Month: July 2022

On Monday, the value of public Twitter stock sank at the start of trading, due to billionaire Elon Musk announcing he’s backing out of an agreement to buy the social platform. Shares peaked at $51.70 in April after Twitter’s board agreed to Musk’s buyout offer of $44 million. But by early Monday afternoon on the New York Stock Exchange, shares of Twitter had fallen by about 9.5%, after they declined by about 5% in premarket trading.

Musk announced on Friday that he wanted out of the Twitter deal, which was agreed to in April. However in May, Musk said the deal was on hold while the company determined how many of its daily monetizable users were phony or spam accounts. Musk said that same issue is the reason he’s abandoning the deal. In a letter to Twitter’s top legal officer, Musk said that Twitter officials have “not complied with contractual obligations” to assess the number of phony accounts. An attorney for Musk wrote in the letter: “Twitter has failed or refused to provide this information.”  Twitter has rejected Musk’s claim that it has refused to provide information about the phony accounts — and says it will attempt to force Musk to abide by the agreement in court.

On Monday, Musk mocked Twitter in two tweets. The first was a meme showing various facial expressions by Musk laughing at Twitter’s failing to disclose the number of “bot” accounts. The second was a photo of meme-popular actor and martial arts expert Chuck Norris sitting at a chess board with the caption: “Chuckmate.”

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The Biden administration said Monday that hospitals must ensure patients can receive abortions when deemed medically necessary in emergency situations, despite bans in many states on the procedure.  The Department of Health and Human Services said a federal law, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, stipulates that physicians must perform an abortion in an emergency regardless of state law.

In a news release Monday, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said: “Under the law, no matter where you live, women have the right to emergency care — including abortion care. Today, in no uncertain terms, we are reinforcing that we expect providers to continue offering these services, and that federal law preempts state abortion bans when needed for emergency care.”  In a letter to the nation’s health care providers on Monday, Becerra said a federal statute called the ‘Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act’ —  also known as EMTALA — protects providers’ clinical judgment and the actions they take to provide stabilizing treatment to pregnant patients who are under emergency medical conditions, regardless of restrictions in any given state. It specifically requires all patients get appropriate medical screening, examination, stabilizing treatment and facility transfer.  The statute applies to emergency departments and other specific clinical settings. Providers also will not have to wait for a patient’s condition to worsen to be protected.

The Biden administration said examples of emergency medical conditions include, but are not limited to, ectopic pregnancy, and complications of miscarriages. Stabilizing treatment could include abortion. Becerra said that if a state law bans abortion and does not include an exception for the life or health of the pregnant person, that law is preempted by the federal statute. A senior adviser with HHS said in a briefing: “We heard a lot from physicians that we needed to be clearer on these points because people were still too scared to treat people,” and the new guidance is “meant to try to provide that reassurance here on the clinical judgment of these physicians and hospitals.” HHS said it will do everything within its authority to ensure that patients get the care they need.

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A massive fire destroyed the historic Veranda House Hotel on Nantucket Island in Massachusetts over the weekend, spreading to several other buildings. Firefighters with the Nantucket Fire Department responded to the blaze around 6:46 a.m. on Saturday after multiple reports of a fire at the hotel, the department said in a news release. Photos posted to Twitter by the fire department show the Veranda House Hotel up in flames; the hotel could be seen charred black with no roof remaining after the fire was put out. Fire officials added: “Due to the proximity of several buildings the fire did spread to several other buildings. Extensive fire developed in at least two of the buildings.”

Nantucket fire officials said: “An off-duty captain and several civilians ran to the location upon hearing of the fire and assisted in removing guests from the hotel. The captain and others entered into dangerous conditions without protective equipment to assure everyone got out of the building.” Officials said two people were found in a hallway and were helped to safety before firefighters arrived. No injuries to civilians were reported, but two firefighters were taken to a local hospital for possible heat exhaustion and a third for a back injury.

Personnel from other Cape Cod departments were called in to assist the Nantucket Fire Department. Several of the buildings were described as “total losses”. The Nantucket Historical Association notes that the Veranda House Hotel was purchased in 1881 and converted into a boarding house, with electric lights added in 1889 and a new porch installed in 1903.  The hotel said in a statement:  With the support of all the first responders, and our local community members, we can confirm that all employees and guests are safely evacuated and accounted for.  The safety and security of our guests, team, and community is our top priority and we will continue to work closely with emergency responders and safety authorities. The Veranda House team is deeply grateful to the Nantucket Fire Department and first responders for their quick action taken during this incident.”

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Steve Bannon, former advisor to Pres. Donald Trump, has agreed to testify before the House committee that’s investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection.  Bannon had been set to go on trial next week on criminal contempt charges for refusing to cooperate with the probe of the Capitol riot.  He has pleaded not guilty to two counts of contempt of Congress, and faces a maximum sentence of one year in jail and a fine of up to $100,000 for each count if convicted.

Bannon’s lawyer argued that he was adhering to the assertion of executive privilege that had been claimed by Trump, which allegedly barred Bannon from providing the materials requested by the select committee. However on Saturday, Trump sent a letter to Bannon that waived executive privilege. Trump wrote in the letter:  “When you first received the Subpoena to testify and provide documents, I invoked Executive Privilege. However, I watched how unfairly you and others have been treated, having to spend vast amounts of money on legal fees, and all of the trauma you must be going through for the love of your Country, and out of respect for the Office of the President. Therefore, if you reach an agreement on a time and place for your testimony, I will waive Executive Privilege for you, which allows you to go in and testify truthfully and fairly.”

Bannon’s lawyer Bob Costello sent the letter to the Jan. 6 committee, adding:  “While Mr. Bannon has been steadfast in his convictions, circumstances have now changed. Mr. Bannon is willing to, and indeed prefers, to testify at your public hearing.”

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