WORLD NEWS FLASH by Kristopher Seals
HIGH SCHOOL SHOOTING IN MICHIGAN: United States
The nation is dealing with another high school shooting incident, this time in a town that will feel it for a long time.
On Nov. 30, a 15-year-old male entered Oxford High School and opened fire, killing four students and injuring at least eight other people, one being a teacher. Five minutes after the shooting was reported to 911, the shooter was apprehended. So far, there has been no motive given as to why the young man came to school that day and started firing.
Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard said in an evening press briefing that the weapon used was a 9mm Sig Sauer SP 2022, which was purchased by the teen’s father on Black Friday. The suspect had two 15-round magazines, including one with seven rounds left when he was apprehended.
Before the shooting happened, there were rumors of something happening at the school but nothing for certain. The fervor caused some parents to keep their children home that day.
Oxford is a relatively small town, with around 3,400 residents and roughly 30 miles north of Detroit.
NATIONS DISCUSS AIDS & COVID : WORLD
As the world observes the annual World AIDS Day (December 1), some have linked the deadly disease to the current COVID-19 pandemic.
In recognition, the White House issued the following:
“For decades, World AIDS Day has been recognized as an opportunity for people around the world to stand together in the fight against HIV. This year on World AIDS Day, we are focused on addressing health inequities and inequalities and ensuring that the voices of people with HIV are at the center of our work to end the HIV epidemic globally.
“While we have made remarkable progress in the 40 years since the first-known reported case of AIDS, this disease remains a serious public health challenge – and we join the international community to honor and remember the more than 36 million people, including 700,000 Americans, who have tragically died from AIDS-related illness since the start of the epidemic. We also renew our commitment to stand with the nearly 38 million people living with HIV around the world as we pursue our shared goal of ending the HIV epidemic.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has added to the challenges our heroic health care and frontline workers face, yet they continue to deliver essential HIV prevention services and provide vital care and treatment to people living with HIV. The pandemic has also interrupted HIV research and highlighted the work that still remains to achieve equitable access to HIV prevention, care, and treatment in every community – particularly for communities of color, adolescent girls and young women, and the LGBTQI+ community.”
Also, the United Nations gave this take:
“Two decades since the landmark General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS – the first ever on a health issue – HIV/AIDS has become a preventable and treatable disease.
The Assembly President attested to the importance of learning from mistakes made then, such as hiding diagnoses due to social stigma, misinformation on prevention or treatment, and policymakers who delayed action.
‘This meeting is an opportunity to discuss how the experience of fighting against HIV/AIDS can inform and guide effective, human rights sensitive, and people-centered responses to infectious diseases, such as COVID-19,’ said Mr. Shahid. ‘We have a responsibility to act.’
‘I call on all stakeholders to protect the human rights of all and ensure access to health services without stigma and discrimination.’
This year is also the 25th anniversary of the Joint UN Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), which united entities across the UN system to mobilize countries and communities globally to take action in combatting HIV/AIDS.
‘For four decades the program has provided global leadership, promoted policy consensus, strengthened the capacity of national Governments to develop comprehensive national HIV/AIDS strategies and of the UN system to monitor implementation,’ said ECOSOC President Collen Kelapile.”
FRENCH NATIONAL CHARGED: EUROPE
A French national is in trouble for his alleged role in an attempt to fraudulently gain control of the rights to sell a weight-loss drug in the United States, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig announced.
Alain Bouaziz, 68, a French citizen and resident of the United Arab Emirates, was arrested at Newark Liberty Airport while attempting to depart the United States. Bouaziz is charged by complaint with making false statements to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). He is scheduled to appear today by videoconference before U.S. Magistrate Judge Cathy L. Waldor.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court: Bouaziz is a French citizen and resident of the United Arab Emirates who represented himself to be the chief operating officer of Hexim Pharmaceuticals (Hexim), a company headquartered in Secaucus, New Jersey. Hexim was known as Alkopharma USA Inc. until its name was changed in June 2013.
Beginning in February 2018, Bouaziz submitted forged documents and made false statements to the FDA to fraudulently gain control of Sanorex, a weight-loss pharmaceutical owned by a major international pharmaceutical company (Pharmaceutical Company-1). Bouaziz sent letters and documents by email and in hard copy to the FDA falsely stating that Hexim had purchased the New Drug Application for Sanorex and requesting a meeting about marketing Sanorex in the United States.
Bouaziz knew these representations were false because Hexim had not purchased the rights to Sanorex from Pharmaceutical Company-1. The documents that Bouaziz submitted to the FDA contained multiple forgeries and false statements, including one example where an earlier agreement between Alkopharma and Pharmaceutical Company-1 had been altered to purport to show a sale of Sanorex to Hexim.
The false statements charge carries a maximum term of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss caused by the offense, whichever is greatest.
Acting U.S. Attorney Honig credited special agents of the Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Ebersole, with the investigation leading to the charges.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Hayden M. Brockett of the Health Care Fraud Unit in Newark.
The charge and allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
CONCERNS OVER ISRAEL-PALESTINE VIOLENCE: MIDDLE EAST
With violence continuing daily throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process urged the Security Council on Tuesday to adopt a more coordinated approach to the region.
Tor Wennesland told Council Members that “recent developments on the ground are worrying,” pointing out the situation in the West Bank and Gaza and the challenges faced by the Palestinian Authority.
“I therefore emphasize again the importance of concerted efforts by the parties to calm things on the ground. I am concerned that if we do not act quickly and decisively, we risk plunging into another deadly escalation of violence,” he warned.
He informed that, in the last month, violence resulted in the death of four Palestinians, including two children, and injuries to 90 others – including 12 children – due to action by Israeli Security Forces.
One Israeli civilian was killed in the same period, and nine civilians, including one woman and one child, and six members of ISF were injured.
Mr. Wennesland said that a severe fiscal and economic crisis is threatening the stability of Palestinian institutions in the West Bank.
At the same time, he added, “ongoing violence and unilateral steps, including Israeli settlement expansion, and demolitions, continue to raise tensions, feed hopelessness, erode the Palestinian Authority’s standing and further diminish the prospect of a return to meaningful negotiations.”
In Gaza, the cessation of hostilities continues to hold, but the Special Envoy argued that “further steps are needed by all parties to ensure a sustainable solution that ultimately enables a return of legitimate Palestinian Government institutions to the Strip.”
The Special Coordinator also said that “settler-related violence remains at alarmingly high levels.”
Overall, settlers and other Israeli civilians in the occupied West Bank perpetrated some 54 attacks against Palestinians, resulting in 26 injuries. Palestinians perpetrated 41 attacks against Israeli settlers and other civilians, resulting in one death and nine injuries.
