San Juan (AFP) – Puerto Rico has an underfunded health care system, high levels of poverty and its infrastructure remains devastated by a major hurricane that swept through the island in 2017.

So how is the US territory leading the rest of the country in Covid vaccinations?

Experts credit the surprising success to two major factors: a sense of solidarity forged from past brushes with disasters, and a public health response untainted by political polarization seen on the mainland.

No fewer than 74 percent of the island’s 3.2 million people are now fully vaccinated — well above the US total of 58 percent — but also ahead of wealthy and liberal northeastern states such as Massachusetts and Vermont.

“Everyone should get vaccinated,” Jose de Jesus, a retired government employee, told AFP.

“You have to take care of yourself, you have to live life until you can,” added the 74-year-old, who happily got a Moderna booster shot last week.

As a result of the high uptake, Puerto Rico is crushing its coronavirus curve, with daily cases currently running at three per 100,000 people compared to 22 for the country as a whole, and deaths at 0.1 per 100,000.

The situation is the complete opposite of what was expected at the start of the pandemic, when the odds seemed stacked against the Caribbean archipelago.

Puerto Rico’s poverty rate is 43 percent, more than double that of Mississippi, the poorest US state.

Its government is facing an ongoing financial crisis: since 2005 it has lived under strict austerity imposed by successive governments to try to reduce its high debt. 

A hammer blow came in September 2017, when Hurricane Maria ravaged the island, leaving nearly 3,000 dead. Many of the victims perished from a lack of resources and poor post-disaster response. The storm struck the island less than a month after Hurricane Irma passed by, causing vast power outages.

After that, protests in 2019 led to the resignation of a governor, Ricardo Rossello, and an earthquake destroyed nearly 8,000 homes in January 2020.

Lessons learned

“I couldn’t sleep, I kept thinking the pandemic would be handled as badly as the responses to Hurricane Irma and Maria,” Monica Feliu Mojer, spokesperson for the nonprofit Ciencia Puerto Rico organization that advocates for science in Puerto Rico, told AFP.

Instead, though, the memory of these disasters has made “people do their part,” creating a critical wave of unity to respond to the challenge.

The Puerto Rican government began vaccinating in December 2020, like the rest of the United States.

And in just a few weeks, professional groups, hospitals, universities, private corporations and non-profit organizations joined the effort, collaborations key to the later Covid vaccination campaign.

Paradoxically, the trauma of Hurricane Maria prepared Puerto Ricans to face the coronavirus.

The work of the NGO VOCES, which has administered more than 378,000 doses since January, is an example of this. 

According to its founder, Lilliam Rodriguez, the organization began in 2013 to promote vaccinations against various diseases.

After the hurricane destroyed vaccine dose stockpiles, the NGO’s mission changed. Instead of just advocating for immunization, it began receiving funding and vaccines, and its workers “went to the fields, to the neighborhoods, to administer them,” Rodriguez recalls.

“That prepared us to develop skills of first responders in the area of public health and vaccination. What we’re doing now is not very different to what we did after Maria,” she adds.

Sticking to the science

Feliu Mojer points to another key to the success of the vaccination push. 

Unlike what happened in the rest of the United States, Puerto Rico “has not politicized” the response to the pandemic. 

“In the United States there is a relationship between people, their political party and their willingness to get vaccinated,” says the expert, something that does not exist in Puerto Rico. 

On the island, “the main parties are not organized around conservative or progressive ideologies, but status preferences” over the future of the island’s political relationship with the United States, she explains.

That unity allowed the government to take tougher preventative measures over the summer, at the height of the global wave driven by the Delta variant.

The government reimposed restrictions like masking and ordered vaccination or weekly negative PCR test for public employees, as well as for workers and customers of certain businesses like restaurants and gyms. Public response was largely favorable.

The success “has been a combination of science and solidarity,” sums up Feliu Mojer.

Henry Cavill feels honoured to be spoken about as a potential James Bond.

The 38-year-old actor has revealed he’d love to speak to the producers of the iconic film franchise about replacing Daniel Craig as 007.

Asked about the prospect of playing Bond, Henry – who is best known for playing Superman – shared: “Look … I hate it when people start a sentence with, ‘Look …’ – it sounds like they’re lying about something. I think it would be very exciting to have a conversation with the producers. … In an ideal world, I’d never have to turn anything down.

“Nothing is off the table. It’s an honour to even be part of that conversation.”

Henry enjoys starring in action movies, and doesn’t have a particular desire to turn his focus towards other genres.

The actor also enjoys the challenge of being in tip-top physical condition for so many of his on-screen roles.

He told The Hollywood Reporter: “I’m very happy to keep doing movies that use action as a form of storytelling, and I have no particular desire to say, ‘I just want to do drama now.’ I enjoy being in the best shape of my life, year after year, despite the injuries. I want to be pushed so I can get better. I don’t want to sit down.”

Henry has a packed work schedule for the next few months and he actually loves that he’s so busy.

He said: “After 21 years of hard work, I have three jobs lined up. Maybe it’s me, maybe it’s my approach, maybe my value as a commodity increases being attached to things like ‘The Witcher’. Now I can really focus on the storytelling and grow from here.”

Los Angeles (AFP) – Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of Broadway sensation “Hamilton,” said Wednesday he had returned to his first love of cinema with his directorial debut “tick tick… Boom!” — but is itching to write musical theater again.

The movie, which had its world premiere at AFI Fest in Los Angeles, pays tribute to Jonathan Larson, the writer of “Rent” who was Broadway’s wunderkind a generation before Miranda.

“Film was my first love. I fell in love with movies, my grandfather owned a VHS video store when I was a kid — Miranda Video,” Miranda told AFP.

“I spent my summers watching everything — very little of it appropriate to a child of seven or eight years of age, but I watched it all!

“And so I feel like I’ve come all the way back around to my first love.”

Miranda’s “tick tick… Boom!” is an adaptation of Larson’s stripped-down musical of the same name, which recounted his struggles to create art and his fear of growing old without success.

Larson died aged just 35, never getting to see and enjoy the huge popularity, plethora of Tony Awards and Pulitzer Prize for drama that “Rent” would garner.

“It’s the only movie I ever actually daydreamed about [making] as a movie before I even got the opportunity to direct,” said Miranda, who saw Larson’s musical while still at university.

“It was the month after the terrorist attacks of September 11, when everyone was questioning, like, ‘what am I even doing with my life?’

“And the entire musical is about ‘what are you even doing with your life?’

“It felt like a personal attack and a call to action.”

The film cuts between Larson — played by Andrew Garfield — performing the original rock monologue of “tick tick… Boom!” on stage in New York, and flashbacks to the life events that inspired it.

“I brought the music I loved — hip hop music and Latin music — into my work the same way Jonathan took rock music into his,” said Miranda.

“Sort of just advancing his thesis, I feel like a student of his.”

“It’s worked out pretty well!”

‘Itching to write’

While “tick tick… Boom!” is Miranda’s first feature film as director, he has been in growing demand in Hollywood since the colossal success of “Hamilton.”

Disney bought the streaming rights to a taped stage production of “Hamilton” — which tells the story of the United States’ founding fathers via hip-hop — for $75 million.

Miranda also produced a film version of his first musical, “In The Heights,” and wrote the songs for Disney’s forthcoming Colombia-set magical realist fantasy “Encanto.”

Former “The Amazing Spider-Man” star Garfield told AFP that Miranda had “set up an atmosphere of community that you only really get in theater, that you don’t often find in film.” 

Co-star and “Hamilton” alumnus Joshua Henry joked that while navigating his way as director, Miranda sometimes “would say cut when he meant action and vice versa.”

“But seeing him come into his own was a really inspiring thing.”

While delays due to the pandemic closing theaters for months have caused the releases of Miranda’s various big-screen efforts to coincide, he told AFP he is back “seeing as much theater as I can” on Broadway.

“And I’m itching to write again too, once I’m on the other side of all of these movies that are all coming out the same week because of the pandemic.

“I’m excited to clear my desk.”

AFI Fest runs until Sunday.

By Tyler Clifford and Kanishka Singh

(Reuters) -A federal judge on Wednesday approved a settlement worth $626 million for victims of the lead water crisis in Flint, Michigan, in a case brought by tens of thousands of residents affected by the contaminated water.

“The settlement reached here is a remarkable achievement for many reasons, not the least of which is that it sets forth a comprehensive compensation program and timeline that is consistent for every qualifying participant,” U.S. District Judge Judith Levy said in a 178-page order.

Earlier this year, the judge gave preliminary approval https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-michigan-flint-water-idUSKBN29Q2WZ to a partial settlement of lawsuits filed by victims of the water crisis against the state.

Flint’s troubles began in 2014 after the city switched its water supply to the Flint River from Lake Huron to cut costs. Corrosive river water caused lead to leach from pipes, contaminating the drinking water and causing an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease.

The Flint water crisis was one of the country’s worst public health crises in recent memory. The case became emblematic of racial inequality in the United States as it afflicted a city of about 100,000 people, more than half of whom are African-Americans.

The contamination prompted several lawsuits from parents who said their children were showing dangerously high blood levels of lead, which can cause development disorders. Lead can be toxic and children are especially vulnerable.

Former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder was charged in January https://www.reuters.com/article/us-michigan-flint-water-idUSKBN29J1CG with two counts of willful neglect of duty over the lead-poisoning of drinking water in Flint.

Payouts from the settlement approved on Wednesday will be made based on a formula that directs more money to younger claimants and to those who can prove greater injury. Michigan’s attorney general has previously said that the settlement would rank as the largest in the state’s history.

“Although this is a significant victory for Flint, we have a ways to go in stopping Americans from being systematically poisoned in their own homes, schools, and places of work”, Corey Stern, a counsel for the plaintiffs, said in a statement after the judge’s order on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Tyler Clifford and Kanishka Singh; Editing by Tim Ahmann and Karishma Singh)

(Reuters) – Kyle Rittenhouse, the 18-year-old charged with murdering two men and wounding another during racial justice protests in the Wisconsin city of Kenosha last year, took the witness stand at his trial on Wednesday in risky and dramatic testimony.

Rittenhouse, charged in the killing of Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and the wounding of Gaige Grosskreutz, 27, has pleaded not guilty and has said he acted in self-defense.

Here are some key moments from the trial:

Nov. 10 – Rittenhouse testifies that Rosenbaum twice threatened to kill him and ambushed him before their final encounter.

Rittenhouse broke down sobbing as he recalled the events immediately before he shot Rosenbaum, prompting the judge to call for a recess. After returning to the stand, Rittenhouse testified that Rosenbaum charged at him, telling the jury, “I remember his hand on the barrel of my gun.”

Rittenhouse told the prosecution during cross examination: “I did what I had to do to stop the person who was attacking me.” He admitted using deadly force but said he did not intend to kill anyone.

Nov. 9 – Nicholas Smith, who was protecting a used car dealership, said he spoke to Rittenhouse after he shot three people, describing him as nervous, sweating and pale.

“He repeats: ‘I just shot someone,’ over and over,” said Smith.

Nov. 8 – Gaige Grosskreutz, 27, the only protester shot by Rittenhouse to survive, testified that he had pointed his Glock pistol in Rittenhouse’s direction and only advanced on the teenager as a last resort because he thought he “was going to die.”

Under cross-examination by the defense, Grosskreutz said Rittenhouse did not fire when his hands were up and only did so when he moved toward Rittenhouse with his pistol pointed at him.

“It wasn’t until you pointed your gun at him, advanced on him, with your gun, now your hands down pointed at him, that he fired, right?” asked Corey Chirafisi, Rittenhouse’s lawyer.

“Correct,” Grosskreutz responded.

The prosecution rests.

Nov. 5 – Jason Lackowski, a former Marine, was with Rittenhouse on the night of the shootings. Prior to the shootings, Lackowski said Rosenbaum had taunted him and other armed men. Lackowski answered “no” when asked whether he considered the unarmed Rosenbaum a threat.

Nov. 4 – Richie McGinniss – chief video director of the Daily Caller, a conservative website – said Rosenbaum yelled as he advanced toward Rittenhouse in the parking lot of a used-car dealership and then lunged for the youth’s semi-automatic rifle.

Ryan Balch, a military veteran who was among the armed men with Rittenhouse at the used car dealership, testified that Rosenbaum was acting in a “violent” manner that night, throwing rocks and trying to set fires.

Nov. 3 – Video was the star witness at the second day of the trial.

Jurors saw a series of graphic videos showing the chaotic moments after Rittenhouse shot three protesters, including one man who lay motionless and bleeding and another screaming as blood gushed from his arm.

The jury was also shown video of Rittenhouse fleeing the scene of the Rosenbaum shooting and being chased by a growing crowd of protesters, some of them yelling things like “Get him” before he has a series of violent encounters.

Nov. 2 – Jurors hear opening arguments. Prosecutors portrayed Rittenhouse a vigilante killer, repeating seven times that the teenager was the only person to have shot anyone that night. The defense said Rittenhouse opened fire in self-defense and in response to attacks by a mob.

(Reporting by Nathan Layne; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

Andy Dick has been arrested for allegedly hitting his partner with a bottle.

The 55-year-old comedian reportedly got into an argument with his boyfriend at his Los Angeles home on Monday (08.11.21) and thinks got physical as the row escalated.

When cops arrived at the abode, they arrested Andy for felony domestic battery but he was released around three hours later after posting bond of $50,000, TMZ reports.

Sources told the outlet this is the second time in as many months that police have been called to Andy’s house over domestic disputes as in October, he allegedly hit his boyfriend in the face with a frying pan.

In June, he was arrested for allegedly assaulting a man with a deadly weapon and was released from jail after posting bond.

His fiancee at the time, Elisa Jordana, spoke out about the incident at the time.

She said: “I saw pictures, I saw the video; it’s not good. It was the worst week with him. Every day there was some sort of problem.”

She later admitted things were “not going too great” with Andy after she talked about his arrest.

She said: “He’s mad at me. I regret saying it, but I want to help. I want someone to help me. It’s very hard dealing with these things. I love Andy and he is the best in many ways. In hindsight maybe I shouldn’t have said anything, but I did. And I feel alone.

“He’s a cute guy. A talented guy. He’s helped me tremendously, he makes me laugh, he has a lot of characteristics that are really good,” she added.

The ‘Less Than Perfect’ actor was previously sentenced to 14 days in jail for sexual battery in 2019 after squeezing a random woman’s butt in the street and failing to complete his community service.

And in 2018, he was charged with misdemeanour sexual battery after an Uber driver accused him of grabbing his crotch.

In October 2019, video circulated of him getting into a fight with an Uber Eats delivery driver.

A spokesperson for Andy declined to comment on his recent arrest.

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – A pandemic advisory panel in the Netherlands on Thursday recommended imposing western Europe’s first partial lockdown since the summer, putting pressure on the government to take unpopular action to fight a COVID-19 surge.

Caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s cabinet is expected to decide on Friday on measures following the recommendation of the Outbreak Management Team, broadcaster NOS reported.

The government often follows the expert panel’s recommendations.

Steps under consideration include cancelling events, closing theatres and cinemas, and earlier closing times for cafes and restaurants, the NOS report said. Schools would remain open.

After a partial lockdown of around two weeks, entrance to public places should be limited to people who have been fully vaccinated or have recently recovered from a coronavirus infection, according to the advice.

Even as infections spike to record levels, many developed countries have taken the view vaccine rollouts mean lockdowns are unnecessary.

Britain is relying on booster shots to increase immunity and to try to avoid overwhelming its healthcare system.

The Netherlands has so far provided booster shots to a small group of people with weak immune systems. It will start offering them to people aged 80 years and older in December, while extra shots will eventually be available for anyone older than 60.

Despite an adult vaccination rate nearing 85%, hospitals in parts of the Netherlands have been forced to scale back https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/dutch-hospitals-urge-new-measures-covid-19-cases-near-record-2021-11-09 regular care to treat COVID-19 patients.

Last month, roughly 56% of Dutch COVID-19 patients in hospitals and 70% of those in intensive care were unvaccinated or only partially vaccinated.

Unvaccinated COVID-19 patients in Dutch hospitals had a median age of 59, compared to 77 years for vaccinated patients, data provided by the Netherlands’ Institute for Health (RIVM) showed.

Last week, the Netherlands re-introduced masks and expanded the list of venues that require a “corona pass” that demonstrates vaccination or a negative test result, to gain access.

New coronavirus infections in the country of 17.5 million have roughly doubled in the last week to more than 400 per 100,000 inhabitants, and are as high as in the worst weeks of December last year.

(Reporting by Anthony Deutsch and Bart Meijer; Editing by Peter Graff, Gareth Jones and Barbara Lewis)

By Promit Mukherjee and Emma Rumney

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -South Africa’s last white president Frederik Willem (FW) de Klerk, who negotiated a peaceful transfer of power to a Black-led government under Nelson Mandela, died on Thursday aged 85 after a battle with cancer, his foundation said.

De Klerk won praise worldwide for his role in scrapping apartheid and he shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Mandela in 1993. The following year Mandela won South Africa’s first multi-racial elections with his African National Congress (ANC).

In a message of condolence, President Cyril Ramaphosa paid tribute to de Klerk’s “vital role” in South Africa’s transition to democracy in the 1990s.

“He took the courageous decision (as president) to unban political parties, release political prisoners and enter into negotiations with the liberation movement amid severe pressure to the contrary from many in his political constituency,” Ramphosa said.

Mandela’s foundation said in a separate statement that de Klerk would “forever be linked to Nelson Mandela in the annals of South African history”.

However, de Klerk’s role in the transition from minority white rule to democracy remains highly contested.

Many Blacks were angered by his failure to curb political violence in the turbulent years leading up to the 1994 elections, while right-wing white Afrikaners, who had long ruled the country under de Klerk’s National Party, viewed him as a traitor to their causes of white supremacy and nationalism.

De Klerk’s foundation said he had died peacefully at his home in Cape Town on Thursday morning after a battle with mesothelioma, a cancer that affects the tissue lining the lungs.

“He is survived by his wife Elita, his children Jan and Susan and his grandchildren,” it said, adding the family would in due course announce the funeral arrangements.

PRAISE AND CRITICISM

“May FW de Klerk rest in peace and rise in glory,” Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a veteran of the struggle against white minority rule and seen by many as South Africa’s moral conscience, said in a statement released by his office.

John Steenhuisen, leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA), South Africa’s second biggest party after the ANC, said de Klerk’s success in bringing the majority of white voters with him over the need to abolish apartheid helped ensure that “the transition happened peacefully”.

The DA is the main rival of the ANC but has struggled to shed its image as a party of white privilege.

Julius Malema, who heads the Marxist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), the country’s third biggest political party, was much more critical, saying de Klerk should be referred to not as a “former president” but as a “former apartheid president”.

Critics of de Klerk took to Twitter to say he should not get a state funeral due to his roots in the old apartheid regime.

Mandela, who died in 2013, had acknowledged in his autobiography “Long Walk to Freedom” de Klerk’s key role in the transition to multi-racial democracy.

“To make peace with an enemy one must work with that enemy, and that enemy becomes one’s partner,” he wrote.

Though long retired from active politics, de Klerk prompted anger among supporters of then-president Jacob Zuma in 2016 when he accused them and their leader of seeking to advance their personal interests and of endangering South African democracy.

De Klerk again drew criticism last year when he told a national broadcaster that he did not believe apartheid was a crime against humanity, as declared by the United Nations.

The backlash triggered by his remarks forced de Klerk to withdraw from a virtual seminar with the American Bar Association (ABA) in the United States, where he had been due to speak on minority rights and racism.

(Additional reporting by Nqobile Dludla and Wendell RoelfEditing by Gareth Jones)

Channing Tatum and Tom Hardy are to star in a new Afghanistan-set drama.

The pair have boarded the cast of the untitled Universal Pictures project that is based on an original idea from George Nolfi.

The movie is based on recently reported true stories and will focus on three former special forces team members who jump back into the fray alongside their Afghan counterparts, to rescue families and allies left behind as the country fell to the Taliban during the summer.

Channing and Tom will produce the film with Jules Daly, Reid Carolin and Peter Kiernan. Nolfi will serve as an executive producer on the flick.

No director is attached to the project at this moment in time.

Meanwhile, Channing will team up with rumoured girlfriend Zoe Kravitz on the thriller ‘Pussy Island’ – which will mark the directorial debut for the ‘Big Little Lies’ actress.

The plot centres on Frida, a young and clever Los Angeles cocktail waitress who has her eyes set on philanthropist and tech mogul Slater King (Tatum). She skilfully moves her way into King’s inner circle and gets an invite to an intimate gathering on his private island.

Despite the epic setting and ever-flowing champagne, Frida senses that there is more to King’s island than meets the eye. She can’t quite put her finger on it, but it fills her with a sense of terror.

Zoe explained that Channing was her ideal choice to play the tech mogul in the movie and that the pair worked together to develop the character.

The 32-year-old actress said: “Chan was my first choice, the one I thought of when I wrote this character.

“I just knew from ‘Magic Mike’ and his live shows, I got the sense he’s a true feminist and I wanted to collaborate with someone who’s clearly interested in exploring this subject matter.”

Paul Rudd has been named People’s Sexiest Man Alive.

The 52-year-old actor admitted he was surprised to take the 2021 honour because he believes there are “so many people” who should have taken the accolade ahead of him.

Speaking to People magazine about the honour, he said: “I do have an awareness, enough to know that when people hear that I’d be picked for this, they would say, ‘What?’. This is not false humility. There are so many people that should get this before me.”

The ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ actor’s wife Julie – with whom he has kids Jack, 17, and 12-year-old Darby – was “stupefied” by the news and initially laughed at her husband.

He said: “She was stupefied. But you know she was very sweet about it. After some giggling and shock, she said ‘Oh, they got it right.’ And that was very sweet. She was probably not telling the truth, but what’s she going to say?”

And Paul is expecting his friends to give him “so much grief”, but he doesn’t care as he plans to boast about his new title as much as possible.

He said: “As they should. I would. I mean I’m going to lean into it hard. I’m going to own this. I’m not going to try to be like ‘Oh, I’m so modest.’ I’m getting business cards made. But all of my friends will destroy me and I expect them to. And that’s why they’re my friends.”

The ‘Knocked Up’ actor thinks his life will change “a lot” thanks to his new title and he’s looking forward to hanging out more with last year’s Sexiest Man Alive, Michael B. Jordan, and other previous recipients, including George Clooney and Brad Pitt.

He joked: “I’m hoping now that I’ll finally be invited to some of those sexy dinners with Clooney and Pitt and B Jordan.

“And I figure I’ll be on a lot more yachts. I’m excited to expand my yachting life.

“And I’ll probably try to get better at brooding in really soft light.

“I like to ponder. I think this is going to help me become more inward and mysterious. And I’m looking forward to that.”

By Antoni Slodkowski and Elaine Lies

TOKYO (Reuters) – Tibet’s spiritual leader the Dalai Lama criticised the leaders of China on Wednesday saying they “don’t understand the variety of different cultures” there and there is too much control by the main Han ethnic group.

But he also said he had nothing against “Chinese brothers and sisters” as fellow humans and he broadly supported the ideas behind Communism and Marxism.

The 86-year-old Dalai Lama, taking part in an online news conference anchored in Tokyo, was answering a question about whether the international community should consider boycotting the Beijing Winter Olympics over the suppression of minorities, including those in the western region of Xinjiang.

“I know Communist Party leaders since Mao Zedong. Their ideas (are) good. But sometimes they do much extreme, tight control,” he said from his base in India, adding he thought things would change in China under a new generation of leaders.

“Regarding Tibet and also Xinjiang, we have our own unique culture, so the more narrow-minded Chinese Communist leaders, they do not understand the variety of different cultures.”

Noting that China consisted not only of ethnic Han people but also other, different, groups, he added: “In reality, too much control by Han people.”

China seized control of Tibet after its troops entered the region in 1950 in what it calls a “peaceful liberation”. Tibet has since become one of the most restricted and sensitive areas in the country.

Beijing regards the Dalai Lama, who fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, as a dangerous “splittist” or separatist. He has worked for decades to draw global support for linguistic and cultural autonomy in his remote, mountainous homeland.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin, asked at a regular press briefing on Wednesday about relations with the Dalai Lama, referred to “an out-and-out separatist political group”.

‘QUITE DELICATE’

The Dalai Lama said he broadly supported the ideas of Communism and Marxism, laughing as he related an anecdote about how he once thought of joining the Communist Party but was dissuaded by a friend.

When asked about Taiwan, the centre of increased military tension in the region, he said he thought the island was the true repository of China’s ancient culture and traditions since on the mainland it was now “too politicised”.

“Economically Taiwan gets a lot of help from mainland China,” he said. “And culture, Chinese culture, including Buddhism, I think mainland Chinese brothers and sisters can learn a lot from Taiwanese brothers and sisters.”

Though the Dalai Lama said he had no plan to meet China’s leader, Xi Jinping, he said he would like to visit again to see old friends since “I am growing older” – but would avoid Taiwan since relations between it and China are “quite delicate”.

“I prefer to remain here in India, peacefully,” he said, praising it as a centre of religious harmony – despite complaints from Muslims in recent years.

In the end, though, he said believed all religions had the same message.

“All religions carry the message of love and use a different philosophy of views. So now the problem (is) the politicians, in cases some economists … use this difference of religion. So now, religion is also politicised – so that is a problem.”

(Reporting by Elaine Lies and Antoni Slodkowski; Editing by Christian Schmollinger, Robert Birsel)

Twitter Blue has launched and the service allows users to pay for features including the the ability to undo a tweet or read ad-free articles.

The new subscription service was launched in the US and New Zealand this week – costing $3 and NZD 4.49 per month respectively – is targeted at people who regularly use the site on mobile devices, as well as news junkies or early adopters of new features.

Sara Beykpour – Twitter’s senior director of product management – said: “Twitter is still and will always be free.

“With Twitter, Blue, we’re providing the most engaged and leaned in people on Twitter more ways to customize and control their experience and get exclusive access to premium features.”

To access the feature, a user will click on the profile menu with the service available at the top.

Clicking that will take you to the settings page, where tools can be added, including early access to features being tested, such as unploading 10-minute videos and pinning a chat at the top of your DMs.

The undo tweet feature gives people a 30-second timer before the tweet goes live, so they can review any typos and other mistakes.

Meanwhile, users can customise their app experience with icons and themes, as well as sorted tweets in a bookmark folder.

By Sarah N. Lynch and Jarrett Renshaw

WASHINGTON – U.S. civil rights groups are asking the White House to broaden a plan to grant clemency to inmates released to home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying its current policy wrongfully excludes people convicted of non-drug-related crimes or those still facing lengthy sentences.

The clemency initiative is an attempt to prevent the return to prison of some 4,800 federal inmates who were released early due to the pandemic emergency, as the Bureau of Prisons scrambled to slow transmission rates in its facilities.

The 29 advocacy groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the Justice Action Network and FAMM – a group that opposes mandatory minimum sentences – are not alone in questioning the return of so many people to prison: U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland has raised the same concerns.

“It would be a terrible policy to return these people to prison,” Garland told lawmakers last month.

But the Justice Department he leads argues it lacks the legal authority to allow the prisoners to continue to serve their sentences at home after the state of emergency allowed by a March 2020 law expires.

There is no clear date for when that may occur, though the Biden administration expects the public health crisis to last through at least 2021.

The Justice Department and the White House are only allowing the released inmates to apply for clemency if they are low-level non-violent drug offenders with 18 months to four years left on their prison terms.

That bars drug offenders serving lengthy prison terms, as well as white-collar offenders, such as those convicted of tax evasion, bank or mail and wire fraud.

The White House and Justice Department declined to disclose how many of the 4,800 inmates will be eligible or to explain why they had offered clemency only to that particular class of inmates.

But criminal justice advocates said they believe just a tiny fraction will be eligible, since federal drug convictions carry steep mandatory minimum sentences.

“We argued for the entire population to get clemency. In response, they came back with this very, very narrow solution,” said Inimai Chettiar, a director at the Justice Action Network, which advocates for criminal justice reforms.

While the Justice Department typically reviews and makes recommendations for clemency, the White House has the sole power to commute federal sentences or issue pardons.

A White House official told Reuters the clemency review underway is “just the beginning.”

“This is an initial clemency review, consistent with the president’s campaign promise and it’s the starting point for our process, leaving the door open for other populations,” the official said.

Criminal justice advocates have long complained that the president’s clemency powers have not been used enough to spare low-level drug offenders, many of whom are often addicts, from lengthy mandatory minimum sentences.

Such strict sentencing requirements for drug offenses have disproportionately impacted African Americans, in part thanks to rules which treated drug crimes involving crack more harshly than those involving cocaine.

In recent years views on how to treat drug offenders have also evolved, with some experts saying people with drug addictions should be rehabilitated rather than locked in prison.

NEED FOR CONGRESSIONAL ACTION

Criminal justice advocates have lobbied the White House and the Justice Department to rescind the memo outlining the department’s views on the limits of its home confinement authority, and provide a legal pathway to keep people home, though Bureau of Prisons Director Michael Carvajal has previously said only Congress can change the law.

Without an immediate legislative fix — and with the bitterly divided Congress facing a steep to-do list — the groups urged the White House to take action on clemency for all the released inmates.

“We don’t want any arbitrary line-drawing between someone who happened to sell drugs and somebody who failed to pay taxes,” said Kevin Ring, president of the advocacy group FAMM.

At stake is the future of people like Travis Rogers, who was released from federal prison in Springfield, Missouri, to home confinement in June 2020, but has seven years remaining on his sentence for conspiring to distribute methamphetamine.

A recovering addict for 11 years, he has built a new life since his return home by landing a job building car engines, reconnecting with his adult daughter and helping care for his aging father.

“I feel like it’s unjust,” Rogers said in an interview, noting he has turned down promotions at work because he fears he could be returned to prison.

He said that his crimes were driven by addiction, and that he has learned his lesson after serving a decade in prison.

“It would be better to try to rehabilitate drug dealers than throwing them in prison,” he said.

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by Scott Malone and Aurora Ellis)

Washington (AFP) – A flurry of subpoenas targeting top lieutenants and a court affirming lawmakers’ investigating powers have sent Donald Trump a decisive message as he seeks to run down the clock on the January 6 insurrection probe: you cannot escape justice forever.

The former president suffered a stinging legal blow late Tuesday when a federal court in Washington rejected his effort to block documents and other information requested by lawmakers probing the deadly attack on the Capitol. 

Meanwhile the investigation’s shift from focusing on security failures to targeting big names in Trump’s orbit has demonstrated a new spotlight on his role in a plot to spread lies about the 2020 election being stolen and prevent Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s victory, leading to the violence.

David Greenberg, a journalism and history professor at Rutgers University in New Jersey, said it was impossible to predict the political effect of the latest developments for Trump, who escaped conviction twice after being impeached and emerged largely unscathed from several federal misconduct investigations. 

“But the investigation is important for more direct, material, and concrete reasons,” he told AFP.

“It is already establishing a fuller and more comprehensive picture of who in Trump’s administration and orbit was involved in the planning of the January 6 riot, what they did to bring it about, and what they hoped or expected would happen.”

The first batch of documents related to the assault is now set to be turned over to House investigators by Friday unless a court intervenes, although Trump’s attorneys have already made clear they will appeal, holding up the release.

‘Presidents are not kings’

It was made possible when District Judge Tanya Chutkan contended that Biden, who is opposing Trump’s demands, is “best positioned” to determine if a former president can keep Oval Office conversations with advisors secret.   

“At bottom, this is a dispute between a former and incumbent president. And the Supreme Court has already made clear that in such circumstances, the incumbent’s view is accorded greater weight,” Chutkan said in a 39-page decision. 

“[Trump’s] position that he may override the express will of the executive branch appears to be premised on the notion that his executive power ‘exists in perpetuity’… But presidents are not kings, and plaintiff is not president.”

Chutkan also ruled that the House panel’s probe was serving a “valid legislative purpose,” rejecting another argument by Trump’s legal team to challenge the authority of the investigation.

The case is likely to end up in the Supreme Court, meaning investigators would not see the disputed evidence any time soon. 

“The battle to defend Executive Privilege for Presidents past, present & future — from its outset — was destined to be decided by the Appellate Courts,” Trump’s spokesman tweeted in reaction to the ruling.

“Pres. Trump remains committed to defending the Constitution & the Office of the Presidency, & will be seeing this process through.”

But Bennie Thompson, who chairs the nine-member select committee, hailed the decision as a victory for lawmakers conducting investigations involving the White House.

‘Decisive ruling’

“The select committee appreciates the court’s swift and decisive ruling on the former president’s lawsuit, which I consider little more than an attempt to delay and obstruct our investigation,” Thompson said in a statement. 

“The presidential records we requested from the National Archives are critical for understanding the terrible events of January 6.” 

The court decision was the latest in a whirlwind of activity by the House January 6 select committee, which dramatically accelerated efforts this week to compel testimony from Trump’s inner circle.  

The committee has interviewed more than 150 witnesses and issued 35 subpoenas, including 16 this week alone, many to former aides who had front row seats to the chaotic final weeks of Trump’s presidency as he sought to cling to power.

Many held sensitive posts inside the West Wing, including White House advisor Stephen Miller and press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, both of whom made false statements promoting Trump’s baseless claims of 2020 voter fraud.

Other targets include campaign aides and law professor John Eastman, who crafted a six-step blueprint setting out how the Trump team could disregard the will of millions of voters and reverse the election. 

The committee’s investigators have also interviewed former Department of Justice lawyer Jeffrey Clark, who was at the center of Trump’s pressure campaign to get the department to interfere in the election.

Liz Cheney, the top Republican on the committee, has said Trump’s pressure on allies to defy subpoenas showed he was “personally involved in the planning and execution of January 6.”

She warned Tuesday that the 45th president presents an unprecedented threat as he attempts to “unravel the foundations of our constitutional republic, aided by political leaders who have made themselves willing hostages to this dangerous and irrational man.” 

By Nathan Layne

KENOSHA, Wis. (Reuters) -Teenager Kyle Rittenhouse broke down crying while testifying in his own defense on Wednesday in his Wisconsin trial, saying one of the two men he is charged with murdering threatened to kill him and “ambushed” him before he opened fire with an AR-15-style rifle.

Rittenhouse, 18, is charged in the killing of Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and the wounding of Gaige Grosskreutz, 27, during racial justice protests in the city of Kenosha on Aug. 25, 2020. He has pleaded not guilty and has said he acted in self defense.

Dressed in a navy blue suit and dark blue tie, Rittenhouse was composed on the witness stand until his attorney began asking him to detail his encounter with Rosenbaum, who video evidence showed was pursuing the teen when he turned and shot him four times.

“I didn’t notice Mr. Rosenbaum until he came out from behind the car and ambushed me,” Rittenhouse told the jury, before he started to breathe heavily and lose his composure, appearing to shed tears as the judge called for a break.

Moments earlier, Rittenhouse testified that Rosenbaum threatened twice to kill him before their final encounter in the parking lot of a used car dealership in Kenosha.

Rittenhouse said Rosenbaum, speaking to his group earlier in the night, said “I’m going to cut your fucking hearts out.”

Rittenhouse testified that he was asked to help guard a used car dealership, separate from the one where he shot Rosenbaum, along with other armed men. Rittenhouse said his objective that night was to provide medical aid to anyone hurt, which is why he offered his bullet-proof vest to another person in his group.

By the night of the shootings, Kenosha had endured two nights of chaotic protests over the police shooting of a local Black man, Jacob Blake. Several businesses were burned to the ground and there were incidents of looting. Police used rubber bullets and tear gas to control the crowds.

The prosecution rested its case on Tuesday.

The case is the most high-profile civilian U.S. self-defense trial since George Zimmerman was acquitted in the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed Black teenager, in Florida in 2013.

Like Zimmerman, Rittenhouse has emerged as a divisive figure and politics has coursed through the case. He is a hero to some conservatives who believe in unfettered gun rights and see the shootings as justified during the chaos in Kenosha, while many on the left see him as a symbol of a gun culture run amok.

During five days of testimony, prosecutors have tried to paint Rittenhouse as a vigilante killer who used deadly force without justification. He was 17 at the time of the shootings and has been charged with underage possession of his gun.

The two assistant district attorneys prosecuting the case struggled to elicit testimony countering Rittenhouse’s claims that he feared for his life. Some witnesses they called spoke about the erratic behavior of Rosenbaum that night.

(Reporting by Nathan Lane; Editing by Will Dunham)

By Jan Wolfe

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. judge on Tuesday ruled that a congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol can access some of former President Donald Trump’s White House records.

(Reporting by Jan Wolfe; Editing by Andy Sullivan)

By Humeyra Pamuk and Simon Lewis

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden is getting ready to deliver on a key campaign promise by convening a Summit for Democracy: a first-of-its kind gathering of more than 100 countries to help stop democratic backsliding and erosion of rights and freedoms worldwide.

But rights advocates are questioning whether the virtual event can push those world leaders who are invited, some accused of harboring authoritarian tendencies, to take meaningful action.

“If the summit is to be anything more than just another meeting, each attendee, including the United States, will need to follow through on meaningful commitments on democracy and rights issues in the year ahead,” said Annie Boyajian, vice president for policy and advocacy at Freedom House, a non-profit group specializing in human rights and democracy.

Administration officials say the December event is just the “launch” of a longer conversation about democracy and that countries will need to fulfill the reforms they pledged to be invited to the follow-up summit planned next year.

The event – to be held on Dec. 9 and 10 – is a test of Biden’s longstanding claim, announced in his first foreign policy address as president in February, that the United States would return to global leadership under his tenure to face down authoritarian forces led by China and Russia.

A tentative invite list first reported by Politico and confirmed by a source familiar with the matter shows that the event will bring together mature democracies such as France and Sweden but also countries including Philippines and Poland, where activists say democracy is under threat. In Asia, some U.S. allies such as Japan and South Korea were invited, while others like Thailand and Vietnam were not.

Representation from the Middle East was slim with Israel and Iraq among the few countries invited and notable U.S. allies such as Egypt and NATO partner Turkey absent from the list.

Rights groups praise Biden’s pledge to reinstate the promotion of rights and freedoms as a foreign policy priority, after the disinterested approach of his predecessor Donald Trump, who openly praised strongmen such as Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

They also say the invitation to countries with problematic human rights records raises doubts about the credibility of the event, but at the same time illustrates the administration’s struggle to balance wider U.S. national security interests, such as countering a rising China, with higher ideals.

“Clearly, strategic considerations about countering China are at play in inviting very troubled, backsliding democracies like India and the Philippines that are in China’s neighborhood,” said Amy Hawthorne, research director at the Project on Middle East Democracy, an advocacy group.

“The same might be true for inviting deeply flawed democracy Iraq, the neighbor of U.S. adversary, the Iranian theocracy,” she added.

‘MAKE CHOICES’

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, who has in the past stated he does not “care about human rights”, and Indian President Narendra Modi, who advocacy group Freedom House said is driving India toward authoritarianism, will be among those discussing with Biden how to help democracy flourish globally.

An official at the Philippines’ foreign ministry confirmed Duterte was invited to the online forum and said Washington had imposed “absolutely no conditions” on his attendance. The country’s government was still considering whether to participate, the official said.

A senior U.S. official involved in the planning of the summit told Reuters that invites were sent to countries with different experiences of democracy from all regions of the world. “This was not about endorsing, ‘You’re a democracy, you are not a democracy.’ That is not the process we went through,” the official said.

Biden administration officials say they had to “make choices” to ensure regional diversity and broad participation.

Human rights groups said that with only weeks until the summit it was unclear how Washington would monitor implementation of commitments and hold the leaders who participate to their word.

‘A PLACE OF HUMILITY’

Poland, which is locked in a feud with the European Union over what Brussels says is democratic backsliding, was invited, but officials there took umbrage at an earlier message from Washington that appeared to place conditions on the invitation, according to a Polish government source.

The earlier email contained a list of suggested actions that would demonstrate Poland’s commitment to freedom and democracy, including respect for LGBTQI rights – a major sore point in Washington’s dealings with Poland’s right-wing government that has moved to restrict gay rights.

U.S. officials said they did not dictate any conditions but called on invited countries to come forward with commitments to take action.

“The idea has never been to prescribe or to be prescriptive,” said one of the officials.

The United States would also make its own commitments, the official added, as Washington faces skepticism about the health of its own democracy. After losing the November 2020 election to Biden, Trump’s false claims of fraud paved the way for his supporters’ Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol, an unprecedented episode that stunned foreign governments and armed authoritarian leaders with cause to question the robustness of American democracy.

“In all of our diplomatic communications around the summit, we are starting from a place of humility and recognizing that no democracy, including of course the United States, is perfect,” said a second administration official.

(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Simon Lewis; Additional reporting by Joanna Plucinska in Warshaw and Neil Jerome Morales in Manila; Editing by Mary Milliken and Daniel Wallis)

By Nate Raymond

(Reuters) -The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned a $465 million judgment against Johnson & Johnson in a lawsuit by the state alleging the drugmaker fueled the opioid epidemic through the deceptive marketing of painkillers.

The decision marked the latest setback for states and local governments pursuing lawsuits to hold pharmaceutical companies responsible for a drug abuse crisis the U.S. government says led to nearly 500,000 opioid overdose deaths over two decades.

The court ruled https://tmsnrt.rs/3bSrnrj that the state’s public nuisance law does not extend to the manufacturing, marketing and sales of prescription opioids and that a trial judge went too far in holding the company liable under it.

“However grave the problem of opioid addition is in Oklahoma, public nuisance law does not provide a remedy for this harm,” Justice James Winchester wrote.

New Brunswick, New Jersey-based J&J in a statement said it sympathized with those affected by the epidemic but that the court “appropriately and categorically rejected the misguided and unprecedented expansion of the public nuisance law.”

A spokesperson for Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor did not respond to requests for comment. His office had on appeal sought $9.3 billion from J&J to fund treatment and other programs to address the epidemic.

The Oklahoma lawsuit was the first of the more than 3,300 lawsuits over the opioid crisis against pharmaceutical manufacturers, drug distributors and pharmacies to go to trial.

The trial pre-dated an agreement this year by J&J and the three largest U.S. drug distributors – McKesson Corp, Cardinal Health Inc and AmerisourceBergen – to pay up to $26 billion to settle thousands of opioid-related cases against them.

PUBLIC NUISANCE LAWS

Tuesday’s decision came days after a similar trial in California pitting several large counties against J&J and three other drugmakers resulted in a tentative ruling in the companies’ favor.

Cleveland County District Judge Thad Balkman ruled in August 2019 that J&J had engaged in misleading marketing about the benefits of painkillers Duragesic and Nucynta, and concluded that their addictive risks caused a public nuisance.

J&J had argued that there was scientific support for the marketing claims and said that Duragesic and Nucynta accounted for a tiny fraction of the opioids sold in Oklahoma.

The company, which no longer promotes the drugs, also argued the state’s public nuisance law should not apply.

In Tuesday’s ruling, Winchester agreed that the law only applied to discrete, localized problems involving criminal or property-based conflicts, not policy problems.

“The district court’s expansion of public nuisance law allows courts to manage public policy matters that should be dealt with by the legislative and executive branches,” Winchester wrote.

Paul Geller, a plaintiffs’ lawyer at the law firm Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd who helped draft the $26 billion nationwide settlement proposal, said the Oklahoma ruling could lead to increased participation in the settlement.

“Perhaps the realization that, despite the gravity of the epidemic, trials are inherently risky and appellate courts are largely unpredictable will ultimately help increase participation,” he said.

Eight states have declined to sign-onto the deal with J&J, which agreed to pay up to $5 billion. Local governments in states that did join the have until January to sign-on. The ultimate payout is contingent on participation.

The Oklahoma ruling, coupled with the California decision, could prompt states and localities who have not backed the proposed nationwide settlement to re-think their positions, said Elizabeth Chamblee Burch, a University of Georgia law professor.

“To the extent folks are on the fence about going into that settlement, this definitely changes the risk profile,” Burch said.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston, Editing by Noeleen Walder, Bernadette Baum, Aurora Ellis and Jonathan Oatis)

By David Morgan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The White House and Democrats in the U.S. Congress on Wednesday condemned an anime video tweeted by Republican congressman Paul Gosar that depicted him swinging swords at President Joe Biden and killing Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

“This should not be happening, and we should be condemning it,” White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said.

House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi also called on a congressional ethics panel and law enforcement officials to investigate.

“Threats of violence against Members of Congress and the President of the United States must not be tolerated,” Pelosi said in a statement on Twitter.

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy’s office did not respond to requests for comment.

The 90-second video shared by Gosar on Sunday appears to be an altered version of a Japanese animated series.

A House Ethics Committee staff official declined to comment.

One ethics expert said that threatening behavior could violate both House ethics rules and federal criminal statutes.

“He is putting his real feelings out there, and his real feelings look very threatening,” said Craig Holman, ethics lobbyist for Public Citizen.

Under House rules, ethics violations can result in reprimands, fines, censure or removal from office. Threats can also constitute felony violations punishable by imprisonment.

But Gosar appeared unbowed. “I will always fight for the rule of law, securing our borders and defending the America First agenda,” the lawmaker said in a statement.

The Arizona Republican, a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump, voted against certifying Biden’s 2020 election victory in January, has backed Trump’s claims of a stolen election and has described Trump supporters who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6 as “peaceful patriots.”

Twitter added a warning label to the video, saying it violated its “hateful conduct” policy. It also restricted engagement with the tweet. But Twitter said in a notification attached above the tweet that it had determined “it may be in the public’s interest for the Tweet to remain accessible.”

Ocasio-Cortez responded to Gosar’s tweet with a Twitter https://bit.ly/303BCX8 thread noting the video posted by a “creepy member I work with,” and said she expected no consequences for Gosar from the House Republican leader.

Other Democrats called for Gosar to leave office.

“In any other job in America, if a coworker made a video killing another coworker, that person would be fired,” members of the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee said in a statement.

(Reporting by David Morgan and Trevor Hunnicutt in Washington and by Shivam Patel in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Susan Cornwell; editing by Andy Sullivan and Jonathan Oatis)

Adele has opened up about her heartbreak on new song ‘Hold On’.

The 33-year-old star – who is set to release new album ’30’ on November 19 – has unveiled her new single as the soundtrack to Amazon’s new Christmas advert, and she bares her soul while singing about her split from ex Simon Konecki in the emotional lyrics.

At one point, she sings: “I swear to God I’m such a mess, the harder I try I regress.”

And in another line, she adds: “Every day feels like the road I’m on, might just open and swallow me whole.”

She then sings: “Let time be patient, let pain be gracious, just hold on. I will survive.”

In the Amazon advert, a young woman is seeing struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Adele has already been honest about how she wrote about the breakdown of her marriage to Simon and hopes it can help their son Angelo, nine.

She previously said: “I wanted to explain to him through this record, when he’s in his 20s or 30s, who I am and why I voluntarily chose to dismantle his entire life in the pursuit of my own happiness.

“It made him really unhappy sometimes. And that’s a real wound for me that I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to heal.”

Meanwhile, she admitted it was “bloody hard work” writing about the end of their relationship on the record, but she’s “proud” of what she’s achieved.

She added: “It was bloody hard work. I was singing things i didn’t even realise I was feeling or thinking.

“But I’m really, really proud of it and I feel like I can’t unlock a door for my own mental health and take the key with me.

“I’ve got to leave it in the door for everyone else – and I’m in a strong place now where I feel like I can put that vulnerability out.”