Mediaboss Marketing

A police officer arranges bouquets of flowers in rows at a side entrance to Dunblane Primary School following a school shooting that left 16 students and one teacher dead. Lynne Sladky | AP

As Americans continue to reel from the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas that left 19 students and 2 teachers dead, headlines and commentators repeat a common refrain: The U.S is the only country where this happens.

Nowadays that may be true, but 26 years ago, it happened in Scotland. In March 1996, a gunman entered Dunblane Primary School, killing 16 students, a teacher, and injuring 15 others. To this day, it is the deadliest mass shooting in UK history.

But that's where the similarities end. In the aftermath of the shooting, parents in Dunblane were able to mobilize with the kind of effectiveness that has eluded American gun control activists. By the following year, Parliament had banned private ownership of most handguns, as well as semi-automatic weapons, and required mandatory registration for shotgun owners. There have been no school shootings in the U.K since then.

"The comparisons between the U.S. and Britain now should make shocking reading to anyone in America," says Mick North, whose five-year-old daughter, Sophie, was killed at Dunblane. He's one of the founding members of the group Gun Control Network, which advocated for new laws in the aftermath of the Dunblane shooting.

Over the past several years, England, Scotland and Wales combined have seen around thirty gun deaths a year. By comparison, according to the CDC, the number of murders involving firearms in the United States in 2020 was 19,384.

"Even setting aside the difference in the size of the country, that is a horrendous difference," says North.

At the time of the Dunblane shooting, he and other activists did face difficulties making their schools safer including skepticism from members of the Royal Family. In an interview with the BBC, Prince Philip compared the banning of guns to the banning of cricket bats, saying that both had the potential for danger if misused. It's an argument that's similar to those made by the gun lobby in the United States.

"The criticism of others that these people might choose some other means of causing harm doesn't really acknowledge how very dangerous guns are compared with other weapons," says North. "It is too easy for somebody to pick up something like a gun and cause havoc within seconds and certainly within minutes."

The strong heritage of gun ownership in the U.S. and the Constitutional right to bear arms is an obstacle that British gun control activists like North didn't have to wrestle with in the aftermath of the Dunblane shooting. And yet, he sees other countries with similar histories which have successfully passed strict gun control measures.

"Yes, the whole culture around guns is different in the U.S. But there are other countries in the world where there's a frontier mentality - shall we say, Canada, Australia - who have adopted tighter controls over guns," North says. "So I think America should perhaps be comparing itself not necessarily with Britain alone but with a whole range of countries who have unfortunately experienced mass shootings but only a small number of them."

Read more from the original source:
In Britain, it took just one school shooting to pass major gun control - Houston Public Media

All bodies recovered from Nepal plane crash

KATHMANDU, Nepal Rescuers have recovered all 22 bodies from the site where a plane crashed on a mountainside in Nepal, the airline says.

All the bodies were flown to Kathmandu and taken to the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital where doctors are performing autopsies, Tara Air says in a statement. The bodies will be handed over to relatives once autopsy is done, it adds.

While 10 bodies were flown to Kathmandu yesterday, the remaining were brought by army helicopter earlier today. Relatives of the crash victims waited outside the hospital building for authorities to release the bodies.

The Tara Air turboprop Twin Otter aircraft lost contact with the airport tower Sunday while flying on a scheduled 20-minute flight in an area of deep river gorges and mountaintops.

Four Indians and two Germans were on the plane, Tara Air said. The three crew members and other passengers were Nepali nationals, it said. Local news reports said the passengers included two Nepali families, one with four members and the other with seven.

The plane crashed Sunday in Sanosware in Mustang district close to the mountain town of Jomsom, where it was heading after taking off from the resort town of Pokhara, 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of the capital Kathmandu.

The planes destination is popular with foreign hikers who trek on its mountain trails, and with Indian and Nepalese pilgrims who visit the revered Muktinath temple.

The Twin Otter, a rugged plane originally built by Canadian aircraft manufacturer De Havilland, has been in service in Nepal for about 50 years, during which it has been involved in about 21 accidents, according to aviationnepal.com.

The plane, with its top-mounted wing and fixed landing gear, is prized for its durability and its ability to take off and land on short runways.

Go here to see the original:
US insists its committed to reopening consulate after officials tell ToI otherwise - The Times of Israel

Statement by Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe31 May 2022

The WHO European Region remains at the epicentre of the largest and most geographically widespread monkeypox outbreak ever reported outside of endemic areas in western and central Africa. The learning curve has been steep over the past 2 weeks. We now have a critical opportunity to act quickly, together, to rapidly investigate and control this fast-evolving situation.

Today, I would like to outline what we have seen and learned, and what still needs to be understood, and to set us on the right path in tackling this challenge.

Even as new patients present every day, investigations into past cases show that the outbreak in our region was certainly underway as early as mid-April. Strong surveillance and diagnostic systems in several European countries, along with swift cross-border information-sharing mechanisms with the support of WHO and other partners, are to be commended for the outbreak coming to light.

Based on the case reports to date, this outbreak is currently being transmitted through social networks connected largely through sexual activity, primarily involving men who have sex with men. Many but not all cases report fleeting and/or multiple sexual partners, sometimes associated with large events or parties.

We must remember, however, as we have seen from previous outbreaks, that monkeypox is caused by a virus that can infect anyone and is not intrinsically associated with any specific group of people. The gay and bisexual communities have high awareness and rapid health-seeking behaviour when it comes to their and their communities sexual health. Indeed, we should applaud them for their early presentation to health-care services.

Rapid, amplified transmission has occurred in the context of the recent lifting of pandemic restrictions on international travel and events. The potential for further transmission in Europe and elsewhere over the summer is high. Monkeypox has already spread against the backdrop of several mass gatherings in the Region. Over the coming months, many of the dozens of festivals and large parties planned provide further contexts where amplification may occur. But they also provide powerful opportunities to engage with young, sexually active and globally mobile persons to raise awareness and strengthen individual and community protection.

We do not yet know whether the monkeypox virus can also spread from one person to another through semen or vaginal fluids, nor whether the virus could persist in these bodily fluids for longer periods of time.

We do know that most people who get monkeypox will have a mild and self-limiting but unpleasant and potentially painful disease that may last up to several weeks. We do not yet know what health impact there will be in individuals who can have severe outcomes from monkeypox, particularly young children, pregnant women and people who are immune-compromised.

As of now, an effective response to monkeypox will not require the same extensive population measures as we needed for COVID-19 because the virus does not spread in the same way. But and this is important we do not yet know if we will be able to contain its spread completely. For that, we need a significant and urgent reduction in exposures through clear communication, community-led action, case isolation during the infectious period, and effective contact tracing and monitoring.

Monkeypox has not been at the forefront of research and development in the field of infectious diseases. As such, tools to manage it including readily available diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics are not likely to be immediately or widely accessible to countries. While one vaccine (MVA-BN) and one specific treatment (tecovirimat) were approved for monkeypox in 2019 and 2022 respectively, these countermeasures are not yet widely available.

We will interrupt transmission if we act now in:

By achieving these measures, we can help:

We have learned a lot from our COVID-19 experience, in terms of cross-country collaboration and information-sharing mechanisms, heightened surveillance, and risk communication as a public health intervention, including at the community level. We have also seen how misinformation amplified online and through other sources can lead to negative public health outcomes.

All of these lessons can and should better inform our actions going forward. Let us therefore bring government, civil society and health partners together to tackle this public health challenge decisively and effectively, guided at all times by science and medicine, and imbued with respect and compassion.

Follow this link:
Statement - Monkeypox in the European Region: what we know so far and how we need to respond - WHO/Europe

by: Aaron Chatman, Nexstar Media Wire

Posted: May 23, 2022 / 07:39 AM MDT

Updated: May 23, 2022 / 07:39 AM MDT

CPSC (WEHT) About 93,000 hoverboards sold at Best Buy are now being recalled because they might malfunction and injure the rider, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The Hover-1 Superfly Hoverboards have been reported to have a software malfunction that doesnt stop the motor, the CPSC said, causing the rider to continue their momentum when they are no longer controlling it. This malfunction increases the risk of falls and injuries for the rider.

The CPSC said 29 reports of the malfunction problem with four minor injuries have been reported.

The 2020 Hover-1 Superfly Hoverboards model H1-SPFY were sold in black only with blue LED lights on the hoverboard deck near the footpads. Hover-1 is written on the front of the hoverboard.

Recalled hoverboards have a serial number on the bottom of the hoverboard beginning with SPFY-BLK-GO-2008, SPFY-BLK-GO-2009 or SPFY-BLK-GO-2010. You can find a warning label on the bottom of the hoverboard next to the serialnumber. The warning label, at the bottom right, states H1-SPFY.

The hoverboard was sold at Best Buy stores nationwide and at Bestbuy.com from October 2020 through October 2021 for about $200. If you have one of the recalled hoverboards, youre urged not to use it and contact the DGL Group for instructions on how to ship it to an authorized repair shop free of charge.

You can call DGL toll-free at 888-556-8426 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, contact online athttps://www.hover-1.com/pages/important-safety-informationorwww.dglusa.comand click on Safety Recall to submit a repair request.

Read the original post:
93,000 hoverboards recalled over glitch that causes rider to lose control - ABC4.com

In Nebraska, incumbent Secretary of State Bob Evnen won renomination with just 44 percent of the vote, and in Idaho, Ada County Clerk Phil McGrane won an open primary with 43 percent after the deniers split the vote.

Thats not a viable path for Raffensperger in Georgia, which sends the top two primary candidates to one-on-one runoffs if no one gets a majority of the vote. And that makes Tuesdays primaries a true test of whether theres room left in the GOP for an conservative Republican who checks nearly all the boxes on the partys election administration orthodoxy except for refusing to propagate the lie that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.

Trump has endorsed GOP Rep. Jody Hice to replace Raffensperger in Tuesdays primary. The incumbents hope of political survival rests on whether Trump-fueled fury toward Raffensperger has died down over the last year, given that his reelection bid looked as good as over to many in 2021.

Georgia Secretary of State candidate Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.) speaks during a rally featuring former President Donald Trump in Perry, Georgia.|Sean Rayford/Getty Images

I think its competitive, said Brian Robinson, a longtime Georgia GOP operative. And I dont know that many prognosticators saw that coming a year ago, that Raffensperger is in it.

Unlike the governors race, where recent public polling has shown Gov. Brian Kemp pulling away from Trump-endorsed David Perdue, the secretary of state primary has been much murkier, with fewer public polls and far more undecided voters in the data that is available.

In a poll late last month from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the University of Georgia, Raffensperger and Hice were deadlocked in the high 20s. A plurality of voters, nearly 40 percent, said they were undecided, and the two other candidates former Alpharetta Mayor David Belle Isle, who lost to Raffensperger in a primary runoff in 2018, and former probate judge TJ Hudson combined for about 9 percent.

The significant number of undecided voters in polling in the contest make it hard to predict what Tuesdays outcome will be. But some supporters of Raffensperger believe that a runoff would be a more challenging environment for him, should he make it that far.

A voter who is more likely to return in the runoff is a voter who is more motivated by something, [and] I think conventional wisdom would say that the anti-Raffensperger electorate would prevail in the runoff, said Jason Shepherd, a former Cobb County GOP chair who has appeared in an ad for the incumbent.

Republicans like Hice, who voted in the House to not certify the 2020 presidential results, have made election administration roles a key focus in 2022. Republicans this week nominated far-right state Sen. Doug Mastriano to be their gubernatorial nominee in Pennsylvania, where the governor appoints the secretary of state. Trump endorsed state Rep. Mark Finchem for secretary of state in Arizona, where Finchem faces a primary, while the state GOP in Michigan endorsed another conspiracy theorist backed by Trump, Kristina Karamo, for secretary of state there.

A mid-April UGA poll showed that Trumps endorsement of Hice was a powerful motivator in the downballot election that could push voters his direction if voters knew about it. In the survey, one group of voters was just asked who they preferred for secretary of state in Georgia. That group gave Hice a lead over Raffensperger, 30 percent to 23 percent, with 39 percent undecided.

But among a second group of voters, who were told of Trumps endorsement, Hices support rocketed up 60 percent, versus 16 percent for Raffensperger.

Georgia Republicans and allies of Raffensperger said that they believed Trumps relative absence from the downballot race, and Kemps apparent strength among the Republican primary electorate, has given the secretary at least a chance in the state.

I think a lot of the early projections about Raffenspergers demise were based on the idea that Trump was going to be very aggressive in that state campaigning against him, said Sarah Longwell, a Republican pollster who has been heavily involved in anti-Trump GOP groups. Voters like Kemp. So Trump, its going to be embarrassing for him, so he just really kind of stayed out of the state. And thats allowed Raffensperger to kind of fly under the radar.

Longwell said that in various focus groups with Georgia voters she has conducted, many do not know who Hice is or that he has Trumps endorsement. (She said it wasnt uncommon for voters to mistakenly believe that Hice was a woman.)

Look, I dont think its a slam dunk. I just think hes got renewed life in an outlook that, I think, was pretty fatalistic, Longwell said. Theres just this question of whether you can sort of squeak by because people arent thinking that hard about it.

Raffensperger has also worked to reingratiate himself with conservative voters in the state. He has made regular appearances on conservative media, where he still defends the security of the 2020 election, while also promoting conservative election administration policies that put him on the same side as GOP base voters.

He didnt fall for the trap of just basking in the adulation of Trump haters, said Robinson. He communicated to Republicans, he presented a very conservative vision for elections administration.

But while Trump hasnt played a big role in the primary, he could have a heavier hand in a runoff.

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally on Sept. 25, 2021 in Perry, Georgia.|Sean Rayford/Getty Images

Georgia Republicans speculated that, should Kemp win outright in the gubernatorial primary Tuesday and the secretary of state race heads to a runoff, Trump would turn his attention to the race in an effort to save face.

Trump has boosted Hices campaign, shouting him out in rallies and recording a robocall for the congressman as well. But many plugged-in Georgians said they have not heard much from Hice, which they say is critical for down-ballot races that are often overshadowed by more high-profile statewide contests.

Im seeing a lot of ads on social media from Brad Raffensperger, little bit from the others, from David Belle Isle, and not a whole lot from Jody Hice, which is odd, said Buzz Brockway, a former state representative who finished fourth in the 2018 secretary of state primary.

Regardless of who wins the Republican nomination, the Georgia secretary of state race is expected to be one of the top election administration elections in November.

Democrats also have a crowded primary. But state Rep. Bee Nguyen has been both the fundraising leader and has secured big local and national endorsements like Fair Fight, the organization founded by Stacey Abrams, and EMILYs List. Polling has been sparse here as well, and some Democrats suggested that the crowded field may lead to a runoff.

And should Raffensperger emerge from the GOP primary, Democrats have vowed to not give him a pass in the general election. The secretary of Georgia did the right thing in not overthrowing an American presidential election. That is also our jobs, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, who chairs the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State, told reporters earlier this week. That is the minimum you should be doing.

Go here to see the original:
Trump's bid to control election offices hits first battleground - POLITICO