Author: CNN

Paris
CNN
 — 

French workers are set to take to the streets Thursday to protest radical reforms to the country’s pension system that, if implemented, will require most people in France to work two years longer before retirement.

Eight of France’s largest unions – covering transportation, education, police, executives and public sectors – called for Thursday to be the “first day of strikes and protests” against the proposed pensions reform.

Widespread strikes are expected, and it may be “a hellish Thursday” on public transport networks, Transport Minister Clement Beaune warned French broadcaster France 2 Tuesday. Paris’ transport authority predicts “very disrupted” service on the city’s transport network.

One in five flights in and out of Paris’ Orly airport will be cancelled for the day, according to France’s civil aviation authority, due to striking air traffic control workers. The authority said that this did not exclude the possibility of further delays and cancellations to the remaining flights.

Some 70% of primary school teachers are also expected to strike across France, according to the main union for this sector, Snuipp-FSU, with one in three primary schools in Paris closed. The Snes-FSU Union said some 50% of secondary school teachers in France will also be on strike.

France’s Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told French radio station RTL Wednesday that more than 10,000 police and gendarmerie officers will be deployed across France Thursday in the face of protests; 3,500 of these will be in Paris.

The government has defended the reforms as a book-balancing and progressive policy change, which will see the pensions deficit brought to heel in 2030.

“If we don’t pass this reform the books will not be balanced, which means that we will have to lower the pensions for retired people or increase the contributions of working people, thus reducing purchasing power of French people,” Government MP Stephanie Rist told CNN Wednesday.

Despite anger on the street, the government – lacking a parliamentary majority – still has a constitutional avenue to crowbar the reforms past lawmakers and into law.

But many have blasted the reforms as ill-timed at best; at worst, an insult to hard-working people in France.

“This reform falls at a moment where there is lots of anger, lots of frustration, lots of fatigue. It’s coming at the worst moment, in fact,” CFE-CGC union chief François Hommeril told CNN Tuesday, pointing to the inflation that has wracked Europe this year following the Covid-19 pandemic.

Government spokesperson Olivier Veran told journalists Wednesday that 40 percent of French workers will be able to leave work before 64 under the proposed regime thanks to exceptions for those who started work early or in physically taxing jobs.

“We have the most protective, the most developed system in Europe,” for pensions, he said, adding, “Even after the reforms, we will retire in France better off and earlier than in almost all eurozone countries.”

Pensions reform has long been a controversial issue in France, with street protests halting reform efforts in 1995, and successive governments facing stiff resistance to reforms that eventually passed in 2004, 2008 and 2010.

CNN
 — 

A Washington court unsealed search warrant documents used to retrieve evidence from the home and office of Bryan Kohberger, the 28-year-old accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November, according to documents made publicly available by Law & Crime Wednesday.

“These warrants and associated applications were sealed, due to the sensitive nature of the investigation at that time. Since then, an extensive probable cause affidavit has been unsealed in Latah County, Idaho, which has alleviated the need for sealing of the Return of Service here in Washington,” the court documents say.

Read the unsealed search warrants in the Bryan Kohberger investigation

Kohberger faces four counts of first-degree murder in the fatal stabbings of Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20.

The suspect was a graduate student at Washington State University’s Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology and lived in Pullman, Washington, at the time of his arrest last month.

Items retrieved from his residence included “a collection of dark red,” cuttings from a pillow of reddish-brown stain, and part of a mattress cover with stains.

Other items listed include a nitrate-type black glove, store receipts and a Dickies tag, several hair strands, dust from a vacuum, a Fire TV stick and a computer tower, among other things.

There is no mention of potential items retrieved from the suspect’s office. It is not yet clear if anything was retrieved, or if information surrounding the execution of that search warrant is still under seal.

The victims were found murdered in an off-campus home November 13, killed with what investigators believe was a knife.

Investigators linked Kohberger to the crime scene after DNA on a tan leather knife sheath found lying next to one of the victims was linked to DNA on trash recovered from Kohberger’s family home, according to the probable-cause affidavit that led to his arrest.

Law enforcement also traced the ownership of a white Hyundai Elantra seen in the area of the killings to Kohberger, according to two law enforcement sources briefed on the investigation.

A judge last week scheduled a preliminary probable cause hearing to begin June 26 after Kohberger waived his right to a speedy hearing. He has been held without bail in the Latah County jail in Idaho since his extradition from Pennsylvania, where he was arrested almost seven weeks after the murders.

Kohberger has not yet entered a plea.

CNN
 — 

A woman and boy were killed by a polar bear that had been chasing residents in a tiny, remote community in Alaska, state troopers said Tuesday.

The bear had chased residents after entering the western Alaska town of Wales before attacking the woman and boy, an Alaska State Troopers dispatch report said.

The bear was shot and killed by another resident as it attacked the two victims, according to the report.

The victims have been identified as Summer Myomick, 24, and her 1-year-old son, Clyde Ongtowasruk, Austin McDaniel, communications director for the Alaska Department of Public Safety, said in a statement Wednesday.

Troopers and Alaska Department of Fish and Game personnel have been working to travel to Wales following the attack, but have been waylaid by weather.

“Poor weather conditions in the region and the lack of runway lights in Wales prevented Troopers and Alaska Department of Fish and Game personnel from making it to Wales,” McDaniel said Wednesday. “Troopers are continuing to make efforts to fly to Wales today.”

Wales is on the coast of western Alaska and has a population of 168, according to the US Census.

Reports of polar bear attacks on humans are extremely rare, a 2017 study published by The Wildlife Society found. “From 1870-2014, we documented 73 attacks by wild polar bears, distributed among the 5 polar bear Range States (Canada, Greenland, Norway, Russia, and United States), which resulted in 20 human fatalities and 63 human injuries,” it found.

But melting ice due to climate change has led to a corresponding change in bear behavior and made human encounters with bears more likely, CNN previously reported.

Residents of Churchill in northern Manitoba, Canada, sometimes called the “polar bear capital of the world,” told CNN in 2021 that bear encounters were becoming more common. Thousands of tourists visit each fall in hopes of catching a glimpse of a bear.

Bear season in the area peaks in October and November, just before Hudson Bay refreezes and bears begin migrating north and congregating near the shore.

In recent decades, bear season has been lasting longer because of climate change, residents say. The ice is melting sooner and freezing later, keeping the bears on land longer.

But attacks on humans remain rare. The last one was in 2013, according to the Reuters news agency, and there hadn’t been a fatal attack since the early 1980s, CNN reported in 2021.

CNN
 — 

If you frequently find yourself stuck in a procrastination loop, there’s a good chance you’re not lazy – but rather, a perfectionist. Oftentimes, perfectionists avoid starting tasks due to a fear of failure or criticism, experts say. You can challenge those beliefs by avoiding all-or-nothing thinking and by setting achievable standards on a daily basis.

Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day.

(You can get “5 Things You Need to Know Today” delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here.)

Ukraine’s interior minister is among at least 16 people killed after a helicopter crashed in a Kyiv suburb today, police said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the crash in Brovary “a terrible tragedy” and ordered officials to “find out all the circumstances” of the incident. This comes as more than 9,000 civilians, including 453 children, have been killed in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began last February, a senior Kyiv official said. On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated that the fastest way to end the war is “to give Ukraine a strong hand on the battlefield,” which is what the US is doing, he said. The White House also teased that an additional aid package for Ukraine could be announced “as soon as the end of this week.”

Senior House Republicans are preparing to hold hearings on the problems at the southern border, which they say could serve as a prelude to an impeachment inquiry against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. It’s exceedingly rare for a Cabinet secretary to be impeached as it has only happened once in US history in 1876. Meanwhile, House committees are forming and some of the awarded seats have drawn the ire of several Democrats. Embattled Rep. George Santos has been awarded seats on two low-level committees, though he is facing growing calls to resign for extensively lying about his resume. Republican Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar also received their committee assignments for the new Congress, after being booted from their committees by Democrats and some Republicans for their incendiary remarks. 

Military veterans can now receive free emergency mental health care, according to an announcement by the Department of Veterans Affairs. The new policy, which went into effect Tuesday, provides inpatient care for “veterans in suicidal crisis” for up to 30 days and outpatient care for up to 90 days at no cost. “This expansion of care will save Veterans’ lives, and there’s nothing more important than that,” VA Secretary for Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough said. The policy will also allow the VA to make “appropriate referrals” after a period of emergency suicide care, determine veterans’ eligibility for other services and benefits from the VA, and refer veterans who received emergency care to other VA programs and benefits.

Covid-19 has killed more than 1 million people in the US since the start of the pandemic, and life expectancy has been cut by nearly 2.5 years since 2020. While data from 2022 suggests that there were significantly fewer Covid-19 deaths in the third year of the pandemic than there were in the first two, experts say the virus will likely remain the third leading cause of death in the US in 2022 for the third year in a row, behind heart disease and cancer. CDC officials have said they are actively working to better develop and deploy rapid response measures to combat the spread of disease outbreaks. A new report, however, argues that the CDC is in “a moment of peril” and a significant reset is necessary to build a “strong, effective, and more accountable” agency.

Microsoft is set to announce thousands of job cuts today, according to multiple news reports, potentially becoming the latest tech company to shrink its workforce. Sources say the reported layoffs could affect roughly 5% of the company’s workforce and largely impact the company’s engineering divisions. Microsoft employs 221,000 people around the world, including 122,000 in the US. Multiple tech companies have made deep cuts to their workforces since the start of the year, as inflation weighs on consumer spending and rising interest rates squeeze funding. The demand for digital services during the pandemic has also waned as more people return to their offline lives.

Brian Walshe, charged with murdering his wife, is expected to appear in court today

Brian Walshe is expected to be arraigned in court today after being charged with murdering his wife Ana Walshe, a Massachusetts mother and corporate real estate manager. The case has captured widespread attention since she was reported missing by her employer at the start of the year. Brian Walshe told police he last saw his wife the morning of January 1 when she left for a work trip. However, searches have uncovered several pieces of potential evidence linking him to the alleged crime, law enforcement sources told CNN. The couple’s three children, all between the ages of 2 and 6, are now in the custody of the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families.

Documents show employer reported Ana Walshe missing, not her husband

Madonna’s star-studded tour announcement

Get ready for decades worth of Madonna’s hits and more shocking outfits, of course! The singer will stop in these cities for her upcoming global tour.

Clumsy pandas capture hearts on livestream

Click here to watch cute pandas give their handlers a giant headache. It’s quite literally panda-monium.

Actor Jeremy Renner released from hospital after snowplow accident

Fans were happy to learn that the Marvel star is now home after a snowplow accident left him in critical condition and hospitalized for weeks.

Biden welcomes the Golden State Warriors back to the White House

The 2022 NBA champions returned to the building for the first time since a high-profile clash with former President Donald Trump. See photos here.

Lisa Marie Presley’s memorial to be held at Graceland

A memorial has been planned at Graceland for Lisa Marie Presley, the only child of Elvis. The family’s estate said the public is invited to attend.

French nun Sister André, the world’s oldest known person, died on Tuesday in the southern city of Toulon, France, her spokesperson announced. She was 118. Born as Lucile Randon on February 11, 1904, Sister André dedicated most of her life to religious service and was the oldest nun to ever live, according to the Guinness World Records.

$20 million

That’s how much ousted Disney CEO Bob Chapek will receive in exit pay following a tumultuous two-year stint at the company, according to a regulatory filing Tuesday. The hefty payout is in addition to the $24 million he made last year – his $2.5 million base salary plus millions in stock options and awards. Chapek was replaced by his predecessor, Bob Iger, who retired in 2020 and returned in 2022 to retake the reins.

“This type of radicalism is a threat to our nation.”

– Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller, after a former Republican candidate for New Mexico’s legislature was arrested in connection with shootings at the homes of Democratic leaders. Solomon Peña, who lost a 2022 run for state House District 14, is accused of paying and conspiring with four men to shoot at the homes of two state legislators and two county commissioners, and trying to participate in at least one of the shootings himself, police said. He was arrested by a police SWAT team Monday.

Check your local forecast here>>>

Inside the Museum of Illusions

Take a virtual browse through the Museum of Illusions in New York City. Your brain may be tricked by some of the interactive exhibits! (Click here to view)

CNN
 — 

The US is expected to announce one of its largest military aid packages for Ukraine in the coming days, according to two US officials familiar with the plans. But Kyiv has been pleading for modern tanks, a request the US is not yet willing to grant, despite the United Kingdom and Poland saying they will.

So far the US has appeared resistant to sending them, even though the UK and other key allies are preparing to send tanks that could make a crucial difference in the war as Kyiv braces for a possible large-scale Russian counter-offensive.

The UK has already announced it will send 12 of their Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine, heralding a new phase in the international effort to arm Kyiv and cross what had previously appeared to be a red line for the US and its European allies.

Earlier this month, Polish President Andrzej Duda said his country would provide Ukraine with a company of Leopard tanks, while Finland said tanks are under consideration.

The US, which has led the way on providing military aid to Ukraine to combat’s Russia’s invasion, now appears more cautious than key allies, even as it has far outpaced other countries in sending aid to Ukraine.

The largest US security package to date, announced earlier this month, totaled more than $3 billion and included the first shipment of Bradley infantry fighting vehicles. The previous largest package was $1.85 billion and was announced in late December.

Tanks represent the most powerful direct offensive weapon provided to Ukraine so far, a heavily armed and armored system designed to meet the enemy head on instead of firing from a distance. If used properly with the necessary training, they could allow Ukraine to retake territory against Russian forces that have had time to dig defensive lines. The US has begun supplying refurbished Soviet-era T-72 tanks, but modern western tanks are a generation ahead in terms of their ability to target enemy positions.

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said on Tuesday that the UK decided to “intensify our support” for the Ukrainians by sending tanks and other heavy equipment because they want to send “a really clear message” to Russian President Vladimir Putin that they will support Ukraine until they are “victorious.”

“It’s in no one’s interest for this to be a long, drawn out, attritional war,” Cleverly said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “I mean, we seeing terrible images of civilian infrastructure, residential buildings being hit by missiles, women, children being killed, bodies being taken out of collapsed buildings. We cannot allow that to go on any longer than is absolutely necessary … So the moral imperative is to bring this to a conclusion.”

Ukraine has been asking for such tanks since nearly the start of Russia’s invasion. President Volodymyr Zelensky famously asked for “1%” of NATO’s tanks in April, but it was a weapon the West was not willing to seriously consider amid concerns of managing escalation with Russia and the time it takes to train tank operators and maintainers.

Despite Britain’s change of heart, the US has not shown any indication that it’s preparing to send its M-1 Abrams tank. It has acknowledged a willingness to consider sending modern tanks, but they have been floated as a long-term option. But critics say the time is now as Ukraine braces for the possibility Russia will mobilize more troops and launch a new offensive. It would take weeks to train Ukrainian troops to use the Abrams effectively, so the window for a spring deployment is closing rapidly.

Retired Army Gen. Robert Abrams – the former commander of US Forces Korea whose father was the namesake for the tank – told CNN that “the longer we delay a decision, and the longer we slow-roll this, we’re taking away valuable time.”

“If in the end, five months from now we say, ‘Okay fine, we’re going to give them some M1 tanks, choose your variety’ – we’ve just lost five months of prep time. So the politics decision actually has to come sooner rather than later,” he said.

On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the support Washington has provided to Kyiv has evolved throughout the course of the war and teased more announcements as he reiterated that the United States is determined to give Ukraine “what it needs to succeed on the battlefield.”

Speaking alongside Cleverly, Blinken praised the UK’s decision to send tanks. “We applaud the prime minister’s commitment over the weekend to send Challenger 2 tanks and additional artillery systems to Ukraine, elements that will continue to reinforce and add to what the United States has provided, including in our most recent drawdown.”

But so far, no US official has signaled the administration is likely to change its mind and send American tanks.

The Pentagon says it’s not a question of managing escalation with Russia or questions over heavy US weaponry falling into Russian hands. The concern is how difficult it is to operate and maintain the Abrams tank and whether the 70-ton tank would work for Ukrainian forces.

“It is a very, very different system than the generation of tank they’re currently operating,” said retired Army Maj. Gen. Patrick Donahoe, former commander of the Army’s Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, Georgia. “So we would have to go through a sizeable training program with their Army. It would not be something that you can just, ‘Hey we field Abrams to you today and you’re fighting with it tomorrow.’ That’s not even in the realm of the possible.”

Similar to the Patriot missile system training that Ukrainians are now beginning in Oklahoma, the Abrams tank would not be an overnight fix – on top of significant maintenance and logistics challenges, Ukrainians would also need to undergo more training to learn how to use and maintain the Abrams.

Recent announcements show how far the US and its allies have come within a short period, from a focus on the HIMARS and howitzers they have already provided to heavy armor, marking a “substantive” change in the types of offensive weaponry heading for Ukraine that will give their military “much more capability.”

“We are attempting to help Ukraine transform as fast as they can into better, capable, newer advanced weapons systems that are more deadly on the battlefield,” said retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling. But he warned that such an effort requires a massive military infrastructure to support it with people, parts and supplies in place.

Only days earlier, before Poland said it would send tanks, the US announced that it would ship Ukraine Bradley infantry fighting vehicles for the first time – not tanks, but “tank killers,” the Pentagon said – as France and Germany promised to send own their versions of the armored vehicle.

The coordinated announcements from Washington and Berlin, as well as the Paris announcement shortly thereafter, underscore how the US and its NATO allies have moved forward largely in unison on the issue of advanced and heavy weaponry. Instead of a single country unilaterally stepping out far ahead of others, the alliance has stayed in close coordination, using the monthly Ukraine Contact Group meetings to find and organize shipments of weapons.

All eyes will be on the next such meeting, occurring in Germany on Friday, as top officials meet to discuss what else should be provided to the embattled country.

The UK can send its Challenger 2 tank to Ukraine on its own, but Poland acknowledged it requires approval from Berlin before exporting its German-made Leopard tanks. A spokeswoman for Germany’s government, Christiane Hoffmann, said last week they had received no such request from Poland or Finland. Hoffmann added that Germany is in close contact with the US, France, the UK, Poland and Spain about ongoing military assistance to Ukraine.

Germany on Tuesday signaled a reluctance to approving the shipments unless the US sends its own tanks.

“We are never going alone, because this is necessary in a very difficult situation like this,” said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

If Germany offered approval for countries to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine, it would open up a previously off-limits cache of potential arms for Kyiv. About a dozen European countries operate the Leopard, which could provide Ukraine with an abundance of potential ammo and spare parts, as well as additional tanks once Ukrainian forces become familiar with the Leopard.

While the Ukrainians welcomed the UK’s decision to send Challenger 2 tanks, experts cautioned that too many tank variants would only stretch Ukraine thinner on its ability to maintain them.

“The more variations of tanks that you put into the Ukrainian Army, it’s going to challenge their logistics more and more,” said Donahoe. “I mean the Challenger is a completely different system than the [US-made] Abrams and a completely different system than the Leopard … There’s significant challenges with them integrating Challenger as well if they’re going to get more variants of other westerns [main battle tanks].”

London
CNN
 — 

Global oil demand is expected to hit its highest-ever level this year on the back of China’s swift reopening of its economy.

Oil demand could surge by 1.9 million barrels per day to reach a record 101.7 million barrels per day, the International Energy Agency said in its latest monthly report, released Wednesday.

“China will drive nearly half this global demand growth even as the shape and speed of its reopening remains uncertain,” the IEA said.

Beijing began to dismantle its strict zero-Covid policy in December, paving the way for a rebound in travel, trade and business activity across the world’s second-biggest economy. Most economists expect growth to remain sluggish in the first quarter of 2023 before picking up over the rest of the year.

The rebound in Chinese demand could lead to a tighter global oil market as the “full impact” of Western sanctions on Russian oil starts to bite, the IEA said in the report.

The Paris-based agency said that oil exports from Russia dropped by 200,000 barrels per day on average in December from the previous month after the European Union imposed a ban on imports of Moscow’s crude and G7 nations imposed a cap on the price at which the fuel could be traded.

Prices for Brent crude, the global benchmark, tumbled last year after hitting a 14-year high of $139 a barrel in early March after Russia invaded Ukraine. Prices started to recover in early December, and ticked up 1.7% on Wednesday to hit $87 a barrel.

Where prices could go next is unclear. The IEA said there was a “high degree of uncertainty” over its outlook. Despite an expected drop in supply from Russia, global oil inventories are at their highest levels since October 2021.

A boom in demand for electric vehicles and countries’ efforts to become more energy efficient could also help temper demand, the agency said.

“Measures like these are especially vital in a supply-constrained oil market,” it added.

The IEA’s forecasts come as business leaders express cautious optimism that the world can avoid a recession in 2023, after months of gloomy forecasts about the economic outlook.

That’s thanks in large part to China, whose reopening is expected to unleash a wave of spending that may offset economic weakness in the United States and Europe.

Earlier this month, the International Monetary Fund said that about one third of the world economy would this year likely fall into recession — typically defined as two or more consecutive quarters of declining growth.

In November, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies started slashing their oil output by 2 million barrels per day, a policy set to continue through 2023, as it forecast a drop in demand.

— Julia Horowitz contributed reporting.

CNN
 — 

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is in “a moment of peril” and a “strong, effective, and more accountable” agency is an urgent matter of national security, according to a new report from the Center for Strategic & International Studies’ (CSIS) Commission on Strengthening America’s Health Security.

“This report argues that a significant reset of the CDC is necessary – and possible – if carried out through building actionable recommendations across branches of government and across party lines,” Katherine Bliss, a senior fellow at CSIS, a Washington think tank, said during an event on Tuesday marking the report’s release. The event included CSIS experts, elected officials and public health experts, including past leaders of the CDC.

Reshaping the CDC will need to be a joint effort with the agency’s leaders and the federal government, the report says. It outlines a number of recommendations for the CDC to regain the public’s trust and to become more flexible and accountable, Bliss said.

According to the report, the CDC needs to strengthen its global work in order to detect and prepare for new epidemic threats, improve its data collection process, and it needs to be able to move money in its budget to respond to crises.

“The big picture here is, we all see the need for a reset of the agency. Some of the reset has to be structural, some of it needs to be activity that only Congress can really manage and that has to do with how the budget is structured, the size and scope of the budget and the flexibilities or lack thereof,” said Julie Gerberding, who was the CDC director from 2002 to 2009, and is co-chair of the CSIS Commission on Strengthening America’s Health Security. “And some of it has to do with, I think, modernization – really looking at how the CDC can take advantage of data science and the opportunities to build better data systems, more interoperable data systems and really complete the trajectory that they’ve already started with the data modernization act.”

In August, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walenksy laid out plans to overhaul the agency and create a “public health action-oriented culture at CDC that emphasizes accountability, collaboration, communication, and timeliness” after a sweeping review of the agency’s structures and systems.

She said she would ask Congress to grant the agency new powers, including mandating that jurisdictions share their data and for new flexibilities in the agency’s funding, which would allow the CDC to better respond to public health emergencies.

Walensky and other CDC senior leaders met with the CSIS commission’s working group to help explain what they learned from their own internal review, Gerberding said.

CNN has reached out to the CDC for comment about the report.

The working group also took issue with the CDC’s Atlanta headquarters, saying it limits access to policymakers.

Gerberding said a bigger presence in Washington, D.C., is important.

“If you want to play, you gotta be in the game and the game is not played in Atlanta, unless, you know, you’re a fan of the baseball team there,” she said.

But ultimately, the working group said, the CDC has faced a lot of pressure and challenges over the last three years during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I do really want to emphasize that while there is substantial opportunity here for evolution, modernization and performance improvement at the CDC, it has also done a lot of things well and we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that in the midst of a pandemic there were many other public health activities going on. CDC teams were deployed all over the United States and internationally to assist with local response efforts. The CDC Foundation stepped up and engaged some 3,000 or more people to help the workforce shortages and so forth,” Gerberding said. “So there were a lot of very positive things that happened and we need to make sure that we don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater here when we’re looking at the really critical things that need to be fixed, but also to appreciate and respect what our public health system has been able to accomplish for the past three years.”

“There’s a lot of incredible talent, passion and capability at the CDC and, you know, I’ve seen them do miracles,” she added.

CNN
 — 

Here’s a look at the life of Charles Taylor, former president of Liberia and convicted war criminal.

Birth date: January 28, 1948

Birth place: Arthington, Liberia

Birth name: Charles Taylor

Father: Nelson Taylor, judge

Mother: Zoe Taylor

Marriages: Victoria Addison-Taylor (unknown-present); Jewel (Howard) Taylor (1997-2006, divorced)

Children: with Victoria Addison-Taylor: three girls; with Jewel (Howard) Taylor: McArthur Taylor. It is reported that Taylor has several other children.

Education: Bentley College, Massachusetts, BA Economics,1977

Taylor stole or diverted nearly $100 million of Liberia’s funds while in power, according to the New York Times. Taylor used the money to buy houses, cars and illegal weapons while fighting the civil war.

1972 – Moves to the United States to study.

1980 – Returns to Liberia and joins the administration of Samuel Doe, who comes into power after a coup.

May 1983 – Flees to the United States after Doe accuses Taylor of corruption and stealing over $900,000 from the Liberian government.

May 1984 – Is arrested in Boston. The court holds him to wait for extradition orders from the Liberian government.

1985 – Escapes from jail. Authorities believe he crosses into Mexico and then heads to Libya where Colonel Moammar Gadhafi gives him asylum.

1989 – While in Libya, Taylor forms the militia group National Patriotic Front of Liberia.

1990-1996 – A civil war is fought in Liberia. More than 150,000 people are killed and more than half of the population become refugees.

1996 – A peace pact brokered by the international community calls for elections.

July 19, 1997 – Taylor is elected president of Liberia in a special election.

2000 – Rebels in Liberia begin a struggle against Taylor’s government.

June 4, 2003 – Taylor is indicted for crimes against humanity by a United Nations court. Charges include murder, enslavement and the recruitment of child soldiers.

June 6, 2003 – Rebels advance into Monrovia, the capital of Liberia.

June 2003 – US President George W. Bush makes a statement asking Taylor to step down for the good of the Liberian people.

August 7, 2003 – Taylor submits his letter of resignation.

August 11, 2003 – Steps down as president, hands over power to Vice President Moses Blah and leaves for Nigeria, where he is granted asylum.

December 4, 2003 – Interpol puts out a global arrest warrant for Taylor.

March 16, 2006 – The indictment against Taylor is amended and reduced to 11 counts.

March 29, 2006 – Taylor is recaptured and taken into custody by border guards in northern Nigeria as he tried to leave the country with his wife.

April 3, 2006 – Taylor appears at a UN-backed tribunal in Sierra Leone and pleads not guilty to 11 war crimes charges.

June 20, 2006 – Taylor is transferred to The Hague in the Netherlands for trial.

June 4, 2007 – Taylor boycotts the opening of his trial, calling it a “charade” in a letter read by his attorney.

January 7, 2008 – Taylor appears in court as his war crimes trial resumes.

June 2010 – The prosecution, which rested its case against Taylor in 2009, asks to reopen its case. This is done to allow for the testimony of model Naomi Campbell and actress Mia Farrow regarding “blood diamonds” that Taylor may have given Campbell in 1997.

March 11, 2011 – Taylor’s trial concludes.

April 26, 2012 – Taylor is found guilty of aiding and abetting war crimes in Sierra Leone.

May 16, 2012 – At a sentencing hearing, Taylor says that terrible things happened in Sierra Leone, for which there can be no justification, but his role in the conflict was much different than represented. “I pushed the peace process hard, contrary to how I have been portrayed in this court.”

May 30, 2012 – Taylor is sentenced to 50 years in prison.

January 22, 2013 – Taylor’s lawyers argue an appeal of Taylor’s conviction for war crimes.

September 26, 2013 – Taylor’s appeal is dismissed, his sentence stands.

September 8, 2020 – Taylor’s request to transfer to a prison outside of the UK over Covid-19 fears is denied.

October 2021 – Taylor files a lawsuit against the Liberian government over its refusal to pay his retirement and pension benefits since he resigned in 2003.

CNN
 — 

Leslie Jones is taking a seat at “The Daily Show” desk.

The “Saturday Night Live” alum will start a temporary stint as host of “The Daily Show” this week, saying she’ll bring her trademark “vulnerable honesty” to the job.

“I’m not Jon Stewart. I’m not Trevor Noah, I’m Leslie Jones. So I’ll be bringing that vulnerable honesty,” Jones quipped about the gig. “No assignment to me is ever different. It’s always them asking for me. Pretty much what I come to deliver is me. So it’s not really too much different than when I used to do, updates at ‘SNL’ or doing standup, you know? It’s all talking.”

Jones will host Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday on the Comedy Central show. She also hosts ABC’s game show reboot of “Supermarket Sweep.”

Others set to guest host are Al Franken, Chelsea Handler, D. L. Hughley, Leslie Jones, John Leguizamo, Hasan Minhaj, Kal Penn, Sarah Silverman, Wanda Sykes and Marlon Wayans.

Trevor Noah announced he was departing “The Daily Show” last year. Before Noah, the show was first hosted by Craig Kilborn, then Jon Stewart.

A new permanent host has not yet been named.

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A search and rescue operation has been underway in Nepal following a deadly plane crash that once again highlights the dangers of air travel in a country often referred to as one of the riskiest places to fly.

Of 72 people on board, at least 69 were killed and their bodies recovered after a Yeti Airlines flight crashed near the city of Pokhara Sunday.

Hundreds of emergency personnel on Monday took part in the search and recovery mission, which has been paused and will resume on Tuesday morning, Nepal Army spokesperson Krishna Prasad Bhandari said.

Kaski District Police Chief Superintendent Ajay KC said earlier Monday that the chance of finding survivors was “extremely low” as workers used a crane to pull bodies from the gorge.

Forty-one victims have now been identified, according to the airline. Their remains will be handed over to their family members, airline officials and local police said.

The autopsies were delayed because a team of forensic experts didn’t reach Pokhara until Monday afternoon local time.

Two South Korean citizens are presumed to be among those killed in the crash, based on their belongings, according to South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Nepali authorities said the bodies presumed to be foreigners would be taken to Kathmandu where they will go through the necessary inspections and be identified.

The crash is the worst air disaster in the Himalayan nation in 30 years. It is also the third-worst aviation accident in Nepal’s history, according to data from the Aviation Safety Network.

Experts say conditions such as inclement weather, low visibility and mountainous topography all contribute to Nepal’s reputation as notoriously dangerous for aviation.

The Yeti Airlines flight Sunday had nearly finished its short journey from the capital Kathmandu to Pokhara when it lost contact with a control tower. Some 15 foreign nationals were aboard, according to the country’s civil aviation authority.

The pilot of the downed flight had lost her husband – a co-pilot for the same airline – in a similar crash in 2006, according to a Yeti Airlines spokesperson.

Anju Khatiwada had decided to become a pilot after the death of husband, Dipak Pokhrel, and used the insurance payout money to travel to the US for her training, Sudarshan Bartaula told CNN. She had been with the airline since 2010 and had more than 6,300 hours of flight experience.

“She was a brave woman with all the courage and determination. She’s left us too soon,” he said.

Khatiwada was a captain and was flying with an instructor pilot for additional training at the time of the crash, Bartaula added.

Pokhara, a lakeside city, is a popular tourist destination and gateway to the Himalayas. It serves as the starting point for the famous Annapurna Circuit trekking route, with more than 181,000 foreigners visiting the area in 2019.

A government committee is now investigating the cause of the crash, with assistance from French authorities. The Yeti Airlines plane was manufactured by aerospace company ATR, headquartered in France.

The plane’s black box, which records flight data, was recovered on Monday and would be handed to the civil aviation authority, officials said.

Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority said all ATR-42 and ATR-47 aircraft in the country were inspected following the Yeti Airlines crash and no mechanical issues were found.

Fickle weather patterns aren’t the only problem for flight operations. According to a 2019 safety report from Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority, the country’s “hostile topography” is also part of the “huge challenge” facing pilots.

Nepal, a country of 29 million people, is home to eight of the world’s 14 highest mountains, including Everest, and its beautiful rugged landscapes make it a popular tourist destination for trekkers.

But this terrain can be difficult to navigate from the air, particularly during bad weather, and things are made worse by the need to use small aircraft to access the more remote and mountainous parts of the country.

Aircraft with 19 seats or fewer are more likely to have accidents due to these challenges, the Civil Aviation Authority report said.

Kathmandu is Nepal’s primary transit hub, from where many of these small flights leave.

The airport in the town of Lukla, in northeastern Nepal, is often referred to as the world’s most dangerous airport. Known as the gateway to Everest, the airport’s runway is laid out on a cliffside between mountains, dropping straight into an abyss at the end. It has seen multiple fatal crashes over the years, including in 2008 and 2019.

A lack of investment in aging aircraft only adds to the flying risks.

In 2015, the International Civil Aviation Organization, a United Nations agency, prioritized helping Nepal through its Aviation Safety Implementation Assistance Partnership. Two years later, the ICAO and Nepal announced a partnership to resolve safety concerns.

While the country has in recent years made improvements in its safety standards, challenges remain.

In May 2022, a Tara Air flight departing from Pokhara crashed into a mountain, killing 22 people.

In early 2018, a US-Bangla Airlines flight from Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka to Kathmandu crashed on landing and caught fire, killing 51 of the 71 people on board.

And in 2016, a Tara Air flight crashed while flying the same route as the aircraft that was lost Sunday. That incident involved a recently acquired Twin Otter aircraft flying in clear conditions.