Month: July 2020

On Tuesday, Twitter Inc. said it would permanently suspend accounts that violate its policies while tweeting about QAnon, a fringe group that claims “deep-state” traitors are plotting against President Donald Trump.

Twitter announced the change on its Twitter Safety page, saying it would not serve content and accounts associated with QAnon in trends and recommendations, and would block URLs associated with the group from being shared on the platform. The suspension is being rolled out this week and is expected to impact about 150,000 accounts globally. It said that more than 7,000 accounts have been removed in the last several weeks for violating the company’s rules against spam, platform manipulation and ban evasion.

Twitter said the suspensions will be applied to accounts “engaged in violations of our multi-account policy, coordinating abuse around individual victims, or are attempting to evade a previous suspension — something we’ve seen more of in recent weeks.”

Twitter to crack down on accounts espousing far-right conspiracy theory ‘QAnon’

Via abcnews.go.com

Twitter announced Tuesday night it would take action against activities tied to QAnon, a…

07/21/2020 10:47 PM

 

Editorial credit: Ralf Liebhold / Shutterstock.com

One of the largest Florida teachers unions sued the state on Monday, in an effort to halt next month’s planned restart of classroom instruction.  The lawsuit says classroom instruction poses “imminent threat to the public health, safety and welfare” of its members, students and parents. Citing the state’s position as a leading U.S. coronavirus hot spot, the Florida Education Association (FEA) argued in its lawsuit that in-class instruction violates the state constitution’s guarantee of a “safe” education for children.

The union’s complaint against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and other officials asks the state Circuit Court in Miami-Dade County for an emergency order halting classroom in-class instruction to avoid “irreparable harm.”  The complaint added, “The spread of COVID-19 that will result from the unsafe reopening of schools during the surge is not limited to students, teachers, school administrators, or school staff and will undoubtably spread to their families and communities.”

With new coronavirus infections having topped 10,000 per day for nearly a week, Florida has emerged as one of the country’s epicenters for the pandemic in recent weeks.

Florida’s largest teachers union sues state over reopening schools

Via www.nbcnews.com

07/20/2020 3:46 PM

 

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The attorney suspected of posing as a FedEx delivery man to shoot the husband and son of a New Jersey federal judge Sunday identified himself as an “anti-feminist” and “men’s rights” attorney. 

Roy Den Hollander was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound Sunday night in Liberty, N.Y. the FBI identified him as the man suspected of killing the judge’s son and injuring her husband. The FBI said Den Hollander posed as a deliveryman and fired a weapon into the home of U.S. District Judge Esther Salas, killing her 20-year-old son, Daniel Anderl, and wounding her husband, criminal defense attorney Mark Anderl. Judge Salas was in the basement and was not injured in the shooting. The suspect had appeared before Judge Salas on a case where he argued on behalf of a woman and her daughter who tried to register for the U.S. Selective Service. Salas ruled against Den Hollander’s motions in the case, but allowed other parts of the case to continue. On Den Hollander’s website, now removed, the lawyer posted anti-feminist manifestos including a rant where he disparaged Salas personally, saying he disliked working with female judges of Latin American descent because he claimed they were “driven by an inferiority complex.

Salas’ husband, Mark Anderl, 63, is currently in stable condition after undergoing surgery Sunday evening. Salas, 51, was the first Hispanic woman to serve as a federal judge in New Jersey and she was appointed to the position by President Obama in 2010. She has handled a wide range of high-profile cases, and recently she presided over an ongoing lawsuit brought by Deutsche Bank investors who made numerous allegations including it failed to monitor “high-risk” clients like the late Jeffrey Epstein.

Suspect in federal judge’s home ambush railed against her in misogynistic book

Via www.nbcnews.com

The writings are littered with language common among the most extreme anti-feminist communities…

07/20/2020 5:59 PM

 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved pool testing to detect the novel coronavirus, potentially allowing more Americans to be tested using fewer resources. Quest Diagnostics has been granted an emergency use authorization (EUA) allowing its test to be used with a batch of specimens at a time — up to four different swabs. If the overall sample comes back positive, then the individuals in the pool are retested in order to determine who has COVID-19.

FDA Commissioner Stephen M. Hahn said in a statement: “this EUA for sample pooling is an important step forward in getting more COVID-19 tests to more Americans more quickly while preserving testing supplies. Sample pooling becomes especially important as infection rates decline and we begin testing larger portions of the population.”

The FDA noted that while there’s a possibility that pooling specimens may dilute the virus and therefore may make it harder to identify, however Quest Diagnostics’ validation data showed the test identified all positives within the pooled samples evaluated.

The emergency approval comes as the U.S. saw increases in coronavirus cases. For the second day in a row, cases on Friday rose by at least 70,674 after climbing by a record 77,499 on Thursday, the largest increase posted by any country since the pandemic started.

FDA approves Quest COVID-19 test for ‘pooled’ sample use

Via abcnews.go.com

The Food and Drug Administration has issued an emergency approval a new approach to coronavirus…

07/19/2020 8:14 PM

 

Just weeks after reopening its borders to international visitors, the Bahamas announced on Sunday that it was closing all of its airports and seaports to tourists from the United States, effective Wednesday. 

Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said in a national address Sunday that Bahamasair, the country’s national carrier, will cease all outgoing flights to the United States immediately, Outgoing commercial flights will still be permitted to accommodate visitors scheduled to leave the Bahamas after Wednesday, he said. Visitors from Canada, the United Kingdom and the European Union will still be permitted to visit as long as they can show proof of a negative COVID-19 RT PCR test from an accredited laboratory taken within 10 days of their arrival. Also allowed under the new order: private international flights and charters and pleasure crafts.

On Sunday, the Bahamas Ministry of Health registered 15 new cases of COVID-19, for a total tally of 153 cases, Minnis said. 

The Bahamas to ban most international flights as coronavirus cases surge

Via www.nbcnews.com

“Our current situation demands decisive action, if we are to avoid being overrun and…

07/19/2020 10:02 PM

 

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