Daily Archives: August 17, 2020

Feds Urge Judge to OK Prison Deals for Loughlin, Giannulli

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Federal prosecutors urged a judge Monday to accept deals that call for “Full House” actor Lori Loughlin to spend two months in prison and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, to serve five months for paying half a million dollars to bribe their daughters’ way into college. Ahead of the famous couple’s scheduled sentencing hearings Friday, prosecutors said in court filings that the proposed prison terms are comparable to the sentences other prominent parents charged in the case have received, while accounting for Loughlin and Giannulli’s “repeated and deliberate conduct” and …

African Fans Bow Down to Beyonce’s ‘Black Is King’

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Beyonce’s musical film, “Black is King,” is gaining global fans and critics for its portrayal of African culture.  In South Africa, where several scenes in the 85-minute feature were filmed, many say it’s more than just a movie.  VOA’s Anita Powell reports from Johannesburg. …

African Fans Bow Down to Beyonce’s ‘Black Is King’

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“Black is King” stunned Beyonce fans when it dropped suddenly last month.  The visual album, which was filmed last year in the U.S., South Africa, West Africa and Europe, is based on music from her album “The Lion King: The Gift” and features an array of African artists, musicians and dancers. Like all Beyonce products, this album has its detractors. Some accuse the Houston native of cultural appropriation for using African aesthetics.But in South Africa, where she filmed many of the scenes, those involved in the production were rapturous. Sibusiso Mathebula worked on some …

Mauritius Copes With Split Japanese Ship That Spilled Oil

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Work began Monday to remove the two pieces of a grounded Japanese ship that leaked tons of oil into the protected coast of the Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius and broke apart. Tug boats will pull the bow — the smaller part of the shipwrecked MV Wakashio — out to sea and allow it to sink, according to environmental experts on the island. The larger part of the ship will be dragged off the coral reef where it ran aground and towed away, possibly to India for salvage. “When …

South Africa Has Reached Coronavirus Peak, President Says

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South Africa, with the continent’s highest burden of COVID-19, has reached the peak of the pandemic, according to the president and top health officials.  President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a loosening of restrictions but said that he is not yet breathing a sigh of relief. A ray of hope for the Rainbow Nation, as the president announced that South Africa, with the continent’s heaviest known burden of the coronavirus, has passed its viral peak since reporting its first cases in early March.President Cyril Ramaphosa, speaking late Saturday, said that over the past …

US Tightening Restrictions on Huawei Access to Technology, Chips

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The Trump administration announced on Monday it will further tighten restrictions on Huawei Technologies Co, aimed at cracking down on its access to commercially available chips. The U.S. Commerce Department actions, first reported by Reuters, will expand restrictions announced in May aimed at preventing the Chinese telecommunications giant from obtaining semiconductors without a special license – including chips made by foreign firms that have been developed or produced with U.S. software or technology. The administration will also add 38 Huawei affiliates in 21 countries to the U.S. government’s economic blacklist, …

Politics Slows Flow of US Virus Funds to Local Public Health

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As the novel coronavirus began to spread through Minneapolis this spring, Health Commissioner Gretchen Musicant tore up her budget to find funds to combat the crisis. Money for test kits. Money to administer tests. Money to hire contact tracers. And yet even more money for a service that helps tracers communicate with residents in dozens of languages. While Musicant diverted workers from violence prevention and other core programs to the COVID-19 response, state officials debated how to distribute $1.87 billion Minnesota received in federal aid. As she waited, the Minnesota …

Sons Use E-books to Help Virus-Stricken Dad, Other Patients

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Geoff Woolf gave his sons a love for literature. When he got sick with COVID-19, they turned to books to help him — and others.   The 73-year-old retired lawyer was hospitalized in London in March, and within days he was on a ventilator in intensive care. Unable to visit, his family could only watch from afar with frustration and dismay.   Then sons Nicky, a 33-year-old journalist, and Sam, a 28-year-old actor, had an idea: Maybe literature could help him and other patients.   “He always said if he …

Google Pushes Back Against Proposed Australian Law Over News Content 

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Google is warning that Australians’ personal information could be “at risk” if the digital giant has to pay for news content. A proposed law would require firms like Google and Facebook to pay Australian news organizations for the content that appears on their websites. The law was drafted last month after months of negotiations between the Australian government and the two tech giants broke down. In an open letter posted online Monday, Melanie Silva, Google’s managing director for Australia and New Zealand, said Australians’ personal data could be turned over to big …

US Expert: Recovered COVID Patients Could Be Immune for a Year

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A U.S. disease expert says COVID-19 survivors may expect to be immune from another case for as long as one year. Former Food and Drug Administration official Dr. Scott Gottleib appeared on CBS’s Face the Nation Sunday to talk about new findings by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that say a three-month immunity is a certainty.  “But it’s probably the case that you’re going to have a period of immunity that lasts anywhere from six to 12 months. It’s going to be highly variable. Some people will have less immunity, some people will have slightly more. But it’s good news that they’re able to document that people have really …