Author: CNN

CNN
 — 

Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin is awake in a Cincinnati hospital, appears neurologically intact and is moving his hands and feet, doctors said Thursday, news that has drawn relief and joy from supporters nationwide days after the 24-year-old’s in-game cardiac arrest.

And his first question upon awakening?

“Did we win?” Hamlin scribbled on a clipboard, according to Dr. Timothy Pritts, vice chair for clinical operations at UC Health.

“Yes, Damar, you won. You’ve won the game of life,” Pritts said at a news conference in Cincinnati, paraphrasing the response of one of his medical partners.

Hamlin, who can communicate by writing but isn’t yet speaking because he still is on a ventilator, collapsed during the first quarter of the Bills game Monday at Cincinnati, a contest that was postponed, then canceled by the NFL on Thursday night. League officials will lead a meeting Friday with all NFL teams to discuss a proposal for playoff options.

As his Bills teammates prepare for Sunday’s game, Hamlin has been communicating with yes and no answers by shaking his head, nodding or writing brief notes, Pritts said.

“So, we know that it’s not only that the lights are on, we know that he’s home. And that it appears all cylinders are firing within his brain,” Pritts said.

Hamlin has been treated at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center since being taken from the field Monday night.

Associates of Hamlin, who had been sedated, spread news Thursday morning that he had awoken, though details of precisely when he awoke weren’t immediately available. He had been holding hands with family in the hospital, his agent Ron Butler told CNN on Thursday.

Hamlin still is critically ill, but his condition has improved substantially in the past 24 hours, and “it appears his neurological condition and function is intact,” Pritts said Thursday afternoon.

“This marks a really good turning point in his ongoing care,” he said. “There are many, many steps still ahead of him. From our standpoint, we would like to see him continue to improve, to be completely breathing on his own and to be ready to be discharged from the hospital.”

Hamlin was resuscitated and intubated on the field, according to Dr. William Knight IV, a professor with the University of Cincinnati’s department of emergency medicine.

Assistant athletic trainer Denny Kellington was the person who did on-field CPR, Buffalo Bills offensive lineman Dion Dawkins tweeted Thursday. Kellington saved Hamlin’s life, Bills coach Sean McDermott said.

“As they say, practice pays off, and it did in this case,” McDermott said at a post-practice news conference devoted to Hamlin. “But again, the context of it, for an assistant to find himself at that position and needing to take the action that he did and step up and take charge like he did – and there were others on the field as well – is nothing short of amazing and (the) courage that took, you talk about a real leader, a real hero, in saving Damar’s life.”

It is still unclear what caused Hamlin’s cardiac arrest, and the NFL will investigate what could have led to it, its Chief Medical Officer Dr. Allen Sills said Wednesday.

Thursday’s news drew celebration from Hamlin’s teammates, players around the league and beyond, including a tweet from President Joe Biden.

“We heard that news this morning and there’s nothing that coulda been told to us to bring our day down,” Bills quarterback Josh Allen, who choked up when talking about watching Hamlin go down, said at the Thursday news conference. “We’re extremely happy for him and his family.

“We just want to, we just want to love up on him, so the next chance we get, I don’t know when it’s gonna be, if we get to see him any time soon, it’s gonna be awesome.”

Cincinnati Bengals receiver Tee Higgins, whom Hamlin tackled before collapsing, told reporters he spoke with Hamlin’s mother Thursday morning and she told him he’s OK, according to CNN affiliate WXIX.

Knowing of Hamlin’s medical progress “makes me feel better inside,” he said.

Biden said this: “Great news. Damar, like I told your mom and dad yesterday, Jill and I – along with all of America – are praying for you and your family.”

Details about Hamlin’s condition emerged as NFL players contemplate an emotional return to the field this weekend, with all 32 teams set for their final scheduled regular-season games this Saturday and Sunday.

The Bills and Bengals will head into the playoffs having played one fewer game than other teams in the American Football Conference.

“As we considered the football schedule, our principles have been to limit disruption across the league and minimize competitive inequities,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said. “I recognize that there is no perfect solution.”

At Friday’s meeting with the teams, league officials will discuss a two-part proposal for playoff options, including the possibility of holding the AFC Championship game at a neutral site. The NFL’s proposal would apply “if the participating teams played an unequal number of games and both could have been the number one seed and hosted the game had all AFC clubs played a full 17-game regular season.”

There are three scenarios that would necessitate a neutral site, the NFL said. The other part of the proposal involves the Bengals’ playoff path should they lose Sunday to Baltimore.

“The proposal we are asking the ownership to consider, however, addresses the most significant potential equitable issues created by the difficult, but necessary, decision not to play the game under these extraordinary circumstances,” Goodell said.

The Bills, scheduled to host the Patriots on Sunday, met Wednesday for a walk-through and held their first full practice of the week Thursday. Players – already reeling from last year’s racist mass shooting and the recent deadly blizzard in their hometown – had a Zoom call Wednesday with Hamlin’s father, Mario Hamlin, who said his son was making progress, a source in the Bills organization told CNN on Thursday.

Having Hamlin’s father talk to the team helped them turn their focus back to football, McDermott said. And “the news today, as Josh alluded to, was a huge help to getting us back to focused on the game this weekend,” he told reporters at Thursday’s news conference.

Since his hospitalization, Hamlin has gotten a nationwide outpouring of support from fans and players across pro sports, including more than $7 million donated to his foundation’s toy drive GoFundMe as of Thursday morning. Several athletes have donned Hamlin’s No. 3 or his jersey while teams have honored him through Jumbotron messages and light displays at their stadiums.

Bills jerseys with Hamlin’s name and No. 3 are the biggest sellers across all sports, said a spokesperson for Fanatics, a company that sells licensed team merchandise. The company, the NFL and the players’ union will donate all proceeds from jersey sales to Hamlin’s charity, Fanatics’ co-chair Michael Rubin tweeted Tuesday.

Hamlin collapsed shortly after a collision in which Higgins, the Bengals receiver, tried to power past Hamlin, who’d approached for a tackle, with about six minutes remaining in the first quarter of Monday’s game. Hamlin still twisted Higgins to the ground and stood up – but within seconds fell and lay motionless.

His heartbeat was restored on the field, the Bills have said, before he was ferried from the stadium in an ambulance while stunned and visibly emotional players and fans looked on.

Hamlin not only was sedated but was on a ventilator and also was “flipped over on his stomach” in the hospital to help relieve some of the strain on his lungs, which were damaged, his uncle Dorrian Glenn told CNN on Tuesday. Details about what ailed Hamlin’s lungs weren’t available.

Before news spread Thursday that Hamlin was alert, some in the league had been openly assessing their readiness to play this weekend.

Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow told reporters Wednesday he “probably wants to play” Sunday’s Bengals-Ravens game, but there may be others who don’t.

“I’m sure if you polled the locker room, there’d be mixed votes on that,” Burrow said. “Personally, I think playing is going to be tough … I think getting back to as normal as you can as fast as you can is personally how I kind of deal with these kinds of things. But … everyone has a different way of dealing with it.”

Among those who rushed to the Cincinnati hospital after Hamlin collapsed was Indianapolis Colts safety Rodney Thomas II, one of Hamlin’s childhood friends. Thomas visited while Hamlin was sedated and intubated this week, he said.

There is “no doubt in my mind” Hamlin will recover, Thomas told reporters Wednesday.

“I know he could hear me,” Thomas said, adding he held Hamlin’s hand. “Even if he couldn’t hear me, it didn’t matter. I said what I had to say.”

“Just basically (I said) that I love him, and I’ve got his back, and I’ll see him in a little bit,” Thomas added Thursday to “CNN This Morning” before news circulated that Hamlin was awake.

Hamlin and Thomas, who became close friends as high school teammates in Pittsburgh, spoke daily and had talked Monday before Hamlin’s collapse. Seeing his friend soon after the in-game incident “calmed me way down,” Thomas said Wednesday. “It made the trip home a lot easier. I could go home and know he’s gonna be straight. I got him. We all got him. Everybody’s behind him.”

Thomas, whose Colts host the Texans on Sunday, said each team needs to “trust that everybody would just make the best decision moving forward, whether that’s playing, whether that’s not playing.”

“Player-wise … just the world in general, we’re all just one heartbeat right now … all waiting for Damar just to get healthy,” Thomas told CNN Thursday.

Sills, the NFL’s top doctor, on Wednesday addressed theories that Hamlin’s cardiac arrest could have been caused by commotio cordis, which occurs when severe trauma to the chest disrupts the heart’s electrical charge, causing dangerous fibrillations.

“You have to have the right type of blow hitting at the right spot on the chest with the right amount of force at just the right time in that cardiac cycle,” he said in Wednesday’s call with reporters. “So, a lot of things have to line up for that to happen,” he said, emphasizing that while it is possible, investigators will consider all options.

Any time a player is taken off the field by medical staff, the NFL and its medical experts perform a detailed review of what happened, Sills said. They also examine the role protective equipment may have played, he said.

In some cases, the medical team will not be able to determine what caused the problem, Sills said.

Sills attributed the “transformational response” of medical personnel when Hamlin collapsed to a “60-minute meeting” that is held among medical teams and NFL officials before every game. During the meeting, teams identify the location of medical equipment and nearby medical centers, and establish a chain of command in case of an emergency, including cardiac arrest, among other things.

Hamlin’s collapse is the latest in a string of recent tragedies to have struck the community of Buffalo and its beloved football team, including a racist mass shooting and a historic blizzard that left at least 41 people dead in Erie County, New York.

A high-ranking official within the Bills organization told CNN’s Coy Wire that they broke down in tears after day and night-long meetings on Tuesday, sobbing because of the heaviness of the situation.

The series of difficult blows to Buffalo have emotionally piled up within the organization, the source said, adding that through it all, the team has tried to be a source of strength for the city.

The performance of Buffalo Sabres hockey forward Tage Thompson on Tuesday night was a “glimmer of hope” at a time when the team needs inspiration, the source said.

Hamlin’s jersey No. 3, was a recurring motif throughout the game, played on January 3. Thompson’s three goals during overtime brought the Sabres a win. It was Thompson’s third hat trick of the season and his third goal came fortuitously in the third minute of overtime.

The Sabres also wore “Love for 3” T-shirts honoring Hamlin before the game.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled Hamlin’s agent Ron Butler’s first name.

Feature · arts

A portrait of one of the few young, female truckers in France

Amélie, 23, drives a route between France and Spain twice a week. Her truck is an important part of her identity — which photographer Yohanne Lamoulère captured in this portrait.

Amélie and Jéremy, photographed in August 2021. Amélie is one of the few female truck drivers in France. Credit: Yohanne Lamoulère/Forum Vies Mobiles/Tendance Floue

A young couple embraces in front of the grill of a 750-horsepower Volvo truck, their cream and beige ensembles matching the commercial vehicle’s slick exterior. They pose for the camera, her face partially obscured by the playful roundness of her pantsuit’s tulle shoulder pouf.

Amélie works for her family’s transport company. At the time photographer Yohanne Lamoulère met her in 2019, she was driving from Arles to Castellón, Spain, and back at least twice a week, Lamoulère explained over email. The busy route is around 850 miles, or roughly 1365 kilometers total.

The company was founded by her grandfather and employs many of her family members in various capacities, as well as her former partner, Jérémy, pictured with her above.

They were newly engaged in the photograph, taken in August 2021, but have since ended their relationship.

A sense of drive

Lamoulère’s work often explores life on the outskirts of major French cities, and the aspirations of the people who live there. The photographer, whose uncle is also a trucker, met Amélie at a truck show in southeastern France where drivers decorate their vehicles for a competition. She was drawn to the younger girl’s sense of determination and drive. Amélie had left her cosmetology studies to pursue a career in trucking, following in her father and grandfather’s footsteps.

“Amélie is a very organized girl. When I met her, she was only 20 years old and already described her life in a very planned, constructed way,” Lamoulère said. “She is also wildly free-spirited and very amusing.”

Though Lamoulère photographed Amélie’s life at various points over a period of two years, this snap was particularly momentous: During her sister Lucie’s farmhouse wedding — with an all-white dress code and the family trucks included in the wedding procession — Jérémy and Lucie conspired to surprise Amélie: in lieu of the traditional bouquet toss, Lucie handed it directly to Amélie, and Jérémy proposed.

Lamoulère then shot her portrait of the newly-engaged couple in front of Amélie’s truck, the bouquet placed on the dashboard above their heads.

The image is part of the series, “Les Vies qu’on mène,” or “The Lives We Lead,” by the French photography collective Tendance Floue. The body of work, about daily life around France, has been made into both a book of the same name and an exhibition in Paris at Cité Internationale des Arts. It was also shown at the international photography fair Paris Photo in the fall.

Though the couple is no longer together, Lamoulère loves the portrait for its emotional resonance, as well as for its embodiment of Amélie’s independent spirit. She said it’s rare to see a young woman “aboard monsters like Amélie’s truck” and finds it “very beautiful” to see her forge her own path. For the trucking industry to survive, more people like Amélie will need to fill the drivers’ seats.

CNN
 — 

The suspect charged with murder in the death of Migos member Takeoff posted the $1 million bond set for him and was released from jail Tuesday, according to CNN affiliate KPRC.

In December, Harris County Judge Josh Hill kept Patrick Xavier Clark’s bond at $1 million, denying a reduction, reasoning that Clark may be a flight risk.

“Neither Patrick nor his family posted the bond in this case. A concerned citizen and family friend who believes in Patrick’s innocence posted the bond on his behalf,” his attorney Letitia Quinones said in a statement.

Clark “intends to comply fully” with the terms laid out by the court, Quinones said, and “will appear for proceedings whenever the court requires him to do so.”

“We believe Patrick is innocent and at the appropriate time, the evidence will reveal that to be the case,” Quinones said.

Clark, 33, was arrested early December on the east side of Houston, one month after Takeoff was shot and killed outside a business after a private event.

Takeoff, who was a member of the platinum-selling rap group Migos, was 28. His uncle Quavo and cousin Offset were the other two members of the trio.

Police believe Takeoff was an innocent bystander to an argument that took place outside a bowling alley that led to the shooting. He was unarmed and not involved in the argument.

After Judge Hill denied Clark’s bond reduction request in December, Quinones argued that the $1 million bond was unconstitutional due to Clark and his family’s financial situation being “average.”

Prosecutors in Harris County had argued Clark should be considered a “flight risk.”

Shortly after the killing, Clark allegedly applied for an expedited passport, which he received immediately before his arrest, according to the motion filed by prosecutors. When Clark was arrested, he had a “large amount of cash money,” the court document added.

Prosecutors also made several other requests, including that Clark surrender “any and all passports, visas, or other travel documents,” be barred from leaving the immediate vicinity of Harris County and be subject to a curfew.

Quinones said in a news conference at the time that her office was “surprised” by the decision.

“We complied with every requirement that the judge asked of us, only to be told today that it [the bond] would not be lowered. So yes, we are very disappointed. We disagree. And frankly, we’re very surprised,” Quinones said.

“The fight is not over. We do believe without a shadow of a doubt that when the time comes, we will be able to show Mr. Clark’s innocence in this,” Quinones said.

Seoul
Reuters
 — 

Samsung Electronics flagged on Friday its quarterly profit tumbled to an eight-year low as a weakening global economy hammered memory chip prices and curbed demand for electronic devices.

Profits at the world’s largest memory chip, smartphone and TV maker are expected to shrink again in the current quarter, analysts said, after Samsung announced its October-December operating profit likely fell 69% to 4.3 trillion won ($3.37 billion) from 13.87 trillion won a year earlier.

It was Samsung

(SSNLF)’s smallest quarterly profit since the third quarter of 2014 and fell short of a 5.9 trillion won Refinitiv SmartEstimate, which is weighted toward forecasts from analysts who are more consistently accurate.

“All of Samsung’s businesses had a hard time, but chips and mobile especially,” said Lee Min-hee, analyst at BNK Investment & Securities.

Quarterly revenue likely fell 9% from the same period a year earlier to 70 trillion won, Samsung said in a short preliminary earnings release. Asia’s fourth-biggest listed company by market value is due to release detailed earnings later this month.

Rising global interest rates and cost of living have dampened demand for smartphones and other devices that Samsung makes and also for the semiconductors it supplies to rivals including Apple

(AAPL).

“For the memory business, the decline in fourth-quarter demand was greater than expected as customers adjusted inventories in their effort to further tighten finances,” Samsung said in the statement.

Its mobile business’ profit declined in the fourth quarter as smartphone sales and revenue decreased due to weak demand resulting from prolonged macroeconomic issues, Samsung added.

“Memory chip prices fell in the mid-20% during the quarter, and high-end phones such as foldable didn’t sell as well,” said BNK Investment’s Lee.

Three analysts said they expected Samsung’s profits to dive again in the current quarter, with a likely operating loss for the chips business as a glut drives a further drop in memory chip prices.

Samsung shares rose 0.3% in Friday morning trade, underperforming a 0.6% rise in the wider market. Shares of rival memory chip maker SK Hynix rose 1%.

“The reason shares are rising despite the poor earnings result is… investors are hoping Samsung will need to reduce production, like Micron or SK Hynix said they would, which would help the memory industry overall,” said Eo Kyu-jin, an analyst at DB Financial Investment.

Samsung had said in October that it did not expect much change to its 2023 investments. Analysts said that Samsung has a history of not announcing production cuts in memory chips, but could organically adjust investment by delaying bringing in equipment or through other ways.

CNN
 — 

Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin has made “substantial improvement” in the hospital following his mid-game cardiac arrest on Monday, doctors said, and is now awake and moving his hands and feet.

Hamlin is able to communicate by shaking his head, nodding or writing brief notes, said Dr. Timothy Pritts, part of the player’s medical team. Upon awakening, Pritts said, Hamlin’s mind was still on the game as he scribbled his first question on a clipboard: “Did we win?”

“So, we know that it’s not only that the lights are on, we know that he’s home. And that it appears all cylinders are firing within his brain,” said Pritts, who is vice chair for clinical operations at University of Cincinnati Health where Hamlin is being treated.

Yet the medical team cautioned that many phases of Hamlin’s recovery lie ahead. Hamlin – who had to be sedated and intubated following his collapse – is still critically ill and remains on a ventilator, Pritts said. Physicians did not say precisely when he started waking up.

The 24-year-old player collapsed Monday during the first quarter of the Bills game against the Cincinnati Bengals and was rushed from the field in an ambulance, stunning a packed stadium and leaving his teammates visibly emotional, crying and embracing one another.

The NFL announced Thursday that the game – which was initially postponed Monday night – has been canceled. The league is working on plans to honor Hamlin ahead of every matchup scheduled for this upcoming weekend, two people familiar with the matter told CNN’s Oliver Darcy.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell informed all clubs of his decision Thursday after contacting the Bills, Bengals and NFL Players Association leadership, according to a release from the league.

“This has been a very difficult week,” Goodell said. “We continue to focus on the recovery of Damar Hamlin and are encouraged by the improvements in his condition as well as the tremendous outpouring of support and care for Damar and his family from across the country. We are also incredibly appreciative of the amazing work of the medical personnel and commend each and every one of them.”

Here are the latest developments:

• Hamlin has made “a fairly remarkable recovery,” medical team says: Though Hamlin remains in intensive care, he is demonstrating “good neurologic recovery” and is awake and holding hands with family in the hospital, Pritts said Thursday.

• Tests to determine cause are ongoing: “This marks a really good turning point in his ongoing care,” Pritts said, but “there are many, many steps still ahead of him.” Hamlin’s next big milestone will be breathing on his own without a ventilator, said Dr. William Knight, director of emergency medicine. Tests are still underway to determine the cause of his cardiac arrest, Knight said.

• Hamlin lost pulse on the field: While surrounded by medical teams on the field, Hamlin lost his pulse and had to be administered CPR and defibrillation as fans and teammates looked on, Knight said. He was then intubated in the ambulance and arrived at the hospital about 30 to 45 minutes after he collapsed, the doctor added.

• Bills are back to work: The team met Wednesday and held their first full practice of the week Thursday in preparation for hosting the New England Patriots on Sunday. The team has been receiving “incremental updates” from medical staff as well as from Bills general manager Brandon Beane and head athletic trainer Nate Breske who stayed behind in Cincinnati, head coach Sean McDermott said. “I think the fact that we just keep hearing good news about Damar, it just keeps pushing us forward,” quarterback Josh Allen told reporters Thursday.

• “People are going to be changed forever”: Allen said the players have had “some very open and honest and deep talks” since their teammate was hospitalized Monday. “I think putting that helmet back on was a really good thing for our team,” he said of returning to practice, adding, “But I would be lying to you if I didn’t say, some people are going to be changed forever after being on the field and witnessing that and feeling those emotions.”

News of Hamlin awakening was met with a rush of messages of support and relief from players across the NFL. Since his collapse, supporters have honored the player, donating more than $7 million to his charity fundraiser and making his jersey the most purchased athletes’ jersey at the sports apparel store Fanatics, a company spokesperson said.

Hamlin’s family and Allen have also dismissed online criticisms of Cincinnati Bengals receiver Tee Higgins, who had collided with Hamlin just moments before his collapse. The family’s spokesperson has said Higgins has reached out and “has been supportive.”

“I hope that he got some relief today,” Allen said of Higgins while speaking to reporters Thursday. He added, “That’s a football play, and I hope that he doesn’t hold that upon himself, because there is nothing else that he could have done in that situation.”

Doctors and Bills team members have repeatedly applauded the immediate action of medical personnel who rushed to Hamlin just seconds after his collapse.

Bills offensive lineman Dion Dawkins tweeted Thursday that assistant athletic trainer Denny Kellington performed CPR on Hamlin as he lay on the field. Coach McDermott also praised the trainer Thursday, saying he saved Hamlin’s life.

“As they say, practice pays off and it did in this case,” McDermott said at a post-practice news conference devoted to Hamlin. “But again, the context of it, for an assistant to find himself at that position and needing to take the action that he did and step up and take charge like he did – and there were others on the field as well – is nothing short of amazing and (the) courage that took, you talk about a real leader, a real hero, in saving Damar’s life.”

In audio obtained by CNN of medical personnel that were working on the sidelines when Hamlin collapsed, personnel can be heard calling for all hands to assist, saying, “I don’t like how he went down” and “We’re going to need everybody.”

NFL chief medical officer Dr. Allen Sills attributed the rapid medical response to a “60-minute meeting” that is held among medical teams and NFL officials before every game to identify the location of medical equipment and nearby medical centers, and establish a chain of command in case of an emergency, among other things.

In its announcement of the official cancellation of the Bills-Bengals game that was suspended after Hamlin’s collapse, the NFL detailed parts of its decision-making, including that the outcome of the game would have no impact on teams qualifying for the playoffs.

The Bills and Bengals have already clinched playoff spots but are jockeying for higher seeds in the American Football Conference postseason.

Deciding to play the game would also have forced the league to postpone the start of the playoffs by one week, the NFL release explained, a move that would affect all 14 clubs that qualify.

Lastly, the league said making the decision before Week 18 still allows all clubs to know the playoff possibilities before their final game of the regular season.

Editor’s Note: Lara Setrakian is a journalist and the president of the Applied Policy Research Institute based in Yerevan, Armenia. Follow her on Twitter at @Lara. The views expressed here are her own. Read more opinion on CNN.

CNN
 — 

After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its devastating humanitarian fallout, it would be a leap to cast Moscow in the role of a peacemaker. But in one corner of the world that’s exactly what has happened.

In the wake of a war between Armenia and Azerbaijan in 2020, Russia was left to broker a ceasefire and keep the two sides in check. The United States and the European Union, which had once played a balancing role in the South Caucasus, effectively pulled back from active diplomacy and let Russia act as the sole mediator. Moscow deployed peacekeepers on the ground to calm and monitor the situation.

But outsourcing peacebuilding to Russia was a bad idea. Now, in the shadow of the Ukraine war, that policy is enabling another humanitarian catastrophe and compromising Western interests in the region.

With Russia weakened in Ukraine, there is no effective arbiter between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan, using its significant oil and gas wealth, has been pushing for maximum advantage on the ground. At the moment, protesters with the support of the Azeri government, experts say, are blocking the Lachin Corridor, the main road linking about 120,000 ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh to the outside world. Azeri political analysts say that protests are illegal in Azerbaijan unless they have government approval.

Incoming supplies have been severely limited since December 12, 2022, when the blockade began. Grocery stores are rationing food, with little by way of fresh fruits or vegetables, and there is a dire shortage of medical supplies, residents said in late December. Azerbaijan has said the blockade is in response to mining activities in Armenian-held areas. But rather than taking the issue to international mediation it has decided to block incoming transit until its conditions are met – a violation of international and humanitarian law.

The Armenians I’ve met from Nagorno-Karabakh are hearty people with a profound cultural identity and deep Christian faith. Even in their grim days of crisis, some tried to give their families a semblance of a Christmas holiday. But the most vulnerable are manifesting the strain of the blockade: Dr. Biayna Sukhudyan, who is stuck in Nagorno-Karabakh, told us in late December that children are showing signs of chronic stress, including nervous breakdowns. UNICEF has warned that children are lacking basic food items and essential services, some of them separated from their parents or legal guardians on the other side of the blocked road.

“People’s big concern is keeping their children warm and fed,” Sukhudyan said in a phone interview. She described how people are surviving by helping each other out. “If there are two mothers and only one has baby formula, she will share the formula with the other woman and breastfeed a little more.”

The US, the EU, the UN Secretary-General and more than a dozen countries – including Canada and

Mexico – have called for Azerbaijan to unblock the road to Nagorno-Karabakh, but those calls have gone unheeded. Armenians see it as a strategy by Azerbaijan of starving or squeezing them out of the disputed enclave.

Russia has been unable to make any significant move to defuse the problem. But it has also been reluctant to let Western countries step in to solve the standoff. It prefers to be the main power on the ground, using the resulting leverage to advance its regional interests.

A web of economic and strategic factors have tied Moscow to Turkey and its ally, Azerbaijan. With Russia sanctioned by the West and strained in its relations with many economic partners, Moscow has grown increasingly dependent on Turkey for trade and sanctions evasion. Turkey has become a major facilitator for the export of Russian oil and gas and the import of strategic technologies, many of which are banned from the West.

As Russian-Turkish ties have grown closer, Russia has been more reluctant to push back on Azerbaijan’s behavior. That has left the situation in freefall, moving toward more serious and potentially deadly outcomes. Like in the early days of the Srebrenica massacre, international peacekeepers are failing to act before thousands of people could lose their lives. It also sets a dangerous precedent for future conflicts, with one side choking off a rival community by cutting off its supplies, either forcing an evacuation or the acceptance of its negotiating terms.

Michael Rubin of the American Enterprise Institute, who watches the region closely, told me he worries about the risk of ethnic cleansing if the situation is left unchecked and unattended to by world powers.

“Question number one is how do we get diplomatic or military observers into Nagorno-Karabakh,” Rubin said. “Genocide happens in the dark. If we are able to shine a light in the region then oftentimes we can proactively prevent the worst outcomes.”

The US is not powerless in this situation. It can push for a humanitarian airlift to deliver supplies to the communities of Nagorno-Karabakh or seek further action from the UN Security Council, which met on December 20 to discuss the situation. America also has direct leverage over Turkey and Azerbaijan that can stabilize the situation, using a trove of diplomatic and economic tools.

“When the Trump administration imposed just a few steel sanctions on Turkey for the release of Pastor Andrew Brunson, it created tremendous pressure on [Turkish President] Erdogan,” said Rubin. “Why should we oppose doing that over Nagorno-Karabakh?”

Russia and Turkey have aimed to dominate the South Caucasus at the expense of their smaller neighbors. But that model has proven unsuitable to protect human life and a peaceful rules-based order. At a time when the West is competing with Russia over Ukraine – cast as a fight for democracy against autocracy – this is a vital arena to make the same point and prove that the West has real influence in the post-Soviet region.

The longer Russia and Turkey dominate the situation the harder it will be for Western powers to bring things back into balance. In other words, stabilizing the South Caucasus will become more costly with time. The US and EU unwisely left it to Russia to keep the peace in the South Caucasus. Western powers now must step in with full diplomatic weight to correct the error.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy steered hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign cash to members of the GOP caucus now threatening his bid for Speaker of the House, FEC records show.

Since 2008, McCarthy’s leadership PAC, Majority Committee PAC, has given $316,000 to 17 of the Republican members now opposing him.

One of the largest beneficiaries is also one of McCarthy’s most vocal opponents, Freedom Caucus Chair Scott Perry, who has received more than $50,000 from McCarthy’s PAC since 2012. 

McCarthy has also given at least $25,000 to Reps. Michael Cloud, Andrew Clyde, Andy Harris and Ralph Norman over the years.

McCarthy’s contributions to the rebellious members were made through his leadership PAC, Majority Committee. Leadership PACs are fundraising vehicles that exist in addition to a candidate’s primary campaign committee. Prominent members, leveraging their profile, use them to raise and dispense extra cash to their allies.

Here’s a look at contributions:

Britain’s Emma Raducanu retired at 6-0 5-7 in her second-round match against Slovakian Viktoria Kuzmova at the WTA 250 Auckland Classic on Thursday after rolling her ankle, casting doubt on her participation at this month’s Australian Open.

Former US Open champion Raducanu swept the first set in 22 minutes but faltered in the second and had her left ankle examined during a medical timeout before leaving court in tears after being unable to complete the first point of the decider.

“I’ve put a lot of physical work in the last few months and I’ve been feeling good and optimistic,” Raducanu was quoted as saying by Stuff Media.

“So to be stopped by a freak injury, rolling an ankle is pretty disappointing, in the first week as well. I thought I was playing some pretty decent tennis.

“The courts are incredibly slick, like very slippery, so to be honest it’s not a surprise that this happened to someone … we’ll assess over the next few days and see what the next steps are.”

The Australian Open begins on January 16.

Earlier, Coco Gauff beat fellow American Sofia Kenin 6-4 6-4 to set up a quarter-final against China’s Zhu Lin, who outlasted Venus Williams 3-6 6-2 7-5 in a rain-hit match that ran 2 hours and 23 minutes.

Williams, 42, served for the match at 5-4 in the final set but Zhu broke and then fended off four break points before closing out the victory.

At the Adelaide International 1 WTA 500 event, twice Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka saw off Zheng Qinwen 6-2 7-5 to reach the quarter-finals alongside unseeded duo Irina-Camelia Begu and Linda Noskova.

China’s Zheng, who was named WTA Newcomer of the Year in 2022, sent down 10 aces and 34 winners but also made 35 unforced errors at the Australian Open warm-up event.

“She’s a great talent,” said former world No. 1 Azarenka. “I feel like she’s going to be a really, really good player.

“I thought that I stuck to my game plan pretty well today … I was consistent, I was taking my chances when I could. I kept creating more chances. I was a lot more aggressive, a bit more comfortable today on court.”

Belarusian Azarenka next faces Czech teenager Noskova, who followed up her first-round upset of Daria Kasatkina with a 6-2 6-2 win over fellow qualifier Clair Liu.

Romanian Begu reached the quarters with a 6-3 6-0 upset of Latvian seventh seed Jelena Ostapenko, who made 41 unforced errors in an erratic display.

Begu won 11 straight games to overturn a 3-1 first-set deficit and wrap up the win in 73 minutes. She will take on fourth seed Veronika Kudermetova for a place in the semi-finals.

Ons Jabeur, who came close to winning a maiden Grand Slam as she finished runner-up at Wimbledon and the US Open last year, battled through the opening set to beat Sorana Cirstea 7-6(3) 6-1 and set up a quarter-final with Marta Kostyuk in Adelaide.

“(Cirstea) is a great player, she pushed me to do better and better in the first set,” Jabeur said.

The second-ranked Tunisian also outlined her goals for the year, saying, “I want the No. 1 spot, I want to win Grand Slams.”

Air India faced criticism on Thursday, January 5 from the country’s aviation regulator for its handling of an unruly passenger on a flight from New York in November, and also acknowledged that a second similar incident occurred last month on a flight from Paris to New Delhi.

Air India had said in a statement that it had banned a male passenger for 30 days in compliance with regulations following an incident on a November 26 flight from New York to New Delhi in which the man, while apparently inebriated, urinated on a female fellow passenger.

The airline, which is owned by Tata Group, said it had reported the matter to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), India’s air safety watchdog, for further action.

DGCA, however, said on Thursday that it had sought details from the airline on the incident, but at first glance it appeared that Air India had not complied with provisions related to the handling of an unruly passenger on board. “The conduct of the concerned airline appears to be unprofessional and has led to a systemic failure,” DGCA said in its statement.

The watchdog said it had issued a notice to the airline’s executives and the pilots and cabin crew members on the flight asking them to explain within two weeks why action should not be taken against them for failing to uphold regulations.

It did not respond to a request for comment seeking details on what action it had expected the airline to take.

Air India did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters on the DGCA notice.

In 2017, India issued new standards barring unruly passengers from flying for a minimum of three months to more than two years depending on the nature of the misdemeanor.

Air India reported on Thursday a second incident, which took place on a December 6 fight from Paris to New Delhi during which a male passenger urinated on a vacant seat and the blanket of another passenger.

Air India added that the male passenger on the Paris flight had been taken into custody on arrival at Delhi but was later released by federal police after he reached an understanding with the victim and tendered a written apology. The airline said it did not lodge a police report in deference to the victim’s wishes.

Top: Air India logo on a building in Mumbai in 2020. Photo by Getty Images.

CNN
 — 

The estate of Brian Sicknick, a Capitol Police officer who died after responding to the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, is suing two rioters involved in the attack and former President Donald Trump for his alleged role in egging it on.

The civil lawsuit, filed Thursday in Washington, DC’s federal court, adds to the 2024 presidential candidate’s troubles linked to his efforts to impede the peaceful transfer of power after his 2020 electoral loss. Trump is already a defendant in several other civil January 6-related civil lawsuits, where he is arguing his presidency makes him immune from liability.

The lawsuit from Sicknick’s estate was filed the day before the Capitol attack’s two-year anniversary.

“As Officer Sicknick and hundreds of others—including other police officers, elected officials, and rank-and-file workers at the Capitol—were put in mortal danger, and as the seat of American Democracy was desecrated by the insurgent mob, Defendant Trump watched the events unfold on live television from the safety of the White House,” lawyers for Sicknick’s estate and his partner Sandra Garza wrote in the complaint. “The horrific events of January 6, 2021, including Officer Sicknick’s tragic, wrongful death, were a direct and foreseeable consequence of the Defendants’ unlawful actions.”

Sicknick’s estate also alleges a conspiracy, negligence and assault.

The lawsuit notes that Trump instructed his supporters in Washington on January 6 to “fight like hell” and “show strength” in his speech before the Capitol riot.

Julian Khater and George Tanios, the two Capitol rioters named in the suit, pleaded guilty last summer to crimes related to the breach. They are set to be sentenced later this month.

During the riot, Khater took bear spray from Tanios’ backpack, spraying Sicknick and other officers in their faces and forcing them to recoil as rioters pushed forward toward the Capitol steps.

Sicknick suffered multiple strokes and died of natural causes the day after the Capitol breach, according to a 2021 report by DC’s chief medical examiner. The examiner, Francisco Diaz, told the Washington Post that “all that transpired” on January 6 “played a role in his condition.”

The Sicknick wrongful death allegation against Trump marks the most serious accusation to date that the former president was liable for the January 6 insurrection.

Sicknick’s attorneys are asking the court for damages of more than $10 million.

Trump already faces previous civil lawsuits brought by Democratic lawmakers and other law enforcement officers who responded to the Capitol attack. DC’s federal appeals court is considering whether to uphold a trial judge’s ruling that Trump could be held liable for damages for his actions in the lead up to the riot. If that lawsuit is successful, the Sicknick complaint is likely to follow in its legal footprints.

Some of the same lawyers bringing the Sicknick case also brought that existing riot conspiracy case. Another lawyer involved in the Sicknick case has represented other Capitol Police officials following the attack.

Criminal investigations around January 6 are ongoing, including a probe into Trump-supported bids to disrupt Joe Biden’s win that is now being led by special counsel Jack Smith. In recent weeks, prosecutors have taken new investigative steps, including obtaining documents from local election officials. Trump has not been criminally charged.