Widow stunned by 74% rent increase after Ontario company bought building

Robert Jones 

CBC


A recently widowed Saint John woman has been given notice of a 74 per cent rent increase on the apartment she shared with her late husband after an Ontario company bought her apartment building.


"You just can't come in and slap a 74 per cent rent increase on someone who is 66 years old on a pension," said Roxanne Cormier. She wants to see New Brunswick place limits on large rent increases people like her are experiencing.

"To me, it's unethical, it's not fair, and it's inhumane."

Cormier lost her husband in October. The couple have rented an apartment in a building on Sussex Drive in Saint John's north end for the last decade and most recently had been paying $775 per month.

In November, a numbered Ontario company set up by a Toronto real estate investor and an Alberta man bought the 50-year-old, six-unit structure for $746,000. That's double what the building sold for in 2011 and nearly double what assessors with Service New Brunswick still value it to be worth.

On Dec. 31, Cormier found an envelope taped to her apartment door with a letter inside informing her of a $575 per month increase in rent effective April 1, even though new rules in New Brunswick require tenants be given six months notice.

"The rent is increasing $575.00 from the current payment of $775.00 to the new rate of $1,350.00 per month," read the letter from the new property manager.

"Thank you for your anticipated cooperation in this matter."

© Eve Panaguiton/Facebook Eve Panaguiton is a Toronto-based real estate investor and deal maker who was behind the purchase of a six-unit building on Sussex Drive in Saint John in November. Tenants there have been hit with rent increase notices of up to 74 per cent. 'Landlords make money when they sleep,' she says on her social media pages.

Cormier said others got similar notices, including a tenant in her late 80s, who has lived in the building for 40 years.

"I got really mad and I thought 'OK, this is unethical'," said Cormier, who called in a complaint about her short notice and the size of her increase to New Brunswick's Residential Tenancies Tribunal.

"I am already seeing someone professionally for grief counselling, so I didn't really need to have this added stress," she said

"Where will I go? I just have CPP, Old Age and my widow's allowance. So it's like, where do I go? I was quite upset."

Sharon Delong is 72 and until recently was a neighbour of Cormier's in the same building. She was wary about what new owners might do and moved out in November after 37 years, just one month before the rent increase was announced.

"I could see the writing on the wall as soon as the place was going up for sale," said Delong, who raised both of her children in the building.

"I got out of there at a good time, but I really feel badly for the other tenants. I mean, this is not right. People are being taken advantage of. This is affecting the people living there all their lives. They're on a limited income and they have this happen. Where do they go? I think something has to be done."

© Robert Jones / CBC News This building on Sussex Drive in Saint John was built in the late 1960s. Service New Brunswick assesses it to be worth $396,800, but investors paid $746,000 for it in November.

The deal to buy the Sussex Drive building was put together by Toronto investor Eve Panaguiton, who calls herself "Real Estate Eve" and a "BRRRR specialist" (buy, rehab, rent, refinance, repeat) on her social media accounts.

Panaguiton did not respond to attempts to contact her about what is happening with the Saint John property, but in a talk earlier in 2021 posted on YouTube, she said she was "working on buying multiplexes out of town" after raising $7 million from investors in 2020.

Panaguiton acts as a managing partner in purchases by putting properties and buyers together and then splitting profits on deals "50/50."

Mortgage documents show Edmonton resident David Gordon Kirschner partnered with Panaguiton to form the numbered company that now owns the Sussex Drive building.

In New Brunswick, there is no set upper limit on how much rent can be increased by a landlord.

© CBC News file photo Service New Brunswick Minister Mary Wilson told the legislature in November there is no set amount of a rent increase in New Brunswick that is too high. 'We cannot put a dollar amount on what is reasonable,' she said.

In November, Mary Wilson, the minister responsible for the Residential Tenancies Tribunal, told the legislature there is "no numerical threshold" for judging when a rent increase is too high.

"We cannot put a dollar amount on what is reasonable," Wilson said.

However, the tribunal can strike down a rent increase if a tenant files an objection within 30 days and an investigation finds the new amount is above market rates in the area "based on the unit's current condition compared to similar units in the same neighborhood."

According to figures kept by the tribunal, it has had 21 applications for a "revision of a rent increase" since New Brunswick laws were updated on Dec. 17. Seven applications have been successful so far and 14 are still pending.

Rent increases that are denied apply only to the tenant who has objected and not to others in a building who may have gotten similar increases but have not filed an objection.

"The Residential Tenancies Tribunal is only able to review a rental increase if the tenant submits a request," said Jennifer Vienneau, the communications director with Service New Brunswick.

Landlords denied a rent increase can raise the rent by a lesser amount by issuing a new notice.

Cormier's property manager initially disputed she was entitled to six months' notice but has since acknowledged she was right and has agreed to reissue rent increase letters to tenants in the building

Cormier said she would like to see renters receive protections similar to what New Brunswick homeowners have against spikes in their property tax bills.

Without renovations, New Brunswick homeowners cannot be charged property tax on assessment increases above 10 per cent in a single year. Increases above that have to be phased in over multiple years.

"I understand you have to put rent up," she said. "But if it needs to be five hundred more dollars, then you need to do it once a year in increments."

"What about the little person? We have to have some protection."

Hundreds protest possible lithium mining in Serbia

A Tsunami Advisory Has Just Been Issued For BC After A Volcano Erupted In Tonga

© Provided by Narcity

The underwater volcano in the Pacific Ocean erupted on Saturday, sending large waves crashing across the shores of the South Pacific islands and flooding Tonga's capital city Nuku'alofa.

Now, a tsunami advisory has been issued for the north coast and Haida Gwaii, the central coast and northeast Vancouver Island, the outer west coast of Vancouver Island, and the Juan de Fuca Strait coast.

"Wave activity" is expected in Langara at 8:30 a.m. PT and Tofino at 8:50 a.m. PT.

People in coastal areas that are at risk are advised to stay away from the shoreline.

© Provided by NarcityEmergencyInfoBC

If you are in a tsunami advisory area, you should:
Get out of the water, off the beach, and stay away from harbours, marinas, breakwaters, bays and inlets.
Not return to the coast until local emergency officials say it is safe to do so.

People who own boats have been told to move their vessels out to sea to a depth of at least 180 feet.

According to CNN, the eruption has also prompted tsunami advisories for New Zealand's North Island and the west coast of the United States from California to Alaska.

This article’s cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.

Volcano eruption triggers tsunami advisories along entire West Coast

The explosive eruption of an undersea volcano set off a 5.8-magnitude earthquake near Tonga Saturday, powerful enough to trigger tsunami advisories for the entire North American West Coast including British Columbia.

The eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai underwater volcano, situated about 65 km, north of Nuku'alofa, generated a 1.2-metre tsunami, Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said. It elicited an earthquake that registered at a 5.8 magnitude.

RELATED: Tsunami observed in American Samoa after Tonga volcano erupts

Shockwaves from the eruption made their way across the entire globe and the sound was heard as far away as Alaska.

© Provided by The Weather Network

Tsunami waves were recorded in Tonga's capital and the capital of American Samoa, according to a U.S.-based tsunami monitor. There have been reports of rocks falling from the sky.

As a result, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) issued tsunami advisories for much of B.C.'s coastal regions. People in coastal areas that are at risk are advised to stay away from the shoreline and heed instructions from local authorities.

"There is a possibility of strong localized currents. No significant inundation is expected, but low-lying coastal areas and beaches may be at risk. A tsunami is a series of waves. The first wave may not be the largest," the advisory from ECCC reads.

© Provided by The Weather Network

In the U.S., the mainland tsunami advisory extends from California's border with Mexico to Attu Island at the tip of Alaska's Aleutian Islands.

It was reported that Hawaii, which has now been dropped from the tsunami advisories, was already seeing tsunami waves of up to 0.82 metres, with accounts of boats being lifted out of the water onto docks, but no inundation cited. High waves were also spotted in Alaska, and are expected to hit the Oregon and southern Washington coast shortly.

In Tonga, video was captured of tsunami waves hitting shore and people higher ground.

The large eruption was seen from space and verified to be the cause of the tsunami, which swept through buildings, fences, roads and cars in Tonga not long after it occurred.

With files from Reuters.

Thumbnail courtesy of NOAA/NESDIS Regional and Mesoscale Meteorology Branch (RAMMB)/Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA).

Noise from underwater volcanic eruption across the Pacific heard in the Yukon

Luke Carroll 4 hrs ago

© Mary Lyn Fonua/AFP/Getty Images This picture taken on December 21, 2021 shows white gaseous clouds rising from the Hunga Ha'apai eruption seen from the Patangata coastline near Tongan capital Nuku'alofa. Noise caused from the eruption could be…

Some Yukon residents woke up to loud sonic booms and shaking homes after an underwater volcano erupted across the Pacific Ocean.

The U.S. National Weather Service posted on Facebook that loud booming sounds heard in Alaska are the result of shock waves from an underwater volcanic eruption in Tonga that have finally reached North America.

Several residents in Haines Junction, Whitehorse and other parts of the territory posted about the sound in various Facebook groups.

Georgina Widney, who lives in the Ibex Valley about 50 km outside of Whitehorse toward Haines Junction, said she awoke sometime between 5 and 6:30 a.m. to her house shaking.

"We heard a little bit of rumbling and we thought someone was on our deck or an animal," she said.

Widney said she and her husband went outside, as did many of their neighbours, where it sounded as though the noise was coming from the sky.

"It got really loud," she said.

She compared the noise to that of a large truck passing by and said the sound lasted for about an hour.

The sound could also be heard in Whitehorse where Elise Maltin said it woke her at about 6:45 a.m.

"I was asleep and then it dawned on me that I was hearing some noise," she said. "I couldn't figure out what it was."

Maltin said it sounded like a thumping noise, comparable to a jet taking off. She said she experienced an earthquake five years ago, which sounded similar.

As a result of the volcanic eruption, the U.S. National Weather service is warning of a possible tsunami in Alaska. The Canadian government issued an tsunami advisory for the B.C. coast.

Maltin said her thoughts are with the people affected in Tonga and that she immediately reached out to a friend in Alaska when she heard the news.

But she added the experience was interesting way to start off her Saturday.

"There are some really sad parts," Maltin said. "But as a natural occurrence it was pretty interesting to hear something like that."

Global vaccine-sharing programme reaches milestone of 1 billion doses
By Francesco Guarascio 

© Reuters/MONICAH MWANGI FILE PHOTO: 

A consignment of AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccines in Kitengela

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The COVAX global vaccine-sharing programme has delivered 1 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses, one of the organisations which manages it said on Saturday.

Supplies to poorer nations have long been very limited because of lack of vaccines, as wealthier states secured most of the doses initially available from December 2020.

But in the last quarter shipments have exponentially increased, allowing COVAX to reach the milestone of 1 billion doses shipped to 144 countries, said Gavi, which co-leads the programme alongside the World Health Organization (WHO).

COVAX was launched in 2020 with the goal of delivering 2 billion doses by the end of 2021, but was slowed by wealthier states' initial hoarding of limited shots, export restrictions and frequent changes https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/global-vaccines-project-revamp-rules-after-britain-got-more-than-botswana-2021-09-27 within its organisation.

The program began delivering vaccine doses in February 2021. About one-third have been donated by rich nations, despite COVAX's initial plans to supply only jabs procured directly by the programme with a budget of over $10 billion in donors' funds.

The change of strategy has led to delays, as donors have often requested to send doses to countries selected by them.

Despite the recent surge in deliveries, vaccine inequity remains high. The latest WHO data shows 67% of the population in richer nations have been fully vaccinated, compared with only 5% in poorer nations. Over 40% of the world's population has not yet received a first dose.

Gavi, a vaccine alliance which co-manages COVAX, is seeking more funds to reach the WHO's goal of vaccinating 70% of the population in poorer nations by July.

(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio; Editing by Mike Harrison)

Scientists Found a Healthier Way to Cook Broccoli, But There's a Catch

Signe Dean

 1 day ago

In recent years, broccoli has gained a reputation as an excellent vegetable due to its high levels of a particularly beneficial compound called sulforaphane.

© Wu et al., J. Agric. Food Chem, 2018

With some early-stage studies showing how this compound plays a role in blood sugar control and potentially even has anti-cancer benefits, it's no wonder that broccoli pills are on the rise.

However, a 2011 study showed that eating the whole vegetable gets you more sulforaphane than taking a supplement – so a team of Chinese researchers decided to try and find the best way to cook broccoli.

They arrived at a clear winner, publishing their results in 2018 in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry – but it's a tough sell if you have better things to do with your time.

There's a method behind the madness, though. Sulforaphane doesn't just sit there in the broccoli florets, ready to be consumed. Instead, the vegetable contains several compounds called glucosinolates.

It also contains the enzyme myrosinase, which plants have evolved for defending themselves against herbivores. Through what's known as 'myrosinase activity', the glucosinolates get transformed into sulforaphane, which is what we want.

To kick myrosinase activity into gear, you need to do damage to the broccoli, so you'd think cooking would do the trick.

Unfortunately, studies have shown that common broccoli cooking methods, like boiling and microwaving, seriously reduce the amount of glucosinolates in the vegetable – even if you just zap it for a couple minutes. And myrosinase is super-sensitive to heat, too.

Hence, by far the largest amount of sulforaphane you can get from broccoli is by munching on raw florets. Ugh.

This got the team of researchers thinking about the results of stir-frying – the single most popular method for preparing vegetables in China.

"Surprisingly, few methods have reported the sulforaphane concentrations in stir-fried broccoli, and to the best of our knowledge, no report has focused on sulforaphane stability in the stir-frying process," the researchers noted in their study.

The team bought a bunch of broccoli from the local market and set to work, measuring the levels of compounds in the vegetables as they went.

First, they basically pulverized the broccoli, chopping it into 2-millimeter pieces to get as much myrosinase activity going as possible (remember, the activity happens when broccoli is damaged).

Then, they divided their samples into three groups – one was left raw, one was stir-fried for four minutes straight after chopping, and the third was chopped and then left alone for 90 minutes before being stir-fried for four minutes as well.

The 90-minute waiting period was to see whether the broccoli would have more time to develop the beneficial compounds before being lightly cooked.

And that's exactly what the team found – the broccoli that was stir-fried right away had 2.8 times less sulforaphane than the one left to 'develop' for longer.

"Our results suggest that after cutting broccoli florets into small pieces, they should be left for about 90 minutes before cooking," the team concluded, adding that they didn't test it but thought "30 minutes would also be helpful."

We're not sure we're willing to commit to all that effort, though. The team does say they're looking into ways to reduce the chopping needed, so watch this space – or just eat some raw broccoli.

The study was published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

An earlier version of this article was first published in February 2018.

UK's Labour take 10-point opinion poll lead over scandal-hit Johnson, its biggest lead 

since 2013

Fri., January 14, 2022

Britain's Labour Party Conference

LONDON (Reuters) - The scandal engulfing British Prime Minister Boris Johnson over his conduct during coronavirus lockdowns has helped the opposition Labour Party to pull into a 10 point lead over the ruling Conservatives in a new opinion poll released on Friday.

Johnson apologised to parliament on Wednesday and to Queen Elizabeth on Friday following a series of parties or gatherings that were held in his Downing Street residence at times when the country was under strict pandemic curbs.

Pollster Savanta ComRes said a survey of 2,151 adults on Thursday and Friday put Labour up 5 points to 42% of the vote while the Conservatives fell one point to 32%. It said that marked Labour's largest share of the vote since 2013.

Johnson secured a landslide election victory in 2019. The poll said that 70% of respondents now want him to resign.

Johnson's office apologised to the queen after it emerged that staff had partied on April 16, 2021, late into the night in Downing Street on the eve of her husband Prince Philip's funeral, at a time when mixing indoors was banned.

Johnson apologised to parliament after he admitted he had attended a "bring your own booze" gathering at his residence in May 2020 during the country's first lockdown.

The ComRes poll showed that voters across the political spectrum were angry with the revelations, with only 66% of those who backed the Conservatives in the 2019 election giving their support to the party now.

(Reporting by Kate Holton; editing by Grant McCool)

Kazakh ex-leader's in-laws leave key energy sector jobs

NUR-SULTAN (Reuters) - Two members of former Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev's extended family have resigned from the leadership of state oil and gas shipping companies, the Central Asian nation's sovereign fund said on Saturday.

© Reuters/MUKHTAR KHOLDORBEKOV FILE PHOTO: 

Former Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev attends President Tokayev's inauguration ceremony

Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan's leader for three decades before his resignation in 2019, retained sweeping powers until last week, when his successor Kassym-Jomart Tokayev took over from Nazarbayev as security council chairman amid violent unrest.

The 81-year-old former leader has not appeared in public since the protests erupted on Jan. 4, and Tokayev's critical comments about him have prompted suggestions the two had fallen out before Tokayev sidelined his former patron.

On Saturday, the sovereign fund Samruk-Kazyna said in a statement that Kairat Sharipbayev and Dimash Dossanov had quit as chief executives of state oil pipeline firm KazTransOil and natural gas pipeline operator QazaqGaz respectively.

Sharipbayev is married to the former president's eldest daughter Dariga Nazarbayeva, her son has said on social media. Neither Sharipbayev nor Dariga Nazarbayeva have commented on their relationship. Dossanov is the husband of Aliya Nazarbayeva, Nazarbayev's youngest daughter.

Samruk-Kazyna gave no reasons for their resignations.

Tokayev said this week he wanted Nazarbayev's associates to share their wealth with the public by making regular donations to a new charity foundation.

Last week's protests in the oil-rich nation were triggered by a jump in the price of car fuel in the western Mangistau province.

On Saturday, the authorities said they had detained a deputy energy minister and several other officials who they believe were responsible for the "unjustified" price increase.

(Reporting by Tamara Vaal; Writing by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Ros Russell)

Kazakhstan activists recall path from protest to bloodshed

By KIRILL ZARUBIN and DASHA LITVINOVA

FOTOS 1 of 18

Riot police prepare to block protesters in the center of Almaty, Kazakhstan, Jan. 5, 2022. At demonstrations in the largest city of Almaty, protesters say groups of armed men reportedly joined the peaceful rallies and urged them to storm police stations and government buildings. (Vladimir Tretyakov/NUR.KZ via AP, File)

ALMATY, Kazakhstan (AP) — The mass protests in Kazakhstan began peacefully over the New Year’s weekend, with marchers denouncing a sharp rise in fuel prices. They spread quickly from the western part of the Central Asian nation to more populous areas, eventually reaching its largest city of Almaty.

But something changed over the course of a week.

Groups of armed men appeared in Almaty, with some seen riding in cars without license plates or with their faces covered. Marchers at the peaceful protests say these men began urging them to storm government buildings, promising to give them guns.

Clashes with police soon broke out, and by the night of Jan. 5, Almaty was in chaos. City Hall was burning, as were cars and buses; stores were looted; and attempts were made to storm the presidential residence. Gunshots were heard in the streets, the internet was blacked out, and even the airport was briefly seized.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has blamed the unrest on “terrorists” who received foreign training and support.

But nearly two weeks after the events that led to scores of deaths and about 16,000 arrests, the government has not presented any evidence to support its allegation of outside involvement.

It remains unclear whether these more violent actors were individuals taking advantage of the mayhem to loot and vandalize stores, or if they were part of organized groups with larger political motives.

Protesters, however, say their rallies were somehow undermined, leading to the crackdown by security forces. Tokayev has said authorities didn’t use force at peaceful demonstrations.

Although the protests began over the higher price of fuel, the scope and the agenda of the demonstrations expanded quickly. Large crowds rallied in major cities, venting their frustration with worsening living conditions and inequality under the authoritarian government that has maintained a tight grip on power for over three decades in the energy-rich nation of 19 million.

Much of that occurred under longtime leader Nursultan Nazarbayev, who stepped down in 2019 in favor of Tokayev, his hand-picked successor, but has maintained behind-the-scenes influence. The slogan “Shal ket!” — “Old man go!” — was chanted at rallies.

“A significant part of the people are those who came at the call of their hearts to express their attitude towards the authorities, because they are tired, because they do not feel like the state is providing them with social security,” said human rights activist Galym Ageleuov, president of the Liberty Foundation.

Tokayev initially tried to calm the crowds by announcing a 180-day cap on fuel prices and removing Nazarbayev as head of the National Security Council, a move widely seen as an attempt to end the former leader’s patronage while also consolidating power.

But the protests continued and the violence escalated amid the peaceful rallies in Almaty.

A protester whose first name is Bezshan said that on Jan. 5, armed men approached and asked young people in the crowd to help them storm a police station. “They said they would hand out weapons,” he told The Associated Press, recalling the incident more than a week later. AP has chosen not to publish the full names of protesters interviewed out of caution for their security.

Beken, another protester, said he also saw “provocateurs” at the rally that day, urging an attack on police: “We tried to stop them as much as we could, telling them: ‘Everyone, stay put.’ We don’t need weapons, we came out to a peaceful rally,” he said.

On Jan. 6, security forces opened fire and killed dozens of protesters. At least 12 officers also were reported killed. The next day, Tokayev announced he had given security forces shoot-to-kill orders to halt the violent unrest, saying: “We intend to act with maximum severity regarding lawbreakers.”

Almaty police spokeswoman Saltynat Azirbek called the Jan. 5 attack on the police department “a proper battle.”

The attackers “didn’t put forward any demands,” she told reporters. “They deliberately came to destroy, to kill.”

She also insisted police were unarmed when working at unsanctioned demonstrations in Almaty, but she didn’t clarify whether she meant the Jan. 6 rally.

Amid the bloodshed, Tokayev also called in troops from the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a Russia-led military alliance of six former Soviet states, which helped restore order.

Some saw the blaming of foreign instigators as a pretext for bringing in the mostly Russian forces.

“In order to invite Russian troops, you need a serious reason ... that is not an internal standoff with the people,” political analyst Dimash Alzhayev said in an interview. “So naturally, (the authorities) needed to come up with terrorists.”

A protester named Marat told AP that the authorities “haven’t so far showed us a single terrorist,” citing only the highly publicized arrest of Vikram Ruzakhunov, a well-known jazz pianist from neighboring Kyrgyzstan.

The musician appeared on Kazakh television after his arrest with large bruises on his face and said in the broadcast he had flown in and was promised money for participating in the protests.

Kyrgyz authorities protested Ruzakhunov’s arrest and demanded that Kazakhstan release him. He was freed shortly afterward, and upon returning to Kyrgyzstan said his statement on Kazakh TV was false — he was visiting a friend in Almaty and got swept up while trying to leave the city.

Ruzakhnunov told a Kyrgyz broadcaster that while in jail, his cellmates said the quickest way to get released was to confess to a false story, so that’s what he did.

Alzhanov, the analyst, noted that Kazakh state broadcasters amplified the government’s message by repeatedly airing video of the turmoil.

“They continued broadcasting the visuals, so the government was interested in communicating them to a broad audience,” he said, adding that the state of emergency that was declared provided a pretext to suppress the demonstrations with force.

A protester named Daulet told AP that he believed the “security forces deliberately painted the protesters as some kind of a fringe group prepared to riot.”

Beken, the protester who described seeing what he called “provocateurs,” criticized the security forces “for shooting at their own people.” He said a Jan. 6 rally he attended featured protesters walking toward the military with a white flag.

“It is unfathomable. I can’t understand it. How is this possible?” he said.

REST IN POWER
Former federal NDP leader Alexa McDonough dies at 77

HALIFAX — Former federal NDP leader Alexa McDonough, a political trailblazer who paved the way for women in politics, died Saturday in Halifax at the age of 77.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Her family confirmed McDonough's death after a lengthy struggle with Alzheimer’s disease.

McDonough became the first woman to head up a major political party in Canada when she was elected leader of the Nova Scotia New Democrats in 1980. She became leader of the federal NDP in 1995 and served in the party's top post until 2002.

But in an interview Saturday, Justin McDonough said his mother was a consensus builder who earned respect beyond partisan political lines.

"I think the one thing that I really learned from her is that you can have courageous conversations and you can disagree with someone, but it doesn't mean that you aren't going to be respectful and you're not going to appreciate their opinion," he said. "Her political life resonated in that regard."

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston paid tribute in a statement calling McDonough an historic figure in provincial and federal politics.

"The hallmark of Ms. McDonough's long career was her respect for the people she represented," Houston said. "She was a public servant in the truest sense and she will be sorely missed by people across Canada."

Known affectionately to many across the country as simply "Alexa," McDonough was a former social worker who cut her political teeth in the Nova Scotia Liberal Party before switching to the provincial NDP in 1974.

After capturing the party's leadership, she became the first New Democrat from mainland Nova Scotia to sit in the provincial legislature when she was elected in a Halifax area riding in 1981. She was the party's lone voice in the legislature over the next three years.

"These are accomplishments of real historic stature," said Gary Burrill, the current leader of the Nova Scotia NDP. "She is a big person on the landscape in the history of the province."

Burrill said Nova Scotia New Democrats have suffered a significant loss and are a "party in mourning."

McDonough resigned as provincial leader in 1994 and later made the jump to federal politics, where she mounted a challenge for the national party's top job in 1995. She won the federal NDP leadership in an upset over perceived front-runners Svend Robinson and Lorne Nystrom.

She was elected to the House of Commons for the first time during the 1997 federal election, while her party's seat count went from nine to 21. That total included a breakthrough in Atlantic Canada, where the New Democrats took six of Nova Scotia's 11 seats.

"That was a moment that broke the mould of Nova Scotia politics which had been in place for over a century," Burrill said.

McDonough made her mark federally as a champion of strong social programs and gender equality. She retired from politics in 2008.

Born Alexa Ann Shaw in Ottawa on Aug. 11, 1944, she adopted the name known across the country when she married Peter McDonough in Halifax in 1966.

McDonough was an Officer of the Order of Canada and a member of the Order of Nova Scotia and is a past president of Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax.

She is survived by her sons, Justin and Travis, along with seven grandchildren.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 15, 2022.

Keith Ducette, The Canadian Press

CDC encourages more Americans to consider N95 masks


Registered nurse Scott McGieson wears an N95 mask as he walks out of a patient's room in the acute care unit of Harborview Medical Center, Friday, Jan. 14, 2022, in Seattle. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is deploying 100 members of the state National Guard to hospitals across the state amid staff shortages due to an omicron-fueled spike in COVID-19 hospitalizations. Inslee announced Thursday that teams will be deployed to assist four overcrowded emergency departments at hospitals in Everett, Yakima, Wenatchee and Spokane, and that testing teams will be based at hospitals in Olympia, Richland, Seattle and Tacoma. 

(AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials on Friday encouraged more Americans to wear the kind of N95 or KN95 masks used by health-care workers to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Those kinds of masks are considered better at filtering the air. But they were in short supply previously, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials had said they should be prioritized for health care workers.

In updated guidance posted late Friday afternoon, CDC officials removed concerns related to supply shortages and more clearly said that properly fitted N95 and KN95 masks offer the most protection.

However, agency officials noted some masks are harder to tolerate than others, and urged people to choose good-fitting masks that they will wear consistently.

“Our main message continues to be that any mask is better than no mask,” Kristen Nordlund, a CDC spokeswoman, said in a statement.

The CDC has evolved its mask guidance throughout the pandemic.

In its last update, in September, CDC officials became more encouraging of disposable N95 masks, saying they could be used in certain situations if supplies were available. Examples included being near a lot of people for extended periods of time on a train, bus or airplane; taking care of someone in poor health; or being more susceptible to severe illness.

On Thursday, President Joe Biden announced that his administration was planning to make “high-quality masks,” including N95s, available for free. He said more details were coming next week. The federal government has a stockpile of more than 750 million N95 masks, the White House said.

The latest CDC guidance notes that there is a special category of “surgical N95” masks, that are specially designed for protection against blood splashes and other operating room hazards. Those are not generally available for sale to the public, and should continue to be reserved for health care workers, the agency said.


The Associated Press Health & Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

ESSENTIAL WORKERS

Garbage and recyclables pile up as omicron takes its toll

By TRAVIS LOLLER

1 of 7

Trash sits out for collection in Philadelphia, Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022. The omicron variant is sickening so many sanitation workers around the U.S. that waste collection in Philadelphia and other cities has been delayed or suspended. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)


NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The omicron variant is sickening so many sanitation workers around the U.S. that some cities have had to delay or suspend garbage or recycling pickup, angering residents shocked that governments can’t perform this most basic of functions.

The slowdowns have caused recycling bins full of Christmas gift boxes and wrapping paper to languish on Nashville curbs, trash bags to pile up on Philadelphia streets, and uncollected yard waste — grass clippings, leaves, branches — to block sidewalks in Atlanta.

“It’s just a shame,” said Madelyn Rubin, who lives in Jacksonville, Florida, where officials have halted recycling.

“You know that they could find the money to do it if they wanted to,” she said. “If it was a business that wanted to come in here, they would dump money in to make it happen.”

Cities including Atlanta, Nashville and Louisville are so shorthanded they have temporarily stopped collecting things like recyclable bottles, cans, paper and plastic, yard waste or oversized junk to focus on the grosser, smellier stuff. The delays are more than an annoyance to residents, creating problems such as clogged storm drains and 

Nashville City Council member Freddie O’Connell was just as surprised as his constituents when he received notice before Christmas that the city was halting curbside recycling.

“I was just stunned there wasn’t an alternative or a back-up plan,” he said. “No hotline for people who are mobility impaired or don’t have reliable access to a car” to carry their recyclables to a central drop-off site. In Nashville, staffing shortages exacerbated a problem that includes not enough working garbage trucks and a contract with a bankrupt private trash collector.

“It feels like a failure of governance,” he added.

The garbage crisis is actually the third of the pandemic. The first happened in the spring of 2020, when COVID-19 took hold in the U.S. Problems arose again as the delta variant spiked over the summer.

The Solid Waste Association of North America warned government officials and trash haulers in December to “plan now for staffing shortages.”

The highly contagious variant hit just when Americans were generating a lot of trash — over the Christmas holidays. Combine that with a relatively low vaccination level among front-line sanitation workers and you have a “perfect storm for delayed collection,” the association’s executive director, David Biderman, said this week.

In some communities, up to a quarter of the waste-collection workforce is calling in sick, Biderman said.

Garbage collection has become just another of the many basic services disrupted by omicron. Around the U.S., teachers, firefighters, police officers and transit workers have been out sick in large numbers.

“We’re getting calls, emails, everything. People are understandably frustrated,” said Atlanta City Council member Liliana Bakhtiari.

Atlanta officials said Monday that because of the worker shortage, recycling and yard waste will be picked up “as staffing allows.”

Los Angeles said delays in the collection of recyclables could continue through the month.

In Louisville, Kentucky, sanitation workers stopped picking up yard waste in early January until further notice. Residents can drop off branches and clippings at Christmas tree collection sites.

New York City, which boasts the largest municipal sanitation force in the world, had around 2,000 of its 7,000 workers out because of the latest round of the coronavirus, but the rest are working long hours to clear a backlog of waste. The city has not suspended any services.

Harry Nespoli, president of the union local representing the city’s sanitation workers, said some are coming back after quarantining, while others are testing positive for the virus: “Right now it’s a swinging door.”

In Philadelphia, sometimes called Filthadelphia because of the condition of its streets, around 10% to 15% of the 900-person sanitation workforce is out on any given day, leading to delays in waste collection, according to Streets Commissioner Carlton Williams.

“When people are out, we can’t just hire to replace them,” he said. “We have to give them time to get well.”

To keep the trash from piling up, some municipalities are hiring temporary workers or contracting with private haulers. Some are offering signing or retention bonuses or pay raises.

Chattanooga, Tennessee, increased starting wages for drivers by more than 40%, from just over $31,500 to $45,000.

That allowed the city to restore recycling collection in November after halting it in July and continue routine pickups despite the omicron surge, said spokesperson Mary Beth Ikard.

COVID, China, climate: Online Davos event tackles big themes

File picture taken Jan.24, 2021 shows a police security guard

 on the roof of a hotel ahead of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. 

THE CAPITALIST STATE IS ARMED AND DANGEROUS 

(AP Photo/Markus Schreiber,file)


GENEVA (AP) — The coronavirus pandemic has forced the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting of world leaders, business executives and other heavyweights to go virtual for the second year in a row, but organizers still hope to catapult the world into thinking about the future with a scaled-down online version this week.

The gathering, an online alternative to the event typically held in the Swiss ski town of Davos, will feature speeches by the leaders of countries including China, India, Israel, Japan and Germany as well as panel discussions with business, government and philanthropy figures like Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert who will talk about COVID-19, and Bill Gates and John Kerry, who are expected to discuss climate change.

Organizers still hope their plans for a larger in-person gathering can go ahead this summer. Until then, here are five things to watch at next week’s online event:

CHINA LOOMS LARGE

President Xi Jinping, who hasn’t left China since the coronavirus emerged in early 2020, will be beamed in — just like last year — as perhaps the top headliner of the event.

He traditionally uses appearances at international gatherings like Davos to appeal for cooperation to fight climate change and the coronavirus and lambast what Beijing sees as U.S. efforts to hold back China’s rise and dominate global governance.

In a speech Monday, Xi could well again tout changes that Beijing says are opening the state-dominated economy and reject complaints that it wants to detach from international trade. His comments reflect the ruling Communist Party’s desire for global influence to match China’s status as the second-largest economy.

Keep an eye out for any mention of self-ruled Taiwan, which China considers part of its territory and has threatened to attack, and claims to the South and East China Seas or parts of the Himalayas, which have kindled tension with its neighbors.

MODI’S MOOD

One of those neighbors with tense ties to China is India, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi also takes the virtual floor Monday.

During the 8-year-old tenure of Modi, the star of the Hindu nationalist BJP party, India has seen an upswing in attacks against the Muslim minority. India’s political parties are gearing up for state elections, just two months after Modi’s government made a rare retreat on an agricultural reform bill that drew huge protests from farmers.

The campaign has drawn crowds of tens of thousands, even as the omicron variant, like elsewhere, has driven a surge in COVID-19 cases.

HOPING FOR A POST-COVID WORLD

It’s impossible for the Davos crowd to overlook the health crisis that has upended its plans for the last two years.

The pandemic gets a top billing on Monday, with Fauci and the CEO of vaccine maker Moderna joining a panel discussion that addresses what’s next for COVID-19, which has taken several big turns as the omicron variant sweeps the globe.

On Tuesday, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is certain to promote his often-repeated call for greater vaccine equity at a panel on the subject. Many developing countries remain far behind their rich counterparts when it comes to access to vaccines. WHO says greater vaccine equity can help prevent the emergence of worrisome, highly transmissible variants like omicron.

TECH ON TAP

Climate change and energy — along with a regional look at Latin America — get top billing Wednesday, with a speech by the Saudi energy minister and a look at how the world transitions from its dependence on fossil fuels. Kerry, the special envoy for climate under U.S. President Joe Biden, joins Davos stalwart Gates — recent author of “How to Avert a Climate Disaster” — on a panel on climate innovation.

TECHNOLOGY, TRADE AND THE ECONOMY

True to its name, the economic forum never strays far from the world of business activity. The week rounds out with discussions on issues like capitalism for a sustainable future, trade at a time of strained global supply chains, and how government actions are needed to produce sustainable and equitable recovery after the pandemic.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen gets the last word Friday with a talk at the virtual forum, where she has an opportunity to promote President Joe Biden’s plans to reengage globally to prevent new environmental catastrophes. Amid the pandemic and rapidly rising inflation, the former Federal Reserve chair also could touch on financial recovery efforts, the administration’s $1 trillion infrastructure law and her support for a global corporate minimum tax agreed to by more than 130 countries.

___

AP Business Writer Joe McDonald in Beijing and Fatima Hussein in Washington contributed.

Tunisia: Protesters mark 2011 uprising despite ban

Police fired tear gas and water cannons as demonstrators defied coronavirus restrictions and took to the streets to protest President Kais Saied's grip on power.


Friday's protests saw heavy security presence as the opposition had said they would demonstrate despite a ban

Tunisian police on Friday used tear gas and water cannons against protesters demonstrating against President Kais Saied in the capital Tunis.

Hundreds of protesters gathered despite restrictions imposed the day before to curb the spread of COVID infections.

Friday marks 11 years since the fall of former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, which started the so-called Arab Spring, a wave of uprisings toppling dictators in the Middle East.

However, Saied decreed last year that the anniversary would instead fall on the December date of a street vendor's suicide that triggered the uprising.

Police tried to disperse protesters as they marched toward Avenue Habib Bourguiba, the stage for protests since the 2011 uprising

Protests against the president

Protesters on Friday chanted slogans like "down with the coup," referring to Saied's sacking of the government and freezing parliament last July.

Some Tunisians welcomed his moves. But his opponents, the powerful moderate Islamist Ennahdha party, have been particularly angered.

Ennahdha supporters view Saied's move as a power takeover, reminiscent of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi's crackdown on the Islamist opposition.

"Preventing free Tunisians from protesting on the revolution anniversary is shameful... and is an attack on freedoms and represents a big decline under the coup authorities," said Imed Khemiri, an Ennahda member of the suspended parliament.

In a statement, the party "strongly" condemned the use of power against peaceful protesters.

"Today Saied's only response to opponents is with force and the security forces... it is so sad to see Tunisia like a barracks on the date of our revolution," said Chayma Issa, an opposition activist.
What are the COVID restrictions in Tunisia?

On Thursday, Tunisian authorities brought in a string of measures to curb a steep rise in coronavirus infections.

The restrictions include a curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. local time. The presidency also ordered "the postponement or cancellation of all public gatherings or demonstrations, in closed or open spaces."

Opposition parties, including Ennahda, said the move was politically motivated and insisted on protesting on Friday.

After its third COVID wave last summer, Tunisia's daily COVID infections record had been in the low hundreds throughout December. But on Monday, the cases topped 4,800 a day.

According to Johns Hopkins University, the country of 12 million has roughly six million people fully vaccinated against COVID.

fb/wd (AFP, Reuters, AP)

Malaysia: Buddhist monks fight to protect mountain home

A cave monastery facing eviction by a Malaysian cement company may be the last hope for a unique karst ecosystem.



Monks live and practice their faith in limestone caves in Kinta Valley, Malaysia, but this way of life and unique ecosystem are under threat


A cool breeze sweeps through the Dhamma Sakyamuni Monastery. Sitting cross-legged on the polished stone floor, monks meditate silently under the gaze of a Buddha painted gold. Above them, stalactites hang from the rough limestone ceiling.

This is one of the last remaining limestone cave temples in Malaysia. It sits nestled into the foot of Mount Kanthan, one of 12 limestone hills that rise up from the Kinta Valley in the Malaysian state of Perak. There are currently some 15 Buddhist monks living and practicing their faith in these caves.

But the peace here is fragile. Outside the monastery, explosions can be heard echoing through the valley like gunfire. This is the sound of the mountain — and neighboring peaks — being blasted with dynamite to extract limestone that will be used to make cement.


The untouched karst ecosystem is lush and green, compared to the neighboring quarried site

The Perak state government has leased Mount Kanthan to Associated Pan Malaysia Cement (APMC) for quarrying since the early 1960s. The mountain has been divided into four zones, two of which are already being quarried. The contrast is dramatic: The richly forested southerly two zones butt against the barren expanse of pale rock and rubble of the quarried zones to the north.

AMPC is in the process of applying for permits to begin work in one of the so-far untouched zones, where the monastery is situated. But first it has to evict the monks, whom it says have no legal right to be there.
A spiritual sanctuary

Mount Kanthan is an impressive example of karst topography, where soft, porous limestone has naturally eroded to create sculptural networks of valleys, caves and sinkholes. These are home to a great diversity of specially adapted plants and animals — and have long drawn human inhabitants, too.


Bhante Kusala says few people want to live in caves but hopes the sanctuary will be designated a cultural heritage site

Bhante Kusala runs the monastery with the help of other monks and volunteers. He says it was founded a century ago by a Master Fu, who was drawn to Mount Kanthan because its form resembled the figure of a reclining Buddha.

"Our founder chose to mediate here because of its serene, quiet environment," Kusala says, adding that there is an ancient tradition of Buddhist monks seeking peace in the natural world.

The monastery echoes with the gentle sound of water dripping from the stalactites that hang from the ceiling. A system of pipes catches this water so the monks can use it to bathe, wash their clothes and clean the temple's floors.

Seongyee is a volunteer who has been helping out at the Sakyamuni Caves Monastery with cleaning and maintenance work for the last five years. "To us, this is a spiritual sanctuary," she says. "We depend on it; this is part of the spiritual journey we are seeking."


The monks collect water from the dripping stalactites and use it for washing and cleaning
Endemic species under threat

But it is not just this religious community that is at risk of losing its way of life if the cement company wins its case against them. Ruth Kiew, a botanist who works with the non-profit Malaysian Cave & Karst Conservancy, among other organizations, told DW that critically endangered fauna such as trapdoor spiders and bent-toed geckos may be driven to extinction if the entire mountain is blasted.

In 2014, Kiew published a study of the flora threatened by quarrying at Mount Kanthan, finding some 32 flora species of conservational importance, including 12 endangered species and three recently identified species of tree believed to grow only on Mount Kanthan.

APMC and its parent company, construction corporation YTL, declined to be interviewed for this story. But according to YTL's website, the company has been working with Malaysian non-profit the Tropical Rainforest Conservation and Research Centre (TRCRC) to nurture threatened flora from Mount Kanthan at a dedicated plant nursery.


Botanist Ruth Kiew's study showed quarrying is threatening a number of flora species at Mount Kanthan

A spokesperson for TRCRC told DW the goal of the project was to train a team from YTL "on how to run their own conservation nursery, conduct seed collection, and have the basics of tree planting — all goals that were achieved."

Whether YTL is using the know-how gained from the project to continue conservation efforts is unclear. But scientists say that destruction of even a part of the remaining Kathan Mountain habitat could see unique species lost forever.

"Even different parts of the hill, due to varied and rugged topography, still harbor unique habitats and specialist species," Kiew said, adding that "plants, animals, and microorganisms are not uniformly distributed over the karst hills."

Yong Kien Thai is a botanist at the University of Malaya who has visited the mountain several times to survey its biodiversity.

"They may eventually grow some of the many different species originating from the limestone, but they didn't explain where they will replant this," he says. "Reintroduction is also an issue because different limestone hills have their own set of diversity."

A meditation chamber within the cave system

Cultural heritage hangs in the balance

Living in harmony with these unique ecosystems, Kusala sees his community of monks and devotees as "custodians of this mountain."

When APMC filed an order with the local court to evict Mount Kanthan's residents in January 2021, it referred to the monks as "unidentified occupants occupying the land," and stated they were there "without the consent, authorization and/or permission" of the company.

Leong Cheok Keng, a spokesperson for the monastery, told DW six of the monks have now successfully filed to be recognized as official parties in the case, meaning they have more of a say over how their legal argument is shaped.

At the same time, they are campaigning to have the monastery officially designated as a cultural heritage site. Before the pandemic, devotees would flock to the Sakyamuni Caves from cities like Kuala Lumpur to take part in cave meditation.


Kusala says his community lives in harmony with the unique karst ecosystem

In late December 2021, the monastery received a letter of support from Ipoh City Council, the administrative capital of Perak. The council voiced its support for designating the land a cultural heritage site.

"If the monastery achieves the status of a heritage site, it means nobody can change the structures on the site and the site is protected from being interfered with," Leong says.

Kusala radiates equanimous good humor. But he's aware that this way of life hangs in the balance as the values his monastery represents compete with economic interests. "Nowadays, not many people want to become monks," he laughs. "They don't want to stay in caves or a forest... we are the real rare species!"

Edited by: Ruby Russell

Petition: Save Gunung Kanthan

CLIMATE CHANGE IS THREATENING THE WORLD'S MOUNTAIN REGIONS

Highly susceptible to climate change

The world's mountains are rugged, but delicate. They have a huge impact on even distant lowlands but are highly sensitive to climate change. Temperatures are rising significantly faster in mountain areas, well outpacing other habitats. As a result, snow and glaciers are disappearing with consequences for water systems, biodiversity, natural disasters, agriculture and tourism.

123456789

Karst - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karst

Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant rocks, such as quartzite, given the right conditions. Subterranean drainage may limit surface water, with few to no rivers or lakes. …

Rare Roman wooden figure found in the UK

Dating from the early Roman era, the figure carved from a single piece of wood joins the list of notable archaeological finds from the past months.




A rare Roman-era wooden figure
In a field near Twyford, west of London, a well-preserved 67-centimeter (26-inch) wooden figure from Roman times was found during digs along the planned HS2 rail route. Based on the carving style and the figure's dress, archaeologists estimate it to be nearly 2,000 years old. It is a rare find, as wood usually rots easily. The Romans occupied Great Britain for around 400 years.
123456789101112131415

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

Judge orders Martin Shkreli to pay $65M for hiking drug price

MILLENIAL HUBRIS

Former Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli must pay $65 million for hiking the cost of Daraprim by 4,000%. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

Jan. 14 (UPI) -- A federal judge on Friday ordered former pharmaceutical CEO Martin Shkreli to pay $64.6 million for illegally ballooning the price of a drug to treat parasitic diseases.

U.S. District Judge Denise Cote of the Southern District of New York also barred Shkreli from the pharmaceutical industry for life.

"Banning an individual from an entire industry and limiting his future capacity to make a living in that field is a serious remedy and must be done with care and only if equity demands," she wrote in her ruling.

"Shkreli's egregious, deliberate, repetitive, long-running and ultimately dangerous illegal conduct warrants imposition of an injunction of this scope."

Shkreli is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence in an unrelated fraud cause. A jury convicted him in August 2017 on charges he ran a Ponzi scheme from 2009 to 2014 and bilked investors out of $11 million.

Shkreli came to notoriety in 2015 after his company, Turing Pharmaceuticals, hiked the price of anti-parasite medication Daraprim from $13.50 to $750 per tablet. The drug is often used to treat HIV patients and others with compromised immune systems.

Friday's ruling was in response to a complaint filed by the Federal Trade Commission and the state of New York, accusing Shkreli and his company -- which is now known as Yvera Pharmaceuticals -- of concocting an elaborate competition-fixing scheme to maintain his monopoly over Daraprim.

After purchasing the drug in 2015, the complaint said Shkreli prevented other companies from developing a generic equivalent of the drug through drawing up restrictive distribution agreements that barred them from buying samples of the medication while also limiting their access to a necessary ingredient used in its manufacturing.

The $65 million Shkreli was ordered to pay Friday is on top of the $40 million Vyera agreed in December to pay to settle separate charges with the FTC.

New York Attorney General Letitia James welcomed the court's ruling, saying Shkreli was motivated by "envy, greed, lust and hate.

"Americans can rest easy because Martin Shkreli is a pharma bro no more," she said, referencing Shkreli's infamous nickname. "The rich and powerful don't get to play by their own set of rules, so I it seems that cash doesn't rule everything around Mr. Shkreli."

Federal judge bans Martin Shkreli from the pharmaceutical industry for life, orders him to pay $64.6 million fine

jepstein@insider.com (Jake Epstein,Taiyler Simone Mitchell) 

© Drew Angerer / Getty Images Martin Shkreli during his wire fraud trial in New York in 2017. Drew Angerer / Getty Images

A judge reached a ruling in a lawsuit against former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli Friday.

Shkreli was accused of hiking up the price of a life-saving drug.

He is now banned from the pharmaceutical industry and faces another suit from health insurers.

Former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli was handed a lifetime ban from the industry and ordered to pay a $64.6 million fine, according to a federal judge's ruling on Friday.

Shkreli was sued in January 2020 for allegedly violating antitrust rules over fixing the price of the anti-parasitic drug Daraprim and delaying "the entry of generic competition for at least eighteen months," according to the ruling.

US District Judge Denise Cote said in a 135-page ruling that Shkreli's "egregious, deliberate, repetitive, long-running, and ultimately dangerous illegal conduct" warranted the stiff penalty.

The so-called "Pharma Bro" — who was also a former hedge fund manager before launching his career in pharmaceuticals — was previously convicted of securities fraud and is serving seven years in prison.

He also faces a new lawsuit filed last year by health insurers accusing him of illegally hiking the price of Daraprim from $17.50 to $750 per tablet once acquiring the rights to the drug in 2015.

Daraprim, according to the lawsuit, is "an essential, life-saving drug used in the treatment of toxoplasmosis."

The 38-year-old got his start in the pharmaceutical industry in 2011 as the founder of biotech firm Retrophin, according to BBC, but was soon removed from the company in 2014 following legal disputes.

"Americans can rest easy because Martin Shkreli is a 'pharma bro' no more," New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a Friday statement.

Shkreli's attorney, Christopher Casey, did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

CRIMINAL CRYPTO CAPITALI$M

Russia dismantles REvil hacker group at US request


A Gulf service station runs out of gasoline on May 11, 2021 in Atlanta following a hacking attack on the Colonial Pipeline blamed on Russian hackers (AFP/Megan Varner)

Fri, January 14, 2022, 5:55 AM·2 min read

Russia Friday said it had dismantled the prominent hacking group REvil, which carried out a high-profile attack last year on US software firm Kaseya, following a request from Washington.

The announcement came on the same day that Ukrainian government sites were hit by hackers in an attack that Kyiv linked to Moscow, which has amassed tens of thousands of troops on the border.

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said in a statement that it had "suppressed the illegal activities" of members of the group during raids on 25 addresses that swept up 14 people.

The searches were carried out following an "appeal from the relevant US authorities".

Cybersecurity was one of the main issues on the agenda of a summit meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden last June.

In Washington, a US official praised the arrests, saying that one suspect was behind the disruptive hack of the Colonial Pipeline, but separated the issue from tensions on Ukraine.

"I want to be very clear – in our mind, this is not related to what's happening with Russia and Ukraine," the official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

"I don't speak for the Kremlin's motives, but we're pleased with these initial actions," she said.

"We've also been very clear -- if Russia further invades Ukraine... we will impose a severe cost on Russia in coordination with our allies."

The FSB said members of the group had "developed malware, organised the embezzlement of funds from the bank accounts of foreign citizens".

The equivalent of 426 million rubles ($5.5 million or 4.8 million euros) and 20 luxury cars were seized in the operation, the statement added.

During a phone call in July, Biden told Putin to "take action" against ransomware groups operating in Russia, warning that otherwise Washington will take "any necessary actions" to defend Americans.

The unprecedented attack targeting the US software firm Kaseya affected an estimated 1,500 businesses.

The Kaseya attack, which was reported on July 2, shut down a major Swedish supermarket chain and ricocheted around the world, impacting businesses in at least 17 countries, from pharmacies to gas stations, as well as dozens of New Zealand kindergartens.

Shortly after the attack, the "dark web" page of REvil went offline, sparking speculation about whether the move was the result of a government-led action.

jbr-acl/jbr-sct/ah

US 'welcomes' Russian arrests of REvil ransomware gang

Russia's Federal Security Service has announced a major crackdown on the REvil ransomware hacking group. One of the arrested individuals was allegedly responsible for the attack on the Colonial Pipeline last year.


At the request of the United States, Russia has detained a group of hackers who sent ransomware viruses

The US said it "welcomes" news out of Russia on Friday that security forces there arrested hackers tied to the devastating REvil ransomware gang, officials in both countries confirmed.

"We understand that one of the individuals who was arrested today was responsible for the attack against Colonial Pipeline last spring," a senior Biden administration official said about an incident that caused gas shortages on the eastern coast of the US.

Russia's Federal Security Service, the FSB, announced the hackers' arrests. In addition to the pipeline hack, REvil was said to be behind the cyberattack on Kaseya over the Fourth of July holiday weekend last year that devastated over 1,000 businesses around the world including a Swedish supermarket chain.

A source told the Reuters news agency the group could also be tied to a cyberattack last year targeting Brazil-based meat processor JBS S.A.

What did the FSB do?

The FSB raided 25 addresses and arrested 14 hackers involved with REvil.

In the process, the FSB seized more than 426 million rubles ($5.6 million or €4.9 million) worth of cash, cryptocurrency, computers, and cars.

The REvil hackers arrested by the FSB have been charged with "illegal circulation of means of payment," and could face up to seven years in prison.

The Russian REN TV network aired footage of officers pushing suspects down and seizing piles of cash in dollars and rubles before carting them off during the raids.

While the FSB did not name those they arrested, a Moscow court named two of those charged as Roman Muromsky and Andrei Bessonov. Both were ordered to remain in custody for two months.

The FSB said the operation was carried out at the behest of US authorities who sought the arrest of the group's leader. It is the first such action since Russian leader Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden met last summer in Geneva.
ReEvil members have taken millions in ransom payments

When announcing charges against two REvil members in November of last year, US Attorney General Merrick Garland said that cyberattacks carried out by REvil have cost computer users worldwide a minimum of $200 million in ransom payments.

Though the Russian government claimed responsibility for dismantling the REvil ransomware gang, cybersecurity experts say the group effectively did so on its own last year. Members of the group moved on to new grifts and the arrests in no way signal a broader crackdown on hackers in Russia, those experts said.

The news comes the same day Ukrainian government websites were defaced and separately US officials warned Russia may stage a "false flag" incident as a pretext to invade of Ukraine.

While the US and the EU did not attribute Friday's cyberattack, Ukraine's Security Service, the SBU, said the initial findings of their investigation pointed to "hacker groups linked to Russia's intelligence services."

The events come at the end of a long week of intense diplomacy focused on Russia and Ukraine with Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov meeting with US Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman in Geneva earlier in the week before continuing to Brussels to meet with NATO and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

ar/wd (AFP, AP, Reuters)