Nigeria confirms outbreak of diphtheria as 4-year-old patient dies


Abuja, Nigeria
CNN
 — 

Nigeria’s health authorities have confirmed an outbreak of the deadly diptheria disease in the capital Abuja, following the death of a four-year-old patient, the country’s infectious diseases agency said Thursday.

Infections from the highly contagious bacterial disease which affects the throat and nose, and can cause breathing difficulties, have risen sharply across the West African country since the past year, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.

Nearly 800 cases of the disease have been confirmed in the country as of June 30, the NCDC said in a statement.

Most of the patients are children aged between 2 and 14 years, it added.

“So far, a total of 80 deaths have been recorded among all confirmed cases,” the agency’s head, Ifedayo Adetifa, said in the statement.

Diptheria, although potentially fatal, is preventable through routine childhood vaccines. But low vaccination coverage has fueled the spread of the disease in Nigeria “despite the availability of a safe and cost-effective vaccine in the country,” Adetifa said.

He added that more than 80% of those infected with the disease in Nigeria were yet to be vaccinated.

Diphtheria can be spread from person to person through direct contact or air droplets, according to the World Health Organization.

All age groups are prone to the disease, the health body notes, but children who are not vaccinated are at a higher risk of getting infected, it added.

Nigeria has had previous outbreaks of diphtheria but infections were minimal compared to the recent outbreak.

In 2011, 98 cases of the disease were reported in northeastern Borno State.

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Women made to strip in Kenyan cheese factory over sanitary towel in bin



CNN
 — 

Three managers at a cheese factory in Kenya have been arrested after they allegedly made female staff strip off so they could check who was on their period.

The incident took place after the unnamed individuals apparently discovered a used sanitary towel in a bin that was not intended for such waste.

Their employer, Brown’s Food Co., has dismissed the three and has launched an investigation into the “shocking incident” at its factory in Limuru, where it produces cheese, milk, yogurt and ice cream.

Sub-County Police Commander Philip Mwania said the individuals had been arrested and would be arraigned in court once investigations were complete, state broadcaster KBC reported.

News of the episode first broke when Kenyan Senator Gloria Orwoba posted a video on social media on Wednesday in which she said that she had received “some distress calls” about it.

In the video, she said: “Apparently the quality assurance manager had found a used sanitary towel in one of the bins and, from what I gather, that bin was not meant for the disposal of sanitary towels.

“So it caused up a stir and the manager allegedly went out and gathered all the women from that particular team and literally asked them to undress.”

Orwoba said that when the manager first asked who the towel belonged to nobody replied, and so they ordered them to strip so that the person responsible could be “punished.”

Kenyan senator Gloria Orwoba is now working with the company to implement a "menstrual hygiene management policy."

After receiving the calls, Orwoba contacted the firm about the incident.

The company has now dismissed the staff and is investigating how the situation came about.

In a statement posted to its website, it said: “As a result of the shocking incident at the company we have begun internal investigations to assess exactly what happened, why, and how we can adequately reconcile with the employees who were affected by this distressing unilateral decision of the managers that were on site on the day of the incident. They were immediately suspended.”

It recognized that the “public is holding us accountable” and said that it was “directly engaging with Senator Gloria Orwoba – who is known to champion Menstrual Hygiene Management as well as ending period shaming and period poverty in Kenya – to learn from her how best to implement a Menstrual Hygiene Management policy.”

The statement concluded: “We have been listening and we know we must do better.”

In a post on Twitter a day earlier on Thursday, Brown’s described itself as a “women-led business” which “works hard to provide a working environment that is safe for all employees. It said: “We have apologized to the women involved and would like to apologize to the wider public as well.”

Campaigners say period shaming is a serious problem in Kenya. In 2019, a 14-year-old girl took her life after allegedly being shamed by a teacher in class when her uniform was stained by her period, according to the Africa Health Organisation.


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Philadelphia mass shooting was 'obviously planned,' DA says. But investigation could still take months



CNN
 — 

The man facing murder charges in a mass shooting that left five people dead in a Philadelphia neighborhood Monday “obviously planned” the rampage, but the investigation of the killings could take months as authorities dig for more details, a district attorney said.

Kimbrady Carriker, 40, acted alone when he prowled a Philadelphia neighborhood in a bulletproof vest and ski mask, firing randomly at vehicles and pedestrians, authorities allege.

Investigators are now combing through Carriker’s social media history and looking into the suspect’s possible mental health issues, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner told CNN on Wednesday. “I can certainly tell you that there are indications of mental health issues. There are indications of irrational behavior. There are indications of irrational statements and irrational acts,” Krasner said.

The Philadelphia Public Defender’s Office, which is representing Carriker, said Wednesday it would not comment on the case at that time.

New details emerged Wednesday about a possible motive for the shootings in Philadelphia’s Kingsessing neighborhood. Five people, including a 15-year-old boy, were killed and several others were injured.

The suspect used so-called ghost guns in the attack, authorities allege. On Wednesday, the city of Philadelphia announced a lawsuit against two companies that supply parts for such weapons, which can be made from components purchased online.

Carriker allegedly told police he carried out the shooting to clean up the neighborhood, two law enforcement sources told CNN.

The suspect’s social media activity has also come under scrutiny. A deleted social media page believed to be Carriker’s featured a series of posts about guns, the Second Amendment and “loss of freedoms,” according to a law enforcement source.

Hours before the Monday night shooting, a public post on the page showed a video advertisement for a tactical weapons accessories company. The video, posted at 10:49 a.m. ET, shows a man in tactical gear, holding what appears to be a military-style rifle.

First reports of the shooting came around 8:30 p.m. Monday, authorities said. Officers eventually arrested Carriker in an alley after a chase on foot. He had an AR-style rifle, a 9 mm handgun and a scanner that tracks emergency response radio traffic, authorities said.

The attack was among at least 360 mass shootings in the US so far this year with four or more wounded, excluding shooters, according to the Gun Violence Archive. It unfolded amid other scenes of carnage this week in Fort Worth, Texas, Indianapolis and Baltimore.

People embrace during a vigil held Wednesday at Philadelphia's Salt and Light church for the victims of Monday's mass shooting.

Investigators in Philadelphia see “all kinds of indications of premeditation,” both in how the weapons were purchased and the clothing worn during the shooting, said Krasner, whose office is leading the investigation. “But when you get into issues of psychological state, motivation, intent beyond the obvious, which is that he obviously planned this … that can be a monthslong process,” he told CNN.

Kimbrady Carriker

That process includes going through cell phones, social media, using high-level technology and extensive interviews to try to learn more about the shooting, Krasner said.

Carriker had a preliminary arraignment Wednesday on charges of murder, attempted murder and carrying a firearm without a license, among other charges. He was not asked to enter a plea. He is being held without bail. Carriker’s preliminary hearing has been scheduled for July 24, according to court records.

The gunman is suspected of killing DaJuan Brown, 15; Lashyd Merritt, 20; Dymir Stanton, 29; Ralph Moralis, 59; and Joseph Wamah Jr., 31, police said. Wamah’s body was found in a home early Tuesday, while the others were found Monday night, authorities said.

Authorities previously spelled Brown’s first name as Daujan but later confirmed to CNN the correct spelling is DaJuan.

The rifle and handgun found in Carriker’s possession were privately made weapons known as ghost guns, according to Frank Vanore, deputy commissioner of investigations for Philadelphia police.

The firearms didn’t have any markings and are not traceable, Vanore said.

The city of Philadelphia on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against two ghost gun suppliers, Polymer80, Inc. and JSD Supply, which it says are among the largest suppliers of untraceable firearms confiscated in the city.

The lawsuit alleges the companies “have perpetuated the gun violence crisis and threatened the public’s right to health and safety by marketing, selling, and dispersing unserialized ghost gun kits into Philadelphia,” the city said in a news release.

The suit “seeks to stop Polymer80 Inc. and JSD Supply from continuing their negligent and illegal business practices, in addition to the payment of damages,” the release states.

CNN has reached out to Polymer80 Inc. and JSD Supply for comment.

Ghost gun confiscations in Philadelphia have increased 300% in the past three years, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said. Kits from which the guns are made are sold online without the buyer needing to pass a background check and without serial numbers on the parts, he said.

The city’s police department says it confiscated 575 ghost guns while conducting criminal investigations in 2022. Eighty-seven percent of ghost guns recovered in criminal investigations this year were manufactured by Polymer80, the city said in a news release.

“This is like a level of insanity that no one should ever deal with,” Kenney told CNN on Wednesday.

After a previous fatal shooting in Philadelphia, Kenney tried to enforce a ban on firearms in its recreation facilities, but a judge blocked it in October, citing a state law that prohibits local governments from regulating firearms possession.

Before the shooting in Philadelphia, witnesses said Carriker had been acting oddly and displayed “abnormal behavior for quite a while,” Philadelphia Assistant District Attorney Joanne Pescatore said during a news conference Wednesday.

People who lived in the same house as Carriker said “he was getting more and more agitated as the days were passing,” Pescatore said.

Carriker had also handwritten a will, dated June 23, which investigators recovered while executing a search, Assistant District Attorney Bob Wainwright said. The will did not include any mention of plans to carry out the shooting, Wainwright said.

Investigators also found a .380-caliber handgun, ammunition and live rounds that matched ammunition found at the scene of the shooting, Wainwright added.

Meanwhile, the suspect’s social media history revealed that he shared posts from pro-gun groups supporting former President Donald Trump and the Second Amendment.

Last month, he shared a mocking video of a speech by President Joe Biden and added his view that Biden was trying to “take our arms.”

Another post from the same day says, “The only thing more terrifying than blindness is being the only one who can see.”

The page also has references to God and prayer posted over the last week, including a passage from the book of Isaiah posted by Carriker that begins, “I alone am the Lord, the only one who can save you.”

In one post, he complained about what he believed was a loss of freedom. And in a repost this week, he pinned a quote that read, “So often we accept the loss of freedoms in the name of safety. But we never feel any safer and we never get the freedoms back.”

In a June 20 post, he said of crime in the community, “During community patrols I have notice a big shame. So many of our 50 + 60 + 70 year old elders are influencing the youth negatively. They are without a doubt promoting and participating in robbing, prostitution, scamming, and murder.”

Another post on Carriker’s Facebook page shows photos of armed protesters dressed as Black Panthers taken at a 2020 Atlanta protest. He also shared that they were “exercising their first and second amendment” rights.

A view of the mass shooting crime scene in Philadelphia on July 3, 2023.

The Kingsessing neighborhood where the deadly mass shooting unfolded is traumatized, Kenney said.

“They’re traumatized, and obviously, rightfully so. There’s no reason in the world that that situation should have happened Monday night,” Kenney told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “And the common denominator in all of these things are guns, and the availability of guns and the high capacity of guns.”

In addition to the five killed, two boys, ages 2 and 13, were each shot in the leg and were in stable condition, police said. A 33-year-old woman and another 2-year-old boy were injured by glass, authorities said.

The two 2-year-old children are twins who were in a car with their mother when shots were fired at them, authorities said.

Referring to the Second Amendment, the Democratic mayor said, the Founding Fathers “weren’t talking about AR-15’s to mow down people in the streets of Philadelphia.”

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Moderna inks deal to make mRNA medicines in China


Hong Kong
CNN
 — 

US drugmaker Moderna has signed a deal to make mRNA medicines in China as part of its first major investment in the country, despite escalating trade and political tension between Washington and Beijing.

The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company signed a memorandum of understanding and a related land collaboration agreement on Wednesday, according to a statement sent to CNN.

“Any medicines produced under this agreement will be exclusively for the Chinese people — who face many of the same health challenges that affect other communities around the world — and will not be exported,” it said.

The official Xinhua news agency reported that Moderna

(MRNA)
plans to set up its mRNA pipelines in Shanghai’s Minhang District, adding the pharmaceutical firm will build a production plant.

Earlier, the state-owned financial publication Yicai had reported, citing unnamed sources, that the firm was planning on investing around $1 billion in its China operation.

The deal comes as US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen arrives in Beijing as part of ongoing efforts by the Biden administration to deepen communication between the US and China after a particularly difficult time in bilateral relations.

Moderna was founded in 2010 to focus on mRNA medicine development.

The company currently only markets its mRNA vaccines for Covid-19, but has a number of vaccines and therapeutics in its pipeline.

Those focus on addressing infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare diseases, cardiovascular diseases and autoimmune diseases, according to the company.

Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine, which received emergency authorization from US regulators in 2020 and full approval in 2022, has not been approved in China.

For most of the pandemic, China relied on more traditional platforms for its homegrown Covid-19 vaccines.

It approved its first mRNA vaccine for the virus in March. That product was developed by CSPC Pharmaceutical Group, based in the northern Chinese city of Shijiazhuang.

The country has not yet approved a foreign-made mRNA product.

Scientists have hailed the potential for vaccines and therapeutics using mRNA technology to transform medicine across a range of targets from cancer to immune disorders, as well as infectious diseases.

The technology works by delivering instructions to the body to produce a specific protein. For vaccines for infectious diseases, this protein can then trigger a protective immune response, teaching the body how to respond in case of a real infection.

The use of mRNA as a platform for vaccine delivery took a substantial leap forward due to the Covid-19 pandemic, when mRNA vaccines to protect against the coronavirus were among the first to be approved by regulators worldwide — also marking the first time a mRNA vaccine was brought to market.

Other major US-headquartered pharmaceutical companies have longstanding ties with China.

Pfizer

(PFE)
has operated in the country for more than three decades and invested more than $1.5 billion, according to the company.

Johnson and Johnson founded its first joint venture in China in 1985 and its businesses employ some 10,000 people in the country, including including its consumer and personal care arm, one of its China-based companies has said.

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4 things making it harder for Janet Yellen to repair the US-China relationship


Hong Kong
CNN
 — 

As US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen gears up Friday for two days of meetings with officials and economists in Beijing, she has a tough job: to stabilize a fractious relationship that worsened this week when China retaliated in a tech war with the United States.

On Monday, China announced restrictions on exports of two strategic materials needed to make semiconductors, which are crucial for the normal functioning of daily life and a growing source of tension between the world’s top two economies.

“This is just the beginning,” Wei Jianguo, a former Chinese vice-minister of commerce, told the official China Daily. “China’s tool box has many more types of measures available.”

The issues that need to be worked out between the superpowers are thorny and complex, even as their economies seem to defy talk of decoupling to become ever more intertwined.

Yellen’s visit comes at a moment when the global economy faces much uncertainty, as China’s post-Covid recovery loses momentum, Europe tries to pull out of a recession and the United States is still at risk of one.

The global economy stands to gain if Washington and Beijing can mend fences, but analysts say this appears unlikely.

“The two countries have misaligned and competing strategic interests. The relationship is at its lowest point in decades, marked by palpable and mutual distrust,” said Anna Ashton, director of China corporate affairs and US-China relations at Eurasia Group.

Here are four things likely to make it harder for Yellen to repair US-China ties, and one thing keeping the relationship going.

The tussle over the future of semiconductors has escalated in recent months, drawing in Japan and Europe. Beijing played a trump card earlier this week when it imposed export controls on two raw materials, gallium and germanium, that are critical to the global chipmaking industry.

This was perceived as China’s second counter measure to a US ban on advanced chip sales to China, which was announced by the Biden administration last year. Sanctioning one of America’s biggest memory chipmakers, Micron Technology

(MU)
, in May was Beijing’s first.

Wei was quoted by China Daily as saying the decision to announce curbs was made after “thoughtful consideration” and was designed to “not only cause panic in certain countries, but also exert heavy pain in them.”

Analysts believe limits on the export of rare earths, a group of 17 elements for which China controls more than half of the global supply, could be the next way for China to hit back.

In October, the US government unveiled a set of export controls banning Chinese companies from buying advanced chips and chip-making equipment without a license. According to multiple media reports, the curbs will be expanded to restrict the sale of some artificial intelligence chips.

The sanctions strike at the heart of Beijing’s tech ambitions, as chips are vital for everything from smartphones, self-driving cars, and advanced computing to weapons manufacturing.

China has strongly criticized such restrictions on tech exports and will do all it can to ensure they don’t hold back its own development.

Beijing’s crackdown against Western consulting and due diligence firms has also unnerved US businesses.

In April, Beijing updated its counter-espionage law, which expanded the list of activities that could be considered spying.

Over the past few months, officials have launched a spate of raids on consultancies, including Capvision, Bain & Company and the Mintz Group.

The authorities accused Capvision, which is based in Shanghai and New York, of helping to leak sensitive military information to foreign forces.

Analysts said Chinese President Xi Jinping’s enhanced focus on national security is creating political risks that are making it harder for foreign firms to do business in China.

Some funds and research firms have shut their China offices following the crackdown, including Forrester Research and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.

Since earlier this year, the Biden administration has been mulling new rules that could limit investment in key parts of China’s economy by American businesses, according to multiple media reports.

In April, a group of congressional Republicans called on the administration to “use all available tools” to sanction cloud computing firms with links to China.

The US government has long scrutinized foreign investment into the country. But rules regulating US investment abroad would be a new step, part of a broader effort to make it harder for China to develop key technologies that could support its military.

Rising geopolitical tensions have put many companies in a tough position.

Last month, venture capital titan Sequoia split off its China business after its expansive investments in China, often in tech startups, drew attention from US lawmakers.

Sequoia’s executives said in a statement that it has become “increasingly complex” to run a decentralized global investment business.

TikTok is also fighting to save its operations in the United States as a growing number of lawmakers raise national security concerns about the company’s ties to China.

Hawks have been calling for the US to decouple from China, an unrealistic proposition given the extent of the bilateral trade and investment ties.

Still, US President Joe Biden and his European allies have repeatedly stressed the desire to “de-risk” their relationships with the Chinese economy, not least because of lessons learned since Moscow ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year about relying on Russia for energy and other commodities.

The war in Ukraine has fueled worries over Taiwan, which China has threatened to invade.

The concerns have led to coordinated efforts to remove China from technology supply chains that can be used to advance its military strength.

That has been met with strong opposition from Beijing.

“Some people in the West are hyping up so-called concepts of reducing dependency [on China] and de-risking. I would say these concepts are false propositions,” Chinese Premier Li Qiang said last month at a World Economics Form in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin.

He called for “de-risking” decisions to be made by companies rather than governments. Economic globalization remains unchanged, and there should be more cooperation and communication, he added.

President Xi said Tuesday that Beijing opposes “decoupling.”

China wants to work with nations to “reject the moves of setting up barriers, decoupling and breaking links,” he told leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, according to a text of his speech carried by the official Xinhua news agency.

Despite the tension, consumers and businesses in the two economies remain deeply connected.

China is among the top two holders of US debt, and the US is still China’s single largest trading partner.

Last year, trade in goods between the two economies climbed to nearly $691 billion, breaking the previous record set in 2018, according to US Commerce Department data.

America’s deficit in goods traded with China increased 8% to $382.9 billion, also the biggest on record.

“Trade between the two superpowers is bifurcating and it’s a paradox. Even as strategic supply chains decouple, in other areas multinational enterprises are doubling down on their in-China-for-China operations,” said Alex Capri, senior lecturer at the National University of Singapore Business School.

On Wednesday, US pharmaceutical firm Moderna

(MRNA)
signed a deal to make its first major investment in China. Tesla

(TSLA)
has announced plans to open a second factory in Shanghai to produce large batteries used to store huge amounts of electricity.

“The China market remains critically important to many US companies’ global competitiveness. The sheer size of the market is unmatched,” Ashton said.

But she warned that businesses and consumers have yet to to see the full effects of sanctions that have been promulgated by both sides, and more such measures are certainly coming.

“Both sides are ramping up commercial restrictions in the name of national security and national interests,” she said.

“If [the trend] continues to build, it could indeed threaten the two countries’ ability to maintain robust economic engagement even where the goods and services in question are seemingly mundane and benign.”

— CNN’s Jennifer Hansler, Wayne Chang and Bryan Mena contributed reporting.

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Richard Branson Fast Facts



CNN
 — 

Here’s a look at the life of the founder of Virgin Group, Ltd., Richard Branson.

Birth date: July 18, 1950

Birth place: Surrey, England

Birth name: Richard Charles Nicholas Branson

Father: Edward Branson, lawyer

Mother: Eve (Huntley-Flindt) Branson, flight attendant

Marriages: Joan (Templeman) Branson (1989-present); Kristen (Tomassi) Branson (1972-1976, divorced)

Children: with Joan Branson: Clare Sarah, born and died in 1979, Holly and Sam

Struggled in school due to dyslexia.

Signed notable artists such as the Sex Pistols, Culture Club, the Rolling Stones and Genesis to the Virgin Records label.

Some of his possessions over time have included at least three islands, a super-yacht and a submarine.

The Virgin Group brand has spawned more than 400 worldwide companies, in leisure, travel, tourism, mobile, broadband, media, finance, conservation and health.

1966 – Starts the magazine “Student” shortly before dropping out of school at the age of 16.

1970 Founds Virgin, a mail-order record company, and shortly thereafter a record store in London.

1971 Forms the Virgin Records music label and builds a recording studio.

1973 Branson’s first signed artist, Mike Oldfield, releases the single “Tubular Bells,” which stays on the UK charts for 247 weeks.

1984 Forms Virgin Atlantic airlines.

1987 – Branson and Per Lindstrand become the first people to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a hot-air balloon.

1992Branson sells Virgin Music Group to Thorn EMI. He says that the sale will allow him to concentrate on his airline, Virgin Atlantic.

1999 Is knighted for his contributions to entrepreneurship.

June 2004Branson crosses the English Channel in one hour, 40 minutes and six seconds in an amphibious vehicle, setting a world record.

September 27, 2004 – Branson announces a licensing deal with Mojave Aerospace Ventures to ultimately offer commercial space flights through Virgin Galactic.

December 7, 2009 – Branson unveils SpaceShipTwo, named VSS Enterprise, a commercial spacecraft designed to send passengers into orbit for $200,000 a ticket.

January 29, 2010Reveals the Necker Nymph, a three-person submarine that can dive more than 100 feet.

August 23, 2011 – Fire, ignited by a lightning strike, destroys Branson’s house on Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands. Approximately 20 people, including Branson, members of his family and actress Kate Winslet, escape unharmed.

July 2012 – Becomes the oldest person to kitesurf the English Channel.

November 22, 2013 – Branson announces that travelers for his commercial space travel flight can pay with the digital currency Bitcoin.

October 31, 2014 – SpaceShipTwo explodes during a test flight, killing one pilot and injuring the other.

February 19, 2016 – Virgin Galactic unveils a new spaceship. It is a replacement for the one that crashed in 2014.

December 2018 – Branson joins Fabien Cousteau and submarine pilot, Erika Bergman, on a historic expedition to the bottom of Belize’s Great Blue Hole, the world’s largest sinkhole.

May 10, 2019 – Virgin Galactic announces that it will move its spacecraft and 100 of its workers to a building called Spaceport America in New Mexico. They will join about 50 other employees already working there.

June 22, 2020 – Virgin Galactic announces that it has signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA to train private astronauts and coordinate potential trips to the International Space Station.

July 1, 2020 – Virgin Galactic announces that Branson will be on its July 11 test flight to space.

July 11, 2021 Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity space plane carrying Branson and three colleagues launches from Spaceport America in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. After a successful detachment from its mothership WhiteKnightTwo, the space plane makes a return landing at Spaceport America.

April 3, 2023 – Virgin Orbit, the rocket company founded by Branson, files for bankruptcy in the United States. On May 23, Virgin Orbit announces it will cease operations and sell off its assets.

June 2023 – Branson opens Son Bunyola, a luxury hotel on the Spanish island of Mallorca.

June 29, 2023 – Virgin Galactic successfully launches its first paying customers to the edge of space. The vehicle ventures more than 50 miles (80 kilometers) above Earth’s surface.

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Lindsey Graham Fast Facts



CNN
 — 

Here’s a look at the life of Lindsey Graham, US senator from South Carolina and 2016 GOP presidential candidate.

Birth date: July 9, 1955

Birth place: Central, South Carolina

Birth name: Lindsey Olin Graham

Father: Florence James Graham, restaurant, pool hall and liquor store owner

Mother: Millie Graham, restaurant, pool hall and liquor store owner

Education: University of South Carolina, Columbia, B.A., 1977; University of South Carolina School of Law, J.D., 1981

Military service: US Air Force, 1982-1988; South Carolina Air National Guard, 1989-1995; US Air Force Reserve, 1995-2015; retired from the Air Force Reserve in 2015 as a colonel.

Religion: Southern Baptist

Growing up, Graham worked in the pool hall his family owned, the Sanitary Cafe.

His mother and father died within 15 months of each other when Graham was an undergraduate. He helped raise his then 13-year-old sister, Darline, and later adopted her.

In 1994, he became the first Republican elected to the US House of Representatives from South Carolina since 1877.

Told reporters in March 2015 that he has never sent an email.

Was a close friend of the late Sen. John McCain from Arizona.

1982-1988 – US Air Force prosecutor and defense attorney. The last four years were served at Rhein-Main Air Force Base in Germany.

1988-1992 – Assistant attorney, County of Oconee, South Carolina.

1990-1994 – City attorney for Central, South Carolina, his hometown.

1992-1994 – Member of the South Carolina state House of Representatives.

1995-2003 – Republican member of the US House of Representatives.

2002 – Is elected to the US Senate, succeeding Strom Thurmond.

2003-present – US senator from South Carolina.

2013 – Collaborates on a bipartisan immigration reform bill. The measure passes in the Senate but doesn’t make it through the House.

June 1, 2015 – Announces he is running for president during an event in Central, South Carolina.

June 7, 2015 – Graham says in an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash that he would welcome Caitlyn Jenner as a political ally and makes a pitch for a more inclusive GOP.

December 21, 2015 – Announces he is suspending his presidential campaign.

May 6, 2016 – Announces he will not be voting for either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton for president in the general election.

October 2018 – Tells CNN that although Trump “can be a handful,” Graham wants to see Trump succeed and enjoys the ability to influence Trump by staying in the president’s corner.

January 10, 2019-February 3, 2021 – Graham serves as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

June 12, 2020 – The group Republican Voters Against Trump releases a campaign ad featuring Graham criticizing Trump and praising Vice President Joe Biden. In the ad, Graham calls President Trump a “race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot.”

November 3, 2020 – Wins reelection to the US Senate, defeating Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison who gained attention for raising huge amounts of money.

January 6, 2021 – Graham defends the certification of the electoral votes on the Senate floor following the US Capitol riots, saying objecting to the results are a “uniquely bad idea to delay this election. All I can say, is count me out, enough is enough.” Weeks later, Graham returns to supporting Trump by serving as an informal adviser to his team during his second impeachment trial and visiting Mar-a-Lago.

August 2, 2021 – Graham announces he has tested positive for Covid-19, despite being vaccinated. He tweets “without vaccination I am certain I would not feel as well as I do now.”

November 22, 2022 – Graham appears before a Fulton County, Georgia, grand jury investigating efforts by Trump and his allies to subvert the results of the 2020 election, prosecutors want to question Graham about calls he made to Georgia election officials after the presidential election, as well as his interactions with the Trump campaign, according to court documents.

March 23, 2023 – The Senate Ethics Committee reprimands Graham for soliciting campaign contributions five times during a media interview in a Capitol office building in violation of Senate rules.

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House Freedom Caucus voted to remove Greene before July Fourth break, congressman says



CNN
 — 

A majority of the House Freedom Caucus voted to remove GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia just before the current congressional recess on June 23, according to Republican Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, though her ultimate fate in the group remains unclear.

“A vote was taken to remove Marjorie Taylor Greene from the House Freedom Caucus – for some of the things she’s done,” Harris told reporters Thursday. According to Harris, Greene can no longer attend weekly meetings as they are reserved for members. This would be the first time a member has been ejected from the caucus. Politico first reported the vote.

It is unclear if the process is officially complete as members are still out of town and the rules for kicking out a member of the Freedom Caucus are tightly held. CNN has reached out to the caucus for comment.

“As far as I know, that’s the way it is,” Harris said when asked if Greene is officially out after the vote occurred.

Greene did not address her membership status when asked for comment, instead saying in a statement that she will “never change” her character, and, “In Congress, I serve Northwest Georgia first, and serve no group in Washington.”

“My America First credentials, guided by my Christian faith, are forged in steel, seared into my character, and will never change,” she said. “I will work with ANYONE who wants to secure our border, protect our children inside the womb and after they are born, end the forever foreign wars, and do the work to save this country.”

Greene added: “The GOP has less than two years to show America what a strong, unified Republican-led congress will do when President Trump wins the White House in 2024. This is my focus, nothing else.”

marjorie taylor greene lauren boebert

MTG lashed out at Boebert on the House floor. Hear how Boebert responded

Harris declined to say how he voted but said he “thought the action was an appropriate action.” He cited the confrontation between Greene and GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado as “the straw that broke the camel’s back” that led to her ouster. Before the recess, CNN reported that Greene called Boebert “a little bitch” on the House floor.

“I think the way she referred to a fellow member was probably not the way we expect our members to refer to their fellow, especially female, members,” Harris added.

A spokesperson for Boebert declined to say how she voted at the June Freedom Caucus meeting.

“There was nothing personal about Congresswoman Boebert’s vote regarding MTG’s membership status in the House Freedom Caucus,” Boebert spokesperson Joey Hungerford said in a statement.

Harris confirmed the vote took place the morning that Congress left town before the July Fourth recess, following the group’s executive board meeting the day before. Harris gave a full-throated support of House Freedom Caucus chairman Scott Perry, a Republican from Pennsylvania, saying he is doing a “great job” and he is a “true leader.”

Greene entered Congress in 2021 as an outsider with a history of promoting far-right extremist and debunked conspiracy theories, but quickly pivoted by aligning herself with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and his leadership team. Unlike the majority of the House Freedom Caucus, Greene stood by McCarthy in his fight to become speaker and opposed members of the group who blockaded the House floor for a week over the debt ceiling deal House GOP leaders negotiated with the White House.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

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Toxic gas leak in South Africa kills at least 17 people, including children



CNN
 — 

At least 17 people have died from nitrate gas inhalation following a gas leak at an informal settlement camp in South Africa, according to state media.

A disaster management agency official earlier said on Wednesday night that at least 24 people had died at the Angelo squatter camp in the city of Boksburg , but the death toll was revised to 17, public broadcaster SABC said, citing the Premier of Gauteng, Panyaza Lesufi.

Lesufi confirmed that 16 people had died and according to SABC, another person died at the Tambo Memorial Hospital in the early hours of the morning.

Children are among the dead and search and rescue operations are ongoing, local media reported.

The leak came from a gas cylinder containing nitrate oxide at the informal settlement, William Ntlad, spokesperson for the Disaster and Emergency Management Services said.

Ntladi said emergency services received the call just after 8 pm local time Wednesday.

He said an initial investigation indicates the leak could be linked to illegal mining activity in the area.

A police officer sits in the back of a police vehicle loaded with illegal mining equipment, after investigating the scene of a suspected gas leak thought to be linked to illegal mining, in the Angelo shack settlement, near Boksburg, east of Johannesburg, South Africa July 6, 2023.

Illegal mining, mostly for gold, has remained rife in South Africa and costs the country millions of dollars each year.

Known as “zama zamas,” they make up thousands of illegal miners who swarm the disused gold mines of Johannesburg.

Last month, the country’s Department of Mineral and Energy Resources said around 31 suspected illegal miners who were believed to be nationals of neighboring Lesotho had died in a ventilation shaft in the country’s Free State province.


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Wagner boss now in Russia, says Belarus president, muddying the waters over purported deal to end mutiny


Minsk, Belarus
CNN
 — 

Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin is not in Belarus and it is unclear if his fighters will move to the country, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko told CNN Thursday, raising new questions about the purported deal that ended Wagner’s armed rebellion last month.

Prigozhin had reportedly traveled to Belarus as part of a Lukashenko-brokered deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin following the failed uprising, but the Belarusian president told CNN’s Matthew Chance that the Wagner leader is now in Russia.

Wigs were reportedly found during the police raid on Prigozhin's home and office.
Weapons and ammunition reportedly found during the raid.

“In terms of Yevgeny Prigozhin, he is in St. Petersburg. Or maybe this morning he would travel to Moscow or elsewhere,” Lukashenko said in response to a question from Chance during a press conference with international media in Minsk. “But he is not on the territory of Belarus now.”

His comments – and footage purporting to show a police raid on Prigozhin’s premises in St. Petersburg – raise new questions over the status of the Wagner boss, who has not been seen in public since June 24 when he left Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia after halting his march on Moscow – the biggest threat to Putin’s 23-year rule.

The Kremlin refused to comment on Prigozhin’s whereabouts to CNN, claiming “we do not track his movements.

“We have neither the ability nor the desire to do so.”

Lukashenko said Moscow will determine whether the paramilitary group’s fighters will come to Belarus, saying that decision will be made “in the near future.”

In the wake of Prigozhin’s aborted insurrection in Russia, Lukashenko said he would house Wagner fighters in Belarus. Until Thursday, it was unclear whether they had arrived in Belarus.

The Kremlin leader previously threatened a harsh response to those participating in the rebellion, suggesting fighters on “the past of treason” would be punished.

But Lukashenko claimed Prigozhin “is free” and said he did not believe Putin would seek vengeance on the Wagner chief.

“What will happen to Prigozhin next? Well, everything happens in life. But if you think that Putin is so malicious and vindictive that he will ‘kill’ Prigozhin tomorrow – no, this will not happen.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said talks would be held between Prigozhin and Putin. He said Prigozhin’s supposed relocation to Belarus was one of the conditions agreed on by both leaders.

Belarus played a key role in the war. Russian troops launched the invasion on February 24, 2022, crossing into Ukraine from Belarus as well as Russia.

But Lukashenko said on Thursday he does not regret his country’s participation in the conflict, because “I did not take part in this process.”

Meanwhile, Russian state media released footage purporting to show a police raid on Prigozhin’s office and residence in St. Petersburg, stepping up an apparent propaganda campaign against the Wagner boss.

The footage – described by TV anchors as “scandalous” – shows what is described as a stash of gold, money and wigs, along with weapons and several passports apparently belonging to Prigozhin under different aliases.

Until recently, Russian state television lionized Wagner’s operations in Ukraine, but the outlets now appear to be vilifying the founder of the private military company following the failed uprising.

Weapons were reportedly found by police.
Video footage also showed stacks of cash.

A lengthy segment aired on state television detailed Prigozhin’s criminal past, including allegations of robbery and assault as well as a lengthy sentence in a penal colony in the 1980s.

Russian state TV presenters said “there were also guns and a collection of passports with the same photo but with different names and surnames.”

Presenters also mentioned that “suspicious packages” were found during a search, insinuating that they might be drugs.

In a separate segment, Russia 24 aired a video of police raiding his office and several photographs of a richly decorated house where a wardrobe full of differently colored wigs can be seen.

Russian state television often airs dramatic footage of what are described as raids by security services and foiled terrorist plots.

Experts and human rights advocates say Russian authorities have a pattern of fabricating criminal cases against the Kremlin’s political challengers.

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