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Monday, April 12, 2021

Wake-Up Call: Israel Suspected In Iran Nuke Blackout

Iranian officials said Sunday that there had been a blackout at its underground Natanz nuclear site, where uranium enrichment takes place, calling it an act of "nuclear terrorism." Details were unclear about exactly what happened, with AP saying it was initially described as a blackout caused by the electrical grid feeding the facility. Israel quickly came under suspicion of being responsible, and Israeli media was reporting that there had been a damaging cyberattack on the facility orchestrated by Mossad, Israel's national intelligence agency. 

Iran has stopped abiding by any limits on its uranium stockpile since former President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Iranian nuclear deal in 2018.

➤TOP CHINESE HEALTH OFFICIAL WALKS BACK SAYING CHINA'S COVID VACCINES NOT VERY EFFECTIVE: The head of China's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is walking back comments he made at a conference Saturday saying that China's coronavirus vaccines aren't very effective. Director Gao Fu said at the conference that China was considering options to increase effectiveness, such as boosting the dose, mixing vaccines, or using mRNA technology instead, the kind used in the highly-effective Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. Not only was the admission rare from China, it also came after Beijing has sent hundreds of millions of doses of its two vaccines to dozens of countries. But Gao is now backing away from what he said, telling Chinese state media Sunday (April 11th) that the reaction to his comments, quote, "was a complete misunderstanding," and that he was just suggesting that how to improve Covid-19 vaccines' effectiveness is something that, quote, "needs to be considered by scientists around the world" because it's a new virus.

The Daily Mail 04/12/21
➤MINNESOTA MAYOR ORDERS CURFEW AFTER DEATH OF MAN IN OFFICER-INVOLVED SHOOTING: The mayor of the town of Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, ordered a curfew from early this morning through 6 a.m. after dozens of people gathered outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department following the death of Black man, identified as Daunte Wright, in an officer-involved shooting and car crash yesterday afternoon. An emergency proclamation said the curfew was ordered due to "growing civil unrest." Minnesota Governor Tim Walz responded to the incident, which took place just 10 miles away from where former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is on trial in the death of George Floyd. Walz tweeted, "I am closely monitoring the situation in Brooklyn Center. Gwen and I are praying for Daunte Wright's family as our state mourns another life of a Black man taken by law enforcement." Police say they were trying to take Wright into custody after determining during a traffic stop that he had outstanding warrants. But they say he got back into his car and an officer opened fire. Wright then drove several blocks before hitting another vehicle. He died at the scene.

➤VIRGINIA OFFICER ACCUSED OF PEPPER-SPRAYING, THREATENING BLACK ARMY OFFICER FIRED: A Windsor, Virginia, police officer who was one of two officers accused of pepper-spraying, drawing their guns on, and threatening a Black U.S. Army officer during a traffic stop last December has been fired, the town of Windsor announced late Sunday, after Governor Ralph Northam had called for an independent investigation earlier in the day. The town also said it joined with Northam and other officials in requesting an investigation by Virginia State Police. 


Army Second Lieutenant Caron Nazario, who is Black and Latino, filed a lawsuit earlier this month against Officers Joe Gutierrez and Daniel Crocker, also charging in it that the officers used a slang term to suggest he was facing execution. Gutierrez is the officer who was fired, with Windsor officials saying an internal investigation determined department policy wasn't followed. Crocker wrote in a report that he believed Nazario, who was wearing his Army fatigues, was, quote, "eluding police" and that he considered it a "high-risk traffic stop." Nazario has said he was trying to find a well-lit area to pull over.

➤REPORT: CALIFORNIA WOMAN ACCUSED OF KILLING HER THREE CHILDREN WAS IN CUSTODY DISPUTE: A 30-year-old California woman who was arrested Saturday on suspicion of killing her three young children was involved in a custody dispute with their father, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday, citing family court documents. Liliana Carrillo was arrested in Tulare County after she fled her Los Angeles apartment, where the bodies of the children, ages 3, 2 and six months, were found by their grandmother, and led officers on a chase. Police said initial reports suggested the children had been stabbed to death. 

The children's father, Eric Denton, sought custody of them on March 1st, according to the Times, and had petitioned for a mental health evaluation for Carrillo. Denton told the newspaper he'd begun trying to get custody after Carrillo began acting mentally unstable.

➤'THE ROCK' RESPONDS TO PRESIDENCY SUPPORT:  Actor and former pro wrestler Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has been teasing for some time that he might want to run for president one day, and now he's reacting after a Piplsay poll of more than 30,000 Americans out last week found that 46 percent said they'd support the idea of him making a White House run. Johnson tweeted on Friday (April 9th), "Not sure our Founding Fathers ever envisioned a six-four, bald, tattooed, half-Black, half-Samoan, tequila drinking, pick up truck driving, fanny pack wearing guy joining their club. But if it ever happens it’d be my honor to serve the people."


➤STUDY..CHILDHOOD DIET AND EXERCISE CREATES HEALTHIER, LESS ANXIOUS ADULTS: How you eat and move as a child impacts you as an adult. A new study from University of California researchers looked at mice, and found that early-life exercise generally reduced anxious behaviors in adults, and also led to an increase in adult muscle and brain mass. When the mice were fed “Western” style diets high in fat and sugar, they were not only fatter, but also grew into adults that preferred unhealthy foods. The researchers say that this all suggests getting a jump start on healthy behaviors in the early years of life is extremely important, and interventions may be even more critical in the wake of the pandemic, as many kids got very little exercise during COVID-19 lockdowns.


➤TRUMP REPEATS ELECTION FALSEHOODS, TRASHES MCCONNELL IN SPEECH TO REPUBLICAN PARTY DONORS: Former President Donald Trump repeated the falsehoods that the November election was rigged and stolen from him and trashed Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell in closing remarks Saturday (April 10th) to a gathering of top Republican donors. In addition to extensively going through the false election claims during the speech at his Mar-a-Lago resort, Trump called McConnell a "dumb son of a b**ch" and "stone cold loser" for not agreeing with his election-rigging accusations. He also mocked McConnell's wife, his former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, who resigned after the January 6th U.S. Capitol attack, sarcastically saying, "She suffered so greatly," and saying of McConnell, "I hired his wife. Did he ever say thank you?" The former president said he was "disappointed" in former Vice President Mike Pence for not trying to block the certification of Joe Biden's election win on January 6th, something Pence did not have the power to do, said of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease specialist, "Have you ever seen anybody that is so full of cr*p?," and mockingly referred to President Biden as "Saintly Joe Biden."

➤SURVEY...AMERICANS TRYING TO IMPROVE AFTER LETTING THEMSELVES GO:  With the end of the pandemic starting to come into sight due to the ongoing vaccine effort, a new survey finds that two-thirds of Americans are trying improve themselves for the post-pandemic world. The OnePoll survey for Vagaro found that 64 percent want to look their best, and 68 percent want to be the best version of themselves, both mentally and physically, when the pandemic finally ends. A big reason for wanting to improve themselves is that 46 percent said in the same poll that they've let themselves go during the pandemic. The top way that's happened is going weight, with 60 percent saying they've put on some pounds during lockdown, with an average gain of 17 pounds. Other ways people said they've let themselves go included losing touch with family and friends, named by 49 percent, and avoiding makeup and facial grooming while at home, cited by 46 percent. Just over half, 51 percent, said they fell back into bad habits, like eating unhealthy foods, named by 53 percent, drinking too much, at 49 percent, not grooming themselves daily at 43 percent, and starting to smoke again after having quit, cited by 38 percent.

➤FED CHAIR POWELL OPTIMISTIC ABOUT ECONOMY IN '60 MINUTES' INTERVIEW: Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell was optimistic about the U.S. economy in a 60 Minutes interview last night, saying that it's at a, quote, "inflection point" with growth and job creation set to speed up. He said, "What we're seeing now is really an economy that seems to be much at an inflection point, and that's because of widespread vaccination and strong fiscal support, strong monetary policy support. We feel like we're at a place where the economy's about to start growing much more quickly and job creation coming in much more quickly. The outlook has brightened substantially." But he warned that could all be derailed if we have another Covid wave.

➤SCHOOL OFFICER SAVES STUDENTS FROM TORNADO: A Tennessee school resource officer is being hailed as a hero after he saw a tornado forming in the distance and alerted students and teachers to take cover before it ripped through the grounds. Anthony Justice was in the parking lot of Pleasant Hill Elementary School in Cumberland County when he saw the storm heading in their direction. Some 40 cross-country runners were in the parking lot at the time as the wind and rain came in, according to Justice, but they all made it into the school building thanks to his warning. The tornado, which had winds of over 80 miles-per-hour, passed over the school, but damaged the Pleasant Hill Community Church events building across the street.

🏌MATSUYAMA WINS MASTERS, FIRST JAPANESE MAN TO WIN A GOLF MAJOR: Hideki Matsuyama won the Masters at Augusta National on Sunday, making history as the first Japanese man to win a golf major. The 29-year-old won the green jacket with a one-shot victory over American Will Zalatoris, finishing at 10-under 278. It was the sixth PGA Tour title for Matsuyama, who'd gone 93 tournaments without a win, the longest for a Masters champion since 1987. He is the second man from an Asian country to win a major, after Y.E. Yang of South Korea won the 2009 PGA Championship.
 
⚾BOSTON'S MARTINEZ HITS THREE HOMERS IN RETURN FROM COVID LIST: The Boston Red Sox's J.D. Martinez celebrated his return from the Covid-19 list yesterday with three home runs in Boston's 14-9 win over the Baltimore Orioles. They were all solo home runs, in the third, sixth and eighth innings, and he also had an RBI single. Martinez only had a short stay on the Covid list, put on it one day earlier with cold symptoms. He was cleared after passing Covid tests.
 

🏀REPORTS...WARRIORS' WISEMAN MAY MISS REST OF SEASON WITH KNEE INJURY: Golden State Warriors rookie center James Wiseman tore the meniscus in his right knee during Saturday night's win over the Houston Rockets and may miss the rest of the season, according to media reports Sunday. The 20-year-old Wiseman, who was the Number 2 overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, went up for a dunk in the second quarter and landed awkwardly after being blocked by Houston's Kenyon Martin Jr.

🏒CAPITALS' LUNDQVIST WON'T PLAY THIS SEASON, STILL RECOVERING FROM HEART SURGERY: Washington Capitals veteran Henrik Lundqvist tweeted Sunday that he won't be able to play this season, something he'd hoped to be able to recover enough to do after undergoing open-heart surgery in early January. The 39-year-old said that inflammation around his heart that was seen in a checkup last week needs a few months of rest of recovery, tweeting, "my heart isn’t quite ready." Lundqvist signed with Washington in October after 15 seasons with the New York Rangers, but he announced in December that a heart condition would prevent him from playing.

🥊BOXING GREAT HOLYFIELD TO FIGHT MCBRIDE IN JUNE EXHIBITION: Boxing great Evander Holyfield will fight Kevin McBride in an exhibition bout on June 15th, according to media reports yesterday. The 58-year-old's return will be the undercard of Teofimo Lopez's unified lightweight title defense against George Kambosos in Miami that will be streamed on Triller Fight Club. Holyfield's bout is the latest of a trend of retired boxers making money on exhibition fights, with the highest-profile one being a match between Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. last November.
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