Month: March 2022

The White House announced on Sunday that U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan will travel to Rome on Monday to meet with his Chinese counterpart.

National Security Council spokeswoman Emily Horne said in a statement that Sullivan will speak to Chinese Communist Party Politburo Member and Director of China’s Foreign Affairs Commission Yang Jiechi as part of the United States’ “ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication” between the two countries.  Said Horne:“The two sides will discuss ongoing efforts to manage the competition between our two countries and discuss the impact of Russia’s war against Ukraine on regional and global security.”   Horne added that while in Rome, Sullivan will also meet with Luigi Mattiolo, diplomatic adviser to the Italian prime minister, “to continue coordinating a storong, united international response to President Putin’s war of choice.”

Sullivan’s visit comes as U.S. officials have criticized China’s response to the war in Ukraine, with Chinese domestic media promoting Russian disinformation and describing the war as a “special military operation.”  On Sunday, Sullivan told CNN’s State of the Union that the United States was prepared to take action against China if it violated sanctions to support Russia.  Said Sullivan: “We are communicating directly, privately to Beijing that there will absolutely be consequences for large-scale sanctions evasion efforts or support to Russia to backfill them. We will not allow that to go forward and allow there to be a lifeline to Russia from these economic sanctions from any country anywhere in the world.”

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Barack Obama announced he has tested positive for COVID-19. The former President took to Twitter on Sunday to announce the news, saying he was was suffering from mild symptoms for several days but stressed that he is doing well despite the illness.

The 60-year-old Obama wrote: “I just tested positive for COVID. I’ve had a scratchy throat for a couple days, but am feeling fine otherwise.”

He added that he and wife Michelle Obama “are grateful to be vaccinated and boosted, and she has tested negative. It’s a reminder to get vaccinated if you haven’t already, even as cases go down.”

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On Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Transportation Security Administration announced that a COVID-19 mandate that requires all passengers to wear masks on commercial flights is being extended until at least mid-April.

The mandate had been set to expire on March 18, but the extension now delays that deadline until April 18.  The federal mask requirement applies to airports, commercial flights, buses and passenger rail systems.

The TSA said it made the decision based on a recommendation from the CDC, saying in a statement: “CDC will work with government agencies to help inform a revised policy framework for when, and under what circumstances, masks should be required in the public transportation corridor. This revised framework will be based on the COVID-19 community levels, risk of new variants, national data, and the latest science. We will communicate any updates publicly if and/or when they change.”

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A tentative $83 million settlement has been reached for owners who survived the Surfside condo collapse in South Florida.  The partial collapse of the 12-story Champlain Towers South condo building on June 24, 2021, in Surfside, Fla., near Miami Beach, killed 98 people, destroyed 55 condominium units, and the remainder of the 136-unit building had to be demolished.

A class action suit was filed by victims whose family members died in the collapse and victims who suffered economic harm, against defendants including developers, engineers, inspectors and consultants.  The dispute between the victims of property loss and the families of non-owners who lost their lives in the collapse with some of the families of those who died believing that they should receive full compensation before other people are compensated for property claims.

Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman’s order grants preliminary approval to the settlement agreement between property claims and wrongful death or personal injury claims. The agreement creates an $83 million Common Fund to compensate unit owners for the loss of their condominium units and contents, in exchange for relieving them from any liability in the injury and wrongful death claims, according to the document.  The judge wrote:  “Unit owners will receive $55 million of the first $100 million recovered from all sources. The remaining $33 million will be paid out of the first dollars recovered over $100 million. All other funds will inure solely for the benefit of wrongful death claimants…..Absent some defect being brought to the court’s attention, it is highly likely to secure final approval.”  The final approval hearing is slated for 2 p.m. on March 30 at the Miami Dade County Children’s Courthouse.

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