Miss a day, miss a lot. Subscribe to The Defender's Top News of the Day. It's free.
‘It’s Killing Our Babies’: 12-Year-Old From Richmond Heights Dies Attempting TikTok Challenge, Family Says
A 12-year-old boy from Richmond Heights died Tuesday after trying a dangerous game from social media that has gone viral, his family says. Tristan Casson died attempting the “blackout challenge” on TikTok, one of the world’s most popular apps, the boy’s mother, Taylor Davis said. As part of it, participants are challenged to hold their breath or asphyxiate themselves until they pass out.
Davis said her son died by strangulation and does not think her son was suicidal, but rather a victim of a dangerous trend circulating online. She said he always tried new dances and trends that were popular on TikTok.
In November, Bloomberg News reported that the blackout challenge has been linked to the deaths of at least 15 children ages 12 or younger in the past 18 months.
“I just wish that TikTok would ban these types of challenges from going around,” said Tanisha Watson, a friend of the boy’s mother. “It is killing our babies.”
House Passes Defense Bill Scrapping Military COVID Vaccine Mandate
A bill to rescind the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for members of the U.S. military and provide nearly $858 billion for national defense passed the House on Thursday as lawmakers scratch off one of the final items on their yearly to-do list.
The bill provides for about $45 billion more for defense programs than President Joe Biden requested, the second consecutive year Congress significantly exceeded his request, as lawmakers seek to boost the nation’s military competitiveness with China and Russia.
The House passed the bill by a vote of 350-80. It now goes to the Senate, where it is expected to pass easily, then to the president to be signed into law.
To win bipartisan support for the bill, Democrats agreed to Republican demands to scrap the requirement for service members to get a COVID-19 vaccination. The bill directs Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to rescind his August 2021 memorandum imposing the mandate. Only days earlier he voiced support for keeping the mandate in effect.
New York City Officials Issue Health Advisory, Urge Mask Use as Flu, COVID and RSV Spread
New York City health officials are urging residents to wear masks indoors and in crowded settings due to the rise in RSV, flu and COVID-19 cases. Health officials are urging New Yorkers to get tested before and after gatherings and to wear a mask around people who are at increased risk of severe respiratory illness
Masks have been the center of plenty of debates since the start of the COVID pandemic. Now they may also be making a comeback in New York schools. The state is now recommending kids wear them again, with three respiratory viruses sweeping across the area.
Former NYT Columnist Bari Weiss Releases ‘Twitter Files Part Two’
Former New York Times columnist Bari Weiss released the second installment of the “Twitter Files” on Thursday night, sharing images of accounts that Twitter allegedly placed on various types of “blacklists.”
Weiss posted several images of what appears to be an internal Twitter system that marked certain accounts as being under various kinds of “blacklists,” in addition to flagging other information about the accounts.
Jay Bhattacharya, a health policy professor from Stanford University who opposed COVID-19 lockdowns, appeared to have been placed on a “Trends Blacklist,” as was the right-wing Libs of TikTok account, according to the photos.
Weiss’s Twitter thread is the second installment in what Twitter CEO Elon Musk has dubbed the “Twitter Files.” The first installment, released by independent journalist Matt Taibbi, appeared to show an internal debate at the social media company over how to handle a New York Post story about Hunter Biden.
Elton John Quits Twitter Over Change That ‘Allows Misinformation to Flourish’
Sir Elton John has said that he will no longer use Twitter after a change in its policy that he says will allow “misinformation to flourish unchecked.”
The 75-year-old musician’s comments come after Elon Musk, who bought the social media outlet for $44 billion (£35.9bn), said he was granting “general amnesty” for suspended accounts, which experts have said would lead to “superspreaders of hate” returning to the platform.
Musk was recently told by the EU’s commissioner for digital policy, Thierry Breton, that he needed to protect users to ensure Twitter avoided violating rules that threatened tech giants with big fines or even a ban in the European Union.
Several other celebrities, including Whoopi Goldberg, Gigi Hadid and Jim Carrey, have left Twitter since Musk’s takeover.
CommonSpirit Health Says Patient Data Was Stolen During Ransomware Attack
Chicago-based medical giant CommonSpirit Health has confirmed that an October ransomware attack exposed the personal data of more than 620,000 patients.
CommonSpirit Health, which operates more than 700 care sites and 142 hospitals in 21 states, first confirmed an “IT security issue” on October 5. At the time, the company declined to comment on the nature of the incident, which interrupted access to electronic health records and delayed patient care in multiple regions and refused to say whether patient information or health data was compromised.
In a December update, CommonSpirit confirmed that the incident was a ransomware attack. The organization said that threat actors gained access to portions of its network between September 16 and October 3 and, during that time, “may have gained access to certain files, including files that contained personal information” belonging to patients who received care or family members of those who received care at Franciscan Health, a 12-hospital affiliate of CommonSpirit Health.
‘We’ve Lost Our Humanity in This’: Widower Strives to See No Patient Left Alone Again
After his wife died in a Colorado hospital in 2020 with no family present, Steve Reiter strives to see that no patient is ever left alone again. He initiated the Never Alone Project to raise awareness about the dangers of isolating patients in hospitals and to influence legislation that would require hospitals to allow families to visit their loved ones while they are being treated.
In a National Institute for Health and Care Research study on home care residents during COVID-19, social isolation — which includes the social distancing measures taken in 2020 — contributes to adverse health outcomes stemming from loneliness such as mortality, cardiovascular disease, depression and dementia.
In June 2022, Reps. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) and Andy Harris (R-Md.) introduced the No Patient Left Alone Act, which would guarantee a patient’s right to have visitors, and require hospitals to honor this right as a condition of their participation in Medicare.
Given what he’s seen over the last few years, Reiter concluded: “We’ve lost our humanity in this. And we need to find our way back.”
Federal Trade Commission Sues Microsoft to Block $69 Billion Activision Purchase
The Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against Microsoft on Thursday to block its $69 billion acquisition of video game giant Activision Blizzard, arguing the company could stifle competition, as Microsoft looks to compete with gaming giants Nintendo and Sony.
The FTC voted to file the suit blocking Microsoft’s biggest-ever acquisition in a 3-1 vote on Thursday, with the commission’s three Democrats forming the majority.
The commission alleges the acquisition would unfairly lure consumers to Microsoft, the maker of the video game console Xbox, allowing it to “suppress competitors to its Xbox gaming consoles and its rapidly growing content and cloud-gaming business.”
In China’s Wuhan, a Shadow of Reserve and Resentment Even as COVID Lockdowns Ease
In the Chinese city of Wuhan, where coronavirus was first detected nearly three years ago and where thousands died, residents cautiously greeted a relaxation of lockdown measures by authorities this week. In the city center, few people were in shops and restaurants and the subway was only partially filled as many residents remained wary of a possible new flare-up of infections.
The teeming metropolis bore the brunt of the pandemic in its early stages in early 2020, when authorities ordered the entire city of 11 million to be sealed off in a military-style lockdown for more than two months — a traumatic chapter that has not been forgotten by some.
“We know the country is reopening but we ourselves haven’t let down our guard,” said one Wuhan corner shop owner. “We’re taking precautions, protecting ourselves because it (the virus) is spreading quickly.”
Two Wuhan pharmacies visited by Reuters had sold out of fever medication a day ago, while customers asked for vitamin C or cough medicine in vain with stocks depleted.
U.K., Japan and Italy Are Joining Forces to Build a New Next-Generation Fighter Jet That Can Fight With Artificial Intelligence
Britain, Italy and Japan are joining forces to build a next-generation fighter jet that can use artificial intelligence amid heightened security concerns in Europe and the Indo-Pacific region.
Leaders of the three countries announced the initiative, dubbed the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), in a joint statement on Friday and said the “ambitious” development of the aircraft has a target date of 2035.
Britain’s defense ministry said in a release that it hopes to develop the fighter jet with various advanced capabilities such as cutting-edge weapons, innovative data systems and advanced sensors. There is also hope that it could work with uncrewed aircraft.
