Latest news with #Bennet
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
U.S. Officials Slam 'Heinous,' 'Hate-Fueled' Colorado Attack: Antisemitism ‘Must Be Crushed'
U.S. officials are condemning Sunday's violence at a march in Colorado, with the state's governor calling it a 'heinous and targeted act against the Jewish community' and some Republicans blaming it on the Biden administration. Eight people in Boulder were taken to hospitals after a man wielding a makeshift flamethrower and hurling an incendiary device attacked a crowd of people participating in a demonstration calling for the release of hostages in Gaza, police said. Suspect Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, was in the U.S. illegally after overstaying a tourist visa that expired in February 2023, a senior Department of Homeland Security official told HuffPost on Monday. The man was heard yelling 'Free Palestine' while carrying out the afternoon violence, which injured four women and four men between the ages of 52 and 88, local authorities said. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, while condemning the attack and thanking first responders, called for the suspect to be prosecuted 'to the fullest extent of the law.' 'Several individuals were brutally attacked while peacefully drawing attention to the plight of hostages who have been held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza for 604 days,' the Democrat said in a statement. 'Hate is unacceptable in our Colorado for all, and I condemn this act of terror.' Colorado's Democratic Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper also slammed the violence, with Bennet asserting that 'hate and violence of any kind will not be tolerated in Colorado.' 'In recent years, antisemitism has reached unprecedented levels in the U.S. — leading to attacks like this hate-fueled incident in Boulder and the recent murders in Washington, D.C.,' Bennet said in a statement that also cited the May 21 fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy staffers. The suspect in that attack said, 'I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza,' upon his arrest, according to an FBI special agent's affidavit in the case. 'It is particularly painful that this attack occurred as the Jewish community prepares to celebrate Shavuot. We reaffirm our unwavering commitment to combating antisemitism in all of its forms,' Bennet added. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) expressed similar sentiments, with all three calling it a shared responsibility to stand up against antisemitic acts. 'When antisemitism is allowed to fester, when it spreads unchecked, and when too many look the other way, history has shown us where it leads: to hatred, to violence, to terror,' Schumer said. 'Antisemitism has no place in our nation or anywhere throughout the world. It must be crushed,' Jeffries said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that the victims were targeted 'simply because they were Jews' and that he expected the 'cold blood perpetrator' would be prosecuted to 'the fullest extent of the law.' 'The antisemitic attacks around the world are a direct result of blood libels against the Jewish state and people, and this must be stopped,' he said. Several Trump administration officials have spoken out, with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem sharing that her department is monitoring the incident and 'praying for the victims and their families.' 'This violence must stop,' she posted on social media. FBI Director Kash Patel also said his agency is 'fully investigating' what his deputy director called a suspected 'act of ideologically motivated violence.' 'We are investigating this incident as an act of terror, and targeted violence. All of the necessary assets will be dedicated to this investigation,' Deputy Director Dan Bongino said in a statement. President Donald Trump's senior adviser Stephen Miller meanwhile blamed Joe Biden's administration for the suspect's ability to carry out the attack. 'Suicidal migration must be fully reversed,' he said. 'Immigration security is national security.' House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) similarly blamed the Biden administration for what happened. 'This act of terror could have been prevented, but Biden made a mockery of our national security and America is paying the price for his failures,' he posted on social media. FBI Says 8 Injured In Colorado Attack By Man With Makeshift Flamethrower Who Yelled 'Free Palestine'
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Veterans express VA experiences during Sen. Bennet roundtable
(FOUNTAIN, Colo.)—With Memorial Day around the corner, U.S. Senator Michael Bennet made time to meet with local veterans for a roundtable discussion in Fountain on Saturday, May 24. The discussion focused on the VA and the benefits and treatments veterans are currently receiving. Most expressed their own issues they experienced. 'You can have a program that's been around for 150 years, and it still has some issues,' said Travis Baker, the District Five Commander at the VFW in El Paso County. Baker expressed his own problems and frustrations to Sen. Bennet in trying to get help, specifically focusing on just setting up an appointment. 'Scheduling appointments is a nightmare sometimes,' Baker said. 'When you call and say, I need my annual checkup or my semiannual checkup, it can take you up to six or seven months.' For some veterans, they cannot afford to wait months and need treatment or surgery sooner rather than later. For Baker, it has cost him money out of his pocket. ''I've been going through some health issues the past couple of weeks, and I've been trying to get my stuff taken care of, and I can get it done through the VA because they didn't have any availability,' Baker said. 'So, I had to go to the emergency room, and I had to pay to go to the hospital.' Baker is not the only as several veterans who were at the discussion shared experiences of long waits between appointments, along with not getting a proper diagnosis that identifies what is wrong with them. Sen. Bennet tells FOX21 News it is frustrating to hear this 'It's unacceptable that people in that room were saying, takes nine months to get in to see a heart doctor,' Sen. Bennet said. 'It's unacceptable that it can take years on end to get a diagnosis.' Sen. Bennet believes this shows there is more work to be done in Washington, D.C., to make sure problems with the VA are cleaned up and veterans are getting treated sooner rather than later. If you or someone you know served in the military and is looking for medical help or resources, click here to check out the resources offered by the VA. 'I think the only way we're going to change that is by making sure that we're monitoring the speed with which they're being responded to and that we're passing legislation to create oversight from Congress,' Sen. Bennet said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Herald Scotland
22-05-2025
- General
- The Herald Scotland
Birdwatchers baffled as Tweed Valley ospreys caught in ménage à trois
Forestry and land Scotland (FLS) cameras are capturing in real time the unorthodox behavior of the three birds, which appear to be indulging in a form of polygamy known as polygyny. Cameras set up as part of The Tweed Valley Osprey Project are providing a rare insight into the natural behaviour between the adult birds – Mrs O, a female who has previously nested at the site, a new female dubbed 'F2' and young male being called Newboy – as the three-way partnership develops during the season. Despite their ferocious nature, neither female has objected to a rival getting her claws into their mate, and have been sharing food as well as living space and quality time with the young male. The three ospreys have laid four eggs together (Image: FLS) Both have hatched four eggs between them, which are expected to open in the coming weeks, with the female birds have been taking turns to incubate them. It is not yet known what impact four demanding chicks will have on the scene of unorthodox domestic bliss playing out in the tree tops. Tweed Valley Osprey Project Co-ordinator, Diane Bennett said: 'So far things are looking good. The females seem amicable and tolerant with both having mated with the male bird and laying four eggs between them. 'The only tension witnessed so far has been on the arrival of a fish delivery from the male as the two females both make a grab it. 'Mrs O usually wins the fish and flies off to feed but has been seen to return with a portion remaining and letting the other female have it.' Ms Bennet said the trio's nesting arrangements was 'very rare', and the first time it had ever been on a livestream camera. Similar mating set-ups have been observed, but only though distant observation. The three ospreys appear to be living in domestic bliss (Image: FLS) Ms Bennet added: 'Getting to watch this saga close up as the season unfolds is exciting both for the drama but also for the important research insights it will allow.' The background and identity of the new arrivals is unclear as while they both have British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) rings to generate information on the survival, productivity and movements of bird, they are not fitted with coloured, alphanumeric Darvic rings that allows researchers to identify individual birds. Mrs O is also only fitted with a BTO ring but because she has been returning to the site for several years, she can be identified from her head markings. READ MORE: Breeding ospreys lay egg for the first time this year Popular osprey returns to Perthshire reserve The Tweed Valley Osprey viewing centre at Glentress is accessible to all users. Ospreys have been coming to breed here since the 1990s and the project – funded and managed by FLS and supported by a team of volunteers – aims to protect and provide safe places for them to settle and nest. The Tweed Valley polygyny saga can be viewed at the Wildlife Hub at Glentress Forest in Peebles between 10am- 4pm each day, where the camera is streaming live onto the big screen, with volunteers on duty most of the time, to interpret what is happening with the osprey family.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
EU shores up pandemic defences with 478m flu vaccine deal
The European Union has snapped up advanced manufacturing capacity for at least 478 million doses of pandemic flu vaccine, surging ahead in the race to prepare for a possible bird flu outbreak in humans. According to data from the health analytics firm Airfinity, the EU now has signed agreements with seven manufacturers to reserve vaccines – including a new deal unveiled last week with CSL Seqirus for a further 27m doses. Although governments including Canada and the UK have reserved more doses per person, the EU has the largest and most diverse supply chain for a possible influenza pandemic. As reported in the Lancet last week, the recent emergence of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus infections in dairy cows and humans in the US has 'raised alarms regarding the potential for a pandemic'. 'Over 995 dairy cow herds and at least 70 humans have been affected, including cases of severe disease and the first reported H5N1-related death in the U.S'. This emerging threat has caused health authorities across the globe to quietly start planning for a possible spillover to humans, with a clear focus on vaccine supply. The shots the EU now has on standby do not constitute a stockpile. Rather than amassing a store of ready-to-use vaccines which protect against known strains of bird flu, the bloc has bet big on reserving access to outbreak-specific shots. These would be produced after a pandemic was declared and the exact strain of the virus was known – giving the best chance of the jabs being efficacious in humans. Richard Bennett, lead analyst at Airfinity, said the EU was also hedging its bets by doing deals with seven different firms. 'This diversification reduces the risk of supply disruption if one manufacturer encounters production issues, and prevents monopolising capacity from any single supplier,' he said. Other countries have also set about reserving access to as-yet-unmade vaccines. Germany has secured production capacity or 400 million doses, under a framework that would also distribute manufactured jabs to the wider European Union. Vaccine resilience and flexibility Meanwhile the UK and Canada have reserved 100m and 80m doses respectively. Although this equates to more shots per person than the EU has access to (1.5 per capita for Britain, two for Canada and one for the EU), the supply chains are less diverse. Canada is reliant on GSK, while the UK has a single deal with CSL Seqirus, according to Airfinity. Unlike the other countries included in the analysis, the US does not have enough doses to cover its entire population. Mr Bennet said this is unsurprising, 'given previous [US] demand for pandemic vaccines'. During the H1N1 'swine flu' outbreak in 2009, national vaccine coverage was just 27 per cent, though this jumped to 69.5 per cent during the coronavirus pandemic. Still, the superpower has 250m doses of pandemic flu shots reserved with CSL Seqirus and Sanofi, plus a stockpile of 20m shots against known strains of bird flu already circulating. 'Most countries depend on a handful of manufacturers for pandemic flu vaccines. Seven companies produce over 85 per of global supply, leaving national stockpiles vulnerable to geopolitical tensions, production delays, or supply chain shocks,' the Airfinity analysis warned. 'The EU has reduced reliance on single suppliers by securing contracts with multiple manufacturers, creating a more resilient and flexible vaccine procurement strategy during emergencies.' Production delays and vaccine nationalism The coronavirus pandemic highlighted the threat of vaccine nationalism, production delays and export restrictions. India's export bans, for instance, stalled the rollout of shots from Covax, which sought to buy immunisations for developing countries. The US also imposed limits on the export of vaccines and the critical equipment and materials needed to make them, while the EU threatened to block the export of AstraZeneca shots made for the UK government in the Netherlands. Ray Longstaff, director for Pandemic and Outbreak Preparedness and Response at CSL Seqirus, said the company has designed its manufacturing network and contracts to ensure minimum disruption in the face of these sorts of threats. 'In our agreements, we have supplied safeguards and comprehensive information about how we will not only meet the timelines … but also the kind of preparedness measures that we put in place to protect supply chains,' he said. 'It's something that we take very seriously.' CSL Seqirus Liverpool's refrigerated warehouse, where vaccines for flu – including H5N1 – are stored before shipment - Simon Townsley/The Telegraph The company – which has manufacturing sites in the UK, US and Australia – is one of the world's largest producers of seasonal flu shots. It also has a bird flu vaccine programme, plus a separate initiative to create pandemic-specific vaccines. If the WHO declared a pandemic, all manufacturing would switch to solely respond to the given outbreak. The pharmaceutical firm's latest deal reserves 27.5m pandemic flu doses for 17 participating EU member states, which would be manufactured at the CSL Seqirus site in Liverpool using an egg-based production method. The company now has deals to supply pandemic shots to more than 30 governments worldwide, including the UK. Mr Longstaff said he could not discuss specifics of the contracts – which include reservation fees that are invested in 'maintaining readiness and preparedness' – and downplayed the ramifications of potential tensions between governments in a pandemic scenario. He also stressed that the company would support lower income countries through the WHO's Pandemic Influenza Preparedness (PIP) framework. Agreed after the 2009 swine flu outbreak, this requires companies to donate 10 per cent of their pandemic influenza shots, in real time. This principle has also been incorporated into the new WHO pandemic treaty, set to be approved at the World Health Assembly in Geneva later this month, in an attempt to ensure that wealthy countries are not the only ones who have access to medical countermeasures in the event of an outbreak. Protect yourself and your family by learning more about Global Health Security Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. 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Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Sen. Bennet during town hall asked repeatedly why Democrats aren't doing more to combat Trump
U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado speaks during a town hall at Colorado Mesa University's Asteria Theater in Grand Junction on Wednesday. (Sharon Sullivan for Colorado Newsline) U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado held a town hall meeting Wednesday in Grand Junction, where he fielded questions regarding education, potential changes in voter registration, the wrongful deportation and imprisonment of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, and what Democrats in power are doing to rein in President Donald Trump. Approximately 850 people registered for the event, according to Bennet's deputy communications director Eric Jones. The event took place at Colorado Mesa University's Asteria Theater. Earlier this month the Democratic senator declared his candidacy for Colorado governor — which means there will be a primary race between Bennet and another prominent Democrat, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, for the party's nomination. Democratic Gov. Jared Polis, who has served as governor since 2019, is term-limited. Weiser announced his candidacy in January and is currently serving his second term as attorney general. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Though personable and humorous at times, Bennet did not give direct answers to many of the audience questions, which were selected via 'raffle tickets' offered to attendees as they entered the theater. One woman expressed concern about funding for public schools — which is a top issue for Bennet, the former superintendent of Denver Public Schools. He circled back to the topic of education several times during the one-hour town hall. Bennet said there needs to be a serious conversation about improving teacher salaries, how the state Taxpayer's Bill of Rights operates, and funding for both K-12 education and health care in the state. 'I think (education) is the most important issue we are facing,' he said. Another woman told Bennet how she was 'petrified' that the SAVE Act could take away a women's right to vote. The U.S. House of Representatives this month passed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, which would require proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections. Opponents of the bill say it would make it difficult to vote for women who have changed their name after marriage. Women won the right to vote in 1920, with the ratification of the 19th Amendment. The women fighting for that right never gave up, Bennet said. 'We have to keep (the suffrage movement) in our minds and be inspired by it,' Bennet said. Another person asked if the money spent on housing prisoners in El Salvador was approved by Congress, to which Bennet responded, 'No, to my knowledge Congress has not authorized money.' The Trump administration is paying El Salvador to incarcerate prisoners like Abrego Garcia and Trump has suggested 'homegrown' American citizens could be sent there, too. One man, who addressed the senator as 'Governor Bennet' — eliciting a smattering of cheers and applause — asked Bennet why he is running for governor. 'Like everybody else I am searching my conscience … and thinking about where I can make the biggest difference,' Bennet said. Bennet was also asked why Democrats have not been able to fight the Trump agenda. Bennet responded that while there are many things he blames Trump for, getting elected is not one of them. He said he is frustrated with the Democratic Party for not articulating a compelling vision of what it stands for. Democrats failed to build a coalition that could win in November, he said. Plus, Trump tapped into Americans' frustration regarding the economy. Rose Ericson, of Grand Junction, is a Republican who attended the town hall on Wednesday. She told Newsline that she was there because many people feel the Democrats are not doing enough to hold Trump accountable and that the U.S. Congress has the 'purse strings' and has given away its control. Ericson did not vote for Trump in 2016 or 2020. 'They've thrown away the checks and balances that were built into the Constitution, and it's appalling,' she said. Some in the audience mentioned fears about Social Security, including the possible closure of the agency's offices and loss of the ability to communicate with a live person. Bennet said he's all for reforming the government, but sending Elon Musk and his young staff to do it is probably not a good idea. Musk and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency has interfered with government agencies including the Social Security Administration, threatening its operations through cuts to the workforce and offices across the country. Another person, who works in the trucking industry and is often at truck stops, asked Bennet how to combat what he characterized as lies put out by Fox News, to which Bennet responded that dealing with propaganda is a 'big worry' — and not just from domestic sources, but also from China and Russia. Another woman told Bennet the 'authoritarian' Trump administration is a 'nightmare' and asked why Democrats aren't doing more to stop the president. She also wanted to know what Bennet and other Democrats are doing to bring Abrego Garcia back from El Salvador. The Trump administration has admitted it made an administrative error when it deported Abrego Garcia, but thus far it has ignored a court order to facilitate his return. Bennet agreed Abrego Garcia should be returned to the United States. He said he personally doesn't have the power to bring him back home but that Trump should obey the court ruling. Bennet told attendees to resist, to push back against threats to democracy, which prompted one person to respond that people can only push back so much and that 'we need to know how you Dems are pushing back. What is going on?' Bennet replied, 'First of all, any ideas you have I'll take. But we have pushed back. Can I do a better job? I'm sure of that. We all bear a responsibility.' As Bennet was leaving the stage, shaking hands, greeting constituents, a reporter asked why he voted to confirm Doug Burgum as secretary of Interior. Bennet said he voted for Burgum, former governor of North Dakota, because he was a successful Western governor and businessman. 'We had a conversation about public lands in Colorado. I thought it was important to have with a few of these nominees a connection with Colorado. There's a handful I voted for because I think in the long term they'll be good for Colorado,' Bennet said. Both U.S. senators from Colorado — Bennet and Democrat John Hickenlooper — have disappointed some progressives for their votes in favor of confirming some of Trump's Cabinet nominees. Colorado Newsline reached out to Weiser for comment regarding his own bid for governor of Colorado. 'For the past eight years, I've spent every day fighting for Coloradans and our way of life,' Weiser said in an email to Newline. 'Senator Bennet has been in Washington on the front lines, which is where we need him to be, especially now. But I continue to be alarmed at Trump's cabinet choices — including those whom Bennet voted for. Doug Burgum, for instance, has said out loud his plans to sell off our public lands to the highest bidder. Now is not the time for 'picking our battles' when it comes to Trump's all-out assault on our country and our Constitution.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
