National
4 More Aid Workers Flown Back to US for Ebola Monitoring
MIKE STOBBE, AP Medical Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Four more American aid workers arrived back in the United States on Tuesday from West Africa to be monitored for Ebola, health officials said.
The latest arrivals bring to 15 the number of aid workers who have returned from Sierra Leone since Friday. None of them have been diagnosed with Ebola, but they will be isolated and monitored during the next three weeks for signs of the disease.
Officials have released few details, citing patient privacy. But all are connected to — or had direct physical contact with — another American who came down with Ebola last week in Africa. The unidentified man is in critical condition at a National Institutes of Health hospital in Bethesda, Maryland.
The other aid workers are staying near the Maryland hospital or hospitals in Atlanta and Omaha with special isolation units — in case they become sick, according to officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The sick American works with Partners in Health, a Boston-based international aid organization that has been treating patients in Liberia and Sierra Leone since November. Organization officials did not respond to calls and emails from The Associated Press on Monday or Tuesday. In a statement Tuesday, co-founder Dr. Paul Farmer said the group is working with the CDC and others to investigate how the man was infected. The Ebola virus is spread through contact with a sick patient’s blood or bodily fluids.
The World Health Organization estimates the virus has killed more than 10,000 people, mostly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. While deaths have slowed dramatically in recent months, the virus appears stubbornly entrenched in parts of Guinea and Sierra Leone.
Since last summer, several U.S. aid workers have gotten Ebola and have been flown back to the U.S. for care. A few other individuals have returned for monitoring; none got sick.
The aid workers who have returned since Friday are by far the largest group. And more may be on their way later this week, CDC spokeswoman Kathy Harben said Tuesday.
The sick American worker was working at a government hospital in Port Loko in western Sierra Leone. But medical superintendent Dr. Peter George said the hospital hasn’t had any Ebola cases for quite some time. He said it’s likely the man also worked at a nearby Ebola treatment center, which George also manages. George said a Partners in Health colleague told him the American passed out while at the hospital.
“At that time, nobody knew it was Ebola, so they assisted him,” he said.
Everyone who was working on the ward with the man is now being monitored, George said. He said that many of the foreigners working in Port Loko, including some of the Americans, live at the same tent camp. He did not know if the sick health worker was living there.
___
Associated Press writer Sarah DiLorenzo in Dakar, Senegal, contributed to this report.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of October 30 – November 5, 2024
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of October 30 – November 5, 2024
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Community
New Filing: Trump’s Attempts to Overturn 2020 Election Were Part of Private Scheme, Not Official Acts
NNPA NEWSWIRE — The filing reveals the extent of Trump’s interactions with figures such as attorney Rudy Giuliani and other senior officials, some of whose names were withheld. Trump persisted with a plan to undercut Joe Biden’s victory despite numerous warnings from people in his circle that his claims of a stolen election were untrue.
By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia
Special Counsel Jack Smith has delivered a powerful legal blow to former President Donald Trump, unveiling new evidence that the twice-impeached Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results were part of a private scheme rather than actions taken in his official capacity as president.
In a 165-page legal brief unsealed Wednesday, Smith provided new details about Trump’s behind-the-scenes maneuvers to subvert the election, including pressure campaigns targeting key officials, attempts to create false electors, and private discussions with his vice president, Mike Pence.
The filing reveals the extent of Trump’s interactions with figures such as attorney Rudy Giuliani and other senior officials, some of whose names were withheld. Trump persisted with a plan to undercut Joe Biden’s victory despite numerous warnings from people in his circle that his claims of a stolen election were untrue.
Smith’s brief is part of a broader strategy to prove that Trump can face trial for his actions, even after a Supreme Court ruling granted him immunity for official acts as president. The special counsel argues that Trump’s efforts to enlist Pence in blocking Congress’s certification of the election results were part of a private, illegal campaign to retain power, not part of his official duties.
“At its core, the defendant’s scheme was a private criminal effort,” Smith wrote in the filing. “In his capacity as a candidate, he used deceit to target every stage of the electoral process.”
The document provides new evidence of Trump’s attempts to sway election officials in critical swing states to alter the results in his favor. The brief quotes a lawyer advising Trump, who gave an “honest assessment” that his claims of widespread fraud would not withstand scrutiny in court. Yet, Trump dismissed the warning. “The details don’t matter,” Trump said, according to the filing.
Further, the brief recounts private conversations between Trump and Pence, in which Pence urged Trump to accept defeat and consider another run in 2024. Trump, however, expressed reluctance, saying, “2024 is so far off.”
Smith’s filing depicts Trump’s actions as part of a desperate and illegal campaign to remain in power after losing the 2020 election. The brief also points to Trump’s reliance on Giuliani and other private allies in his election subversion attempts, asserting that none of these efforts fell under the scope of presidential duties.
“The defendant asserts that he is immune from prosecution for his criminal scheme to overturn the 2020 presidential election because, he claims, it entailed official conduct,” the filing reads. “Not so. Although the defendant was the incumbent president during the charged conspiracies, his scheme was fundamentally a private one.”
A sealed appendix to the legal brief contains FBI interviews, search warrant affidavits, and grand jury testimony that might soon become public. Smith’s filing builds on the indictment released last year, expanding the evidence and reinforcing the argument that Trump’s conduct was criminal and not shielded by presidential immunity.
Smith concluded the brief with an explicit request to the court: “The government respectfully submits that the defendant’s conduct described in this motion is not subject to presidential immunity and that he should face trial for his private acts of subversion.”
Business
Special Interview: Rep. Barbara Lee Discusses Kamala Harris’ Plan for Black Men
On Oct. 16, California Black Media (CBM) spoke with Harris-Walz campaign surrogate, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA-12), who shared more insights on Harris’ agenda and the importance of securing the Black Male vote. “She has said very clearly that she wants to earn the vote of everyone. And that means earning the vote of Black men,” said Lee of Harris. “She understands the systemic and historic challenges that Black men have. You haven’ t heard of a presidential candidate coming up with a concrete actual plan and policy agenda.” The agenda includes five focus areas based on insights she gleaned from hosting discussions with Black men during her Economic Opportunity Tour.
By Edward Henderson, California Black Media
Last week, the Kamala Harris campaign released its Opportunity Agenda for Black Men.
On Oct. 16, California Black Media (CBM) spoke with Harris-Walz campaign surrogate, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA-12), who shared more insights on Harris’ agenda and the importance of securing the Black Male vote.
“She has said very clearly that she wants to earn the vote of everyone. And that means earning the vote of Black men,” said Lee of Harris. “She understands the systemic and historic challenges that Black men have. You haven’ t heard of a presidential candidate coming up with a concrete actual plan and policy agenda.”
The agenda includes five focus areas based on insights she gleaned from hosting discussions with Black men during her Economic Opportunity Tour:
- Provide 1 million loans that are fully forgivable to Black entrepreneurs and others disadvantaged groups to start businesses.
- Champion education, training, and mentorship programs that help Black men get good-paying jobs in high-demand industries It will also develop more accessible pathways for Black men to become teachers.
- Support a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency and other digital assets so Black men who invest in and own these assets are protected.
- Launch a National Health Equity Initiative focused on Black men that addresses sickle cell disease, diabetes, mental health, prostate cancer, and other health challenges that disproportionately impact them.
- Legalize recreational marijuana and creating opportunities for Black Americans to succeed in this new industry.
“[Vice President Harris] knows that Black men have long felt that too often their voice in our political process has gone unheard and that there is so much untapped ambition and leadership within the Black male community,” the language in the agenda states. “Black men and boys deserve a president who will provide the opportunity to unleash this talent and potential by removing historic barriers to wealth creation, education, employment, earnings, health, and improving the criminal justice system.”
Diving into Harris’ agenda, Lee says, reminded her of her own record of supporting Black men over the years as an elected official. In the 90’s, she established the first California Commission on African American Males through which she pressured the state to address urgent economic, health and social challenges specific to Black men.
“No group of people are a monolithic group of people,” said Lee She’ s not taking any vote for granted. I’ve known her over three decades and I believe she is being herself. She’ s authentic,” Lee added.
Each of the 5 key points addressed in the Harris Campaign’s agenda, Lee says, has additional clauses that can potentially help Black men and their families thrive. This includes lowering rent; up to $25,000 in downpayment help for first time homebuyers; and cutting taxes for Black men in lower-wage jobs by increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit maximum to $1,500.
“I think the messages is one of empowerment for Black men — regardless of whether they’ re a blue-collar worker, if they’ re not working, if they’ re in business, if they’ re an entrepreneur, whatever background or whatever they’re doing or experiencing life. I think the authenticity of their experience can only be articulated through them,” said Lee.
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