News – Page 1696 – 105.7 WDNY

Chinese warship cuts off US Navy ship, marking 2nd military provocation in week

June 4, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(TAIPEI, Taiwan) — In the second major provocation by China’s military in the span of a week, a Chinese warship carried out what the U.S. military called “an unsafe maritime interaction” when it crossed an American warship’s bow at a distance of 150 yards forcing the U.S. Navy destroyer to take evasive maneuvers to avoid a collision.

The incident occurred on Saturday as the American destroyer USS Chung-Hoon and the Canadian frigate HMCS Montreal executed a transit in the international waters of the Taiwan Strait, the body of water that separates the Chinese mainland and Taiwan, according to officials.

“During the transit, PLA(N) LUYANG III DDG 132 (PRC LY 132) executed maneuvers in an unsafe manner in the vicinity of Chung-Hoon,” said a statement from U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.

“The PRC LY 132 overtook Chung-Hoon on their port side and crossed their bow at 150 yards. Chung-Hoon maintained course and slowed to 10 kts to avoid a collision,” said the statement.

The Chinese warship then executed a second pass in front of the American warship’s bow at a distance of 2,000 yards and remained off the destroyer’s port bow.

“The LY 132’s closest point of approach was 150 yards and its actions violated the maritime ‘Rules of the Road’ of safe passage in international waters,” the Indo-Pacific Command said.

The close call at sea was captured on video by journalists with Canadian news outlet Global News that were traveling aboard the HMCS Montreal, which was sailing a distance behind the Chung-Hoon.

That video showed the Chinese warship appearing to head left to right in front of the warship’s path.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to the Indo-Pacific as China engages in provocative behavior in the region in a speech Saturday to a security conference in Singapore.

“We will support our allies and partners as they defend themselves against coercion and bullying,” said Austin. “To be clear, we do not seek conflict or confrontation, but we will not flinch in the face of bullying or coercion.”

China’s Defense Minister Li Shangfu also referenced “bullying” and “double standards” in Asia by “some country,” an apparent reference to the U.S., in remarks Sunday to the Shangri-La Dialogue summit.

“A cold war mentality is now resurgent, greatly increasing security risks,” he said. “Mutual respect should prevail over bullying and hegemony.”

Chinese aircraft and warships have encountered harassment from Chinese planes and ships as they have transited the South China Sea where China has made territorial maritime claims in recent years.

U.S. officials said they believe that the harassment is coordinated and increasing in frequency.

A Chinese fighter jet crossed the path of an American reconnaissance plane in late May as it flew in international airspace, above the South China Sea, forcing the American plane to fly through the Chinese aircraft’s wake.

A senior U.S. defense official spoke Tuesday about that incident, expressing the belief that the Chinese harassment is coordinated and increasing in frequency.

“We don’t believe it’s done by pilots operating independently,” the official told a small group of reporters. “We believe it’s part of a wider pattern we see in the South China Sea, the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait, and elsewhere.”

Austin has sought to engage in substantive discussions with China to emphasize the need for regular discussions to avoid potential miscalculations or escalations that could develop from such incidents.

Before arriving in Singapore, China declined his offer to meet with Li, but on Friday Austin was able to shake Li’s hand and engage in a brief discussion at a dinner for senior leaders attending the conference.

“A cordial handshake over dinner is no substitute for a substantive engagement,” Austin said in his remarks Saturday. “And the more that we talk, the more that we can avoid the misunderstandings and miscalculations that could lead to crisis or conflict.”

Another previous such incident occurred on Dec. 21, 2022, when a PLA J-11 fighter pilot came within 10 feet of what INDO-PACOM labeled “an unsafe maneuver.”

US must ‘stand strong’ in face of ‘unbelievable aggression from China’: Turner

June 4, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Rep. Mike Turner, the chair of the House Intelligence Committee, on Sunday lambasted what he called increased military hostility by China and insisted the U.S. “stand strong” after recent close calls near American ships and planes and the suspected spy balloon that was shot down off the East Coast.

“What we’re seeing is an unbelievable aggression by China,” Turner, R-Ohio, told ABC “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz. “If you look at the balloon that flew over the United States, the Chinese police stations, the aggressiveness against our both planes and ships and international water, it goes right to the heart of what President Xi [Jinping] said when he stood next to [President Vladimir] Putin in Russia where he said they are trying to make change that has not happened in 100 years.”

“They’re trying to flex their muscles and advance authoritarianism. We need to stand strong,” Turner said, “and this administration needs to stand strong against this type of coercion.”

The tough rhetoric from Turner comes as relations between Washington and Beijing have become frayed over issues including Taiwan, trade and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, though President Joe Biden has said he seeks “competition, not conflict.”

U.S. officials believe China has been coordinating an increasing campaign of harassment, including two incidents in recent days between U.S. and Chinese planes and ships.

When pressed by Raddatz on Sunday on what would be a sufficient response, Turner said President Biden should make it clear that the government views China as an “adversary.”

“I think it means calling them out. I mean, this is unacceptable,” Turner said. “I think the administration needs to step up and make clear that China has identified itself as an adversary, and we’re going to treat it as such.”

On Friday in Singapore, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin both reaffirmed a commitment to the Indo-Pacific region and called for more communication after being refused a sit-down with his Chinese counterpart, Li Shangfu.

“The more that we talk, the more that we can avoid the misunderstandings and miscalculations that could lead to crisis or conflict,” Austin said. On Saturday, he said, “We will not flinch in the face of bullying or coercion.”

Shangfu recently blamed “bullying” and “double standards” by “some country” and said, “A cold war mentality is now resurgent.”

In his “This Week” appearance, Turner said the U.S. should also bolster its defense capabilities against North Korea, which continues to develop a nuclear program and gets much of its aid from China.

“The concept of deterrence — we have weapons, they have weapons — is dead. We need to go to deterrence plus defense,” he said. “That means an aggressive missile defense system.”

Turner singled out a need for more robust protection around New York City, pointing to efforts by Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik and others to increase missile defense capabilities at Fort Drum, in upstate New York.

“We need to build out that system and we need to hold China accountable for North Korea,” he said.

He also praised efforts to arm the Ukrainian military ahead of an expected counteroffensive against Russia, saying it was “amazing to see the ingenuity” with which troops there have used U.S.-supplied munitions, including by taking out a key Russian Kinzhal missile.

However, Turner said the U.S. weaponry should not be used to launch attacks inside of Russia — as Russian border towns have experienced a sharp spike in violence fueled by paramilitary groups who maintain they’re fighting for Ukraine.

“I don’t know who’s behind those,” Turner acknowledged on “This Week.”

The Biden administration has said it’s investigating.

“Certainly, we have to understand that Ukraine needs to be able to defend its territory, they need to defend themselves from Russian aggression,” Turner said. “President [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy made a commitment that he would not use U.S. weapon systems in [Russia] and he’s made that commitment to me when I saw him last.”

Ukraine must make ‘major concessions’ to Russia so US can focus on China: Vivek Ramaswamy

June 4, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Vivek Ramaswamy, the youngest 2024 Republican presidential candidate and self-proclaimed political outsider, on Sunday made his “America first” pitch for the White House while defending his view that the U.S. must force “major concessions” from Ukraine in order to end Russia’s invasion and allow a sharper focus on facing China.

“The job of the U.S. president is to look after American interests,” he told ABC “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz, arguing that militarily backing Ukraine’s continued resistance to Russia’s invasion is a less compelling goal than dealing with Beijing.

Ramaswamy’s position on Ukraine and Russia puts him in the minority among politicians, with leading Republicans and Democrats saying Russia’s invasion must not be successful in order to preserve stability in Europe.

“You said in a speech in New Hampshire on Friday that you would not spend another dime of American money on a war that does not affect our interests. You don’t think the possibility of Russia taking over Ukraine is in our interest?” Raddatz asked him on “This Week.”

“I don’t think that’s a top foreign policy priority,” Ramaswamy said, later adding, “I don’t think it is preferable for Russia to be able to invade a sovereign country that is its neighbor. But … I think the No. 1 threat to the U.S. military is right now, our top military threat, is the China-Russian alliance. I think that by fighting further in Russia, by further arming Ukraine, we are driving Russia into China’s hands.”

Instead, he said, he would “end this war” as long as Putin ended his country’s alliance with China.

“No one tells Vladimir Putin what to do. That has not worked yet,” Raddatz pressed. “And you said you would want to give them the Donbas [a region of Ukraine currently occupied by Russia]. … That would be rewarding Putin, wouldn’t it?”

“I don’t trust Putin, but I do trust Putin to follow his self-interest,” Ramaswamy maintained.

“What I think we need to do is end the Ukraine war on peaceful terms that, yes, do make some major concessions to Russia, including freezing those current lines of control in a Korean-war style armistice agreement. … Which Ukraine wouldn’t want to do,” he continued. “And also a permanent commitment not to allow Ukraine to enter NATO. But in return, Russia has to leave its treaty and its joint military agreement with China.”

Ramaswamy raised concerns of a future invasion of Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing views as a breakaway province.

Stopping a war there “is a much higher priority,” he said.

“China’s bet is that they’re going to go for Taiwan, the U.S. won’t want to be in simultaneous conflict with two nuclear superpowers at the same time. But if Russia’s no longer at China’s back and vice versa, we’re in a stronger position,” he said.

Early in Ramaswamy’s “This Week” interview, Raddatz noted that he is polling in the back of the pack of GOP hopefuls and asked him on how he would walk the “fine line” of appealing to former President Donald Trump’s base, who make up a large number of Republican primary voters.

“America first does not belong to Trump. It doesn’t belong to me,” said Ramaswamy, a former biotech entrepreneur. “It belongs to the people of this country. And I think we take that agenda even further if we’re doing it based on first principles and moral authority, as [Ronald] Reagan did, rather than on vengeance and grievance.”

No revival of Trump’s trans military ban

In light of his criticism of “woke” policies around identity, diversity and historical oppression, Ramaswamy was asked by Raddatz if, as president, he would revive a controversial Trump-era ban on transgender military members that was reversed under President Joe Biden.

“I would not reinstate a ban on transgender members,” Ramaswamy said. “I would, however, be very clear that for kids, that’s where my policies are very focused.”

Conservatives have increasingly called out policies around transgender children that they view as concerning, including pushing for limits on the health care that those kids can receive related to their gender, arguing they are extreme, which advocates and many doctors reject.

“We should not be forcing this ideology onto children,” Ramaswamy said.

Pride organizers promise safety at festivities amid anti-LGBTQ rhetoric

June 3, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — As Pride Month kicks off, the continuing anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and legislation that has grown over the past several years is on the minds of many people, and event organizers across the country say they have prepared for this and have implemented security protocols that ensure performers and attendees can have fun without fear.

“Are we increasing our plans for security? The answer is no, not because we don’t see the need for it, but because our plans have been incredibly robust to begin with for many years,” said Dan Dimant, the media director for NYC Pride.

Cameron Jay Harrelson, the parade director for Georgia’s Athens Pride, said that hosting such events in the deep South has always made organizers “hyper aware and hyper-focused” on safety.

“That feels a little more heavy this year with the attacks that we’ve seen in legislation, in politics across the country,” Harrelson said.

The Department of Homeland Security has recently sounded the alarm on the growing threat of violence or extremism, but queer communities nationwide say they have been prepared for backlash for years.

Since the Pulse club massacre in Orlando, Florida, in 2016 that left 49 dead at the LGBTQ+ venue – and after the recent November mass shooting at a Colorado queer bar that killed five – the community has been on high alert.

“We’re in a very scary time,” said Harrelson. “We saw what happened in Colorado Springs not too long ago. We saw what happened at Pulse several years ago … we know what the next iteration of anti-LGBTQ protesters are capable of, so we have to be prepared, hyper aware and vigilant.”

Fears of violence aren’t new for the LGBTQ+ community. According to DHS, about 20% of all hate crimes reported throughout the country in 2021 were motivated by bias linked to sexual orientation and gender.

Event goers can expect heavy security, blocked off streets, ample medical personnel, and more at Pride events throughout the country.

In states with few firearm restrictions like Texas, Jeremy Liebbe, director of security for Dallas Pride, told ABC News that there are layers of police, security and threat management both invisible and visible to the public for all events in the city.

“State law allows us to restrict who can possess a firearm at Dallas Pride,” Liebbe said. “Both unlicensed possession of firearms and licensed open carry of handguns will be prohibited with the requisite signs” during the festivities.

Where there are counterprotesters, event goers may be shielded by volunteers who block out the hate so attendees can enjoy the festivities in peace.

“We actually have a group of what we call our queer dads,” said Harrelson. “They are a group of fathers of queer kids, queer youth. And they are coming and holding these large sheets … and they just stand in front of protesters and completely block their signage, their sound, everything.”

In some cases, the themes of Pride events this year will be reflective of the issues going on around the country facing the queer community.

Organizers say they are highlighting the communities most vulnerable to legislative attacks in recent years, including restrictions facing drag performers and transgender health care.

“If you’re going to try to take away our drag, we’re just going to add more,” Kylan L. Durant, president of the Oklahoma City Pride Alliance, told ABC News.

“Then also we have always put – and even more so this year – putting emphasis on having trans performers on the stage, too, because we know that that is part of the community that is hard hit with a lot of this legislation.”

Event organizers say that it’s natural for participants to have a heightened sense of awareness amid the current political climate – but they say going back into hiding is exactly what hateful threats are aiming to do. Still, they say people should do what makes them feel the safest.

“We understand the reality of it and we understand people are gonna feel hesitant this year,” said Durant. “But I also want to remind folks that’s the thing that they want to do. They want to instill fear so we don’t have the celebration, so we don’t show up to be around each other.”

Dimant added, “There are bad actors out there who are making threats, who are sharing falsehoods, who are just spreading hateful rhetoric. And they’re doing that so that you’ll stay home and you won’t show up at Pride and live your truth.”

Biden signs bipartisan debt ceiling deal

June 3, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) — President Joe Biden addressed the nation in a prime-time speech Friday after Congress averted an economically disastrous default with just days to spare by passing legislation to raise the nation’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling.

The president, speaking from behind the Resolute Desk in his first Oval Office address, stressed that “unity” had made it possible.

“When I ran for president, I was told the days of bipartisanship were over,” he said. “That Democrats, Republicans could no longer work together. I refused to believe that because America can never give into that way of thinking.”

Biden signed the bill into law Saturday.

“I just signed into law a bipartisan budget agreement that prevents a first-ever default while reducing the deficit, safeguarding Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, and fulfilling our scared obligation to our veterans. Now, we continue the work of building the strongest economy in the world,” Biden tweeted Saturday.

Biden touted the deal he made with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy as a win for American families and proof of his ability to compromise to keep the nation on track — themes he’s using in his 2024 reelection campaign.

“Essential to all the progress we’ve made in the last few years is keeping the full, faith, and credit of the United States and passing a budget that continues to grow our economy and reflects our values as a nation,” he said. “That’s why I’m speaking to you tonight. To report on a crisis averted and what we are doing to protect America’s future. Passing this budget agreement was critical. The stakes could not have been higher.”

In noting how the deal came together, he said no one got everything they wanted but still acted to stave off the worst-case scenario: a default that would have likely triggered a recession and caused millions of jobs to be lost.

“I know bipartisanship is hard, and unity is hard,” he said. “But we can never stop trying. Because in the moments like this one, the ones we just faced, where the American economy the world economy is at risk of collapsing, there’s no other way, no matter how tough our politics gets, we must see each other not as adversaries but as fellow Americans.”

Reiterating one of his key lines from his inaugural address, he urged Americans to “stop shouting, lower the temperature and work together to pursue progress.”

The Fiscal Responsibility Act is the result of months of back-and-forth between Biden and McCarthy. It lifts the debt ceiling through Jan. 1, 2025, in exchange for some cuts to federal spending.

Biden’s signing of the bill Saturday puts an end to weeks of anxiety that the nation would nose-dive into economic turmoil by not being able to pay all its bills, including Social Security or Medicaid benefits, on time and in full for the first time in history.

In his Oval Office address, Biden notably commended McCarthy and the GOP and White House negotiating teams for being “completely honest and respectful with one another,” as well as praising the work of other top congressional leaders.

“They acted responsibly to put the good of the country ahead of politics,” Biden said, adding that “both sides kept their word.”

Earlier, when asked by ABC News’ Elizabeth Schulze why Biden chose the Oval Office for the speech, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said he wanted to meet the “gravity” of the moment.

As Biden worked behind-the-scenes to hammer out the deal, he at times frustrated Democrats — members of the party’s progressive wing, especially — who worried he was giving in too much to Republican demands.

At one point, several in his party urged him to go it alone and use the 14th Amendment to unilaterally raise the debt ceiling, an idea Biden ultimately rejected in this situation, but one he said he would study.

“I have been clear that the only path forward is a bipartisan compromise that can earn the support of both parties,” he said earlier this week. “This agreement meets that test.”

The final product did give both Democrats and Republicans something to celebrate: the White House touted the protection of key priorities and legislative accomplishments while McCarthy sold it to his caucus as much-needed reining in of government spending.

“I wanted to make history,” McCarthy said as he took a victory lap after the House passed the bill. “I wanted to do something no other Congress has done, that we would literally turn the ship and for the first time in quite some time, we’d spend less than we spent the year before. Tonight, we all made history.”

Moderates from both parties gave the bill its necessary stamp of approval in the House and Senate, but in the end more congressional Democrats voted for the bill than Republicans.

“Democrats are feeling very good tonight,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., triumphantly said after Thursday’s vote. “We’ve saved the country from the scourge of default.”

Schumer contended Democrats “beat back the worst of the Republican agenda” including deeper spending cuts that would’ve dismantled parts of the Inflation Reduction Act, taken people off federal aid and blocked Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan.

Biden on Friday also celebrated that the bill leaves Social Security, Medicaid, veterans benefits and other priorities untouched before turning to a list of other priorities he wants to get done next, including more deficit reduction and raising revenues by making wealthy Americans “pay their fair share.”

“I’m gonna be coming back and with your help, I’m going to win,” he said.

Woman leaves 2 children in car that catches fire while allegedly shoplifting: Police

June 3, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(FLORIDA) — A 24-year-old Florida woman is facing criminal charges after she allegedly left two children in a car that caught fire while she was shoplifting at a mall, according to the Oviedo Police Department.

Alicia Moore, who was arrested for an unrelated warrant, was charged with aggravated child abuse and arson, according to a police report.

Moore parked her car in the parking lot of a Dillard’s at the Oviedo Mall, leaving the children inside her car. Moore was then observed inside Dillard’s with another male and began to shoplift items, according to police. The two were watched by security for an hour, police said.

Moore then began to exit Dillard’s about an hour later, only to see her vehicle engulfed in flames. She then dropped the merchandise before exiting the store, according to the police report.

Citizens who saw the vehicle engulfed in flames helped the children escape, authorities said. Law enforcement and fire rescue were notified.

The children were rushed to Arnold Palmer Children’s Hospital for medical attention and suffered first-degree burns from the fire, according to police.

The vehicle was totaled in the incident, according to police.

While in custody, the child neglect and arson charges were added. She faces a $15,000 bond for the child neglect charge.

Police said they do not know how the fire was started but placed blame on Moore, saying she was “neglectful,” according to the police report.

West Virginia state trooper shot and killed, suspect in custody: Authorities

June 3, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(WEST VIRGINIA) — A 29-year-old man accused of fatally shooting a West Virginia state trooper is in police custody, according to the ATF’s Louisville Office.

Law enforcement responded to a shooting complaint in Mingo County, West Virginia, on Friday where they encountered Timothy Kennedy who began shooting at police. Troopers said they were met with gunfire when they responded to a shooting complaint near Matewan.

A trooper was fatally shot in the ensuing gunfire.

“I am absolutely heartbroken tonight to report that Sergeant Cory Maynard of the West Virginia State Police was fatally wounded in an incident this afternoon near Matewan,” West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice said.

“The brave men and women of law enforcement, and all first responders who put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe, are an inspiration to us all,” Justice said in a statement.

The governor’s office has ordered all U.S. and West Virginia flags to be flown at half-staff to honor the following trooper starting immediately.

The manhunt for Kennedy delayed graduation ceremonies at Mingo Central High School and emergency workers urged area residents to stay indoors while police searched for the suspect.

Justice said multiple law enforcement agencies joined a widespread search of the Beech Creek area to look for the suspect ahead of his arrest.

‘Thrown in their faces’: Bud Light salespeople say boycott is hurting commission

June 3, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Salespeople promoting Bud Light for a Florida–based distributor have grown accustomed to car horns, middle fingers and jokes amid a weekslong boycott, but say they have struggled to ignore thousands of dollars in lost commission pay, two sales supervisors at the distributor told ABC News.

A typical salesperson at the distributor made roughly $2,000 less in May than he or she would have over each of the previous two years, suffering primarily from a decline in Bud Light sales that reached as much as 60% over the week ending on Memorial Day, the sales supervisors said.

“This has really, really killed a lot of the guys who are commission-based. That’s who it’s really hurting,” one supervisor said. “There’s nothing they could’ve done — this was thrown in their faces.”

A consumer boycott of Anheuser-Busch InBev over a promotion in April from a trans influencer has pummeled the company’s stock, but it has also brought financial pain for thousands of salespeople at independent distributors nationwide, many of whom depend largely on performance-based pay, former Anheuser-Busch InBev executive Anson Frericks told ABC News.

Sales of Bud Light have recorded declines for seven consecutive weeks after a product endorsement from Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender influencer, sparked backlash among many conservatives.

The boycott gained momentum, meanwhile, after the initial response from the company was perceived as conciliatory by some LGBTQ advocates, prompting frustration on the left.

Those losses have slashed the income of salespeople who work for roughly 500 independent wholesalers that sell Anheuser-Busch beverages to restaurants, bars and grocery stores, according to interviews with two distributors, two sales supervisors and Frericks.

The sales supervisors and distributors declined to share their names because they didn’t want to be publicly identified speaking about the financial consequences of the boycott.

Compensation for salespeople differs widely between different distributors, but a typical salesperson makes about $60,000 a year, including $20,000 in variable pay that depends largely on commission, said Frericks, who left Anheuser-Busch InBev last year.

“Good people are going to start leaving because they aren’t making money,” Frericks told ABC News.

On an earnings call last month, Anheuser-Busch InBev CEO Michel Doukeris acknowledged the strain that the boycott has placed on workers in the field.

“This situation has impacted our people and especially our frontline workers: The delivery drivers, sales representatives, our wholesalers, Bud owners and servers,” Doukeris said.

“These people are the fabric of our business. They are our neighbors, family members, and friends. They are in every community in America,” Doukeris added. “We’ve been doing everything we can to support our teams.”

Anheuser-Busch said in a statement to ABC News that the boycott has had an impact but they remained committed to bringing people together.

“Anheuser-Busch employs over 18,000 people and our independent wholesaler partners have an additional 47,000 valued colleagues. The current situation has impacted our people and especially our front-line workers including delivery drivers and sales representatives. These people are our neighbors, family members and friends. They are in every community in America. As we move forward, we will continue doing everything we can to support our teams while working tirelessly to do what we do best – bringing people together over a beer,” the statement read.

Sales of Bud Light across the U.S. fell nearly 26% over the week ending on May 20 compared to the same period a year ago, according to data from Bump Williams Consulting and Nielsen NIQ reviewed by ABC News.

At an Anheuser-Busch distributor in the Midwest, nine salespeople rely on commission for roughly two-thirds of their pay, the president of the distributor told ABC News.

The salespeople sustained overall sales declines in May of between 6% and 26% compared to the same month a year prior, which translates into losses ranging from $200 to $900, the president added.

At a meeting with the salespeople earlier this month, the president told them, “None of this is your fault and none of this is my fault,” he recounted. He vowed to pay them each a lump sum that would put their income for last month at or above where it would have stood without the losses.

“I’m frustrated that this has [dragged] on as long as it has,” the president of the distributor said. “I’m hopeful that we’re moving in the right direction.”

Anheuser-Busch InBev also provided financial support for frontline workers at independent distributors, Doukeris said on the earnings call last month. The company provided $500 for each employee and additional ad spending last month, the Wall Street Journal reported.

To be sure, some Anheuser-Busch salespeople at independent distributors depend on little or no sales commission.

The owner of a different distributor in the Midwest said the company previously paid salespeople entirely on commission but stopped the practice in recent years because sales varied significantly between the strong summer months and weak winter ones.

“My employees haven’t been hurt that bad on it,” the owner said, referring to the boycott.

Maurice Schweitzer, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business who studies consumer movements, said the losses for some salespeople at Anheuser-Busch distributors mark an unanticipated result of the consumer boycott.

“This has a disproportionate effect on a handful of people who had little or nothing to do with the decision that triggered people to be upset,” Schweitzer told ABC News. “It has this cascade of unintended consequences.”

Food, drink, pot under one roof: California state bill could allow for cannabis cafes

June 3, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(CALIFORNIA) — California cannabis users may soon not have to travel far to get a cup of coffee to go with their legal pot.

The state’s assembly passed a bill Wednesday that would allow California’s localities the right to approve the sale of food and non-alcoholic drinks inside legal cannabis dispensaries. Current state law prohibits any food or beverage from being served in recreational marijuana dispensaries.

State Assemblyman Matt Haney, who introduced the bill, told ABC News that those current regulations are “outdated and nonsensical,” and as a result, a lot of legal cannabis shops are losing out on revenue.

“There is a huge demand for this. This idea came from shop owners. They wanted to diversify their businesses,” he said.

The bill, which now heads to the state senate for approval, would also allow dispensaries to have live music inside their establishment.

Haney said that even though legalized cannabis stores have been popular ever since the first legal sales began in 2018, however, those business owners are still competing with illegal marijuana sales.

Those illegal sellers have been able to get past the regulations and offer food, he said.

“The advantage the illegal market has is it can sell that experience, similar to what you can do in a neighborhood bar,” Haney said.

The assemblyman cited a West Hollywood cannabis shop that originally sold its own food but was forced to stop that by local regulators for violating the current rules.

“They were required to have the food made, sold and delivered from another establishment,” he said.

Under California law, if food and drink are to be allowed in cannabis shops, it would have to be consumed indoors in a well-ventilated room.

Current California cafes and restaurants won’t be able to offer cannabis in their establishments, according to the bill.

Haney emphasized that customers under 21 will still be barred from entering the dispensaries even if food and drink are allowed.

Haney said that concerns about whole streets being lined with these pot cafes are not strong as California’s law doesn’t permit multiple cannabis shops to be located close to each other.

“It will look nothing like Amsterdam,” he said. “So you won’t have an entire block of them and they won’t be near schools.”

Haney said municipalities could decline to allow for the food and drink rules in the dispensaries, however, some cities, including San Francisco, have already passed ordinances to permit them if the bill becomes a law.

Haney said he was impressed with the 64-9 vote in the Assembly and the bi-partisan support for the proposal.

“A lot of people who didn’t initially support legalized marijuana voted in favor of the bill,” he noted. “It just goes to show how crucial the cannabis industry has been for the state.”

Sudan conflict: Neighbors volunteer to bury dead amid battle for Khartoum

June 3, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(LONDON) — Perturbed by the stench entering his family home in Bahri, Khartoum North, Dr. Noah Madni and his remaining neighbors decided to remove the bodies amassing in the street themselves.

“No one from the military or health ministry was coming to pick the bodies up,” Madni told ABC News.

He and his neighbors gathered a party of people from different specialties. They set about assigning roles and organizing transport. Madni then shared pictures on Facebook, calling on friends and families to contact him if they saw a dead body.

For weeks the world has watched an exodus of more than 100,000 people from Sudan, the northeastern African country where a dispute between rival generals has led to a bloody internal conflict. Cease-fire talks have stalled. And citizens and doctors who remain face a worsening humanitarian situation and the monumental task of preventing Sudan’s fragile health system from full-scale collapse.

Civilians account for a small number of the dead that Madni encounters, he said. Instead, the majority are members of the Rapid Support Forces, a powerful Sudanese paramilitary group. Many are soldiers aged between 20-30 years old, though Madni said he has heard some are as young as 16.

“We wash them and bury them in the cemetery. We try our best to dig holes. We are just trying our best,” he said.

Photos show burial sheets, bodies wrapped and ready for burial, and graves being dug at Hillat Hamad Cemetery in Bahri.

‘This is about basic human dignity’
With electricity in short supply and near constant air raids and gunfire prohibiting families and medical teams from collecting their dead, the issue is a prescient one, said Alyona Synenko, regional spokesperson for Africa with the International Committee of the Red Cross.

“We’ve been hearing about lots of bodies piled up in morgues. These were bodies from before these hostilities started, they were abandoned in morgues without electricity.”

Sudan Doctor’s Trade Union has warned of an “environmental catastrophe” as the bodies of soldiers and civilians caught in the crossfire lie in the street for days. They advised citizens in a Facebook post to avoid washing bodies that had reached a great degree of decomposition.

The bodies pose a public health risk, but civilians were also warned to avoid them as a measure of basic human dignity, Synenko said.

“These are not just bodies, these are people. It’s important to properly collect them, identify them in a dignified way,” Synenko told ABC News.

One video posted on social media shows a body being removed from ِِِAl-Wadi Street, Omdurman, Sudan, on April 17. Other social media posts seen by ABC News show bodies lying unburied in homes in embattled areas of Khartoum for weeks.

“It’s a Muslim country and there is a tradition to bury people very quickly,” Synenko said “The cultural and religious traditions must be respected.”

Several physicians ABC News spoke to reported families were burying loved ones or colleagues wherever they could, often in their own gardens.

The ICRC said it’s working closely with the Sudanese Red Crescent society engaged in “Dead Body Management,” which includes collecting, identifying and burying those that have been killed. Whilst the ICRC has supplied 100 body bags, they have warned of potential implications when people are not identified.

“It’s important to prevent people from going missing,” they said. “If we have dead bodies that are not properly identified, that can translate into years or decades of suffering for families who will then try to find their loved ones and won’t be able to do so if somebody was killed and buried somewhere without proper identification.”

Sudan’s Doctor’s Trade Union has advised volunteer groups to assign numbers to each unidentified corpse and record the place of death and any identification papers they may be carrying.

“It is possible to go back to exhume the corpses and take a sample of the bone for DNA testing after the end of the war.”

ABC News has reviewed photographs on social media showing pictures of unidentified corpses and numbered graves. One caption reads: “I have a name but buried unknown on May 23. 3487 that’s my name, remember me to survive”.

Civilians missing in Khartoum
Israa Kamal Ali, 22, said she has had no contact with her father since May 2.

Kamal Ali Osman left his home in Al Sahafa to collect heart medication from his father’s home in Omak. Osman later sent a text message to his family telling them he had been stopped by the RSF, but minutes later these messages were deleted, Israa told ABC News from Cairo, Egypt.

“We think they forced him to delete the messages,” Israa explains that the 60-year-old had recently undergone heart surgery that requires daily heart medication.

Israa’s family is one of hundreds that have taken to social media to seek information about missing loved ones since the conflict began. According to the local monitor, the Missing Persons Initiative, 190 Sudanese people are now deemed missing.

“It has been a difficult time for my family,” Israa said. “We are constantly worried about him and his health.”

ABC News’ Ayat Al-Tawy contributed to this report.

+ More