COMPLAINTS BURIED
More than 27,000 women are taking Bayer to court in connection with its contraceptive implant Essure. The manufacturer failed to report thousands of complaints of injuries to the United States Food and Drug Administration, according to experts acting on behalf of the women. An analysis of 5,000 complaints found that 24% should have been reported, yet just 5.5% were filed.
Bayer disputes the findings and says the analysis underpinning the case is flawed. But, the company failed to get the case dismissed and it will now go to trial. Implant Files, our 2018 investigation, revealed that of more than 16,000 complaints filed about Essure between 2008 and 2010 – only 183 were reported to the FDA.
ARTFUL DODGERS
Arkady and Boris Rotenberg have made appearances in several of our investigations, including the Panama Papers. Now a bipartisan report from the United States Senate says the pair, and companies linked to them moved $91 million through the U.S.financial system – even after the sanctions that were supposed to stop companies doing business with them. The brothers bought and sold multimillion-dollar works of art, taking advantage of the high-end industry, which isn’t regulated by anti-money-laundering rules. Lawmakers wanted reform of the secretive, high-end art market that is known for operating under a “veil of secrecy.”
PROPAGANDA BLITZ
The Chinese government responded to the China Cables, our 2019 investigation into the mass internment and indoctrination of Uighurs, by taking to social media and state-controlled news outlets to justify the camps. A new report by the Uyghur Human Rights Project says officials have used social media in an attempt to sway public opinion about the camps, and hosted foreign reporters and diplomats in a bid to show the camps are voluntary “vocational training” centers. Project manager Nicole Morgret said: “The Chinese government has gone from silence to promoting its policies as a model, with dangerous implications for human rights worldwide.”
United States prosecutors want “significant” jail time for the first two people to plead guilty to crimes connected with the Panama Papers. “Every tax fraud is theft from the pockets of every tax paying citizen of this nation,” prosecutors said. Harald Joachim von der Goltz and his accountant Richard Gaffey pleaded guilty to financial crimes earlier this year. It’s estimated von der Goltz evaded paying more than $3.4 million in taxes, while Gaffey “used his special training and skill as an accountant” to help several clients evade taxes.
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Inside China's coronavirus response
If Beijing had been open about its own early failings, instead of triumphantly promoting its later achievements, China’s global image might have been enhanced by the crisis.
Workers line up for a coronavirus test at a large factory in Wuhan. Outside of military conflict, no country of any size or weight on the world stage has the ability to marshal resources like China. AP
Richard McGregorColumnist
The emergence of a new, deadly virus in Wuhan in late December 2019 triggered multiple, cascading crises in China, from a collapse in the economy in early 2020 to a wave of foreign criticism of Beijing's handling of the outbreak.
Equally important, but less examined, has been how the ruling Communist Party managed the emergency – both internally and, once infections began falling at home, overseas – to corral its critics and limit any backlash at home
The New York Times Magazine – In the latest article from “Beyond the World War II We Know,” a series from The Times that documents lesser-known stories from World War II, we recount the history of victory gardens and some of the misconceptions of how they emerged after the United States joined the conflict. Of all the celebrated nostalgic markers of World War II, few are as memorable as America’s victory gardens — those open lots, rooftops and backyards made resplendent with beets, broccoli, kohlrabi, parsnips and spinach to substitute for the commercial crops diverted to troops overseas during the war. The gardens were strongly encouraged by the American government during World War I as part of the at-home efforts, yet they became immensely more popular with the introduction of food rationing during the Second World War as processed and canned foods were shipped abroad.
Excise hike paused for first time in 37 years
Independent journalist Michael West also appeared and published his opening remarks to the Committee: Silver Bullet: an elegant cure for Government spending excess.