Latest news with #proGaza
BreakingNews.ie
15-05-2025
- Health
- BreakingNews.ie
Ben & Jerry's co-founder arrested after US Capitol Gaza protest
The co-founder of Ben & Jerry's has been arrested after disrupting a US Senate hearing with a pro-Gaza protest. Ben Cohen of the famous ice cream company was one of seven people said to have been arrested at a committee hearing on Wednesday while US health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr was speaking, US news outlets are reporting. Advertisement Kennedy came under fire during the hearing from lawmakers who said he has made false statements over vaccine testing and safety since taking the nation's top health job. Some protesters shouting opposition to Kennedy's positions were dragged out by police, including Cohen, co-founder of Ben and Jerry's ice cream. "You're killing poor kids in Gaza and paying for it by cutting Medicaid for kids here," shouted Cohen, who had attended a pro-Palestine event with Democratic Representative Rashida Tlaib earlier on Wednesday, referring to Medicaid cuts proposed in the Republican spending bill and US support for Israel's war in Gaza. Afterwards, Cohen tweeted out a video of the incident, saying: "I told Congress they're killing poor kids in Gaza by buying bombs, and they're paying for it by kicking poor kids off Medicaid in the US. Advertisement "This was the authorities' response." The committee hearing was Kennedy's first appearance in the US Congress since his confirmation as Health and Human Services Secretary in February, facing questions over everything from his mass layoffs at federal health agencies to his handling of a worsening US measles outbreak. Some of the most heated exchanges centered on his remarks on vaccines. Kennedy has for years sown doubt about the safety and efficacy of vaccines, but pledged to maintain the country's existing vaccine standards to secure his appointment in the Trump administration. Republican US Senator Bill Cassidy, a physician from Louisiana who helped pave the way for Kennedy's confirmation, corrected the secretary's assertion that the Covid-19 vaccine is the only shot tested against a placebo in clinical trials. Advertisement "The Secretary said no vaccines, except for Covid, have been evaluated against placebo. For the record, that's not true," said Cassidy, who chairs the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben and Jerry's, was detained by police. Photo: Samuel Corum/Getty "Coronavirus, measles, and HPV vaccines have been, and some vaccines are tested against previous versions, just for the record," said Cassidy, who chairs the Senate HELP Committee. Democratic Senator Christopher Murphy of Connecticut said Kennedy had not lived up to his commitment to Cassidy and the committee during his confirmation hearing. "As soon as you were sworn in, you announced new standards for vaccine approvals that you proudly referred to in your own press release as a radical departure from current practice, and experts say that departure will delay approvals," said Murphy. Advertisement "You also said, specific to the measles vaccine, that you support the measles vaccine, but you have consistently been undermining the measles vaccine," Murphy said. "You told the public that the vaccine wanes very quickly... and said that the measles vaccine was never properly tested for safety. You said there's fetal debris in the measles vaccine." "All true," Kennedy shouted back as Murphy listed his comments. "I'm not going to just tell people everything is safe and effective if I know that there's issues," he said. The measles vaccine has been shown to be safe and highly effective at preventing infection and does not contain fetal debris. Kennedy has drawn condemnation from health officials for what they say is a weak endorsement of measles shots during an outbreak that has infected more than 1,000, mostly unvaccinated, people and killed three. Advertisement Audience members at the HELP hearing wore stickers saying "When Bobby lies, children die," and "anti-vax, anti-science, anti-America" in reference to Kennedy's vaccine views. 'Up to me' Kennedy has said his top priorities as health secretary include identifying the environmental contributors to autism and tackling rising rates of chronic disease. He has vowed to remake the nation's health agencies, including cutting 10,000 jobs at the Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health. Wednesday's Senate hearing and one before a House Appropriations subcommittee earlier in the day were meant to review Kennedy's health-related spending plans under president Donald Trump's budget proposal, including an $18 billion cut to NIH funding and $3.6 billion from the CDC. Democrats and other critics have portrayed the cuts as a gutting of the country's public health infrastructure. Kennedy told the Appropriations Committee they would save taxpayers $1.8 billion per year and make the department more efficient. "Our reductions have focused on aligning HHS staffing levels to reflect the size of HHS prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw around a 15 per cent increase in the number of employees," Kennedy said in his opening statement to the House subcommittee. World 'No way' Israel will halt war in Gaza until Hamas... Read More The cuts and firings were his decision, not edicts from Elon Musk, Kennedy said when asked about the billionaire Trump ally's involvement. Musk is leading the DOGE initiative to cut government funding and reshape the federal bureaucracy. "Elon Musk gave us help in trying and figuring out where there was fraud and abuse in the department," Kennedy testified. "But it was up to me to make the decision, and there are many instances where I pushed back." Kennedy said he was willing to work with Democrats on lowering prescription drug prices in response to a question from Senator Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who votes with Democrats. Trump signed an executive order on Monday directing drugmakers to lower their prices to align with what other countries pay that analysts and legal experts said would be difficult to implement.
Sky News
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
Ben & Jerry's co-founder arrested after US Capitol Gaza protest
The co-founder of Ben & Jerry's has been arrested after disrupting a Senate hearing with a pro-Gaza protest. Ben Cohen, Ben of the famous ice cream company Ben & Jerry's, was one of seven people said to have been arrested at a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on Wednesday, Sky News' US partner NBC News reported. Robert F Kennedy Jr was speaking to the committee when the protests started with someone shouting: "RFK kills people with AIDs!" "When Bobby lies, children die," is also heard, as well as: "Anti-vax, anti-science, anti-America" in reference to Mr Kennedy's vaccine views. Police quickly flooded into the room and began dragging out protesters. Moments after, Mr Cohen got to his feet and accused the US government of playing a role in the deaths of children in Gaza. The ice cream boss can be seen in footage of the incident on his feet, gesturing as he shouted at the US health secretary. "You're killing poor kids in Gaza and paying for it by cutting Medicaid for kids here," shouted Mr Cohen. He is one of the last protesters hauled out of the room. But even as he's removed, he can still be heard shouting. "Congress and the senators need to ease the siege. They need to let food into Gaza. They need to let food to starving kids," he said. The other six protesters were charged with resisting arrest and assault on an officer, NBC News said. Earlier on Wednesday, Mr Cohen had attended a pro-Palestine event with Democratic Representative Rashida Tlaib. Afterwards, Mr Cohen tweeted out a video of the incident, saying: "I told Congress they're killing poor kids in Gaza by buying bombs, and they're paying for it by kicking poor kids off Medicaid in the US. "This was the authorities' response." Mr Cohen is no stranger to protests or getting arrested. In July 2023, he was arrested after protesting about the US prosecution of Julian Assange. 'Poor kids in Gaza' Israel has killed around 53,000 Palestinians during its war with Hamas, many of them women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. The Gaza health ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count, but said that more than half of the fatalities are women and children. It is said the real death toll in Gaza is higher because thousands of bodies remain buried under the rubble or in areas that medics cannot access. The fighting began after the militant group led an attack across the border in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostage. Since Israel broke a ceasefire on 18 March, almost 3,000 people have been killed, the ministry said.
BBC News
13-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Hasan Piker: Pro-Gaza streamer detained for hours at US airport
Popular streamer Hasan Piker claims he was detained for hours by US airport officials over his political views. The influencer, who has more than six million followers across Twitch, Instagram, TikTok and X, says he was held when he returned to Chicago from Piker, who is known for his pro-Gaza stance and criticism of Donald Trump, says he was quizzed on his views about the Middle East and the president and accused the US government attempting to silence opposition voices with rejected suggestions Mr Piker had been targeted over his beliefs during the "routine and lawful" inspection. 'Not a very warm welcome' Mr Piker first posted on Sunday, telling followers he had been stopped by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at Chicago's O'Hare International Monday, the US-born streamer told followers: "It was an insane situation, it's very obvious that they knew exactly who I was."It's very obvious that they knew how to navigate the conversation and it was a really interesting conversation that took place."It was very cordial… I thought it was strange how cordial it was."But US government official Tricia McLaughlin accused Mr Piker of "lying for likes".In a post on X, she said the "routine" inspection could have happened to anyone travelling."Claims that his political beliefs triggered the inspection are baseless," she wrote."Once his inspection was complete, he was promptly released."In a further statement, CBP said: "Our officers are following the law, not agendas," adding that Mr Piker was "promptly released" once the inspection was Piker questioned this response, inquiring why he was asked about his views on Donald Trump, Israel, Houthi rebels, Hamas and his bans from Newsbeat has asked the US Department of Homeland Security for a response. Mr Piker accused the government of attempting to create "an environment of fear" in an effort to silence experience follows the detention of student protesters Mahmoud Khalil and Rümeysa Öztürk by US immigration were taken into custody after expressing pro-Palestine views, as part of what the White House has called a crackdown on anti-semitism on US college have accused the government of attempts to suppress free speech, and Mr Khalil's lawyers have rejected claims he was promoting White House has said it is "committed to the enforcement of our immigration laws and will take swift action to remove aliens who pose serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States". Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here.
