Politics
Putin says suspects in Novichok poisoning are ‘civilians’
Published
6 years agoon
By
Willie DavidMOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that the two Russians named by Britain as suspects in the spy poisoning case do not work for the military and that there is “nothing criminal” about them.
Britain last week charged two alleged agents of Russia’s military intelligence agency in absentia with the nerve agent poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the English city of Salisbury. Britain blames the Russian government for the March attack, a claim that Moscow has vehemently denied.
“We know who these people are, we have found them,” Putin said at a panel at an economic conference in Vladivostok. “There is nothing special or criminal about it, I can assure you.”
Asked by the panel’s moderator if the men work for the military, Putin replied that they are “civilians” and called on the men to come forward.
“I would like to call on them so that they can hear us today: They should go to some media outlet. I hope they will come forward and tell about themselves.”
Skripal’s niece Viktoria, who lives in Russia and often voices pro-Kremlin arguments on Russian television talk shows, told the Interfax news agency later on Wednesday that she knows “through her own sources” that the men identified as Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov are “ordinary men” who are “shocked” by the accusations.
She claimed that Petrov was not in Britain around the time of the poisoning, but did not elaborate on how she obtained that information.
The Skripals’ poisoning by the deadly nerve agent Novichok on March 4 triggered a tense diplomatic show down between Russia and the West. Britain and more than two dozen other countries expelled a total of 150 Russian spies working under diplomatic cover, and Russia kicked out a similar number of those countries’ envoys.
The attack left the Skripals hospitalized for weeks, and two other local residents were seriously sickened months later. One of them, a 44-year-old woman, later died.
British Prime Minister Theresa May said the attack was carried out by officers of the GRU intelligence service and almost certainly approved “at a senior level of the Russian state.”
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Congressman Maxwell Frost Slams TikTok Bill Ahead of Scheduled House Vote
Published
6 days agoon
March 12, 2024By
FNN NEWSWASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congressman Maxwell Alejandro Frost (FL-10) released a statement ahead of the scheduled House vote on a bill that could unilaterally ban social media app TikTok.
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“Tomorrow, the House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on a bill that will most likely lead to a ban on TikTok in the United States. I am voting no.
“Let’s be clear that I am deeply concerned about our foreign adversaries accessing our private data online, but this bill is not the comprehensive reform we need to reign in Big Tech and protect Americans from harm and manipulation.
“I refuse to spring a TikTok ban on my constituents who, under the neo-fascist control of Governor DeSantis, rely on social media for income, information, and community.
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Politics
Sierra Club Florida Urges Governor DeSantis to Protect Local Economies and Workers by Vetoing HB 433
Published
1 week agoon
March 9, 2024By
FNN NEWSTALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today Sierra Club Florida sent Governor Ron DeSantis a letter urging him to veto HB 433, “Employment Regulations.”
If signed into law, HB 433 would preempt local governments’ ability to pass protections for workers in extreme heat at a time when climate change is pushing record temperatures higher year after year. Of the many threats climate change poses to Florida’s economy and well-being–including rising insurance rates and storms– the impact of extreme heat is one of the biggest.
In 2022, heat exposure in the U.S. led to the loss of almost half a trillion potential labor hours, a significant increase from previous years. In 2021, a report by The Atlantic Council found that loss of productivity from heat led to a loss of about $100 billion dollars a year in the United States. The same report concluded that “without meaningful action to reduce emissions and/or adapt to extreme heat, labor productivity losses could double to nearly $200 billion by 2030 and reach $500 billion by 2050.” These impacts will fall on the shoulders of working-class Floridians at a time when Florida is also growing disproportionately less affordable compared to the rest of the nation.
Additionally, extreme heat is already a leading weather-related cause of death and workplace injury across the country. In the United States, extreme heat was estimated to be the cause of about 120,000 workplace injuries every year, and without action, that number could rise to about 450,000 per year in 2050. From 2019 to 2022, heat related deaths rose a staggering 88% in Florida. These deaths and injuries also disproportionately impact marginalized communities.
Sierra Club Florida Political Director Luigi Guadarrama said, “Governor DeSantis himself has admitted that ‘Florida’s economic success is tied to our environment,’ yet the legislature continues to produce bills that threaten the well-being of both. We cannot and will not ignore the devastating impact that this bill will have on our economy and the health of hard-working Floridians.”
Sierra Club Florida Executive Committee Chair James Scott said, “The cost of inaction on climate change is ethically intolerable and economically unsustainable. Preventing local governments from taking action will cost Floridians their paychecks and their lives. While big business and big-government Tallahassee legislators may choose to ignore that, Florida won’t.”
Inaction on climate change is costly. Sierra Club Florida urges Governor DeSantis to take this threat to our economy and our workers seriously, and veto HB 433.