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Friday, July 8, 2022

Wake-Up Call: Former Japanese PM Dies After Being Shot

Daily Mail 7/8/22

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot and mortally wounded in an assassination Friday in the city of Nara during a campaign speech ahead of parliamentary elections. Abe was airlifted to the hospital, but AP cited officials as saying he wasn't breathing and his heart had stopped. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the 67-year-old Abe has died. Abe, who is very conservative and is a divisive figure in Japan, was the country's longest-serving leader before stepping down in 2020 because of a chronic stomach condition. 

The alleged gunman was immediately tackled and arrested, and has been identified as 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami, with reports saying he served in the Maritime Self-Defense Force for three years in the 2000s. Japan has very strict gun laws, and the suspect appeared to have used a homemade gun that was boxy and double-barreled.


➤BIDEN TO REPORTEDLY TAKE EXECUTIVE ACTION ON ABORTION: President Biden will take executive action today to protect access to abortion in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe v. Wade, according to the Associated Press. The report says the actions are expected to be limited, including formalizing instructions to the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services to push back on efforts to limit the ability of women to get federally-approved abortion medication or to travel across state lines to get an abortion, and direct agencies to work to educate medical providers and insurers about how and when they are required to share privileged patient information with authorities.

➤CHAUVIN SENTENCED TO 21 YEARS IN PRISON ON FEDERAL CHARGES IN FLOYD'S DEATH: Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was sentenced by a federal judge to 21 years in prison for violating George Floyd's civil rights when he kneeled on his neck for more than nine minutes in May 2020, leading to his death. Chauvin’s plea agreement called for a sentence of 20 to 25 years for the federal charges to be served concurrent with his 22 1/2-year sentence for his state conviction in Minnesota of murder and manslaughter. Because of differences in parole eligibility in the state and federal systems, Chauvin will serve a little more time in prison than he would have on the state sentence alone. However, he will be put in the federal prison system, where AP says he may be safer and may be held under fewer restrictions than in the state system.


➤IRS COMMISSIONER ASKS WATCHDOG TO PROBE AUDITS OF COMEY, MCCABE: IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig has asked the Treasury Department's internal watchdog to investigate the intensive tax audits that targeted former FBI Director James Comey and former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, both of whom were targets of Donald Trump’s anger when he was president. Rettig, whose term is set to expire in November, was nominated to the job by Trump. Even though Rettig requested the probe, IRS spokesman Jodie Reynolds said yesterday (July 7th) that it's, quote, "ludicrous and untrue to suggest that senior IRS officials somehow targeted specific individuals" for the audits. The action came after the New York Times reported Wednesday that both Comey and McCabe were targeted for the rare intensive audits of their taxes, Comey in 2019 and McCabe in 2021.

James Caan
JAMES CAAN DEAD AT AGE 82: A statement posted to The Godfather star’s Twitter Thursday read, “It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of Jimmy on the evening of July 6. The family appreciates the outpouring of love and heartfelt condolences and asks that you continue to respect their privacy at this difficult time.”

Friends and costars paid tribute to the star on social media, including his Misery director, Rob Reiner, who wrote, “So sorry to hear the news. I loved working with him. And the only Jew I knew who could calf rope with the best of them. Love to the family.

Al Pacino, who starred alongside Caan in The Godfather told The Associated Press, "Jimmy was my fictional brother and my lifelong friend. It's hard to believe that he won't be in the world anymore because he was so alive and daring. A great actor, a brilliant director and my dear friend. I'm gonna miss him."


He was also well known for his roles in Elf, Brian’s Song, The Gambler and Funny Lady.

👮ARIZONA BANS CLOSE RECORDING OF POLICE: Phone video of police actions taken by bystanders has become increasingly common, and has sometimes been used to show police misconduct. But that will become more difficult to do in Arizona, where Governor Doug Ducey signed legislation Wednesday banning recording police within eight feet of law enforcement activity. Violations are a misdemeanor, however only if someone continues to record after being warned about it. The law, which goes into effect in September, has exceptions for people at the center of an interaction with police, anyone in an enclosed structure on private property where police activity is taking place, and occupants of a vehicle stopped by police as long as recording doesn't interfere with police actions. The bill's sponsor, state Rep. John Kavanagh, said the intent it to protect officers from potential harm or distraction from outside the incident they're dealing with. Opponents, including First Amendment experts and news organizations, charge the new law is unconstitutional, lacks specificity, and gives police too much discretion.


➤STUDY..SOCIAL INTERACTIONS TIED TO SENSE OF PURPOSE IN OLDER ADULTS: A new study shows older adults tie a sense of purpose to the people in their lives. The data was collected in Switzerland from retired adults in good health. The average age of a participant was 71.  Adults with a higher sense of purpose tend to live longer, healthier, and happier lives. This is good news for geriatric care and for caring for older adults.

➤TIKTOK SUED OVER DEATHS OF TWO GIRLS PARTICIPATING IN CHALLENGE: TikTok has been sued over the deaths of an eight-year-old girl and a nine-year-old girl who were doing the "blackout challenge" promoted by the social media platform. The challenge encourages users to hold their breath until they pass out. Nine-year-old Arriani Jaileen Arroyo was found hanging in her Milwaukee home in February 2021, and eight-year-old Lalani Erika Renee Walton of Temple, Texas, was also found hanging at her home that same month. The Social Media Victims Law Center, which is representing the parents, said TikTok's algorithm regularly made blackout challenge videos appear on the girls' "for you" pages.

🏑CANADIENS TAKE SLAFKOVSKY FIRST IN NHL DRAFT: The Montreal Canadiens took Juraj Slafkovsky, a member of the Slovakian national hockey team, with the first pick in the NHL draft yesterday at Bell Centre in Montreal. Slafkovsky, who led Slovakia to its first Olympic gold medal months earlier and was named tournament MVP, was the first player from his country to be taken Number 1. One of his countrymen on the gold medal-winning Slovakian team, Simon Nemec, was taken by the New Jersey Devils with the second pick. Rounding out the top five, the Arizona Coyotes took Logan Cooley third, the Seattle Kraken chose Shane Wright fourth, and the the Philadelphia Flyers took Cutter Gauthier fifth.

🎾INJURED NADAL WITHDRAWS FROM WIMBLEDON BEFORE SEMIFINAL MATCH: Second-seeded Rafael Nadal withdrew from Wimbledon with a torn abdominal muscle yesterday, one day before his scheduled semifinal match against 40th-ranked Nick Kyrgios. Kyrgios now advances to the final, the first time he'll play for the title at a major tournament. He'll play the winner of today's semfinal between top-seeded Novak Djokovic and Number 9 Cam Norrie.

Jabeur, Rybakina to Play for Women's Title: Third-seeded Ons Jabeur will play 17th-seeded Elena Rybakina for the women's title on Saturday after winning their semifinal matches yesterday. Jabeur of Tunisia beat unseeded Tatjana Maria, becoming the first African woman and Arab woman to make it to a Grand Slam singles final. Rybakina defeated 16th-seeded Simona Halep to reach what will also be her first Grand Slam final.

🏀GRINER PLEADS GUILTY AT RUSSIAN TRIAL: WNBA star Brittney Griner pled guilty to drug possession in her trial in Russia yesterday, telling the court she hadn't intended to commit a crime, and had unintentionally had vape canisters with cannabis oil in her luggage because she'd packed in a hurry. Griner was detained at a Moscow airport in February and has been held since. AP cited Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying earlier that no action -- including a potential prisoner swap -- could be taken by Russia on Griner's case until the trial was over, and her guilty plea could be an effort to speed up the court proceedings. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Griner’s guilty plea, quote, "will have no impact on any of the negotiations" involving her case.


⚾PADRES PROFAR COLLAPSES AFTER COLLISION WITH TEAMMATE ABRAMS: San Diego Padres left fielder Jurickson Profar collapsed as he was trying to walk off the field after a collision with his teammate, shortstop C.J. Abrams, last night as they both tried to catch a fly ball hit by the San Francisco Giants' Tommy La Stella in the fifth inning. Profar, who never lost consciousness, was then taken off the field on a stretcher and brought to the hospital for further evaluation. Padres manager Bob Melvin said, "No tingle or anything in the arms, but what we're worried the most is probably a concussion at this point." The Padres won the game 2-1.

🏈RAIDERS HIRE MORGAN AS PRESIDENT, FIRST BLACK WOMAN NFL TEAM PREZ: The Las Vegas Raiders announced yesterday (July 7th) that they'd hired Las Vegas attorney Sandra Douglass Morgan to be their new team president, making her the first Black woman to be the president of an NFL franchise. Morgan previously served as chairwoman and executive director of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, and has also been director of external affairs for AT&T Services Inc. in southern Nevada and a litigation attorney for an international gaming and hospitality company.



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