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Man beaten up by police officer Gwinnett, seeks $400,000 settlement

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Man beaten up by police officer Gwinnett, seeks $400,000 settlement

Stuart Miller Simmons Law Firm Holds Public Officials Responsible for Violation of Oath of Civil Service

Authorities charged with assaulting jury after firing police

A man who was kicked and beaten by a Gwinnett County police officer has been awarded a $400,000 settlement in a federal lawsuit.

Stuart Miller Simmons Law firm said in a statement on April 12, 2017, that Demetrius Hollins, a black man, was assaulted by two white police officers at the time, the officer who was later fired and charged. The assaulted Hollins filed a lawsuit in September against a police officer, a former police chief and the county.

Assault officer Michael Bongiovanni stopped Hollins’ vehicle over license plate problems at the time of the incident and punched Hollins in the face shortly after he got out of the car with his hand raised. As Hollins lay on his back without resisting, Officer Robert MacDonald came running and trampled Hollins on the head.

“I don’t want other people to experience the pain and horror I’ve suffered,” Hollins said after the lawsuit was filed. .

AJC covered on the 12th that Gwinnett County refused to comment on the 400,000 dollar settlement on the 11th (Tuesday).

The case was closed in December, 2021, court records show, and last week the Gwinnett County Board approved the payment of the settlement. 

In the case, the court accused Gwinnett police leaders of ignoring patterns of excessive violence and false reports involving the two officers.

A grand jury charged both officers with assault. Officer Bongiovanni denied the aggravated assault in 2019, but was sentenced to six months in prison and placed under house arrest for five months.

Officer McDonald was found guilty by a jury and sentenced to 11 months under house arrest and 10 years of probation.

Hollins attorneys Justin Miller and Chris Stewart said in an emailed statement, “We are delighted that Gwinnett County has decided to settle the suit brought by Demetrius Hollins. Representing the final chapter in the pursuit of justice for Mr. Hollins, this reconciliation is one of the greatest events in Gwinnett’s history. ”

Meanwhile, Stuart Miller Simmons Law Firm, a lawyer specializing in personal injury, traffic accidents, and various accidents, has been awarded $1 billion (1.2 trillion won) in compensation in one case. He also defended the case of George Floyd, who was killed by the police, and received $27 million in indemnification.

Mother confesses to leaving baby in New Mexico dumpster

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Mother confesses to leaving baby in New Mexico dumpster

An 18-year-old mother was charged with attempted murder after authorities said she left her newborn child alive in a New Mexico dumpster.

She is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday in Lea County District Court. 

Harrowing video surveillance footage of the incident shared with NBC affiliate KOB of Albuquerque shows a woman, believed to be Avila, tossing a plastic bag into the dumpster. Hours later, three people are seen in the footage searching through the same dumpster, pulling out the bag, realizing a baby is inside and tending to the child. Police and an ambulance arrive, and the child is taken to the hospital.

Joe Imbriale, the owner of Rig Outfitters and Home Store, said police came to him Friday night requesting that surveillance footage, which was caught on his camera.

“I was in shock just to see this,” he told KOB. “I can’t sleep at night just knowing that this baby was just tossed in a dumpster like that. I’m sorry but who does that? That is evil. I don’t have words for it.”

Police received calls about a baby in a dumpster at 8 p.m. on Friday in the 1400 block of N. Thorp in Hobbs, a city located in the southeast corner of the state near the Texas border.

Upon arriving to the scene, officers found the child and rendered aid, Hobbs police said Sunday in a news release. The baby was taken to a hospital, then subsequently transferred to another in Lubbock, Texas, for further treatment.

The child was stable, according to the release.

In an interview with Alexis Avila, the baby’s mother, police said the teen confessed to giving birth to the child at another location and placing the newborn in the dumpster. 

She was arrested and charged with attempted murder and felony child abuse.

K-pop girl group Everglow’s Chinese singer subjected to racist attacks in S.Korea

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K-pop girl group Everglow’s Chinese singer subjected to racist attacks in S.Korea

A Chinese member of K-pop group Everglow has taken racist attacks and criticism online after using traditional Chinese etiquette when greeting fans instead of kneeling down like her Korean bandmates.

Singer Wang Yiren was with other members of Everglow at an event on January 2 to greet fans in Seoul, while other members knelt down and touched the floor with their foreheads in traditional Korean style, Wang used a Chinese hand gesture — the fist and palm salute — to express thanks and New Year greetings.

In Chinese culture kneeling down is seen as a servile gesture and is no longer considered appropriate. In South Korea, it remains in use as a way to greet others and offer thanks.

While Wang’s gesture was widely praised in China, South Koreans quickly attacked the move online.

“All this shows that the Chinese are arrogant and have no respect or consideration for other cultures,” wrote one commenter on K-pop news site allkpop.

“Stop making Korean money and go back to your country then,” wrote another.

However, Chinese fans praised her stance and defended the singer online, with the hashtag “Wang Yiren, Chinese people don’t kneel” trending after a photo of the event was posted on Everglow’s Weibo account.

“Chinese people don’t kneel down,” wrote one commenter on Weibo.

“I’m proud of this idol who keeps Chinese traditions,” said another user.

Asia’s biggest billionaire is buying the Mandarin Oriental in New York for $98 million

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Asia’s biggest billionaire is buying the Mandarin Oriental in New York for $98 million

Asia’s biggest billionaire, Mukesh Ambani, has snapped up a controlling stake in the Mandarin Oriental in New York City for just over $98 million, according to CNN.

Reliance currently has holdings in the Oberoi Hotels, a collection of five-star resorts across India and six other countries, as well as Stoke Park, a famous English country club.

Ambani has been on a deal-making spree throughout the pandemic, racking up tens of billions of dollars to chase his goal of turning Reliance into the next major global tech giant.His own personal wealth has also soared in recent months to $92.9 billion, making him India’s richest man and the world’s eleventh wealthiest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires index.

Ambani’s conglomerate, Reliance Industries, announced Saturday the acquisition of the hotel’s parent company, a Cayman Islands-based firm controlled by the Investment Corporation of Dubai. That company indirectly holds a 73.4% stake in the property.

The deal is expected to close by the end of March. Reliance said that it would plan to acquire the remaining stake based on the same valuation if the hotel’s other owners choose to also sell their shares.

The Investment Corporation of Dubai took over the building in 2015. And as of last March, the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group still owned a 25% stake, according to its most recent annual report.

The $98.2 million price tag represents a significant discount:A 2007 shareholder report from the Mandarin Oriental disclosed the property was valued at as much as $340 million.

Like most hotels, Mandarin Oriental was hit badly by the Covid-19 pandemic. In a stock exchange filing Saturday, Reliance said that the New York hotel took in just $15 million over the entire year of 2020, compared with $115 million and $113 million in 2018 and 2019, respectively.

Covid-19 hospitalizations hit a record high, HHS data shows

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Covid-19 hospitalizations hit a record high, HHS data shows

The number of US patients hospitalized with Covid-19 has hit a record high — a situation straining health care networks and pushing states toward emergency staffing and other measures as they struggle to cope, according to CNN.

More than 145,900 people were in US hospitals with Covid-19 as of Tuesday — surpassing the previous peak from January 2021, and more than twice as many as two weeks ago, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services.

The previous peak was 142,246, on January 14, 2021. During the Delta-variant surge over the summer, the number peaked at about 104,000 on September 1.

This comes amid a surge in cases fueled by the highly transmissible Omicron coronavirus variant. Hospitals are increasingly juggling staffing issues — not just because of the increased demand, but also because their employees, who are at a high risk of infection, have to isolate and recover after testing positive.

In Virginia, Gov. Ralph Northam declared a limited state of emergency Monday as the number of ICU hospitalizations more than doubled since December 1. The order allows hospitals to expand bed capacity and gives more flexibility in staffing, he said, adding that it also expands the use of telehealth as well as expanding which medical professionals can give vaccines.

In Texas, at least 2,700 medical staffers are being hired, trained and deployed to assist with the surge, joining more than 1,300 personnel already sent across the state, the Texas Department of State Health Services said in a statement to CNN.

North Korea fires possible missile into sea, its second launch in a week

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North Korea fires possible missile into sea, its second launch in a week

North Korea on Tuesday fired what appeared to be a ballistic missile into its eastern sea, its second launch in a week, following leader Kim Jong Un’s calls to expand its nuclear weapons program in defiance of international opposition, according to AP.

KCRA, a television station in Sacramento, California, quoted officials at both its local airport and San Francisco International Airport as saying flights stopped for around five minutes at 2:30 p.m. local time, which was just minutes after the launch. They attributed the stop to an order by the Federal Aviation Administration.

The Biden administration, whose policies have reflected a broader shift in U.S. focus from counterterrorism and so-called rogue states like North Korea and Iran to confronting a near-peer adversary in China, has said it’s willing to resume talks with North Korea “anywhere and at any time” without preconditions.

But North Korea has so far rejected the idea of open-ended talks, saying the U.S. must first withdraw its “hostile policy,” a term the North mainly uses to describe the sanctions and joint U.S.-South Korea military drills.

The launches follow a series of weapons tests in 2021 that underscored how North Korea is continuing to expand its military capabilities during a self-imposed pandemic lockdown and deadlocked nuclear talks with the United States.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea fired what likely was a ballistic missile from the area of its northern Jagang province. It said the weapon flew 700 kilometers (434 miles) at a maximum speed of around Mach 10 before landing in waters off its eastern coast, demonstrating a more advanced capability than North Korea’s launch last week.

The North’s state media described the earlier launch as a successful test of a hypersonic missile, a type of weaponry it claimed to have first tested in September.

South Korean officials didn’t provide a specific assessment of the missile type, but some experts said North Korea may have tested its purported hypersonic missile again in response to the South Korean military playing down its previous test.

Japan’s Defense Ministry said the suspected ballistic missile landed outside the country’s exclusive economic zone.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said officials were checking the safety of ships and aircraft around Japan, but there were no immediate reports of disruptions or damage.

“It is extremely regrettable that North Korea has continued to fire” missiles so soon after the U.N. Security Council discussed its response to the North’s earlier launch, Kishida said.

The Security Council held closed-door consultations on Monday on last week’s launch, but took no action. Ahead of the talks, the U.S. and five allies issued a statement urging North Korea to abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

South Korea’s presidential office said Tuesday’s launch was discussed at an emergency National Security Council meeting, whose members have urged North Korea to return to talks. President Moon Jae-in expressed concern that Pyongyang was dialing up its testing activity ahead of the South’s presidential elections in March.

The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said the launch did not pose an “immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory, or to our allies.”

Still, the launch corresponded with an order issued to ground some flights on the U.S. West Coast.

Past seven years hottest on record

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Past seven years hottest on record

The 2021 average temperature was 1.1-1.2C above the pre-industrial level around 150 years ago, the Copernicus Climate Change Service said.

And the amount of warming gases in our atmosphere continued to increase. Governments are committed to limiting global temperature rise to 1.5C to curb climate change.

But scientists have warned that time is fast running out.

Europe lived through its warmest summer, and temperature records in western US and Canada were broken by several degrees.

China locks down 3rd city after omicron variant were reported

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China locks down 3rd city after omicron variant were reported

 

Xi’an and Yuzhou are both battling the delta variant and neither has reported any omicron cases.

More than 2,000 people have been infected in Xi’an in China’s largest outbreak since the initial one in Wuhan. The ancient capital is a popular tourist stop that is home to the Terracotta Warriors ruins and also a Samsung computer chip factory.

According to AP, a third Chinese city has locked down its residents because of a COVID-19 outbreak, raising the number confined to their homes in China to about 20 million people.

The lockdown of Anyang, home to 5.5 million people, was announced late Monday after two cases of the omicron variant were reported. Residents are not allowed to go out and stores have been ordered shut except those selling necessities.

Another 13 million people have been locked down in Xi’an for nearly three weeks, and 1.1 million more in Yuzhou for more than a week. It wasn’t clear how long the lockdown of Anyang would last, as it was announced as a measure to facilitate mass testing of residents, which is standard procedure in China’s strategy of identifying and isolating infected people as quickly as possible.

The lockdowns are the broadest since the shutting down of Wuhan and most of the rest of Hubei province in early 2020 at the start of the pandemic. Since then, China’s approach has evolved into one of targeting smaller areas hit by outbreaks for lockdowns.

The approach of the Winter Olympics, which open Feb. 4 in Beijing, and the emergence of omicron have brought back citywide lockdowns in a bid to snuff out outbreaks and prevent them from spreading to other parts of China.

A Beijing Olympics official responsible for disease control, Huang Chun, said organizers are counting on the cooperation of athletes and officials to prevent an outbreak that could affect participation.

Father’s body found days after he tried walking home in snowstorm

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Father’s body found days after he tried walking home in snowstorm

A Virgina man who tried to walk home in a snowstorm last Monday after he crashed his car was found dead three days later, a report said.

The body of Jacob Whaley, 34, was discovered by a search party Thursday about 200 yards from the location in Louisa where his family had told authorities he may have been after he first disappeared, WRIC reported.

Whaley was trying to walk the six miles to his home in the wintry conditions, the report said.

When he stopped responding and never made it home, his relatives alerted the sheriff’s office and reported Whaley could possibly have been near Greene’s Corner Road.

Deputies responded to the site, but did not initially find him.

Trees laden with snow lie on Greenwood Church Road in Hanover County, Va., during a snowstorm Monday.

Trees laden with snow lie on Greenwood Church Road in Hanover County, Va., during a snowstorm Monday.AP

The Louisa County Sheriff’s Office issued a statement mourning Whaley’s death.

“Our heartfelt condolences go out to the family and friends of Mr. Jacob Whaley,” the office said.

“Missing Persons cases are always a top priority for the Louisa County Sheriff’s Office and we share in their grief and sorrow.”

Microsoft purchased another 17 acres to continue growing its Atlanta data center hub

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Microsoft purchased another 17 acres to continue growing its Atlanta data center hub

Microsoft has purchased another 17 acres in south Fulton, as the tech giant builds out its Atlanta data center region, according to Bizjournals.com.

Data centers are the backbone of today’s digital infrastructure. The sprawling warehouses are filled with hundreds of servers that store, process and disseminate information, both for consumers and for companies’ information technology functions. Building data centers near company operations increases software speeds. Microsoft has 60 data center regions worldwide.

Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) bought about 7 acres from Lit/Hodges Industrial Trust for $1.1 million and another 10 acres from Macq LLC for $1 million, according to Fulton County property deeds.

The sites may offer additional infrastructure to support Microsoft’s two incoming Fulton County data centers, which will be in East Point and Palmetto. The company announced metro Atlanta as its “East US 3” data center region last February to support faster access and Microsoft Azure cloud services.  

Metro Atlanta is one of the top markets for data centers in the country because of its fiber infrastructure as a former railroad town, connectivity to the Southeast and low costs of land and electricity.  

Microsoft plans to invest $420 million into each of the first phases of the East Point and Palmetto data centers, which will start at 250,000 square feet and 20 jobs. Those centers could have four additional phases of similar value, according to the Development Authority of Fulton County. Microsoft has another data center planned in Douglas County west of Atlanta. The Douglasville center is a $400 million investment, with a first phase of 245,000 square feet and potential for three more phases.  

The newest land acquisitions in Fulton County are much smaller than the sites Microsoft bought for its upcoming data centers. For example, Microsoft needed 125 acres for the East Point center and at least 90 acres for its Douglasville center. 

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