Author: CNN

CNN
 — 

Another powerful storm, known as a bomb cyclone, is hitting the California coast and the National Weather Service in the Bay Area is warning residents that the “truly brutal” system needs to be taken seriously.

The system could trigger “immediate disruption to commerce, and the worst of all, likely loss of human life,” forecasters say. It comes on the heels of a round of record-breaking rainfall that slammed the same area over the weekend.

Meanwhile, a major winter storm that brought snow and freezing rain to its colder northern end – and severe storms and tornadoes on its warmer southern end – is still threatening more severe weather as it treks east.

California’s latest dangerous storm is the result of a strong “atmospheric river” – a long, narrow region in the atmosphere that can carry moisture thousands of miles. Northern California and the Bay Area will see the worst impacts through the day Wednesday and Thursday as heavy rain and hurricane-force wind gusts move onshore.

The storm became a bomb cyclone Wednesday, after it rapidly strengthened while still offshore. A bomb cyclone is an area of low pressure that intensifies by 24 millibars within 24 hours. Millibars are a unit used to measure atmospheric pressure.

What is a bomb cyclone?

Along with very heavy rainfall, winds gusting as high as 60 to 80 mph will be possible.

“If these winds do materialize, the threat for scattered to widespread power outages and property damage will greatly increase,” the weather service office in San Francisco warned.

“A plethora of hazards are forecast, with heavy rain and strong winds expected to be the most widespread impact. Widespread rainfall amounts of 3 to 6 inches are anticipated, with locally higher amounts throughout the coastal ranges and over northern California,” the weather service said.

While those expected rainfall amounts wouldn’t normally have major impacts, the state recently saw heavy rain that left soil saturated and susceptible to flooding and landslides, the weather service said.

Northern California in particular was inundated with heavy snowfall and deadly flooding over the weekend, prompting evacuation orders and water rescues. That raised questions over how much the precipitation would put a dent in California’s ongoing drought conditions.

The first snow survey of the season in the Sierra Nevada Mountains released Tuesday shows the current snowpack is well ahead of average for this time of year, according to a release from the California Department of Water Resources.

The Sierra snowpack makes up about 30% of California’s water needs on average, according to the department.

The snow depth measured Tuesday at Phillips Station, just south of Lake Tahoe, was 55.5 inches. Statewide, the snowpack is at 174% of average for this date, the agency said.

However, experts caution that despite the deluge – and expected precipitation over the coming week – the drought isn’t over yet.

“The significant Sierra snowpack is good news but unfortunately these same storms are bringing flooding to parts of California,” DWR Director Karla Nemeth said in a news release.

“This is a prime example of the threat of extreme flooding during a prolonged drought as California experiences more swings between wet and dry periods brought on by our changing climate.”

And the stormy weather isn’t going to let up anytime soon. More rain is expected through the weekend, though the specific impacts aren’t clear yet.

“The message to convey is resiliency as this is not a ‘one and done’ storm,” the weather service in San Francisco said.

Meanwhile, more than 30 million people are under some sort of severe weather threat in the South, with the risk of severe storms stretching from the Florida Panhandle into far southeast Alabama and parts of Georgia and along the East Coast into southeastern Virginia.

As the showers and storms push into Georgia and northern Florida, damaging wind gusts, large hail and tornadoes are possible.

Cities including Tallahassee, Charlotte, Virginia Beach, Atlanta, Raleigh and Norfolk could see winds and tornadoes. Heavy rain could also produce flash flooding in parts of the Southeast.

The multi-hazard storm – which headed into the central and southern US after battering California with deadly floods – has already triggered at least 130 storm reports over the past two days and left a trail of destruction as it barreled across the country, shifting to the South and Southeast.

There have been more than a dozen tornado reports, nearly 100 wind reports and 27 hail reports. The tornado reports included six in Illinois on Tuesday and an EF-1 in Jessieville, Arkansas, on Monday. An EF-1 tornado packs winds of 86 to 110 mph.

Other tornado reports came from Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Georgia and Mississippi.

Police in Montgomery, Alabama, were dispatched throughout the night to “multiple locations” in the city in response to “reports of damage due to (a) possible tornado,” the city said Wednesday. More than 50 homes and businesses were damaged following the severe weather overnight, said Montgomery Mayor Steven L. Reed.

There were no fatalities, but one adult with a minor injury was reported, the mayor said.

“It could have been so much worse,” Reed said. “We have to make sure that we’re taking these things seriously and that we understand that, in this time and in this area, we’re going to see more these events.”

A possible tornado touched down in Burke County in eastern Georgia on Wednesday, downing trees and causing damage to some homes and power lines, the Burke County Sheriff’s Department said. Another possible tornado struck just south of Atlanta, in the same neighborhood that was hit by a powerful tornado in 2021.

The storm also brought heavy rain, with much of the South seeing 48-hour rainfall totals between 2 to 4 inches. Some areas across the Mississippi and Ohio River Valley saw up to 6 inches, and isolated areas across eastern Arkansas got 10 inches.

In Tennessee, Memphis and Jackson both saw record-breaking rainfall on Tuesday. Memphis received 3.84 inches, smashing its previous daily record of 2.13 inches set in 1949. Jackson got 2.48 inches on Tuesday, beating the previous daily record of 1.69 inches in 1951.

An extremely warm and moist air mass over the East Coast and Southeast helped fuel the severe weather outbreak. Over 35 daily high temperature records were broken across the eastern US on Tuesday, with the thermometer hitting 81 degrees in Baton Rouge, 77 degrees in Wilmington and 69 degrees in Washington, DC.

Meanwhile, over 5 million people are under winter weather alerts across the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes, where snow and ice accumulations are expected to affect travel, according to the weather service.

Heavy snow is expected across parts of the Upper Midwest through Wednesday, while freezing rain and a wintry mix will spread into northern New England by Thursday, the weather service says.

The storm is expected to gradually begin dissipating Thursday.

Washington
CNN
 — 

Parts made by more than a dozen US and Western companies were found inside a single Iranian drone downed in Ukraine last fall, according to a Ukrainian intelligence assessment obtained exclusively by CNN.

The assessment, which was shared with US government officials late last year, illustrates the extent of the problem facing the Biden administration, which has vowed to shut down Iran’s production of drones that Russia is launching by the hundreds into Ukraine.

CNN reported last month that the White House has created an administration-wide task force to investigate how US and Western-made technology – ranging from smaller equipment like semiconductors and GPS modules to larger parts like engines – has ended up in Iranian drones.

Of the 52 components Ukrainians removed from the Iranian Shahed-136 drone, 40 appear to have been manufactured by 13 different American companies, according to the assessment.

The remaining 12 components were manufactured by companies in Canada, Switzerland, Japan, Taiwan, and China, according to the assessment.

The options for combating the issue are limited. The US has for years imposed tough export control restrictions and sanctions to prevent Iran from obtaining high-end materials. Now US officials are looking at enhanced enforcement of those sanctions, encouraging companies to better monitor their own supply chains and, perhaps most importantly, trying to identify the third-party distributors taking these products and re-selling them to bad actors.

NSC spokesperson Adrienne Watson told CNN in a statement that “We are looking at ways to target Iranian UAV production through sanctions, export controls, and talking to private companies whose parts have been used in the production. We are assessing further steps we can take in terms of export controls to restrict Iran’s access to technologies used in drones.”

There is no evidence suggesting that any of those companies are running afoul of US sanctions laws and knowingly exporting their technology to be used in the drones. Even with many companies promising increased monitoring, controlling where these highly ubiquitous parts end up in the global market is often very difficult for manufacturers, experts told CNN. Companies may also not know what they are looking for if the US government has not caught up with and sanctioned the actors buying and selling the products for illicit purposes.

And the Ukrainian intelligence assessment is further proof that despite sanctions, Iran is still finding an abundance of commercially available technology. For example, the company that built the downed drone, Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industries Corporation (HESA), has been under US sanctions since 2008.

One major issue is that it is far easier for Russian and Iranian officials to set up shell companies to use to purchase the equipment and evade sanctions than it is for Western governments to uncover those front companies, which can sometimes take years, experts said.

“This is a game of Whack-a-Mole. And the United States government needs to get incredibly good at Whack-a- Mole, period,” said former Pentagon official Gregory Allen, who now serves as Director of the Artificial Intelligence Governance Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “This is a core competency of the US national security establishment – or it had better become one.”

Allen, who recently co-authored an investigation into the efficacy of US export controls, said ultimately, “there is no substitute for robust, in-house capabilities in the US government.”

He cautioned that it is not an easy job. The microelectronics industry relies heavily on third party distributors and resellers that are difficult to track, and the microchips and other small devices ending up in so many of the Iranian and Russian drones are not only inexpensive and widely available, they are also easily hidden.

“Why do smugglers like diamonds?” Allen said. “Because they’re small, lightweight, and worth a ton of money. And unfortunately, computer chips have similar properties.” Success won’t necessarily be measured in stopping 100% of transactions, he added, but rather in making it more difficult and expensive for bad actors to get what they need.

The rush to stop Iran from manufacturing the drones is growing more urgent as Russia continues to deploy them across Ukraine with relentless ferocity, targeting both civilian areas and key infrastructure. Russia is also preparing to establish its own factory to produce them with Iran’s help, according to US officials. On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukrainian forces had shot down more than 80 Iranian drones in just two days.

Zelensky also said that Ukraine had intelligence that Russia “is planning a prolonged attack with Shaheds,” betting that it will lead to the “exhaustion of our people, our air defense, our energy sector.”

A separate probe of Iranian drones downed in Ukraine, conducted by the UK-based investigative firm Conflict Armament Research, found that 82% of the components had been manufactured by companies based in the US. 

Damien Spleeters, the Deputy Director of Operations at Conflict Armament Research, told CNN that sanctions will only be effective if governments continue to monitor what parts are being used and how they got there.

“Iran and Russia are going to try to go around those sanctions and will try to change their acquisition channels,” Spleeters said. “And that’s precisely what we want to focus on: getting in the field and opening up those systems, tracing the components, and monitoring for changes.”

Experts also told CNN that if the US government wants to beef up enforcement of the sanctions, it will need to devote more resources and hire more employees who can be on the ground to track the vendors and resellers of these products.

“Nobody has really thought about investing more in agencies like the Bureau of Industry Security, which were really sleepy parts of the DC national security establishment for a few decades,” Allen, of CSIS, said, referring to a branch of the Commerce Department that deals primarily with export controls enforcement. “And now, suddenly, they’re at the forefront of national security technology competition, and they’re not being resourced remotely in that vein.”

According to the Ukrainian assessment, among the US-made components found in the drone were nearly two dozen parts built by Texas Instruments, including microcontrollers, voltage regulators, and digital signal controllers; a GPS module by Hemisphere GNSS; a microprocessor by NXP USA Inc.; and circuit board components by Analog Devices and Onsemi. Also discovered were components built by International Rectifier – now owned by the German company Infineon – and the Swiss company U-Blox.

CNN sent emailed requests for comment last month to all the companies identified by the Ukrainians. The six that responded emphasized that they condemn any unauthorized use of their products, while noting that combating the diversion and misuse of their semiconductors and other microelectronics is an industry-wide challenge that they are working to confront.

“TI is not selling any products into Russia, Belarus or Iran,” Texas Instruments said in a statement. ” TI complies with applicable laws and regulations in the countries where we operate, and partners with law enforcement organizations as necessary and appropriate. Additionally, we do not support or condone the use of our products in applications they weren’t designed for.”

Gregor Rodehuser, a spokesperson for the German semiconductor manufacturer Infineon, told CNN that “our position is very clear: Infineon condemns the Russian aggression against Ukraine. It is a blatant violation of international law and an attack on the values of humanity.” He added that “apart from the direct business it proves difficult to control consecutive sales throughout the entire lifetime of a product. Nevertheless, we instruct our customers including distributors to only conduct consecutive sales in line with applicable rules.”

Analog Devices, a semiconductor company headquartered in Massachusetts, said in a statement that they are intensifying efforts “to identify and counter this activity, including implementing enhanced monitoring and audit processes, and taking enforcement action where appropriate…to help to reduce unauthorized resale, diversion, and unintended misuse of our products.”

Jacey Zuniga, director of corporate communications for the Austin, Texas-based semiconductor company NXP USA, said that the company “complies with all applicable export control restrictions and sanctions imposed by the countries in which we operate. Military applications are not a focus area for NXP. As a company, we are vehemently opposed to our products being used for human rights violations.”

Phoenix, Arizona-based semiconductor manufacturing company Onsemi also said it complies with “applicable export control and economic sanctions laws and regulations and does not sell directly or indirectly to Russia, Belarus or Iran nor to any foreign military organizations. We cooperate with law enforcement and government agencies as necessary and appropriate to demonstrate how Onsemi conducts business in accordance with all legal requirements and that we hold ourselves to the highest standards of ethical conduct.”

Swiss semiconductor manufacturer U-Blox also said in a statement that its products are for commercial use only, and that the use of its products for Russian military equipment “is in clear breach of u-blox’s conditions of sale applicable to customers and distributors alike.”

This story has been updated with a comment from the National Security Counsel

New York
CNN
 — 

Many on Wall Street cheered last fall when the midterm elections ushered in a return of divided government in Washington.

The old mantra is that gridlock is good because it means neither political party can mess things up.

But the historic dysfunction playing out in Congress this week is a reminder that you should be careful what you wish for. While gridlock might be good for markets and the economy, complete paralysis is bad because, every so often, government needs to get stuff done.

House Republicans’ inability to pick a speaker on the first ballot (or second or third) for the first time in a century raises an ominous question: If lawmakers can’t pick a speaker, how can they tackle truly thorny issues like raising the debt ceiling or responding to a potential recession?

“We’re watching a slow-moving trainwreck collide with a dumpster fire,” Isaac Boltansky, director of policy research at BTIG, told CNN in a phone interview. “This is a clear indication we will have dysfunction for the entirety of this Congress, which heightens the risk around must-act deadlines such as the debt ceiling.”

One New York Stock Exchange trader, a self-described conservative, told CNN on Tuesday the situation in the House is “disturbing” because it suggests lawmakers will struggle to get even more important things done.

“This is a joke. The party can’t get its [stuff] together. It’s a disgrace,” said the trader, who requested anonymity to discuss the situation candidly.

Even if Republicans eventually coalesce around Rep. Kevin McCarthy or a consensus candidate for speaker, the past few days have made plain to investors, economists and the public just how ungovernable the GOP majority in the House appears to be.

“This is not gridlock so much as a rudderless ship without a captain,” Chris Krueger of Cowen Washington Research Group wrote in a note titled, “Burning down the House: Speaker vote opening act for 2 years of tail risk.”

Krueger said the 4,000-page spending bill passed by Congress last month removed “a lot of the sharp objects” that could harm the economy.

But lawmakers did not agree to tackle the debt ceiling, the borrowing limit that must be raised to avoid a calamitous US debt default.

It’s not hard to imagine the ungovernable GOP majority clashing with Democrats and the White House this summer and fall over the debt ceiling — with the entire world economy hanging in the balance.

Even before the House speaker stalemate, Goldman Sachs warned late last year that 2023 could bring the scariest debt ceiling fight since that infamous 2011 episode that cost America its perfect AAA credit score.

In the past, brinksmanship over the debt ceiling eventually gave way to a compromise, though often not until significant pressure was applied by business leaders, financial markets — or both.

It’s not clear how a debate over the debt ceiling will play out this time though, given the narrowly divided Congress and skepticism from Republicans about corporate America.

“Our concern is that an increasingly populist GOP is less tied to big business influence, while a narrow majority amplifies their influence,” Benjamin Salisbury, director of research at Height Capital Markets, wrote in a note to clients on Wednesday.

Of course, the “House of Cards”-style drama playing out in Congress is not the most pressing issue facing the economy and investors right now.

The biggest questions concern whether the US economy is about to stumble into a recession (or a “slowcession,” if you ask Moody’s) and how long the Federal Reserve will keep up its fight against inflation.

Later this week, on Friday, investors will be laser-focused not on McCarthy’s fate but on the monthly jobs report and what it says about efforts to cool down the labor market.

Andrew Frankel, co-president of Stuart Frankel, dismissed the House speaker race as a “big, fat nothing-burger” for the market and said it was “just noise.”

“It’s all about the Fed,” Frankel said.

And yet the stalemate in the House underscores how hard it will be for lawmakers to aggressively respond to a potential recession or another crisis in the next two years.

Although there are reasons to be cautiously optimistic about a soft landing, former Fed Chair Alan Greenspan warns a recession is still the most likely outcome.

Greenspan, senior economic adviser at Advisors Capital Management, said in a discussion posted online that inflation will not cool enough to avoid “at least a mild recession” induced by the Fed.

“We may have a brief period of calm on the inflation front, but I think it will be too little too late,” Greenspan said.

If there is a recession, the chaos in Washington suggests the economy may not be able to count on a timely rescue from Congress this time around.

CNN
 — 

Apple is raising the price of battery replacements for all out-of-warranty iPhone models prior to the current iPhone 14 lineup, the company confirmed on its website.

Starting March 1, Apple

(AAPL) will charge $89 for battery replacements for iPhone X through iPhone 13 models, a $20 increase from the current price of a new battery. Battery replacements for other models, such as the iPhone SE and iPhone 8, will jump from $49 to $69.

Apple is also raising the cost of replacing batteries for other products. Batteries for newer iPad models will cost $20 more, while it will cost $30 more for a new MacBook Air battery and $50 more for MacBook Pro models.

Apple devices typically come with one year of warranty. The changes only apply to customers who are not part of its AppleCare+ repair service program, which provides up to two or three years of coverage and varies in cost depending on product.

Apple first lowered the price of iPhone battery replacements from $79 to $29 in 2018, after it was discovered that the company deliberately slowed down the performance of older iPhones to prevent sudden battery shutdowns. In response to the controversy, dubbed batterygate, Apple also issued a rare apology and agreed to a $113 million settlement with dozens of states.

In raising prices now, Apple may be responding to an uptick in the cost of products amid rising inflation and supply chain issues. By taking this step, Apple could also make it less attractive for customers to delay upgrading their devices or drive them to pay for the repair service program.

The news comes as Apple’s market cap fell below $2 trillion in trading on Tuesday for the first time since early 2021 and one year to the day after the company became the first public tech company valued at $3 trillion.

Like other tech companies, Apple has grappled with supply chain hiccups and concerns that recession fears could weigh on advertiser and consumer spending, including for pricier products like the iPhone.

CNN
 — 

Republican Rep.-elect George Santos admitted to stealing a man’s checkbook that was in his mother’s possession to purchase clothing and shoes in 2008, according to documents obtained by CNN.

The admission came in a statement Santos gave to police in 2010, according to 150 pages worth of case documents.

Police had suspended an investigation into Santos because they were unable to find him for nearly a decade. But law enforcement officials in Brazil will reinstate fraud charges against the New York Republican, CNN reported Tuesday.

Santos used stolen checks to make purchases at a shop in Niterói, a city outside of Rio de Janeiro on June 17, 2008, according to court documents. When making the purchase, he used an ID card with the checkbook owner’s name and a picture of himself, according to police documents.

Police summoned Santos several times in 2008, 2009 and 2010 to speak to them. Santos’ mother told the police in November 2010 that the checks were stolen from a checkbook she had in her purse belonging to Delio da Camara da Costa Alemao, who died a year prior to her speaking with police, and that her son had used four checks. Santos’ mother was Costa Alemao’s nurse prior to his death.

Speaking with the police for the first time that month, Santos confessed he stole the checkbook from his mom’s purse and that he used “some sheets” to make purchases. Santos confessed to forging the man’s signature on two checks to purchase clothes and shoes costing approximately $1,313.63 on the date of the forgery, and confirmed it was his signature on the forged checks.

He also told police he was an American with dual citizenship, was White and a professor, police documents show.

Santos said his mother, who only learned of the stolen checks around a month after he took them, asked him “with despair” to return the checkbook, but he had already ripped up the remaining checks and threw them in a manhole.

“He [Santos] acknowledged having been responsible for forging the signatures on the checks, also confirming that he had destroyed the remaining checks,” authorities wrote in an inquiry report about Santos. The document containing the confession was signed by Santos on November 18, 2010.

CNN has reached out to an attorney for Santos.

Santos voters speak to CNN after his false claims were revealed

Santos signed two checks at the store as if he was the account owner, court documents show. The checks were intended to pay for the purchase in two installments – set for July 25 and August 25, 2008.

The store clerk became suspicious after the signatures on the checks did not match, he told police. Two days after Santos made the purchases, a man named Thiago came into the same store with the shoes Santos had purchased and tried to return them for a different size. He said a friend gave him the shoes and was unaware of any illicit activity.

The clerk had to pay the amount of the fraudulent purchase in installments to the store, he told police, although the store ended up waving some of the payments for the clerk, the store manager told the police in 2010. Soon after the sale, they were able to find the bank account’s owner and talk to him on the phone, the manager said. He said he had closed the account in 2006 after losing the checkbook.

At one point the clerk was able to track down Santos using social media and, he said, Santos promised to pay him back but never did. The clerk turned over pictures of Santos to police that he had found on social media. Screenshots of the conversations between the clerk and Santos are included in the documents obtained by CNN.

Santos told investigators that neither his mother, nor his friend Thiago, were aware of the fraudulent purchases at the time of the crime.

In June 2011, investigators filed a request with the Civil Police to take immediate judicial measures against Santos. In September, a judge summoned him to respond to the complaint through an attorney. Neither Santos nor an attorney ever responded. Three months later, authorities tried to deliver a summons for Santos at the prior home of his mother but he was not able to be located and she no longer lived there.

Again in 2013, neither Santos, nor his mother or grandmother at their former addresses, were able to be located. In October of that year, an edict was published in Rio de Janeiro’s justice gazette summoning him to appear in court after authorities were unable to locate him. Santos was given 10 days to offer his defense but he never appeared. A judge eventually suspended the statute of limitations in order for the case to be reopened later if Santos was found, the documents show.

As recently as October 2020, a document from the judiciary said they still had never been able to locate Santos to prosecute him for the crime.

Brazilian authorities, having now verified Santos’ location, will make a formal request to the US Justice Department to notify Santos of the charges, Maristela Pereira, a spokeswoman for the Rio de Janeiro prosecutor’s office, told CNN. The prosecutor’s office told CNN the request will be filed upon reopening on Friday.

In an interview with the New York Post last week, Santos denied that he had been charged with any crime in Brazil, saying: “I am not a criminal here – not here or in Brazil or any jurisdiction in the world. Absolutely not. That didn’t happen.”

Maggie Haberman says George Santos coverage is a ‘death of local media’ story. Here’s why

Islamabad/New Delhi
CNN
 — 

Pakistan’s economic woes show no signs of letting up in 2023.

The South Asian nation announced a new energy conservation plan Tuesday as its fragile economy continues to struggle with multiple challenges. The government has ordered all markets to close by 8.30 pm and restaurants by 10 pm, according to a tweet by its ruling party. These measures will help the country save 62 billion Pakistani rupees ($274 million), the post added.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has also ordered all federal departments to reduce their energy consumption by 30%. The country is in the midst of a severe energy crisis and is heavily dependent on imported fuel.

The announcement comes at a time when Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves have dwindled to alarmingly low levels. In December, Pakistan’s total liquid foreign exchange reserves stood at $11.7 billion, which is half the amount it held at the start of last year, according to the central bank.

The country’s finances are also suffering because of differences with The International Monetary Fund (IMF) over a review process, which has delayed the release of a $1.1 billion bailout tranche.

“Survival without IMF is not an option given the scale of the external financing needs,” wrote analysts at Arif Habib, a Karachi-based research firm, in a recent report.

Pakistan had tried several measures to save energy last year as well, including reducing its working week.

Tokyo
CNN
 — 

Japan is offering to pay families to move out of its overcrowded capital, in an effort to revitalize countryside towns and boost the falling birth rate.

Starting in April, families in the Tokyo metropolitan area, including those headed by single parents, will be eligible to receive 1 million yen ($7,700) per child if they move to less-populated areas across the country, according to a spokesperson from the central government.

The incentives apply to children aged under 18, or dependents 18 and over if they’re still attending high school.

It’s not the first time the government has tried to use financial incentives to encourage people to leave, but this plan is more generous at three times the amount currently offered.

For decades, people across Japan have migrated to its urban centers seeking job opportunities. Tokyo is the country’s most populous city, with roughly 37 million residents.

Before the Covid pandemic, the number of people moving into Tokyo outnumbered those leaving the city by up to 80,000 each year, according to government statistics released in 2021.

But this migration pattern, combined with Japan’s rapidly aging population, has left rural towns with fewer and fewer residents, as well as millions of unoccupied homes. More than half of the country’s municipalities, excluding Tokyo’s 23 wards, are expected to be designated as underpopulated areas in 2022, according to a national census.

Meanwhile, in major cities, space has rapidly run out and prices have skyrocketed. Tokyo is consistently one of the world’s most expensive cities to live in, ranking fifth globally in 2022.

This problem, the migration of young people from the countryside to crowded cities, is a key factor in Japan’s larger demographic crisis, according to experts. The country has long struggled with low birth rates and long life expectancy, and has seen the number of deaths outnumber births in recent years.

Experts point to several factors: the high cost of living, limited space and lack of childcare support in cities make it difficult to raise children, meaning fewer couples are having kids. Urban couples are also often far from extended family who could help provide support.

For example, Tokyo has the lowest fertility rate of all 47 prefectures in Japan.

Current migration patterns are resulting in deserted hometowns with few children. In the riverside village of Nagoro in southern Japan, there were fewer than 30 residents in 2019, with the youngest resident over the age of 50. The village’s only school shut down a few years ago after its last students graduated.

To combat these issues, authorities launched an initiative in 2019 to attract people to regional areas.

Under this plan, individuals who have lived and worked in the Tokyo metropolitan area for at least five years could receive 600,000 yen ($4,500) if they moved to rural areas. That incentive is higher for couples, at 1 million yen ($7,700).

Last year, the government allowed single parents or couples with children to receive 300,000 yen ($2,300) per child if they relocated.

Those who relocate could work in that area, set up their own business or keep working remotely at their Tokyo-based jobs, said the government spokesperson.

“Tokyo has a very high concentration of people, and the government wants to increase the flow of people to the regional areas to revitalize areas with declining populations,” he added.

There is some evidence the program is gaining traction, though numbers are still low. In the first year of launch, only 71 households participated, compared to 1,184 households in 2021.

Japan’s government has also made other efforts to address the population decline, including introducing policies in the past few decades to enhance child care services and improve housing facilities for families with children. Some rural towns have even begun paying couples who live there to have children.

Cincinnati
CNN
 — 

Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin is still sedated after having to be resuscitated twice Monday, his uncle Dorrian Glenn told CNN outside of the University of Cincinnati hospital.

“His heart had went out so they had to resuscitate him twice. They resuscitated him on the field before they brought him to the hospital and then they resuscitated him a second time when they got him to the hospital,” Glenn said.

Glenn said he was in Pittsburgh watching the game, which was just in the first quarter.

“I’m not a crier, but I’ve never cried so hard in my life. Just to know, like, my nephew basically died on the field and they brought him back to life,” he added.

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“They sedated him just to give a better chance for him to just continue to heal better. We are just taking it day by day. It seems like he’s trending upwards in a positive way,” Glenn said, asking people to continue to pray for his nephew.

Hamlin still is in critical condition after the 24-year-old suffered a cardiac arrest and collapsed on the field during Monday night’s game in Cincinnati, his team said Tuesday, a stunning moment that left players weeping, praying and embracing as their teammate was taken away by ambulance. Hamlin spent the night in the intensive care unit at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where he remains Tuesday, the team said.

Hamlin is “flipped over on his stomach” in the hospital to help with the blood on his lungs, according to Glenn. Doctors told Glenn his nephew is in that position to help take the pressure off the lungs, so they don’t have to work as hard.

The next step is to get Hamlin, who is still sedated on a ventilator, to breathe on his own, he said.

During the first quarter of Monday’s game, Hamlin fell on his back just moments after getting up from an open field tackle of Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins. “His heartbeat was restored on the field” and he was transferred to the medical center “for further testing and treatment,” the Bills tweeted early Tuesday.

Cardiac arrest results from electrical disturbances that cause the heart to suddenly stop beating properly, and death can be quick if help isn’t rendered immediately. It is not the same as a heart attack or heart failure.

CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta said sometimes when the heart is not beating well, fluid can back up into the lungs and make it hard for the medical staff to oxygenate the patient. So, they will flip the person on their stomach to what is known as the prone position to make breathing easier.

Gupta also said it sounds like Hamlin is still having a significant amount of cardiac dysfunction and his heart cannot pump enough blood.

One of the treatment options is to decrease the demand of the body for oxygenated blood, he told Anderson Cooper.

“So you want to improve the amount of circulation but in the interim, you can also decrease the demand by sedating somebody, by keeping them on a breathing machine,” he said. “Sometimes they’ll even use cooling agents, hypothermia it’s called, to basically almost put the body in more of a hibernation-like state so it’s not demanding as much oxygenated blood. That’s part of the reason he would be on a breathing machine as well.”

Gupta said it is still unclear to what led to the cardiac arrest.

Hamlin’s collapse left players distraught – in tears, kneeling with arms around one another before returning to their locker rooms – and called to mind some of the league’s most disturbing in-game injuries. The game was suspended with nearly six minutes left in the first quarter and later was officially postponed – an unusual move for a league that often resumes play even after severe injuries.

The late-season game – initially anticipated as a match that would help settle playoff seeds for two AFC stalwarts – will not be resumed this week, and no decision has been made about whether it will ever be resumed, the NFL said Tuesday afternoon.

Within 10 seconds of Hamlin’s collapse, Bills team trainers were treating him. An ambulance was on the field in less than five minutes, footage shows, and he was given CPR before being taken to the hospital, according to an ESPN broadcast.

Bills players and staff on Tuesday were still processing what they witnessed the previous night, a source within the team told CNN’s Coy Wire.

Their teammate’s medical emergency – on top of having to mentally deal with a deadly mass shooting at a Buffalo grocery store in May, the deaths of least 41 people in Erie County, New York, due to a recent blizzard, having a home game in November moved to Detroit and getting stuck in Chicago during the holidays – has been heavy on everyone associated with the club, the source said.

As for Hamlin, the source said the Bills, including the team’s medical staff, are in a “wait-and-see mode.”

The plane carrying players and staff who returned home didn’t land in Buffalo until 3:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday.

“Everyone is exhausted,” the source told CNN.

Support for Hamlin – a Pennsylvania native who had played every game this season – has poured in from fans and others in pro sports, from the NFL’s Russell Wilson and JJ Watt to NBA star LeBron James.

Hamlin was intubated, and his mother, who was at the game, had ridden in the ambulance with him, said Jordon Rooney, a friend and marketing representative of the player.

“He’s a fighter all the time. … If there’s anyone that, you know, I have confidence in making it out of anything, it’s him,” Rooney, who flew from Dallas to Cincinnati after Hamlin’s collapse to be with him, told CNN on Tuesday. “He is someone who always figures out a way to come out on top.”

Hamlin’s family expressed “our sincere gratitude for the love and support shown to Damar during this challenging time” in a statement released by Rooney late Tuesday morning.

The statement thanked the Bills, the Bengals, fans and medical personnel.

The stunning play involving Hamlin happened around 8:55 p.m. ET, early in what initially was regarded as an important matchup between two AFC powers – the Bills at 12-3 and the Bengals at 11-4 – trying to stay in contention for top conference seeding in the approaching NFL playoffs.

With the Bengals up 7-3, Higgins caught a short pass in Bengals territory and ran a few yards near midfield, where Hamlin met him.

Higgins lowered his right shoulder and drove into the chest of Hamlin, whose arms were out wide anticipating a tackle. Hamlin, now falling back, wrapped his arms around Higgins’ shoulders and neck and twisted Higgins to the ground with him.

Hamlin stood up and appeared to adjust his face mask, then fell backward. An official whistled for the clock to stop with 5:58 left in the quarter, and Bills staff rushed to the motionless player.

Soon, three teammates took their helmets off and knelt as Hamlin remained motionless. Minutes later, after two ESPN commercial breaks, most players for both teams were on the field looking on with concern, including Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs, shown with a tear-streaked face.

Bills players and staff eventually gathered in a circle, kneeling on the field in prayer as an ambulance drove off with Hamlin.

Some of Hamlin’s teammates decided to stay in Cincinnati while the rest of the team traveled back to Buffalo, NFL Executive Vice President of Operations Troy Vincent said in a media call.

The league announced after 10 p.m. ET that the game was postponed.

After his collapse Monday, neither of the teams’ coaches nor players asked to continue playing, Vincent said. The NFL and the NFL Players Association agreed to postpone the game, the NFL said.

“I’ve never seen anything like it since I’ve been playing,” he said. “So, immediately, my player hat went on. How do you resume play after you’ve seen such a traumatic event occur in front of you in real time?”

The NFL has seen devastating in-game injuries before, including temporary or permanent paralysis of players including Darryl Stingley (1978), Mike Utley (1991), Dennis Byrd (1992) and Ryan Shazier (2017).

CPR previously had been performed on players during NFL games at least twice, including one incident in which the player died.

In 1971, Detroit Lions receiver Chuck Hughes, 28, collapsed near the end of a home game against the Chicago Bears, and CPR was performed on the field, according to the Detroit Free Press. The game’s last 62 seconds were played. Hughes was taken to a hospital, and players learned of his death after the game, the reports said.

In December 1997, Lions linebacker Reggie Brown stopped breathing after suffering a serious spinal cord injury while making a tackle in a home game against the New York Jets, The Detroit News reported. After CPR was begun, he was taken to a hospital, and though players were shaken, the game resumed. Brown eventually would regain mobility after surgery and rehabilitation, but the injury ended his football career.

The postponement throws into question how the teams’ regular seasons will end and how that will affect playoff seeding.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, “after speaking with both teams and the (players’ union) leadership,” told the clubs that the Bills-Bengals game “will not be resumed this week,” the league said Tuesday.

“The NFL has made no decision regarding the possible resumption of the game at a later date,” the league said as it heads into the final scheduled week of the regular season.

This coming weekend’s schedule has not changed, the NFL said Tuesday.

The Bills are scheduled on Sunday to host the New England Patriots, and the Bengals are set to host the Baltimore Ravens. The two teams are vying with the Kansas City Chiefs (13-3) for the AFC’s top playoff seed, which would mean a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the conference playoffs.

Hamlin joined the Bills in 2021 as a sixth-round draft pick after playing for the University of Pittsburgh in the 2016-20 seasons.

Overwhelming support for him flooded in Monday night from the city of Buffalo and from fans and players across the sports world.

Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown tweeted Tuesday: “The entire City of Buffalo is praying for Damar Hamlin. Our thoughts and prayers are with Damar, his family and the @BuffaloBills during this difficult time. We wish him a full recovery.”

The NFL Players Association tweeted Monday night that the organization and “everyone in our community is praying for Damar Hamlin.”

“We have been in touch with Bills and Bengals players, and with the NFL. The only thing that matters at this moment is Damar’s health and well being,” the players union said.

NBA star James applauded the decision to postpone the game after the medical emergency, saying player safety “is always the most important.”

“My thoughts and super prayers go up to the skies above for that kid’s family, for him, for that brotherhood of the NFL, and everybody who’s a part of the NFL family,” James said.

Well wishes and prayers were sent by several star athletes, including Denver Broncos quarterback Wilson, Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, and free agent Odell Beckham Jr.

Watt, an Arizona Cardinals defensive end, tweeted, “The game is not important. Damar Hamlin’s life is important. Please be ok. Please.”

In the hours after Hamlin’s collapse, the Christmas toy drive fundraiser he started had raised millions as it was flooded with donations from supporters rooting for his recovery.

The player created the drive to raise money to buy toys for children in a Philadelphia community, writing at the time, “As I embark on my journey to the NFL, I will never forget where I come from and I am committed to using my platform to positively impact the community that raised me.”

In the hour after Hamlin’s cardiac arrest, the fundraiser had raised about $70,000 from less than 4,000 donations. But by Tuesday evening, the GoFundMe had skyrocketed to more than $5 million raised from over 177,000 donations, including one of $20,000.

CNN
 — 

Two major storm systems are threatening the US this week.

A massive, multi-hazard storm was barreling east across the country Tuesday, impacting much of the central and eastern US and threatening the South with strong tornadoes and flooding and parts of the Plains and Upper Midwest with ice and snow.

And as California recovers from the weekend’s deadly floods, a second storm system is coming onshore that’s threatening the state with powerful winds and more flooding, triggered by both the expected rainfall and the state’s already wet soil.

“Major wind and rain impacts are EXPECTED tomorrow into Thursday. Prepare now for flooding, downed trees and power outages,” the National Weather Service in San Francisco warned.

Meanwhile, the storm system that’s tracking east is pulling moisture from the Gulf of Mexico into the South, where above-normal temperatures have set the stage for severe thunderstorms.

By Tuesday evening, several areas were reporting record-high temperatures. Mobile, Alabama, tied its daily high temperature for January 3 with a high of 79 degrees Fahrenheit, a record set in 1989. And Pensacola, Florida, broke its daily high record for January 3 with 81 degrees Fahrenheit, beating the prior record of 79 set three years ago.

Nearly 30 million people are under some sort of severe weather threat in the South, with the highest risk near the Gulf Coast. Southern Mississippi and Alabama were under a level 3 out of 5 “enhanced” risk for severe weather. Places like Montgomery, Mobile and Tuscaloosa could all see strong storms. A level 2 out of 5 “slight” risk of severe weather covered New Orleans, Atlanta, Birmingham and Baton Rouge.

On Tuesday evening, the weather service said it was monitoring two areas of thunderstorms that posed threats of wind and hail to the New Orleans area.

Tornado watches covered much of southern Alabama and Georgia Tuesday evening with additional storms developing in Louisiana and Mississippi.

Multiple waves of severe weather are possible in this region through the day, the Storm Prediction Center warned, “with the risk expected to persist well into the night across much of the area.”

Track the storm: Radar, weather alerts, travel delays and more

Strong tornadoes, large hail and wind gusts topping 70 mph are possible in the most extreme thunderstorms.

“Severe convection with all three modes (tornadoes, hail and damaging winds) is likely,” the National Weather Service office in Mobile warned.

Heavy rainfall associated with these thunderstorms could also trigger significant flash flooding across the South. Southern Alabama and western Georgia are under a level 3 out of 4 “moderate” risk of excessive rainfall. Portions of Southeast Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia are also under a level 2 out of 4 “slight” risk of excessive rainfall.

Rainfall totals could reach 2 to 4 inches across the South through Wednesday, while some areas could see up to 6 inches.

Since Monday night there have already been several tornado reports. One of the tornadoes that was reported was in Jonesboro, Louisiana, where large trees were knocked downed and damaged. The other was reported in Haywood, Tennessee.

Damage was also reported after a tornado in Jessieville, Arkansas. The National Weather Service confirmed there was an EF-1 tornado in the area that caused damage to several homes in town and the buildings of a local school.

“Damage was sustained to areas of (a) school due to trees, and power lines. The school was currently in session at the time, however all students have been accounted for and reports of no injury,” the Garland County Sheriff’s Office said in a release.

In Jackson Parish, Louisiana, residents were told to stay off the roads as the severe weather toppled trees and covered roadways with water. Jackson Parish Sheriff’s Department said tarps will be given out to those whose homes are damaged.

“We are trying to work to get to houses that are damaged and clear roads,” the Sheriff’s Department said.

As the risk persists, forecasters have been concerned about tornadoes forming at night, according to Brad Bryant of the National Weather Service office in Shreveport, Louisiana.

“You can’t see them coming. A lot of the time, people are asleep and not paying attention to the weather,” Bryant said. “Many areas around here don’t have good cell phone coverage and storm alerts are not as effective in those areas, especially once people are asleep.”

Anyone in areas at risk of tornadoes should seek safe shelter immediately, Bryant said.

“If you wait around for a warning to be issued, it is too late,” Bryant said Monday. “You need to have a safe shelter plan in place in advance of these storms.”

Damage reports were also coming from across northern Louisiana, including several transmission highline towers being damaged in the Haile community in Marion. One of the towers was knocked over and several others are damaged, according to the National Weather Service in Shreveport.

A wind gust of 81 mph was reported in Adair, Oklahoma – a gust equivalent to a Category 1 hurricane.

As the South braced for floods and tornadoes, the storm brought snow, sleet and freezing rain across the Plains and Upper Midwest on Tuesday, significantly impacting travel.

Over 15 million people were under winter weather alerts from the Plains to the Great Lakes.

Parts of Minnesota saw at least 10 inches of snow while portions of Nebraska and South Dakota recorded more than a foot of snow by Tuesday evening. Lake Andes, South Dakota, recorded 27 inches of snow by the evening, according to the weather service.

Roads were partially covered with ice and snow north of the Interstate 80 in Omaha, Nebraska, the weather service said, adding conditions “grow worse as you approach South Dakota.”

The weather service in Sioux Falls wrote on Tuesday evening that while the rate of snowfall had slowed, an additional two inches of snow were possible for parts of southeastern South Dakota and northwestern Iowa, while parts of Minnesota could see up to four additional inches of snow.

“Winds speeds have decreased from previous forecasts, however blowing and drifting snow continue to be a problem, especially in rural areas,” the weather service said. “Many roads are drifted over with multiple vehicles stranded.”

In Wyoming, where some highways closed due to weather, transportation officials warned that as roads began to reopen, residents should be cautious for black ice and blowing or drifting snow.

Weather forecasters recommended that anyone needing to go out in the storm take caution. A vehicle winter emergency kit includes snacks and water, a battery-powered weather radio, flashlights and batteries, a first aid kit, a shovel and ice scraper, a jumper cable and other items.

(CNN) — A woman was sentenced to 24 months of probation in US District Court for Arizona on Tuesday for interfering with flight crew members, a Class C felony offense, aboard an American Airlines plane in 2021.

In addition to probation, Leeza S. Rodriguez was ordered by the court to pay $9,123 in restitution to American Airlines Corporate Security as well as a $100 special assessment.

The court determined that Rodriguez did not have the ability to pay a fine, and that was waived.

As part of her probation, Rodriguez must participate in a substance abuse treatment program as instructed by a probation officer and agree to substance abuse testing.

Rodriguez’s attorney, Melinda Kovacs, did not have a comment on Tuesday’s sentencing.

Rodriguez’s co-defendant in the incident, Kelly Pichardo, was sentenced in September.

What happened aboard flight 776

The two were traveling in first class on American Airlines flight 776 from Dallas to Los Angeles on February 24, 2021, when the incident occurred.

The flight rerouted to Phoenix so that the two could be removed from the plane.

An indictment charged that Pichardo and Rodriguez interfered with a flight crew member by assaulting a crew member while the aircraft was in flight.

Rodriguez was also charged with assaulting a passenger, according to the indictment. Pichardo was charged with assaulting a different passenger.

Both defendants ended up pleading guilty to one count of interfering with a flight crew member.

Pichardo was sentenced in September to four months in prison followed by 36 months of supervised release. Pichardo was also ordered to pay $9,123 in restitution to American Airlines.

In a news release announcing Pichardo’s sentencing, the Justice Department called the behavior “unruly and intimidating.”

Unruly passenger behavior reached a record level in 2021

About 1,100 investigations and 350 enforcement actions were initiated in 2021.

At the end of 2021, the Justice Department vowed to prioritize prosecution of crimes on commercial airplanes.

As for 2022, it showed a marked improvement in the number of incidents reported: 2,359 unruly passenger reports had been logged as of December 15, with 823 investigations initiated.

While the number of incidents reported and investigations initiated dropped in 2022, there were more enforcement cases — 553 — initiated.

Eighty cases in 2022 had been referred to the FBI for criminal review as of December 15, according to FAA figures.