The DOJ declined to prosecute 82% of suspects of hate crimes from 2005 to 2019

Dental students and others crowd during a vigil at the University of North Carolina following the murder of three Muslim students on February 11, 2015 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Brendan Smialowski | AFP | Getty Images

The U.S. Department of Justice declined to prosecute 82% of hate crime suspects investigated between 2005 and 2019, according to a report released Thursday.

The report follows recent efforts by Attorney General Merrick Garland to enhance the Justice Department’s role in combating hate crimes and incidents.

Four pieces of US Criminal Code define hate crimes as crimes committed based on a victim’s characteristics, such as race, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, or disability.

Recently, reports of hate crimes against Americans in Asia and Pacific Islanders have increased during the pandemic, with many attributing the surge to former President Donald Trump’s rhetoric blaming China for spreading Covid-19 in the US

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the federal prosecutor’s office completed investigations into a total of 1,878 suspects of potential hate crimes in the 2005 to 2019 financial years. However, only 17% of suspects were prosecuted by US lawyers, while 1% of cases were settled by US magistrate judges.

The report cited insufficient evidence as the most common reason hate crimes were prosecuted. Decisions to prosecute hate crimes generally rest with United States lawyers in the country’s 94 judicial districts.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request to comment on the report’s findings.

President Joe Biden signed a bill in May that would direct the Department of Justice to expedite the investigation of hate crimes related to the pandemic and provide more resources to local law enforcement agencies to follow up on the incidents.

In May, Garland announced its own six-step plan to tackle hate crimes. These include increasing resources and coordination, facilitating the expedited review of hate crimes, and improving the department’s voice access capabilities to overcome the incident reporting barrier, among other things.

“Since its inception, the Justice Department has tried to combat illegal acts of hatred,” Garland said in the memo that outlined the plan in May. “As members of the department, we need to continue this work as much as possible and build on it.”

Garland’s plan also instructs US attorneys across the country to “build trust” with the communities they serve to increase hate crime coverage and appoint local criminal and civil attorneys to act as civil rights coordinators.

While the report found low law enforcement rates for hate crime suspects at the federal level, it also found that hate crimes prosecuted by prosecutors are largely successful. The conviction rate for all hate crimes rose from 83% in 2005 to 2009 to 94% in 2015 to 2019.

Africa suffers worst spike in Covid circumstances, officers put together for third wave

Employees of the Tunisian community saw them carry a coffin of a COVID-19 victim in the regional hospital during the coronavirus infections.

Jdidi Wassim | SOPA pictures | LightRakete | Getty Images

Africa, where less than 2% of the population is vaccinated against Covid-19, saw the worst increase in cases since the pandemic began last week, the World Health Organization said on Thursday.

The second largest continent saw more than 251,000 new Covid cases in the week ending July 4, a 20% increase from the previous week and a 12% increase from the January high. Active cases in Africa recently surpassed 642,000, beating a peak in the second wave of 528,000 active cases in January, according to a BBC analysis of the Johns Hopkins University data.

“Africa has just marked the continent’s worst pandemic week ever. But the worst is yet to come as the fast-paced third wave continues to accelerate and gain new terrain,” said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. “The end of this steep climb is still weeks away. Cases are now doubling every 18 days compared to all 21 days a week ago.”

A security guard takes a man’s temperature at the entrance of a market in Kampala, Uganda on June 20, 2021.

Nicholas Kajoba | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images

More than sixteen African countries, including Malawi and Senegal, are seeing an increase in new cases. In at least 10 of these countries, the more easily transferable delta variant was found.

Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Namibia, Zambia, Rwanda and Tunisia are also experiencing some of the worst spikes in infections, the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Hospital admissions have increased more than 40% across the continent in recent weeks.

“The alarm bells should ring,” says Dr. Tom Kenyon, Chief Health Officer at Project HOPE and former director of the Center for Global Health at the US CDC. He said Africa’s rate of new cases will soon surpass Asia’s. “Given the horrors we have just seen in India, this should be cause for concern and action.”

He said the Covid emergency in Africa “could get worse than anywhere else we’ve seen”.

South Africa is currently battling a devastating third wave of infections after the Delta variant forced the country to lock it down again on June 28. There is currently a 9 p.m. curfew in the country while less than 1% of its residents are against Covid. are vaccinated. Across the continent, less than 2% of people were vaccinated due to a slow international introduction of vaccines that kept poor countries waiting for life-saving syringes. The 50 million doses administered so far in Africa represent only 1.6% of the doses administered worldwide.

A resident receives a dose of the Covid-19 vaccine AstraZeneca Plc on Tuesday, July 6, 2021 at Mbagathi Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya.

Patrick Meinhardt | Bloomberg | Getty Images

“Vaccination nationalism, in which a handful of nations have taken the lion’s share, is morally unjustifiable and an ineffective strategy for public health,” said WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at a press conference on Wednesday. Tedros also blamed the lack of immunization justice for a “wave of death” in parts of the world, including Africa.

Vaccine deliveries by Covax, a global initiative aimed at ensuring fair access to Covid vaccines, are finally picking up speed after months of delay. More than 1.6 million doses have been shipped to Africa under the initiative and more than 20 million doses of Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer vaccines are expected to be shipped to the continent in the near future. Norway and Sweden will also donate large quantities of vaccines to Africa.

“Some vaccine shipments are expected in August, but nowhere near what is needed,” said Kenyon, who also served as CDC country director in Botswana, Namibia and Ethiopia. “To be successful, vaccine supply must be paired with trained labor and delivery systems.”

A total of 66 million doses were shipped to Africa, of which 40 million doses were delivered under bilateral agreements, 25 million via Covax and 800,000 doses via the African Union’s African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team.

“With much larger Covid-19 vaccine shipments expected in July and August, African countries must use this time to prepare for a rapid roll-out,” said Moeti. By comparison, the US has administered approximately 332 million shots to 55% of its population, according to the US CDC.

Roofing Rolling Mills workers load oxygen tanks onto a vehicle for free delivery to various hospitals in Uganda at their plant in Namanve, Wakiso, Uganda on June 29, 2021.

Badru Katumba | AFP | Getty Images

This is what you’ll want to know the lambda variant

Health workers inoculate a woman in Peru.

DIEGO RAMOS | AFP | Getty Images

More than 18 months into the Covid-19 pandemic and the world is used to news of new variants of the virus by now, particularly those that have, one by one, supplanted previous versions of the disease.

Some mutations of the virus, like the alpha variant and the delta variant — discovered first in the U.K. and India, respectively — have been more transmissible than previous iterations of the virus and have gone on to dominate globally. Whenever a new variant of the coronavirus emerges, scientists watch it closely.

While the world is still contending with the rapid spread of the delta variant, which has usurped the alpha variant in terms of transmissibility and the potential to cause hospitalizations in unvaccinated people, there is now a new variant that experts are monitoring: The lambda variant.

Here’s what we know (and don’t know) about it:

What is the lambda variant?

The lambda variant, or “C.37” as the lineage has been designated, has been spreading rapidly in South America, particularly in Peru where the earliest documented samples of the virus date from August 2020.

However, it was only flagged up as a “variant of interest” by the World Health Organization on June 14 this year as cases attributed to the variant had spread noticeably.

In its report in mid-June, the WHO reported that “lambda has been associated with substantive rates of community transmission in multiple countries, with rising prevalence over time concurrent with increased Covid-19 incidence” and that more investigations would be carried out into the variant.

Where is it exactly?

The WHO noted in its June 15 report that the lambda variant had been detected in 29 countries, territories or areas in five WHO regions, although it has a stronger presence in South America.

“Authorities in Peru reported that 81% of Covid-19 cases sequenced since April 2021 were associated with Lambda. Argentina reported increasing prevalence of Lambda since the third week of February 2021, and between 2 April and 19 May 2021, the variant accounted for 37% of the Covid-19 cases sequenced,” the WHO noted.

Meanwhile, in Chile, the prevalence of lambda has increased over time, accounting for 32% of sequenced cases reported in the last 60 days, the WHO said, adding that it was co-circulating at similar rates to the gamma variant but was “out-competing” the alpha variant in the same time period.

By June 24, the lambda variant had been detected in cases in 26 countries, according to Public Health England data. This included Chile, Argentina, Peru, Ecuador, Brazil and Colombia as well as the U.S., Canada, Germany, Spain, Israel, France, the U.K. and Zimbabwe, among others.

Is it more dangerous?

The WHO and other public health bodies are trying to understand how the variant compares to other strains of the virus, including whether it could be more transmissible and more resistant to vaccines.

In mid-June, the WHO said that “lambda carries a number of mutations with suspected phenotypic implications, such as a potential increased transmissibility or possible increased resistance to neutralizing antibodies.”

Noting the specific mutations in the spike protein (some of which have been described as unusual by experts) the WHO said that: “There is currently limited evidence on the full extent of the impact associated with these genomic changes” and further studies are needed “to better understand the impact on countermeasures [against Covid-19] and to control the spread.”

It’s important to note that the lambda variant is still one step below being designated a “variant of concern” like the alpha or delta mutations. In a press conference last week, the WHO’s technical lead on Covid-19, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, was asked what would need to happen for it to change its definition of the lambda variant.

“It would become a variant of concern if it has demonstrated pathways of increased transmissibility, if it has increased severity for example or if it has some kind of impact on our countermeasures,” she said.

Do vaccines work against it?

Again, more studies are needed about the effect that the lambda variant has on vaccine efficacy, particularly on vaccines widely available in the West, such as those from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna or Oxford-AstraZeneca.

But questions have been raised in parts of South America over the effectiveness of Chinese vaccines, which have been those deployed predominantly in the region, as cases linked to the lambda variant spread and infection rates rise alongside vaccination programs. Brazil, Chile and Peru all rely heavily on Chinese Covid vaccines Sinovac or Sinopharm but vaccination rates differ wildly across South America.

Safaree Samuels lives his greatest life on the Jamaican celebration – regardless of the growing drama with Erica Mena

Roommate, it’s no secret that Safaree Samuels and his estranged wife, Erica Mena, are going through some very serious problems in their marriage right now – however, the drama didn’t stop Safaree from traveling to his native Jamaica for a birthday party. Clearly, in a series of videos posted on social media, Safaree is living his best life and seems unimpressed by Erica Mena’s claims that he is cheating and neglecting time with her newborn son, Legend.

Safaree Samuels has extended his Jamaican birthday party (which started the weekend of July 4th) and doesn’t seem to be quitting anytime soon – despite Erica Mena calling him repeatedly on social media for neglecting his responsibilities as a husband and father.

The past few months have been a roller coaster ride for Safaree and Erica as the couple spoke publicly about ending their relationship before Erica officially filed for divorce. However, after signing up for the first time, she changed her mind a short time later when the couple announced that they were expecting their second child.

However, when her son arrived, things between Safaree and Erica seemed to be on their feet again when Erica Safaree slammed for allegedly cheating with ex-girlfriend Joe Budden, former Love & Hip Hop star Kaylin Garcia.

She also revealed that Safaree has reportedly only seen his young son once since she gave birth to him in the neonatal intensive care unit – but instead made time for an international birthday trip to Jamaica.

Right now, Safaree Samuels seems too busy having fun to respond to Erica Mena’s latest allegations.

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Battle, Covid and local weather change gas the starvation disaster through which 11 individuals die each minute

After a fire in a refugee camp in Ukhia in the southeastern district of Cox’s Bazar on March 24, 2021, children are seen eating food provided by NGOs and social organizations.

Yousuf Tushar | LightRakete | Getty Images

LONDON – According to a new Oxfam report released on Friday, the number of people who died of starvation increased six-fold over the past year to surpass deaths from Covid-19.

Up to 11 people die of starvation and malnutrition every minute as the proportion of people suffering from starvation-like conditions has skyrocketed since the pandemic began, the global charity said in a paper titled “The Hunger Virus Multiplies” .

For comparison: an estimated 7 people die of Covid-19 every minute.

The statistics are overwhelming, but we must remember that these numbers are individual people who are exposed to unimaginable suffering. One person is too much too.

Abby Maxman

President and CEO, Oxfam America

Main causes of extreme hunger

War and conflict remain the leading cause of hunger, accounting for two-thirds of hunger-related deaths worldwide. However, the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and economic shocks as a result of Covid-19, as well as the worsening climate crisis, have starved tens of millions, the report said.

Global food prices are also up 40%, the highest increase in more than 10 years, the report said.

“The statistics are mind-boggling, but we must remember that these numbers are made up of individuals exposed to unimaginable suffering. Even one person is too much, ”said Abby Maxman, President and CEO of Oxfam America.

A relative prays on a cremation site during the final rites of a Covid-19 victim.

Majority world | Universal picture group | Getty Images

Oxfam named war-torn countries like Afghanistan, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen among the world’s worst hunger hotspots.

“Hunger continues to be used as a weapon of war to steal food and water from civilians and to hamper humanitarian aid,” said Maxman. “People cannot live safely or find food when their markets are bombed and crops and livestock are destroyed.”

Meanwhile, food insecurity has worsened in what the charity has dubbed “emerging epicentres of hunger” such as India, South Africa and Brazil – some of the countries hardest hit by Covid-19 infections.

But even countries with relatively resilient food systems like the US have been rocked by the pandemic and recent climate shocks, the report said.

Hurt the most vulnerable people

In any case, vulnerable groups like women, displaced people and informal workers are hardest hit, Maxman said.

“Marginalized groups are hardest hit by conflict and hunger. Too often women and girls eat last and least. ” She said.

Governments must prevent conflict from fueling catastrophic hunger.

Abby Maxman

President and CEO, Oxfam America

The spike in hunger-related deaths comes in a year when global military spending rose by $ 51 billion – enough to cover six and a half times what the United Nations believes it needs to stop hunger.

Meanwhile, the world’s 10 richest people have risen by $ 413 billion in net worth over the past year – 11 times the estimated cost of the United Nations for global humanitarian aid.

“Governments must prevent conflict from fueling catastrophic hunger and instead ensure that aid agencies reach those in need,” Maxman said, calling for multilateral support from policymakers.

“We need the US to take a leadership role in ending this hunger crisis by pushing for an end to the conflicts that fuel this famine, providing the vital resources to save lives now, and helping communities achieve a safe one Building the future. “

Biden’s speech was an enormous win for our Afghan allies, says Congressman Seth Moulton

Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., Has long advocated a plan to evacuate the nearly 18,000 Afghan interpreters, allies and their families from Afghanistan before US forces are fully withdrawn. He told CNBC The News with Shepard Smith that President Joe Biden’s speech on Thursday was a step in the right direction.

“This was a huge win today for all of our Afghan friends and allies,” said Moulton, a Marine who completed four tours of Iraq. “In the last few weeks I’ve got three things from the [Biden] Administration: a detailed plan, a commander in charge of it, and an obligation to complete the mission, and today the President mentioned all three. “

Moulton noted that the president had not named a specific commander and that he would like to know how the US “will bring Afghan interpreters from far, rural parts of the country to a central evacuation point.”

Biden announced that the U.S. military will complete its withdrawal from Afghanistan by August 31, almost two weeks before its September 11 deadline. In his speech, he affirmed that the US “will continue to ensure that we take on the Afghan nationals who work on the site”. -side with US armed forces “and that the US has already dramatically accelerated the process time for special immigrant visas to be brought to the United States”.

Host Shepard Smith also asked Moulton if he believed the Taliban will take over Afghanistan once the US pulls out of the country completely. Moulton said the US should be prepared regardless of the outcome.

“Look, the bottom line is that we have to be prepared for both eventualities, and one of the questions I’ll be asking in detail, especially in secret meetings with the Armed Services Committee, is what contingency plans they have.” for the possibility that the Taliban will simply overrun the Afghan government, “Moulton said.

Biden defended the swift withdrawal of the US military from Afghanistan after a reporter asked if the Taliban’s takeover of power in the country was inevitable.

“The Afghan troops have 300,000 well-armed troops, as well-armed as any army in the world, and an air force against about 75,000 Taliban,” said Biden. “It’s not inevitable.”

Moulton said that while he did not know that he had as much confidence in the Afghan security forces as Biden, he believed the president was right when he said “we have given them a lot of capacity”.

America’s longest war has killed around 2,300 US soldiers and wounded thousands more. It is estimated that more than 100,000 Afghans have been killed or wounded since the conflict began. The US has spent $ 825 billion on combat operations in a CRS report for Congress, according to the Department of Defense.

The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

Jim Cramer blames market sell-off on failures to include delta unfold

CNBC’s Jim Cramer came out swinging on Thursday, blaming the market sell-off on world governments and slamming leaders for failing to get a grip on the spread of a Covid-19 variant.

Major U.S. stock averages all plunged almost 1% during the session, dropping the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indexes from record highs. Health concerns also led to a drop in bond yields to levels not seen since February.

The declines can be attributed to the delta strain that’s spreading quickly across the globe, Cramer said.

“I put this sell-off squarely in the laps of politicians around the world, because we right now have a failure of global leadership,” the “Mad Money” host said.

“Here in America, we’re doing a much better job of getting people vaccinated than most countries, but we screwed up when we made the vaccination process voluntary.”

Cramer lambasted that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has yet to give full approval to coronavirus vaccines from the likes of Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech. Three vaccines, including a one-shot solution from Johnson & Johnson, have been authorized by the agency for emergency use to combat the health crisis and administered to millions across the country.

Stock picks and investing trends from CNBC Pro:

Pfizer applied for FDA approval of its vaccine in May, followed by a submission by Moderna for its own product in June.

“Maybe you think this is a technicality, but so many Americans don’t trust the vaccines and the lack of FDA approval sure doesn’t help,” Cramer said. “I challenge the FDA to explain themselves and their foolhardy behavior.”

The delta variant, which was first discovered in India and is spreading quickly across the globe, is now the dominant strain affecting people in the U.S. Despite America’s elevated vaccination rates in comparison to most other countries, the delta outbreak elsewhere in the world could portend breakouts in communities here vaccination rates are lagging.

Health experts say that indoor mask mandates and public health measures may need to be reinstated to slow the delta variant’s spread in the country.

“If we get the COVID variants under control by forcing people to get vaccinated, I think bond yields and the stock market will start rising again,” Cramer said. “I don’t see much hope for speeding up vaccinations without either paying people money or coercing them, neither of which is going to happen in this country.

Britney Spears urges haters to “Kiss My Ass” topless pose

Britney is back!

That seemed to be the subtle message fans took away Britney Spears‘Naked Instagram post on July 7th when the singer shared a picture of her back from behind while posing topless. She appeared to be standing in front of a sink in her bathroom, her blonde hair combed to one side. The caption – three ballet shoe emojis – was simple enough, but it still raised questions.

Some fans, encouraged by their testimony in court last month, commented “FREE BRITNEY” and “Britney’s back”.

Others weren’t so sure if the picture was even the Grammy winner. “We know it’s not you,” one wrote, and 9,000 other fans liked the comment while another added, “You know this isn’t Britney, right ??”

The clue was hidden in sight. When a fan asked, “Where are the tattoos?”

Britney usually has a flower fairy tattoo on her lower back as well as a Hebrew neck tattoo that symbolizes healing. In her latest selfie, her body was completely ink-free.

White evangelicals are dying out and that is an impending catastrophe for the GOP

A new study showed that the number of white evangelicals in the United States has fallen from 23% to 14.5% since 2006, and that’s bad news for the GOP.

Aaron Blake of The Washington Post reported on a new study from the Public Religion Research Institute:

While that group made up 23 percent of the population in 2006 – shortly after “value voters” were analyzed to allow George W. Bush to be re-elected – that number has now dropped to 14.5 percent, the data suggests.

… ..

However, PRRI data suggests that even within the GOP, white evangelicals are declining: white evangelicals rose from 37 percent of the GOP in 2006 to 29 percent in 2020.

… ..

The age difference is just as important. While 22 percent of Americans 65 and older are white evangelicals, only 7 percent of 18-29 year olds are.

Fewer white evangelicals mean fewer Republican voters

Republicans have relied on the white evangelical voice since the 1980s. The Republican domestic social issues platform continues to be powered by white evangelicals, but with these voters making up a smaller portion of the electorate, living up to their beliefs is a losing business for the GOP.

Fewer white evangelicals mean fewer GOP base voters, which results in elections being lost.

The Republican Party base is aging and dying

A recent study of 2020 voter records showed that the Republican Party’s base is over 75 and its population is declining. The backbone of the white evangelical movement is over 65 years old.

The same pattern repeats itself with the Republican Party hastening its own decline by holding on to Trump and repeating what doesn’t work. The Republican response to these demographic realities is to try to rig elections to prevent people who are more likely to vote Democrats from voting, but this is a finger in the levee strategy.

The dam breaks around them and soon the Republicans could be swept away.

Mr. Easley is the executive editor of the White House press pool and congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a bachelor’s degree in political science. His thesis focused on public policy with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and professional memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and the American Political Science Association

Reside Nation’s U.S. live performance enterprise is now ‘absolutely open’ after Covid pause: CEO

Live Nation Entertainment CEO Michael Rapino told CNBC on Thursday its U.S. concert business is “fully open” now, as it brings back its packed summer lineup after more than a year of pandemic-related disruptions.

It comes as public-health officials are growing more concerned about the highly transmissible delta Covid variant and urging people to get vaccinated to provide a defense.

“We’re very excited about the American market. You know, 70% of our business is going to be the U.S. and the U.K. Those two markets seem on track,” Rapino said on “Power Lunch.”

“In America, we’re fully open at this point,” added Rapino, who joined CNBC’s Julia Boorstin from Sun Valley, Idaho, where tech and media CEOs returned for an influential annual conference after last year’s event was shelved due to Covid.

Live Nation, the owner of Ticketmaster, is hosting 30 nationwide amphitheater tours at full capacity beginning this week, Rapino said. Later in July, it’s putting on the Rolling Loud festival in Miami, which is expected to bring in around 200,000 people. There will be 10 to 15 music festivals this summer, he said. 

Rapino expects Live Nation’s European market to reopen later this summer and in the fall. Asia will not be back in business in earnest until next year due to a delay in Covid vaccinations. 

Live Nation won’t be cramming together shows to make up for the backlog in artist performances created by the pandemic, Rapino said. Looking into 2022 and 2023, he said, artists will not perform “unless they have the weekends, and the right cities and the right markets.”

“We’re going to make sure that we don’t … give the four shows in one week and you’ve got to pick one,” the CEO said. “We’ll spread those over a couple of years and a couple markets. So we look at the pent-up demand as lots of availability, but we’re also going to make sure the consumer has time to buy it.”

While the pre-pandemic “magic” of attending live shows has returned, Rapino said, one aspect of the revamped in-person experience that’s changing at Live Nation venues is payments.

“We used Covid to do a lot of rebuilding infrastructure programs, product around Ticketmaster, but contactless was a big piece we accelerated,” said Rapino, who has led Live Nation since 2005. “You’ll now go to venues and you’ll be able to get in that venue, buy your ticket, buy that beer, buy that T-shirt contactless through your app through the web.”

During the pandemic, Live Nation also acquired a majority stake in Veeps. Founded by two members of the rock band Good Charlotte, Veeps facilitates ticketed livestream shows, which exploded in popularity as artists looked for ways to connect with fans in the era of social distancing.

Rapino said he expects virtual concerts will largely serve as just a “complementary product” for fans who cannot come to the live, in-person show.

Shares of Live Nation closed down 1.8% on Thursday, which was a negative day for Wall Street overall as investor concerns about the pandemic economic recovery weighed. Live Nation’s stock remains up 11.7% year to date.