Switzerland is joining nations offering privileges to those conforming with COVID-19 measures, as one region allows fifth- and sixth-grade students to shed masks if their schools have participated in mass testing. This small move from April 12 by the mountain canton of Grisons on the Italian border is emblematic of a broader global debate over whether people who test negative or are vaccinated should enjoy more freedoms. In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson kicked off debate by suggesting bars might restrict customers to those who can produce so-called "Pub Passports" as proof of vaccination.
Owens & Minor (OMI) closed at $37.59 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.45% move from the prior day.
Two-time Olympic beach volleyball medalist April Ross has a rare opportunity to relax with 100 days to go before the Tokyo Games. Ross and partner Alix Klineman are the No. 1 team in the Olympic qualification rankings and the only Americans who have already clinched one of four likely spots for U.S. beach teams in the pandemic-delayed 2020 Games. While other twosomes are still fighting for spots in Tokyo — including Ross’ partner in Rio, three-time gold medalist Kerri Walsh — Ross and Klineman can work on other things without worrying about their spot in the standings.
(Bloomberg) -- Sign up to receive the Balance of Power newsletter in your inbox, and follow Bloomberg Politics on Twitter and Facebook for more.Singapore Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat stepped aside as the designated successor to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, a surprise move that will likely push back a long-telegraphed power transition in the city-state.In a letter addressed to Lee on Thursday, Heng -- who turns 60 this year -- said the pandemic meant that he would likely be too old to take over as prime minister “when the crisis is over” roughly five years from now. He said a younger leader should take over instead, adding that he stands ready to support whomever is chosen by party officials.“When I also consider the ages at which our first three prime ministers took on the job, I would have too short a runway should I become the next prime minister then,” Heng wrote. “We need a leader who will not only rebuild Singapore post-Covid-19, but also lead the next phase of our nation-building effort,” he added.In a joint briefing with top leaders on Thursday, Lee said he respected the decision and noted that Heng would step aside as finance minister in the next cabinet reshuffle, which will take place about two weeks from now. The prime minister said the goal was to identify a successor among younger leaders before the next election due in 2025.“Succession remains an urgent task and cannot be put off indefinitely,” Lee said. “I think it’ll take longer than a few months, but I hope they’ll reach a consensus and identify a new leader before the next general elections. I have no intention of staying on longer than necessary.”Asked if he would stay on for another five years, Lee said: “I hope not. I will stay on a bit longer so that the new successor can be identified, can get ready, and as soon as he’s ready, I’ll like to hand over to him.”While Lee has previously signaled his intention to step down by the time he turns 70 in February 2022, last year he reaffirmed a pledge to stay until the country was in “good working order” following the weakest election performance ever by his ruling People’s Action Party.In a separate statement Thursday, a group of younger party leaders said they respected Heng’s decision and asked Lee “to stay on as prime minister until such time when a new successor is chosen by the team and is ready to take over.”“This unexpected turn of events is a setback for our succession planning,” the 32 so-called fourth-generation party members said in a statement. “We recognize that Singaporeans will be concerned. We seek your support and understanding, as we choose another leader for the team.”The Singapore dollar was little changed against the greenback, as was the U.S.-listed iShares MSCI Singapore ETF in premarket trading.A career civil servant and politician, Heng is currently both deputy prime minister and finance minister. His soft-spoken nature and collaborative approach won him allies in the business community, but a poorer-than-expected showing in the 2020 elections drew questions about his popularity and threw the timetable for succession into doubt.“It was pretty clear from the election that he didn’t garner a strong mandate for himself as a potential incoming prime minister,” said Bridget Welsh, honorary research associate at the Asia Research Institute, University of Nottingham Malaysia. “There was an attempt to wait for some time after the election for any changes within the leadership structure.”‘Cannot Deliver’In a press briefing Thursday, Heng said relatively poor showing the last election wasn’t the reason he stepped aside.“I do not want to take on any job which I cannot deliver,” Heng said. “As those of you who have worked with me know I am a workaholic and I put my heart and soul into what I do, and therefore I’ve been thinking about it as to whether am I the right person.”Heng was poised to become Singapore’s fourth prime minister since 1965, a period that has seen uninterrupted rule by the People’s Action Party. His ascent would’ve heralded a change in leadership style for the nation, which for all but nearly 14 years has been run by Lee or his late father, Lee Kuan Yew.Lee, who came to power in 2004, has been one of the world’s most vocal leaders calling for the U.S. and China to avoid a destructive clash that could force smaller countries like Singapore to choose sides on everything from trade and technology to Covid-19 vaccines and territorial disputes in the South China Sea. The city-state supports a strong American presence in Asia by allowing the U.S. to use its military facilities while also counting China as its top trading partner.Critical Years AheadSingapore’s economy is now showing signs of getting back on track from the worst slump in its history. Economists see Singapore’s growth recovering to a 5.9% pace this year, helped by about S$100 billion ($74 billion) in fiscal stimulus, following a 5.4% contraction in 2020 -- the country’s worst performance since independence.The shakeup on Thursday is “hugely politically significant” given how carefully Singapore manages the succession process, according to Eugene Tan, an associate professor of law at Singapore Management University.“The next few years are going to be critical,” Tan said. “How each minister deals with the pandemic with regard to how they affect his portfolio his ministry -- all that will come under scrutiny.”(Adds tout)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
A state trooper who was also shot pursuing the suspect was in serious but stable condition.
The Los Angeles Air Force Base's Space and Missile Systems Center in El Segundo will become the headquarters of the Space Force's Space Systems Command.
Challenges facing the TV business include technology and creativity. Sometimes, however, everything comes down to math. The nation’s TV networks claim the primary arbiter of who watches their programs allowed its business to deteriorate during the coronavirus pandemic and has only devised “a four-ounce solution to a ten-pound problem” of trying to count TV viewers […]
Applied Materials (AMAT) closed at $139.35 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.15% move from the prior day.
The simmering conflict in Eastern Ukraine has threatened to boil over the past few days, with Russia massing troops near the border and pro-Kremlin media raising the specter of war.Why it matters: U.S. European Command went into high alert in light of the Russian movements, which some experts speculated could presage an active Russian military intervention in the Donbas region of Eastern Ukraine, where Ukraine has been fighting pro-Russian separatists for seven years. Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.The backstory: Kremlin hopes that Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky would cut a peace deal on Russia's terms have faded, leaving a diplomatic deadlock.Direct intervention in the Donbas could give Putin leverage, bolster his standing ahead of parliamentary elections this year, and potentially help secure a much-needed water source for occupied Crimea. But the costs of such a war likely exceed any benefits for Moscow, removing all plausible deniability from Russia's war in Ukraine and risking a strong Western response.The other side: Zelensky tweeted Thursday that he was heading to the Donbas because a Ukrainian soldier had been killed overnight and he wanted "to be with our soldiers in the tough times."The crisis has sparked a burst of patriot fervor and a strong show of support from Washington, both of which have strengthened the embattled Ukrainian president, notes Dmitri Trenin of Carnegie Moscow.President Biden and virtually his entire top team called their Ukrainian counterparts over the past week, and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called Zelensky on Tuesday.While Kiev was dismayed when the French and German leaders met with Putin (and not Zelensky) during the crisis, German Chancellor Angela Merkel Thursday "demanded" in a call with Putin that "this build-up be unwound in order to de-escalate the situation," her office said.What to watch: Russian officials and pundits have been warning that Russia's hand might be forced if separatists in Donbas are slaughtered by Ukrainian troops. There's no clear factual basis for such fears, but they could provide a pretext for intervention.The bottom line: The flare-up is a reminder that the war in Ukraine is far from over and could deepen dramatically, now or some day down the line.More from Axios: Sign up to get the latest market trends with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free
Tommy Fleetwood was pretty chill about making history with a hole-in-one at the Masters. Maybe because he had just hit another ace two weeks ago.
The man is accused of propping up his dead wife’s body while their kids opened presents.
A woman more than a century old received cheers from hospital staff in Tunja, Colombia this week after she recovered from the coronavirus for the second time. 104-year-old Carmen Hernandez was discharged after 21 days in the hospital fighting the deadly infection – again.Gina Gomez is a nurse at Hernandez’s care facility."She is an elderly patient with an excellent physical capacity because she resisted the virus for the second time. The first time she was isolated in her nursing home. This time we have the support of the Canelones Clinic. Thank God she has done very well, and she has beaten this virus."The centenarian’s first infection was in June last year.She received her first dose of the Sinovac coronavirus vaccine in February, and then tested positive for COVID-19 for a second time in March.Yamit Noe Hurtado is the manager at San Rafael De Tunja University hospital:"Our doctors classified the case as a re-infection. Fortunately, she recovered quite well. It was a solid work of the scientific team and respiratory therapy team. We are claiming victory."Hernandez returned to her nursing home where the COVID-19 hero will soon receive her second dose of the vaccine after it was delayed due to her reinfection.
Reality TV star Khloe Kardashian explains why she tried to get an unfiltered photo taken off the web.
When Ronja Pohl first saw the disabled baby alpaca at a friend's farm, her heart melted and she resolved to give the tiny orphan a home - and a special wheeled harness for walking with. Named Marie, the animal's two back legs were left severely damaged by a traumatic birth that killed her mother and her sister. "She was hopping around as if she wanted to show everyone she has a strong character and wants to live even if two of her legs are injured," 20-year-old Pohl told Reuters.
The man is accused of propping up his dead wife’s body while their kids opened presents.
The case has sparked outrage in Ireland. An Irish businessman was beaten to death in North Carolina by his wife and her father, who claim it was self-defense.
NAIROBI (Reuters) -The African Union's disease control body said on Thursday it had dropped plans to secure AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines for its members from the Serum Institute of India, the world's biggest vaccine supplier, amid global shortfalls of the shot. AstraZeneca's $3 shot is by far the cheapest coronavirus vaccine launched so far, and the easiest to store and transport, making it well suited to developing countries. On Wednesday, European and British medicine regulators said they had found possible links between the vaccine and extremely rare cases of brain blood clots, while emphatically reaffirming its importance in mass vaccination against COVID-19.
Samuel Corum/GettyIt turns out that Mitch McConnell doesn’t actually think corporations are people or that money is speech if the companies in question aren’t speaking his language. Instead, he warned them to “stay out of politics,” since they “invite serious consequences if they become a vehicle for far-left mobs.” Uh huh.Mitch, who then tried to step away from his remarks since "I didn't say that artfully," is mad because large employers in Georgia eventually got around to responding to a voter suppression law there that may as well have been authored by Lester Maddox. The companies came out for the controversial proposition, in GOP circles, that every American should have the right and opportunity to vote.And that isn't what McConnell signed up for as he spent the past three decades waging war on behalf of unregulated corporate cash’s "right" to corrupt our democracy. What he meant, as anyone who's watched his incredibly destructive career knows, is that those corporations were welcome to bestow wheelbarrows of cash upon Republicans, to relieve him of the burden of having to actually develop policy ideas to improve Americans' lives and get around the fact he's a charisma event horizon.The Christian Right Mastermind Behind Citizens United Says It’s Good for DemocracyThat money also helps him buy off Senate Republicans, who just happen to be the electorate for Republican leader. It’s allowed McConnell to have a Senate career one might consider a tribute to Seinfeld, in that it's been about absolutely nothing. Except power. As long as corporations paid up and shared opinions he liked—low taxation, deregulation, free trade—Mitch was more of a "speak up, fair CEO's" kinda guy. The problem is that as our culture began to change, corporations did too.Some companies were suddenly helmed by leaders who believe in such crazy concepts as LGBTQ rights, equal pay and racial equality. Or at least knew to publicly support these precepts to appeal to their customer bases. On those issues, as far as McConnell's concerned, you can spend the night, but just leave your check on the nightstand before heading home. No talking.To be fair, McConnell’s been principled in that position—that corporate donations are good only insofar as they’re good for McConnell—for as long as he’s been in politics, as Alec MacGillis details in The Cynic: The Political Education of Mitch McConnell. In 1973, McConnell published an op-ed favoring partially publicly financing campaigns and setting limits on spending.By 1987, Senator McConnell "sponsored a proposed constitutional amendment giving Congress the power to limit independent expenditures on campaigns and on candidates' use of personal funds for their own races." (McConnell, at that time, was far from wealthy).By 1990, he was pushing to ban political action committees. This just happened to be at a time when Democrats had had ironclad control of the U.S. House of Representatives for nearly four decades, so PACS gave more to Democrats than Republicans. It happened to McConnell in his first Senate race in 1984. The incumbent Democrat he ousted, Walter "Dee" Huddleston, was favored by PACS, to the chagrin of McConnell.But that would change once Mitch mastered the art of the shakedown. He came to oppose all campaign finance reform, challenging FEC rulings and filing amicus briefs challenging any contribution limits that might end up in front of the Supreme Court. In this way, he was a driving force behind Citizens United.Yet, if you think this carried over to his thinking on actual corporate speech, the kind that exits from the mouth and not the wallet, think again. From a piece I wrote back in 2004 on then-Senate Whip McConnell:McConnell also knows how to use threats. When a group of Republican senators signed onto a campaign-finance reform measure in the late ‘90s, McConnell, in his position as NRSC chair, advised them that they could expect no electoral support from the committee unless they switched their position. At least one, Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) did so after receiving McConnell’s warning. Then in 1999, when the Committee for Economic Development (CED)—a trade group representing large corporations—announced its support for a ban on soft money, McConnell wrote a furious letter, on NRSC letterhead, to leaders of companies belonging to CED, denouncing the group’s “all-out campaign to eviscerate private-sector participation in politics,” and urging them to quit the organization. “I hope you will resign from CED,” he scribbled at the bottom of one copy. Many recipients of the letter saw in it an implicit threat that, unless they withdrew from CED and stopped supporting reform efforts, their companies would receive unfavorable treatment from Congress.Which brings us back to McConnell's supposed support for money in politics based on the First Amendment or some other such principle. This isn’t that. McConnell has no issue with the MyPillow guy ranting about a coup or the Goya CEO supporting sedition. But he has a big issue with corporate actors speaking out in favor of voting rights. Because, as 2020 showed, McConnell's party is mostly talking to the Fox News "I've Fallen And I Can't Get Up" demographic, not those who reject an America of transgender bans, stand your ground, and testifying fetuses.Companies that create things need an educated workforce, which increasingly means Democratic and socially tolerant. And they must appeal to consumers with disposable income who actually buy stuff. Needless to say, these folks tend not to reside in what you'd call "the Hannity demographic."So Mitch doesn’t want these companies to talk. But as Georgia has proven, they're going to anyhow, because the alternative is alienating their customers, and no amount of crazy GOP tweets suggesting major league baseball is is an offshoot of the “China Virus” that makes its players do double headers reading Dr. Seuss will change that fact.What this all means is that Mitch is finally reaping the whirlwind of the corporate speech he was so keen to unleash on our politics back when it benefitted him and his party.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
The state has more than enough cash both to protect defendants and make it easier for the poorest to get health care.
Russia called on Slovakia on Thursday to return hundreds of thousands of doses of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, citing contract violations, in an escalating row between the two countries after a Slovak watchdog raised doubts about the shot. Earlier on Thursday, Slovakia's SUKL drug agency said the batches of Sputnik V vaccines it had received differed from those reviewed by international scientists and by the European Union regulator. Slovakia imported 200,000 doses of Sputnik V last month, the second European Union nation to do so after Hungary, despite a lack of EU regulatory approval.
