Japan won’t require Olympic vaccinations despite appeal

Seems dumb not to require vaccinations… of competitors, staff and coaches.

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Japan’s Olympics minister said Wednesday that coronavirus vaccinations would not be a prerequisite for participation at this summer’s Olympics and Paralympics, despite a World Anti-Doping Agency appeal that athletes be inoculated.

“We are putting together a number of comprehensive measures to realize a safe and secure event without needing vaccinations to be a prerequisite,” Tamayo Marukawa, who last week took over as Olympics minister, told a press conference.

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I have had the privilege of observing / watching / somehow involved in Emek Shaveh’s work for many years… I know the war for justice is encountered with many many battles that most of the times are unsettled and lost when you are facing a system that is wholly organized and against you… winning sometimes only says that the true success is coming as long as there are people who fight sincerely for justice . Congratulations Emek SHAVEH בג”ץ: צו על תנאי נגד הרכבל בעיר העתיקהwww.inn.co.ilבעקבות עתירת ארגוני השמאל הקיצוני דורשים השופטים מהמדינה להסביר מדוע אושר פרויקט התחבורה במסלול אישור שנועד לפרויקטים תיירותיים

نادية عصام حرحش Nadia’s Jerusalem
@NadiasJerusalem

I have had the privilege of observing / watching / somehow involved in Emek Shaveh’s work for many years… I know the war for justice is encountered with many many battles that most of the times are unsettled and lost when you are facing a system that is wholly organized and against you… winning sometimes only says that the true success is coming as long as there are people who fight sincerely for justice .

Congratulations Emek SHAVEH

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www.inn.co.il

בעקבות עתירת ארגוני השמאל הקיצוני דורשים השופטים מהמדינה להסביר מדוע אושר פרויקט התחבורה במסלול אישור שנועד לפרויקטים תיירותיים

Boris Johnson ‘a liar’ who will blame Brexit costs on Covid, says diplomat

Sylvie Bermann, former French ambassador, puts PM’s handling of pandemic alongside Donald Trump’s

Boris Johnson is “an unrepentant and inveterate liar” who feels he is not subject to the same rules as others, Sylvie Bermann, the former French ambassador to the UK during the Brexit vote, says in a new book.

She also claims some Brexiters are consumed with hatred for Germany and gripped by a myth that they liberated Europe on their own, describing Brexit as a triumph of emotion over reason, won by a campaign full of lies in which negative attitudes to migration were exploited by figures such as Johnson and Michael Gove.

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Sylvie Bermann, former French ambassador, puts PM’s handling of pandemic alongside Donald Trump’s

Boris Johnson is “an unrepentant and inveterate liar” who feels he is not subject to the same rules as others, Sylvie Bermann, the former French ambassador to the UK during the Brexit vote, says in a new book.

She also claims some Brexiters are consumed with hatred for Germany and gripped by a myth that they liberated Europe on their own, describing Brexit as a triumph of emotion over reason, won by a campaign full of lies in which negative attitudes to migration were exploited by figures such as Johnson and Michael Gove.

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‘Like a bad joke’: Al Jazeera staff bemused at rightwing US venture

Subsidize news for right-wing terrorists – no thanks…

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Rightly, a digital platform for conservatives, goes down awkwardly in Qatari-funded news organisation

Al Jazeera’s surprise decision to launch a digital platform for conservatives in the US has left many within the Qatar-based news organisation dumbfounded and confused, staff have told the Guardian.

The network has announced the launch of Rightly, a platform that will host programmes and produce online content aimed at “audiences currently underrepresented in today’s media environment”, in this case right-of-centre Americans.

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US navy veteran having mental health crisis died after officer knelt on his neck

Family of Angelo Quinto said police officer knelt on his neck for almost five minutes after they called for help

A US navy veteran who was experiencing a mental health crisis died after a police officer called out to help him knelt on his neck for several minutes, asphyxiating him, lawyers for his family have said.

Angelo Quinto, 30, was suffering a bout of paranoia, anxiety and depression in his family home in Antioch, northern California, when his sister Isabella Collins called police on 23 December.

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Family of Angelo Quinto said police officer knelt on his neck for almost five minutes after they called for help

A US navy veteran who was experiencing a mental health crisis died after a police officer called out to help him knelt on his neck for several minutes, asphyxiating him, lawyers for his family have said.

Angelo Quinto, 30, was suffering a bout of paranoia, anxiety and depression in his family home in Antioch, northern California, when his sister Isabella Collins called police on 23 December.

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Alexei Navalny loses Amnesty ‘prisoner of conscience’ label

Someone has their head in sand. Putin tries to kill him, he’s jailed for opposing Putin – and not prisoner of conscience because he is not pure on all issues – just gave Putin a ready excuse to go on oppressing whomever he wants…

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Rights group has been under pressure to condemn past statements by Navalny as hate speech

Amnesty International has said it will cease calling Alexei Navalny a “prisoner of conscience”, following pressure to condemn anti-migrant statements he made in the 2000s as hate speech.

Employees of Amnesty International said the organisation had received messages about Navalny’s past remarks that they felt “were part of a coordinated campaign to discredit him abroad”, but nonetheless felt compelled to change his designation.

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Asylum seekers rush to register for US border processing

In the first five days since the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden began to process the thousands of asylum seekers waiting in Mexico, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees registered 12,000 people

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In the first five days since the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden began to process the thousands of asylum seekers waiting in Mexico, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees registered 12,000 people

Federal judge says California can enforce net neutrality law

A federal judge on Tuesday ruled that California can for the first time enforce its tough net neutrality law, clearing the way for the state to ban internet providers from slowing down or blocking access to websites and applications that don’t pay for premium service.

Former Gov. Jerry Brown signed the bill in 2018, making California the first state to pass a net neutrality law. Open internet advocates hoped the law would spur Congress and other states to follow suit. The Trump administration quickly sued to block the law, which prevented it from taking effect for years while the case was tied up in court.

The Biden administration dropped that lawsuit earlier this month. But in a separate lawsuit, the telecom industry asked a federal judge to keep blocking the law. On Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge John A. Mendez denied their request, allowing California to begin enforcing the law.

By ADAM BEAM | The Associated Press

SACRAMENTO  — A federal judge on Tuesday ruled that California can for the first time enforce its tough net neutrality law, clearing the way for the state to ban internet providers from slowing down or blocking access to websites and applications that don’t pay for premium service.

Former Gov. Jerry Brown signed the bill in 2018, making California the first state to pass a net neutrality law. Open internet advocates hoped the law would spur Congress and other states to follow suit. The Trump administration quickly sued to block the law, which prevented it from taking effect for years while the case was tied up in court.

The Biden administration dropped that lawsuit earlier this month. But in a separate lawsuit, the telecom industry asked a federal judge to keep blocking the law. On Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge John A. Mendez denied their request, allowing California to begin enforcing the law.

California state Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat from San Francisco and the author of the law, called the ruling “a huge victory for open access to the internet, our democracy and our economy.”

“The internet is at the heart of modern life. We all should be able to decide for ourselves where we go on the internet and how we access information,” Wiener said. “We cannot allow big corporations to make those decisions for us.”

In a joint statement, multiple telecom industry associations said they will review the judge’s decision “before deciding on next steps.” They urged Congress to set net-neutrality rules for the country rather than relying on states to come up with regulations on their own.

“A state-by-state approach to Internet regulation will confuse consumers and deter innovation, just as the importance of broadband for all has never been more apparent,” read the statement from the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association, ACA Connects, the National Cable and Telecommunications Association and USTelecom.

California’s law was spurred by the Federal Communications Commission’s 2017 decision to repeal net-neutrality rules that applied nationwide. The telecom industry fought hard against the bill, arguing it would discourage companies from investing in faster internet speeds.

But advocates say without the rules, it would make it easy for internet providers to favor their own services by making it harder for customers to access their competitors’ websites and apps.

The law seeks to ban internet providers from slowing down customers’ data streams based on the content they are viewing. It also bars providers from speeding up access to websites willing to pay extra for special treatment.

“The ability of an internet service provider to block, slow down or speed up content based on a user’s ability to pay for service degrades the very idea of a competitive marketplace and the open transfer of information at the core of our increasingly digital and connected world,” California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said.

COVID-19 Cases and Deaths Among Nursing Home Residents Have Declined Markedly Following the Introduction of Vaccines

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The number of residents contracting and dying of COVID-19 in nursing homes has declined markedly following the introduction of vaccination efforts in long-term care facilities, a KFF analysis finds. Resident deaths from COVID-19 in nursing homes have decreased by two-thirds (66%) since vaccination efforts began in late December. New cases of the novel coronavirus amongMore