News in Brief

Date: 24 September 2021 - 21:50

News ID: ۹۴۷۳۶

WASHINGTON (NY Times) — The senior American envoy for Haiti policy said that he had resigned over the “inhumane” and “counterproductive” deportations of Haitian migrants to a desperate country reeling from a political crisis and a deadly earthquake last month — a decision that has divided some of President’s Biden’s close advisers. The diplomat, Daniel Foote, was appointed special envoy to Haiti in July, just weeks after President Jovenel Moïse was killed in his bedroom during a nighttime raid on his residence.

***
PARIS (Reuters) - A French defense contractor will bill Australia after a multibillion-dollar deal was canceled due to a new submarine agreement Canberra made with the United States and United Kingdom. Naval Group CEO Pierre Eric Pommellet told French newspaper Le Figaro that his company would send the bill in “in a few weeks”, according to AFP. Pommellet said the contract was terminated for “convenience”, meaning that the company is “not at fault.” “It is a case that is planned for in the contract and will require a payment of our costs that were incurred and those to come, linked to demobilization of infrastructure and IT as well as the redeployment of employees,” Pommellet said, adding, “We will assert our rights.”

***
WASHINGTON (WKOW) -- With COVID-19 case rates steadily climbing in Wisconsin, the Department of Health Services reports that more than 91% of intensive care unit beds statewide are full. As of September 22, 91.8% of all ICU beds are full, with 57.8% of ICU wards at maximum capacity. In comparison, 89.7% of all hospital beds are full, and 40.3% of all hospitals are full. Per the Wisconsin Hospital Association, 98 ICU beds are currently open, out of 1,359 total. Additionally, 557 patients are currently on ventilators.

***
PARIS (Dispatches) - The phones of at least five incumbent French ministers were infected with the Pegasus spyware between 2019 and 2020, French investigative journal Mediapart reported, citing its sources. According to the outlet, a recent investigation by the French government revealed that the cellphones of five officials bore traces of the snooping software. Those affected are Minister of National Education Jean-Michel Blanquer, Minister of Territorial Cohesion and Relations with Local Authorities Jacqueline Gourault, Minister of Agriculture Julien Denormandie, and Minister Delegate for Housing and ex-Minister of Ecological Transition Emmanuelle Wargon, and Minister of the Overseas Sébastien Lecornu.

***
FIUMICINO, Italy (Reuters) - Hundreds of striking air workers blocked the highway to Rome’s main airport on Friday as they called on the government to avoid job losses in the transition between Alitalia and a new carrier dubbed ITA. The protesters sat down in the middle of the road linking Fiumicino airport to the capital as police with shields looked on. The strike action forced Alitalia and other airlines to cancel more than 130 flights, officials said. Demonstrators also brought a fake coffin draped with European flags on a truck and left it in front of the airport, in a complaint against EU constraints on the hiring of Alitalia workers by ITA.