Six CIA whistleblowers received ‘significant financial incentives’ to buy their silence on Covid leaking from Chinese lab
A joint letter from the subcommittee and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Mike Turner (Republican-Ohio), sent September 12 to CIA Director William Burns, outlined the testimony of a “multi-decade, senior-level, current agency officer” alleging six of the seven analysts investigating the Covid-19 origins were given a “significant monetary incentive to change their position.”
Drug maker Johnson & Johnson hit by 11,000 more lawsuits linking baby powder to cancer
That price is a little over three times the $26 per dose the federal government paid for the last updated booster, which was exclusively distributed by the government. The price hike marks the vaccine’s move from federal distribution to the commercial market. Moderna and rival manufacturer Pfizer raised the US list price of their Covid-19 vaccines by roughly 400 per cent. (Moderna’s is listed at $128 and Pfizer’s is $115).
US Supreme Court to decide whether social media are publishers or can exercise editorial control over content
Social media platforms’ First Amendment rights are also at issue. In a brief submitted to the Supreme Court, the State of Texas argued that HB 20 does not affect social media platforms’ free speech rights because “no reasonable viewer could possibly attribute what a user says to the Platforms themselves.”
Big Tech social media content: US Supreme Court has last say on Texas, Florida censorship laws
Supporters of the Florida and Texas laws “argue that the measures are needed to combat what they called Silicon Valley censorship,” including on issues like Covid-19 and claiming election fraud, the Times also reported.
Tanzania in Critical Minerals Stage after signing $1 billion mining deals with Australia, US
The US announced plans last March to boost bilateral trade and investment with Tanzania, recently signing a $500 million trade deal to enable the export of goods and services in infrastructure, energy security and power generation, among other strategic sectors.
Kenya walks tightrope as finance minister allays fears over foreign debts, shrinking hard currency reserves
Njuguna Ndung’u was responding to a research note by US investment bank JPMorgan which said on Tuesday that the East African nation was “walking a tightrope” to avoid a crisis due to a maturing dollar bond and persistent currency weakness.
Warlord Prigozhin aftermath: Putin discusses Ukraine war with top Wagner Group mercenaries
The Kremlin said the meeting took place late on Thursday. Deputy Defence Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, who has travelled over recent months to several countries where Wagner mercenaries have worked, was also present, sitting closest to Putin.
Steak taker: Barcelona face new fraud charge of bribing referees for favour the Catalans
Prosecutors have also charged two of Barca’s former presidents, Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu, with false administration and falsifying a commercial document.
Lies that bind: Uganda’s anti-gay law turns refugee camps into prisons for fake gay asylum seekers
Engaging in homosexual acts can now result in a life sentence and attempting to have same-sex relations can earn a 10-year prison term. There is even the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality”, which includes same-sex relationships with HIV-positive people, and up to 14 years in prison for “attempted aggravated homosexuality”.
Appeals court rejects Trump’s push to delay trial in wake of fraud ruling that threatens his business
Trump has denied wrongdoing, arguing that some of his assets are worth far more than what’s listed on annual financial statements that Engoron said he used to secure loans and make deals. Trump has argued that the statements have disclaimers that absolve him of liability. His lawyers have said they would appeal.
