Divisions over race, politics, gender and LGBTQ issues are roiling the Southern Baptist Convention ahead of a meeting of its executive committee next week. On the agenda are two items reflecting those divisions in America’s largest Protestant denomination. One is a recommendation that a church in Kennesaw, Georgia, be ousted from the SBC because it accepted LGBTQ people into its congregation. The other is a report by an executive committee task force criticizing the widely respected leader of the SBC’s public policy arm, the Rev. Russell Moore. Among the grievances against Moore was his outspoken criticism of Donald Trump during Trump’s 2016 election campaign and his presidency.
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Posted inArticle, Politics
White House names generals targeted by Myanmar sanctions
The Biden administration says new sanctions against Myanmar will target the country’s top military officials who ordered this month’s coup in the Southeast Asian country. The sanctions name the top military commander, his deputy and four members of the State Administration Council. The executive order signed by President Joe Biden also allows the Treasury Department to target the spouses and adult children of those being sanctioned. The move will prevent the generals from accessing more than $1 billion in Myanmar government funds held in the United States. The sanctions also will affect businesses controlled by the regime.
Posted inArticle, Politics
White House names SolarWinds response leader amid criticism
The White House says a senior national security official is leading the U.S. response to a massive breach of government departments and private corporations discovered late last year. The announcement that the deputy national security adviser for cyber and emergency technology, Anne Neuberger, has been in charge of the response to the SolarWinds hack follows congressional criticism of the government effort so far as “disorganized.” The hack, connected to tainted software from the U.S. firm SolarWinds, was publicly revealed in December but believed to have begun more than a year earlier.
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RI recovers $3.5 million in fraudulent unemployment insurance claims
The Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training reported Monday that the state has recovered about $3.5 million of the $23 million stolen in unemployment insurance fraud since the pandemic began.
Posted inHealth
Rhode Islanders 75 and older can sign up for vaccination at pharmacies this weekend
Retail pharmacies in Rhode Island next week will start administering vaccines to people 75 and older who live at home. State officials also announced during a news conference on Thursday that COVID-19 restrictions on businesses will be scaled back.
Posted inArticle, Business
West Virginia newspaper publisher sues Google, Facebook
A West Virginia news publisher has filed an antitrust suit against Google and Facebook, who dominate the online ad market. The company, HD Media, owns several papers in the state, including the Herald-Dispatch in Huntington and the Charleston Gazette-Mail. HD Media filed in federal court in West Virginia and asked for a jury trial. The company does not specify the impact on its business of the behavior of Facebook and Google beyond saying that it has hurt its ability to “effectively monetize its content” because Google is enabled to take an uncompetitive share of its ad revenues. A lawyer for the company declined to speak on the record.
Posted inArticle
National Guard, RI police ready for Inauguration Day uncertainty
State Police Colonel James Manni said Rhode Island is prepared for Inauguration Day with a heightened level of security all around the state.
Posted inPolitics
Melissa Long sworn in as first Black justice to RI Supreme Court
On the steps of the State House in Providence Monday, Melissa Long was sworn into the Rhode Island Supreme Court. She is now the first Black justice to serve on the state Supreme Court bench.
Posted inArticle, Business
Businesses rethink political donations after Capitol siege
Businesses are rethinking political contributions in the wake of the deadly Capitol siege by President Donald Trump’s supporters on Wednesday. Citigroup is pausing all federal political donations for the first three months of the year. In a memo to employees, Citi’s head of global government affairs Candi Wolff said the company wanted its employees to be assured that Citigroup will not support candidates “who do not respect the rule of law.” The trade group representing Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, meanwhile, said it’s suspending political contributions to lawmakers who voted last week to reject the Electoral College results that cemented Democrat Joe Biden’s victory.
Posted inArticle, Business
Trump orders ban on transactions with more Chinese apps
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order banning transactions with eight Chinese apps including Alipay and WeChat pay. The order goes into effect in 45 days, at which point Joe Biden will be the president, so the order’s fate is unclear. The orders follow two others Trump signed in August banning dealings with the popular video app TikTok as well as WeChat. The order’s follow two others Trump signed in August, banning dealings with the popular video app TikTok as well as WeChat. The fate of those apps in the U.S. is still unclear.
