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Brazil's Bolsonaro Blames "Judicial Activism" For Covid Probe

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Brazil's Bolsonaro Blames 'Judicial Activism' For Covid Probe" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2020-07/qck12e3o_brazil-president-jair-bolsonaro-coviidpositive_625x300_07_July_20.jpg" title="Brazil's Bolsonaro Blames 'Judicial Activism' For Covid Probe" /></div>
Brazil is suffering through a new, deadly surge of COVID-19 (File)
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Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said Friday he was the victim of "judicial activism" after a Supreme Court judge ordered the Senate to launch an inquiry into his government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
The comment came a day after Justice Luis Roberto Barroso's ruling set up a potentially damaging inquiry into Bolsonaro's response to Covid-19, which the far-right leader has repeatedly downplayed even as it has claimed 345,000 lives in Brazil.
"Barroso suffers from a lack of moral courage and an excess of judicial activism," Bolsonaro told supporters outside the presidential palace in Brasilia.
"That's not what Brazil needs. We're at a critical moment in the pandemic, there are people dying, and a Supreme Court justice is playing politics along with the Senate."
Brazil is suffering through a new, deadly surge of Covid-19 that is pushing hospitals to the breaking point across most of the country.
It already has the second-highest death count worldwide in the pandemic, after the United States, and is struggling to secure enough vaccines for its 212 million people.
The Senate commission will be tasked with investigating "the actions and omissions of the federal government... particularly with regard to the worsening of the health crisis in the state of Amazonas, after the lack of oxygen for hospitalized patients," the judge's ruling stated.
In January, dozens of people died in Manaus, the state's capital, when hospitals ran out of oxygen to treat Covid-19 patients.
In another blow to Bolsonaro, the Supreme Court also ruled Thursday that regional authorities can prohibit in-person religious services under Covid-19 restrictions, something he had strongly opposed.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/brazils-bolsonaro-blames-judicial-activism-for-covid-probe-2410431">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/brazils-bolsonaro-blames-judicial-activism-for-covid-probe-2410431</a>

news world Brazil's Bolsonaro Blames "Judicial Activism" For Covid Probe

Brazil is suffering through a new, deadly surge of COVID-19 (File) Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said Friday he was the victim of ...

Judge Hands Amazon A Setback In New York Lawsuit Over COVID-19 Shortfalls

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James sued Amazon on Feb. 16, four days after Amazon sued her. (File)
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New York:
A federal judge on Friday ruled against Amazon.com Inc as the company defends against New York Attorney General Letitia James' lawsuit claiming it prioritized profit over worker safety during the COVID-19 pandemic at two New York City warehouses.
U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan granted James' request to return her lawsuit to a New York state court, and rejected Amazon's bid to move it to Brooklyn federal court, where the online retailer had sued James to stop her from suing.
James accused Amazon of ignoring its duty to take reasonable steps to protect workers from the coronavirus at a Staten Island fulfillment center and a Queens distribution center, and retaliating against workers who complained.
An Amazon spokeswoman declined to comment. Rakoff said he will explain the reasoning behind his two-paragraph order later.
"Amazon has forced its employees to work in unsafe conditions throughout this pandemic," James said in welcoming her lawsuit's move back to state court, "where it belongs."
While the ruling did not address the dispute's merits, it is a setback for Seattle-based Amazon, which accused James of overstepping her authority and said federal laws rather than New York's should govern workplace safety.
Amazon said both lawsuits belonged in the Brooklyn court because Queens and Staten Island are in that jurisdiction, and suing in different courts was wasteful.
James said Amazon had "cut corners" in protecting workers because doing more could threaten productivity, sales volume and profitability.
She said she had authority to enforce New York state law "to promote proper business conduct and ensure that current and future Amazon employees have a safe and honest workplace."
Her lawsuit seeks improved worker protections, and damages for two Amazon workers who allegedly faced retaliation.
One, Christian Smalls, was fired one year ago, purportedly for violating a paid quarantine when leading a protest over conditions at the Staten Island warehouse.
James sued Amazon on Feb. 16, four days after Amazon sued her. Amazon then moved James' lawsuit to federal court.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/judge-hands-amazon-a-setback-in-new-york-lawsuit-over-covid-19-shortfalls-2410427">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/judge-hands-amazon-a-setback-in-new-york-lawsuit-over-covid-19-shortfalls-2410427</a>

news world Judge Hands Amazon A Setback In New York Lawsuit Over COVID-19 Shortfalls

James sued Amazon on Feb. 16, four days after Amazon sued her. (File) New York: A federal judge on Friday ruled against Amazon.com Inc ...

Next Stop, Space: All-Civilian Spaceflight Crew Ready With Tickets, Training

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Jared Isaacman, Hayley Arceneaux, Sian Proctor and Chris Sembroski pose for a photo.
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Washington, United States:
Several hundred people have already booked their tickets and begun training for a spectacular voyage: a few minutes, or perhaps days, in the weightlessness of space.
The mainly wealthy first-time space travellers are getting ready to take part in one of several private missions which are preparing to launch.
The era of space tourism is on the horizon 60 years after Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person in space.
Two companies, Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin, are building spacecraft capable of sending private clients on suborbital flights to the edge of space lasting several minutes.
Glenn King is the director of spaceflight training at the National Aerospace Training and Research Center, a private company based in Pennsylvania which has already trained nearly 400 future Virgin Galactic passengers for their trips.
"The oldest person I trained was 88 years old," King told AFP.
The training program lasts two days -- a morning of classroom instruction and tests in a centrifuge.
This involves putting the trainee in a single-seat cockpit at the end of a 25-foot-long (eight-meter-long) arm and spinning them around to simulate gravitational force, or G force.
A medical team is on hand at all times.
"Enjoy the view"
NASA's training for shuttle crew members lasted two years but the duration has been drastically reduced by the commercial space industry because of the "numbers of people that want to get up in space," King said.
"We can't take two years to train these people," he said. "We've got to get this down to a matter of days to get these people up.
"These people aren't crews, just strictly passengers," he noted.
"For a passenger, there isn't a lot of work for you to do other than just relax, endure the G forces of launch or reentry.
"And then once you're orbital, enjoy the view out the window."
King said the pass rate for the training course has been "99.9 percent."
The cost ranges from several thousand dollars to as much as $10,000 if special care or medical monitoring is needed.
The single biggest barrier to "spaceflight for all" remains the price tag.
Some 600 people have booked flights on Virgin Galactic, the company owned by British billionaire Richard Branson, and thousands more are on a waiting list.
The cost per flight? $200,000 to $250,000.
Virgin Galactic hopes to take its first private astronaut on a suborbital flight in early 2022, with eventual plans for 400 trips a year.
Blue Origin, owned by Amazon's Jeff Bezos, has not yet published prices or a calendar.
Money aside, pretty much anybody could go on a spaceflight.
"You don't have to be in perfect physical health now to be able to go to space," King said. "I've trained people with prosthetic devices. I've trained people with pacemakers.
"All kinds of people."
The US Federal Aviation Administration, which oversees the aviation industry, recommended in 2006 that future "commercial passengers" on suborbital flights fill out a "simple medical history questionnaire."
Orbital flights which go further and last longer would require a more detailed form and blood tests, X-rays and urine specimens.
Such flights, which cost millions of dollars each, are envisioned by SpaceX, the company founded by billionaire Elon Musk, which has at least four planned over the coming years.
"Inspiration4"
The first launch of only civilians, baptized "Inspiration4," is scheduled to take place in September.
The American billionaire Jared Isaacman has fully paid for a trip powered by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that will take him and three passengers on a three-day flight in low Earth orbit.
In January 2022, the company Axiom Space plans to send a former astronaut and three newcomers to the International Space Station.
It eventually plans trips to the ISS every six months.
Seven "space tourists" visited the space station between 2001 and 2009.
A company called Space Adventures served as the intermediary for those flights and has partnered with SpaceX to send four customers in orbit around the Earth next year.
A Japanese billionaire, Yusaku Maezawa, has reserved a flight on SpaceX's "Starship" in 2023 and is inviting eight other people to come along for the ride.
So when can we expect space tourism to become commonplace?
Difficult to say, said Robert Goehlich, an adjunct assistant professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Worldwide.
"Suborbital and orbital tourist flights are currently near to happen," Goehlich said. "The exact forecast is a challenge for each scenario.
"A new investor might accelerate any schedule," he said, "while an accident might decelerate any planning."
Three major factors will need to come together: flights will have to be safe, profitable and environmentally friendly.
"In the long run, thinking about a mass space tourism market, surely sustainability aspects will play a more dominant role," Goehlich said.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/next-stop-space-all-civilian-spaceflight-crew-ready-with-tickets-training-2410426">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/next-stop-space-all-civilian-spaceflight-crew-ready-with-tickets-training-2410426</a>

news world Next Stop, Space: All-Civilian Spaceflight Crew Ready With Tickets, Training

Jared Isaacman, Hayley Arceneaux, Sian Proctor and Chris Sembroski pose for a photo. Washington, United States: Several hundred people ...

Decades After His Wife Vanished, US Man Sentenced To 40 Years In Her Murder

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Jose Rodriguez-Cruz is already serving a 12-year term in the D.C. killing. (Representational)
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Jose Rodriguez-Cruz, who admitted strangling his girlfriend in the District of Columbia and disposing of her still-missing body in 2009, was sentenced to 40 years in prison Thursday for murdering his estranged wife in Virginia in 1989 and also hiding her remains.
Ending a tortuous case that bedeviled investigators in several jurisdictions for years, Circuit Court Judge Michael Levy in Stafford County, Va., imposed the maximum sentence on Rodriguez-Cruz, 55, after he pleaded guilty in November to second-degree murder. He already is serving a 12-year term in the D.C. killing.
His estranged wife, Marta Rodriguez, 26, was last seen alive in May 1989. Her remains, concealed on a highway median strip in Stafford, were found in 1991 but not identified until 2018, after Rodriguez-Cruz had been charged with murder in Washington.
Thursday's sentencing followed two related investigations involving multiple police departments and a suspect described by authorities as having an explosive temper toward women who spurned him.
About a decade after Marta Rodriguez's 1989 disappearance from Arlington County, Va., Rodriguez-Cruz became romantically involved with a D.C. woman, Pamela Butler, a 47-year-old computer specialist for the Environmental Protection Agency. In February 2009, she also mysteriously vanished.
Although Butler's body has not been found, Rodriguez-Cruz, a clerical workers who had been living in northern Virginia, was arrested in 2017 by D.C. police based largely on circumstantial evidence. He eventually admitted he had strangled her. Butler's family said she was in the process of breaking up with him when she disappeared.
He led investigators to a spot along Interstate 95 in Stafford, but the area had since been dug up for construction, and Butler's bones were not found.
While searching that area, police learned that different remains, still held in storage, had been found there in 1991. DNA tests confirmed that the remains were those of Marta Rodriguez, and Rodriguez-Cruz was charged with killing her. An autopsy report lists the cause and manner of Marta Rodriguez's death as undetermined.
In March 1989, two months before Marta Rodriguez vanished, Rodriguez-Cruz, a former military police officer, was charged with abducting and assaulting her. In that incident, an Arlington County police officer saw him dragging her along a street, bound and gagged, authorities said.
"When asked by the investigator why he would commit such acts against his wife, Rodriguez-Cruz responded that 'if I can't have her, no one else will. She's mine,'" according to the Stafford County commonwealth's attorney.
However, the case against him began to fall apart on May 18, 1989, when Marta Rodriguez failed to appear in an Arlington courtroom for a preliminary hearing. She was not seen alive again after that, authorities said.
Although Rodriguez-Cruz, in pleading guilty, conceded in court that Stafford County prosecutors had enough circumstantial evidence to convict of him of second-degree murder, he did not offer details on the killing.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/decades-after-his-wife-vanished-us-man-sentenced-to-40-years-in-her-murder-2410393">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/decades-after-his-wife-vanished-us-man-sentenced-to-40-years-in-her-murder-2410393</a>

news world Decades After His Wife Vanished, US Man Sentenced To 40 Years In Her Murder

Jose Rodriguez-Cruz is already serving a 12-year term in the D.C. killing. (Representational) Jose Rodriguez-Cruz, who admitted strangli...

US Congress To Probe Trump Ally Over Sex-Trafficking Allegations

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With the scandal swirling, some Democrats have called on Gaetz to step down.
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Washington:
A US congressional ethics panel said Friday it has opened an investigation into the actions of Matt Gaetz, a Republican lawmaker who faces allegations of sex trafficking and having sex with a minor.
The House Ethics Committee said in a statement it was aware of allegations Gaetz "may have engaged in sexual misconduct and/or illicit drug use, shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misused state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use, and/or accepted a bribe, improper gratuity, or impermissible gift, in violation of House Rules, laws, or other standards of conduct."
Gaetz, one of the House members most loyal to Donald Trump during his presidency, has not been charged with a crime.
He has denied the allegations and claims he is the victim of an extortion scheme.
The committee also announced in an unrelated statement that it was investigating another Republican congressman, Tom Reed, amid sexual misconduct allegations.
For Gaetz, the ethics probe is a ramping up of legal exposure for the 38-year-old, a third-term congressman from Florida who until recently was seen as a rising star in the Republican Party.
In recent weeks US media reported that the Department of Justice -- during Trump's presidency -- had opened its own investigation into accusations that Gaetz may have broken federal sex trafficking laws and been involved in a scheme to recruit and pay women for sex.
That probe centers on Gaetz and fellow Floridian Joel Greenberg, a former tax collector in Seminole County who was indicted last year on a federal child sex trafficking charge.
According to the New York Times, people close to the investigation said they believe Greenberg met women through websites and introduced them to Gaetz, who had sex with them.
The DOJ is also investigating whether Gaetz had sex with a 17-year-old.
With the scandal swirling, some Democrats have called on Gaetz to step down.
"End the disgrace now, @RepMattGaetz. Resign." tweeted House Democrat Gerry Connolly on Friday.
A group of female Gaetz staffers meanwhile has come to his defense, writing a statement Thursday saying they experienced "no hint of impropriety" by the lawmaker.
"On every occasion he has treated each and every one of us with respect," they wrote. "Thus, we uniformly reject these allegations as false."
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/us-congress-to-probe-trump-ally-matt-gaetz-over-sex-trafficking-allegations-2410378">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/us-congress-to-probe-trump-ally-matt-gaetz-over-sex-trafficking-allegations-2410378</a>

news world US Congress To Probe Trump Ally Over Sex-Trafficking Allegations

With the scandal swirling, some Democrats have called on Gaetz to step down. Washington: A US congressional ethics panel said Friday it...

US Navy Quietly Conducts Exercises Off The Coast Of Southwestern India

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While the world is paying attention to larger events, a small story that has received little discussion is a recent series of US Naval exercises conducted off the southwestern coast of India in the Lakshadweep Islands.
<blockquote readability="52.863166953528">
In a highly unusual move, the publicly declared it conducted “freedom of navigation operations” in India’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) near Lakshadweep earlier this week, without deliberately seeking New Delhi’s prior consent, drawing an Indian response that the American warship was “continuously monitored” and concerns were conveyed to the Biden administration.
The strongly-worded nature of the US Seventh Fleet statement was evident as it said India’s requirement of prior consent is inconsistent with international laws and the “freedom of navigation operations (FONOPs)” was intended to challenge its “excessive maritime claims”.
Coming close on the heels of a Quad summit hosted by President Joe Biden, which was seen as strong strategic convergence among the US, India, Japan and Australia, the American naval deployment raised more than a few eyebrows.
“India requires prior consent for military exercises or maneuvers in its EEZ or continental shelf, a claim inconsistent with international law. This FONOP upheld the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea recognized in international law by challenging India’s excessive maritime claims,” the US Navy statement said.
Responding to the provocative statement issued by the US Seventh Fleet, which incidentally undertook gunboat 
diplomacy against India during the 1971 war, the external affairs ministry on Friday said, “India’s stated position on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is that the convention does not authorise other States to carry out in the EEZ and on the continental shelf, military exercises or manoeuvres, in particular those involving the use of weapons or explosives, without the consent of the coastal state.”
“The USS John Paul Jones (US guided missile destroyer) was continuously monitored transiting from the Persian Gulf 
towards the Malacca Straits. We have conveyed our concerns regarding this passage through our EEZ to the US government through diplomatic channels,” added the MEA.
The US — which has not ratified the UNCLOS unlike India, China and many other countries — does regularly conduct FONOPs in the contentious South China Sea to challenge China’s aggressive territorial claims as well as in other areas including the Indian Ocean Region. (<a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/us-navy-conducts-freedom-of-navigation-patrol-within-indias-exclusive-economic-zone/articleshow/81983624.cms">source</a>)
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It is impossible that India did not know about this well before. Likewise, it is also very likely that, while the Indian government will not publicly admit this, she fully consented to these exercises.
The US has been building close alliances with India for over a decade due to the threat of a coming global conflict that most likely, among other issues, will put the US against China in the Asian theater. It seems that a part of US strategy is going to be to use the Indians against the Chinese, and is why she is backing them as well as conveniently ignoring real Christian persecution in India, but will talk about it in China, because the latter is politically exploitable while the former is not.
Whether or not India will become a stronger naval power is something yet to be seen. She already has a long naval history, and so she could potentially, with some development, build up her presence in the Indian Ocean more than what it already is.
Also, notice the important emphasis on freedom of economic movement. This is a point I have said before that is a cornerstone of US as opposed to Russian policy and power grabs. The US prefers to conquer by economic influence, so that people on all sides make money and have better lives, and in doing so can better win public approval and long-term support. The Russian approach tends to be to grab power first, but not do a lot of economic development, and in doing this, tends to make people angry, because if one is going to be dominated by another country, at least with the US, one becomes wealthier, more comfortable, and has more fun things to use, as opposed to becoming poorer, less comfortable, and with fewer fun things.
The move here might be seen as a ‘three-in-one’ approach- maintain US hegemony over the seas, build up her influence with India, and maintain the economic machine that she uses to keep the global power balance shifted to her favor.
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source <a href="http://shoebat.com/2021/04/09/us-navy-quietly-conducts-exercises-off-the-coast-of-southwestern-india/">http://shoebat.com/2021/04/09/us-navy-quietly-conducts-exercises-off-the-coast-of-southwestern-india/</a>

armageddon US Navy Quietly Conducts Exercises Off The Coast Of Southwestern India

While the world is paying attention to larger events, a small story that has received little discussion is a recent series of US Naval exe...