Monthly Archives: July 2020

Associated Press

Tuesday, July 7, 2020 | 3:32 p.m.

GARDNERVILLE The Federal Emergency Management Agency quickly approved disaster relief funds Tuesday to help fight a growing northern Nevada wildfire that closed a U.S. highway along the Sierra's eastern front, destroyed at least one home and was threatening hundreds more.

The flames that broke out Monday night in the Pine Nut Mountains were burning out of control across more than 11 square miles (28 square kilometers) in Douglas County southeast of Gardnerville.

Evacuation centers were set up at area motels to help accommodate, if necessary, residents of more than 300 homes that remained threatened, primarily in Pine View Estates and Bodie Flat.

FEMA said as many as 1,000 homes were threatened when it approved the federal disaster relief. Gov. Steve Sisolak requested the funding.

The blaze began as three separate fires that burned together Monday night, blanketing Carson Valley with heavy smoke.

One resident said the initial response by dozens of fire crews was amazing.

The entire valley ... lit up like Christmas last night," Judy Jewkes toldKOLO-TV.

One home and 10 outbuildings have been destroyed, Douglas County officials said. No injuries have been reported. Aerial crews were helping more than 400 firefighters on the ground battle the blaze before winds were expected to pick up Tuesday afternoon.

An evacuation center for area livestock was opened at Douglas County Fairgrounds.

KOLO-TV reported that arson investigators were on scene but the cause of the fire remained under investigation.

U.S. Highway 395 was closed in both directions for about a 16-mile (25-kilometer) stretch from the south end of Gardnerville to the junction with State Route 208 near the California-Nevada border.

More here:

Hundreds of homes threatened by Northern Nevada wildfire - Las Vegas Sun

Why Las Vegas is the right fit for the Raiders

The 2020 season will be the first time the Raiders call Las Vegas and Allegiant Stadium their brand-new home. A franchise with a nationwide fanbase, partly due to the decades of work Al Davis did, after jumping through hoops, they found "The Gambling Capital of the World" to be their best fit.

There are a few reasons why Las Vegas is the right home for the Raiders.

Raiders Roots

The Raiders' ownership has some roots in Vegas.

While legend and Hall-of-Famer Al Davis owned the Raiders, Las Vegas was one of the cities he loved to visit.

"Al used to love to go to Vegas," said former Raider Matt Millen on Raider Maven's "What It Means to be a Raider" podcast. "For his birthday, he would fly a bunch of people out there; we'd have a great day, we'd all stay together, we'd celebrate his birthday. He'd always loved Las Vegas."

In other words, if Davis were alive, he would have approved the Raiders' move to the Nevada desert.

Whether fans knew it or not, in a way, it made sense that out of all cities the Raiders could have gone to, they chose the one city Davis enjoyed visiting.

Vegas Works

The Las Vegas Raiders aren't the only professional sports team that calls the city home.

In 2016, NHL owners accepted an expansion team with the founding of the Las Vegas Golden Knights. When they began to play the following season, they made it to the Stanley Cup Finals, losing out to the Washington Capitals in five games.

You can say they had gamblers' luck.

More importantly, though, Las Vegas worked. According to Forbes, T-Mobile Arena, home of the Golden Knights, ran at 103.9 percent of their official capacity during their inaugural season. They averaged 18,042 fans per game.

Forbes also reported a revenue of $180 million, which was the tenth best in the NHL, as well as $53 million in operating income, the fifth-highest among the league's teams.

So, imagine a franchise which has 60 years of history, tapping into a market, let alone a state with no football team.

Yeah, it's a no-brainer that the Raiders chose Las Vegas as their new home.

Las Vegas Fits in With the Raiders Mantra

When Al Davis created the Raiders franchise from the ground up, he did so with purpose. He did so to put a mindset inside of Raider players, personnel, and fans alike.

That's why "Just Win Baby," "Commitment to Excellence," and "Winning is Everything" defines what it means to be a Raider.

That's why Raiders fans all say, "Once a Raider, Always a Raider."

We, as a fanbase, are different. We, as a fanbase, stick out.

So, it makes sense that our new home has a little saying that goes something like this:

"What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas."

Tell us what you think in the comment section below.

Want the latest breaking Las Vegas Raiders news delivered straight to your email for FREE? Sign up for the DAILY Raiders Nation newsletter when you CLICK THE FOLLOW button on the main page. Don't miss any of the latest up to the second updates for your Las Vegas Raiders when you follow on Twitter @HondoCarpenter

Excerpt from:

Why Las Vegas Is the Perfect Fit for the Raiders - Sports Illustrated

A single pine tree may have saved campers in California after a June 24 earthquake in Owens Valley by stopping a 20-foot diameter boulder from barreling deep into a campground after plunging 700 feet down a mountain.

The boulder passed through an empty campsite and flattened at least one other tree on the way down, said Brian Olson, an engineering geologist with the California Geological Survey who documented the earthquakes aftermath on Twitter. He said the boulder appeared to have passed between two other campsites before it stopped.

It happened in the afternoon (when) most people arent in camp, Olson said. But had anyone been there in that camp, it would have been deadly.

The late-morning earthquake was one of at least three centered near the California-Nevada border that were felt in Las Vegas and other parts of of the Silver State in the past year. The 6.5 magnitude Monte Cristo earthquake on May 15 about 35 miles from Tonopah was felt in both Reno and Las Vegas; a 7.1 magnitude earthquake in Ridgecrest, California, shook Las Vegas in July 2019, as did a foreshock the preceding day.

The burst of seismic activity in a state that many residents mistakenly believe is relatively stable, geologically speaking, raised eyebrows and questions each time the earth moved. Where are these earthquakes coming from, many wondered, and why now?

Walker Lane has long history

The answer lies in Walker Lane, a region of seismically active fault lines hugging the border between California and Nevada. Spanning 620 miles from the Mojave Desert to Northern California and about 60 miles wide, the region is home to hundreds of faults responsible for a great deal of earthquake activity in the Southwest.

A less renowned younger neighbor of the San Andreas Fault, Walker Lane has a long history of triggering earthquakes in Nevada, the third-most seismically active state in the country after California and Alaska. The faults in the Walker Lane have been the epicenters of major earthquakes, including last years Ridgecrest earthquake, a series of serious earthquakes in Nevada in 1954 that hit some areas multiple times, and an earthquake in Californias Owens Valley in 1872. The latter, estimated to have been about magnitude 7.8, leveled the town of Lone Pine and killed 27 people.

The June 24 quake that made buildings sway and swimming pools splash in Las Vegas also was located on the Owens Valley Fault System and was estimated at 5.8 magnitude. It also rattled the rebuilt Lone Pine, east of the Sierra Nevada, causing rock slides but little damage.

But things could have been far worse if that well-placed tree hadnt stopped the runaway boulder unleashed by the quake at the Whitney Portal Campground in Californias Inyo National Forest.

Hikers who returned to the camp that day likely found their cars covered in a blanket of dust and saw newly arrived boulders sitting nearby, said Olson, who documented the aftermath that evening as part of his work for the California Geological Survey, which includes determining the source and impact of earthquakes and assessing seismic hazards.

The epicenter of the quake in Owens Valley was 160 miles from that of the Monte Cristo earthquake in May, but the quakes were not related, experts say.

Western North America has seen a series of earthquakes in 2020, covering a wide swath of territory reaching from Mexico to Idaho. But the occurrences are unrelated, and there is no evidence that the frequency of earthquakes is increasing, at least on a time scale relevant to humans.

Rich Koehler, an earthquake geologist with the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology at the University of Nevada, Reno, who studies paleoseismology, or the study of prehistoric earthquakes, said the mere fact that earthquakes occur near one another doesnt mean they are related.

Earthquakes are distributed throughout Nevada, and they happen all the time, Koehler said, so one particular earthquake hundreds of miles away from a bigger earthquake is not necessarily related.

An exception is aftershocks. Earthquakes can continue for months or years at or near the epicenter of an earthquake, but they typically decrease in magnitude and frequency over time. Boise, Idaho, is still experiencing aftershocks from a 6.5 magnitude earthquake on March 31, including a 4.5 magnitude quake on June 24.

Forecasting aftershocks is an exercise in probability, Koehler said. Its impossible to predict when earthquakes will happen, including aftershocks. The U.S. Geological Survey releases an aftershock forecast after major earthquakes with the chance of earthquakes by magnitude, but not when they could occur.

A forecast updated on June 30 for the epicenter of the Monte Cristo earthquake predicts a greater than 99 percent chance of earthquakes of magnitude 3 or higher in the next month, with dozens likely to occur near the epicenter. Earthquakes of magnitude 5 or higher are less likely, with two or three occurrences possible; a 6 magnitude or higher aftershock is very unlikely to occur.

Fault system

Walker Lane briefly gained some notoriety in 2019 as the subject of a theory proposing that instead of the continent splitting along the San Andreas Fault in millions of years, the rupture will actually occur along Walker Lane. In this scenario, most of California would be cast into the Pacific Ocean, leaving Reno as oceanfront property.

The Walker Lane fault system is about 20 million years younger than the San Andreas Fault, but the latter is typically far more active. That is partly because of the fact that the San Andreas is essentially a single major fault, while the Walker Lane is a zone of smaller faults. Over time, experts say, it could evolve into a single fault similar to the San Andreas, as the smaller fault merge over the course of millions of years.

Geologists have a good idea of where earthquakes can happen because they know the geography of fault lines in the West, including Walker Lane, Koehler said.

Fault lines usually have predictable recurrence intervals based on when earthquakes have occurred in the past. But recurrence intervals can range from tens to tens of thousands of years, so predicting when an earthquake will occur on a time scale thats relevant to humans is impossible, let alone predicting that an earthquake will occur on a specific day or year.

Faults in the Walker Lane have recurrence intervals of hundreds to thousands of years, Koehler said. When averaging across all of the faults in Walker Lane, we can expect a major earthquake, above magnitude 6.0, in the zone about once every 20 or 30 years. Fault lines dont care about human schedules or predictions, though; one could go 100 years without a major earthquake or unleash several over a period of months.

2019 quake

Studying earthquakes is more than just an academic pursuit into the history and geology of the Earth. What we do know about earthquakes is crucial to engineering and infrastructure projects. The location of faults and the potential severity of earthquakes can impact plans for projects like pipelines, schools, hospitals, bridges and more.

The 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake, which was actually two earthquakes on July 4 and 5, is a case study in the dangers of not taking seismic hazards into account. The 6.4 magnitude foreshock on July 4 occurred on a fault that wasnt well-understood, according to Olson. The earthquake surprised locals and geologists, who didnt anticipate such a large earthquake in the area, he said. The second quake on July 5 was a magnitude 7.1.

The first rupture intersected with a highway and two pipelines that fed water to the small California city of Trona. The earthquake ruptured the highway and broke both pipelines, leaving the city without water.

Knowing the seismic hazard could have guided the implementation of safer features in the pipeline, Olson said, such as using flexible connections, elevating the pipelines or using more durable construction materials.

Research into the Ridgecrest earthquake is still ongoing, and early findings suggest the surprisingly high magnitudes are the result of ruptures of multiple smaller faults in quick succession, not just the movement of a single larger fault.

Geologists now know that the Ridgecrest faults can trigger a large earthquake and can take that into account when rebuilding and starting new infrastructure projects, Olson said.

The work of understanding earthquakes and mapping new faults is a multidisciplinary effort, he said. From paleogeologists to engineering geologists, from cities to the federal government, scientists work together to form a comprehensive picture of a fault system like Walker Lane.

By adding more faults to the picture, he said, We really start to be able to understand hazard better, and we can begin to understand how to protect the public better.

Marina Philip is a 2020 Mass Media reporting fellow through the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Email her at mphilip@reviewjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at @mureeenuh.

See the rest here:

Earthquakes in Las Vegas? The answer lies in Walker Lane. - Las Vegas Review-Journal

Andrew Harnik / AP

In this Jan. 17, 2019, file photo Rep. Susie Lee, D-Nev., speaks at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. At least 10 lawmakers and three congressional caucuses have ties to organizations that received federal coronavirus aid, according to government data released this week. A regional casino company led by the husband of Rep. Susie Lee receivedmoney.

By Matthew Daly and Brian Slodysko, Associated Press

Tuesday, July 7, 2020 | 6:10 p.m.

WASHINGTON At least a dozen lawmakers have ties to organizations that received federal coronavirus aid, according to newly released government data, highlighting how Washington insiders were both author and beneficiary of one of the biggest government programs in U.S. history.

Under pressure from Congress and outside groups, the Trump administration this week disclosed the names of some loan recipients in the $659 billion Paycheck Protection Program, launched in April to help smaller businesses keep Americans employed during the pandemic. Connections to lawmakers, and the organizations that work to influence them, were quickly apparent.

Among businesses that received money was a California hotel partially owned by the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, as well as a shipping business started by Transportation Secretary Elaine Chaos family. Chao is married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Car dealerships owned by Republican Reps. Roger Williams of Texas and Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania, and fast-food franchises owned by Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., received money. So, too, did a law firm owned by the husband of Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and the former law firm of Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Pa., which employs his wife.

Money also flowed to a farming and equipment business owned by the family of Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Mo., and a regional casino company led by the husband of Rep. Susie Lee, D-Nev.

Members of Congress and their families are not barred from receiving loans under the PPP, and there is no evidence they received special treatment. Loans were granted to Democrats and Republicans alike, something President Donald Trump's campaignwas quick to highlightwhen records showed donors to his campaign coffers were among the earliest beneficiaries.

Hundreds of millions of dollars also flowed to political consultants, opposition research shops, law firms, advocacy organizations and trade associations whose work is based around influencing government and politics.

While voting, lobbying and ultimately benefiting from legislation aren't illegal, advocates say the blurred lines risk eroding public trust in the federal pandemic response as Congressbegins debating yet another round of coronavirus relief.

It certainly looks bad and smells bad, said Aaron Scherb, a spokesperson for Common Cause, a watchdog group that was also approved for a loan through the program.

As of June 30, the Treasury Department program had handed out $521 billion to industries including manufacturing, construction, restaurants and hotels.

Treasury identified just a fraction of the total borrowers Monday, naming only companies that got more than $150,000. Those firms made up less than 15% of the nearly 5 million small companies and organizations that received assistance.

Many of the lawmakers connected to loan awards emphasized they weren't part of the application process.

A spokesperson for Pelosi said her husband, Paul, is a minority investor in the company that owns the El Dorado Hotel in the wine-country town of Sonoma, Calif. Paul Pelosi has a 8.1% stake in the company, valued at $250,000 to $500,000, Pelosis office said.

Mr. Pelosi is a minor, passive investor in this company, said the Democratic speakers spokesperson, Drew Hammill. He was not involved in or even aware of this PPP loan. The firm, EDI Associates, is listed as a recipient of a loan between $350,000 and $1 million.

New York-based Foremost Maritime Co., founded by Chao's parents and run by her sister, was cleared for a loan valued between $350,000 and $1 million. McConnell, a Republican seeking reelection in Kentucky, said Tuesday: Neither my wife, nor I, have anything to do with that business and didnt know anything about it.

The Shaheen & Gordon law firm in Dover, N,H., got a loan of $1 million to $2 million. The firm is owned by Jeanne Shaheens husband, William Shaheen. A title company partially owned by William Shaheen got a $160,000 loan and a half dozen companies he partially owns or another relative owns got loans, below $150,000.

Jeanne Shaheen said she "was not involved in any way in applying for those loans nor do I have anything to do with their businesses, and Congress had no role in processing PPP applications.''

Four car dealerships owned by Kelly received $600,000 to $1.4 million. Mike Kelly Automotive Group, Mike Kelly Automotive LP and Mike Kelly Hyundai and Kelly Chevrolet-Cadillac, all near Pittsburgh, received the money. A spokesman for Kelly said he wasn't part of the loan application and isn't involved in the operations of the dealerships, in accordance with ethics rules.

Williams, one of the wealthiest lawmakers with a net worth of over $27 million in 2018, received a loan for his Roger Williams Chrysler Dodge Jeep dealership in Weatherford, Texas. Williams is president and CEO of JRW Corp. of Fort Worth, which is listed as receiving a loan of $1 million to $2 million. "Like every other company who accepted a small business loan, our business qualified under law and regulation, and today over 100 of our employees are grateful that we did,'' Williams said in a statement.

At least five car dealerships owned by the husband of Rep. Carol Miller, R-W.Va., also received loans, each ranging from $350,000 to $1 million, the data show.

Other lawmakers, while distancing themselves from the loan process, sought to portray the PPP program as a success story.

Herns Tulsa-based KTAK Corp., a management company for several McDonalds restaurants, received $1 million to $2 million. Hern isn't involved in the day-to-day operations, but "he is happy to share that the family business was able to keep all employees either at their current level of employment or move part-time employees to full time, Herns chief of staff, Cameron Foster, said. Four businesses owned by fellow Rep. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., received at least $800,000.

Full House Resorts, a Las Vegas-based casino company led by Lee's husband, Daniel, got two loans totaling $5.6 million, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company said the funds would be used to rehire several hundred employees and prepare to reopen two casinos in Indiana and Colorado.

A spokesperson said Tuesday that Lee did not know about the company's intention to apply for a loan when she and other Nevada lawmakers pushed for a rule change to allow small casinos to receive the loans. She had no influence over the application or any aspect of Full Houses business or decision making, spokesperson Jesus Espinoza said.

Two wineries tied to Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., and an Iowa farm run by his family received loans worth at least $2 million. The wineries got separate loans worth $1 million to $2 million, and an Iowa dairy farm that is tied to his relatives received $150,000 to $350,000.

Follow this link:

Data: Congress created virus aid, then reaped the benefits - Las Vegas Sun

Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune via AP

In this July 5, 2020, file photo, an officer investigates the scene of a shooting in Chicago. Still reeling from the coronavirus pandemic and street protests over the police killing of Floyd, exhausted cities around the nation are facing yet another challenge: A surge in recent shootings has left dozens dead, including youngchildren.

By Tom Hays, Associated Press

Tuesday, July 7, 2020 | 11:51 p.m.

NEW YORK Still reeling from the coronavirus pandemic and street protests over the police killing of George Floyd, exhausted cities around the nation are facing yet another challenge: a surge in shootings that has left dozens dead, including young children.

The spike defies easy explanation, experts say, pointing to the toxic mix of issues facing America in 2020: an unemployment rate not seen in a generation, a pandemic that has killed more than 130,000 people, stay-at-home orders, rising anger over police brutality, intense stress, even the weather.

I think its just a perfect storm of distress in America," said Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms after a weekend of bloodshed in her city.

Jerry Ratcliffe, a Temple University criminal justice professor and host of the Reducing Crime podcast, put it more bluntly: Anybody who thinks they can disentangle all of this probably doesnt know what theyre talking about.

President Donald Trump has seized on the violence for political gain, accusing Democrats of being weak and suggesting the crime wave is being driven by recent protests calling for racial justice, police reform and drastic cuts in law enforcement funding.

Law and order are the building blocks of the American dream, but if anarchy prevails, this dream comes crumbling down," White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said last week.

Police officials in New York City and elsewhere say the recent bloodshed has shown there are consequences to some reforms they see as misguided, particularly on bail reform, enacted before the protests happened but exacerbated by the moment.

Emboldened criminals feel "that the cops cant do anything anymore, that no one likes the police, that they can get away with things, that its safe to carry a gun out on the street, New York Police Department Chief Terence Monahan said this week.

Monahans remarks came after a holiday weekend that saw a wave of shootings leaving 10 dead. Through Sunday, shootings were up more than 53% to 585 so far this year.

The recent spasm of violence was captured in a New York Post headline about a crime-ravaged city crying out for help. It was nearly identical to one that ran 30 years ago when there were more than 2,000 murders a year. But crime has been declining for more than a decade there were about 300 last year.

Crime has spiked in other major cities, too. In Dallas, violent crime increased more than 14% from April to June. In Philadelphia, homicides were up 20% for the week ending July 5 over last year at this time. In Atlanta, 31 people were shot over the weekend, five fatally, compared with seven shootings and one killing over the same week in 2019.

Some police unions say officers just arent doing their jobs over fear of being charged with crime.

Bottoms, a Democrat, lashed out after an 8-year-old girl was shot and killed near the Atlanta Wendys restaurant where Rayshard Brooks died three weeks earlier in a confrontation with police who were later charged criminally.

Thats an important movement thats happening, she said at a news conference. But this random, wild, wild West shoot em up because you can has got to stop.

Trump's Georgia campaign arm claimed Atlanta was a war zone brought on after Bottoms lost control of the city after what started out as peaceful protests, quickly turned violent. In a flurry of anti-police activity.

The Trump campaign also launched a $250,000 ad blitz Sunday on Facebook and Twitter, claiming violent crime has EXPLODED as protesters call for cuts to police departments across the country. The ad features video of an empty police station with a ringing phone that sends a caller to an answering machine, which says the estimated wait time for police help is five days.

The video ends by flashing the words, You wont be safe in Joe Bidens America.

Bidens campaign said the Trump approach was just another distraction from his inaction and mismanagement of the coronavirus crisis.

While Donald Trump searches for the latest cultural issue to drive people apart and celebrates Independence Day with new, race-baiting rhetoric, Americans are contracting coronavirus at alarming rates, and there is still no coherent national plan to address it, said T.J. Ducklo, a spokesman for the presumptive Democratic nominee.

Trump's messaging went beyond the ad campaign. Donald Trump Jr. shared on Facebook a conservative-created meme of 11-year-old Davon McNeal, who was shot to death in Washington during a cookout over the weekend.

Davon was murdered after a string of BLM (Black Lives Matter) violence on the Fourth of July," it read.

The shooting was not connected to Black Lives Matter, the movement behind many of the protests against police brutality. The boy had been at a family-oriented anti-violence cookout Saturday, but he left to get a phone charger from his aunt's house when he was struck by gunmen in a sedan.

Tracie Keesee, a longtime police official in Denver and New York who co-founded the Center for Policing Equity, said it's important to get answers on what is driving the crime, whether it's drugs, domestic violence or poverty. She cautioned against broad-stroke generalizations.

You have to get into the numbers, she said.

Reform advocates say blaming a spike on the necessary push for police reform ignores the root causes of crime and the progress of the movement.

Government officials need to be thoughtful and nuanced and contextual about these things, liberal New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson told radio station WNYC this week.

To link the shootings to reforms, Johnson added, gives an inaccurate picture of what criminal justice reform is about and is just demonizing the moment that were in and not talking about what brought us here today.

Like New York, Chicago had already seen an increase in homicides and shootings in the first part of the year. But while the violence tapered off in New York under stay-at-home orders, shootings in Chicago remained steady, likely because of gang warfare, said Wesley Skogan, who studies crime at the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University.

Seventeen people were fatally shot in Chicago and 70 wounded, one of the bloodiest holiday weekends in memory there.

Gangs are not particularly deterred by the risks of being out there, Skogan said. Of all the things they are likely to be worried about, COVID is way down the list.

Here is the original post:

Exhausted cities face another challenge: a surge in violence - Las Vegas Sun

Associated Press

Tuesday, July 7, 2020 | 4:11 p.m.

WASHINGTON The Trump administration has formally notified the United Nations of its withdrawal from the World Health Organization, although the pullout wont take effect until next year, meaning it could be rescinded under a new administration or if circumstances change. Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, said he would reverse the decision on his first day in office if elected.

The withdrawal notification makes good on President Donald Trumps vow in late May to terminate U.S. participation in the WHO, which he has harshly criticized for its response to the coronavirus pandemic and accused of bowing to Chinese influence.

The move was immediately assailed by health officials and critics of the administration, including numerous Democrats who said it would cost the U.S. influence in the global arena.

Biden has said in the past he supports the WHO and pledged Tuesday to rejoin the WHO if he defeats Trump in November. Americans are safer when America is engaged in strengthening global health. On my first day as president, I will rejoin the WHO and restore our leadership on the world stage, he said.

Trump is trailing Biden in multiple polls and has sought to deflect criticism of his administration's handling of the virus by aggressively attacking China and the WHO.

The withdrawal notice was sent to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday and will take effect in a year, on July 6, 2021, the State Department and the United Nations said on Tuesday.

The State Department said the U.S. would continue to seek reform of the WHO, but referred to Trump's June 15 response when asked if the administration might change its mind. Im not reconsidering, unless they get their act together, and Im not sure they can at this point," Trump said.

Guterres, in his capacity as depositary of the 1946 WHO constitution, "is in the process of verifying with the World Health Organization whether all the conditions for such withdrawal are met, his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said.

Under the terms of the withdrawal, the U.S. must meet its financial obligations to the WHO before it can be finalized. The U.S., which is the agency's largest donor and provides it with more than $450 million per year, currently owes the WHO some $200 million in current and past dues.

On May 29, less than two weeks after warning the WHO that it had 30 days to reform or lose U.S. support, Trump announced his administration was leaving the organization due to what he said was its inadequate response to the initial outbreak of the coronavirus in Chinas Wuhan province late last year.

The president said in a White House announcement that Chinese officials ignored their reporting obligations to the WHO and pressured the organization to mislead the public about an outbreak that has now killed more than 130,000 Americans.

We have detailed the reforms that it must make and engaged with them directly, but they have refused to act, Trump said at the time. "Because they have failed to make the requested and greatly needed reforms, we will be today terminating the relationship.

The withdrawal notification was widely denounced as misguided, certain to undermine an important institution that is leading vaccine development efforts and drug trials to address the COVID-19 outbreak.

The Republican chairman of Senate health committee, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, said he disagreed with the decision.

Certainly there needs to be a good, hard look at mistakes the World Health Organization might have made in connection with coronavirus, but the time to do that is after the crisis has been dealt with, not in the middle of it, he said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi condemned the move.

The Presidents official withdrawal of the U.S. from the World Health Organization is an act of true senselessness, she said in a tweet. With millions of lives at risk, the president is crippling the international effort to defeat the virus.

And the top the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, said calling Trump's "response to COVID chaotic and incoherent doesnt do it justice. This wont protect American lives or interests it leaves Americans sick and America alone.

UN Foundation President Elizabeth Cousens called the move short-sighted, unnecessary, and unequivocally dangerous. WHO is the only body capable of leading and coordinating the global response to COVID-19. Terminating the U.S. relationship would undermine the global effort to beat this virus putting all of us at risk.

The ONE Campaign, which supports international health projects, called it an astounding action that jeopardizes global health.

Withdrawing from the World Health Organization amidst an unprecedented global pandemic is an astounding action that puts the safety of all Americans and the world at risk. The U.S. should use its influence to strengthen and reform the WHO, not abandon it at a time when the world needs it most," ONE president Gayle Smith said.

Go here to read the rest:

U.S. notifies UN of withdrawal from World Health Organization - Las Vegas Sun

Yahoo Sports is previewing all 32 teams as we get ready for the NFL season, counting down the teams one per weekday in reverse order of our initial 2020 power rankings. No. 1 will be revealed on August 5.

(Yahoo Sports graphics by Paul Rosales)

The state of Nevada might have paid $750 million in taxes toward a new Las Vegas Raiders stadium that it cant visit for at least a year.

Of course, this isnt how the Raiders 2020 was supposed to go. After a long goodbye to Oakland, the Raiders were going to spend the offseason making connections in a market that seemed like the most unlikeliest match for the NFL even a few years ago. Las Vegas went wild over the NHLs Golden Knights, and presumably an NFL team was going to get exponentially more support.

All that public money for a stadium, and a lack of a better option for the Raiders, led the NFL to give up its longstanding distaste for Las Vegas. Once the door was busted down, the NFL gave up its outdated notions about Sin City. It awarded the NFL draft and later a Pro Bowl to Las Vegas. A Super Bowl presumably is on the way. Roomba jokes aside, the Raiders new Allegiant Stadium looks great. We were supposed to get a summer of excitement and cross promotion, like Jon Gruden whooping it up with new Raiders fans at a craps table.

Its exciting, man. Were really excited, Gruden said after last season ended, via the Las Vegas Review-Journal. We are excited to know where we are going to be playing and excited to have a city that is excited about having us.

Then the world changed.

Coronavirus shut everything down, including the Las Vegas Strip. The NFL had to change its plans to hold the draft in Las Vegas. Raiders players were spotted at a local park in Vegas having informal workouts because they werent allowed at their new headquarters in nearby Henderson. Not only was it practically impossible to do a normal promotion around Nevada, theres a possibility of the Raiders opening their nearly $2 billion stadium and not having a single fan in attendance all season. And who knows if 2021 will be much different.

No other relocation not the Houston Oilers moving to Memphis or the Chargers going to Los Angeles when it didnt want them or the Mayflower trucks moving the Colts out of Baltimore in the middle of the night is as bizarre as the Raiders moving to a new city during a public health crisis.

This season will be unusual for everyone, but weirdest of all for the Raiders. We have no way of knowing how it all will affect the Raiders on the field, and theyre somewhat of a mystery with or without the relocation drama.

The Raiders signed 14 free agents from other teams. They muddied their quarterback situation by signing Marcus Mariota, a favorite of general manager Mike Mayock before the 2015 draft. They had five top-100 draft picks, including a pair of first-round selections. Amid the craziness of this offseason, the Raiders will also have a lot of roster turnover.

The Raiders were an odd team in 2019. They went through a lifetime worth of drama with Antonio Brown. They started slow, rebounded to get to 6-4, then lost five of their last six, including two 31-point losses and a 21-point defeat. When the Raiders were bad they were really bad, which is how a 7-9 team could have a minus-106 point differential. By the Pythagorean expectation, a team being outscored by that much should have finished 5-11.

What comes next? There are a lot of new faces but no clear star. The Raiders drafted a lot of players, but Henry Ruggs III being the first receiver off the board was a shock most analysts liked Jerry Jeudy and CeeDee Lamb better and Ohio State cornerback Damon Arnette was considered by just about everyone to be a reach at No. 19 overall.

Grudens second Raiders adventure has been filled with ups and downs ... with more downs. A move to Las Vegas was supposed to be the start of a new and exciting era. Instead it has been an unexpected mess. Hopefully thats not a sign of things to come.

Story continues

A sign with guidelines for how to stay safe from the coronavirus is posted on a fence at Allegiant Stadium as construction continued on the Raiders' new home. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

The Raiders were busy. The big addition was linebacker Cory Littleton, who got more than $35 million over three years. Thats a lot for an off-the-ball linebacker. Littleton is a good player and he stabilizes a longtime problem area for the Raiders.

Its hard to get excited about any of these main additions: defensive end Carl Nassib, linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski, safety Jeff Heath, defensive tackle Maliek Collins, tight end Jason Witten. But they help depth.

Quarterback Marcus Mariotas play fell off a cliff with the Tennessee Titans. Hell be watched closely because everyone has been predicting the Raiders will dump Derek Carr for a few years. The draft was fine, especially if Henry Ruggs III, Lynn Bowden Jr. and Bryan Edwards transform Las Vegas skill positions, but there were some questionable picks. In short, a lot of players were added but it feels like there could have been more impact.

GRADE: C

Derek Carr is unlikely to change. He is an accurate, risk-averse short passer who is probably better than he gets credit for, but is also overpaid and will never carry a team beyond its talent level. A franchise can win with a quarterback like Carr if it builds a good team around him, and the Raiders havent done that. He posted a career-best 108 passer rating last season without much around him (and after planning on throwing to Antonio Brown all offseason), though he got there through a lot of short, safe passes. You wont get very far in any conversation about Carr before someone says he needs to be replaced, and thats why the Mariota signing is notable. Mariota has not been a better quarterback than Carr the past few years, but the constant impatience for the Raiders to dump Carr will be loud the moment he struggles this season. Mariota might not be the answer, but Carr critics will immediately call for a change the moment Carr has a bad game. The Raiders invited that controversy with the signing.

Kyler Murray had a nice rookie season and will likely have a fine career, but he didnt deserve NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. Since voters have trended toward the best quarterback available, Raiders running back Josh Jacobs missed out on an award he should have won. Jacobs had 1,317 yards from scrimmage and seven touchdowns in 13 games. He was a fantastic runner, finishing with 4.8 yards per carry. He finished second among qualified running backs in Pro Football Focus grades, trailing only Nick Chubb of the Cleveland Browns. Jacobs, a first-round pick last year, was a dynamic player and is going to be the focal point of the offense.

The over/under win total for the Raiders is 7.5 at BetMGM, and there are a few reasons to like the under. The Raiders 7-9 record last season probably was fortunate, given their overall strength and what advanced stats say. Distractions is perhaps the most overused term in the NFL, but it might apply to the Raiders. Everyone in the organization is moving to a new home and doing so at a time of unprecedented uncertainty. Its possible the Raiders will be playing in a brand new stadium that will be empty. Oakland fans supported the team right up until the end, and Las Vegas might not have the chance for a while. There are just too many questions about the Raiders to project an improvement on last years record.

From Yahoos Scott Pianowski: In a banner year for rookies, Hunter Renfrow got a little lost in the shuffle. We dont blame you if you ignored him for fantasy. But Renfrow was cooking down the stretch, posting a 35-490-4 line over his last seven games (including two 100-yard efforts out the door). If Renfrow could keep that seven-game pace for a full season, were looking at a juicy 80-1120-9 return, a no-doubt fantasy starter. (Hes unlikely to do that, but at least appreciate how meaningful his final two months were.)

Renfrow works in the slot, where the throws are easier and quickly defined. He probably wont draw the top corner from any opponent. The jury is still out on the Jon Gruden experiment, and Derek Carr has his plusses and minuses, too. But this Vegas slot machine has a chance to be the top Raiders receiver in 2020.

[Create or join a 2020 Yahoo Fantasy Football League for free today]

There was a disconnect with the Raiders offensive yards and points. They were 11th in the NFL in yards and 24th in points scored, sixth in yards per drive but 19th in points per drive, according to Football Outsiders. The Raiders often started in a hole, with the 28th-best average field position at the start of drives. They were second-to-last in the NFL with 15 takeaways, which meant the offense rarely got a short field. Its probably a better sign that the yards were there. The offense could move the ball. A better season from the defense and special teams could help the offense get in the end zone more.

Few teams last season got more from their rookie class than the Raiders. Josh Jacobs was an outstanding running back, Trayvon Mullen had a good year starting at cornerback, defensive end Maxx Crosby had 10 sacks, tight end Foster Moreau caught five touchdown passes and slot receiver Hunter Renfrow had 49 catches for 605 yards. Very good.

The Raiders had two other first-round picks who can still make a big impact. Safety Johnathan Abram suffered a season-ending injury in the season opener. And defensive end Clelin Ferrell, the third overall pick, wasnt great but had his moments. Raiders coach Jon Gruden admits the coaching staff asked Ferrell to do too much early on by shuffling him around the line, and Ferrell dealt with a stomach illness that caused him to lose 15 pounds.

I had never missed a game due to an illness, but that was terrible, Ferrell said, according to NBC Sports Bay Area. I was going to try to play through it. I thought rest would do it, but it really sat me down. That was tough because it didnt just affect me for that game. It stuck with me for upcoming games because I lost so much weight. It was a test and a learning experience for sure.

If Ferrell and Abram establish themselves as above-average starters or better, this draft class could be a fantastic one.

The Raiders offense wasnt bad last season. Maybe an exciting deep threat like Henry Ruggs III can help take Derek Carr to another level (no matter how much youve dumped on Carr, lets also acknowledge his supporting casts have mostly been awful). If 2019 first-round pick Clelin Ferrells development catches up to 2019 fourth-round pick and breakout player Maxx Crosby, the Raiders will have a nice defensive foundation. They added depth on that side this offseason and Cory Littleton solves a big hole at linebacker. There have been other positive additions: slot receiver Hunter Renfrow, cornerback Trayvon Mullen, tight end Darren Waller among them. A step up to wild-card contention is within the realm of possibilities.

Be grateful: This is the first mention that Jon Gruden has eight years left on his $100 million contract. The Raiders looked better in his second year, but a step back in his third year would be concerning. If Derek Carr fails, Marcus Mariota will get a shot. If Mariota fails too, then the Raiders will be in search of a new quarterback and that can be a long and arduous process. The Raiders are putting together a lot of interesting pieces, but it doesnt matter much if they have doubts at coach and quarterback.

The Raiders could regress this season. Relocation is a tough challenge to overcome in normal years, and this is not a normal year. The Raiders play in a tough division, and they could finish in last place of the AFC West. Theyd be one of the better last-place teams in the NFL, but that would be of little consolation.

32.Jacksonville Jaguars31.Washington Redskins30.Cincinnati Bengals29.Carolina Panthers28.New York Giants27.Detroit Lions26.New York Jets25.Atlanta Falcons24. Miami Dolphins22.Los Angeles Chargers

Read the original post:

2020 NFL Preview: Las Vegas Raiders are having the weirdest relocation ever - Yahoo Sports