November 2020-Breaking News

Monday, November 30, 2020

Wisconsin university quarantines students from 9 fraternities and sororities, as latest school grapples with coronavirus threat from parties

North Carolina State University closing student housing amid COVID outbreak on campus

Reaction from North Carolina State University student Addy Miller.

A Wisconsin university asked members of nine fraternities and sororities to quarantine after 38 students tested positive for the coronavirus, officials announced.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison and Dane County health officials asked 420 students to quarantine for two weeks following the positive results, the university announced in a statement.

“Our goal is to stop any further spread of the virus among our students and the broader community,” said Jake Baggott, executive director of University Health Services. The university stressed that violation of quarantine could result in a court order to quarantine and/or a fine of up to $ 10,000.

The school then announced that it would require all members of its 38 fraternity chapters with live-in houses to test for COVID-19. Students may skip if they have verified results from within the past 90 days.

AS US SCHOOLS DELAY REOPENINGS, EUROPE FORGES AHEAD WITH FULL IN-PERSON LEARNING

“We are committed to addressing concerns and risks quickly in order to keep everyone in our community as safe as possible,” says Lori Reesor, vice chancellor for student affairs. “Our students’ commitment to following public health directives is an essential part of that effort.”

However, reports from other universities indicate that students have other priorities, leaving universities to cope with party cultures on campus.

“Drinking is a very big part of that culture,” senior Emerson Boettcher told Channel 3000. “You tell them ‘You can’t do this at all,’ but every person who was a part of that culture will still be returning … there’s no way you can expect that plan to be successful.”

Workers test Utah State University students for COVID-19 on Aug. 30, in Hyde Park, Utah. Students from four dorms were tested and quarantined after the virus was detected in the wastewater from those buildings. (Eli Lucero/The Herald Journal via AP)

Northeastern University dismissed 11 students after they partied in a Boston hotel that had been converted to a temporary dorm, according to the Boston Globe. The university had barred students from hosting parties in their rooms, but they defied the orders.

The students were given 24 hours to leave, with the university ordering them to get tested for COVID-19. The university kept the students’ tuition, and will allow them back in the spring.

“Northeastern and its community of students, faculty, and staff take violations of health and safety protocols very seriously,” Vice Chancellor Madeleine Estabrook said. “Cooperation and compliance with public health guidelines is absolutely essential.”

SCHOOL DISTRICTS DEPLOY BUSES AS WI-FI HOTSPOTS TO SUPPORT REMOTE LEARNING: REPORT

Meanwhile, officials at the University of South Carolina had to break up a pool party of a couple hundred people at an apartment complex near the university. City of Columbia Fire Chief Aubrey Jenkins described the party as “almost like Mardi Gras.”

“Gatherings and activities where our citizens show disregard for public safety and public health, cannot and will not be tolerated,” Mayor Steve Benjamin told Fox News in a statement.

In mid-August, several University of Connecticut students were kicked out after videos on social media revealed a crowded party and a flagrant disregard for social distance, with a clear lack of facial masks.

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“Many of you are aware of a party in a residence hall that violated our health and safety rules; as a result, the students involved have been removed from campus housing,” university President Tom Katsouleas and Provost Carl Lejuez wrote in a letter to the campus. “Separately, over the weekend, seven students were written up for minor infractions.

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Bills beat Patriots 24-21 on Newton’s late fumble

Video

Previewing NFL week eight on Fox

‘Fox NFL Kickoff’ host Charissa Thompson on the biggest games to watch.

Jerry Hughes has too often watched the Patriots snatch victory away from the Buffalo Bills in what has been an AFC East rivalry that for too long tilted in New England‘s favor.

How exciting it was for Buffalo’s veteran defensive end to eagerly watch from the sideline as Josh Allen knelt three times to run out the clock to close out a 24-21 win Sunday.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

“Man, that was fun,” said Hughes, who was 2-12 during his first seven seasons against New England. “It feels good, to be honest with you, to be on the other side of the spectrum, to be watching our offense hit that victory formation. It felt amazing.”

And it nearly didn’t happen.

Bills backup defensive lineman Justin Zimmer, who opened the season on the practice squad, and safety Dean Marlowe, playing in place of injured starter Micah Hyde (concussion), combined to create the decisive play with the Patriots in position to at the very least tie the game.

Zimmer punched the ball out of quarterback Cam Newton’s arms. The fumble was recovered by Marlowe at the Buffalo 13 with 31 seconds left to secure what can be regarded as Buffalo’s most meaningful victory in 20 years over the Bill Belichick-coach Patriots.

In getting off to a 6-2 start for a second consecutive season, the Bills did so against a Patriots nemesis that entered the game having beaten Buffalo in each of the past seven meetings and 35 of the previous 40, dating to Belichick’s arrival in Foxborough.

“Honestly, I don’t know what to feel right now,” Zimmer said. “I’m still just like breathing heavy from the game, just excited. It’ll probably take me a good 24 hours to realize kind of everything that happened.”

Of course, Tom Brady had something to do with that string of domination before leaving New England to sign with Tampa Bay this offseason. Brady went 32-3 against Buffalo in setting the NFL record for most wins over one opponent.

Minus Brady, the Patriots are suddenly in freefall. Their 2-5 start is their worst since 2000, and New England’s four-game skid matches its longest since 2002. Their string of an NFL-record 11 straight division titles is suddenly in jeopardy, as might be their 19 consecutive seasons with a winning record.

“This is the third time we’ve been in this situation this year and unfortunately haven’t been able to make enough plays to win,” said Belichick, referring to one-score losses to Seattle and Denver.

Newton called the fumble “unacceptable.”

“It affects me more that I still am jeopardizing this team’s success because of my lackluster performances protecting the football,” Newton said. “Coach trusts me with the ball in my hands and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ve got to do a better job of protecting it.”

Newton finished 15 of 25 for 174 yards passing, and added 54 yards rushing plus a touchdown. Damien Harris had 102 yards rushing and scored on a 22-yard run.

A week after being benched following a three-interception outing in a 33-6 loss to San Francisco, Newton was efficient in putting the Patriots in position to win.

After Buffalo went ahead on Tyler Bass’ 28-yard field goal with 4:06 remaining, Newton methodically marched the Patriots 60 yards on 11 plays, and was facing second-and-10 from Buffalo’s 19.

Lining up in a shotgun formation, Newton took the snap and followed a line of blockers to his left. What he didn’t see was Zimmer diving in from behind and punching out the ball, which rolled directly into Marlowe’s arms.

“I was like, five-points of pressure,” Marlowe said of how tightly he gripped the ball. “I’m not letting it go because I’m coming up with this ball.”

Bills rookie Zack Moss scored two touchdowns rushing. Allen went 11 of 18 for 154 yards passing and also scored on a 2-yard run in a game Buffalo never trailed. He had one interception, which led to the Patriots cutting Buffalo’s lead to 7-6 on Nick Folk’s 33-yard field goal with 8 seconds left in the first half.

The game was played in an empty stadium, and amid wet, blustery conditions with the temperature dropping to the low 40s by the fourth quarter. Winds off nearby Lake Erie were persistent at between 17 and 25 MPH.

The Patriots were without several key starters. Cornerback Stephon Gilmore was sidelined by a knee injury. New England was also down its top two receivers this season with Julian Edelman placed on injured reserve after having knee surgery this week, and N’Keal Harry sidelined by a concussion.

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TAKE THE POINTS

Belichick elected to take the points and not risk a sack in the final seconds of the first half. With no timeouts remaining and facing third-and-1 at the Buffalo 16, the Patriots elected to have Folk kick to cut the Bills’ lead to 7-6.

INJURIES

Patriots: DL Lawrence Guy did not return after hurting his shoulder in the second half. … LB Ja’Whaun Bentley hurt his groin in the fourth quarter.

Bills: C Mitch Morse did not return after sustaining a head injury on Buffalo’s opening drive. … RB/special teamer Taiwan Jones was ruled out after hurting his hamstring in the third quarter.

UP NEXT

Patriots: Travel to face the winless New York Jets next Monday night, Nov. 9.

Bills: Host the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday in a stretch of facing three NFC West opponents in five weeks.

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Irregular periods linked to a greater risk of an early death, study suggests

Doctors should pay more attention to women’s menstrual cycles and treat them as an additional vital sign to assess a patient’s health, researchers have said, after a new study found a link between irregular periods and a greater risk of early death.

A team of mostly US-based researchers found that women who reported always having irregular menstrual cycles experienced higher mortality rates than women who reported very regular cycles in the same age ranges. The study took into account other potentially influential factors, such as age, weight, lifestyle, contraceptives and family medical history.

Pantone launches bold new color to combat menstruation taboos

The study assessed 79,505 women with no history of cardiovascular disease, cancer or diabetes. The women reported the usual length and regularity of their menstrual cycles at three different points: between the ages of 14 to 17, 18 to 22, and 29 to 46 years. The researchers kept track of their health over a 24-year period.

“This study is a real step forward in closing the data gap that exists in women’s health. It raises many interesting research questions and areas of future study,” Dr. Jacqueline Maybin, a senior research fellow and consultant gynecologist at the University of Edinburgh’s MRC Centre for Reproductive Health, told the Science Media Centre in London.

“These data will encourage future interrogation of menstrual symptoms and pathologies as an indicator of long-term health outcomes and may provide an early opportunity to implement preventative strategies to improve women’s health across the lifespan,” said Maybin, who wasn’t involved in the research.

Irregular and long menstrual cycles have been associated with a higher risk of major chronic diseases including ovarian cancer, coronary heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and mental health problems, the study said.

Fertility apps can be ‘misleading’ for women, review finds

In particular, the research, which published in the BMJ medical journal Wednesday, found that women who reported that their usual cycle length was 40 days or more at ages 18 to 22 years and 29 to 46 years were more likely to die prematurely — defined as before the age of 70 — than women who reported a usual cycle length of 26 to 31 days in the same age ranges.

The links were strongest for deaths related to cardiovascular disease than for cancer or death from other causes.

The authors were from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard Medical School, Michigan State University and Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, China.

No cause for alarm

Experts said that women who experience irregular or long menstrual cycles shouldn’t be alarmed by the findings of the study. Maybin said it’s important to remember that irregular menstruation is likely a symptom, not a diagnosis.

“A specific underlying cause of irregular menstruation may increase the risk of premature death, rather than the irregular bleeding, per se. We already know that women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), a leading cause of irregular periods, have an increased risk of diabetes, high blood pressure and cancer of the womb. It is important that women with PCOS speak to their doctor to reduce these risks,” she said.

Just say it: Yes, I’m menstruating

The study was observational and can only establish a correlation, not a causal link, between an irregular or long menstrual cycle and premature death. Other unmeasured factors could have influenced the results.

Maybin noted that the participants in the study were all registered nurses. Shift work, particularly nightshifts, has been shown to have a significant impact on long-term health. Abigail Fraser, a reader in epidemiology at the University of Bristol, said that the study didn’t appear to take in account socioeconomic status.

The study had some limitations, since the participants had to rely on their own recall of their menstrual cycles, which may not have been completely accurate, the researchers said.

However, the authors said in a news statement that studies such as this one “represent the strongest evidence possible for this question” because menstrual cycles can’t be randomized.

An additional vital sign

Guidance issued in 2015 from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said that medical practitioners should treat the menstrual cycle in adolescents as an additional vital sign.

Like temperature and pulse rate, it should be used to assess a patient’s overall health, and doctors should try to identify abnormal menstrual patterns in adolescence. This new study suggested that this should apply to all women during their reproductive lives.

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“The important point illustrated by this study is that menstrual regularity and reproductive health provides a window into overall long term health,” said Dr. Adam Balen, a professor of reproductive Medicine at Leeds Teaching Hospitals in the UK and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ spokesperson on reproductive medicine.

“Young women with irregular periods need a thorough assessment not only of their hormones and metabolism but also of their lifestyle so that they can be advised about steps that they can take which might enhance their overall health,” said Balen, who wasn’t involved in the study.

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Steve Doocy: The Doocy family’s delicious debate night dessert

Video

Steve Doocy makes his Grandma Berndt’s Hash Brown-Crust Quiche

Tuesday night as you’re Biden your time waiting for the presidential debate to start, why not quickly whip up this positively patriotic RED, WHITE, AND BLUE-TIFUL SKILLET COBBLER from our brand new “The Happy in a Hurry Cookbook: 100-Plus Fast and Easy New Recipes That Taste Like Home.”

Since most of us will be at home on Tuesday night, and America has run out of new things to cook during the pandemic, you need a great idea and this is it! Not only is it delicious, it looks amazing.

The Doocy’s red, white, and blue-tiful skillet cobbler

I wouldn’t be surprised if you Instagram a photo of this before you turn up the volume on Fox News anchor and debate moderator Chris Wallace.

The best part, because it’s fresh-baked, it will Trump any snack you had in your pantry. And don’t be surprised if you find yourself debating whether to have another piece…

RED, WHITE, AND BLUE-TIFUL SKILLET COBBLER RECIPE

Makes 8 servings

8 ounces strawberries, hulled and sliced (about 1 1/2 cups sliced)

1 cup blueberries

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups Original Bisquick mix

3/4 cup milk

1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) butter

Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, for serving

2 tablespoons strawberry jam (optional)

To start, just know when my wife Kathy and I make this we use a 10 1/4-inch cast-iron skillet but you can use any similar-sized skillet that’s oven safe.

1. Preheat oven to 375°F and set the cast-iron skillet inside to get hot for 10 to 20 minutes.

2. In a medium bowl, combine the strawberries and blueberries with 1 tablespoon of the sugar and the vanilla. Stir until all the berries are coated with sugar and set aside.

3. In a larger bowl, combine the Bisquick, milk, and the 1/2 cup sugar and whisk until it’s as smooth as you can get it. This will take a moment, as it tends to be lumpy.

4. Time to make the cobbler magic happen! Carefully remove the hot pan from the oven, add the butter to the pan and watch it quickly melt.

5. Once melted, immediately pour the batter into the butter in the hot pan, but do not mix the batter with the butter.

6. Place the berries evenly on top—don’t bunch them in the center; scatter them all over right up to the edge. Don’t stir the berries into the batter. Sprinkle the remaining 1 tablespoon of sugar over the berries and batter. Set the pan back into the oven.

7. Bake about 30 minutes, or until the crust is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean as a whistle.

8. The pan is SUPER hot! Carefully set it aside to cool for at least 10 minutes.

9. Finally, cut into wedges, serve pie-style and top with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. To make an optional strawberry drizzle for the ice cream or whipped cream, combine the strawberry jam and 1/2 tablespoon of water in a small bowl, blend lightly with a fork, and microwave for 20 seconds so it’s pour-able.

The Doocy’s red, white, and blue-tiful skillet cobbler

10. Enjoy!

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Arizona educators, officials warn against lifting mask mandates

Video

Fox News Flash top headlines for October 1

Oct. 1, 2020 – 3:42 – Check out what’s clicking on Foxnews.com.

Arizona state health and education officials are calling for the continuation of face-covering requirements to help fight the spread of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic.

On Wednesday, multiple health groups and Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman urged cities in the Copper State to keep mask mandates steadfast after requirements were lifted in Lake Havasu City, according to KTAR-FM.

NEW YORK CITY IMPOSES $ 1,000 FINE FOR PEOPLE WHO REFUSE TO WEAR MASKS IN PUBLIC

“Eliminating these mask mandates will only increase the potential for community spread and place additional burden on our health care delivery system,” Health System Alliance of Arizona Executive Director Jennifer Carusetta wrote in a statement. “We urge Arizona leaders to maintain existing mask mandates and COVID-19 mitigation efforts.”

The Health System Alliance of Arizona advocacy group represents major state health care networks including Banner Health, Dignity Health, HonorHealth, Northern Arizona Healthcare and Tenet Healthcare, according to KTAR.

A movie theatre is closed Wednesday, March 18, 2020, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

In a separate news release from the Department of Education, Hoffman asserted that mask mandates would help schools stay open and expand in-person instruction.

“I urge municipal leaders to continue their masking efforts in their communities — and I urge leaders in areas without mask requirements to take action now,” she said. “Our school communities are depending on continued steps to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.”

While the Department of Health Services provides COVID-19 guidance for K-12 schools reopening, districts have the final word on whether to allow in-person instruction.

Arizona schools have adopted a wide spectrum of schooling tactics, including hybrid plans that mix virtual and limited in-person classes. Face coverings are mandatory for in-person instruction.

Yet there is no statewide regulation.

Cases in Arizona are down this week, but the Sunbelt state still has a positivity rate of 14.99%, according to data from the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. The pandemic has killed more than 205,000 people in the U.S., the most of any country in the world.

On Wednesday, leaders reported 323 new coronavirus cases in Arizona alone and 18 deaths.

In June, Republican Gov. Doug Ducey granted localities the authority to require face masks in public spaces. Several counties that had previously implemented mask requirements, however, have recently lifted them.

Scottsdale and Gilbert were among such counties, but residents in the region remain subject to Maricopa County’s mask requirement.

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Lake Havasu City’s Republican Mayor Cal Sheehy suspended the municipality’s mandate on Monday.

“Public health professionals believe that the best strategy is to wear a face covering or a mask – and I still encourage that,” he explained. “But it is just asking our citizens to take personal responsibility and to do what is best for themselves and their family.”

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US military anticipates Trump will issue order to plan for further troop withdrawals from Afghanistan and Iraq

US military commanders are anticipating that a formal order will be given by President Donald Trump as soon as this week to begin a further withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and Iraq before Trump leaves office on January 20, according to two US officials familiar.

The Pentagon has issued a notice to commanders known as a “warning order” to begin planning to drawdown the number of troops in Afghanistan to 2,500 troops and 2,500 in Iraq by Jan 15, the officials said. Currently there are approximately 4,500 US troops in Afghanistan and 3,000 troops in Iraq.

The Pentagon and White House did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.

Sweeping changes at the Pentagon last week have put Trump loyalists in place and knowledgeable sources told CNN’s Jake Tapper last week that the White House-directed purge at the Defense Department may have been motivated by the fact that former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and his team were pushing back on a premature withdrawal from Afghanistan that would be carried out before the required conditions on the ground were met.

Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller sent a seemingly contradictory message to the force on Friday saying the US must continue its battle against al Qaeda and the terrorist forces behind 9/11 while also saying it was time to bring troops home.

“This war isn’t over,” Miller wrote in his message. “We are on the verge of defeating al Qaida and it’s associates, but we must avoid our past strategic error of failing to see the fight through to the finish. Indeed, this fight has been long, our sacrifices have been enormous, and many are weary of war — I’m one of them — but this is the critical phase in which we transition our efforts from a leadership to supporting role,” he wrote in reference to the current US role of supporting counterterrorism campaigns such as the one in Afghanistan.

“All wars must end. Ending wars requires compromise and partnership. We met the challenge; we gave it our all. Now, it’s time to come home,” Miller added.

This story is breaking and will be updated.

CNN’s Vivian Salama and Ryan Browne contributed to this report.

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Diplomats worry Trump’s desire to withdraw US troops risks success of Afghan-Taliban talks

As the peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban begin this weekend, there are concerns among current and former US national security officials that efforts to develop a solid path towards peace in Afghanistan could be jeopardized by President Donald Trump’s goal of declaring victory by withdrawing American troops before November’s election.

“The long-term success of a peace process, which will take a tremendous amount of time and effort once the parties come to the negotiating table, is at odds with short term political win for the Trump administration,” said a State Department official.

Current and former national security officials say that the Trump administration kickstarted the peace process in general, including the intra-Afghan negotiations, because most Americans agree that it is time for the US to withdraw from the country. A peace process involving the Taliban is viewed by many as the only way to accomplish that goal.

The intra-Afghan negotiations are a major step for the country which has been mired in a deadly war for almost 20 years.

US announces troop drawdown in Iraq

But peace processes take time and experts say it’s highly unlikely the process will be concluded before early November.

“It is preposterous to think that there will be something that they can label a victory less than two months from now,” said a former State Department official. “And I am also fearful about the improvisational planning on behalf of US heading into the intra-Afghan negotiations.”

Talks ‘are a first step’

An Afghan government official said the talks “are a first step” but said “there must be continued support and commitment to keeping the security architecture, the institutions the civil service systems … in order to ensure that what is being discussed could be implemented and monitored.”

Other former officials who have worked in Afghanistan expressed optimism about the talks on the whole — but stressed that the process cannot be sped up to meet Trump’s campaign agenda.

“There are historical examples where the positions of the negotiating parties over time turns into something where areas of convergence starts to become clear. Two sides which appear to be very far apart at the beginning can find themselves having fleshed out areas in which they truly can live and work together,” said Annie Pforzheimer, a former deputy chief of mission at the US Embassy in Kabul last year and now a senior non-resident associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “People should not push a peace process into some kind of early conclusion.”

US intelligence indicates Iran paid bounties to Taliban for targeting American troops in Afghanistan

Trump, who has been blunt about his desire to end the conflict and pull out all US troops since he was a candidate, did not put any time constraints on the negotiations when he announced them on Thursday. He described the talks as “the result of a bold diplomatic effort,” which involved rounds of talks between the Taliban and US officials.

The Trump administration announced plans for a further US troop drawdown in Afghanistan this week, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo saying the troop level would hit 4,500 by late fall. This announcement less than two months before election day is viewed by current and former national security officials as an effort to fulfill Trump’s campaign promise of bringing home troops from Afghanistan.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who arrives in Doha for the opening of the talks this weekend, rejected the suggestion that the drawdown is related to election-year politics in an interview this week.

“I don’t know what they’re talking about in terms of politics,” Pompeo told Fox News. “This has always been about delivering counterterrorism, protecting America, and reducing the cost both in blood and treasure to the American public.”

Some fear that a further reduction of US troops — from about 8,600 to about 4,500 in a move that has been discussed by the administration over the last few months, as reported by CNN — could benefit the Taliban in the intra-Afghan negotiations.

“Withdrawing more US forces right now is the single biggest factor that will undermine the peace process. Why would the Taliban seriously negotiate on anything when all political signals from Washington are that the US is going to leave, no matter how the negotiations turn out?” said Seth Jones, an expert at CSIS and a former adviser to US Special Operations Forces in Afghanistan.

The Afghan official who spoke to CNN seemed to express some concern about US troops being withdrawn during the negotiations, noting that the talks were just a starting point.

“The drawdown, the way I see it, it has two sides. One side is that it might be further encouraging for the Taliban to say that we are very committed to the, to the agreement that was made with the Taliban and the drawdown is happening and it’s phased as was expected,” the official told CNN. “On the other hand, it is also a signal for a group who is continuously using violence as an instrument and is only responding to force,” they added.

When asked about the concerns, Pompeo said he believes “the Taliban has every incentive to get this right,” when he spoke to reporters during his flight to Doha for the opening of the peace talks.

Behind the scenes scramble

The looming deadline of the US election has also impacted the behind the scenes tactics of top US Taliban negotiator, Zalmay Khalilizad, as he sought to speed up the process of releasing Taliban prisoners by the Afghan government, sources explained to CNN.

The prisoner release issue has been a major sticking point preventing the start of the intra-Afghan negotiations — which were supposed to begin six months ago, according to the US-Taliban agreement which was signed in February. Australia and France have publicly objected to the release of certain Taliban prisoners, due to attacks they carried out which killed international troops in Afghanistan.

At one point in recent months Khalilzad suggested that the Afghan government release the Taliban prisoners after the US election, according to two sources familiar with his suggestion. The hope was to sweep the impediment under the rug for now, the sources explained.

The idea was rejected by the players involved, yet the proposal itself demonstrates the lengths to which the top Trump administration negotiator has been willing to go in order to hustle the process along, in hopes of creating a narrative of victory before Trump faces re-election.

Trump administration finalizing plan to withdraw 4,000 troops from Afghanistan

Those who are watching the process closely say Khalilzad has applied a very improvisational approach to the negotiations with the Afghan government and the Taliban over the last two years. The free-wheeling approach is a natural characteristic of his, particularly because he has been involved in this space for decades and knows most of the players personally, but it is also a product of him being under enormous pressure to deliver results to Trump.

“I don’t think the sense of urgency and the hope for quick negotiations were really coming from Khalilzad or the negotiating team but were coming from the White House. It was the constraint the negotiators have been under. A quick turnaround on the negotiations will serve a political purpose because the election is coming up,” said Jones.

Some who worked with Khalilizad voiced support for his approach and reiterated the impossible mission he was given due to Trumps’ insistence on getting America out of the country.

“For the time I observed him directly he was realist working with a nearly untenable set of parameters,” said a second former State Department official who worked with him in recent years.

CNN’s Zachary Cohen contributed to this report.

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A woman’s inspiring journey from janitor to health care worker

Jaines Andrades started working at Baystate Medical in Springfield, Massachusetts, as a janitor. But she worked her way through nursing school, and now ten years later she has returned as a nurse practitioner.

“It’s tough to be the person that cleans. If I had to go back and do it again, I would. It’s so worth it,” Andrades told CNN affiliate WBZ-TV.

In a Facebook post, Andrades wrote about her journey from hospital custodian to nurse practitioner and posted a picture of all three of her IDs.

She said her journey at the Springfield hospital started when she got a call for an interview. At the time she had been working at a fast food restaurant, according to WBZ-TV.

She said she always wanted to help people. “Even if it was cleaning, as long as I was near patient care I’d be able to observe things. I thought it was a good idea,” she said.

Her favorite part of nursing is bringing relief and comfort to her patients. “I just really love the intimacy with people,” Andrades told the CNN affiliate.

And now she has realized her dream. She became a Baystate nurse, and then a nurse practitioner in the very same place she used to clean.

“Nurses and providers, we get the credit more often but people in environmental and phlebotomy and dietary all of them have such a huge role. I couldn’t do my job without them,” Andrades said.

And she says she feels happy her story is inspiring others.

“I’m so appreciative and like in awe that my story can inspire people,” Andrades told WBZ-TV. “I’m so glad. If I can inspire anyone, that in itself made the journey worth it.”

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Tim Graham: CNN’s shameless call for unity after Biden’s acceptance speech

Video

Concha on Pelosi calling CNN’s Blitzer a GOP ‘apologist’ on stimulus

The Hill’s media reporter Joe Concha also weighs in on Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing saying a key moment was when she held up her notepad inferring that she ‘got this.’

There was a Museum of Broadcasting in New York City, but there’s never been a Museum of Broadcasting Shamelessness. Imagine a place where they could run a medley of clips of Dan Rather insisting that, despite the small problem of his reporting on phony National Guard documents, “the underlying story is true.”

An obvious entry in the Shamelessness Museum emerged about one minute after Joe Biden made his “victory speech” on the night of Nov. 7. CNN tweeted out a new commercial in which it creepily echoed Biden’s sentiments that we must all come together and break out the Cokes and sing “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing” or something.

A female narrator mourned in the commercial, saying, “Our trust has been broken — in our leaders, in our institutions, even with some of our friends. And we are hurting. Now, more than ever, we need each other — to listen, to learn from one another, to rebuild those bonds.”

Does anyone think CNN hasn’t been ripping apart our leaders and our institutions for four years? The announcer added: “(T)rust shows that we believe in the good in each other. It’s what makes us human. And when we trust one another, that is when we can truly achieve great things.”

COLIN REED: HOW FAR LEFT WILL BIDEN PRESIDENCY GO? BATTLE FOR SENATE CONTROL COULD TELL US

If you thought this would lead to an abrupt switch in CNN’s daily product from hourly rage to “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” you would be sadly, badly mistaken. Instead, shameless CNN is running this unity-goo-goo advertisement in between its usual Trump Hater thunderbolts.

Anderson Cooper is pictured in the ad, but two days after Biden declared victory, Cooper was furious that Trump hadn’t conceded. He complained to old Obama strategist David Axelrod: “In the mid-90s — I think it was like ’96 — I was in Kinshasa, in the waning days of Mobutu. And Mobutu was, you know, a pretty awful dictator. And when he finally fled the country and the rebels were moving to take the capital, his son drove around in a pickup truck with a machine gun and settling scores with people he felt had not been supportive enough with Mobutu.”

So, President Donald Trump and Donald Trump Jr. are somehow comparable to a tyrant and his son on a mobile, murderous rampage. Cooper added: “Thankfully, it hasn’t come to that here, but I can’t believe we’re in a situation where, you know, a transfer of power is not — I can’t believe we are in this situation here. It just seems so petty.”

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Anderson Cooper has cornered the market on pettiness. This came after he strangely apologized for calling the president “an obese turtle on his back flailing in the hot sun.” This showed his capacity for insincerity.

More from Opinion

But this kind of inflammatory fare just keeps churning on CNN. Morning anchor John Berman carped on Nov. 9 that the Republicans were still enabling Trump: “They’re treating him like a petulant child. … They hope he wears himself out.”

The next day, Berman complained that the GOP wasn’t accepting Biden’s call for unity: “The response from the outgoing president? No. The response from the administration? Hell no. The response from Republican leaders in Congress? F no.”

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CNN should expect hostility toward the call for unity, because hyperbolic abuse has come out of the network for years. There will be no unity, because there is not one ounce of regret from CNN.

You cannot spend four years with people such as Don Lemon denouncing Trump fans as “people who will lie, steal and cheat, lie to their own mother, lie to themselves” and expect unity. CNN’s own continued abuse in between the “unity” commercials should underline why their Xeroxed Biden message is preposterous.

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Woman wrongfully convicted of murdering parents, arson freed after 17 years

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An Asian-American woman wrongfully convicted of arson and the murder of her parents was freed after spending 17 years in prison when evidence emerged that prosecutors had exchanged “racially and sexually offensive emails,” according to reports.

Frances Choy, who was 17 when her parents died in an April 2003 arson fire in Brockton, was sentenced to two life sentences without the possibility of parole in 2011, the Enterprise News reported.

Her first two trials resulted in hung juries before she was convicted in May 2011, according to the news outlet. Superior Court Judge Linda Giles vacated Choy’s convictions on Sept. 17.

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The daughter of Chinese immigrants was represented on her appeal by an attorney for the Boston College Innocence Program at Boston College Law School and a lawyer in private practice, the Boston Globe reported.

Boston College Law School Professor Sharon Beckman said Choy was “an innocent crime victim who was instead treated like a criminal suspect.”

Attorney Joseph Krowski, Sr., of Brockton, Mass., has brief words with his client, Frances Choy, 17, of Brockton, Mass., during her arraignment in the Brockton District Court on two counts of murder, Friday, April 18, 2003. (AP Photo/Robert E. Klein)

On Tuesday, prosecutors filed a notice that they would not pursue the charges against Choy.

“Today’s outcome was the culmination of hundreds of hours of diligence by prosecutors in my office working cooperatively with appellate counsel to identify a number of significant legal issues that we could not ignore,” Plymouth District Attorney Timothy Cruz said according to the Globe.

“The role of every prosecutor is to ensure that justice is done, he added. “Fairness not only dictated our decision today, but is central to every decision we make.”

The blaze claimed the lives of Choy’s parents, Anne Trinh-Choy, 53, and Ching “Jimmy” Choy, 64. Choy’s nephew, Kenneth Choy, who was 16 at the time, was acquitted of murder charges in 2008, the Enterprise News reported.

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Kenneth allegedly told a friend that he planned and set the fire to get revenge, according to court documents cited by the Globe.

Jimmy Choy allegedly beat and verbally abused Kenneth, his grandson, whom he suspected of dealing drugs, according to the documents. Kenneth Choy testified that the fire was Frances’ scheme and that he had backed out.

In her order vacating the convictions, Giles cited multiple issues with the case, including misconduct by prosecutors and a failure of Choy’s attorney to follow up on leads and find an expert witness.

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Prosecutors also exchanged e-mails that included racist jokes about Asians, such as references to a stereotypical character in the movie “Sixteen Candles,” the judge said.

“The trial prosecutors exchanged numerous images of Asian people, some accompanied by pejorative comments, and some unexplained,” Giles wrote. “They exchanged ‘jokes’ about Asian stereotypes, and mocking caricatures of Asians using imperfect English.”

Beckman, the Boston College Law School professor, said that Choy’s “wrongful conviction resulted from racism and other official misconduct and systemic failures,” according to the Globe.

“She can never get back the 17 years the criminal legal system took from her, but we are overjoyed at her exoneration and hope her case will inspire meaningful reform,” she added.

Choy is the first Asian-American to be exonerated in Massachusetts for crimes she did not commit, her lawyers said.

This report originally appeared in the New York Post.

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