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Embryos can be listed as dependents on tax returns, Georgia rules | Georgia

Georgia taxpayers can now list embryos as dependents on their tax returns.

In a news release on Monday, Georgia’s department of revenue said it would begin to “recognize any unborn child with a detectable human heartbeat … as eligible for [an] individual income tax dependent exemption”.

The announcement follows the supreme court’s ruling on June 24 that overturned the landmark Roe v Wade ruling that established the nationwide right to an abortion nearly 50 years earlier. A lower federal appellate court had also decided on July 20 to let the Georgia law banning most abortions in the state take effect.

Officials added that taxpayers filing returns from 20 July onward can claim a deduction of up to $3,000 for any fetus whose heartbeat could be detected. That “may occur as early as six weeks’ gestation”, before most women even know they are pregnant, the statement said.

Taxpayers must be ready to provide “relevant medical records or other supporting documentation … if requested by the [revenue] department”.

Legal analysts and advocates for abortion rights greeted the announcement with dismay and skepticism.

Anthony Michael Kreis, a Georgia State University law professor and political scientist, tweeted that some pregnancies detected within six weeks of gestation “result in natural miscarriages”, which could leave the Georgia’s treasury “handing out a lot of cash for pregnancies that would never come to finish.”

And given how high the percentage of pregnancies that result in natural miscarriages, the treasury is going to be handing out a lot of cash for pregnancies that would never come to term. (That might be good public health policy though it may be a lot more money than anticipated.)

— Anthony Michael Kreis (@AnthonyMKreis) August 1, 2022

Lauren Groh-Wargo, manager of Stacey Abrams’s campaign for Georgia governor, tweeted: “So what happens when you claim your fetus as a dependent and then miscarry later in the pregnancy, you get investigated both for [possible] tax fraud and an illegal abortion?”

The Georgia revenue department’s announcement Monday came less than a month after a pregnant woman in Texas memorably argued to police that her unborn child should count as an additional passenger upon receiving a traffic ticket for driving alone in a high-occupancy – or HOV – lane. The woman did not talk her way out of the ticket but she has said she plans to go to court to try out her argument there.

More than half the states in America have either banned or are expected to ban abortion after the supreme court returned regulation of abortion to the state level. Bans like Georgia’s have forced patients seeking abortions to travel hundreds of thousands from home, at times placing them, their friends, their families and abortion rights organizations in legal jeopardy as some states seek to criminalize helping people terminate pregnancies.

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An American dentist was found guilty of killing his wife on their African safari

An American dentist was found guilty of killing his wife on their African safari

Lawrence Rudolph, 67, killed his wife, Bianca Rudolph, with a shotgun and defrauded multiple insurance companies, a federal jury found Monday. Rudolph cashed in more than $4.8 million in life insurance payments after her death from her almost six years ago.

Rudolph has maintained his innocence and said he believes the gun fired accidentally.

“I did not kill my wife. I could not murder my wife. I would not murder my wife,” Rudolph told jurors when he took the stand in his own defense at a federal trial in Denver last week.

The Phoenix couple shared a passion for big-game hunting, and had traveled to the southern African nation of Zambia in September 2016 so Bianca Rudolph could add a leopard to her collection of animal trophies. They carried two guns for the hunt: a Remington .375 rifle and a Browning 12-gauge shotgun.

Two weeks later, as Bianca Rudolph was packing for the couple’s return home, she suffered a fatal blast from the Browning shotgun in their hunting cabin at Kafue National Park. Rudolph told investigators he heard the shot at dawn while he was in the bathroom and believed the shotgun accidentally went off as she was putting it in its case, court documents said. He told investigators he found her bleeding on the floor.

Lawrence Rudolph's defense investigator, left, heads into federal court in Denver along with the dentist's children.

But federal prosecutors at Rudolph’s trial in Denver, where the insurance companies are based, described it as a premeditated crime. Prosecutors argued Rudolph killed his wife of 30 years for insurance money and to be with his girlfriend.

“Bianca Rudolph served justice,” US Attorney Cole Finegan said in a statement after the jury’s ruling. “We can only hope this verdict brings Bianca’s family some amount of peace.”

Defense attorney David Markus had argued that Larry Rudolph had no financial motive to kill his wife. In court documents, I have noted that Rudolph owns a dental practice near Pittsburgh valued at $10 million.

“We are obviously extremely disappointed. We believe in Larry and his children,” Markus and fellow defense attorneys Margot Moss and Lauren Doyle said in a statement after Monday’s verdict. “There are lots of really strong appellate issues, which we will be pursuing after we have had a chance to regroup.”

An embassy official expressed suspicion after the shooting, the FBI said

In court documents, investigators alleged Rudolph raised suspicions when he sought to quickly cremate his wife’s body in Zambia.

Rudolph scheduled a cremation three days after his death, according to court documents. After he reported her death de ella to the US Embassy in the Zambian capital of Lusaka, the consular chief “told the FBI he had a bad feeling about the situation, which he thought was moving too quickly,” FBI special agent Donald Peterson wrote in the criminal affidavit.

As a result, the consular chief and two other embassy officials went to the funeral home where the body was being held to take photographs and preserve any potential evidence. When Rudolph found out the embassy officials had taken photos of his wife’s body from him, he was “livid,” Peterson wrote.

Rudolph initially told the consular chief that his wife may have died by suicide, but an investigation by Zambian law enforcement ruled it an accidental discharge.

Investigators for the insurers reached a similar conclusion and paid on the policies.

But forensic evidence showed Bianca Rudolph’s wounds came from a shot fired from at least two feet away, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court.

“At that distance, there is reason to believe that Bianca Rudolph was not killed by an accidental discharge as stated,” the complaint said.

A friend of Bianca Rudolph’s asked the FBI to investigate

But federal investigators maintained the shooting was premeditated so that Rudolph “could falsely claim the death was the result of an accident.”

Rudolph orchestrated his wife’s death as part of a scheme to defraud life insurance companies and to allow him to live openly with his then-girlfriend, the FBI alleged.

Larry Rudolph was charged with foreign murder in the 2016 death of his wife.

Bianca and Lawrence Rudolph moved from Pennsylvania to Arizona about four years before her death. Rudolph’s dental practice remained in Pennsylvania, and he commuted back and forth from his Phoenix home.

Federal authorities got involved after a friend of Bianca Rudolph asked the FBI to investigate the death because she suspected foul play. The friend said Larry Rudolph had been involved in extramarital affairs and had a girlfriend at the time of his wife’s death.

The girlfriend worked as a manager at his dental practice near Pittsburgh and told a former employee that she’d been dating him for 15 to 20 years, according to court documents.

Three months after Bianca Rudolph’s death, the girlfriend moved in with Larry Rudolph, according to court documents.

The jury found Rudolph’s girlfriend guilty Monday of being an accessory after the fact to murder, obstruction of justice and two counts of perjury before the grand jury, according to the Department of Justice.

CNN has reached out to her attorney for comment.

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Connecticut man captures moment he discovers bear in his kitchen

Connecticut man captures moment he discovers bear in his kitchen

A Connecticut man came home to a wild scare over the weekend, discovering a bear in his kitchen, and despite shooing the animal away, it returned once again the following day.

Bill Priest was working outside of his West Hartford home Sunday morning around 11:30 am when he came inside only to find the black-coated bear.

“Go on! That way, go! Get out of here!” Priest said in video he filmed, capturing the bear slowly and reluctantly walking out of the house.

Priest told NBC Connecticut the creature didn’t take or break anything. The bear had made entry through the front, breaking down the screen door to the front entrance, he said.

But Sunday’s sighting wasn’t the first time the bear wandered onto Priest’s property. He said he first saw the bear last week breaking into his garage refrigerator.

“I mean, I don’t care, run around the yard all you want but now you’ve crossed the line,” Priest told NBC Connecticut.

Sunday also wasn’t the last time the bear would come around.

At 5:30 am Monday, Priest heard noise at the front door.

“I thought it was my wife just checking on the front taking a look around, but it turns out he [the bear] was here,” Priest said.

Priest contacted Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and a crew arrived to his home to set up a trap to humanely capture the bear with plans to relocate the animal.

Marlene Lenthang is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.

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Accused drunken driver crashes into cyclists, killing West Bloomfield attorney

Accused drunken driver crashes into cyclists, killing West Bloomfield attorney

WEST BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — An Ionia County woman is behind bars, suspected of driving drunk and running her SUV into several bicyclists on a charity ride this weekend.

Two bicyclists were killed in the tragic crash in Ionia County’s Ronald Township. One of them is Michael Salhaney, a beloved husband, father and attorney for West Bloomfield Township.

“Mike was one of the kindest, most genuine, thoughtful, caring people I have ever met,” said Debbie Binder, a friend of Salhaney and a co-worker as the West Bloomfield Township clerk.

Kind is the one word on repeat when you ask someone what Salhaney was like.

“Mike would always be there to answer the call and he would be the one to tell the police chief, ‘Chief, it’ll be OK,'” West Bloomfield Township Police Department Chief Mike Patton said.

As the West Bloomfield Township attorney, friends say Salhaney was diligent in his work for his community.

Extremely busy, he was using his free time to raise money for Make-A-Wish when he was hit by an alleged drunken driver around 11 am on July 30.

The driver of an SUV was attempting to pass a UPS truck and slammed into several Make-A-Wish bicyclists. One other Ann Arbor bicyclist, Edward Erickson, was also killed.

Three other bicyclists were injured.

The bicyclists were participating in a three-day endurance ride to raise money for children with critical illness.

It should not go without notice that even in his dying act, the Southeast Michigan man was pushing forward, biking an extremely difficult journey to help others.

“The township, the community and kids lost a really important cheerleader and advocate that day,” said Binder.

West Bloomfield Township Supervisor Steve Kaplan said, “Michael Salhaney, he’s one of a kind. He’s just a great guy, he was loved by his coworkers, his family, and we all will miss him forever.”

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Georgia residents can now claim embryos as dependents on state taxes

Georgia residents can now claim embryos as dependents on state taxes

Georgia residents can now claim embryos as dependents on their state taxes, the state’s revenue department announced Monday.

“In light of the June 24, 2022, US Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization and the July 20, 2022, 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in Sistersong v. Kemp, the Department will recognize any unborn child with a detectable human heartbeat … as eligible for the Georgia individual income tax dependent exemption,” the department said in a statement.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last month that “Georgia’s prohibition on abortions after detectable human heartbeat is rational.”

The state’s Living Infants and Fairness Equality (LIFE) Act “defines a ‘natural person’ as ‘any human being including an un-born child,'” the court ruled.

A taxpayer who “has an unborn child (or children) with a detectable human heartbeat” after July 20, when the ruling came down, can claim a dependent on their 2022 taxes, according to the statement.

Residents will get $3,000 for each unborn child.

“Similar to any other deduction claimed on an income tax return, relevant medical records or other supporting documentation shall be provided to support the dependent deduction claimed if requested by the Department,” the state said.

Heartbeats can be detected as early as six weeks into pregnancy, often before a person knows they are pregnant.

Elisha Fieldstadt is a breaking news reporter for NBC News.

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NY Gov. Kathy Hochul leads Rep. Lee Zeldin by 14 points ahead of Nov. 8 election: Poll

NY Gov. Kathy Hochul leads Rep. Lee Zeldin by 14 points ahead of Nov. 8 election: Poll

A new Siena College poll shows Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul with a 14-point lead over Republican nominee Rep. Lee Zeldin ahead of the Nov. 8 election.

“Hochul dominates in New York City, leading by nearly 50 points, while Zeldin has slim 3-point leads both upstate and in the downstate suburbs,” pollster Steven Greenberg said.

Political experts say a pathway to victory for Zeldin requires winning at least 30% of the vote in Democrat-dominated New York City while winning big in the surrounding suburbs and upstate.

The incumbent governor is up in every demographic category based on race, age and income in the survey of 806 likely voters conducted July 24 to July 28.

Women are favoring Hochul by a whopping 26 points while Hochul and Zeldin have 46% support each among men.

While 36% of New Yorkers believe the Empire State is heading in the right direction, just 19% say they same about the country – an all-time high that could help Republicans like Zeldin campaign on such issues as historically high inflation.

Kathy Hochul
Gov. Kathy Hochul dominates in New York City, leading by nearly 50 points.
Matthew McDermott
Joe Biden
President Joe Biden is receiving mixed reviews from the Democratic Party.
Getty Images/Anna Moneymaker

New Yorkers are split on Democratic President Joe Biden, who is rated as favorable and unfavorable by 46% of respondents to the Siena poll.

The results of the poll are similar to a separate survey released Tuesday morning by Emerson College Polling, which showed Hochul with a 16-point edge over Zeldin, with similar margins separating the candidates in New York City and other regions of the state.

While Zeldin appears to be falling short of his electoral targets, he appears better positioned at this point in the race compared to other recent GOP nominees.

A 2018 Siena poll showed Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro, a Republican, was 22 points behind Democratic incumbent Gov. Andrew Cuomo weeks after they won their respective party primaries, held in September that year.

lee zeldin
NY State Congressman and 2022 candidate for governor Lee Zeldin has slim 3-point leads both upstate and in the downstate suburbs.
J. Messerschmidt/NY Post

“While Democrats have taken the last four gubernatorial elections, Zeldin’s current 14-point deficit matches the closest Republicans have come in those races, when Andrew Cuomo defeated Rob Astorino 54-40% in 2014. In August 2014, Cuomo led Astorino by 32 points , 58-26%,” Greenberg said in the press release.

But Zeldin has ground to make up if he wants to replicate the success of George Pataki, the last Republican to serve as governor.

Republican challenger George Pataki led Democratic Gov. Mario Cuomo by 3 points statewide – with an 11-point edge in New York City – in an October 1994 poll conducted by The New York Times/WCBS-TV News ahead of Pataki’s upset victory over the three-term incumbent that November.

Other GOP candidates on the statewide ticket in November 2022 appear to face even longer odds than Zeldin of becoming the first Republican to win a statewide election since Pataki won his third term in office in 2002.

United States Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer
US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is leading in his race.
Rod Lamkey / CNP / MediaPunch

US Sen. Chuck Schumer and state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli have 21-point leads in their respective races against Republican nominee Joe Pinion, a former Newsmax host, and banker Paul Rodriguez, according to the Siena poll.

State Attorney General Letitia James is 14 points ahead of commercial litigator Michael Henry in her own reelection bid.

Hochul has raised more than $34 million in her bid to become the first woman to get elected governor after taking over last August for ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who resigned amid multiple scandals.

Campaign finance disclosures filed in mid-July show her with $11.7 million on hand to spend for the campaign ahead compared to $1.6 million for Zeldin.

handguns
Hochul has advocated for stricter gun control after a major Supreme Court decision last month.
AP/Philip Kamrass

In recent months, she has campaigned heavily on abortion rights and gun control following controversial decisions by the US Supreme Court that might be weighing down Republicans’ chances in the Empire State this November.

“Although a small majority of Republicans support the Dobbs decision, it is opposed by 89% of Democrats, 60% of independents, and at least of 62% of voters from every region, age group, gender, and race,” Greenberg said in reference to the recent SCOTUS decision on abortion.

“Support for the new law expanding eligibility requirements to obtain a permit to carry a concealed weapon – background checks with character references and firearms safety training courses – is through the roof with all demographic groups,” he added about new state laws passed following another ruling striking down long time New York rules on carrying concealed weapons.

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Dentist found guilty in wife’s death on African safari

Dentist found guilty in wife's death on African safari

A wealthy dentist accused of fatally shooting his wife in the heart with a shotgun at the end of an African safari was found guilty of murder and mail fraud on Monday. A jury of six men and six women reached the verdict for Lawrence “Larry” Rudolph following a three week trial and a day and a half of deliberations. Rudolph, 67, was charged with foreign murder in the 2016 death of Bianca Rudolph in Zambia as well as mail fraud for cashing in $4.8 million in life insurance claims in what prosecutors describe as a premeditated crime. Some of the money was paid out of Colorado so he was tried in Denver federal court. He faces a maximum term of life in prison or the death penalty when he is sentenced in February. Rudolph maintained his innocence and the two adult children he had with his wife sat in court to support him during the trial. One of Rudolph’s defense attorneys, David Markus, said they would appeal his conviction of him. We believe in his family,” he said outside court. The defense suggested Rudolph’s wife of 34 years, a nervous traveler, shot herself while trying to pack a shotgun in a hurry as they prepared to return from Zambia to the United States in 2016. But prosecutors countered that evidence showed that it was impossible because the wound to her heart came from a shot fired from 2 to 3.5 feet (60 centimeters to 1 meter) away. The couple’s longtime hunting guide, Mark Swanepoel, told investigators that Rudolph had unloaded the shotgun the day before the fatal shooting, but Rudolph testified that he could not remember if he had or not. When he returned home to Phoenix days later, Rudolph said he put the shotgun in his garage, not wanting to look at it. Then sometime in 2018, as he was preparing to sell his house and before he found out the FBI was investigating his wife’s death, he said he took the gun apart, put it into two cardboard boxes and paid a man cash to haul it away with along with other trash. Prosecutors also Rudolph’s girlfriend and the manager of his Pittsburgh-area dental franchise, Lori Milliron, of lying to a federal grand jury and being an accessory. She was accused guilty by the same jury Monday of being an accessory after the fact to murder, obstruction of a grand jury and two counts of perjury before a grand jury. She was found not guilty on three other counts of perjury. Rudolph waved to Milliron as he was led out of court and back to jail after not having any interaction with her in the courtroom in previous days. Milliron will remain free with an ankle monitor until she is sentenced. Prosecutors alleged that Rudolph decided to kill his wife to regain control over his life de ella after Bianca Rudolph asked for more say in the couple’s finances and demanded that Milliron be fired. Rudolph said his wife de él agreed to have an open marriage and the defense argued there was no financial incentive for Rudolph, who was worth about $15 million at the time, to kill his wife de ella. Investigators in Zambia and for the insurers concluded her death of her was an accident. Prosecutors noted that Rudolph hung up on an insurance investigator who tried to speak with him and declined to participate in a voluntary interview with an FBI agent. Colorado’s US Attorney Cole Finegan thanked the FBI for traveling around the world to collect evidence and interview witnesses in the case and said he hoped the verdict brings some peace to Bianca Rudolph’s family. “Bianca Rudolph deserved justice,” he said.

DENVER (AP) —

A wealthy dentist accused of fatally shooting his wife in the heart with a shotgun at the end of an African safari was found guilty of murder and mail fraud on Monday.

A jury of six men and six women reached the verdict for Lawrence “Larry” Rudolph following a three week trial and a day and a half of deliberations.

Rudolph, 67, was charged with foreign murder in the 2016 death of Bianca Rudolph in Zambia as well as mail fraud for cashing in $4.8 million in life insurance claims in what prosecutors describe as a premeditated crime. Some of the money was paid out of Colorado so he was tried in Denver federal court.

He faces a maximum term of life in prison or the death penalty when he is sentenced in February.

Rudolph maintained his innocence and the two adult children he had with his wife sat in court to support him during the trial. One of Rudolph’s defense attorneys, David Markus, said they would appeal his conviction of him.

“We believe in Larry. We believe in his family of him, ”he said outside court.

The defense suggested Rudolph’s wife of 34 years, a nervous traveler, shot herself while trying to pack a shotgun in a hurry as they prepared to return from Zambia to the United States in 2016.

But prosecutors countered that evidence showed that it was impossible because the wound to her heart came from a shot fired from 2 to 3.5 feet (60 centimeters to 1 meter) away.

The couple’s longtime hunting guide, Mark Swanepoel, told investigators that Rudolph had unloaded the shotgun the day before the fatal shooting, but Rudolph testified that he could not remember if he had or not.

When he returned home to Phoenix days later, Rudolph said he put the shotgun in his garage not wanting to look at it. Then sometime in 2018, as he was preparing to sell his house and before he found out the FBI was investigating his wife’s death, he said he took the gun apart, put it into two cardboard boxes and paid a man cash to haul it away with along with other trash.

Prosecutors also accused Rudolph’s girlfriend and the manager of his Pittsburgh-area dental franchise, Lori Milliron, of lying to a federal grand jury and being an accessory.

She was found guilty by the same jury Monday of being an accessory after the fact to murder, obstruction of a grand jury and two counts of perjury before a grand jury. She was found not guilty on three other counts of perjury.

Rudolph waved to Milliron as he was led out of court and back to jail after not having any interaction with her in the courtroom in previous days. Milliron will remain free with an ankle monitor until she is sentenced.

Prosecutors alleged that Rudolph decided to kill his wife to regain control over his life after Bianca Rudolph asked for more say in the couple’s finances and demanded that Milliron be fired. Rudolph said his wife agreed to have an open marriage and the defense argued there was no financial incentive for Rudolph, who was worth about $15 million at the time, to kill his wife.

Investigators in Zambia and for the insurers concluded her death was an accident. Prosecutors noted that Rudolph hung up on an insurance investigator who tried to speak with him and declined to participate in a voluntary interview with an FBI agent.

Colorado’s US Attorney Cole Finegan thanked the FBI for traveling around the world to collect evidence and interview witnesses in the case and said he hoped the verdict brings some peace to Bianca Rudolph’s family.

“Bianca Rudolph served justice,” he said.

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Five states hold primaries in big tests for Trump

Five states hold primaries in big tests for Trump

A possible far-right Trump sweep in Arizona, a Midwestern referendum on the Squad and a Kansas ballot question with implications for abortion rights are some of the big decisions before voters today in closely watched primaries in 5 states.

Driving the news: Former President Trump’s last-minute endorsement of “Eric” ahead of today’s Missouri Senate primary — in a field that includes both the state’s attorney general, Eric Schmitt, and disgraced former Gov. Eric Greitens — highlights how disruptive and unpredictable a force the former president remains in the GOP.

  • Backing Greitens, as Trump was rumored to be considering, would have risked adding a high-profile loss to Trump’s ledger. Polls have shown Schmitt leading the primary field, with Greitens falling to third place in recent weeks.
  • Publicly, Schmitt and Greitens each claimed Trump’s backing and said they were honored.

why it matters The success or failure of Trump-backed candidates — in both primaries and the general election — is an important barometer of his long-term grip on the party.

Arizona Republicans are poised to nominate a roster of MAGA-aligned candidates.

  • A Trump sweep in Arizona, one of the most important battleground states, would be an embarrassing rebuke to Gov. Doug Ducey and former Vice President Mike Pence, who spent valuable political capital against several of Trump’s candidates.
  • But that could actually hurt their prospects of defeating Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) or holding the governor’s office.

Details: Most public polling has shown Trump-endorsed former TV anchor Kari Lake with late momentum against Pence-endorsed businesswoman Karrin Taylor Robson in the Arizona governor’s race.

  • Lake has been badly outspent but boasts considerable grassroots support.
  • Trump’s slate of downballot candidates — including Blake Masters for the Senate, Mark Finchem for secretary of state and Abe Hamadeh for state attorney general — are favored in their respective primaries. All have sowed doubt about President Biden’s 2020 election victory.
  • Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers, who testified to the Jan. 6 committee about Trump’s efforts to overturn the Arizona election, is expected to lose a state Senate primary to a challenger promoting Trump’s election conspiracy theories. Bowers told ABC’s Jon Karl it would take a “miracle” for him to win.

In other pivotal primaries, Trump’s favored candidates have struggled to gain political traction.

  • In Washington state, Reps. Jaime Herrera Beutler and Dan Newhouse, both of whom backed Trump’s impeachment, have a solid chance at defeating insurgent challengers.

Squad goals: Tuesday’s contests also include a number of key battles in an ongoing struggle between progressives and more moderate, establishment Democrats — which, as Axios reported Sunday, progressives have been mostly losing.

  • Three members of the Squad—Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) — are facing moderate primary challengers. All are favored to win re-nomination.
  • Moderate Rep. Haley Stevens is facing progressive Rep. Andy Levin in a primary that has become a proxy battle among Democrats over support for Israel. Stevens, who’s supported by pro-Israel groups, has emerged ahead in independent polling.

Kansas voters will vote in on an amendment to the state constitution on abortion restrictions — the first in a series of ballot measures on abortion in the wake of the Supreme Court’s June decision overturning Roe v. Wade.

  • Kansas, despite its conservative politics, currently protects abortion rights in the state Constitution, allowing the procedure up to 22 weeks into pregnancy.
  • If the amendment passes, however, it would allow state legislators to restrict or ban abortions.

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Biden announces White House monkeypox response team with 3 states declaring emergencies

Biden announces White House monkeypox response team with 3 states declaring emergencies

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President Biden on Tuesday announced a team to coordinate and manage the White House’s monkeypox response efforts, as the virus spreads in cities and states across the nation.

The president named Robert Fenton, a regional administrator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to serve as White House National Monkeypox Response Coordinator, and Dr. Demetre Daskalakis to serve as the deputy coordinator.

“Fenton and Deaskalakis will lead the administration’s strategy and operations to combat the current monkeypox outbreak, including equitably increasing the availability of tests, vaccinations and treatments,” the White House said Tuesday.

Fenton has twice served as acting administrator of FEMA and has led “multiple challenging prevention, response and recovery operations” throughout his career.

NEW YORK CITY, ILLINOIS DECLARE STATE OF EMERGENCY OVER MONKEYPOX

Daskalakis, a leading public health expert, is currently the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Division of HIV Prevention. The White House said he “is an expert on health issues affecting the LGBTQIA+ communities.” Daskalakis previously oversaw management of infectious diseases for the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Tubes labled "Monkeypox Virus" with positive and negative results pictured in this illustration taken May 23, 2022.

Tubes labled “Monkeypox Virus” with positive and negative results pictured in this illustration taken May 23, 2022.
(REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration)

The White House said both officials played “critical roles in making COVID vaccines more accessible for underserved communities and closing the equity gap in adult vaccination rates.”

MONKEYPOX BY THE NUMBERS: FACTS ABOUT THE RARE VIRUS THAT’S CURRENTLY SPREADING

Chief medical advisor to the president, Dr. Anthony Fauci, added that the team “will allow the Biden administration to further accelerate and strengthen its monkeypox response.”

The two officials are expected to coordinate and manage response efforts across the White House and all federal departments and agencies, as well as work with local, state, national and international stakeholders on “tracking and fighting the spread” of monkeypox.

California, Illinois and New York have declared monkeypox states of emergencies.

The first case of monkeypox was confirmed in the United States on May 18.

So far, the Biden administration has made more than 1.1 million doses of vaccine available to states and cities across the country to control the spread of the virus, and has expanded testing capacity from 6,000 tests per week to more than 80,000 tests per week.

“Monkeypox is a rare disease caused by infection with the monkeypox virus. Monkeypox virus is part of the same family of viruses as variola virus, the virus that causes smallpox,” the CDC notes on its website.

MONKEYPOX: WHAT YOU MUST KNOW ABOUT THE VIRUS — AND HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF

Monkeypox symptoms are milder than smallpox symptoms—and monkeypox is rarely fatal.

The virus is not related to chickenpox, says the CDC. Monkeypox was discovered in 1958 when two outbreaks of a pox-like disease showed up in monkeys kept for research.

Monkeypox virus present In human vesicular fluid.

Monkeypox virus present In human vesicular fluid.
(BSIP/UIG Via Getty Images)

Monkeypox symptoms include headache, muscle aches, exhaustion, fever, backache, the swelling of lymph nodes and chills.

Within one to three days, a rash and lesions can also develop, according to the CDC.

The CDC shares many healthy actions all of us can take to limit contact and transmission of the disease.

WHO DECLARES MONKEYPOX A GLOBAL HEALTH EMERGENCY

Among these tips: Avoid close, skin-to-skin contact with people who have a rash; do not touch the rash or scabs of anyone who has monkeypox; do not share eating utensils, plates or cups with someone who has the virus; do not handle or touch the bedding, towels or clothing of a person with monkeypox; wash your hands often with soap and water — or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

The CDC recommends that those infected with monkeypox isolate at home, noting that very close personal contact is another cause of the rapid spread of the virus.

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Anyone having an active rash or other symptoms should, “stay in a separate room or area away from people or pets you live with, when possible,” noted the CDC.

Fox News’ Deirdre Reilly contributed to this report.

Brooke Singman is a Fox News Digital politics reporter. You can reach her from her at [email protected] or @BrookeSingman on Twitter.

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Killing of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri elicits global praise

US kills al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri

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News that Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of al-Qaeda, was killed in Kabul in a CIA drone operation over the weekend drew celebration from Democrats and Republicans in the United States as well as from some foreign governments.

President Biden announced the death of one of the world’s most-wanted terrorists in a televised address Monday from a White House balcony, reminiscent of the speech given by President Barack Obama in 2011 when US forces killed Osama bin Laden in a raid of the al- Qaeda founder’s compound in Pakistan.

The killing of Zawahiri in Afghanistan is seen as a political win for the Biden administration almost a year after a heavily criticized US withdrawal from the country, which left it under Taliban control and sparked fears that al-Qaeda could reassert itself there.

obama called the news “proof that it’s possible to root out terrorism without being at war in Afghanistan,” adding that he hoped Zawahiri’s death would provide “a small measure of peace to the 9/11 families and everyone else who has suffered at the hands of Al Qaeda.”

The Taliban government “strongly condemned the attack,” chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said, calling the strike a violation of international norms and the agreement signed in Doha, Qatar, by the United States and the Taliban in 2020.

But a senior Biden administration official said that the al-Qaeda leader’s presence in Kabul constitutes a violation of the Doha deal and that senior members of the Haqqani Taliban faction were aware that Zawahiri was living in the Afghan capital and took steps after the strike to conceal his presence.

Ayman al-Zawahiri, one of the world’s most wanted terrorists and the mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, was killed in a US drone strike on July 30. (Video: The Washington Post)

Messages of support poured in from lawmakers shortly after Biden’s address. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi commended Biden “for his strong leadership of him,” while Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (DN.Y.) called the mission “a major accomplishment” that brought justice to one of the people “who helped orchestrate the cold-blooded murder of thousands of my fellow New Yorkers on 9/11.”

Senator Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), in a statement posted on Twitter on Monday evening, similarly credited Biden for approving the drone operation, saying “the world is a better, safer place” without Zawahiri. But McConnell urged the administration to come up with a comprehensive security plan in Afghanistan in light of the fact that Zawahiri appeared to have been living in central Kabul.

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress, wrote on social media that Zawahiri was “a monster responsible for the deaths of thousands around the world.” Two Senate Republicans — Joni Ernst (Iowa) and Marco Rubio (Fla.) — also issued statements late Monday, commending the US military and intelligence community for taking down the terrorist leader.

Who was Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda leader and Osama bin Laden’s successor?

But Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who has promoted conspiracy theories including one suggesting 9/11 was a hoax, slammed Biden for trying to “act tough on TV.” Greene tweeted that while Zawahiri plotted 9/11 and the bombing of the Navy destroyer Cole in 2000, “no one in America has been sweating an attack from Al Qaeda lately or even heard a thing about them.”

The group 9/11 Families United issued a statement expressing gratitude to US intelligence agencies and the military for the “sacrifices that have been made in removing such evil from our lives.” But the news is also a reminder, said Chair Terry Strada, that for full accountability, “President Biden must also hold the Saudi paymasters accountable for killing our loved ones,” referring to allegations that agents of the Saudi Arabian government provided support for the 9 /11 plot. Saudi authorities have repeatedly denied such a link. The 9/11 Commission noted in 2004 that it found no evidence that “the Saudi government as an institution or senior officials within the Saudi government funded al Qaeda.”

Following Biden’s address, Saudi Arabia swiftly released a statement welcoming the death of Zawahiri, who said “led the planning and execution of heinous terrorist operations” that killed innocent people, including Saudi citizens.” The Persian Gulf kingdom became the target of al-Qaeda bombings after 9/11, most notably a 2003 attack in its capital, Riyadh, that killed 11 people and injured more than 120.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaua close US ally, later called Zawahiri’s death “a step toward a safer world,” while his Australian counterpart, Anthony Albanese, said he hoped that the relatives of victims would “find some small solace” in Zawahiri’s death.

Ellen Francis contributed to this report.