Pompeo in quarantine after exposure to virus, State Department says
WASHINGTON — The State Department said Wednesday that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had come into contact with a person who tested positive for COVID-19 and was quarantining.
The department said Pompeo had tested negative for the virus but was being monitored by medical professionals. It said it would not identify the infected person with whom Pompeo came into contact for privacy reasons.
The announcement comes as Pompeo and the department have been criticized for hosting holiday parties amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“Secretary Pompeo has been identified as having come into contact with someone who tested positive for COVID,” the department said. “The Secretary has been tested and is negative. In accordance with CDC guidelines, he will be in quarantine. He is being closely monitored by the Department’s medical team.”
Twitter fights vaccine misinformation:
Twitter said Wednesday that it will begin removing misinformation about COVID-19 vaccinations from its site.
It listed among posts that will removed as those including false claims that the virus is not real, debunked claims about the effects of receiving the vaccine and baseless claims that suggest that immunizations are used to harm or control people.
Twitter said in a blog post that it will start enforcing the new policy next week. If people send tweets in violation of the rules, they will be required to delete them before they are able to tweet again. Before the offending tweet is removed, Twitter will hide it from view.
Twitter said that starting early next year, it may also label tweets that advance “unsubstantiated rumors, disputed claims, as well as incomplete or out-of-context information about vaccines” but that may not merit a removal under the new rules.
The new policy comes as the U.S. is beginning to roll out COVID-19 vaccinations.
Hijacking plot: Federal authorities have unsealed an indictment charging a Kenyan man with trying to stage a 9/11-style attack on the United States on behalf of the terrorist organization al-Shabab.
Cholo Abdi Abdullah, 30, who was arrested in the Philippines in 2019, was transferred to U.S. custody Tuesday on charges that he conspired to hijack an aircraft and slam it into a building.
He pleaded not guilty during a brief court appearance Wednesday and was ordered held without bond. A request for comment was sent to his defense attorney.
Prosecutors said Abdullah got flight training in the Philippines and obtained a pilot’s license in preparation for an attack.
Abdullah, prosecutors said, started planning the attack in 2016 under the direction of an al-Shabab commander who was also involved in planning a deadly attack in 2019 on a hotel in Nairobi, Kenya.
Tyson firings: Tyson Foods has fired seven top managers at its largest pork plant after an independent investigation confirmed allegations that they bet on how many workers would test positive for the coronavirus, the company announced Wednesday.
The company said the investigation, led by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, revealed troubling behavior that resulted in the firings at the plant in
Waterloo, Iowa. An outbreak centered around the plant infected more than 1,000 employees, at least six of whom died.
NYC cathedral shooting:
The man killed by police Sunday after he opened fire on the steps of a landmark New York City cathedral had a note in his pocket that said he had planned to take hostages and use them as leverage to get U.S. aid for Latin America, a law enforcement official said Wednesday.
Luis Vasquez, 52, started shooting as people were leaving a Christmas choral concert that had just ended outside the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in Manhattan.
Witnesses said they heard Vasquez screaming, “Shoot me! Kill me!” as police officers at the event returned fire, killing him. No one else was injured.
Japan arson: Japanese prosecutors Wednesday
charged a man with arson and murder in connection with fire last year that killed 36 at an animation studio.
Shinji Aoba, 42, is accused of setting fire in July 2019 to Kyoto Animation, a famed anime studio known for its “slice of life” television shows and movies. Thirty-three people died on the scene, many as they attempted to escape onto the roof, and three others died later of burns. Another 33 were injured.
Prosecutors in Kyoto said Aoba had been charged with five crimes including murder, attempted murder and arson.
Aoba, who had a history of mental illness, was severely burned in the fire. He was arrested in May after he had sufficiently recovered, but prosecutors had waited to charge him until he had undergone a psychological evaluation, the Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported.
He had targeted the studio because he believed that it
had stolen a novel from him, according to news reports at the time.
Death by air pollution:
A British coroner ruled Wednesday that excessive air pollution from traffic fumes contributed to the death of a 9-year-old girl who died of a fatal asthma attack. The girl is believed to be the first person in the U.K. to have air pollution listed as the cause of death on their death certificate.
Ella Kissi-Debrah, who lived close to one of London’s busiest thoroughfares, died in February 2013 after making almost 30 hospital visits over the previous three years.
Her mother has long fought to have the role of air pollution in her daughter’s death recognized.
Coroner Philip Barlow said Wednesday after a two-week hearing that he concluded Ella “died of asthma, contributed to by exposure to excessive air
pollution.”
China moon probe: A Chinese lunar capsule returned to Earth early Thursday with fresh samples of rock and debris from the moon.
The capsule of the Chang’e 5 probe landed in the Siziwang district of the Inner Mongolia region, state media reported.
The capsule earlier separated from its orbiter module and performed a bounce off the Earth’s atmosphere to reduce its speed before passing through and floating to the ground on parachutes.
Two of the Chang’e 5’s four modules set down on the moon on Dec. 1 and collected about 4.4 pounds of samples by scooping them from the surface and by drilling about 6 feet into the moon’s crust.
The spacecraft’s return marked the first time scientists have obtained fresh samples of lunar rocks since the former Soviet Union’s Luna 24 robot probe in 1976.