Friday, January 7 top stories
Hello, it is Friday, January 7. Here are today’s top stories.
Ahmaud Arbery’s killers sentenced to life in prison
The three men convicted in a Georgia trial in November of murdering Ahmaud Arbery in February 2020 were sentenced today to life in prison.
Travis McMichael (35) was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Travis’ father Gregory (66) was also sentenced to life in prison without parole.
The father and son duo were carrying firearms when they confronted Arbery using their truck as he ran on a street on suspicion that he was a burglar before shooting and killing him.
William Bryan (52), a friend of the McMichaels, was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. He will have to serve 30 years before he is eligible for parole.
Bryan was driving behind the McMichaels and following Arbery in his truck and recorded the shooting on his cellphone.
Arbery did not commit any crime and had only entered a home under construction several minutes before he was killed. He was 25 years old.
During the impact statements portion of the sentencing hearing, Arbery’s mother, father, and sister took the stand to ask for the maximum sentence. They expressed the pain of losing their son and brother from an act of targeted violence.
Judge Walmsley, before he announced the sentences, held a moment of silence to honor Arbery. He said the sentencing he gave out may not bring closure but is an exercise in accountability.
https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/ahmaud-arbery-killing-mcmichael-bryan-sentencing/index.html
WHO: Don’t call Omicron “mild”
The chief of the World Health Organization said people should not call the omicron “mild” because the Covid-19 variant is continuing to drive up infection rates, sending people to the hospital, and killing them. The WHO chief said omicron does appear to be less severe compared with Delta, but it is so contagious that it is causing a “tsunami of cases” around the world. The WHO said the number of global cases has increased by 71% in the last week. The WHO also said among severe cases worldwide, 90% were unvaccinated.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-59901547
Sidney Poitier dies at 94
Actor Sidney Poitier, who was the first Black man to win a Best Actor Oscar, has passed away at 94. His parents were from the Bahamas and he was born in Miami, so he became a Bahamian-American. Sidney’s family moved to the U.S. when he was 15 and he started getting recognition for his acting talent in the 1950’s. He was nominated for an Oscar in 1959 for the film, “The Defiant Ones.” Sidney didn’t win, but he was nominated for an Oscar again for “Lilies of the Field” in 1964 and won, making history. Sidney would continue to work in Hollywood in acting and directing and did many different projects. He passed away in the Bahamas and leaves behind a wife and six daughters.
https://www.the-sun.com/news/4414838/sidney-poitier-dead-lilies-of-the-field-actor/
Violence in Kazakhstan
There is violence in Kazakhstan between the country’s leadership and anti-government protesters that started last weekend and is still going on.
Protesters are angry about rising prices of energy and are calling for a change in its political system. Some protesters have stormed government buildings and briefly seized an international airport.
At least 18 police officers and dozens of protesters have been killed. About 4,000 protesters were detained.
Kazakhstan’s President Tokayev said in a televised speech today that he has ordered security forces to shoot and kill protesters without warning.
Phone services and internet access in the country has been shut down. There is international attention and concern over the country.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/01/07/kazakhstan-russia-protests-csto/
https://www.axios.com/russia-troops-arrive-kazakhstan-csto-74c4346a-83c1-45d2-9f6e-ae481357a76e.html
[Sponsored Video from Sorenson: www.sorenson.com]
Three Americans die of rabies from bats
The CDC reported that three Americans, one of them a child, died of the rabies virus from bats in the fall of 2021. The cases are separate from each other and happened in Idaho, Illinois, and Texas.
The CDC did not identify who the three people were. The CDC said two of the rabies exposures could have been avoided — explaining that one had a bat roost at their home and that another picked up a bat with their bare hands. It is not known how the third person was exposed to rabies, but a person can get the virus by a scratch or a bite.
The CDC said none of the three people received a PEP vaccine after bat exposure. The PEP vaccine can prevent the rabies virus from spreading. One of the people refused PEP because of a “long-standing fear of vaccines.” The other two did not realize they were exposed to rabies and never got the vaccine in time.
The CDC said the three people had contact with a bat approximately 3-7 weeks before onset of symptoms of rabies, and then died about 2-3 weeks afterwards. The symptoms include difficulty swallowing, altered mental status, paralysis, and serious problems with the nervous system.
The CDC said rabies is almost always fatal once symptoms develop, but nearly always preventable when PEP is administered in time.
The CDC said avoiding contact with bats is the best way to protect both human and bat health and that if you happen to have contact with a bat, to quickly notify health authorities.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/cdc-warns-rabies-linked-bats-americans-die-recent/story?id=82115086
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7101a5.htm?s_cid=mm7101a5_w
Supreme Court hears arguments on Biden vaccine mandate
Today the Supreme Court heard arguments on whether President Biden’s vaccine mandates are constitutional.
The mandates require businesses with 100 or more employees to become fully vaccinated or undergo weekly testing and for most health care workers to be fully vaccinated.
AP News said the court’s conservative majority suggested that the vaccine mandate exceeded the president and federal officials’ authority, while the three liberal justices showed support for the mandate out of concerns over the amount of Covid-19 illnesses and deaths that could have been prevented.
Over 180 Republican members of Congress signed an amicus brief to support the argument that the mandates are unconstitutional.
The Supreme Court may issue a ruling by the end of this month.
That is all the top stories for this week. Have a good weekend and stay with the light.