Month: April 2022

The White House announced on Tuesday that Vice President Kamala Harris has tested positive for COVID-19. CNN reported that the vice president’s positive test results rerouted her plans to attend an intelligence briefing Tuesday at the White House, where she was initially tested.

According to the vice president’s press secretary Kirsten Allen, Harris is fully vaccinated with Moderna and has also received two booster shots — her first booster was administered in October, and her second booster in early April.  Harris is not symptomatic after receiving results from rapid and PCR tests, said Allen, adding: “She has not been a close contact to the president or first lady due to their respective recent travel schedules.”   Harris’s last in-person contact with President Joe Biden was during April 18’s Easter Egg Roll, according to an official, after which she left for California.

Harris will continue to work from home at the Naval Observatory, and plans to return to the White House upon testing negative.

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On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.4% – over 800 points — while the S&P 500 lost 2.8%, and the Nasdaq Composite 4%. The market’s losses adds to what has already been a big sell-off so far in April: The Dow is down over 4%, the S&P 500 roughly 8% and the Nasdaq nearly 13%.  Following Tuesday’s losses, the Dow is down 4.2% for the month of April, while the S&P 500 has dropped 7.8% and the Nasdaq has plummeted 12.2% for the period.

Microsoft and Google parent, Alphabet, were both down during regular trading, declining 3.74% and 3.59% respectively as both reported earnings after the bell.  However Alphabet reported near misses on revenue, which grew 23% to $68.01 billion in the first quarter, down from 34% in 2021. The company’s stock fell nearly 6% after the bell.

U.S. markets followed major indexes in Europe and Asia amid concerns that COVID-19 outbreaks and corresponding lockdowns in China could harm the global supply chain. And shares of Tesla fell 12.18% as the company has a factory in Shanghai and faced continued pressure from CEO Elon Musk’s decision to purchase Twitter for $44 billion.

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The board of social media platform Twitter announced on Monday it has accepted a $44 billion offer from SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk to purchase the company and make it private. The company said that under the terms of the deal, Twitter stockholders will receive $54.20 in cash per share, representing a 38% premium to its April 1 stock price — the last trading day before Musk disclosed his about 9% stake in Twitter.

The announcement came after reports that Musk would move ahead with his bid to acquire all of the outstanding shares of the company he didn’t already own.  Musk said in a statement: “Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square, where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated. I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots and authenticating all humans. Twitter has tremendous potential — I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it.”

Board Chairman Bret Taylor said, “The Twitter Board conducted a thoughtful and comprehensive process to assess Elon’s proposal with a deliberate focus on value, certainty and financing. The proposed transaction will deliver a substantial cash premium, and we believe it is the best path forward for Twitter’s stockholders.”

The 50-year-old Musk has said that Twitter is not living up to its potential as a communications giant, and has long been highly critical of the social platform.  Musk said that under his ownership, Twitter would reach “extraordinary potential” as a private company.   However, critics note that Musk has shown a pattern of not tolerating criticism and using Twitter to publicly mock people. Some fear that that the platform under Musk may institute a hands-off policy on content meant to stir up social unrest, after the billionaire decried the platform’s decisions to bar some offensive posts as censorship.

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On Monday, Texas’ highest criminal court delayed the execution of death row inmate Melissa Lucio, who was set to die Wednesday.  The decision from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals means a lower court can now review Lucio’s claims that she is innocent and that her execution should be stopped, based on new evidence that would clear her in the death of her 2-year-old daughter.

Lucio, the only Latina on Texas’s death row, was sentenced to death 14 years ago in a capital murder case involving her daughter, Mariah. During her trial, prosecutors argued that Lucio physically abused the toddler, and that Mariah had bruises on her body, signs of a head injury, and an untreated broken arm when she died in February 2007.  Lucio’s legal team denied those claims and argued that prosecutors built their case around false medical evidence and a coerced confession from Lucio, following an hours-long interrogation with Texas Rangers. The defense argued that Lucio was sleep-deprived and pregnant with twins, and asserted her innocence more than 100 times, but was ignored.

Lucio’s lawyers have also said that she was susceptible to falsely claiming responsibility for the death because of her past experiences with physical abuse and sexual assault.  According to those supporting Lucio and her lawyers, Mariah’s death was accidental and she died after falling down a flight of outdoor stairs as the family was preparing to move to a new apartment. They said Mariah had a mild disability that caused her feet to be turned in and that the child was prone to falling. On the day of the incident, Mariah was crying but did not seem to be seriously injured; however, the girl died two days later.

After the high court issued the stay of execution, Lucio said in a statement shared by her legal team: “I thank God for my life. I am grateful the Court has given me the chance to live and prove my innocence. Mariah is in my heart today and always. I am grateful to have more days to be a mother to my children and a grandmother to my grandchildren.”

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