>"According to Turkish news site Konhaber, it was a furious coal miner, identified only as Hakan M, who crushed the roofs of five tipper trucks, claiming his boss, who is also his uncle, had not paid his wages for a month."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilal_G%C3%B6regen
>DOUGH
https://omaha.com/news/national/govt-and-politics/us-doubling-order-for-global-covid-19-vaccines-to-1-billion-doses-biden-to-urge/article_e6f89a43-42ff-570e-ad18-d81ad45c1d91.html
US doubling order for global COVID-19 vaccines to 1 billion doses, Biden to urge 70% world vaccination rate within year
US doubling order for global COVID-19 vaccines to 1 billion doses, Biden to urge 70% world vaccination rate within year.
https://apnews.com/article/elections-lawsuits-campaigns-michigan-gretchen-whitmer-982c974456fc8058c7d5b13013cf1972
Republicans sue over excess campaign donations to Whitmer
The Michigan Republican Party on Tuesday sued to stop Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s reelection campaign from collecting excess donations, contending that an exception letting her raise unlimited amounts because of attempts to recall her from office is unconstitutional.
The lawsuit in federal court, also brought by party chairman Ron Weiser, seeks to prohibit Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson from allowing the “recall exemption” in the 2022 governor’s race. Benson has been considering a conservative group’s challenge to $3.4 million in contributions to Whitmer that exceeded the $7,150 per-person limit.
The Democratic governor’s campaign has cited a 1984 ruling from a prior secretary of state that says donor limits cannot apply to officeholders facing a recall election. But Republicans have said people never “actively” sought to recall Whitmer because the longshot efforts fell way short of the necessary voter signatures.
“While it’s no secret that she thinks she’s above the law and rules don’t apply to her, our lawsuit will ensure that her crony, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, applies campaign finance rules fairly to all candidates running for governor,” GOP spokesman Gustavo Portela said in a statement.
The lawsuit alleges that the recall exception unconstitutionally burdens political speech and equal protection rights, stymieing Republicans who face “unequal treatment under the law.”
Benson spokeswoman Tracy Wimmer declined to comment on the litigation.
“As has been explained previously, under a long-standing statement and ruling issued by the (elections bureau), because recall petitioners can raise unlimited funds, so can the governor once a recall is initiated. However, those funds must be returned or donated if the recall does not become active,” she said.
In July, Whitmer campaign spokesman Mark Fisk said if funds exceeding the individual limit are not used to fight a recall, they can legally be transferred to another account. He mentioned the Michigan Democratic Party as an example.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jocelyn_Benson
>All a woman has to do is claim she is pregnant and she will be released.
https://apnews.com/article/africa-business-trials-south-africa-jacob-zuma-bf2ae42f282ab1f7fc750d124b72c7a2
Zuma’s trial postponed until October in South Africa
The corruption trial of former South African President Jacob Zuma was postponed until Oct. 26 while the judge considers a plea from Zuma’s lawyer that the prosecution team be dismissed from the case for being biased.
Zuma wasn’t present for the two-day hearing that ended Wednesday after he was released from an unrelated jail sentence this month on medical parole. He has been receiving treatment in a hospital for an undisclosed illness, according to his foundation.
Zuma’s lawyer, Dali Mpofu, asked Judge Piet Koen to throw chief prosecutor Billy Downer and his team off the case, claiming they have a politically-motivated grudge against Zuma. Prosecutors deny that and say there is no evidence of it.
Mpofu also asked the judge to acquit Zuma of all charges against him after the prosecution team is dismissed. Koen said he needed time to consider the plea.
https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-courts-lawsuits-business-newspapers-da4689bcce1e58c15fc909377fa3a450
Trump sues niece, NY Times over records behind ’18 tax story
Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday sued his estranged niece and The New York Times over a 2018 story about his family’s wealth and tax practices that was partly based on confidential documents she provided to the newspaper’s reporters.
Trump’s lawsuit, filed in state court in New York, accuses Mary Trump of breaching a settlement agreement by disclosing tax records she received in a dispute over family patriarch Fred Trump’s estate.
The lawsuit accuses the Times and three of its investigative reporters, Susanne Craig, David Barstow and Russell Buettner, of relentlessly seeking out Mary Trump as a source of information and convincing her to turn over documents. The suit claims the reporters were aware the settlement agreement barred her from disclosing the documents.
The Times’ story challenged Trump’s claims of self-made wealth by documenting how his father, Fred, had given him at least $413 million over the decades, including through tax avoidance schemes.
https://apnews.com/article/europe-russia-afghanistan-terrorism-finland-864776fb30561efdace5a5a87b0dfa30
Top US general holds ‘productive’ talks with Russian officer
The top American military officer held talks Wednesday with his Russian counterpart as the United States struggles to secure basing rights and other counterterrorism support in countries bordering Afghanistan — an effort Moscow has opposed.
The six-hour meeting in Finland’s capital between Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Gen. Valery Gerasimov, chief of the Russian General Staff, came at a crucial time after the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Without troops on the ground, the U.S. needs to reach more basing, intelligence sharing and other agreements to help monitor al-Qaida and Islamic State militants in Afghanistan.
Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, had said in July that Moscow warned the U.S. that any deployment of American troops in countries neighboring Afghanistan “is unacceptable.” He said Russia told the U.S. “in a direct and straightforward way that it would change a lot of things not only in our perceptions of what’s going on in that important region, but also in our relations with the United States.”
https://apnews.com/article/united-nations-general-assembly-climate-change-environment-and-nature-united-nations-europe-9795fe16a9ebb53f9336b6d5d95394db
‘Grow up’: UK’s Johnson says world must face climate change
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will tell world leaders at the United Nations that humanity has to “grow up” and tackle climate change, saying humans must stop trashing the planet like a teenager on a bender.
Johnson is due to host a major United Nations climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland in six weeks’ time. He is using a trip to the U.N. General Assembly in New York to press governments for tougher emissions-cutting targets and more money to help poor countries clean up their economies.
In a speech to the General Assembly on Wednesday, he’ll say it’s now or never if the world is to meet its goal of limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.
“I’ll be saying to the U.N. general assembly tonight: ‘This is it, folks,’” Johnson said Wednesday in Washington. “This is the moment when humanity comes to an inflection point, and we either take the steps necessary to avert a catastrophic increase in temperatures over the next hundred years, or we fail.”
https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-health-syria-pandemics-coronavirus-pandemic-ad34b7302c38d84a493410cc6dec076e
Ravaged by war, Syrian rebel area struggles with virus surge
Medical workers carry a patient infected with the coronavirus on a stretcher at the Syrian American Medical Society Hospital, in the city of Idlib, northwest Syria, Monday, Sept. 20, 2021. Coronavirus cases are surging to the worst levels of the pandemic in Idlib province, a rebel stronghold in Syria — a particularly devastating development in a region where scores of hospitals have been bombed and that doctors and nurses have fled in droves during a decade of war.
https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-r-kelly-music-arts-and-entertainment-trials-b3dadbaceab23b1388bb102857a069e1
R. Kelly says he won’t testify at his sex trafficking trial
R. Kelly told a judge on Wednesday that he won’t take the witness stand at his sex trafficking trial, meaning he’ll avoid the risk of a potentially brutal cross-examination.
“You don’t want to testify, correct?” U.S. District Judge Ann Connelly asked the R&B singer. He responded: “Yes, ma’am.”
Lawyers had already said Kelly was unlikely to testify in his own behalf. The defense is now expected to rest its case later Wednesday, clearing the way for the start of closing arguments.
The short defense case has relied on a handful of former Kelly employees and other associates who agreed to take the stand to try to discredit allegations that he sexually abused women, girls and boys during a 30-year musical career highlighted by the 1996 smash hit “I Believe I Can Fly.”
https://apnews.com/article/health-education-coronavirus-pandemic-only-on-ap-ca10e95511b4940375c037e871f939cd
Largest colleges push student vaccines with mandates, prizes
As a new semester begins amid a resurgence of the coronavirus, 26 of the 50 largest public university campuses in the U.S. are not mandating that students be vaccinated, according to an analysis by The Associated Press.
Approaches on enforcement vary widely even among universities that do have vaccine mandates, with some offering leniency for students who opt out and others expelling those who do not comply.
Administrators are emphasizing high numbers for student vaccinations as key to bringing some normalcy back to campus and keeping instruction in classrooms rather than online. Where mandates face political opposition, schools are relying on incentives and outreach to get more students vaccinated.
>ATE-KOON
>https://www.armytimes.com/off-duty/movies-video-games/2015/02/27/leonard-nimoy-a-former-soldier-dies-at-83/
>Romanian government has closed all vaccine centres because 70% of the citizens won’t get the jab. Coercion did not work.
>Oh wait, it is an old vid
https://twitter.com/ianbremmer/status/828378186945875969
2017
Having won on anti-corruption, the Romanian people aren't backing down, want the government out. Bucharest now:
“The environment is wrought with toxicity — and all civility and decorum no longer seem to have a place,” Chucri said. “The fixation with the 2020 election results and aftermath have gotten out of control.” Chucri said his comments about his colleagues are being wrongly used to paint a picture “about a cover-up, scam and other nonsense," and he vouched for the accuracy of the results. “There was no cover-up, the election was not stolen,” Churci said. “Biden won.”
Oct 12, 2016
President Barack Obama on the True Meaning of Star Trek
POTUS is a Trekkie! WIRED guest editor President Barack Obama, WIRED editor in chief Scott Dadich and MIT Media Lab director Joi Ito discuss the original Star Trek series and what it reveals about our common humanity.
>The monument was set up to remember the service and sacrifice of those who secured Australia’s freedoms in war and peacetime.
https://www.shrine.org.au/
?
>Australian army doing surprise
>Former GOP Sen. Jeff Flake back in the Capitol again today. Tells me he’s meeting with his old colleagues to discuss his nomination for ambassador to Turkey.
https://twitter.com/hughriminton/status/1439891477358727174
Victoria Police Commissioner Shane Patton has tonight repeatedly called out “right wing extremists” for having infiltrated #antivax protests in Melbourne.
>https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/pfizer-recalls-all-lots-anti-smoking-drug-over-carcinogen-presence-2021-09-16
Pfizer recalls all lots of anti-smoking drug over carcinogen presence
Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) said on Thursday it was recalling all lots of its anti-smoking treatment, Chantix, due to high levels of cancer-causing agents called nitrosamines in the pills.
The drugmaker paused distribution of the drug in June, and has already recalled a number of lots of the medicine so far. read more
Pfizer asked wholesalers and distributors on Thursday to stop the use and distribution of the tablets immediately.
The company said there was no immediate risk to patients
taking Chantix, but advised them to consult with their health care provider to check the availability of alternative treatments.
Chantix was approved by the FDA in May 2006 as a prescription medication to help adults aged 18 and over quit smoking and is typically used for 12 to 24 weeks.
>Pfizer recalls all lots of anti-smoking drug over carcinogen presence
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrosamine