Archives for February 2021

Twitter suspends more India accounts amid free speech debate

NEW DELHI (AP) — Twitter said on Wednesday that it has suspended some Indian accounts after it was served with several blocking orders by India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology over the past 10 days related to massive farmer protests.

The social media company said in a blog post that the accounts will continue to be accessible outside India. None of the suspended accounts belonged to journalists, news organizations, activists or politicians, as doing so “would violate their fundamental right to free expression under Indian law,” it said.

The company said such an action would also go against its “principles of defending protected speech and freedom of expression.”

The move comes after Twitter temporarily blocked hundreds of accounts last week, including those of news websites and activists. Online outrage ensued soon after, and the company subsequently restored access to those accounts, prompting the Indian government to serve it with a non-compliance notice.

The clampdown on Twitter accounts comes as thousands of farmers have camped outside New Delhi for over two months in a protest against new agricultural laws they say will devastate their earnings. The government says the laws will boost production through private investment. Critics say Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party has used the demonstration to escalate a crackdown on free speech.

The largely peaceful rallies turned violent on Jan. 26 after a group of farmers veered from an agreed protest route and stormed New Delhi’s 17th century Red Fort. Hundreds of police and farmers were injured in clashes.

In an order to Twitter last week, the government identified a number of accounts it said used provocative hashtags to spread misinformation about the protests as well as incite violence. The government invoked an information technology law under which it has the power to direct online intermediaries and internet service providers to block certain content without providing any explanation. It threatened Twitter officials with a fine and imprisonment of up to seven years for violating its order.

Pawan Duggal, a cyberlaw expert and Supreme Court lawyer, said the government’s response to Twitter was a “19th century mindset to deal with a 21st century problem.”

“India does not have a dedicated regulatory law on social media. This gives the government a legal position to use other information technology laws to regulate social media and initiate criminal action against those who violate its orders,” Duggal said.

He said Twitter had the right to go to court, the “best remedy available to them at the moment.”

In its blog post, Twitter said it has taken steps to “reduce the visibility of the hashtags containing harmful content” by preventing them from trending on the platform. It also said it has acted against over 500 accounts, including permanently suspending some of them, for violating Twitter’s rules.

“We will continue to maintain dialogue with the Indian government and respectfully engage with them,” the company said.

But Twitter’s statement appeared to irk the government, which tweeted later Wednesday that the company had earlier reached out to the IT ministry for a meeting. “In this light a blog post published prior to this engagement is unusual,” the ministry said, adding that the government would respond soon.

While India ranks second in the world in terms of mobile internet subscribers, the country leads in shutdowns, which are used regularly to thwart protest movements, according to Top10VPN, a U.K.-based digital privacy and security research group.

The shutdowns have mainly targeted anti-government demonstrations, particularly against a discriminatory citizenship law in 2019 and the ongoing farmers’ protests that have rattled the Modi administration. In some cases, governing party leaders have said the shutdowns were needed “in order to maintain public safety.”

The government has proposed social media regulations that would give it more power to police online content.

In Biden’s early days, signs of Trump-era problems at border

HOUSTON (AP) — The day after she gave birth in a Texas border hospital, Nailet and her newborn son were taken by federal agents to a holding facility that immigrants often refer to as the “icebox.”

Inside, large cells were packed with women and their young children. Nailet and her son were housed with 15 other women and given a mat to sleep on, with little space to distance despite the coronavirus pandemic, she said. The lights stayed on round the clock. Children constantly sneezed and coughed.

Nailet, who kept her newborn warm with a quilt she got at the hospital, told The Associated Press that Border Patrol agents wouldn’t tell her when they would be released. She and her son were detained for six days in a Border Patrol station. That’s twice as long as federal rules generally allow.

“I had to constantly insist that they bring me wipes and diapers,” said Nailet, who left Cuba last year and asked that her last name be withheld for fear of retribution if she’s forced to return.

Larger numbers of immigrant families have been crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in the first weeks of President Joe Biden’s administration. Warning signs are emerging of the border crises that marked former President Donald Trump’s term: Hundreds of newly released immigrants are getting dropped off with nonprofit groups, sometimes unexpectedly, and accounts like Nailet’s of prolonged detention in short-term facilities are growing.

Measures to control the virus have sharply cut space in holding facilities that got overwhelmed during a surge of arrivals in 2018 and 2019, when reports emerged of families packed into cells and unaccompanied children having to care for each other. U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Wednesday that its enforcement encounters at the southwest border rose 6% in January from the previous month, part of a steady rise since crossings plummeted at the beginning of the pandemic.

Most of the Border Patrol’s stations aren’t designed to serve children and families or hold people long term. To deal with the new influx, the agency on Tuesday reopened a large tent facility in South Texas to house immigrant families and children.

In a statement last week, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said some of its facilities had reached “maximum safe holding capacity” and cited several challenges: COVID-19 protocols, changes in Mexican law and limited space to hold immigrants.

“We will continue to use all current authorities to avoid keeping individuals in a congregate setting for any length of time,” said the agency, which declined an interview request.

Meanwhile, long-term holding facilities for children who cross the border alone — some sent by parents forced to wait in Mexico — are 80% full. U.S. Health and Human Services, which runs those centers, will reopen a surge facility at a former camp for oil field workers in Carrizo Springs, Texas, as early as Monday. It can accommodate about 700 teenagers. Surge facilities have an estimated cost of $775 per child per day, and Democrats sharply criticized them during the Trump years.

There’s no clear driving factor for the increase in families and children crossing. Some experts and advocates believe more are trying to cross illegally now that Biden is president, believing his administration will be more permissive than Trump’s.

Many have waited for a year or longer under Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” program that forces asylum-seekers to stay south of the border while a judge considers their case. The White House isn’t adding people to the program but hasn’t said how it will resolve pending cases. It’s also declined to expel unaccompanied children under a pandemic-related public health order issued by Trump.

Others cite the fallout of natural disasters in Central America and turmoil in countries like Haiti.

The U.S. also has stopped sending back some immigrant families to parts of Mexico, particularly areas of Tamaulipas state across from South Texas. The change in practice appears to be uneven, with immigrants being expelled in other places and no clear explanation for the differences.

A law has taken effect in Mexico that prohibits holding children in migrant detention centers. But Mexico’s foreign ministry said in a statement that agreements with the U.S. during the pandemic remain “on the same terms.” The statement noted “it is normal that there be adjustments at the local level, but that does not mean that the practice has changed or stopped.”

Some pregnant mothers, like Nailet, who have been refused entry to the U.S. cross again while in labor. Their children become U.S. citizens by birthright. The Border Patrol generally releases those families into the country, though reports have emerged of immigrant parents and U.S.-born children being expelled.

In Nailet’s case, CBP said an unforeseen spike in the number of families crossing the border near Del Rio, about 150 miles (241 kilometers) west of San Antonio, led to her prolonged detention.

Advocates say officials should have released Nailet quickly, as well as other families with young children, and should speed up processing to avoid delays. Authorities have long resisted what they refer to as “catch and release,” which they say inspires more immigrants to try to enter the country illegally, often through smugglers linked to transnational gangs.

Still in pain from giving birth, Nailet nursed her newborn in the cold cell. When she told border agents that the hospital said to return on Feb. 1, she says they refused to take her.

CBP says Nailet and her son passed a health check Wednesday evening.

She was released Thursday and taken to a hotel with help from a nonprofit group, the Val Verde Border Humanitarian Coalition, which is one of several organizations receiving larger numbers of immigrant families after they leave government custody.

Dr. Amy Cohen, a child psychiatrist and executive director of immigration advocacy group Every Last One, described how border detention can traumatize a newborn: the cold, the constant light, the stress emanating from their nursing mother.

“That is a tremendously vulnerable time,” she said. “He is consuming the stress that she is experiencing. This is his first exposure to the world outside the womb. This is extraordinarily cruel and dangerous.”

A previous rise in illegal border crossings combined with delays in processing families led to horrendous conditions in several border stations in 2019, with shortages of food and water and children in many cases fending for themselves.

The year before, when the Trump administration separated thousands of immigrant families under its “zero tolerance” policy, many people were detained at a converted warehouse in South Texas. Thousands of children taken from their parents went into government custody, including surge facilities in Tornillo, Texas, and Homestead, Florida.

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Associated Press journalists Christopher Sherman and María Verza in Mexico City contributed to this report.

Resurgent virus slows recovery at Coca-Cola

A resurgent coronavirus slowed Coca-Cola’s recovery in the fourth quarter, and the company said the slump has continued into this year.

But the Atlanta-based beverage giant said it’s confident it will see improvement as vaccines roll out around the world and it delivers new products in fast-growing categories, like an updated version of Coke Zero Sugar and Topo Chico Hard Seltzer, a rare foray into alcohol for the company.

As a measure of that confidence, Coke issued financial guidance for the first time since the pandemic began, saying it expects 2021 earnings to match or exceed those in 2019. Many of the biggest corporations in the U.S. have pulled projections due to the unprecedented scope of the pandemic.

“The trajectory of the recovery will be a significant factor, and we expect to be dealing with COVID-19 for the better part of the year, with the first half likely to be more challenging than the second half,” Coke Chief Financial Officer John Murphy said Wednesday in a conference call with analysts.

Coke has been decimated by the closure of arenas, restaurants, theaters and other public places, where it normally books about half its revenue.

Global case volume slipped 3% for the October-December period, exceeding Wall Street projections for a decline of 2.2%, according to analysts polled by FactSet. Case volume rose 2% in Latin America thanks to strong demand in Brazil, but it fell elsewhere.

Unit case volumes of soft drinks fell 1% in the fourth quarter, primarily due to declines in away-from-home business in North America and Europe. Juice and dairy sales fell 2% and water and sports drink demand fell 9%. Tea and coffee sales dropped 15% as the virus hampered sales at Costa coffee shops.

Coke’s net revenue fell 5% to $8.6 billion for the fourth quarter. It was a significant improvement from the second quarter, when revenue fell 29%, and the third quarter, when revenue fell 9%.

Coke earned $1.46 billion, or 34 cents per share. That per-share number would be 47 cents if one time costs and benefits are removed, six cents better than Wall Street had projected.

Coke Chairman and CEO James Quincey said the company is confident it will return to growth in 2021, despite sales declines that have persisted through February. Coke expects to deliver organic revenue growth in the high single digits in 2021, as well as single-digit growth in its per-share earnings.

But it also revealed a potential headwind. Coke said it could potentially face $12 billion in liability as the result of an ongoing lawsuit filed by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service over the profit split of drinks that are made and sold overseas.

In November, a U.S. tax court ruled in favor of the IRS in the 6-year-old case, saying Coke must pay the bulk of a $3.4 billion tax bill. The $12 billion figure would include previous years and interest, Murphy said. But Coke is appealing and said it is confident it will eventually prevail.

Quincey said the company can emerge from the pandemic stronger thanks to restructuring actions it took in 2020. Coke pared its brands from 400 to 200 and dropped slow sellers like Tab, Zico coconut water and Odwalla juices.

Coke’s workforce is also getting leaner. The company announced in December that it would lay off 2,200 workers, or 17% of its global workforce. Coke said severance packages would cost between $350 million and $550 million.

Coke shares were flat at $49.91 in morning trading.

The Latest: NHL says Tomas Nosek of Vegas out with COVID

The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:

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The NHL says Vegas Golden Knights forward Tomas Nosek has tested positive for COVID-19 after he was removed from playing in a 5-4 win over Anaheim on Tuesday night.

Nosek has been placed in isolation and the league is conducting close-contact tracing. The NHL says the Golden Knights home game against the Ducks remains scheduled for Thursday, pending test results of players and staff on both teams.

Nosek’s positive test led to the Golden Knights canceling practice on Wednesday after the team did not make anyone available for video interviews following the game.

In other coronavirus pandemic developments, Minnesota forward Victor Rask was added to the NHL’s COVID-19 list. The Wild now have 13 players on the list, with their games postponed through at least Saturday.

New Jersey’s count of players on the list is down to 17 after forwards Kyle Palmieri and Pavel Zacha were removed. Also removed from the list was Chicago Blackhawks forward Lucas Wallmark.

— AP Hockey Writer John Wawrow reporting

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Louisville’s Atlantic Coast Conference men’s basketball game at Virginia Tech has been postponed from Saturday to March 3 following continued quarantining and contact tracing within the Cardinals’ program.

The postponement follows Sunday’s announcement that Louisville coach Chris Mack tested positive for COVID-19 with mild symptoms. It’s the fourth postponement in five games for Louisville.

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The Atlantic Coast Conference announced Wednesday that the Virginia Tech at Boston College women’s basketball game scheduled for Sunday has been postponed.

Boston College remains in COVID protocols, which caused the postponement, and is following ACC health protocols.

A makeup date was not given.

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Western Illinois’ football season opener at South Dakota has been postponed because of COVID-19 issues in the WIU program.

The teams were scheduled to meet in Vermillion, South Dakota, on Feb. 19. The game was rescheduled for April 17 at the DakotaDome.

Western Illinois plays in the Championship Subdivision Missouri Valley Conference, which postponed its football season last fall because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Each team is playing eight games this spring.

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The University of Hartford has become the third women’s basketball program in the America East Conference to end its season early.

Head coach Morgan Valley said the decision was made at a team meeting on Wednesday.

“With multiple quarantines, shut downs, missed holidays, cancelled/rescheduled games and many unknowns, we decided that this is the best path forward for our program at this point in time,” Valley said in a statement.

The team, which played only conference games this season, finished 3-9.

The other two America East women’s teams that have stopped their seasons are Vermont and UMBC.

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More AP sports: https://apnews.com/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

A list of America’s top 50 donors of 2020

These are the donors who gave the most in 2020, according to the Philanthropy 50, an annual ranking compiled by the Chronicle of Philanthropy. A searchable database with more information on the donors and their beneficiaries is available at philanthropy.com.

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1. Jeff Bezos

Amazon founder

$10.2 billion

Biggest gift: $10 billion to Bezos Earth Fund

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2. MacKenzie Scott

Author and ex-wife of Jeff Bezos

$5.7 billion

Biggest gift: Various

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3. Michael Bloomberg

Founder of Bloomberg financial news company

$1.6 billion

Biggest gift: Various

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4. Philip and Penelope Knight

Nike co-founder and wife

$1.4 billion

Biggest gift: $900.7 million to Knight Foundation

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5. Jack Dorsey

Co-founder and CEO of Twitter and Square

$1.1 billion

Biggest gift: Donor-advised funds

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6. John and Laura Arnold

Retired hedge-fund manager and wife

$567 million

Biggest gift: $482 million to Laura and John Arnold Foundation

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7. Eric and Wendy Schmidt

Former Google CEO and wife

$469.6 million

Biggest gift: $335.3 million to Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fund for Strategic Innovation

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8. Pierre and Pam Omidyar

Founder of eBay and wife

$441 million

Biggest gift: Various

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9. Frederick and June Kummer

Construction magnate (Frederick) and architect (June)

$300 million

Biggest gift: $300 million to Kummer Institute Foundation

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10. Denny Sanford

Banker

$224.2 million

Biggest gift: Various

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11. Stephen Ross

Real-estate developer

$179.5 million

Biggest gift: $100 million to U. of Michigan at Ann Arbor

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12. John and Susan Sobrato

Real-estate developers

$176.8 million

Biggest gift: $135.2 million to Sobrato Foundation at Silicon Valley Community Foundation

13. Bill and Melinda Gates

Microsoft co-founder and wife

$157 million (estimated)

Biggest gift: Estimated $157 million to Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

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14. Reed Hastings and Patty Quillin

Netflix co-founder and wife

$151 million

Biggest gifts: $40 million each to Morehouse and Spelman colleges and United Negro College Fund

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15. Sheryl Sandberg

Facebook chief operating officer

$122.8 million

Biggest gift: $63 million to the Sandberg Goldberg Charitable Support Fund

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16. Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan

Facebook co-founder (Mark) and pediatrician (Priscilla)

$120 million

Biggest gifts: $60 million each to Chan Zuckerberg Donor Advised Fund at Silicon Valley Community Foundation and Chan Zuckerberg Foundation

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17. (tie) Craig Newmark

Craigslist founder

$100 million

Biggest gift: $60 million to Craig Newmark Foundation

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17. (tie) David and Barbara Roux

Technology investor and wife

$100 million

Biggest gift: $100 million to Roux Institute at Northeastern University

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19. Phyllis Brissenden

Family wealth

$96.9 million

Biggest gift: $48.5 million to the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis

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20. Sergey Brin and Nicole Shanahan

Google co-founder and wife

$78.3 million

Biggest gift: $23.9 million to Bia-Echo Foundation

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21. Irwin and Joan Jacobs

Qualcomm co-founder and wife

$66.41 million

Biggest gift: $17.1 million to Joan and Irwin Jacobs Fund at the Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego

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22. George and Renee Karfunkel

Businessman and wife

$66.4 million

Biggest gift: $66.4 million to Congregation Chemdas Yisroel

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23. Arthur Blank

Home Depot co-founder

$65.7 million

Biggest gift: $65.7 million to Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation

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24. Charles and Helen Schwab

Financial-services company founder and wife

$65 million

Biggest gift: $65 million to Tipping Point Community

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25. Hock Tan and Lisa Yang

Broadcom CEO and wife

$64.5 million

Biggest gift: $28 million for K. Lisa Yang and Hock E. Tan Center for Molecular Therapeutics in Neuroscience

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26. Wilbur (Billy) and Ann Powers

Construction company founder and wife

$60 million

Biggest gift: $60 million to Clemson University

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27. David and Dana Dornsife

Chairman of the Board of the Herrick Corporation (David) and founder and CEO of Lazarex Cancer Foundation (Dana)

$59 million

Biggest gift: $40 million to World Vision

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28. Robert Smith

Financier

$55 million

Biggest gift: $50 million to Student Freedom Initiative

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29. Leon and Debra Black

Financier (Leon) and Broadway theater producer (Debra)

$53.8 million

Biggest gift: $53.8 million to Debra and Leon Black Family Fund at National Philanthropic Trust

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30. Gail Miller

Businesswoman

$52.8 million

Biggest gift: $50 million to Intermountain Healthcare

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31. Michael Jordan

Retired basketball player

$52 million

Biggest gift: Various

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32. Richard and Mary Templeton

CEO of Texas Instruments (Richard) and computer scientist (Mary)

$51 million

Biggest gift: $51 million to Union College

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33. (tie) Chris Malachowsky

Technology company co-founder

$50 million

Biggest gift: $50 million to University of Florida

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33. (tie) Gordon Rausser

Venture capitalist, former college dean

$50 million

Biggest gift: $50 million to University of California at Berkeley

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33. (tie) Sheldon and Anne Vogel

Former Atlantic Records executive and wife

$50 million

Biggest gift: $50 million to Monmouth Medical Center

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36. Ronald and Eileen Weiser

Real-estate developer and wife

$44.5 million

Biggest gift: $24.5 million to University of Michigan Elizabeth Weiser Caswell Diabetes Institute

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37. Bob and JoAnn Glick

Founder of Dots and wife

$42.4 million

Biggest gift: $42 million to MetroHealth System

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38. Jim and Thomas Duff

Businessmen

$41.1 million

Biggest gift: $26 million to University of Mississippi

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39. Richard and Nancy Kinder

Businessman and wife

$40.03 million

Biggest gift: $40.03 million to Kinder Foundation

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40. (tie) Marc and Lynne Benioff

Salesforce founder and wife

$40 million

Biggest gift: $10 million to Jane Goodall Legacy Foundation

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40. (tie) William and Joanne Conway

Private-equity firm co-founder and wife

$40 million

Biggest gifts: $20 million each to Catholic University of America and University of Virginia

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40. (tie) Haslam Family

Founders of Pilot Corporation

$40 million

Biggest gift: $40 million to University of Tennessee at Knoxville Haslam College of Business

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40. (tie) Will and Cary Singleton

Managers of Singleton Ranches

$40 million

Biggest gift: $40 million to Saint John’s Health Center Foundation

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44. Irvin Kanthak

Real-estate investor

$33.7 million

Biggest gift: $30 million to University of St. Thomas

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45. (tie) Bruce and Debra Grewcock

Kiewit Corporation executive chair and wife

$30 million

Biggest gift: $30 million to the Colorado School of Mines

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45. (tie) Daniel and Jennifer Hord

Real-estate developers

$30 million

Biggest gift: $30 million to Baylor University

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47. Joseph Gebbia Jr.

Airbnb co-founder

$27 million

Biggest gift: $12.5 million each to All Home and Rising Up-Larkin Street Youth Services

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48. Richard McVey

Financier

$25.9 million

Biggest gift: $20 million to Miami University

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49. Warner and Debbie Lusardi

Construction-company executive and wife

$25.1 million

Biggest gift: $25.1 million to Scripps Memorial Hospital

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50. (tie) Steve and Jackie Bell

Real-estate investor and wife

$25 million

Biggest gift: $25 million to University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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50. (tie) Christopher and Lisa Jeffries

Real-estate developer and wife

$25 million

Biggest gift: $25 million to Henry Ford Health System

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50. (tie) Brad and Alys Smith

Technology executive (Brad) and lawyer (Alys)

$25 million

Biggest gift: $25 million to Brad and Alys Smith Outdoor Economic Development Collaborative at West Virginia University

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50. (tie) Helena Theurer

Businesswoman

$25 million

Biggest gift: $25 million to Hackensack University Medical Center Foundation

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This article was provided to The Associated Press by the Chronicle of Philanthropy. The AP and the Chronicle receive support from the Lilly Endowment for coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits. The AP and the Chronicle are solely responsible for all content.

Archives for February 2021

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