ICE Deported A Survivor Of The El Paso Walmart Shooting Who Was Assisting In The Investigation, Her Lawyers Say

Buzzfeed News
Ryan Brooks

A survivor of the 2019 El Paso Walmart shooting who was assisting law enforcement officials with the case has been deported by ICE following an arrest during a traffic stop, according to lawyers with the Diocesan Migrant & Refugee Services (DMRS).

The woman, identified only as Rosa to protect her identity, was arrested at a traffic stop by El Paso Police for two outstanding 2015 traffic citations last Wednesday, DMRS said. She was booked into the El Paso County Jail and turned over to the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The agency deported Rosa to Ciudad Juárez on Friday morning.

Rosa survived the mass shooting at Walmart in August 2019, where at least 22 people were killed. Police said at the time that the shooter admitted to targeting "Mexicans," and described the shooting as a hate crime.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryancbrooks/el-paso-walmart-mass-shooting-survivor-deported

SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle hospitals rushed out COVID-19 vaccines to hundreds of people in the middle of the night after a freezer they were being stored in failed.

It’s not clear what caused the freezer failure Thursday night, but the UW Medical Center’s Northwest and Montlake campuses and Swedish Medical Center received more than 1,300 doses that needed to be used before they expired at 5:30 a.m. Friday, The Seattle Times reported.

Word of the unexpected doses spread on social media, and a line of hopeful vaccine recipients snaked out the clinic door and through a parking lot at UW Medical Center-Northwest. A hundred people lined up at Swedish Medical Center’s clinic at Seattle University. The hospital tweeted at 11:59 p.m. that it had 588 doses to give out, and by 12:30 a.m., all the appointment slots had been taken.

At the UW Medical Center-Northwest, assistant administrator Jenny Brackett walked along the crowd calling out and asking if anyone was over 65. Many of those who showed up were too young and healthy to qualify under Washington state’s current prioritization categories for vaccine distribution. Brackett said the hospital was doing its best to vaccinate those eligible, but that the main objective was to get it into arms and avoid waste.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/seattle-hospitals-freezers-covid-19-vaccines_n_60148a84c5b6aa4bad340be5

NBC4Washington
By Joseph Pisani

President Joe Biden's administration released new workplace guidelines Friday that signaled a more proactive approach to protecting workers from the coronavirus.

The new guidance from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration seeks to protect all types of workers, not just ones who are deemed to be at higher risk of contracting the virus depending on where they work.

It also asks employers to shield workers from retaliation if they complain about conditions and sets up ways for them to voice complaints anonymously. And it wants employers to give workers a bigger say in developing safety protocols.
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Much of the guidelines released Friday are similar to ones from the Trump administration. And many workplaces have already adopted the guidelines, such as keeping workers at least 6 feet away from each other and having them wear face masks. Like the previous guidance, they can't be enforced by the OSHA.

More at link

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/national-international/osha-offers-new-virus-safety-guidance-for-employers/2555651/

Agence France-Presse via Raw Story
January 29, 2021

The brother and aides of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny were placed under house arrest on Friday ahead of new rallies, as Russian authorities warned that protesters could face charges of taking part in "mass unrest".

Moscow police also announced that on Sunday, when the fresh protests are planned, movement in the centre of the Russian capital would be limited and seven central metro stations closed.

Kremlin critics say authorities are dramatically ramping up pressure on the opposition in an effort to intimidate protesters and smother dissent.

Navalny's plight and the increasing crackdown on dissent in Russia has sparked an outcry in the West, and the UN Security Council is set to meet informally on Wednesday to discuss Navalny, diplomats said.

https://www.rawstory.com/alexei-navalnys-brother-aides-under-house-arrest-ahead-of-russia-protests/

Common Dreams via Raw Story

Demands for accountability ramped up on Friday as the progressive organization MoveOn Civic Action launched a "Treason Caucus" campaign calling on Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas to resign or be expelled from office for his role in helping to incite the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6.

The state-specific and national campaign is also targeting Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), and the 147 House Republicans who voted to overturn the November 2020 presidential election, which former President Donald Trump decisively lost to President Joe Biden.

Even before the right-wing siege of the Capitol that left five people dead, Cruz, Hawley, Johnson, and other GOP lawmakers came under fire for elevating unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud that Trump and his allies spouted to anyone who would listen in the months after the election.

"When the country watched as a violent Trump mob stormed the Capitol, we saw the impact of months of delusional election fraud lies and incendiary rhetoric from Donald Trump come to a deadly fruition," said Rahna Epting, executive director of MoveOn Civic Action. "But Trump did not act alone."

https://www.rawstory.com/ted-cruz-josh-hawley/

Source: France24

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed off on legislation extending a key nuclear pact between Russia and the United States by five years, the Kremlin said on Friday.

"Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the federal law 'on the ratification of the extension of the agreement between Russia and the USA'," the Kremlin said in a statement, referring to New START.

"The current federal law enters force on the day of its official publication," the statement said.

The New START treaty is the last remaining arms reduction pact between the former Cold War rivals.



Read more: https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210129-putin-signs-off-on-extension-of-new-start-treaty

A purple dye dating back to the purported reign of the Biblical King David has been identified on a piece of fabric by Israeli archaeologists.

The dye is said to have been more valuable than gold and was associated with royalty.

It is the first time textile from that period with the colour has been found in the region.

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The fragment was unearthed during excavations at a site in Timna, about 220km (137 miles) south of Jerusalem.
Excavation at Timna.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-55815820

Source: BBC

China has warned Taiwan that any attempt to seek independence "means war".

The warning comes days after China stepped up its military activities and flew warplanes near the island.

It also comes after new US President Joe Biden reaffirmed his commitment to Taiwan, and set out his stance in Asia.

The US has called China's latest warning "unfortunate", adding that tensions did not need to lead to "anything like confrontation".

Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-55851052

NBC4Washington
By Alexandra Jaffe

President Joe Biden is making his first major foray outside the White House on Friday, to visit wounded soldiers at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

Biden has a long and personal history with the hospital, which treats thousands of military service members, veterans and their families. His son Beau, who served as a major in the Delaware Army National Guard, died there in 2015 after a long battle with brain cancer.

Even before Beau’s treatment at the hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, just outside Washington, Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, were frequent visitors during his time as vice president, making multiple Christmas Day stops to meet with soldiers there. Jill Biden focused in part on promoting awareness of issues affecting military families during that time, and on Friday she’ll again be focused on the issue as she participates in a virtual event with military-connected students.

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Biden’s early visit there marks one of his first departures from the gated White House campus. Throughout the transition and even during the campaign, Biden has pared back his travel and in-person meetings, doing as much work as possible virtually to minimize the risk of spreading the coronavirus.

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/politics/biden-to-visit-wounded-soldiers-at-walter-reed-hospital/2555297/

Virgin Islands Daily News
By A.J. RAO

Former Vice President Mike Pence is getting some rest and relaxation in the territory, according to St. Croix Administrator Sammuel Sanes.

While details are slight for security reasons, Sanes confirmed that Pence was seen Wednesday at the Seaside Market in Christiansted after a resident contacted The Daily News.

The duration of Pence’s trip or whether the former vice president would be traveling to other islands could not be confirmed by Sanes or Government House spokesperson Richard Motta Jr.

The visit is Pence’s first trip to the territory since October 2017, when he met with government and emergency officials on St. Croix after Hurricane Maria.

http://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/former-vp-pence-seen-on-st-croix/article_367d4e98-6eec-55ba-9ac7-1232a06eb367.html

Somehow I doubt he will stop by at Merde-a-Lago on the way home.