CNN President Jeff Zucker resigned abruptly after nine years at the media company after acknowledging a consensual relationship with a co-worker.
Zucker said he acknowledged the relationship when asked about it as part of an investigation into Chris Cuomo, the former CNN anchor who was fired after it was discovered he aided his brother, then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, as he navigated a sexual harassment investigation.
“I was required to disclose it when it began but I didn’t,” Zucker wrote. “I was wrong.”
Chris Cuomo actively helped craft his brother’s responses to sexual harassment charges, according to emails and a transcript of his testimony to investigators working for state Attorney General Letitia James. Her office found Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed at least 11 women; the former governor resigned in August to avoid a likely impeachment trial.
In a statement Zucker said he had wished that his tenure had ended differently but, “it was an amazing run. And I loved every minute.”
Jeff Zucker was named Chairman, WarnerMedia News and Sports in March, 2019. He has also served as President of CNN Worldwide since 2013.
Zucker oversees all of WarnerMedia’s live programming, including all divisions of CNN Worldwide and Turner Sports. At CNN, that includes the US television network, CNN International, HLN, and CNN’s digital properties. His sports portfolio includes Turner Sports, and Bleacher Report.
Speaking to VOA from his New York apartment, Dmitry Savchenko, 34, recalls the prosperous life he recently left behind.
“In Belarus, we had everything. My wife had several cafes. I had two businesses myself, some real estate, an apartment, a car,” he said.
Savchenko and his family had never intended to leave their home. But in the last few months, for him and many other Belarussian citizens, what was once unthinkable became a dire necessity.
“We were faced with a dilemma: either go to prison or run and hide in another country,” he said.
Long described as “Europe’s last dictatorship,” Belarus has been run for 27 years by Alexander Lukashenko. But in the run-up to the 2020 presidential elections, there was a sense among his opponents that he was politically vulnerable.
FILE – Belarus’ security service agents and riot police officers detain an opposition supporter in Minsk on July 14, 2020, after the country’s central electoral commission refused to register the main rivals to President Alexander Lukashenko as candidates for the country’s presidential election in August.
Savchenko says he has been apolitical his entire life, but in those months he, like many others, was “smelling change in the air,” inspired by the caliber and diversity of presidential candidates eager to challenge Lukashenko’s authoritarian rule.
Two months before election day, August 9, the hopeful Belarusian entrepreneur registered as an independent observer for the polls.
But Savchenko was setting himself up for a major disappointment.
On the day of the vote, Savchenko chronicled numerous irregularities in his precinct, which reached their climax with the members of the elections committee — which normally consist of regime loyalists — not letting the independent observers monitor the process in person. The elections committee members then fled the building with the ballots through the backdoor, escorted by the local police, Savchenko says.
FILE – Belarusian law enforcement officers stand guard during a rally of opposition supporters following the presidential election in Minsk, Belarus, Aug. 10, 2020.
Hearing hundreds of stories like Savchenko’s from friends and family — as well as from independent media — ordinary Belarusians took to the streets. The country saw a rise of civic awareness unprecedented in its history. In Minsk alone, about 200,000 people came out for a peaceful protest on one of the post-election weekends.
And then the violence began.
Trying to drown people’s enthusiasm, Lukashenko, who baselessly claimed victory with more than 80% of the vote, unleashed a wave of repression and violence against the protesters. Video and photo evidence of police brutality, as well as of demonstrators’ mutilated bodies, made headlines around the world.
“Some of my friends participated in those protests,” Savchenko said. “It was heart-wrenching to even look at them (after their release from jail).”
Those who appeared to have suffered the most were those sent to the infamous Okrestina detention center in the country’s capital where, according to numerous detainee accounts, they were beaten and tortured for hours and not given food or water for days.
“Photos of the people who were released from the Okrestina detention center looked like the photos of people who came from war,” Savchenko added. “And I denounce that. Because people came out (to protest) unarmed.”
FILE – People detained during rallies of opposition supporters, who accuse Alexander Lukashenko of falsifying the polls in the presidential election, show bruises as they leave the Okrestina prison in Minsk, Aug. 14, 2020.
Savchenko says he is determined to punish those who so flagrantly abused the law.
“I am gathering proof of falsifications of the election results, abuse of police authority. And I decided that I will bring them to justice no matter where I am,” he said.
He sent the incriminating evidence he had gathered to BYPOL, an independent union of Belarusian ex-security officers whose mission is to keep a registry of crimes committed by the Lukashenko regime.
The state’s crackdown drew international condemnation, but Savchenko says that did not stop the authorities from methodically targeting their critics after the elections.
“At first, the authorities cracked down on most vocal protesters, then on independent media. After that they started laying off state officials who — how should I put it — didn’t vote for ‘the right candidate.’ Slowly but surely, they got to the people who were election observers,” he said.
For days, he was harassed and intimidated, then detained and beaten by the police. The authorities threatened to send his 5-year-old son to an orphanage.
So he and his family ran. First to Moscow, then all the way to Mexico City, then to Tijuana, then to the United States, where they are seeking political asylum.
Washington-based immigration lawyer Elizabeth Krukova specializes in providing legal help to asylum-seekers from the countries of the former Soviet Union. She says there are many others like the Savchenko family.
“We’ve seen a number of these cases and a big increase in the number of cases coming from Belarus specifically,” she said.
FILE – Demonstrators paste photos of opposition supporters killed during the post-election protests on the Okrestina prison wall during a rally demanding to free jailed activists of the opposition in Minsk, Oct. 4, 2020.
VOA spoke with several Belarusian asylum-seekers who arrived in the United States from the southern border following the post-election crackdown. They all spoke of intimidation, detainment and beatings by police back home.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection data shows a steady increase in the number of encounters of Belarusian migrants by the southwest border CBP officers — from three in October 2020 to 123 in September 2021.
Savchenko says the main reason his family chose to travel to the U.S. instead of Europe is safety.
“There is a network of Russian and Belarusian agents that are active in the countries neighboring Belarus, as well as in some EU states,” he said.
FILE – A Belarusian dog handler checks luggage off a Ryanair airplane parked on Minsk international airport’s apron in Minsk, May 23, 2021.
Belarusian officials demonstrated their relentless pursuit of critics when they forced a civilian Ryanair flight to land in Minsk last year and arrested an opposition blogger, Roman Protasevich. Another exiled Belarusian activist, Vitaly Shishov, was found hanged in a park near his home in Kyiv, an unsolved case widely seen as the work of Minsk’s clandestine services.
John Sipher, the former CIA deputy chief of station in Europe, still views Europe as relatively safe but says the fears of dissidents are not groundless.
He says horror stories of kidnappings and murders spread among dissidents “like wildfires.”
“If there are a few cases where Belarusians are hunted down or arrested, or brought back to Minsk, then it becomes a story that makes its way around that community,” Sipher said.
With Russian troops now massing in Belarus and more on the border of Ukraine, experts see the region’s authoritarian leaders becoming more collaborative, putting their critics at greater risk.
“Since Lukashenko’s crackdown in the last year or so, he is going to be looking for more opportunities to assist (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and Putin is going to be looking for means to work with Belarusians on these issues,” Sipher said.
Experts say whether an activist is in danger depends on how high their name is on the Belarusian KGB’s priorities list. But it’s a guessing game no one on the list wants to play.
The contagion by covid-19 in Montería increased by 44 percent during the month of January of the current year, with a percentage of deaths that reached 80 percentwhich forced the expansion of capacity in the ICU units.
The information was delivered by the Municipal Health Secretariat, an entity that during the week asked health care companies to implement strategies to increase intensive care beds.
The report from the Ministry of Health indicates that in the most recent 15 days the positivity of the contagion increased, passing from 1 and 4 percent in November and December of the year 2021 to 44 percent in January 2022.
Monitoring of indicators
Two weeks ago, we began a significant increase in Covid-19 infections in our municipality and, according to projections, we expect two more weeks of high positivity.
In relation to the situation that is registered in Montería with the contagion, the health secretary Yamina Restrepo has stated that she is monitoring the indicators of the pandemic.
“We started a significant increase in COVID-19 infections in our municipality two weeks ago and we expect, according to projections, two more weeks of high positivity,” Restrepo said.
In the same way, he stated that, in coordination with the municipal administration, they began meetings with the Health Provider Entities -EPS- to draw up plans that allow adequate care for patients who can reach the city’s clinics and hospitals.
“Among the main strategies established within this space, we have the transfer of beds to care for covid-19 patients and the destination of human talent, specific and by area within the EPS, to prepare for a greater number of patients to care for,” said María Isabel Moscote, an epidemiologist from the Ministry of Health.
Of the 30 deaths in January, 20 victims had not been vaccinated
We invite all people over 18 years of age who have received their second dose more than 4 months, to come to receive their booster dose.
The report of the Secretary of Municipal Health realizes 30 people died during January of the current year due to covid-19, of which 20 did not present any vaccine against the disease and 4 more with the incomplete schedule.
“This represents us 80 percent of the deaths at the beginning of the year 2022,” they said.
(Also: ‘narcobus’ fell in the north of the Valley that was going on an excursion to the Caribbean)
The increase in cases of infections and deaths forces the health authorities of Córdoba to increase the vaccination processes and especially to call on the communities to attend the biological application posts.
The advisory doctor of the Municipal Health Secretariat, José Vergara, made the call for them to attend to be vaccinated, with emphasis on booster doses.
“We invite all people over 18 years of age who have received their second dose more than 4 months, to go to any vaccination point in the city to receive their booster dose,” he noted.
Health officials in Montería hope to be able to counteract the actions of covid-19 and have the capacity to care for patients.
Francis Xavier Barrios Special for WEATHER sincelejo
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Su misión es brindarle al paciente, un servicio integral basado en la humanización de la atención y en el rigor científico.
Esta es la primera unidad de trasplante en la región para la atención de pacientes con patologías crónicas que requieren un trasplante de órgano o tejido.
Noticias Pasto.
Directivos del Hospital San Pedro en Pasto dieron a conocer que después de un proceso de preparación y cumplimiento de requisitos, se recibió por parte del Ministerio de Salud, la habilitación para la puesta en funcionamiento de la unidad de trasplante de órganos.
Indicaron que esta es la primera unidad en la región para la atención de pacientes con patologías crónicas que requieren un trasplante de órgano o tejido.
Esta aprobación sitúa al departamento de Nariño como nuevo miembro de la Red Nacional de Trasplante de Órganos y Tejidos en su Regional 3.
“El objetivo es impactar favorablemente en la calidad de vida de los pacientes que padecen enfermedades crónicas”, señalaron.
Para ello, han conformado un equipo multidisciplinario en el cual se encuentran médicos especializados, con formación y entrenamiento en las mejores escuelas de medicina del país.
Su misión es brindarle al paciente, un servicio integral basado en la humanización de la atención y en el rigor científico.
@FHSP_Pasto recibe HABILITACIÓN para poner en funcionamiento su nueva UNIDAD DE TRASPLANTE DE ÓRGANOS Pionera en el dpto. de Nariño, la unidad es nuevo miembro de la Red Nacional de Trasplante de Órganos y Tejidos – Regional 3 en Col.@ACHC_Oficial@INSColombia@Fruizgomezpic.twitter.com/pdm80pdszq
Indicaron que el equipo de trabajo de la unidad está compuesto por Paola Muñoz Cabezas, Cirujana de Trasplante de Órganos Abdominales; Francisco Alexander Pérez, Especialista en Hepatología Clínica y Trasplante Hepático.
También hará parte del equipo la internista y Nefróloga de Trasplantes Andrea Caicedo Paredes; al igual que Romel Gómez Gómez, Coordinador Médico Operativo de Trasplantes.
Explicaron que en concordancia con la misión institucional de brindar servicios integrales de salud, el Hospital San Pedro continuará comprometido con la salud de esta región del país, y en especial con la población más vulnerable.
Las imágenes muestran los cuerpos de 12 migrantes, vestidos con escasa ropa, que yacen al borde de un camino de tierra, en mitad del campo. Han muerto helados por el frío, después de que fueran devueltos a Turquía por las autoridades griegas, según ha denunciado este miércoles el ministro turco del Interior, Süleyman Soylu, en su cuenta en Twitter. “Doce de los 22 inmigrantes empujados de vuelta por las unidades fronterizas griegas, despojados de sus ropas y zapatos, han muerto congelados. La UE es irremediablemente débil y está vacía de sentimientos humanos. Las unidades fronterizas griegas son matones contra las víctimas”, ha cargado el responsable de migración de Turquía en su mensaje en la red social, que ha acompañado de cuatro fotografías en las que se ven los supuestos cadáveres pixelados.
Se desconocen, por el momento, las identidades y los orígenes de las víctimas, que fueron encontradas cerca de la localidad de Pasaköy ―en la provincia turca de Edirne― a poco más 11 kilómetros del paso fronterizo de Ipsala, el más importante entre Grecia y Turquía. La delegación del Gobierno en Edirne publicó este miércoles por la mañana un comunicado en el que aseguraba que se habían hallado los cadáveres de nueve migrantes y a una persona en riesgo de congelación que fue trasladada al hospital de la cercana ciudad de Kesan. Horas después, en un segundo comunicado, la misma oficina explicó que, durante las labores de búsqueda, se habían encontrado otros dos cadáveres y que el migrante ingresado en el hospital había fallecido. “Los equipos de la Gendarmería, las unidades fronterizas, la policía y la AFAD [La Agencia de Desastres y Emergencias] continúan las tareas de búsqueda”, apuntó la delegación provincial del Gobierno.
📆 02.02.2022 📍 Greece Ipsala Border
12 of the 22 migrants pushed back by Greek Border Units, stripped off from their clothes and shoes have frozen to death.
EU is remediless, weak and void of humane feelings.
En las imágenes publicadas por el ministro Soylu se distinguen ocho personas. Cuatro de ellas están tumbadas bocarriba con los brazos en cruz, uno yace bocabajo en mitad de un camino de tierra, tres están postrados cerca de una máquina agraria. Ninguno de los fallecidos que se ven en las fotografías lleva abrigo: uno de ellos va vestido con una camisa de manga larga de cuadros y un pantalón; otro, con pantalones cortos, y un tercero, que todavía tiene puesta una mascarilla sobre el rostro, con una sudadera negra.
Testimonios recogidos por este diario entre personas devueltas por Grecia a Turquía indican que en los últimos meses es cada vez más común que la policía griega obligue a los migrantes a entregar sus abrigos y su calzado antes de enviarlos, a través de lanchas hinchables, al otro lado del río Evros, que hace de frontera entre ambos países.
El Gobierno turco acusa recurrentemente a las autoridades griegas de devolver a Turquía a inmigrantes que llegaron al país europeo de manera irregular, una denuncia que las autoridades griegas rechazan pese a que diversas organizaciones de derechos humanos han documentado multitud de casos y a que tanto ACNUR como el Consejo de Europa han protestado por estas prácticas. En los dos últimos años, la Red de Monitorización de la Violencia Fronteriza, compuesta por una docena de ONG y asociaciones europeas, ha documentado más de un centenar de incidentes en los que más de 5.000 personas fueron devueltas ilegalmente de Grecia a Turquía a través del río Evros. Además, según una fuente del Gobierno turco, unos 16.000 migrantes fueron forzados a volver por las autoridades griegas de forma irregular a través del mar Egeo el año pasado.
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El Gobierno de Atenas denuncia que Ankara se niega a que le sean devueltos por los cauces legales los migrantes y potenciales refugiados que acceden a Grecia a través de territorio turco, tal y como prevé el acuerdo migratorio firmado por Unión Europea y Turquía en 2016 y un acuerdo bilateral greco-turco anterior.
The continuing crackdown on pro-democracy activists following the 2020 presidential elections in Belarus has spurred a wave of political asylum seekers. VOA’s Igor Tsikhanenka spoke with some who undertook a long and uncertain journey to Mexico and on to the United States in recent months. Some of them say they had no other choice because they no longer feel safe even in the European Union. Camera: Aaron Fedor
El presidente de Estados Unidos, Joe Biden, ha dado luz verde al despliegue de unas 3.000 tropas adicionales en el Este de Europa en los próximos días en respuesta a la presión militar de Rusia en la frontera con Ucrania, según han informado este miércoles fuentes de la Administración. El líder de Estados Unidos, que sigue las recomendaciones del Pentágono, ya avanzó el viernes que la decisión sería efectiva en breve y que no afectaría a un gran número de efectivos.
Un total de 2.000 soldados proceden de la gran base militar de Fort Bragg, en Carolina del Norte, y se desplegarán por Polonia y Alemania, mientras que otro millar actualmente destacado en un escuadrón de Alemania se desplazará a Rumania, país en el flanco este del territorio de la OTAN más cercano a Rusia. El Departamento de Defensa estadounidense dará detalles de la operación este miércoles en rueda de prensa.
El anuncio tiene lugar mientras prosiguen sin avances los contactos diplomáticos entre Rusia y los aliados de la OTAN. El Kremlin asegura que no pretende invadir Ucrania, pero mantiene más de 100.000 soldados en la frontera de la antigua república soviética y la anexión ilegal de la península de Crimea en 2014 resulta un precedente clave en los temores de Occidente. Para reducir la presión sobre la antigua república soviética, Moscú reclama garantías a la Alianza de que no se expandirá en el Este de Europa y, en concreto, no incorporará a Ucrania.
