Tag: All Regions

Israeli pharma company Teva to pay $225M for cholesterol drug price-fixing; Glenmark to pay a $30 million criminal penalty

WASHINGTON (AP) — The generic drug maker Teva Pharmaceuticals agreed Monday to pay $225 million to settle price-fixing charges related to sales of a major cholesterol-lowering drug. The U.S. Department of Justice said the agreement also requires Teva to divest its business making and selling the drug, pravastatin, a generic version of the brand-name medicine Pravachol. Another generic drug maker, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, agreed to pay a $30 million criminal penalty and to divest its pravastatin business as well. In a…

Google introduces its new global censorship tool

Google has partnered with the United Nations, World Health Organisation and others in a new global censorship tool that was introduced last Monday, according to LaToya Drake, head of Google News Lab. Below are the short descriptions from GNI’s ‘About’ page.  The titles are misleading.  For example, following the ‘Our partners’ hyperlink contained in the words “learn more” does not lead to a list or overview of its partners.  It leads to ‘Case Studies’: Some “stories” about “how news organisations around the…

CIA knew of Ukraine plan to blow up Nord Stream pipeline: Report

A European spy agency told the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) it knew of an Ukraine special operations team plan to blow up the Nord Stream gas pipeline three months before explosions damaged the undersea system last year, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

The newspaper cited US intelligence allegedly leaked earlier this year by a low-level US Air National Guard computer technician who had access to large amounts of highly classified materials.

The leaked documents indicated that an unnamed European intelligence body told the US spy agency in June 2022, four months after Russia invaded Ukraine, that Ukraine military divers reporting directly to the country’s military commander-in-chief were planning the attack.

Biden Asks Congress for $13B in New Ukraine Military Spending

President Joe Biden‘s administration on Thursday asked Congress for more than $13 billion in new military spending for Ukraine, citing the need for continued support following Russia’s “unprovoked” invasion of the country last year. The funding would help Ukraine and other vulnerable countries “impacted by Russia’s unprovoked and brutal invasion,” Office of Management and Budget (OMB) director Shalanda Young wrote in a letter to Congressional leader Kevin McCarthy and others. Close to $10 billion of the new military funding would…

Biden asks Congress for $40 billion to support Ukraine, replenish US disaster aid and bolster border

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration on Thursday asked Congress to provide more than $13 billion in emergency defense aid to Ukraine and an additional $8 billion for humanitarian support through the end of the year, another massive infusion of cash as the Russian invasion wears on and Ukraine pushes a counteroffensive against the Kremlin’s deeply entrenched forces. The package includes $12 billion to replenish U.S. federal disaster funds at home after a deadly climate season of heat and storms,…

FCA request data from banks on account closures

This follows our announcement of a data exercise to investigate account closures.  Firms have until 25 August 2023 to provide information on: the number of customers that have been terminated the number of customers suspended the number of customers denied services the reasons for all of the above  the number of complaints banks have received on this issue This will include asking if accounts have been closed because of expressions of political or other opinions. We’re asking about both personal…

A woman fatally shot an Uber driver. Police say she wrongly thought she was being kidnapped

EL PASO, Texas (AP) — A Kentucky woman has been accused of fatally shooting her West Texas Uber driver after mistakenly believing she was being kidnapped and taken to Mexico, according to police. Phoebe Copas remained jailed Sunday in El Paso, Texas, after being charged with murder last week in the death of 52-year-old Daniel Piedra Garcia. Court and jail records did not list an attorney who could speak for Copas, 48. The shooting took place on June 16 as…

Shot teenager’s grandmother urges end to French overnight riots

The grandmother of the teenager shot dead by police during a traffic stop in a Paris suburb said on Sunday she wanted the nationwide rioting triggered by his killing to end, after a fifth night of unrest. She said the rioters were using 17-year-old Nahel’s death last Tuesday as an excuse to cause havoc and that the family wanted calm. “I’m telling them [the rioters] to stop,” the grandmother, identified as Nadia by French media, told BFM TV. “Nahel is…

US sets grim mass killings record in first half of 2023

Country endured 28 mass killings – a total of 140 victims – amid uptick in gun violence and calls by some for stricter laws. The United States saw a record of 28 mass killings in the first half of 2023, The Associated Press has reported, as policymakers struggle to curb gun violence across the country. The AP analysis, published on Friday, said 140 victims were killed during that period. All but one of the mass killings – incidents in which…

Mother of 6-year-old Virginia boy who shot teacher faces US gun charges

VIRGINIA – The mother of a 6-year-old Virginia boy who shot and wounded his elementary school teacher was charged on Monday with two US firearms felonies, and her lawyer said she will plead guilty to both offences under a deal with federal prosecutors. Deja Taylor was charged with being a user of illegal drugs in possession of a gun and of making a false statement to buy the weapon, a 9mm semi-automatic pistol. She is accused of concealing in a…

California’s Newsom Proposes 28th Amendment to Tackle Gun Access

  California Governor Gavin Newsom has proposed a 28th Amendment to the US Constitution aimed at curbing gun access in response to the increasing number of nationwide mass shootings.The proposed amendment, according to Newsom, would not eliminate the Second Amendment or civilian gun ownership but would introduce measures such as raising the minimum age to purchase a firearm to 21, implementing universal background checks, imposing a waiting period for gun purchases, and banning the civilian purchase of assault weapons.During an…

Experts question prosecutors’ strategy against weapons expert in Alec Baldwin case

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — More than a year and a half after Alec Baldwin shot and killed a cinematographer while rehearsing a scene on set in New Mexico, prosecutors have yet to solve the biggest mystery in the tragic case: How did live rounds get on the set? Prosecutors said in their latest court filing that they have some evidence to support the theory that weapons expert Hannah Gutierrez-Reed may be responsible for the introduction of the rounds. But they…

The Mississippi police officer who shot an 11-year-old is now suspended without pay

Enlarge this image The Mississippi police officer who shot and wounded the unarmed boy has been suspended without pay during an investigation, a city official said. Here, this December 2022 photo provided by Nakala Murry shows her 11-year-old son Aderrien Murry, who was shot and wounded by an Indianola, Miss., Police Department officer on May 20, 2023, during a domestic disturbance call at the family’s home. AP AP The Mississippi police officer who shot and wounded an 11-year-old boy in…

The Wuhan Cover Up, by RFKJr.

  The title of US Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s new book, The Wuhan Cover Up, does not really represent the scope and nature of this seminal work.  This book is the most comprehensive historic summary and indictment of the history of the United States’ biowarfare/biodefense program ever written. Summarizing an amazing sweep of untold censored history, it begins with ancient Mediterranean and European examples of both chemical and biological warfare, proceeds to an open discussion of the shocking truths…

UK, US officials pressured journalist to comply with the prosecution of Julian Assange of Wikileaks

The Justice Department and FBI have used “vague threats and pressure tactics” in an attempt to gain compliance with journalists, reporter James Ball said, citing his own experience being pressured by government officials. Ball briefly worked and lived with Assange, who is imprisoned in the UK and faces the possibility of extradition to the United States for allegedly violating the Espionage Act. In 2013, Ball published an article critical of WikiLeaks, its handling of US State Department cables, and its…

Shakespeare and penguin book get caught in Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ laws

ORLANDO, Fla. — Students in a Florida school district will be reading only excerpts from William Shakespeare’s plays for class rather than the full texts under redesigned curriculum guides developed, in part, to take into consideration the state’s “Don’t Say Gay” laws. The changes to the Hillsborough County Public Schools’ curriculum guides were made with Florida’s new laws prohibiting classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in mind. Other reasons included revised state standards and an effort to get…