President Joe Biden seemed to be invisible at the White House Tuesday as prominent Democrats flocked around former President Barack Obama after the president signed an executive order aimed at strengthening the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
After signing the order, Biden shook several hands and saluted the crowd before he walked away from the table. When he realized no one was walking with him, the president threw his arms up in frustration as he turned around to see several people, including Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, gathered around former President Barack Obama.
Biden stood looking stunned for several seconds before walking away.
Obama, who first signed the ACA into law in 2010, visited the White House Tuesday for the first time since former President Donald Trump was inaugurated. Biden and Obama shared friendly banter in their speeches, with Obama jokingly referring to Biden as “Vice President Biden.”
“It feels like the good old days,” Biden said of Obama’s visit.
“They are real friends, not just Washington friends,” Psaki said in a Monday press conference. “I’m sure they will talk about events in the world as well as their families and personal lives.”
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has taken extreme measures to curb a COVID-19 outbreak in Shanghai, one of the world’s largest cities.
Thousands of health care workers have been sent into the city to conduct daily mass testing of its 26 million residents. Children who test positive for the virus are being taken from their uninfected parents and forcibly moved to government isolation facilities, according to multiple reports.
CCP authorities began a two-stage lockdown on March 28, which was set to end Tuesday after there had been time to test every resident of the city in two groups. But the lockdown has been extended, and testing continues, with some residents being woken up by CCP workers and military members to get swabbed.
Around 38,000 medical professionals and 2,000 members of the People’s Liberation Army have been sent to Shanghai to assist with the mass testing and lockdown effort, according to state media. Testing facilities are using pool testing, meaning up to 20 samples are pooled together for a single test, and if the overall sample is positive then every individual included is treated as positive.
Individuals who refuse a COVID-19 test are subject to criminal punishment, authorities said. Asymptomatic positive tests surged to 13,000 Monday. There have been no deaths reported since the current outbreak began in March.
There has been public outcry over the policy of separating children from their parents to quarantine, as well as isolating asymptomatic individuals along with those who are actually sick.
A petition to allow children without symptoms to isolate themselves at home with their parents was removed from the social media platform WeChat this week. Diplomatic sources have said that some children of American citizens have been taken from their parents.
There are currently 23 Chinese cities under full or partial lockdown, with a combined population of nearly 200 million people.
Municipal health official, Wu Qianyu said during a briefing the city must adhere to the zero-COVID policy “without wavering.” The lockdown could last for months.
New Zealand, South Korea and Hong Kong have also seen unprecedented upticks in COVID-19 cases, but haven’t responded with the same draconian measures seen in Shanghai.
Lev Gudkov says that the opinion poll he conducted in March, which gave Russian President Vladimir Putin high marks, is accurate. People want to know whether Russians tell pollsters the truth or if they hide their feelings for fear of repercussions, he says, and he gets questions about it every day.
He is confident, though, that his respondents have not lied about Putin or the war. Gudkov, the director of the Levada Center, Russia’s sole independent polling organization, believes that the perception that Russians are frightened to tell the truth about politics is mostly disseminated by dissidents, who are aware of the high cost of speaking out and are sensitive to it.
Gudkov claims that the rest of Russia is merely under the grip of official television propaganda, which has been continuously poured into their heads for several years, parroting Kremlin statements.
According to the latest Levada poll from March, 83 percent of Russians approve of President Putin’s conduct, a figure that has been steadily rising since the summer. It was 61 percent at the time, and it has since risen to 65 percent in January, 71 percent in February, and 83 percent now that the war has started. Approximately 81 percent of people support the war in general.
The high ratings — what many would call surprisingly high — for the Ukraine invasion reflected the effectiveness of Kremlin propaganda, according to Gudkov, due to Russia’s censorship and the extreme paucity of alternative news channels.
Gudkov explained that views varied from village to village according to size or population. In bigger cities, he stated, the overall mood was “shame, despair, depression, anxiety and discouragement” about the war.
“Where people are more educated, more informed, I would say the atmosphere is more one of panic. Large metropolitan areas have been the first to feel the effect of sanctions and understand the catastrophic situation this will lead to in a few months,” Gudkov added.
He did admit, though, that anti-Americanism is on the upswing. The United States was seen negatively by 73 percent of Russians. Gudkov claimed that attitudes toward America fluctuated in direct proportion to the amount and tone of state-run propaganda. It was most intense during NATO bombings of Belgrade, the Georgian conflict, and the annexation of Crimea — and as a result, anti-Americanism spiked at those times.
A Virginia woman won $110,000 in the state lottery back in February but had already thrown the ticket in the trash when she found out.
Mary Elliot, who lives in Buckingham County, Virginia, “panicked” after she realized she’d won the lottery, but had thrown the ticket out in the trash. Elliot immediately began digging through her trash until she found the Cash 5 EZ Match ticket, which had been drenched in coffee and the barcode wouldn’t scan.
Elliot purchased the ticket at her local Food Lion supermarket in Dillwyn, according to a press release from the Virginia Lottery. Her winning numbers were 6-13-18-21-25, which she chose based on important birthdays in her life.
“When I saw I’d won, I couldn’t stop shaking to save my life,” Elliot told Virginia Lottery officials. The lucky winner was able to confirm her win after she took the ticket to lottery officials at Virginia’s Lottery Prize Zone in Henrico.
Elliot’s odds of winning with all five numbers on the Cash 5 EZ Match game were one in 749,393 according to the Virginia lottery.
President Joe Biden has called for a war crimes trial against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Biden told reporters in Washington, D.C. Monday that he stands by his declaration that Putin is “a war criminal.” The president initially made the comment on March 16, just days before the U.S. would announce its assessment “that members of Russia’s forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine.”
“You may remember I got criticized for calling Putin a war criminal. Well, the truth of the matter – we saw it happen in Bucha – this warrants him – he is a war criminal,” Biden said Monday morning.
Biden said that the administration has to “gather the information” in order to move ahead with a war crimes trial. He cited recent reports from areas of Ukraine that included mass graves in Bucha.
“But we have to gather the information. We have to continue to provide Ukraine with the weapons they need to continue to fight, and we have to get all the detail so this could be – actual have a war crimes trial. This guy is brutal, and what’s happening in Bucha is outrageous and everyone’s seen it,” Biden said.
Over the weekend, the Russian army retreated from the suburbs of Kyiv and other areas of Ukraine, but the retreat came with reports of massacres, and hundreds left dead.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday called the aftermath a “genocide.”
“This is about the destruction and extermination of all these nationalities. We are the citizens of Ukraine, and we don’t want to be subdued to the policy of the Russian Federation. This is the reason we are being destroyed and exterminated, and this is happening in the Europe of the 21st century. So this is the torture of the whole nation,” Zelenskyy said.
Biden said he didn’t believe the actions were “genocide” when pressed on the issue Monday morning.
Six people are dead and 12 others injured after a shooting early Sunday morning in downtown Sacramento.
Sacramento Police Chief Kathy Lester said that officers patrolling the area around 2 a.m.heard gunfire and upon investigation, found a large crowd with six people dead in the street.
Twelve other people were shot and wounded and were taken to a hospital with at least four suffering from critical injuries.
This is “a very complex and complicated scene,” Lester said as she made a plea to the public, asking for witnesses or anyone with recordings of the incident to contact the police.
Authorities recovered “at least one firearm” from the scene, according to a police statement said.
Sacramento police have set up a website for people to submit any photos or videos from the scene. There is a $1,000 reward for any information leading to the shooter.
Video has been posted to social media that shows people running through the street as the sound of gunfire could be heard in the background.
Gov. Gavin Newsom issued the following statement regarding Friday’s mass shooting:
“Sadly, we once again mourn the lives lost and for those injured in yet another horrendous act of gun violence. Jennifer and I send our heartfelt condolences to the family, friends, and to the wider community impacted by this terrible tragedy.
“As it is early in this investigation, my Administration will continue to work closely with local and state law enforcement as we monitor the situation.
“What we do know at this point is that another mass casualty shooting has occurred, leaving families with lost loved ones, multiple individuals injured and a community in grief. The scourge of gun violence continues to be a crisis in our country, and we must resolve to bring an end to this carnage.”
Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert said the shooting was a shocking tragedy.
“This is a shocking tragedy in our community. We are in contact with the Sacramento Police Department and monitoring the investigation closely. We will aggressively prosecute those responsible for these horrific crimes.”
Former Sacramento Police Chief Daniel Hahn said the shooting was too familiar and the solution to the problem lies in addressing the root causes of the violence.
“All too familiar tragedy in Sacramento again this morning. Crime scene tape, evidence markers, devastated families, a fearful community and much more. There are many contributing factors to violence, and the all too familiar division is one of them. The answer isn’t huge law enforcement & zero tolerance. The answer isn’t only social services and community organizations. The solutions lay in real collaboration and addressing the immediate safety issues but more importantly- the root causes of this violence.”
Sacramento Mayor Darryl Steinberg released a statement saying, “Words can’t express my shock & sadness this morning. The numbers of dead and wounded are difficult to comprehend. We await more information about exactly what transpired in this tragic incident.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a speech Friday that he had demoted two of his generals for being “traitors.”
During the speech, Zelenskyy stated that he “does not have time to deal with all the traitors” and will “gradually” punish all of them.
“That is why the ex-chief of the Main Department of Internal Security of the Security Service of Ukraine Naumov Andriy Olehovych and the former head of the Office of the Security Service of Ukraine in the Kherson region Kryvoruchko Serhiy Oleksandrovych are no longer generals,” Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy cited Article 48 of the Armed Forces of Ukraine’s Disciplinary Statute, which provides that senior officers will have their ranks stripped if they breach the military oath of allegiance to the country.
“Those servicemen among senior officers who have not decided where their homeland is, who violate the military oath of allegiance to the Ukrainian people as regards the protection of our state, its freedom and independence, will inevitably be deprived of senior military ranks,” he said. “Random generals don’t belong here!”
Zelenskyy acknowledged the “real heroes” in the Ukraine Security Service, saying that “absolute gratitude” is given to “each and everyone who sincerely defends” Ukraine.
“There are really a lot of heroes among the servicemen,” he said. “We are grateful to them!”
During his speech, the Ukrainian president described the “extremely difficult” situation in the Donbas region and said that Russian troops are “accumulating the potential for strikes.”
Zelenskyy concluded his speech by commenting on the future of Ukraine.
“This is a war for our future,” Zelenskyy said. “This is a war for our lives, in which we have only one way – to gain peace for Ukraine. To gain Ukraine’s security.”
Several countries that pursued a “zero-COVID” strategy and implemented harsh lockdown restrictions are now facing overwhelming waves of the pandemic.
In the U.S., COVID-19 has been on a steady decline since January in cases and deaths. However, places like China, South Korea and New Zealand, where officials were touted for their highly effective pandemic response are now facing a dramatic surge in cases and deaths.
China implemented severe, harsh measures to fight COVID-19, they even tracked each citizen’s every movement, locked down those exposed to COVID-19 in their homes and shut down entire cities at the first sign of an outbreak.
The country is now facing record outbreaks with nearly one-third of the total cases since the pandemic began occurring in March. Military reserves have been activated to prevent people from leaving cities or even buildings with outbreaks. China’s financial center of Shanghai has been locked down.
Hong Kong faced a devastating wave of the virus in March. As of Feb. 2022, Hong Kong reported a total death count of 213 since the pandemic began. Just two months later, the total death count in the city stands at a devastating 7,825.
South Korea used strict surveillance and tracing tools, that were highly invasive, with infected residents having their phones and credit cards used to track their movements. Contacts of the infected were required to isolate for two weeks with twice-a-day check-ins from government COVID-19 monitors, and the infected were sent to government isolation facilities.
In March 2022, with daily cases peaking at more than 621,000, South Korea’s death count more than doubled in March alone.
New Zealand set a record high for COVID-19 deaths on Tuesday.
South Korea and Hong Kong have had the most per capita deaths in the world during the past seven days.
A Harvard graduate said sex-cult leader Larry Ray forced her to suck on a pacifier, wear a diaper and have sex with strangers.
Felicia Rosario, 39, testified against Ray in federal court Monday, following his arrest in February 2020 for running a sex cult out of his daughter’s dorm at Sarah Lawrence College in New York.
Rosario said she moved into Ray’s apartment after her brother introduced her to him in 2011. She said initially the relationship was “romantic” but Ray became physically and mentally abusive, often beating her, binding her with zip ties and duct tape, and forcing her to sleep naked with him.
“I felt completely humiliated, degraded, debased – like I was nothing. Like I was dumb-looking, worthless,” she said.
Rosario told jurors that the sex-cult leader would have “someone else in the apartment watch over me to make sure I didn’t get up.”
“He punched me in the face. Slapped me. Pulled me by the hair. Punched me in the stomach. Choked me. Punched me in the head,” she said.
Ray also forced her to have sex with strangers while he filmed the encounters, sometimes sending his co-conspirator, Isabella Pollok, to record.
Rosario said Ray would use the recordings to “threaten” her, saying he would distribute them to alumni of Harvard and Columbia University.
The sex-cult leader forced her to wear a diaper and suck on a pacifier, according to Rosario. “I had to use it. Put it in my mouth. Keep it in my mouth,” she said.
Ray is facing charges including sex trafficking, obtaining forced labor, forced labor trafficking, in addition to several other serious offenses, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. If convicted, Ray could face life in prison.
The State Department confirmed Thursday that United States citizen Jimmy Hill was killed in Ukraine during a Russian shelling attack in Chernihiv.
“We can confirm the death of a US citizen in Ukraine on March 17,” a State Department spokesman said. “We offer our sincerest condolences to the family on their loss. We have no further comment.”
Local police in Chernihiv reported on their Facebook page that an American was killed during a “heavy artillery attack” by Russian troops targeting civilians in the area. Translated, the Facebook post says, “Today, the occupiers once again carried out a heavy artillery attack on unarmed civilian residents of the city. There are dead and wounded people. Among the dead – a U.S. citizen.”
“Police officers are helping to evacuate affected citizens to medical facilities. Chernihiv police investigators are working at the scene. Law enforcement officers are carefully documenting all the circumstances and consequences of Russian war crimes,” the Facebook post continued.
More than 53 people were killed in the area during the attack.
The latest death of a U.S. citizen is the second since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. President Joe Biden ignored questions Tuesday related to the death of New York Times journalist Brent Renaud, who was killed Sunday after Russian forces opened fire on his vehicle.
