Category: General

Jurors at a civil trial found Tuesday that Bill Cosby sexually abused a 16-year-old girl at the Playboy Mansion in 1975.

The Los Angeles County jury delivered the verdict in favor of Judy Huth, who is now 64, and awarded her $500,000.

Jurors found that Cosby intentionally caused harmful sexual contact with Huth, that he reasonably believed she was under 18, and that his conduct was driven by unnatural or abnormal sexual interest in a minor.

The jurors’ decision is a major legal defeat for the 84-year-old entertainer once hailed as “America’s Dad.” It comes nearly a year after his Pennsylvania criminal conviction for sexual assault was thrown out, and he was freed from prison. Huth’s lawsuit was one of the last remaining legal claims against him after his insurer settled many others against his will.

Cosby did not attend the trial or testify in person, but short clips from a 2015 video deposition were played for jurors in which he denied any sexual contact with Huth. He continues to deny the allegation through his attorney and publicist.

Jurors had already reached conclusions on nearly every question on their verdict form, including whether Cosby abused Huth and whether she deserved damages, after two days of deliberations on Friday. But the jury foreperson could not serve further because of a personal commitment, and the panel had to start deliberating from scratch with an alternate juror on Monday.

Cosby’s attorneys agreed that Cosby met Huth and her high school friend on a Southern California film set in April of 1975, then took them to the Playboy Mansion a few days later.

Huth’s friend Donna Samuelson, a key witness, took photos at the mansion of Huth and Cosby, which loomed large at the trial.

Huth testified that in a bedroom adjacent to a game room where the three had been hanging out, Cosby attempted to put his hand down her pants, then exposed himself and forced her to perform a sex act.

Huth filed her lawsuit in 2014, saying that her son turning 15 — the age she initially remembered being when she went to the mansion — and a wave of other women accusing Cosby of similar acts brought fresh trauma over what she had been through as a teenager.

Huth’s attorney, Nathan Goldberg, told the jury of nine women and three men during closing arguments Wednesday that “my client deserves to have Mr. Cosby held accountable for what he did.”

“Each of you knows in your heart that Mr. Cosby sexually assaulted Miss Huth,” Goldberg said.

A majority of jurors apparently agreed, giving Huth a victory in a suit that took eight years and overcame many hurdles just to get to trial.

During their testimony, Cosby attorney Jennifer Bonjean consistently challenged Huth and Samuelson over errors in detail in their stories, and a similarity in the accounts that the lawyer said represented coordination between the two women.

This included the women saying in pre-trial depositions and police interviews that Samuelson had played Donkey Kong that day, a game not released until six years later.

Bonjean made much of this, in what both sides came to call the “Donkey Kong defense.”

Goldberg asked jurors to look past the small errors in detail that he said were inevitable in stories that were 45 years old and focus on the major issues behind the allegations. He pointed out to jurors that Samuelson said “games like Donkey Kong” when she first mentioned it in her deposition.

The Cosby lawyer began her closing arguments by saying, “It’s on like Donkey Kong,” and finished by declaring, “Game over.”

Huth’s attorney reacted with outrage during his rebuttal.

Source: Voice of America

Luanda – The team from the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG) is due to arrive in the country Thursday, 23 April, as part of the mutual assessment that Angola has been undergoing since October 2021.

The group of experts, expected in the country’s capital, Luanda, is made up of 15 specialists from the USA, Portugal, Botswana, Mozambique, Malawi, Lesotho, Namibia and Ethiopia.

The delegation also includes experts from Zimbabwe, South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya, according to the document made available to ANGOP.

The mutual assessment “in loco” of the Angolan financial system will take place from 27 June to 15 July, after the “draft” with 500 pages of responses about the country’s financial system was sent to ESSAMLG.

The assessment, for the next few days, will be based on meetings with representatives of the sectors and various institutions, including the financial system’s supervisory and regulatory bodies, as well as the Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF).

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Hazmat-suited workers poke plastic swabs down millions of throats in China each day, leaving bins bursting with medical waste that has become the environmental and economic levy of a zero-COVID strategy.

China is the last major economy wedded to stamping out infections no matter the cost.

Near-daily testing is the most commonly used weapon in an anti-virus arsenal that includes snap lockdowns and forced quarantines when just a few cases are detected.

From Beijing to Shanghai, Shenzhen to Tianjin, cities are now home to an archipelago of temporary testing kiosks, while authorities order hundreds of millions of people to get swabbed every two or three days.

Mass testing appears set to stay as Chinese authorities insist zero-COVID has allowed the world’s most populous nation to avoid a public health catastrophe.

But experts say the approach — a source of political legitimacy for the ruling Communist Party — creates a sea of hazardous waste and a mounting economic burden for local governments who must plough tens of billions of dollars into funding the system.

“The sheer amount of medical waste that is being generated on a routine basis (is) at a scale that is practically unseen in human history,” said Yifei Li, an environmental studies expert at New York University Shanghai.

“The problems are already becoming astronomical, and they will continue to grow even bigger,” he told AFP.

Beijing has positioned itself as an environmental leader, cracking down on air and water pollution while setting the goal of making its economy carbon-neutral by 2060, a target experts say is untenable given the current trajectory of investments in coal.

Blanket-testing is now posing a new trash challenge.

Each positive case — typically a few dozen a day nationwide — unspools a trail of used test kits, face masks and personal protective gear.

If not disposed of properly, biomedical waste can contaminate soil and waterways, posing threats to the environment and human health.

Cities and provinces, home to a total of around 600 million people, have announced some form of routine testing in recent weeks, according to an Agence France-Presse analysis of government notices and Chinese media reports.

Different regions have imposed different restrictions, and some areas have suspended the policy in step with falling cases.

Nationwide data on the waste footprint has not been disclosed. But Shanghai officials said last month the city produced 68,500 tons of medical waste during its recent COVID lockdown, with daily output up to six times higher than normal.

Under Chinese regulations, local authorities are tasked with separating, disinfecting, transporting and storing COVID waste before finally disposing of it — usually by incineration.

But disposal systems in the poorer rural parts of the country have long been overburdened.

“I’m not sure that … the countryside really has the capacity to deal with a significant increase in the amount of medical waste,” said Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations.

The spike in waste may prompt some local governments to process it improperly or simply “dump it on the ground” in temporary landfills, said Benjamin Steuer of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

In a statement to AFP, China’s Health Ministry said it had made “specific demands for medical waste management” as part of national COVID protocols.

Waste of money?

Beijing has urged provincial capitals and cities with at least 10 million people to set up a test site within a 15-minute walk of every resident.

Top leaders also expect local governments to foot the bill for testing at a time when many are struggling to balance the books.

Expanding the model to the whole of the country could cost between 0.9% and 2.3% of China’s gross domestic product, Nomura financial analysts said last month.

“The economics of that is tricky,” said Li of NYU Shanghai. “You don’t want to invest in permanent infrastructure to process what is perceived as a short-term surge of medical waste.”

Jin Dong-Yan, a professor at Hong Kong University’s School of Biomedical Sciences, said “very ineffective and costly” routine testing would force governments to back away from other much-needed health care investments.

Authorities are also likely to miss positive cases as the omicron variant spreads rapidly and is harder to detect than other strains, he told AFP.

“This will not work,” he said. “It will just wash down millions of dollars into the sea.”

Source: Voice of America

In honor of World Refugee Day, we are publishing this story from the Water Mission 2022 Summer Newsletter on June 20. This year, World Refugee Day focuses on every person’s right to seek safety. We are honored to provide those seeking safety with one of life’s most important resources, safe water.

“World Refugee Day is an international day designated by the United Nations to honour refugees around the globe. It falls each year on June 20 and celebrates the strength and courage of people who have been forced to flee their home country to escape conflict or persecution. World Refugee Day is an occasion to build empathy and understanding for their plight and to recognize their resilience in rebuilding their lives.” —UNHCR

Dzaleka refugee camp lies just north of Water Mission’s office in Lilongwe, Malawi. Built in the late-1990s, the settlement provided refuge to thousands of people fleeing violence in Burundi, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. At the time, its capacity was between 10,000 and 14,000 people. With a recent influx of refugees, Dzaleka now houses more than four times that number of people. Because of this, the camp infrastructure is stretched beyond capacity.

With the steadily rising population in Dzaleka, one of the biggest concerns was access to safe water. Safe, treated water is essential to prevent the spread of waterborne illnesses in refugee camps. It also provides the foundation for supporting other critical services, such as food distribution and medical-related needs.

Because of our proven track record of building best-in-class safe water solutions in other refugee settings, we were invited to assess the situation in Dzaleka. We then provided our recommendations to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

“As part of our initial assessment, we identified that there was no water treatment happening in the camp,” shared Nathan Schneider, Water Mission’s project manager for East Africa.

Because of our proven track record of building best-in-class safe water solutions in other refugee settings, we were invited to assess the situation in Dzaleka. We then provided our recommendations to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

“It was a short time to execute,” Nathan said, “but the Malawi team worked through the Christmas holiday to ensure this project was done well.”

Our team retrofitted existing water systems with erosion chlorinators to treat the water. The safe, treated water is then distributed to men, women, and children in the settlement. This project serves more than 25,000 people and is the first verified safe water solution in Dzaleka.

Appropriate engineering design takes into account geographical and cultural context, as well as supply chain limitations. The chlorination systems we installed in Dzaleka are ideal for rural settings because they do not require electricity, are easily transported, and are simple to operate.

Water Mission first started working with refugees in 2013, and today has major initiatives supporting refugees in Western Tanzania and Northern Uganda. With the Lord’s provision and because of faithful partners who come alongside us, we have provided safe water, sanitation, and hygiene solutions for hundreds of thousands of refugees.

Water Mission is honored to work with UNHCR and Welthungerhilfe to fight the global water crisis and serve refugees. According to UNHCR, there are more than 84 million forcibly displaced people worldwide—a devastating statistic that continues to grow each year.

Serving in vulnerable communities like Dzaleka is an incredible opportunity to show God’s love to our neighbors. By providing one of life’s most important resources, safe water, we can help refugees have a chance to lead healthier and more prosperous lives.

Source: Water Mission International

Little Fletcher Pack woke up Monday morning and asked: “Is today vaccine day?”

For the 3-year-old from Lexington, South Carolina, the answer was yes.

The nation’s infants, toddlers and preschoolers are finally getting their chance at COVID-19 vaccination as the U.S. rolls out shots for tots this week. Shipments arrived in some locations over the weekend and some spots, including a Walgreens in South Carolina and another in New York City, opened appointments for Monday.

Fletcher’s mother said that once her son is fully vaccinated, he can finally go bowling and visit the nearby children’s museum.

“He’s never really played with another kid inside before,” McKenzie Pack said. “This will be a really big change for our family.”

She began seeking an appointment last week as U.S. regulators took steps to OK the vaccines for kids 6 months to 5 years old.

“It’s just a relief,” said Pack. “With this vaccine, that’ll be his best shot at going back to normal and having a normal childhood.”

The Food and Drug Administration greenlighted the Moderna and Pfizer kid shots Friday and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended them Saturday. In the U.S., COVID-19 vaccines were first tested and given in late 2020 to health care workers and older adults. Teens and school-age kids were added last year.

“This is certainly an exciting moment in what has become a very long campaign to vaccinate people against COVID-19,” said Dr. Matthew Harris, an emergency room pediatrician at Northwell Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New York.

Many parents have been anxiously awaiting the rollout, and Harris said shots for his own 9-month-old are a “matter of when, not if.”

Roughly 18 million youngsters under 5 are eligible.

“It’s just a huge step toward normalcy,” said Dr. Debra Langlois, pediatrician at University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital.

“We’re two-plus years into this pandemic and there’s things that my 4-year-old has never been able to do,” Langlois said.

The family skipped a trip to Disneyland and a popular Michigan vacation island because the ferry ride to Mackinac Island would mean mingling with unmasked passengers.

President Joe Biden, public health authorities and pediatricians hailed the moment. But they also acknowledged that getting some parents on board may be a challenge given disappointing vaccination rates — about 30% — in school-age kids.

The American Academy of Pediatrics and American Medical Association were among physician groups that encouraged doctors and families to get young children vaccinated.

The CDC advises vaccination even for those who already had COVID-19 to protect against reinfection, and says it is OK to get other vaccines at the same time. For the littlest kids, there’s Pfizer’s three-shot series or Moderna’s two shots.

In New York’s largely Latino neighborhood of Washington Heights, Dr. Juan Tapia Mendoza’s clinic has ordered 300 doses of the tot-sized vaccines. He said he needs educational materials that directly address misinformation spreading among parents.

His approach will be to tell parents “If they were my kids, I would vaccinate them.”

“Because the virus is still around. A lot of people are still dying because of coronavirus Kids do get infected and some kids get severely affected and nobody wants to see a child very sick.”

Some hospitals planned vaccination events later this week.

Chicago is among locations that offer COVID-19 shots in people’s homes and planned to open registration this week for home appointments for infants and other young children, said Maribel Chavez-Torres, a deputy commission for the city’s department of public health.

Dr. Pam Zeitlin, director of pediatric medicine at National Jewish Health in Denver, recommends parents get their kids vaccinated as soon as possible.

“Some parents are afraid that the younger the child, the more vulnerable they might be to vaccine side effects,” Zeitlin said, but that’s not what Pfizer and Moderna studies found. Side effects were like what is seen with other childhood vaccines — fever, irritability and fatigue.

Source: Voice of America

UNITED NATIONS — Tensions between Russia and the West are aggravating talks about the future of one of the United Nations’ biggest and most perilous peacekeeping operations, the force sent to help Mali resist a decadelong Islamic extremist insurgency.

The U.N.’s mission in the West African nation is up for renewal this month, at a volatile time when extremist attacks are intensifying. Three U.N. peacekeepers have been killed this month alone. Mali’s economy is choking on sanctions imposed by neighboring countries after its military rulers postponed a promised election. France and the European Union are ending their own military operations in Mali amid souring relations with the governing junta.

U.N. Security Council members widely agree the peacekeeping mission, known as MINUSMA, needs to continue. But a council debate this week was laced with friction over France’s future role in Mali and the presence of Russian military contractors.

“The situation has become very complex for negotiations,” said Rama Yade, senior director of the Africa Center at the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank.

“The international context has a role, and Mali is part of the Russian game on the international stage,” she said.

The peacekeeping mission began in 2013, after France led a military intervention to oust extremist rebels who had taken over cities and major towns in northern Mali the year before. MINUSMA now counts roughly 12,000 troops, plus about 2,000 police and other officers. More than 270 peacekeepers have died.

France is leading negotiations on extending the mission’s mandate and is proposing to continue providing French aerial support. The U.N.’s top official for Mali, El-Ghassim Wane, said the force particularly needs the capabilities of attack helicopters.

But Mali strongly objects to a continued French air presence.

“We would call, therefore, for respect for our country’s sovereignty,” Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop told the council Monday.

Mali asked France, its onetime colonial ruler, for military help in 2013. The French military was credited with helping to boot the insurgents out of Timbuktu and other northern centers, but they regrouped elsewhere, began attacking the Malian army and its allies and pushed farther south. The government now controls only 10% of the north and 21% of the central region, according to a U.N. report this month.

Patience with the French military presence is waning, though, especially as extremist violence mounts. There have been a series of anti-French demonstrations in the capital, which some observers suggest have been promoted by the government and a Russian mercenary outfit, the Wagner Group.

Mali has grown closer to Russia in recent years as Moscow has looked to build alliances and gain sway in Africa — and both countries are at odds with the West. High-ranking Malian and Russian officials have been hit with European Union sanctions, sparked by Russia’s actions in Ukraine since 2014 and by Mali’s failure to hold elections that had been pledged for this past February.

Against that backdrop, Security Council members squared off over the Wagner Group’s presence in Mali. The Kremlin denies any connection to the company. But Western analysts say it’s a tool of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s campaign to gain influence in Africa.

The Wagner Group has committed serious human rights and international humanitarian law violations, according to allegations by the EU and human rights organizations. In Mali, Human Rights Watch has accused Russian fighters and Mali’s army of killing hundreds of mostly civilian men in the town of Moura; Mali said those killed were “terrorists.” The U.N. peacekeeping force is investigating, as is the Malian government.

The recent U.N. report on Mali remarked on “a significant surge” in reports of abuses committed by extremists and Malian forces, sometimes accompanied by “foreign security personnel.” It didn’t name names, but British deputy U.N. Ambassador James Kariuki said council members “are under no illusions – this is the Russian-backed Wagner Group.”

Mali says otherwise. While officials have said Russian soldiers are training the Malian military as part of a longstanding security partnership between the two governments, Diop insisted to the Security Council that “we don’t know anything about Wagner.”

However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a TV interview in May that the Wagner Group was in Mali “on a commercial basis.”

Russian deputy U.N. Ambassador Anna Evstigneeva told the Security Council that African countries have every right to engage soldiers-for-hire. And she suggested they have every reason to, saying Mali’s security “continues to unravel” despite European military endeavors.

She blasted Western unease about Russia’s tightening ties to Mali as “neocolonialist approaches and double standards.”

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres plans a six-month review to consider ways to retool MINUSMA.

To Sadya Touré, a writer and the founder of a women’s organization called Mali Musso, told the council her country “should not be a battlefield between major powers. … People are the ones who are suffering the consequences of these tensions.”

Source: Voice of America