Saturday, February 27, 2021
'We're not there yet': Biden officials issue somber warning about uptick in Covid-19 cases - STAT
WASHINGTON — Biden administration officials on Friday warned of a “very concerning” uptick in Covid-19 cases this week, urging Americans not to let down their guard despite an ongoing vaccination campaign and case rates that are substantially lower than their peak last month.
“We may be done with the virus, but clearly the virus is not done with us,” Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said during a White House press briefing. “I know people are tired and they want to get back to life, to normal, but we’re not there yet.”
Walensky’s shift in tone comes after a slight but noteworthy uptick in reported Covid-19 cases. Health officials have reported over 70,000 cases each of the past three days, the first increase after roughly seven weeks of plummeting case counts.
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The current totals are dramatically lower than mid-January’s, when the country recorded over 250,000 each day. But they are still high — more than double the initial 2020 outbreak, which saw roughly 30,000 daily cases in April, and a surge in July, which saw roughly 65,000.
“We at CDC consider this a very concerning shift in the trajectory,” Walensky said. “The most recent seven-day average of cases, approximately 66,350, is higher than the average I shared with you on Wednesday. In fact, cases have been increasing for the past three days compared to the prior week.”
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Walensky sounded the alarm even as the U.S. continues to administer roughly 1.3 million vaccine doses each day, according to CDC data. The country has distributed over 68 million vaccine doses already, and roughly 14% of Americans have received at least one dose of the two-dose vaccine regimen.
Most Americans, however, likely won’t be vaccinated for months, leaving huge swaths of the population susceptible to the virus, which has already resulted in over 500,000 U.S. deaths.
The officials also warned that new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes Covid-19, could set back the U.S. pandemic response if Americans let down their guard. Anthony Fauci, the government researcher and chief medical adviser to Biden’s pandemic response, warned that February’s encouraging news could be erased if case counts hover at their current level instead of dropping further.
“If we plateaued at 70,000, we are at that very precarious position that we were at right before the fall surge,” he said. “We don’t want to be people always looking at the dark side of things, but you want to be realistic.”
The White House briefing occurred as a Food and Drug Administration committee considered whether to recommend the authorization of a new, one-dose vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson.
“More vaccine is on our way,” Walensky said. “We are at the precipice of having another vaccine in our toolbox.”
That hearing, however, also featured its own warning, particularly concerning the presence of new and potentially more transmissible variants of the virus, particularly three first discovered in Brazil, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.
“We have to assume, in the absence of other information, that these variants probably could exist throughout the entire U.S.,” said Adam MacNeil, a CDC epidemiologist.
The U.S., he added, is currently “nowhere close” to having herd immunity.
Despite the concern over the new variants, Fauci urged Americans to become vaccinated as quickly as possible, even as he highlighted ongoing trials from the drug manufacturer Moderna to determine whether a potential “booster” shot could help protect against the South African variant specifically.
“Get vaccinated,” Fauci said. “The vaccine that is available to you — get that vaccine.”
Matthew Herper contributed reporting.
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New Zealand's largest city Auckland back to lockdown after COVID-19 case - Reuters
WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Saturday that the country’s biggest city, Auckland, will go into a seven-day lockdown from early morning on Sunday after a new local case of the coronavirus of unknown origin emerged.
This comes two weeks after Auckland’s nearly 2 million residents were plunged into a snap three-day lockdown when a family of three were diagnosed with the more transmissible UK variant of the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
Health officials, who could not immediately confirm how the person got infected, said genome sequencing of the new infection was under way.
The patient developed symptoms on Tuesday and is regarded as having been potentially infectious since Sunday, officials said. The person has visited several public venues during that period.
“Based on this, we are in the unfortunate but necessary position to protect Aucklanders again,” Ardern said, announcing the lockdown.
Health authorities were trying to find out whether the new case was linked to the earlier February cluster, now at 12 infections.
The lockdown, with Level 3 restrictions, will allow people to leave home only for essential shopping and essential work, Ardern said. Public venues will remain closed. Restrictions in the rest of the country will be tightened to Level 2 restrictions, including limits on public gatherings.
New Zealand, one of the most successful developed nations in controlling the spread of the pandemic, has seen just over 2,000 cases of the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic.
A marquee Twenty20 cricket clash in Auckland between New Zealand and Australia, scheduled for Friday, will be played in Wellington without crowds, said New Zealand Cricket.
The new restrictions also complicated the America’s Cup Event yacht race scheduled to start on March 6 in Auckland’s harbour. America’s Cup Event said on Twitter it was working “through the implications.”
Reporting by Praveen Menon in Wellington; Additonal reporting by Nick Mulvenney; Writing by Lidia Kelly; Editing by William Mallard
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Rwanda Official Admits Legal Violations in ‘Hotel Rwanda’ Case - The New York Times
A video, aired by Al Jazeera English, shows that the attorney general intercepted legal materials from Paul Rusesabagina, who was portrayed in the movie “Hotel Rwanda” and is accused of terrorism.
NAIROBI, Kenya — Rwanda’s attorney general inadvertently revealed that he had intercepted privileged and confidential legal materials in the ongoing terrorism case against Paul Rusesabagina, the prominent dissident whose efforts to save more than 1,200 people during the country’s genocide was portrayed in the Oscar-nominated movie “Hotel Rwanda.”
In a video interview published by Al Jazeera English, Johnston Busingye, who is both justice minister and attorney general, rejected accusations that authorities had confiscated Mr. Rusesabagina’s papers or trampled on attorney-client privilege.
But in an hour-and-half-long preparation video that his public relations team accidentally sent to the media outlet, Mr. Busingye contradicted himself, saying that the prison authorities had intercepted correspondence between Mr. Rusesabagina and his lawyers and children, some of which included escape plans.
Mr. Busingye also discussed with the team how to respond to questions about whether the Rwandan government had paid for the flight that in August brought Mr. Rusesabagina to Kigali, where he was arrested on charges including murder, armed robbery and being a member of a terrorist organization.
The latest revelations came just hours after a Rwandan court on Friday ruled that it had jurisdiction to try Mr. Rusesabagina — a Belgian citizen and permanent resident of the United States. It also came as the trial faces widespread condemnation from entities including rights groups, members of the U.S. Congress and the European Parliament.
The latest disclosures, his lawyers say, also cloud the prospects of Mr. Rusesabagina’s getting a fair hearing, given that his international lawyers have not been permitted into Kigali to represent him and prison officials continue to confiscate his case files. Mr. Rusesabagina, a former hotelier, has told his lawyers that he is afraid to die of a stroke in prison, and his family members have said they remain concerned about his deteriorating health.
During the interview with Al Jazeera, Mr. Busingye denied that Mr. Rusesabagina’s communication with his lawyers had been intercepted. But “if that has happened, it will be raised in the courts and the courts will address it fairly,” he told the Al Jazeera interviewer, Marc Lamont Hill, on the “UpFront” show.
In another clip aired by Al Jazeera, Mr. Busingye is seen receiving advice on how to respond to queries about who paid for the private jet that brought Mr. Rusesabagina to Kigali. In the video, the public relations consultant can be heard warning the minister to be “cautious” because the interviewer was “looking for something they can put out in a news release about the interview — looking for nuggets of hard stuff.”
When Mr. Hill from Al Jazeera queried him about who had paid for the jet, Mr. Busingye said the Rwandan government had done so.
Ever since Mr. Rusesabagina was presented to the press handcuffed in Kigali on Aug. 31, questions have swirled about how he ended up there.
He left his home in San Antonio, Texas, and arrived in Dubai on an Emirates flight from Chicago on the evening of Aug. 27. He then checked into the Ibis Hotel in Dubai, according to a document from the United Arab Emirates mission in Geneva, and five hours later boarded a private jet that he believed was headed to Burundi, where he planned to speak to churches at the invitation of a local pastor.
The next day, the plane, operated by the Greece-based charter firm GainJet, landed in Kigali, where he was arrested, bound and interrogated.
The Rwandan authorities have, including in interviews with The New York Times, previously confirmed that they had leased the charter service for government operations, but never explicitly confirmed having hired the exact flight that brought Mr. Rusesabagina to Kigali.
In December, Mr. Rusesabagina and his family sued GainJet over its role in the episode.
After his arrest, President Paul Kagame — whose government had been trying to apprehend the 66-year-old Mr. Rusesabagina for years — dubbed the operation “flawless” and said that it was not a kidnapping.
As for Mr. Rusesabagina’s escape plans, his daughter Carine Kanimba said she had received WhatsApp and Twitter messages since November of a person claiming to be one of her father’s prison guards. The messages, both audio and written and reviewed by The Times, described Mr. Rusesabagina’s routine and suggested ways of helping him escape.
“I never responded,” Ms. Kanimba said in a telephone interview. “My fear was that I would respond and that they would use that against my father.”
In December, the family also shared the material with the F.B.I., the U.S. State Department, and the Belgian foreign ministry.
On Friday, the Rwandan authorities doubled down on their position, calling the arrest “legal and proper.” In a statement, the Justice Ministry said that Mr. Busingye had become aware of a “possible violation” in December with regards to privileged documents, and that he had instructed that they be returned to Mr. Rusesabagina.
Kate Gibson, Mr. Rusesabagina’s lead counsel, contested the statement, saying that his papers “continue to be routinely and systematically confiscated, including his privileged and confidential materials.” Ms. Gibson is one of three lawyers awaiting permission to represent the former hotelier in Kigali.
As late as this past week, she said, Mr. Rusesabagina was denied from going to his cell with his documents.
“We now see from the Al Jazeera preparation video that the content of privileged and confidential legal documents are making their way to the highest levels,” she said in an email. “The right to confidential communication is at the heart of legal representation. Without it, it is impossible to consider proceedings fair.”
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Friday, February 26, 2021
Former Tampa teacher found not guilty in sex case involving student - Tampa Bay Times
TAMPA — A jury this week found a former Benito Middle School teacher not guilty of sex crime charges — two years after he was arrested and fired after being accused of engaging in sexual activity with students.
Inconsistent statements from the two students who made the allegations and evidence that showed Alex Jeffrey Hull was not alone with one of them on key dates and times led to the acquittal, according to his defense team.
Defense attorneys Maria Pavlidis, Lily McCarty and Jason Mayberry said they discovered evidence that one student claimed in an online post that she made up the allegations against her former teacher. The state dropped the charges in that case.
The other student’s allegations went to trial this week. The defense said it presented alibi evidence for times when the prosecution claimed the sexual activity occurred.
On one date, the defense said, evidence showed Hull was on a Facetime call with his wife during the time in question. At other times, fellow teachers testified that Hull was with them in their classrooms — not with the student. On another key date, the defense said it showed the student was at a doctor’s appointment and not in school.
On the witness stand, the student said she could not remember the dates when the sexual activity allegations took place, the lawyers said. They also said there was no physical evidence to prove a crime occurred.
Upon hearing the jury’s verdict Wednesday, Hull and his attorneys wept.
“This was a case where we truly believe he was innocent,” Pavlidis said.
Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren’s office defended their case against the teacher.
“This was a tough case, but a good prosecutor has to be willing to try tough cases,” Warren’s office wrote in a statement. “We believe the victim, but knowing deep-down that a person committed a crime is different than being able to prove it in a court of law.”
Hull was an eighth-grade teacher when he was arrested in August 2018 after a parent reported the allegations to Tampa police. A 13-year-old student then told police that Hull showed her photographs of himself, according to an arrest affidavit, including ones showing him in boxers and in the nude.
The student said he later gave her a sex toy, the affidavit said. Near the end of the 2017-18 school year, the girl also said Hull twice had her perform sex acts on him while they were alone in a classroom, according to the affidavit.
But the defense said there was no evidence their client committed any crime.
The former student, the lawyers said, testified that she was “in love” with her teacher as an eight-grader.
The defense theorized that the pair were infatuated with the teacher and made up the allegations after seeing Hull and his wife’s private texts on his phone. The girl who testified admitted that she looked through the teacher’s phone, the lawyers said.
“Everything they said was very similar to something we think they saw with him and his wife,” McCarty said.
The defense also noted there were no text messages exchanged between the students and the teacher. They said his internet search history was also devoid of sexual content.
Hull is no longer a teacher. Now 33, he was fired by the Hillsborough County School District after his arrest. He has a job now, but not even an acquittal can undo all that he has endured.
“His life is destroyed no matter what,” McCarty said. “No one can give these students back their amazing teacher. All someone has to do is say it happened and your life is destroyed.”
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Citigroup revises earnings lower after losing Revlon case - Reuters
(Reuters) - Citigroup Inc said on Friday it recorded an additional $390 million in operating expenses in the 2020 fourth quarter after a U.S. federal judge ruled it was not entitled to recoup money it mistakenly wired to lenders of Revlon Inc last year.
As a result, Citigroup revised its fourth-quarter earnings to $1.92 per share down from $2.08, according to a filing.
In August, an “operational error” caused Citigroup to send $893 million of its own funds to the cosmetic company’s lenders, appearing to pay off a loan not due until 2023, when it intended to send only a $7.8 million interest payment.
To date, $389.8 million had been repaid to he bank at its request, but some lenders have held on to the funds leading the bank to wage a legal battle against a group of hedge funds to recover the remainder.
This month, U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman in Manhattan said the transfers were complete transactions not subject to revocation and declined to force the defendants to return the funds. Citigroup is planning to fight the decision.
“I do believe that we have good grounds for an appeal, and we’re going to pursue that,” Chief Financial Officer Mark Mason said an industry conference on Thursday.
The unprecedented blunder was the latest misstep involving internal controls at Citigroup, which federal regulators fined $400 million in October over longstanding deficiencies.
Shortfalls in Citigroup’s internal controls were a factor in Chief Executive Mike Corbat’s planned early retirement this month.
Jane Fraser will take over the reins of the company on Monday.
Reporting by Imani Moise; Editing by David Gregorio
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Key hearing in Chauvin case scheduled for Monday at Minnesota Court of Appeals - KSTP
Eric Chaloux
Updated: February 26, 2021 06:17 PM
Created: February 26, 2021 04:36 PM
The Minnesota Court of Appeals on Monday afternoon will hear oral arguments in the case of Derek Chauvin, who's charged in George Floyd's death.
Earlier this month, a Hennepin County judge denied prosecutors' move to charge Chauvin with a lower count of third-degree murder, along with the second-degree murder and manslaughter counts he's already charged with in Floyd's death.
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