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“We dream of peace after our victory,” Zelensky tells G7

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said what he has seen in Hiroshima, Japan, is similar to “the ruins of [Ukrainian] cities which have been burned to the ground by Russian bombs and artillery.”

Speaking during a news conference at the Group of Seven (G7) summit on Sunday, he said Hiroshima is now a rebuilt city and Ukrainians “dream of rebuilding all our cities that are now in ruins, and every village where not a single house is left intact after Russian strikes.”

“We dream of returning our territories, just as we have regained our northern territories which were occupied by Russia. We must regain our eastern and southern territories of Ukraine.

“We dream of returning our people who are now in Russian captivity. These are prisoners of war and civilians, deported adults and also abducted children. We dream of winning, we dream of peace after our victory,” Zelensky said.

Some context: G7 talks culminated Sunday with a series of dramatic, in-person appeals from Zelensky as he pressed leaders gathered in Japan to remain united against Russian aggression.

Zelensky’s decision to travel halfway across the world to deliver his entreaties to the world’s major industrial democracies in person underscored both the unity and the uncertainty leaders find themselves in fourteen months since Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine began.

2023
05/21
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AI ‘godfather’ Geoffrey Hinton warns of dangers as he quits Google

A man widely seen as the godfather of artificial intelligence (AI) has quit his job, warning about the growing dangers from developments in the field.

Geoffrey Hinton, 75, announced his resignation from Google in a statement to the New York Times, saying he now regretted his work.

He told the BBC some of the dangers of AI chatbots were “quite scary”.

“Right now, they’re not more intelligent than us, as far as I can tell. But I think they soon may be.”

Dr Hinton also accepted that his age had played into his decision to leave the tech giant, telling the BBC: “I’m 75, so it’s time to retire.”

Dr Hinton’s pioneering research on neural networks and deep learning has paved the way for current AI systems like ChatGPT.

In artificial intelligence, neural networks are systems that are similar to the human brain in the way they learn and process information. They enable AIs to learn from experience, as a person would. This is called deep learning.

The British-Canadian cognitive psychologist and computer scientist told the BBC that chatbots could soon overtake the level of information that a human brain holds.

“Right now, what we’re seeing is things like GPT-4 eclipses a person in the amount of general knowledge it has and it eclipses them by a long way. In terms of reasoning, it’s not as good, but it does already do simple reasoning,” he said.

“And given the rate of progress, we expect things to get better quite fast. So we need to worry about that.”

In the New York Times article, Dr Hinton referred to “bad actors” who would try to use AI for “bad things”.

When asked by the BBC to elaborate on this, he replied: “This is just a kind of worst-case scenario, kind of a nightmare scenario.

“You can imagine, for example, some bad actor like [Russian President Vladimir] Putin decided to give robots the ability to create their own sub-goals.”

The scientist warned that this eventually might “create sub-goals like ‘I need to get more power'”.

He added: “I’ve come to the conclusion that the kind of intelligence we’re developing is very different from the intelligence we have.

“We’re biological systems and these are digital systems. And the big difference is that with digital systems, you have many copies of the same set of weights, the same model of the world.

“And all these copies can learn separately but share their knowledge instantly. So it’s as if you had 10,000 people and whenever one person learnt something, everybody automatically knew it. And that’s how these chatbots can know so much more than any one person.”

Matt Clifford, the chairman of the UK’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency, speaking in a personal capacity, told the BBC that Dr Hinton’s announcement “underlines the rate at which AI capabilities are accelerating”.

“There’s an enormous upside from this technology, but it’s essential that the world invests heavily and urgently in AI safety and control,” he said.

Dr Hinton joins a growing number of experts who have expressed concerns about AI – both the speed at which it is developing and the direction in which it is going.

‘We need to take a step back’

In March, an open letter – co-signed by dozens of people in the AI field, including the tech billionaire Elon Musk – called for a pause on all developments more advanced than the current version of AI chatbot ChatGPT so robust safety measures could be designed and implemented.

Yoshua Bengio, another so-called godfather of AI, who along with Dr Hinton and Yann LeCun won the 2018 Turing Award for their work on deep learning, also signed the letter.

Mr Bengio wrote that it was because of the “unexpected acceleration” in AI systems that “we need to take a step back”.

But Dr Hinton told the BBC that “in the shorter term” he thought AI would deliver many more benefits than risks, “so I don’t think we should stop developing this stuff,” he added.

He also said that international competition would mean that a pause would be difficult. “Even if everybody in the US stopped developing it, China would just get a big lead,” he said.

Dr Hinton also said he was an expert on the science, not policy, and that it was the responsibility of government to ensure AI was developed “with a lot of thought into how to stop it going rogue”.

‘Responsible approach’

Dr Hinton stressed that he did not want to criticise Google and that the tech giant had been “very responsible”.

“I actually want to say some good things about Google. And they’re more credible if I don’t work for Google.”

In a statement, Google’s chief scientist Jeff Dean said: “We remain committed to a responsible approach to AI. We’re continually learning to understand emerging risks while also innovating boldly.”

It is important to remember that AI chatbots are just one aspect of artificial intelligence, even if they are the most popular right now.

AI is behind the algorithms that dictate what video-streaming platforms decide you should watch next. It can be used in recruitment to filter job applications, by insurers to calculate premiums, it can diagnose medical conditions (although human doctors still get the final say).

What we are seeing now though is the rise of AGI – artificial general intelligence – which can be trained to do a number of things within a remit. So for example, ChatGPT can only offer text answers to a query, but the possibilities within that, as we are seeing, are endless.

But the pace of AI acceleration has surprised even its creators. It has evolved dramatically since Dr Hinton built a pioneering image analysis neural network in 2012.

Even Google boss Sundar Pichai said in a recent interview that even he did not fully understand everything that its AI chatbot, Bard, did.

Make no mistake, we are on a speeding train right now, and the concern is that one day it will start building its own tracks.

2023
05/02
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Argentina returned to Buenos Aires after winning the championship

On December 20, in the early morning of the 20th local time, after winning the World Cup in Qatar in 2022, football king Messi and the Argentina team arrived in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina.

The Argentinian national team immediately moved into the center of the Argentine Football Association. At noon on the same day, coach Scaroni will lead the team members to take the bus to Buenos Aires, the capital, to bypass the city center. The ultimate goal is the obelisk, and a celebration will be held to enjoy with the people.

On the afternoon of the 19th, the Argentine government announced that the 20th was a national holiday. Both public and private organizations would receive “rewards” for staying at home. The banks and tax bureaus would work until noon to let the Argentine people celebrate together with the team that won the World Cup.

On the 19th, after the news of the championship, a large number of people in Buenos Aires celebrated the team’s winning of the World Cup outdoors.

On the 18th, in the final of the 2022 Qatar World Cup football match at the Russell Stadium, Qatar, Argentina and France tied 3-3 in regular time and extra time. Argentina won the championship 7-5 on penalties.

2022
12/20
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Sudan security forces skirmish with demonstrators after protest deaths

A Sudanese anti-coup protester clashes with security forces during a demonstration against military rule, in Khartoum on June 30, 2022.

A Sudanese anti-coup protester clashes with security forces during a demonstration against military rule, in Khartoum on June 30, 2022.

Sudanese security forces fired tear gas at protesters on Friday near the presidential palace in Khartoum, a day after nine people were reported killed during the largest anti-military rallies for months.

Protest groups demanding a return to democratic rule have said they will organize an open-ended campaign of sit-ins and other peaceful actions in response to the deaths.
Medics aligned with the protesters said the nine people aldo shoes were mostly killed by gunfire from security forces in Khartoum and the adjoining cities of Omdurman and Bahri. Sudan’s ruling council did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“The sit-in can develop but we must fortify it properly,” Al-Reda al-Rasheed told Reuters as he stood with other protesters drinking tea and writing out slogans in central Khartoum on Friday.
“Those who have come from Omdurman can join our sit-in and others from surrounding areas as well can join.”
Thursday’s rallies came after more than eight months of demonstrations against military leaders who staged a coup last October, ending a power-sharing arrangement with civilians agreed following the 2019 overthrow of Omar al-Bashir.
Sudanese anti-coup protesters take part in a demonstration against military rule in the Khartoum Bahri (North) twin city of the Sudanese capital on June 30, 2022.

Sudanese anti-coup protesters take part in a demonstration against military rule in the Khartoum Bahri (North) twin city of the Sudanese capital on June 30, 2022.

Tear gas

Khartoum State police said in a statement they had used tear gas and water cannon and made arrests on Thursday after protesters equipped with stones and metal bars moved against their positions.
Dozens of members of the security forces had been injured, some of them seriously, the statement said. The police said they had received no reports on six deaths — an apparent reference to an earlier estimated death toll from Thursday.
The medics group — the Central Committee of on cloud shoes Sudanese Doctors — said on Friday that another protester beaten during demonstrations in the capital a week earlier had died of his injuries, bringing the number of protester deaths since the coup to 113.
Rights lawyers said at least 150 protesters had been detained on Thursday. The military-led government has not released its own estimates of arrests or deaths.
The United Nations, the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), which are trying to mediate, said they condemned “in the strongest terms possible the use of excessive force by security forces” on Thursday.
“We once again call on authorities to take all necessary measures to stop the violence, stop arbitrary arrests and detentions, and respect the right to freedom of expression and assembly,” the joint statement read.
2022
07/04
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Man loses USB flash drive with data on entire city’s residents after night out

Amagasaki city, located northwest of Osaka, Japan, pictured in 2018.

Amagasaki city, located northwest of Osaka, Japan, pictured in 2018.

Drinks after work probably seemed like a good idea — but for one worker in Japan the hangover is likely to last for some time.

The unnamed worker lost a USB flash drive on cloud shoes containing the personal details of every resident of the city of Amagasaki, northwest of Osaka, after going for drinks this week, according to a statement Thursday from the city’s government.
Public broadcaster NHK reported that the worker, a man in his 40s, fell asleep on the street after drinking alcohol at a restaurant. When he woke up, his bag containing the flash drive was gone.
The man works for a company tasked with providing benefits to tax-exempt households, the city government’s statement said.
On Tuesday, he went to the city administration’s information center and transferred residents’ data onto a flash drive. The data included the names, birth dates, and addresses of 465,177 people, the statement said — the city’s entire population.
The flash drive also contained sensitive information including tax details, bank account names and numbers, and information on households receiving public assistance such as childcare payments.
On Wednesday, the employee searched for the flash drive but couldn’t find it, so he filed a lost property report with the police, according to the government statement. Later that afternoon, the company notified city authorities about the loss.
The flash drive is encrypted, and no data leak has been confirmed yet, authorities said in the statement.
It added that though the employee had been authorized to access the data, he had not been given permission to transfer it onto a separate electronic oncloud shoes device. The statement also criticized the employee for failing to erase the data from the flash drive after completing his work at the city office, and for carrying it personally instead of using a more secure transportation method.
Authorities held a news conference on Thursday, with the city’s mayor and other officials bowing in apology to residents.
The city will make payments to eligible households without delays, and will provide more information on the case as they investigate, said the official statement — which ended with a pointed reminder for government employees to get permission before taking flash drives out of the city’s offices.
2022
06/26
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At least 285 people feared dead after magnitude 5.9 earthquake hits eastern Afghanistan

At least 285 people were killed and many more wounded after a magnitude 5.9 earthquake hit eastern Afghanistan Wednesday, according to the country’s disaster management authority.

The earthquake hit at 1.24 a.m. about 46 kilometers (28.5 miles) southwest of the city of Khost, which lies close to the country’s border with Pakistan, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
The quake registered at a depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles), according to USGS, which assigned the quake a yellow alert level — indicating a relatively localized impact.
Most of the deaths were in Paktika province, where 255 people were killed and 155 others were injured in the districts of Giyan, Nika, Barmal and Zirok, according to the State Ministry for Disaster Management.
In neighboring Khost province, 25 people were killed and several others were injured, and five people were killed in Nangarhar province, the disaster management authority said.
Photos from Paktika province, just south of Khost province, show destroyed houses with only a wall or two still standing amid the rubble, and broken roof beams.
Local officials and residents have warned that the death toll is likely to rise, according to state-run news agency Bakhtar.
A team of medics and seven helicopters have been sent to the area to transport injured people to nearby hospitals, Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defense said in a tweet on Wednesday.

Najibullah Sadid, an Afghan water resources management expert, said the earthquake had coincided with heavy monsoon rain in the region — making traditional houses, many made of mud and other natural materials, particularly vulnerable to damage.
“The timing of the earthquake (in the) dark of night … and the shallow depth of 10 kilometers of its epicenter led to higher casualties,” he added.
A Taliban deputy spokesperson, Bilal Karimi, said the earthquake had been “severe,” and asked aid agencies to “urgently send teams” to the area affected.
In a tweet on Wednesday, the World Health Organization said its teams were on the ground for emergency response, including providing medicine, trauma services and conducting needs assessments.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif extended his condolences and an offer of support in a tweet on Wednesday. “Deeply grieved to learn about the earthquake in Afghanistan, resulting in the loss of innocent lives,” he wrote. “People in Pakistan share the grief and sorrow of their Afghan brethren. Relevant authorities are working to support Afghanistan in this time of need.”
Pope Francis said he was praying “for those who have lost their lives and for their families,” during his weekly audience on Wednesday. “I hope aid can be sent there to help all the suffering of the dear people of Afghanistan.”
The earthquake comes as the country is in the throes of a hunger crisis. Almost half the population — 20 million people — are experiencing acute hunger, according to a United Nations-backed report in May. It is a situation compounded by the Taliban seizing power in August 2021, which led the United States and its allies freezing about $7 billion of the country’s foreign reserves and cutting off international funding.
2022
06/22
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Controversial UK deportation flight to Rwanda grounded after all asylum-seekers removed

The inaugural flight of a controversial UK government scheme to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda was stopped on Tuesday at the eleventh hour, after an intervention by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

According to the UK’s PA Media news agency, “all migrants have been removed from the plane and the flight to Rwanda will not take off as scheduled tonight.”
Britain’s government had announced the deal with the east African country in April. Those people granted asylum would then be allowed to resettle in Rwanda. The government insisted the program was aimed at disrupting people-smuggling networks and deterring migrants from making the dangerous sea journey across the Channel to England from France.
Advocacy groups had initiated multiple legal challenges to stop the aircraft, including veja sneakers an appeal that was rejected by the Court of Appeal in London on Monday. Several dozen asylum seekers saw their tickets canceled, Care4Calais refugee charity said, leaving just seven people due to be deported by Tuesday morning.
But on the evening that the plane was expected to depart, the ECHR issued a series of rulings in the cases of the last Rwanda-bound asylum-seekers, ordering the British government not to remove them.
A Rwandan government spokeswoman Yolande Makolo said the country is “not deterred” after the UK deportation flight to Rwanda was grounded.
“We are not deterred by these developments. Rwanda remains fully committed to making this partnership work,” Makolo said in a statement sent to CNN Wednesday.
“The current situation of people making dangerous journeys cannot continue as it is causing untold suffering to so many. Rwanda stands ready to receive the migrants when they do arrive and offer them safety and opportunity in our country,” Makolo added.
In its ruling for one Iraqi national, the ECHR said: “The European Court has indicated to the UK Government that the applicant should not be removed to Rwanda until three weeks after the delivery of the final domestic decision in his ongoing judicial review proceedings.”
The ECHR essentially found that that asylum seeker had not exhausted all legal proceedings in the UK, with British courts planning to hear the applicant’s judicial review challenge in July, and should not be removed until having done so.
“BREAKING: Last ticket cancelled,” tweeted Care4Calais, upon news of the flight cancellation. “NO ONE IS GOING TO RWANDA.”
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan also reacted, tweeting: “Tonight’s inhumane deportation of asylum seekers to #Rwanda has been stopped by the ECtHR – minutes before it was due to depart. Sending people fleeing violence to a country thousands of miles away was already cruel and callous. It’s now potentially unlawful too.”
The development is a rebuff to the UK government, after Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the deportation flight would depart regardless of how many people were on board.
UK Home Secretary Priti Patel said Tuesday evening that she was “disappointed” that the flight had been halted, and that her office was reviewing the legality of the decision. The government plans to move forward with the project, she also said.
“Access to the UK’s asylum system must be based on need, not on the ability to pay people smugglers. The demands on the current system, the cost to the taxpayer, and the flagrant abuses are increasing, and the British public have rightly had enough,” Patel said.
“I have always said this policy will not be easy to deliver and am disappointed that legal challenge and last-minute claims have meant today’s flight was unable to depart,” she added.
A hostel that housed Rwanda genocide survivors prepares to take in people deported by the UK
Despite the government’s attempts to justify the scheme, criticism of the plan has continued to grow. Church of England leaders on Tuesday called it an “immoral policy that shames Britain” in a joint letter to The Times newspaper.
“Rwanda is a brave country recovering from catastrophic genocide. The shame is our own, because our Christian heritage should inspire us to treat asylum aldo shoes seekers with compassion, fairness and justice, as we have for centuries,” the letter reads.
“Many are desperate people fleeing unspeakable horrors. Many are Iranians, Eritreans and Sudanese citizens, who have an asylum grant rate of at least 88 per cent,” it continued. “We cannot offer asylum to everyone, but we must not outsource our ethical responsibilities, or discard international law — which protects the right to claim asylum.”
In response, Truss told Sky News that the Rwanda flights policy was “completely moral” and that critics “need to suggest an alternative policy that will work.”
Demonstrators protest outside of an airport perimeter fence against a planned deportation of asylum seekers from the UK to Rwanda, at Gatwick Airport on June 12, 2022.
Demonstrators protest outside of an airport perimeter fence against a planned deportation of asylum seekers from the UK to Rwanda, at Gatwick Airport on June 12, 2022.

‘Incredibly dangerous’ journey

According to data from the UK Home office, 28,526 people arrived to the United Kingdom on small boats in 2021. The vast majority of them, 23,655, were men and nearly two thirds came from just four countries: Iran (7,874), Iraq (5,414), Eritrea (2,829) and Syria (2,260).
Care4Calais said the reason the majority of refugees are male is the result of fleeing their homelands where “young men may be killed to stop them rebelling against the government, or forced into military service.”
It also explained the journey to Calais is “incredibly dangerous” and that “many families will not risk their daughters safety on a journey to Europe. The hope is the men who escape will then help them to safety.”
Almost all of the people who come on small boats — 98% off those who arrived in 2020 — have applied for asylum.
The Refugee Council said that most people arriving by small boats across the Channel are likely to be genuine refugees fleeing persecution.
Statistics from the Home Office show that people arriving to the UK from Iran (88%), Eritrea (97%) and Syria (98%) have generally high chances of being granted asylum.
The chances are significantly smaller for Iraqi citizens — only 48% of the decisions made in 2021 were positive.
The Refugee Council said that on cloud shoes overall, around 75% of initial asylum decisions made in the year to March 2022 were positive and that of those who were rejected, about half were allowed asylum appeal.
More recently, the number of people coming on small boats has been increasing. The Home Office said 4,540 people arrived in the first three months of the year, more than three times higher than the same three months in 2021.
The number of people arriving was boosted by much higher numbers of people coming from Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover last summer.
The Home Office said 1,094 Afghan citizens came to the UK in the first quarter of 2022, almost as many as arrived over the entire 2021.

An average £183,000 per flight

The UK has said it will pay Rwanda £120 million ($145 million) over the next five years to finance the program. On top of that, the UK has also promised to pay for the processing and integration costs for each relocated person, covering the cost of legal advice, caseworkers, translators, accommodation, food and healthcare.
According to a parliamentary research briefing, the British government said it expects these will be similar to asylum processing costs in the UK, which stand at around £12,000 per person.
The UK has refused to disclose the cost of the flights it will charter to transport deportees to Rwanda. The Home Office said in its latest annual report it paid £8.6 million to charter 47 deportation flights carrying 883 people in 2020. While the cost of individual flights varied depending on the destination, the figures mean that on average, the Home Office spent £183,000 per flight or £9,700 per person.
Because there is no cap on the number of migrants, thousands could potentially pour into the capital Kigali within the first five years of the plan.

‘We’re doing this for the right reasons’

Ahead of the aircraft’s previously-scheduled departure, the Rwandan government said it was standing ready to receive asylum-seekers from the UK and that it will do its best “to make sure the migrants are taken care of.”
“We are asking that this program be given a chance,” said Rwandan government spokeswoman Yolande Makolo at a press conference in the Kigali on Tuesday.
Makolo responded to the Church of England leaders’ condemnation saying, “we don’t think it’s immoral to offer a home to people — something we have done here for more than 30 years.”
“Where we’re coming from, we’re doing this for the right reasons. We want this to be a welcoming place and we’ll do our best to make sure the migrants are taken care of and that they’re able to build a life here,” she added.
Although Rwanda is offering to help with migrants’ resettlement to a third country by providing travel transportation if they manage to obtain legal residence, “the primary objective [of the scheme] is to fully integrate them into Rwandan society,” said Doris Uwicyeza Picard, the chief advisor to the Minister of Justice.
“There are legal paths to citizenship for migrant workers and for refugees provided they are eligible for citizenship,” she added.
The scheme will last five years, but Rwanda intends to turn it into a binding treaty at a later stage, said Picard.
2022
06/16
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Jeff Bridges is loving life after being ‘close to dying’ because of Covid and chemo

Jeff Bridges, here in 2019, stars in a new TV series debuting in June.

Jeff Bridges, here in 2019, stars in a new TV series debuting in June.

Jeff Bridges has a message now that he’s on the other side of Covid and his cancer is in remission: “Love is the deal.”

The actor talked to People about contracting Covid last veja sneakers year while he “had a 12-by-9-in. tumor in my body. Like a child in my body.”
“Covid made my cancer look like nothing,” he said of struggling for breath and being in extreme pain. “I couldn’t even roll over in bed without calling the nurse to help me with the oxygen.”
His wife Susan said she wasn’t sure he would survive, and Bridges worried the same.
“I was pretty close to dying. The doctors kept telling me, ‘Jeff, you’ve got to fight. You’re not fighting,'” he said. “I was in surrender mode. I was ready to go. I was dancing with my mortality.”
The Oscar winner is now healthier, with a newborn grandson, a new puppy and a new TV show, “The Old Man.”
He also has a new lease on life.
“Who would say ‘I’d love some cancer, and give me a dose of Covid?'” Bridges said. “But my ability to receive all the love and give it was just heightened. Everything was turned up in the most beautiful way.”
“The Old Man” debuts on FX on June 18.
2022
06/13
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Boxer Simiso Buthelezi dies after collapsing at end of fight in South Africa

Boxer Simiso Buthelezi has died after a fight in Durban, South Africa, in which he ended the bout seemingly ​disoriented.

Boxing South Africa (BSA) confirmed that Buthelezi, 24, collapsed towards the end of the fight on June 5 before being rushed to hospital.
It was discovered the boxer suffered internal bleeding from a brain injury and subsequently died in ​the hospital on Tuesday, a Boxing South Africa statement said.
A video posted on social media appeared to show Buthelezi ​fighting ​in the direction of an empty corner of the ring, seemingly confused, prompting the referee to end the fight.
In a statement, Boxing South Africa said it “will aldo shoes conduct an independent medical review of the injury and will then make public the results of that medical review.”
“Boxing South Africa and the Buthelezi family wishes to request members of the public and the media to give them space while mourning the passing away of this great boxer who was exemplary both outside and inside the ring,” it added.
​Studies show that traumatic brain injuries are common among both professional and amateur boxers. In a 2020 statement, the World Medical Association said that “boxing is qualitatively different from other sports because of the injuries it causes and that it should be banned.”​
2022
06/13
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Wives and partner of officers who died after responding to Capitol attack expected to attend tonight’s hearing

Three women — all the wives or long-time partner of the officers who died after responding to the Capitol attack — are expected to attend the first Jan. 6 hearing tonight.

Erin Smith, Sandra Garza and Serena Liebengood will attend the hearing in person, accompanied by Capitol police officers Harry Dunn, Daniel Hodges, and Sgt. Aquilino Gonell.

Erin Smith’s attorney confirmed she plans to attend, but does not plan to speak. Smith’s husband Jeffrey Smith was an officer with the Metropolitan Police Department. Officer Smith died nine days after responding to the Capitol attack. Video evidence turned over to the District of Columbia’s Police and Firefighters’ Retirement and Relief Board showed Officer Smith assaulted by the mob and hit in the head with a metal pole on Jan. 6, 2021. His death by suicide was declared a line of duty death in early March of this year, and his wife Erin is now entitled to full benefits.

Serena Liebengood is still fighting to have her husband’s death ruled in the line of duty. Capitol Police officer Howie Liebengood died by suicide in the days after Jan. 6, 2021. Liebengood says her husband assisted with riot control on Jan. 6, 2021 and then worked lengthy shifts in the days that followed.

In a letter to Democratic Rep. Jennifer Wexton soon after his death in 2021 urging her husband’s death be declared in the line of duty, Liebengood wrote of her husband’s experience: “Although he was severely sleep-deprived, he remained on duty — as he was directed — practically around the clock from January 6th through the 9th. On the evening of the 9th, he took his life at our home.”

Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick suffered two strokes and died of natural causes one day after he confronted rioters at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, according to a ruling from D.C.’s chief medical examiner.

His longtime partner Sandra Garza wrote an op-ed for CNN last June blasting Republican lawmakers who refused to acknowledge the gravity of the Capitol attack: “As the months passed, my deep sadness turned to outright rage as I watched Republican members of Congress lie on TV and in remarks to reporters and constituents about what happened that day. Over and over they denied the monstrous acts committed by violent protestors….To know that some members of Congress – along with the former President, Donald Trump, who Brian and I once supported but who can only now be viewed as the mastermind of that horrible attack – are not acknowledging Brian’s heroism that day is unforgivable and un-American.”

2022
06/10
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