actor”.
Nomadland, the slow-burning drama about a woman living in her van in the American West after the financial crash, won the top prize for best film, plus best director and best actress.
Frances McDormand, who now has three best actress Oscars, is one of the only professional performers in the film. Most of the rest of the cast is made up of real people playing fictionalized versions of themselves.
In her acceptance speech, Chloe Zhao thanked the real-life nomads “for teaching us the power of resilience and hope”.
Before Chloe Zhao, the only woman to have won the directing prize in the Oscars’ 92-year history was Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker in 2010.
Meanwhile, black-and-white film Mank, which led the nominations with 10, picked up two awards, as did Sound of Metal, Judas and the Black Messiah, Ma Rainey’sBlack Bottom and Soul.
Caitlyn Jenner has announced she is running for California governor.
The former Olympic athlete and reality TV star will run as a Republican in the Democratic stronghold state.
A recall election in California could be confirmed this month after a petition against current governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, reached the number required to trigger a vote.
Voters would be asked if they want Gavin Newsom to stay or another candidate.
According to the Axios news site, Caitlyn Jenner has put together a team that includes some of former President Donald Trump’s advisers.
“Californians want better and deserve better from the governor,” a statement from Caitlyn Jenner said, confirming the news on her Twitter account on April 23.
“For too long, career politicians have over-promised and under-delivered. We need a leader with the vision and resolve to see it through,” she added.
Caitlyn Jenner promised that her campaign will be one of “solutions” and provide a “roadmap back to prosperity to turn this state around”.
She added that she will formally launch her campaign at a later date.
Should the recall election go ahead, it would be the fourth governor recall in US history.
Gavin Newsom has faced criticism for his handling of the pandemic. As infections started to fall, he came under criticism from business owners for still enforcing restrictions.
Caitlyn Jenner described herself as a “proven winner” in her statement, adding that she is the “only outsider who can put an end to Gavin Newsom’s disastrous time as a governor”.
The former athlete, previously known as Bruce Jenner, has been described as the highest-profile American to come out as transgender.
Bruce Jenner came out as transgender in 2015 in an interview with broadcaster Diane Sawyer on ABC, and said the star said she had been wrestling with her gender since childhood.
The former athlete won a gold medal at the Montreal Games in 1976.
Before transitioning, Bruce Jenner was married to Kris Jenner and the pair had two daughters, Kendall and Kylie. The family were stars of the hit reality show Keeping Up with the Kardashians.
Caitlyn Jenner said her step-daughter Kim Kardashian had been a big supporter of her transitioning.
California is not a stranger to celebrities running for governor.
Arnold Schwarzenegger won the 2003 recall election, beating Mary Carey and former child actor Gary Coleman.
If she won, Caitlyn Jenner would be one of a small group of transgender Americans to hold such a high-profile role.
In 2020, Sarah McBride became the first transgender state senator in the US after she won her race in Delaware during the 2020 elections. And she was not the only transgender candidate to make history during last year’s election.
Vermont’s Taylor Small, 26, was elected to the House of Representatives, while, in Kansas. Stephanie Byers became the first trans person of color to be elected to a state legislature.
Russian detained opposition leader Alexei Navalny has announced he is ending his hunger strike after 24 days of refusing food in jail.
Hours earlier Navalny’s private doctors had appealed to him to take food to preserve his life and health.
Alexei Navalny began refusing food on March 31 to demand better medical care.
He said he had twice been seen by civilian doctors and “given the progress and circumstances, I am ending my hunger strike”.
The process would be gradual, Navalny added in an Instagram post.
His doctors had warned at the weekend he could die “at any minute”. On April 22, they warned him that “further starvation” could significantly harm him and lead to his death.
Alexei Navalny was detained as soon as he returned to Russia in January, after receiving treatment in Berlin for a nerve-gas attack in Siberia that left him in coma and fighting for his life. Russian authorities denied being behind the attack, but last December Navalny tricked an FSB agent into revealing that a Novichok agent had been placed in his underpants.
He was sent to a penal colony in February for over two and a half years, after a court ruled he had broken the terms of a suspended jail term, even though he had been in a coma. Russia rejected a ruling from the European Court of Human Rights that he should be freed because his life was at risk.
Chad’s President Idriss Déby has died of his injuries following clashes with rebels in the north of the country at the weekend, the army has announced.
The announcement came a day after provisional election results projected he would win a sixth term in office.
The government and parliament have been dissolved. A curfew has also been imposed and the borders have been shut.
Idriss Déby, 68, spent more than three decades in power and was one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders.
An army officer by training, he came to power in 1990 through an armed uprising. He was a long-time ally of France and other Western powers in the battle against jihadist groups in the Sahel region of Africa.
Idriss Déby “breathed his last defending the sovereign nation on the battlefield”, an army general said on state TV on April 20.
He had gone to the front line, several hundred miles north of the capital N’Djamena, at the weekend to visit troops battling rebels belonging to a group calling itself FACT (the Front for Change and Concord in Chad).
A military council led by Idriss Déby’s son, a 37-year-old four star general, will govern for the next 18 months.
Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno will lead the council but “free and democratic” elections will be held once the transition period is over, the army said in its statement.
Ahead of the election on April 11, Idriss Déby campaigned on a platform of bringing peace and security to the region.
But there has been growing unhappiness over his government’s management of Chad’s oil resources.
Founded in 2016 by disillusioned former army officers, the rebel Fact group accuses President Déby of repression in the run-up to the election.
They built up their base in Libya in the Tibesti mountains, which straddle northern Chad and part of southern Libya.
On Election Day the group mounted an attack on a border post and gradually advanced on N’Djamena.
The latest clashes began on April 17. An army general told Reuters that 300 insurgents were killed and 150 were captured. Five government soldiers were killed and 36 were injured, he said. The figures could not immediately be verified.
Some foreign embassies in the capital have urged their staff to leave.
N’Djamena has come under rebel attack before and there was panic in the city on April 19, with parents taking their children home from school, when tanks were deployed along the main roads.
Americans are advised to avoid 80% of countries worldwide because of the coronavirus pandemic.
In a note to the media about the US state department’s updated travel guidance, it said the pandemic continued to “pose unprecedented risks to travelers”.
The current US “Do Not Travel” advisory covers 34 out of 200 countries.
Covid-19 has now claimed more than three million lives worldwide – more than half a million of them in the US.
The WHO warned the world was “approaching the highest rate of infection” so far, despite the global rollout of vaccination programs.
The state department said its decision to update its travel advisories was to bring it more in line with those from the CDC and “does not imply a reassessment of the current health situation in a given country”.
However, it said the move would “result in a significant increase in the number of countries at Level 4: Do Not Travel, to approximately 80% of countries worldwide”. Anyone planning to travel to a country in the remaining 20% is advised to reconsider before proceeding.
The state department has not revealed which countries will be added to Level 4 – the highest of its four risk levels. Guidance will be issued individually for each country in the next few days.
Currently, only three places in the world are assessed at the lowest tier – Level 1, which advises “Exercise normal precautions”. They are Macau, Taiwan and New Zealand.
Even Antarctica is at Level 2 – “Exercise increased caution”, an extra warning to exercise caution because of the risk of terrorism.
The CDC currently recommends all Americans refrain from travelling domestically until they have been fully vaccinated and warns that international travel “poses additional risks” even for those vaccinated.
In addition, all air passengers coming to the US, including US citizens, must have a negative Covid test result or documentation of recovery from the virus before they board a flight.
While more than 860 million doses of coronavirus vaccine have been administered in 165 countries worldwide, many countries are still struggling to contain the virus.
Brazil has recorded the third-highest number of cases and, at 368,749, the second-highest number of deaths in the world.
Canada has also reported a recent rise in cases and Papua New Guinea has been highlighted as a cause for concern.
While some countries – such as Israel and the UK – have secured and delivered doses to a large proportion of their population, many more countries are still waiting for their first shipments to arrive.
According to Johns Hopkins University, the number of people who have died worldwide in the Covid-19 pandemic has surpassed three million.
The milestone comes the day after WHO chief Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned the world was “approaching the highest rate of infection” so far.
India – experiencing a second wave – recorded more than 230,000 new cases on April 17 alone.
Almost 140 million cases have been recorded since the pandemic began.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned on April 16 that “cases and deaths are continuing to increase at worrying rates”.
He added that “globally, the number of new cases per week has nearly doubled over the past two months”.
The US, India and Brazil – the countries with the most recorded infections – have accounted for more than a million deaths between them, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Last week saw an average of 12,000 deaths a day reported around the world, according to AFP.
However, official figures worldwide may not fully reflect the true number in many countries.
Up until a few weeks ago, India appeared to have the pandemic relatively under control. Cases had been below 20,000 a day for much of January and February – a low figure in a country of more than a 1.3 billion people.
But then infections began to rise rapidly: April 17 saw a record set for the third day in a row, with more than 234,000 cases reported.
Hospitals are running low on beds and oxygen. Sick people are being turned away, and some families are turning to the black market to get the drugs they need.
The capital Delhi has gone into lockdown over the weekend, with restrictions put in place in several other states, as officials try to stem the tide.
Brazil – which has recorded the third highest number of cases and, at 368,749, the second highest number of deaths – is still struggling to control the outbreak.
On April 16, the health ministry announced more than 85,000 new cases over the previous 24 hours and 3,305 deaths.
Canada has also reported a recent rise, registering more cases per million than the US over the last week – the first time this has happened since the pandemic began.
Papua New Guinea has also been highlighted as a cause for concern. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, noted “the potential for a much larger epidemic” in the Pacific nation following a sharp increase in cases.
He added that Papua New Guinea – which has received 140,000 vaccine doses through Australia and the Covax scheme – is a “perfect example of why vaccine equity is so important”.
More than 860 million doses of coronavirus vaccines have been administered, in 165 countries worldwide.
However, the WHO chief told UN officials on April 16: “Vaccine equity is the challenge of our time – and we are failing.”
Some countries have secured and delivered doses to a large proportion of their population.
Those with high vaccinations rates, such as the UK and Israel, have seen their numbers of new infections drop sharply.
While Israel has distributed 119 doses per 100 people, just 2.81 doses per 100 have been given in the Palestinian territories, recent data from Our World in Data at Oxford University showed.
However, many more countries are still waiting for their first shipments to arrive.
That is leading to warnings about growing “vaccine inequity”.
Dr. Tedros pointed out that in high-income countries, one in four people have received a vaccine, compared with only one in 400 in poorer countries.
The WHO is working on a global scheme, Covax, to get rich countries to share their vaccine with lower income countries. Covax plans to deliver about two billion vaccine doses globally by the end of the year, but many vaccines require two doses per person.
Eight people have been killed and seven injured in a shooting at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis, police say.
According to police, the gunman began shooting “randomly” almost immediately after exiting his car.
The gunman apparently killed himself minutes before police arrived, officials say. They have not confirmed the identities of the victims or the gunman.
This is the latest incident in a recent uptick of mass shootings across the US.
The attack began around 23:00 local time on April 15 in Indianapolis, Indiana – the state capital and its largest city.
In a news conference on April 16, city officials said no motive had been established yet, and noted that one may never be determined.
“We’ll never really know all the ins and outs of why this occurred, but we’ll try our best,” said police chief Randal Taylor.
Craig McCartt, the deputy chief of criminal investigations, said that the gunman began firing as soon as he arrived at the building.
“This suspect came to the facility and when he came there, he got out of his car and pretty quickly started some random shooting outside the facility,” he said.
“No confrontation or argument, he just appeared to randomly start shooting,” he added.
Four people were found dead outside the building, and another four inside.
The attacker, who appeared to have shot himself “minutes” before police arrived, was also found inside the facility.
“When officers arrived they found a very chaotic and active crime scene,” Craig McCartt said, adding that they believe the gunman used a rifle during the attack.
Mayor Joe Hogsett paid condolences to the victims and called for Americans to tackle the “scourge of gun violence that has killed far too many in our community and in our country”.
He also called for people to fight against “the assumption that this is how it must be and we might as well get used to it”.
The FBI, which is assisting in the investigation, has been searching a residence in the area, officials said, but they refused to answer whether it was the suspect’s home.
A FedEx statement said the company was aware of the shooting and co-operating with the authorities.
“Safety is our top priority, and our thoughts are with all those who are affected,” the statement said.
This is the third mass shooting in Indianapolis this year. Five were killed, including a pregnant woman, in a shooting in January. In March, three adults and one child were killed after an argument broke out over a coronavirus stimulus cheque.
Last week, President Joe Biden announced his first steps since taking office to tighten gun controls following a series of mass shootings.
It includes efforts to set rules for certain guns, bolster background checks and support local violence prevention.
In 2021, technology is already a big part of everyday life, and the expansion of technology into every aspect of our lives is only set to increase as we head into the future. However, many people are not ready to welcome this new technology into their lives and careers and find that they are being left behind by the new developments that are taking place. To make sure that you can prepare for the future of technology and the world that it will create, here are some top steps that you can take to make sure that you are ready in terms of your career, your workplace, and your home life.
Take an Online Degree
The best step that you can take to prepare for the rise of technology is to take a relevant degree course. Not only will these courses teach you everything there is to know about emerging technologies and the possibilities that they could present in the future, but they can also set you up for jobs in the modern workplace, including in the tech sector. For instance, at Kettering Global, their online Master of data science can help prepare you for the future of technology by giving you grounding in the technical skills and knowledge of emerging technical science that may help you secure a job within any industry in the future career landscape. This is because data science is set to become an integral part of every business’s operations in the near future. Having a degree in this will allow you to take advantage of opportunities as they are presented to you.
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Prepare for Future Careers
Rather than using all of your resources to prepare for the types of available jobs in your industry, you should be looking at prepping yourself for the careers of the future that might not even exist yet. Being ahead of the curve when it comes to employment can be beneficial in many ways. Many of these future careers will be influenced by technology and will come directly out of the technological revolution. Then, you should consider preparing for jobs that don’t yet exist by brushing up your knowledge of STEM subjects and developing soft as well as hard skills, such as critical thinking and innovation. You should also make sure that you continue to learn even after you have obtained a Master’s degree, such as by reading newspapers and by conducting your own research projects. This will ensure that you are always able to remain ahead.
Have the Right Infrastructure
Whether at work or at home, you can also prepare for the future of tech by having the right infrastructure, such as gadgets that are ready to support new software as it is developed. This will allow you to instantly make use of new technology as it is produced and avoid being left behind by others who are more prepared than you and who can access and put the new technology in question to good use.
Follow Emerging Technologies
Although the technologies that are currently in use are fascinating and engaging, you must always keep looking toward those technologies which are currently in development and which are starting to emerge as we speak. These include the Internet of Things and biometrics. Even though these emerging technologies currently have practical applications, more uses for them are currently being developed, meaning that they will soon start to take on greater significance within industries and your life. For instance, while VR technology was once only used for video games, it is now used to give training to employees and even create immersive advertising campaigns.
Stay Flexible
The most important step that you can take to prepare for the future of technology, though, and yet the one that people discuss the least, is to stay flexible. Flexibility is vital in both the world of work and beyond. For instance, you should make sure that you are open to changes within the workplace, such as working remotely or from home, and that you are happy to experiment with using different technologies as they come to the forefront of the tech world. You should also be ready for the fact that your job role might begin to change over time, with many of the jobs that are currently in existence having extremely different responsibilities in a couple of years as technology and automation starts to take over some of the roles that were previously required to be performed by humans.
Former officer Kim Potter who shot dead 20-year-old Daunte Wright in Minnesota has been charged with second-degree manslaughter, prosecutors say.
Kim Potter, a 26-year veteran of the Brooklyn Center Police Department, was taken into custody about 11:30 AM at the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) in St. Paul, officials said.
She says she shot Daunte Wright accidentally, having mistakenly drawn her gun instead of her Taser.
Daunte Wright, who is African-American, died of a gunshot wound to the chest, according to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office, which classified the manner of death as a homicide.
Responding to the charges, the Wright family’s lawyer Ben Crump said the killing was an “intentional, deliberate, and unlawful use of force”.
Both Kim Potter and Police Chief Tim Gannon have quit the Brooklyn Center force. The killing has sparked three nights of clashes between police and protesters.
It happened in a suburb of Minneapolis, a city already on edge amid the trial of a white ex-police officer accused of murdering African American George Floyd.
Minnesota’s BCA said Kim Potter had been arrested on April 14 at the BCA in St Paul and would be booked into Hennepin County Jail on probable cause second-degree manslaughter.
The charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. Prosecutors must show that Kim Potter was “culpably negligent” and took an “unreasonable risk” in her actions, Reuters reported.
In a statement, Ben Crump said “no conviction can give the Wright family their loved one back”.
“A 26-year veteran of the force knows the difference between a Taser and a firearm. Kim Potter executed Daunte for what amounts to no more than a minor traffic infraction and a misdemeanor warrant,” he said.
After the charge against Kim Potter was announced, Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott tweeted: “Daunte Wright like many other black and brown members of our community should be alive and at home with his family today.”
Derrick Johnson, president of civil rights group the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), said “justice must prevail” after Mr. Wright’s death.
“A badge should never be a shield to accountability,”he tweeted.
On April 13, bottles and other projectiles were thrown at the Brooklyn Center police headquarters and officers responded by firing tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets.
On April 12, Police Chief Gannon said the shooting of Daunte Wright – who had a one-year-old son – appeared to be an “accidental discharge” after Kim Potter mistook her service pistol for a stun gun.
But the families have rejected the explanation.
Daunte Wright’s aunt Naisha said: “I watched that video like everybody else watched that video. That woman held that gun in front of her a long damn time.”
Daunte Wright was pulled over for an expired tag on his car license plate. Family members and advocates say he was racially profiled.
Badycam footage showed Daunte Wright fleeing from officers after they told him he was being arrested for an outstanding warrant.
As Daunte Wright re-enters his car, Officer Potter is heard shouting “Taser” several times before firing a shot.
Daunte Wright’s mother Katie told reporters her son had called her after he was pulled over and that she had offered to give insurance details to police over the phone.
She said she heard police order him to get out of the vehicle. There was a scuffling sound and an officer told him to hang up the phone.
When she was eventually able to call back, Daunte Wright’s girlfriend answered and told her he had been shot.
Denmark has decided to completely stop the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine rollout amid concerns about rare cases of blood clots, the first European country to do so fully.
The move is expected to delay Denmark’s vaccination program by several weeks.
Drug watchdog the European Medicines Agency (EMA) last week announced a possible link with clots but said the risk of dying of Covid-19 was much greater.
Several European countries had previously briefly suspended the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Most have now resumed vaccinations with AstraZeneca, but often with limits to older age groups.
On April 13, the US, Canada and the EU paused the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for similar reasons over clotting.
South Africa has also paused its use, despite the Johnson & Johnson being its preferred vaccine because of its effectiveness against the South African variant.
For both AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson, the blood clot side effects are extremely rare.
The EU’s vaccine rollout has been criticized by the WHO for being too slow, and there are concerns this latest delay could throw it into further turmoil.
Both vaccines work by a similar method, known as adenoviral vectors.
Danish officials said that all 2.4 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine would be withdrawn until further notice.
The Danish Health Authority said studies had shown a higher than expected frequency of blood clots following doses, affecting about one in 40,000 people.
It comes after two cases of thrombosis in Denmark were linked to vaccinations, AFP reported. One of the cases, in a 60-year-old woman, was fatal.
Director General Soren Brostrom said it had been a “difficult decision” but Denmark had other vaccines available and the epidemic there was currently under control.
However, the authority said it could not rule out using it again at another time.
During the press conference the head of Denmark’s Medicines Agency, Tanja Erichsen, fainted and was taken to hospital as a precaution. The agency later tweeted that she had recovered.
Almost one million people in Denmark have been vaccinated, with approximately 150,000 of them receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine. The Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are also in use.
Adenoviruses are found in humans and other animals. Scientists use a modified version of one of these adenoviruses, known as a vector, to deliver important instructions to cells, according to the CDC.
They work by entering cells and using the cell’s machinery to produce a harmless piece of the virus that causes Covid-19, known as a spike protein. The cell then recognizes that the spike protein does not belong there and this triggers the immune system to fight back against what it thinks is an infection.
This process allows our bodies to learn how to protect us against Covid-19, according to the CDC.
Regulators are now investigating whether an unusual immune response to the adenovirus vaccines is causing the rare but severe incidences of blood clotting.
An official from the FDA told Reuters it was “plainly obvious” that the cases of blood clots linked to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine were “very similar” to those linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine.
The US paused rollout of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine after six women under 50 developed rare blood clots after getting the shot. In the UK 30 people had developed unusual blood clots and seven of them had died after getting the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, out of a total of 18 million vaccinated.
Some European countries have limited the use of adenovirus vaccines to older people, who have been less affected by the rare blood clotting condition.
After the Danish announcement, France said it viewed the AstraZeneca vaccine as an “essential tool”.
France will also go ahead with plans to give the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to those aged over 55, the spokesman said. The country has already received 200,000 doses. Belgium will also give the doses it has received, while Greece and Italy will not.
Meanwhile the Czech Deputy PM Jan Hamacek said he had instructed the Czech ambassador in Denmark to try to buy the 2.4 million AstraZeneca vaccines doses that the Danes would no longer be using.
Jan Hamacek said he would also travel to Moscow to arrange deliveries of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine – another adenovirus vaccine – once its use is approved by the EMA.
Denmark was the first country to postpone use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in March. It was followed by numerous other European countries.
In a separate development, the European Commission said Pfizer-BioNTech would deliver an extra 50 million doses to the EU in the next few weeks.
