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US Lawmakers Finish Historic $1 Trillion Infrastructure Proposal

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The bill is about 2,700 pages long and provides for $1 trillion in funding.
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US senators on Sunday finalized a historic, trillion-dollar infrastructure proposal that is expected to be approved within days, Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer said.
If passed by Congress and signed into law, the bill would pump historic levels of federal funding into fixing US roads, bridges and waterways, ensuring broadband internet for all Americans and expanding clean energy programs.
A bipartisan group "finished writing the text of the infrastructure bill," Schumer told the Senate, which met for an extended weekend session in Washington.
"I believe the Senate can process relevant amendments and pass this bill in a matter of days."
The bill, a cornerstone of President Joe Biden's sweeping domestic agenda, is about 2,700 pages long and provides for $1 trillion in funding.
The Democratic leader succeeded in rallying a few elected officials from the opposite camp to work on the proposal.
The group released a joint statement saying the goal of the bill was to invest in infrastructure and create jobs without raising taxes.
"This bipartisan bill and our shared commitment to see it across the finish line is further proof that the Senate can work," the statement said.
The group consisted of Republicans Rob Portman, Susan Collins, Mitt Romney, Lisa Murkowski and Bill Cassidy, and Democrats Kyrsten Sinema, Joe Manchin, Mark Warner, Jeanne Shaheen and Jon Tester.
The bill would allow the largest-ever federal investments in public transit, as well as drinking and waste water infrastructure; the largest funding of passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak; and the largest investment in bridges since the nation's highway system was developed.
It would also help tackle the climate crisis by investing in energy projects, such as electric buses and a cleaner electricity grid.
Biden's other major economic and social challenge is to pass an ambitious $3.5-trillion budget package that includes once-in-a-generation spending on health care, education, social welfare and climate action.
But Democrats are not counting on any Republican support for that project.
Biden's big political project is for the United States to offer an alternative to the Chinese authoritarian model. This requires being at the forefront of innovation while also guaranteeing jobs and economic stability for the American middle class.
 
 
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news world US Lawmakers Finish Historic $1 Trillion Infrastructure Proposal

The bill is about 2,700 pages long and provides for $1 trillion in funding. US senators on Sunday finalized a historic, trillion-dollar ...

China Is Putting Pigs In 13-Storey "Hog Hotels" To Keep Germs Out

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China is copying best-practices from Europe and the U.S. to close its biosecurity gap, experts say.
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China is taking hog biosecurity to new levels -- 13 stories in fact.
That's the height of a building in southern China where more than 10,000 pigs are kept in a condominium-style complex, complete with restricted access, security cameras, in-house veterinary services and carefully prepared meals.
The seemingly luxurious conditions represent a state-of-the-art approach to biosecurity in which pigs -- the main source of meat in China -- are shielded from viruses, including the devastating African swine fever that wiped out half the nation's hogs in the two years before the coronavirus pandemic emerged.
Nicknamed "hog hotels," these gigantic vertical farms are being built by companies, including Muyuan Foods and New Hope Group, emulating the strict controls major suppliers in other countries have used to prevent outbreaks of the devastating disease.
China is copying best-practices from Europe and the U.S. to close its biosecurity gap, said Rupert Claxton, the U.K.-based meat director at consultant Gira, who has been providing advice to farmers and businesses for two decades. "In 20 years, it's done what the Americans took probably 100 years to do," he said.
Lethal African swine fever, which sickens pigs much like Ebola kills humans, caused a dramatic outbreak in China in 2018. Within a year, roughly half the nation's herd of more than 400 million pigs had been wiped out -- more than the entire annual output of the U.S. and Brazil combined -- leading to rocketing prices and unprecedented imports.
Top Priority
Food security became a top priority, and as inflation surged to the highest in eight years, the government had to turn to emergency sources of frozen meat to cool prices. New agriculture policies were instituted to accelerate a shift to large-scale, industrial operations over backyard farms that have traditionally fattened pigs on raw kitchen scraps and swill -- the main sources of African swine fever.
Now, domestic hog numbers recovered more swiftly than anticipated because mega farms have expanded capacity so aggressively. Wholesale pork prices have tumbled so much that it tripped the government's new alert system, prompting authorities to begin buying pork for state reserves and to shore up the market.
Still, the virus threat persists, with 11 incidents reported so far in 2021, prompting the culling of more than 2,000 pigs, China's farm ministry said in July. The emergence of new strains that appear to cause milder symptoms and have a longer incubation period are complicating efforts to detect and respond to outbreaks, the ministry said.
In developed countries, pig production is dominated by bigger farms in fewer hands. This has been seen for decades in the U.S., Denmark and Netherlands, which have among the best biosecurity standards globally and never reported a single African swine fever outbreak in recent years.
Mega Complexes
These days, mega pig complexes that don't rely on other farms for sows, fodder and labor -- which risk introducing pathogens -- are a pillar of China's food security. As of 2020, 57% of the country's pig production is from farms supplying more than 500 hogs a year. Before the outbreak, only about 1% came from larger suppliers.
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New Hope Group recently completed three five-story buildings across an area the size of 20 football fields, or 140,000 square meters (1.5 million square feet), in Beijing's eastern Pinggu district. The facility, which can be smelled from about a kilometer away, will eventually produce 120,000 pigs annually, making it the largest in the Beijing area.
It's equipped with robots that monitor animals for fever, air filtration, and automatic feeding and disinfection systems, according to Gong Jingli, the supervisor in charge. A request to visit was declined on biosecurity grounds.
That's in part because the scale of these farms means more is at stake. With thousands of pigs housed in close proximity, an infectious disease could spread rapidly.
Strict protocols are enforced to minimize risks. Staff are required to shower and change their clothes on entering and exiting the facility -- much like scientists working in biosafety laboratories. Wristwatches must be left outside.
Tom Gillespie, a U.S.-based swine veterinarian with 40 years of experience and who visits farms in Asia annually, said he was asked to remove his wedding band before entering a facility in China, but was allowed to keep his spectacles on. The requirement was a reaction to African swine fever, he said, and may be relaxed once operators are more familiar with managing biosecurity risks.
Some mega farms have built staff dormitories to try to limit workers' contact with the "outside" -- a strategy Gillespie said would be difficult to implement in other countries.
So far, large-scale farms in China have also avoided many of the restrictions applied to their overseas counterparts because of animal welfare and environmental concerns.
"In Europe and U.S., there are restrictions on how big we can make a pig farm because people just object -- they don't want to live next to these huge sites," said Gira's Claxton. "In China, that doesn't seem to be the case. If it's decided that a pig farm is needed, then the space is available."
Popular Option
Expanding vertically is a popular option in a country lacking vast tracks of empty space. Rapid urbanization has diminished land available for agriculture, and environmental regulations have made intensive animal production increasingly difficult in metropolitan areas.
High-rise blocks can cut farmland use by a third compared with traditional farms with the same number of pigs, and there's flexibility in terms of location as some can be built on mountains, said New Hope's Gong. Wastewater from the Pinggu plant is treated and used to irrigate orchards nearby, while the solid waste is turned into fertilizer, Gong said.
Muyuan Foods, China's largest hog breeder, said it has land available to support 100 million hogs. Jiangxi Zhengbang Technology, the second-biggest, has said its herd may eventually reach a similar size.
The rise of large hog farms also reflects shifting diets in China. Whereas Beijing focused on fighting hunger and eliminating poverty in past decades, rapid economic development and expanding incomes mean China's 1.4 billion people are eating more meat, eggs and other animal proteins. That's driving more-intensive animal production.
"China is the world's largest pork-consuming nation, and I don't see that changing very easily or any time soon," said David Ortega, associate professor of Food and Agricultural Economics at Michigan State University in East Lansing. "Rebuilding the pork sector is a national priority for the government.
(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/china-is-putting-pigs-in-13-storey-hog-hotels-to-keep-germs-out-2500349">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/china-is-putting-pigs-in-13-storey-hog-hotels-to-keep-germs-out-2500349</a>

news world China Is Putting Pigs In 13-Storey "Hog Hotels" To Keep Germs Out

China is copying best-practices from Europe and the U.S. to close its biosecurity gap, experts say. China is taking hog biosecurity to n...

As US, Others Fight Delta Fury, UK's Sudden Drop In Cases Brings Hope

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New daily cases in the UK reached almost 55,000 on July 17.
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Two weeks ago, the delta variant was ripping through the UK, stoking fears of a record wave of Covid-19 clobbering one of the world's most highly vaccinated countries.
Then, almost overnight, daily cases plummeted, renewing hope that the pandemic's end -- at least in some parts of the world -- is within sight.
Now, with the US and much of the world grappling with delta's fury, people are looking to the UK for answers about how their respective outbreaks might unfold. But there's no single answer, as mutations and varied vaccination coverage create conditions for swings in virus rates. While experts agree on some factors in the UK story, they're also struggling to make sense of what's truly accounted for the sudden reversal and whether it's really time to relax.
"This is a remarkably rapid decline and one that few anticipated," said Martin McKee, professor of European Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who's scrutinizing everything from the possibility that young people are skipping Covid tests to older people renewing their commitments to social distancing to the virus running up against a wall of immunity in the country. "Overall, it is a bit of a mystery."
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New daily cases in the UK reached almost 55,000 on July 17, before dropping back below 25,000 earlier this week. The situation shifts day to day, but the weekly trend certainly looks promising.
India, where the delta variant was first identified, has also seen a rapid fall in cases since they peaked at more than 400,000 a day in May. Now infections are running at about one-tenth of that level.
There's consensus on one point: the high level of vaccinations in the UK, where about 57% of the population has had both shots, has been a godsend. That's higher than the European Union and the US, which are both closing in on the 50% threshold.
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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="tinnvbkc" class="lozad" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-08/tinnvbkc_uk_625x300_02_August_21.jpg" />(Residents wait to be inoculated at a mass vaccination event at the London Stadium in London, UK)</div>
<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont">It's also a primary reason why the level of hospitalizations and Covid deaths in the UK in recent weeks -- while still going up -- is nowhere near approaching the horrors of last winter.</div>
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According to David Matthews, a virologist at the University of Bristol, the highly transmissible delta mutation probably went out and infected almost everybody in the UK who hadn't yet been vaccinated. But that won't lead to the sort of "herd immunity" that many hoped would eventually prevent it from ever circulating.
"It's more relevant to say herd immunity in the context of stopping people from being hospitalized and dying," Matthews said. "We're probably approaching that here in the UK"
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Delta has centered on the younger population more than earlier variants, at least in terms of case numbers. That makes sense since few people under 18 are even allowed to get Covid shots in the UK, while those in their 20s are among the least likely to roll up their sleeves.
During school term, students had to receive regular Covid tests, which captured lots of mild and unsymptomatic cases and helped fuel the so-called "pingdemic" -- in which tracing apps told millions of Britons who'd been in contact with infected people to quarantine.
So the fact that schools are closed for summer may be a key factor behind the recent drop in the number of reported cases.
"Younger people are less likely to test, especially if it means quarantining, staying at home, so many will probably ignore a sniffle, or a cough, or a cold," said Ravindra Gupta, a professor of clinical microbiology at Cambridge's Institute for Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Diseases. "They may be going on holiday next week. And of course you get asked if you've had a positive test, and your hotel is not going to let you go if you did."
The lower case numbers are particularly striking given some of the warnings made earlier in July. Neil Ferguson, an epidemiologist from Imperial College London whose modeling was key to the first lockdown, had said cases could rise to 100,000 a day. Health Secretary Sajid Javid issued a similar warning.
Gupta is urging officials to refrain from jumping to conclusions about the state of the pandemic. The level of danger won't be clear until the fall, when schools are back and cooler weather sends people increasingly interacting indoors.
It will also take time to see the impact of the UK government's efforts to re-open the economy, including the so-called "Freedom Day" on July 19. Still, many people remain cautious, with a survey published Friday showing that 95% of adults are still wearing face coverings outside of their homes and nearly two-thirds are social distancing.
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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="6ug01md8" class="lozad" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-08/6ug01md8_uk_625x300_02_August_21.jpg" />(Pedestrians sit on a monument during a lunch break near the London Stock Exchange, on so-called 'Freedom Day', in the City of London, UK, on Monday, July 19, 2021)</div>
<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont">Gupta's team at Cambridge has been studying for months the genetic changes in delta and the implications for human health, and he's particularly concerned about the threat it poses to some who have already been vaccinated -- perhaps a preview of what the world will come to worry about in the months ahead.</div>
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Its ease of replication means people are probably capable of spreading it earlier in their infections than with previous variants, accelerating chains of transmission and helping account for the shockingly steep spike in cases seen recently.
Antibody levels also need to be higher in order to prevent infection from delta, according to Gupta. The fact that antibodies fall may not be a major problem for most people with healthy immune systems, but it could prove dangerous or even fatal for some elderly or otherwise at-risk groups.
For now, it's crucial that countries vaccinate as many people as possible to limit the chances for new variants to emerge -- perhaps a version of delta that's even better at infecting the vaccinated -- and to reduce the chances of Covid patients unnecessarily filling up emergency rooms again. That's only becoming more essential as it's evident that the coronavirus is here to stay.
"Everyone is going to have their day with this virus," Matthews said. "It might not be this year, it might not be for a year or two. But I will have that meeting with the virus. Trust me, you want to meet that virus when you're vaccinated. You can either meet it with your immune system prepared or not, and you want your immune system up and ready for the fight."
(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/coronavirus-as-us-others-fight-delta-fury-uk-sudden-drop-in-cases-brings-hope-2500342">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/coronavirus-as-us-others-fight-delta-fury-uk-sudden-drop-in-cases-brings-hope-2500342</a>

news world As US, Others Fight Delta Fury, UK's Sudden Drop In Cases Brings Hope

New daily cases in the UK reached almost 55,000 on July 17. Two weeks ago, the delta variant was ripping through the UK, stoking fears o...

Ismail Haniyeh Re-Elected As Leader Of Palestinian Islamist Group Hamas

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Ismail Haniyeh has been head of Hamas' political bureau since 2017. (File photo)
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Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has been re-elected unopposed, officials confirmed Monday, furthering his grip over the Palestinian Islamist group that controls the Gaza Strip after recent clashes with Israel.
In a statement, Hamas said that its electoral process had concluded with his reappointment as political chief after "tens of thousands" of members took part in the internal poll.
The contest included no known opponent to Haniyeh.
Considered a pragmatist, Haniyeh has been head of Hamas' political bureau since 2017, though he lives in exile, splitting his time between Turkey and Qatar.
He was recently involved in talks aimed at bolstering the Cairo-brokered ceasefire that ended the latest deadly violence between the Jewish state and Hamas. The 11-day conflict in May killed 13 Israelis and 260 Palestinians, including some fighters.
Hamas won the last legislative elections in Gaza, an impoverished Palestinian enclave of nearly two million, in 2006, delivering a surprise defeat to rivals Fatah.
A virtual civil war the following year led to the division of Palestine, with Fatah dominating the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas ruling the Gaza Strip.
Israel has blockaded Gaza since then, citing repeated attacks, while Hamas has been internationally shunned and declared a terrorist group by the European Union and the United States.
Haniyeh's victory finalises a poll process that began last March with the re-election of Hamas' local Gaza chief Yahya Shinwar. Further voting was postponed due to May's clashes with Israel. 
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
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news world Ismail Haniyeh Re-Elected As Leader Of Palestinian Islamist Group Hamas

Ismail Haniyeh has been head of Hamas' political bureau since 2017. (File photo) Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has been re-elected uno...

Army Patrols Sydney Streets, Brisbane Extends Lockdown To Stop Delta Surge

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Army Patrols Sydney Streets, Brisbane Extends Lockdown To Stop Delta Surge" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-08/ls6qar2g_army-patrols-sydney-streets_650x400_02_August_21.jpg" title="Army Patrols Sydney Streets, Brisbane Extends Lockdown To Stop Delta Surge" /></div>
Australia is going through a cycle of stop-and-start COVID-19 lockdowns in several cities. (File)
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Sydney:
Australia's Queensland state on Monday extended a COVID-19 lockdown in Brisbane, while soldiers began patrolling Sydney to enforce stay-at-home rules as Australia struggles to stop the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus spreading.
Queensland said it had detected 13 new locally acquired COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours - the biggest one-day rise the state has recorded in a year.
The lockdown of Brisbane, Australia's third-biggest city, was due to end on Tuesday but will now stay in place until late on Sunday.
"It's starting to become clear that the initial lockdown will be insufficient for the outbreak," Queensland state Deputy Premier Steven Miles told reporters in Brisbane.
The rising new case numbers in two of the country's biggest cities comes as disquiet grows on how the government of Prime Minister Scott Morrison is handling the pandemic.
Although Australia's vaccination drive has lagged many other developed economies, it has so far fared much better in keeping its coronavirus numbers relatively low, with just under 34,400 cases.
The number of fatalities rose to 925 following the death of a man in his 90s in Sydney.
Australia is going through a cycle of stop-start lockdowns in several cities after the emergence of the fast-moving Delta strain, and such restrictions are likely to persist until the country reaches a much higher level of vaccination coverage.
Prime Minister Morrison has promised lockdowns would be "less likely" once the country inoculates 70% of its population above 16 years of age - a percentage which now stands at 19%.
Morrison expects to hit the 70% mark by the end of the year.
Meanwhile the lockdown of Brisbane and several surrounding areas comes as Sydney, the biggest city in the country, begins its sixth week under stay-at-home orders.
New South Wales state, home to Sydney, said on Monday it detected 207 COVID-19 infections in the past 24 hours as daily new cases continue to linger near a 16-month high recorded late last week.
The state has recorded more than 3,500 infections since the outbreak begun in June, when a limousine driver contracted the virus while transporting an overseas airline crew, and has asked for military personnel to aid efforts to enforce the restrictions.
Some 300 army personnel, who will be unarmed and under police command, on Monday began door-to-door visits to ensure people who have tested positive are isolating at their homes.
Army personnel also accompanied police officers around the streets of the areas of Sydney were most COVID-19 cases have been recorded.
Footage published online showed police asking the few people encountered on the street as to why they were out of their homes in the largely deserted streets in Sydney's south west.
(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/in-australia-army-patrols-sydney-streets-brisbane-extends-virus-lockdown-2500283">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/in-australia-army-patrols-sydney-streets-brisbane-extends-virus-lockdown-2500283</a>

news world Army Patrols Sydney Streets, Brisbane Extends Lockdown To Stop Delta Surge

Australia is going through a cycle of stop-and-start COVID-19 lockdowns in several cities. (File) Sydney: Australia's Queensland st...

Emergency Alert! British Gov’t Warns COVID Vaccine-Induced Mutations May Kill 2.6 Billion People

<div><img class="ff-og-image-inserted" src="https://api-assets.infowars.com/2021/08/planetvirusdeath294248765.jpg" /></div>
Alex Jones breaks down how the British government warned of COVID vaccine-borne mutations that may wipe out 2.6 BILLION people across the planet. Researcher Mike Adams and anti-lockdown activist Chris Skye will join the show to discuss these horrifying COVID developments.
The Big Tech purge is here! Follow <a href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/the-big-tech-crackdown-is-accelerating-follow-infowars-on-these-growing-alternative-platforms/">Infowars and Alex Jones on other growing platforms</a> now to stay informed as the information blackout accelerates.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/sunday-live-lockdowns-imminent-as-biden-white-house-loses-control-of-covid-narrative">https://www.infowars.com/posts/sunday-live-lockdowns-imminent-as-biden-white-house-loses-control-of-covid-narrative</a>

news Emergency Alert! British Gov’t Warns COVID Vaccine-Induced Mutations May Kill 2.6 Billion People

Alex Jones breaks down how the British government warned of COVID vaccine-borne mutations that may wipe out 2.6 BILLION people across the p...