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Thursday, May 6, 2021

Wake-Up Call: U-S Supports Waiving Intel Property Rules For Vaccines


The U.S. came out in support yesterday of waiving intellectual property rules for Covid-19 vaccines, which would allow more manufacturers around the world to produce them for the global population and held speed up the end of the pandemic. U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai announced the administration's stance during World Trade Organization talks about a possible temporary waiver of the protections. However, she said it would take time to get to the required global agreement to waive the protections, and U.S. officials said it wouldn't have an immediate effect of the global supply of vaccines.

➤CDC: PROJECTIONS SHOW COVID CASES, HOSPITALIZATIONS, DEATHS TO PLUNGE BY END OF JULY: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released projections yesterday from six research groups who predicted the course of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. under different scenarios, and they found that even in scenarios that had vaccination rates that were disappointing, Covid-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths are projected to fall dramatically by the end of July, and then continue to drop after that. However, they also say there could be a substantial increase in hospitalizations and deaths if unvaccinated people don't continue to wear masks and social distance. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said, "We are not out of the woods yet, but we could be very close." The CDC reports that more than 56 percent of U.S. adults have received at least one dose of a vaccine, and almost 41 percent are fully vaccinated.

 
➤TWO AMERICANS CONVICTED IN ROME IN KILLING OF POLICE OFFICER, SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON: Two young American men were convicted in Italy yesterday in the 2019 killing of a police officer in Rome, and were sentenced to the maximum life in prison. The two former school friends from the San Francisco area, 21-year-old Finnegan Lee Elder and 20-year-old Gabriel Natale-Hjorth, were found guilty of murder and four other counts. Prosecutors charged that Elder stabbed Vice Brigadier Mario Cerciello Rega 11 times with a knife and that Natale-Hjorth helped him hide it in their hotel room. As an accomplice, he was also able to be charged with murder under Italian law. Cercielle Rega and his partner were following up on a reported extortion attempt in plainclothes. Prosecutors said the two Americans came up with plot involving a stolen bag and a cellphone after a failed attempt to buy cocaine. The two testified they paid for the cocaine but didn't get it, and said they though Cerciello Rega and his partner were thugs or mobsters, saying they never showed police badges, which the partner said they did. They got into a scuffle and Cercielle Rega was stabbed by Elder. He testified that he was afraid he was going to be strangled, and that's why he stabbed Cercielle Rega.
 

➤HARRIS TO TRAVEL TO MEXICO, GUATEMALA ON FIRST FOREIGN TRIP AS VP: Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Mexico and Guatemala early next month on her first foreign trip since taking office, she said yesterday (May 5th) in Rhode Island. President Biden in March put Harris in charge of leading the administration's efforts to stem the flow of people trying to enter the U.S. at the border with Mexico, as border apprehensions rose after Biden took office.

➤BLUE ORIGIN ANNOUNCES FIRST SPACE TOURISM FLIGHT: Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos' company Blue Origin announced yesterday that it's planning to have its first space tourism flight on July 20th. One seat on that first suborbital flight on Blue Origin's New Shepard spacecraft will be given to the winning bidder of a five-week online auction, with proceeds to go the company's foundation. Blue Orbit's goal is for its space tourism flights to send up six passengers more than 62 miles up into suborbital space, at which height they'll experience a few minutes of weightlessness and be able to see the curvature of the Earth through observation windows before returning. Blue Origin said yesterday that a couple more flights are planned before the end of the year, but didn't give details of what tickets would cost. Reuters reported in 2018 that Blue Origin was planning to charge at least $200,000 per ticket, however, the news agency now notes that may have changed.



➤WOMAN CHARGED AFTER ‘SETTING FIRE TO HER HOME WITH PERSON TRAPPED INSIDE AND THEN SITTING IN A LAWN CHAIR TO WATCH IT BURN’:  Some women just want to watch the world burn. Gail Metwally, age 47, was caught on video on April 28th watching her Maryland home burn. Metwally is seen in the footage dressed in a white tank top and a sun hat while sitting on the lawn in a chair with a book in her lap as she watches the house go up in flames. An unidentified man caught the footage, and narrates the video, saying “She just f***ing lit the trash can on fire!” Oh my f***ing God, this is not happening right now! She lit the f***ing house! Oh my God! I cannot actually believe my eyes. I cannot actually believe it, she’s sitting there just chillin’—watching the house go up in flames!” Witnesses told investigators they saw Metwally setting multiple fires within the home before sitting in the chair. Officials say that in addition to Metwally, three others lived in the home, but two of them were not there. One woman was rescued from the home. Motives for the arson weren’t immediately clear, but the sister of the woman who was rescued said Metwally had recently returned to the home after “being confined elsewhere for mental health issues.” Mentwally has been charged with first- and second-degree attempted murder, first-degree arson, and first-degree assault, among other things.


➤AS MASKS COME OFF, PEOPLE GETTING TEETH FIXED:  As Americans are continuing to get vaccinated and the state of the pandemic is improving in the U.S., more people are taking their masks off, particularly as the CDC has now said it's safe for vaccinated people to do so outside. Anticipating everyone being able to see the bottom half of our faces again, the Wall Street Journal reports that people are getting their teeth straightened. The report cited a New York orthodontist who said inquiries are up 50 percent since the fall, and the owner of Invisalign clear aligners said the number of people starting treatment in the first quarter was up 69 percent from a year ago. Additionally, dentists have been reporting for a year now that they're seeing more teeth grinding, which is often due to stress, because of the pandemic, and that could lead to people having to get their teeth straightened too.

➤PELOTON RECALLS TREADMILLS AND STOPS SALES AFTER CHILD'S DEATH: Peloton said yesterday that it is recalling about 125,000 of its treadmills and stopping sales of them after a child was killed and 29 others injured. Full refunds will be given for the Peloton Tread+ treadmills. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission had issued a warning on April 17th about the treadmills, saying people with children and pets should stop using them after a child was pulled under one and killed. At that time, Peloton denied they were dangerous. CEO John Foley apologized for that yesterday.

➤TRILLIONS OF CICADAS ABOUT TO MERGE ACROSS THE U.S.:  Within days, trillions of cicadas will come out of the ground and descend on 15 states. Scientists say within a couple of weeks at most, cicadas of Brood X will emerge after 17 years underground. This is the largest and most noticeable brood of periodic cicadas, and they’ll be in 15 states from Indiana to Georgia to New York, and they’re coming out in mass numbers now in Tennessee and North Carolina. The experts say the bugs will mostly come out at dusk to try and avoid predators, and as they emerge from the ground they’ll try to climb up trees or anything vertical. Once off the ground, they shed their skins and try to survive at that vulnerable stage (or be eaten by anything from ants to birds, dogs and cats.) Scientists say the arrival of Brood X is a sign that despite pollution and climate change, something is still right with nature. They note if the bugs survive their vulnerable stage they grow wings and then ascend into treetops to mate (the males make the loud calls we hear), before they fall to the ground and die after just a few weeks. Then six weeks later their eggs hatch, and tiny nymphs tumble down to the ground where they burrow and go down into the soil for another 17 years. Experts note that cicadas are not dangerous, but it seems what some people dislike about them is that “they’re an inconvenience. Also, when they die in mass numbers they smell bad. They really disrupt our sense of order.”


🍺MILLER HIGH LIFE WILL PAY YOU $20,000 TO BE ITS ‘CHAMPAGNE OF BEERS REGION’ AMBASSADOR: Miller High Life is hiring an official brand ambassador, a gig that pays $20,000 and comes with a year’s supply of free beer. Miller High Life calls itself the Champagne of Beers and now it’s petitioning the Milwaukee Common Council to make it the actual Champagne of Beers region—so that’s where the ambassador job comes in—they need someone to be in Wisconsin. So if you get the job, in addition to the aforementioned perks, you’ll get a free trip to Milwaukee. Applications will be accepted from today (May 6th) at 12:00 p.m. Central time through May 21st at 11:59 p.m. Central time, and you can apply on the company’s official website.

⚾ORIOLES' MEANS PITCHES NO-HITTER AGAINST MARINERS: The Baltimore Orioles' John Means pitched a no-hitter yesterday in a 6-0 win over the Seattle Mariners. Means struck out 12 batters and didn't give up any walks and was close to throwing a perfect game, kept from it only by Sam Haggerty running to first after swinging at a curveball for strike three that got away from catcher Pedro Severino in the third inning. The no-hitter was MLB's third this season, the first time since 1969 there have been three complete game no-hitters this early in the season.


🏒RANGERS AND CAPITALS HAVE SIX FIGHTS IN FIRST FIVE MINUTES OF GAME: The New York Rangers and Washington Capitals had six fights in the first five minutes of their game last night, their first since Washington's Tom Wilson punched Pavel Buchnevich in the back of the head while he was facedown on the ice and threw Artemi Panarin to the ice, injuring him, on Monday night. They combined for 72 penalty minutes in the first four minutes and 14 seconds last night, and 141 penalty minutes overall for the game, which the Capitals won 4-2. The Rangers had been upset Tuesday after Wilson was fined $5,000, but not suspended, and called for the head of the NHL's Department of Player Safety to be removed.

🏒RANGERS UNEXPECTEDLY FIRE PRESIDENT, GM: The New York Rangers had some drama off the ice as well yesterday, with the surprise firing of president John Davidson and general manager Jeff Gorton with three games left in the season. Chris Drury, who previously served as associate GM under both men, was named president and general manger.

⚾YANKEES, METS TO REMOVE CAPACITY RESTRICTIONS FOR VACCINATED FANS: The New York Yankees and New York Mets will increase fan capacity from their current 20 percent to 100 percent starting May 19th for fans who are vaccinated against the coronavirus, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced yesterday, along with the presidents of the Yankees and Mets. Sections will be set aside for unvaccinated fans, where capacity will be at 33 percent.

🏀IRVING, NETS FINED FOR IRVING REFUSAL TO TALK TO MEDIA: Kyrie Irving and his team, the Brooklyn Nets, were each fined $35,000 by the NBA yesterday for Irving's refusal to talk to the media in violation of the league's media access rules. The NBA said in a statement, "The fines result from Irving's repeated refusal to participate in postgame media availability." This is the second time this season Irving and the Nets have been fined for the same reason, with both fined $25,000 in December. After that fine, Irving said on Instagram, "I do not talk to Pawns. My attention is worth more."
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