On October 1st 2017, the deadliest mass shooting in the US occurred at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas, killing 58 people and injuring 527. The shooter, identified as 64 year-old Stephen Paddock, broke two windows in his suite on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel and sent more than 22,000 country music fans scrambling for their lives. Between 10:05 and 10:15 pm, Paddock fired thousands of rounds at concert goers, turning the last day of the festival into a massacre. The headlining performer, country music singer Jason Aldean was giving the closing performance when the first shots were fired.
Several videos of the attack show the terror as countless rounds of gunfire can be heard with intervals of just a few seconds in between. Many concert-goers and performers still in the area initially thought the sounds were fireworks. When the second round of gunfire is heard, Jason Aldean ran off the stage and fans realized it was automatic gunfire-but for many, it was already too late. As terrified fans got down, many noticed people nearby who had already been shot. Videos of the attack show fans running, and then dropping to the ground as another round of gunfire starts. As people ran for their lives, many were separated and left not knowing if their friend or loved ones made it out. The day after the attack, stories circulated of the many brave people helping people to safety, tending to those injured and loading wounded into their vehicles to get them to area hospitals. Slowly, the identities of those lost were confirmed either through family confirming on social media or reaching out to news outlets.
Six minutes prior to the shooting, Mandalay Bay hotel security guard Jesus Campos was checking an alert for an open door in another guest’s room near Paddock’s room. Paddock, who had placed security cameras outside his room, shot Campos through the door of his suite, which was outfitted with a camera to survey the hallway, as was a room service cart parked outside. Police said Paddock fired 200 rounds into the hallway, hitting Campos once in the leg. Campos radioed the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department that the gunman was in room 32135 and began evacuating people from the 32nd floor, including a maintenance worker who entered the hallway moments after he was shot.
The first 911 call was at 10:08 pm but police officers were initially confused as to where the shooting was coming from. Officers eventually spotted multiple flashes of gunfire on the northern side of Mandalay Bay and responded to the hotel. At 10:12 pm, two officers on the 31st floor reported the sounds of gunfire on the floor above them. Between 10:26 and 10:30pm, eight officers reached the floor but didn’t hear anymore gunfire. They systematically searched and cleared rooms, evacuating any remaining guests using a master key provided by Campos. At 10:55pm officers reported all guests had been evacuated and at 11:20pm, police breached Paddock’s room with explosives. Paddock was found dead, having shot himself in the head before the police entered.
Police found 22 rifles and one handgun inside Paddock’s hotel room that he had occupied since September 28. Police believe Paddock’s surveillance cameras and additional evidence found in the room suggest that Paddock intended to escape after the shooting. Police, relatives, and neighbors described him as a wealthy, high-stakes gambler who kept to himself -with no political or religious affiliations. They say he frequently gambled tens of thousands of dollars-earning him valuable comps from Vegas area casinos. Paddock had no criminal record or known history of mental illness. Police believed he acted alone but have not determined his motive.
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Thousands of people have been evacuated on the Indonesian island of Bali and on Ambae island in Vanuatu as two volcanoes threaten to erupt. The entire population of Ambae, around 11,000 people, is being moved from the path of the “increasingly active” Manaro volcano while more than 144,000 people from Bali have been taken to shelters as authorities warn that Mount Agung could erupt at any time. The National Disaster Management Agency has said that 447 temporary shelters have been set up outside the exclusion zone around the volcano. Thousands of evacuees sleep on floors and wait for something to happen.
Seismic activity continues in the volcano and the alert level for an eruption is at the highest on the scale. A statement from Vanuatu Meteorology and Geohazards Department said “Ambae volcano is in an ongoing moderate eruption state, people in local villages could experience the danger of flying rocks, volcanic gases and acid rain.”
Experts explain that there are very good indications that an eruption is imminent. Seismic tremors beneath the volcano are increasing in number, intensity, and the reduction in their depth in the last week is a very good indication that magma is moving up to the surface. Another signs of an eminent eruption include gas emissions from the summit as a sign that pressure underground has become to great and bulging on the volcano’s surface.
On September 25, the area experienced 844 volcanic earthquakes and by mid-afternoon on September 26, had experienced another 300-400 earthquakes. Seismologists say the force and frequency are alarming and it has taken much less for similar volcanoes to erupt.
Mount Agung last erupted in 1963 when more than 1,700 people were killed and hundreds more were injured. Lava flowed for 4.7 miles from the crater for over 20 days ash reached the capital, Jakarta, about 620 miles away. The most devastating effect of an eruption is the pyroclastic flows which are waves of superheated gas, ash and rock that can travel hundreds of miles an hour.
In the 1963 eruption, these flows devastated numerous villages, killing an estimated 1,300 people. Cold lahars caused by heavy rainfall after the eruption killed an additional 200. A second eruption months later, led to pyroclastic flows that killed another 200 people. Minor eruptions and flows followed for almost a year. During the 1963 eruption, there was no evacuation plan and people had seconds to minutes to escape the pyroclastic flows which led to a devastating death toll.
The National Disaster Mitigation Agency said no one should be within 6 miles of the crater and within 7.5 miles to the north, northeast, southeast and south-southwest where lava flows, lahars (a type of mudflow) or rapidly-moving white-hot ash clouds from where an eruption could reach.
Indonesia, the country of thousands of islands is prone to seismic upheaval because of its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin. Mount Agung is 1 of more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia.
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Playboy founder and icon Hugh Hefner died on Wednesday evening at the age of 91. Hefner passed of natural causes at his home, the famed Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles, surrounded by loved ones. Playboy began on Hefner’s kitchen table 64 years ago and spawned an empire that encompasses print and digital publications, merchandise and other portfolio companies. After leaving his job as a copywriter for Esquire magazine, Hefner put up his furniture as collateral for a loan, raising money from various investors and borrowing the rest from family and friends. He published the very first issue of Playboy in December of 1953 which featured Marilyn Monroe on the cover.
For decades, Playboy was the most successful men’s magazine in the world and the company branched into movie, cable and digital production, sold its own line of clothing and jewelry, and opened clubs, resorts and casinos. Playboy Enterprises’ chief executive, Scott Flanders, acknowledged that the internet had overrun the magazine’s province causing the brand to fade over the years with its magazine’s circulation declining to less than a million.
In 2012, Hefner announced that his youngest son, Cooper, would likely succeed him as the public face of Playboy. Mr. Hefner remained editor in chief but in 2016, he handed over creative control of Playboy to his son Cooper Hefner.
Hefner is survived by his wife Crystal, and four grown children from his two previous marriages. Over the years, Hefner became known and highly criticized for moving an ever-changing group of young women into the Playboy Mansion. His reputation was highly criticized and overshadowed the fact that he staunchly advocated freedom of speech in all its aspects, for which he won civil liberties awards. He supported progressive social causes and lost some sponsors by inviting African-American guests to his televised parties at a time when much of the nation still had Jim Crow laws.
In 1966, during the civil rights era, Hefner sent African-American journalist Alex Haley to interview George Lincoln Rockwell, founder of the American Nazi Party-who has been described as the “American Hitler”. Rockwell agreed to meet with Haley only after gaining assurance from the writer that he was not Jewish though Rockwell kept a handgun on the table throughout the interview.
Hefner was also a philanthropist who donated $100,000 to the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts to create a course called “Censorship in Cinema”, and $2 million to endow a chair for the study of American film. Through his charitable foundation, Hefner contributed to many charities and threw multiple fundraiser events for Much Love Animal Rescue. In 1978, he helped organize and raise funds for the restoration of the Hollywood sign and in 2010, Hefner donated the last $900,000 sought by a conservation group for a land purchase needed to stop the development of the famed vista of the Hollywood Sign. Children of the Night founder and president Dr. Lois Lee presented Hefner with the organization’s first-ever Founder’s Hero of the Heart Award in appreciation for his unwavering dedication, commitment and generosity. He also supported legalizing same-sex marriage, and he stated that a fight for gay marriage was a fight for all our rights.
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Hurricane Irma caused widespread and catastrophic damage in Barbuda, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin, Anguilla and the Virgin Islands as a Category 5 hurricane. It caused at 84 deaths, including 45 in the Caribbean and 39 in the United States. For over a week, Irma’s intensity fluctuated between a Category 5 and 2 hurricanes. It was also the most intense Atlantic hurricane to strike the United States since Katrina in 2005.
All 1,800 residents of Barbuda have been evacuated to its sister island of Antigua after Hurricane Irma’s landfall on September 6 made Barbuda “uninhabitable” for the first time in 300 years. Downed phone lines ceased all communication with nearby islands-leaving the exact state of the island unclear for hours. Irma damaged or destroyed 95% of the structures on Barbuda with preliminary damage assessments of at least $150 million. Antigua sustained minimal damage with leveled roofs and fences, downed power poles lines, and uprooted trees. Some street flooding also took place in low-lying areas.
On September 6, Irma’s center crossed the island of Saint Martin with peak intensity, sweeping away entire structures, submerging roads and cars, triggering an island-wide blackout and killing 3 people. The majority of the island’s population was left stranded and without water, electricity or phone service. Premier William Marlin estimates between $1.2 – 1.5 billion in damage from Irma’s destruction.
Damage in the British Virgin Islands included buildings and roads destroyed on the island of Tortola, which bore the brunt of the hurricane’s core. Satellite images revealed many residential zones had been left in ruins on the island of Cane Garden Bay. Irma’s most severe damage were on the islands Saint Thomas and Saint John with 12 inches of rain fall and both island’s suffering widespread structural damage. Both islands had widespread power outages and three deaths were attributed to Irma.
Hurricane Irma reached the Turks and Caicos Islands on the evening of September 7th. While the eye passed just south of the main islands, crossing over South Caicos and the Ambergris Cays, the most powerful winds on the northern side of the eye swept all of the islands for more than two hours. Communications infrastructure was destroyed with extensive residential damage and some neighborhoods reported to be entirely gone. Minister of Infrastructure Goldray Ewing estimated that damage exceeding $500 million.
The eye of the storm passed over Duncan Town, in the Bahamas on September 8th and “almost directly over” Inagua and South Acklins. Damage was largely confined to the southern islands with downed power lines, lost communications, flooding and 70% of homes sustaining roof damage. Irma hit Cuba overnight September 8th as a Category 5 but weakened to a Category 3 hurricane on September 9th causing significant damage. Many one homes and roads were completely flooded with waves rolling through some towns. Irma is estimated to have caused at least $2.2 billion in damage and at least 10 deaths across the country.
Irma hit the Florida Keys on September 10th with reports at least 90% of structures in the Florida Keys suffering damage and a quarter of them were destroyed completely. Irma hit the Keys as a Category 4 storm causing major damage to nearly everything in its path, knocking out power, water, sanitation and communications. The hurricane was downgraded to Category 1, prior to reaching Tampa but still left nearly 4.5 million Florida residents without power for days. Damage along the length of the Keys, around Naples and Fort Myers area could reach as much as $300 billion, according to insurance analysts.
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A huge security breach at credit reporting company Equifax has exposed sensitive information, such as Social Security numbers and addresses, of up to 143 million Americans. Others in the U.K. and Canada were also impacted, but Equifax hasn’t said how many. The data breach is considered one of the worst ever because of its reach and by the sensitivity of information exposed to the public.
The hackers have accessed sensitive information — including names, social security numbers, birth dates, addresses, and the numbers of some driver’s licenses. Credit card numbers for about 209,000 U.S. customers were compromised, in addition to “personal identifying information” on about 182,000 U.S. customers.
Equifax (EFX) is one of three nationwide credit-reporting agencies that track and rate the financial history of consumers. The company gets its data from credit card companies, banks, retailers and lenders. The data breach is among the worst ever because of the amount of people affected and the sensitive type of information exposed. The company said it found no evidence that consumers in other countries were affected beyond the U.S., U.K. and Canada.
Equifax said the breach happened between mid-May and July 2017. They discovered the hack on July 29th and promptly engaged a leading, independent cybersecurity firm which has been conducting a comprehensive forensic review to determine the scope of the intrusion, including the specific data impacted. Equifax also reported the criminal access to law enforcement and continues to work with authorities.
They reported the breach to the public on September 7th. They said hackers exploited a U.S. website application vulnerability to gain access to certain files and they are investigating the breach. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has also launched a formal investigation into the hack. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is looking into the breach as well.
Equifax said it will send notices in the mail to people whose credit card numbers or dispute records were breached. They have also established a dedicated website, www.equifaxsecurity2017.com to help consumers find out if they have been impacted. To find out if you are potentially impacted, you can go the website-click on “Potential Impact,” and enter your last name and last 6 digits of your Social Security number.
The company is also offering a program called TrustedID Premier. It says that includes 3-Bureau credit monitoring of Equifax, Experian and TransUnion credit reports; copies of Equifax credit reports; the ability to lock and unlock Equifax credit reports; identity theft insurance; and Internet scanning for Social Security numbers – all complimentary to U.S. consumers for one year. You must complete the enrollment process by November 21, 2017. Consumers should be aware that buried in the terms of service of this program, is language that bars those that enroll in the Equifax checker program from participating in any class action lawsuits that may arise from the incident.
The best defense against identity theft and credit fraud is to monitor your credit report frequently to check for any suspicious activity, such as accounts you didn’t open, address changes, or anything else that you don’t recognize.
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Prosecutors have asked the FBI to assist in an investigation into the rough arrest of a Utah nurse after video of her being dragged screaming from a hospital drew widespread condemnation. Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill is overseeing a criminal investigation into officers involved in the handcuffing of nurse Alex Wubbels. He is asking for FBI help in part because his office can’t prosecute possible civil rights violations like wrongful arrest.
The incident happened on July 26 but bodycam footage that was released last week sparked national outcry. That night, a man named William Gray was taken to the hospital after suffering severe injuries from a car crash. Gray, a reserve police officer with the police department in Rigby, Idaho-who works as a truck driver, had been injured after being in the fiery head on car crash with a truck that was fleeing from Utah State Highway Patrol.
In the video, Salt Lake City Detective Jeff Payne is seen squaring off against Utah nurse Alex Wubbels, the charge nurse working the night shift on the burn unit at Utah University Hospital. Wubbels was following hospital protocol and the law when she calmly refused to allow a blood draw on an unconscious patient without consent or a warrant. She presented the officers with a printout of hospital policy on drawing blood and said their request did not meet the criteria.
Hospital policy specified police needed either a judge’s order or the patient’s consent, or the patient needed to be under arrest, before obtaining a blood sample. “I’m just trying to do what I’m supposed to do. That’s all,” Wubbels tells the officers, according to the body camera video. She put her supervisor on speakerphone who told Payne “You’re making a huge mistake because you’re threatening a nurse.” “No, we’re done,” Payne said. “We’re done. You’re under arrest.”
Salt Lake City police detective Jeff Payne insisted on drawing the blood, maintaining in his report that he wanted the sample to protect the man rather than prosecute him. He was supported by his supervisor, Lt. James Tracy, who said the nurse could be arrested if she didn’t agree. The dispute ended with Payne handcuffing Wubbels and dragging her outside while she screamed that she’d done nothing wrong. She was detained for 20 minutes and later released without charge.
Payne, who has worked for the department for over 20 years, and a second unidentified officer were put on full paid administrative leave by Salt Lake City police after the video emerged. Lt. James Tracy’s actions are also under review. Payne has also been fired from his part-time job as a paramedic following comments he made on the video about taking transient patients to the hospital as retaliation.
The Rigby Police Department said they hope the incident will be investigated thoroughly and “appropriate action” will be taken. “The Rigby Police Department would like to thank the nurse involved and hospital staff for standing firm and protecting Officer Gray’s rights as a patient and victim,” “Protecting the rights of others is truly a heroic act.” “It is important to remember that Officer Gray is the victim in this horrible event, and that at no time was he under any suspicion of wrongdoing,” the statement said, adding that Gray “continues to heal.”
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help William Gray and his wife with expenses while he recovers at the University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City. https://www.gofundme.com/BillGray
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In an effort to broaden the company’s “social interaction” with our clients and FaceBook fans, Daily Trivia Questions are posted on both of our business pages. Here are the weekly standings for this past week, and the winner of the Sunday night Weekly Drawing for an AmEx gift card!
Congratulations – To this past week’s Trivia Contest Winner!! Our latest contest winner for the weekly FaceBook HealthInsurance4Everyone/Health & Life Solutions, LLC Trivia Contest, drawn randomly by computer late Sunday evening, September 10th, 2017 was:
NIKKI HUNSACKER
Victorville, CA
Winner Of A $25.00 AmEx Gift Card
Each day, fans who have “liked” either of our company FaceBook pages (HealthInsurance4Everyone or Health & Life Solutions LLC) are able to test their skills with our Daily TRIVIA QUESTION. The first 20 winners who post the correct answer to the TRIVIA QUESTION, will then get entered into the weekly drawing held late on Sunday evenings for a $25.00 Am Ex Gift. Card
Weekly Gift Card winners will be posted in our blog at this site. Remember to become a FaceBook “fan” on either of our company pages to enter and post your answers.
Here are the daily contestants from last week’s Trivia Contest that were entered into the Sunday drawing:
9/4/17
Brittany Marie Thompson
April Ashcraft
Darlene Whyte
Crystal Marie
Ashley Stamey Phillips
Amy Marie Wilkinson
Valerie Kuehn
Kelly Jo Francisco
Jennifer Kinner
Jade Good
Christy Hawkes
Jennifer Marie
Crystal Young
Sherry Lilly
Dawn Raasch
Jenny Merritt
Michelle R. Carlino
Nai Merri
Jennifer Setsor Mallon
Karen Rimiller Presley
Kellina Fernell Murphy
Nikki Hunsacker
9/5/17
Anna Nichols
Mya Murphy
Heather Victoria Graves
Sheila Carvell
Kimberly Taylor Hall
Kelly Jo Francisco
Sunney Michelle Johnson
Hayley Cordaro
Benjamin Odell
Mary Mcmenamy
Tonya Velazquez
Dale Fish
Brian Fulop
Patricia Oehlert Vazquez
Alicia Johnson
Mary Ann Cody
Bea Patrick
Cassandra Berholtz
Amanda Rosario
Emily Rice Bowersock
Lisa A Mazola
Deborah Farris
9/6/17
Melissa White
Amy Marie Wilkinson
Kristina Rosson
Alexis Maureen
Paula Rousseau
Mya Murphy
Jennifer Marie
Darbie Brown
Cheryl Hall
Beata Tybor
Christina Radcliff
Belinda Haas
Deborah Farris
Karen Bondehagen
Samantha Brwn
Kendra George
Trish Musgrave
Dawn Raasch
Dale Fish
Katt Keane
Stephanie Beckwith
Bethany Henry
Diane Hamric
Beth Epley Minton
9/7/17
Sheila Carvell
Kimberly Snyder
D.b. Snyder
Jan Lehman
9/8/17
Melissa Barnes Walker
Jennifer Marie
Sherri Kidwell
Alicia Smith
Deborah Farris
Jacqlyn Gummert
Kimberly Necolie Garrasi
Beth Embrey
Melissa Ann Stura-Bassett
Joe Nemeth
Amy Marie Wilkinson
Amy Conyers
Shameka Barnes
Sunney Michelle Johnson
Charlotte Dennis
Mya Murphy
Carole Jacobs
Katherine Oliveira
Christy Hawkes
Brigette Oster
Allison Frederick
9/9/17
Katrina Worford
Amy Marie Wilkinson
Melissa D’Ornellas Curtis
Michelle Cervantes
Kristina Harris
Anne Delos Reyes-Villafuerte
Tiffany Banks
Cheryl Hall
Becca Neuenschwander Long
Sherri Kidwell
Jenifer Garza
Trish Musgrave
Susanne Killion
Alexandra Vindiola
Steve Hardy
Michelle Rayeske-Jeske
Priscilla Shimp
Beth Cleveland
Joanie Waterman
Brandi K Chaney
9/10/17
Sunney Michelle Johnson
Tonya Velazquez
Kathleen Newell
Cheryl Hall
Amanda Peters
Trish Musgrave
Kelly Jo Francisco
Brian Fulop
Helen Robinson
Brandy Williams
Crystal Young
Sheila Carvell
Sheri Boydston
Becca Holland-Cowling
Kristina Harris
Chelcie Malow
Emily Rice Bowersock
Wendy Messer-Brinnon
Stephanie Beckwith
Althea Thomas
Marilyn Wall
Adaria Johnson
Be sure to watch both of our FaceBook pages for your chance to win and enter again next week, with questions posted daily on HealthInsurance4Everyone or at Health & Life Solutions, LLC!!
Remember that if you try your hand at answering the Trivia Question several days each week, your odds of winning the Sunday weekly drawing are much better. Also note that a number of the posted answers each day are from contestants who have forgotten to “Like” one of our pages, so their names WILL NOT be entered at the end week drawing for the gift card, giving our fans a better chance!
You may also find that if you “Like” BOTH of the business pages, you will receive faster notifications of the other players as they post their answers to compete with you!
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Find out more about LegalShield, our corporate partner which gives you the power to talk to an attorney about any legal issue, and offering high-quality Identity Theft plans.
LegalShield
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A federal appeals court has thrown out the prison sentences of former Blackwater contractors who were involved in a 2007 massacre in Nisoor Square in central Baghdad that left 17 civilians dead and 20 injured when they opened fire with machine guns and threw grenades into the crowded public space. The appeals court ruled three of the contractors could be resentenced, meaning their 30-year prison sentences could be dramatically shortened. A fourth contractor’s murder conviction was thrown out entirely, so he’ll now face a new trial.
The Blackwater guards claimed that the convoy was ambushed and that they fired at the attackers in defense of the convoy. The Iraqi government and Iraqi police investigator Faris Saadi Abdul stated that the killings were unprovoked. The Iraqi government claimed that as the convoy drew close to Nisour Square, a Kia sedan carrying a woman and her adult son was approaching the square from a distance, driving slowly on the wrong side of the road, ignoring a police officer’s whistle to clear a path for the convoy. The security team fired warning shots and then lethal fire at the Kia. They then set off stun grenades to clear the scene. Iraqi police and Iraqi Army soldiers, mistaking the stun grenades for fragmentation grenades, opened fire at the Blackwater men, to which they returned fire.
The Blackwater guards contend that the Kia continued to approach even when fired upon and after an Iraqi policeman went over to the car, it looked as if the policeman was pushing it. They feared they were under attack by a car bomb so they fired at the car, killing both occupants as well as the Iraqi policeman. Iraqi police officers began to fire at the Blackwater men. The guards felt they could not be sure they were dealing with actual police since insurgents often disguise themselves by wearing police uniforms.
A military report appeared to corroborate “the Iraqi government’s contention that Blackwater was at fault. Blackwater Worldwide’s license to operate in Iraq was temporarily revoked. An FBI investigation found that, of the 17 Iraqis killed by the guards, at least 14 were shot without cause.
In 2008, the U.S. charged five Blackwater guards with 14 counts of manslaughter, 20 counts of attempted manslaughter and a weapons violation. On December 31, 2009, a U.S. district judge dismissed all charges on the grounds that the case against the Blackwater guards had been improperly built on testimony given in exchange for immunity.
In 2011, a U.S. federal appeals court reinstated the manslaughter charges against Paul A. Slough, Evan S. Liberty, Dustin L. Heard and Donald W. Ball after closed-door testimony. A fifth guard had his charges dismissed, and a sixth guard -Jeremy Ridgeway pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter and attempted manslaughter.
On October 22, 2014, a Federal District Court jury convicted Nick Slatten of first-degree murder and sentenced him to life in prison. Three other guards Paul A.Slough, Evan S. Liberty and Dustin L.Heard were found guilty of all three counts of voluntary manslaughter and using a machine gun to commit a violent crime. They were each sentenced to 30 years in prison. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit tossed Slatten’s murder conviction and ordered the other defendants to be re-sentenced. A new trial was also recommended for Slatten, on the grounds that it was unjustifiable to try him with his co-defendants, and that he should have been tried separately.
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A federal judge in Michigan has blocked the deportation of more than 1,400 Iraqi nationals, giving them time to make their cases in court before the government may deport them. U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith granted a preliminary injunction request made by attorneys for the Iraqi nationals who had asked him to halt their deportation, saying they would be persecuted in Iraq. Goldsmith said the possible deportees, many whom are Chaldean Christian, would face “grave harm and possible death” in Iraq because there they are members of a persecuted minority.
In June, 234 Iraqi nationals were arrested and detained on removal orders that in most cases had been dormant for five to 10 years. For many years Iraqi has refused to accept deportees from the U.S. but they recently agreed to start accepting them after their country was taken off of the travel ban.
In addition to the 114 arrested during the ICE raids in Michigan in June, the judge’s order applies to 85 other Iraqis arrested outside the state. In total, there are 1,444 Iraqi nationals in the U.S. with final orders of deportation who could be affected by the judge’s ruling.
Judge Goldsmith entered a preliminary injunction to give the Iraqis 90 days to argue their cases before the Board of Immigration Appeals and the courts before the government can deport them back to Iraq. Goldsmith said that the government made legal representation of the immigrants difficult because many of them have been moved around from state to state to different immigration centers. Many of those targeted entered in the U.S. as children, and more than half of them have been in the country for more than a decade because Iraq refused to take them back, according to the ruling.
The court said that those detained have been housed around the country in federal detention facilities with limited access to legal advocates and their families. Most of them are from Detroit, which has a large Chaldean Christian population. They were targeted for deportation because they overstayed their visas or committed crimes — typically misdemeanors, according to advocates.
Clarence Dass, an attorney who represents about 25 of the 114 Iraqis arrested last month said “For people who have been learning their fate every two weeks, 90 days is a lifetime,” Dass said. “All we are asking is for a chance to show that deportation of these particular individuals is a death sentence, and the judge’s decision today allows us to do that. Once we show those facts and circumstances, I am hopeful we will be able to save their lives.”
A spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said the agency declined to comment on the ruling. ICE has said previously that the Iraqis detained have criminal records, pose safety threats, and have already had their cases heard in courts. The crimes they were convicted of range from marijuana possession to homicide.
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The cholera outbreak in Yemen has become a dire situation as the World Health Organization (WHO) confirms the number of cases has reached over 400,000. U.N. leaders say the outbreak has increased the number of people in need of assistance to nearly 21 million. Since late April, the total has reached 402,484 suspected cases, 1,880 of them fatal. Illnesses have been reported in all but 2 of the country’s 23 governorates.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, along with UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake and World Food Program Executive Director David Beasley, said in a statement that more than 2 years of hostilities have crippled health, water, and sanitation systems, creating ideal conditions for the disease to spread.
“We now call on the international community to redouble its support for the people of Yemen. If we fail to do so, the catastrophe we have seen unfolding before our eyes will not only continue to claim lives but will scar future generations and the country for years to come,” the three said in their statement.
They warned that Yemen is on the brink of famine and 60% of the population doesn’t know where their next meal is coming from. They added that nearly 2 million of the country’s children are acutely malnourished, making them susceptible to cholera, which leads to more malnutrition.
The outbreak began last year but a second wave of the waterborne disease has spread even more quickly in the last couple of months. UNICEF and WHO have attributed the outbreak to malnutrition, collapsing sanitation and clean water systems due to the country’s ongoing conflict.
The impact of the outbreak has been exacerbated by many factors including the collapse of the Yemeni health services, where 30,000 health workers have remained unpaid for 10 months but are still reporting for duty. Less than half of Yemen’s medical centres are still functional. WHO officials said “We have asked the Yemeni authorities to pay these health workers urgently because, without them, we fear that people who would otherwise have survived may die.”
Local authorities and humanitarian groups have set up more than 1,000 treatment centers and oral rehydration units. The UN is working with the World Bank on a partnership to support the response needs and maintain the local health system.
Two years of conflict between the Saudi-led coalition and Houthi rebels have taken a heavy toll on Yemen, causing widespread internal displacement and leaving millions facing famine. The collapse of the country’s infrastructure has led to 14.5 million people, including nearly 8 million children, having no access to clean water and sanitation.
With thousands more cases reported each day the number of cholera cases in Yemen is expected to exceed 600,000 by the end of the year.
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