The Legendary Author Beverly Cleary Took Her Last Breathe At 104.

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The Legendary Author Beverly Cleary Took Her Last Breathe At 104.

The award-winning children’s author, Beverly Cleary , whose work has been read by young readers for more than 70 years, has died at 104, her publisher, HarperCollins, said in a statement Friday.

Cleary, whose books helped generations of kids grapple with the challenging issues of childhood, was inspired to answer the question once posed to her by a young boy: “Where are the books about kids like us?”

Cleary was born April 12, 1916 in McMinnville, Oregon, andgrew up in Portland and Yamhill, titling her autobiography, “A Girl from Yamhill.” She died Thursday in northern California, where she lived.After first training as a librarian, Cleary became an author and wrote scores of children’s books that were translated into over a dozen languages, popularizing characters like Ramona Quimby and Henry Huggins .

Shortly after news of her death broke on Friday, tributes poured in across the internet.

Florida State Representative Anna V. Eskamani said that Cleary’s books “are why I first fell in love with reading in second grade, and I’ve been a lifelong reader ever since!”

Cleary won the National Book Award in 1981 for “Ramona and Her Mother,” and “Dear Mr. Henshaw” won the John Newbery Medal in 1984. And after favoring the world with her wonderful stories, a legendary writer closed her eyes for once and for all.

The Massive Ship Stuck is Still A Serious Matter of Discussion

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The Massive Ship Stuck is Still A Serious Matter of Discussion

The massive Ever Given ship is still stuck in the Suez canal failing to move away with all the efforts being put forth till now . 

Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, which is responsible for managing the ship’s crew and maintenance, has said that an investigation into the incident is underway. But officials have yet to release any details, including who has been questioned. Typically, Suez-based pilots guide the ship through the narrow passage, and the management company has said that two pilots were on board when the boat ran aground.

Continued failure to dislodge the ship could become a source of embarrassment for Egypt, where the canal and its pivotal role in global trade is a source of national pride. The country spent $8 billion to widen parts of the canal in 2015, but not the section in question.

“There is a risk there, and it’s probably another reason why the ocean carriers will think twice before they actually go around the Horn,” said Genevieve Giuliano, a professor at the University of Southern California’s Sol Price School of Public Policy.

While most consumer goods passing through the Suez Canal are headed from China to Europe, the cascading chain of dominoes will eventually reach America. “We’re all connected globally,” Platten said.

The ongoing crisis highlights how much of the world economy relies on seafarers, some of whom have gone a full year without taking a break or seeing their families because of the pandemic, Platten said.

NRA Faces Internal Misery As It Surrounds With New Gun Control Fight

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NRA Faces Internal Misery As It Surrounds With New Gun Control Fight

The NRA is confronting challenges that have undercut the power of the long-feared lobby organization, even as new gun control measures are proposed after two mass shootings in a week in Atlanta and Boulder, Colo.

In 2017, the National Rifle Association celebrated its ascendant political power with a newly elected U.S. president, Donald Trump, who stood at the organization’s national convention lectern promising to deliver for the gun-rights group that had helped secure his election.

Four years later, though, the NRA is confronting challenges that have undercut the power of the long-feared lobby organization, even as new gun control measures are proposed after two mass shootings in a week in Atlanta and Boulder, Colo.

The NRA disclosed last year that it was cutting salaries and preparing to lay off employees as donations dried up during the coronavirus pandemic.Several key executives left the organization in the past two years, including the NRA’s former top lobbyist Chris Cox, who resigned in 2019. And political spending dropped significantly last year compared with the previous cycle. In 2016, the NRA spent $54.4 million on political advocacy, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. In 2020, that spending fell to $29.4 million.

“The NRA seemed to think filing for bankruptcy would solve all its political, financial and legal problems,” said Justin Wagner, a former New York state assistant attorney general who directs investigations for Everytown for Gun Safety. “Instead, while the public demands gun safety reform, the NRA’s bankruptcy so far has revealed even more bloated spending, financial mismanagement, and the gun lobby in complete disarray.”

Astrazeneca Covid Vaccines Turns Out To Be Less Effective

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Astrazeneca Covid Vaccines Turns Out To Be Less Effective

The updated figures show the AstraZeneca vaccine remains effective enough to meet the FDA’s standards for effectiveness.The coronavirus vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca was 76% effective at preventing symptomatic illness, the pharmaceutical company released updated information, citing a new analysis of up-to-date results for its major US trial.

“The primary analysis is consistent with our previously released interim analysis, and confirms that our Covid-19 vaccine is highly effective in adults, including those aged 65 years and over,” said Mene Pangalos, the company’s executive vice president of BioPharmaceuticals research and development. “We look forward to filing our regulatory submission for Emergency Use Authorization in the US and preparing for the rollout of millions of doses across America.”

On Monday, the drugmaker, released an interim data from a 32,000-person trial conducted  in the US, Chile and Peru this winter.

American health officials had publicly rebuked the company for using “outdated information” when calculating that the vaccine was 79% effective.

The latest trial data, which has yet to be reviewed by independent researchers or regulators, was based on 190 infections and 32,449 participants in the United States, Chile and Peru. The earlier interim data was based on 141 infections through 17 February.

This month, more than a dozen countries temporarily suspended giving out the vaccine after reports linked it to a rare blood clotting disorder in a very small number of people.

The European Union’s drug regulator said last week the vaccine was clearly safe, but Europeans remain sceptical about its safety.

The Cargo Container Ship blocked Suez Canal

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The Cargo Container Ship blocked Suez Canal

The Suez Canal Authority said in a statement Thursday that navigation in the canal has been temporarily suspended. An official told the Associated Press that resolving the issue would take at least two days.

Images showed the bow of the Ever Given a ship weighing 220,000 tons and over 1,300 feet long touching the eastern wall of the canal, while its stern looked to be lodged against the western wall. Tugboats strained Wednesday to try to nudge the obstruction out of the way. 

The company that manages the vessel told AP there were no reports of injuries and all 20 members of the crew are safe. 

It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the ship to become wedged, an event that experts say they had never heard of happening before in the canal’s 150-year history.

Evergreen Marine Corp., a major Taiwan-based shipping company that operates the ship, said the Ever Given had been overcome by strong winds. An Egyptian official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to brief journalists, similarly blamed a strong wind.

The Associated Press reported. “Initial investigations rule out any mechanical or engine failure as a cause of the grounding,” the company said. An early report suggested the ship suffered a power blackout before the incident, something Ever Given manager Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement denied Thursday.

Andrew Cuomo Gave Special Access For Covid Test To Prove His Innocence

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Andrew Cuomo Gave Special Access For Covid Test To Prove His Innocence

Cuomo, a Democrat, is asked to resign over accusations of sexual harassment and misconduct from at least eight women and disclosures that his administration under-reported nursing home deaths from the pandemic.The 63-year-old third-term governor has denied the allegations and repeatedly said he would not resign from office.

“We should avoid insincere efforts to rewrite the past. In the early days of this pandemic, when there was a heavy emphasis on contact tracing, we were absolutely going above and beyond to get people testing,” Cuomo spokesman Richard Azzopardi said in a statement emailed to Reuters in response to the Post article.

Those efforts included “in some instances going to people’s homes – and door to door in places like New Rochelle – to take samples from those believed to have been exposed to Covid in order to identify cases and prevent additional ones,” the statement added.

Among those assisted, “were members of the general public, including legislators, reporters, state workers and their families who feared they had contracted the virus and had the capability to further spread it,” Azzopardi said.

After the nursing home and sexual misconduct, scandals broke, the network said its conflict-of-interest policy meant that Chris Cuomo could not report on the governor. Chris Cuomo’s Twitter account suggested he was on vacation.

The First Southern US State To Abolish Death Penalty – Virginia

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The First Southern US State To Abolish Death Penalty – Virginia

Virginia has become the first southern state and the 23rd overall in the United States to abolish the death penalty. Governor of Virginia Ralph Northam signed a Bill on Wednesday to end capital punishment in the state amid rising opposition to the practice.

“Ending the death penalty comes down to one fundamental question, one question: Is it fair?” Mr Northam said after he completed a tour of the state’s execution chamber. “For the state to apply this ultimate, final punishment, the answer needs to be yes. Fair means that it is applied equally to anyone, no matter who they are. And fair means that we get it right, that the person punished for the crime did the crime.

“But,” he added, “we all know that the death penalty cannot meet those criteria.”

Virginia’s 413-year history of capital punishment, during which it executed more than 1,300 inmates, more than any other state. He also noted racial disparities in the use of the death penalty: during the 20th century, he said, 296 of the 377 inmates Virginia executed for murder – about 79 per cent – were black.

As per New York Times, Mr. Biden’s plans to do with the remaining condemned inmates remain unclear. His new attorney general, Merrick Garland, has also expressed concerns about the death penalty.

A Horrible Gunshot Fight Took 2 Lives With 8 Injured

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A Horrible Gunshot Fight Took 2 Lives With 8 Injured

Two people are dead and eight wounded following three separate shooting incidents in Virginia Beach, Virginia, late Friday night, authorities said.

“We have a very chaotic incident, a very chaotic night in the beach,” Virginia Beach Police Chief Paul Neudigate reported during a press conference following the shootings. “Many different crime scenes.”

The gunfire started shortly after 11 p.m. local time. Officers patrolling the 1900 block of Atlantic Avenue in a resort area first heard multiple gunshots around 11:20 p.m. At the crime scene, in the area of 17th Street and 22nd Street, eight gunshot victims were found, according to Neudigate.

“At some point during the physical altercation, several individuals produced firearms and began shooting at each other, resulting in numerous people being wounded,” the Virginia Beach Police Department said in a statement stated on Saturday afternoon.

The officer will be placed on administrative assignment pending the outcome of the investigation, the department said. He has been with the department for five years and is assigned to the Special Operations Division.

“VBPD is investigating a shooting involving several victims with possibly life-threatening injuries. Large police presence at the oceanfront between 17th and 22nd St. Please avoid the area at this time,” the department tweeted.

Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital confirmed to ABC News early Saturday that it was treating six patients with gunshot wounds. Their conditions were not immediately available.

A Rally Broke Out In Los Angeles To Oppose Asian Hate Crimes

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A Rally Broke Out In Los Angeles To Oppose Asian Hate Crimes

The Los Angeles rally is one of many held across the United States since a man in Georgia killed eight people at three Atlanta-area spas, including six Asian women, on March 16.

“It’s a tough time to be Asian. I want to read this (letter),” he said, and recited a litany of racist slurs and stereotypes that ended with “go home.”As Tam Nguyen read the letter, Ted Nguyen (no relation) became angry.

The men co-founded Nailing It For America, an all-volunteer group of Orange County professionals they say provided personal protective equipment worth about $30 million to healthcare professionals across the United States during the pandemic.

Lisa Ling, author and host of her own CNN weekly show, got loud cheers on Saturday when she told the crowd that hate against Asians threatens all Americans.

“We are part of this incredible tapestry with stories and history from every corner of the globe,” Ling said. “And if one thread comes loose, we can all fall apart. So we have to protect each other.”

After Lee and others shared their stories, the thunder of traditional Korean drums erupted on the street.

Young performers pounded out the beat to the smash hit “Dynamite” by the Korean Band BTS and a cross-section of Asian Americans, along with their supporters from other races, clapped along in unity, a theme of the march.

Suez Canal Blockage Leading To Shortage Of Toilet Paper, Coffee And Other Consumer Goods.

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Suez Canal Blockage Leading To Shortage Of Toilet Paper, Coffee And Other Consumer Goods.

The global shipping network has been clogged due to the massive blockage , even as consumer demand has picked up along with an easing pandemic. Some factories in the U.S. and abroad are still shuttered while many others are running at partial capacity because of employee COVID-19 cases or social distancing requirements. Ports, warehouses and trucking companies are also grappling with worker absences. And COVID vaccine deliveries are taking up shipping capacity.

Containers are piling up at ports, which don’t have the workers to store and move them. And congested ports have lengthened the time it takes truckers to pick up or drop off containers.Suzano, a Brazilian company that accounts for about a third of global supplies of hardwood pulp, which is used to make toilet paper, told Bloomberg the container crunch already poses the risk of supply snags.

Most producers of robusta coffee, used in Nescafe, ship the product through the canal. A coffee shortage would mostly affect Europe but could ripple worldwide, according to Bloomberg and Business Insider. 

Coffee roasters on the continent already were struggling to get supplies from Vietnam and the coffee beans Europe imports from East Africa and Asia flow through the Suez.

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