Latest news with #COVID-era
Los Angeles Times
20 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Rick Hurst, Cletus Hogg on ‘The Dukes of Hazzard' and father of actor Ryan Hurst, dies at 79
Actor Rick Hurst, best known as dim-witted Deputy Cletus Hogg on the TV show 'The Dukes of Hazzard,' has died unexpectedly in Los Angeles. He was 79. 'It doesn't seem right that Rick Hurst passed away this afternoon. When something so unexpected happens, it is 'harder to process,' as the current expression goes,' actor and politician Ben Jones, who played Cooter Davenport on 'Hazzard,' wrote Thursday evening on the Facebook page for Cooter's Place, a business themed to the show. 'I just this moment heard about the passing of dear Rick Hurst, a.k.a. Cletus Hogg,' co-star John Schneider, who played Bo Duke on 'Hazzard,' wrote Thursday night on Facebook. 'You were [a] remarkable force for humanity, sanity and comedy my friend. Heaven is a safer and more organized place with you in it. We'll keep the race going and people laughing until we meet again! Love you.' Hurst had been scheduled for fan meet-and-greet appearances July 3-7 at the Cooter's in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., according to the website for the store and restaurant, which has three locations. Cooter's called off the visit in a Facebook post early Thursday, saying the visit would be rescheduled due to 'unforeseen circumstances.' Born Jan. 1, 1946, in Houston and raised there, Hurst got started in acting quite early. 'When I was 5 or 6, acting kind of tapped me on the shoulder — literally,' he said on a COVID-era podcast a few years back with pop culture enthusiast Scott Romine. Hurst said he was at a Houston Public Library location with his mom when a man tapped him on the shoulder and asked if he wanted to be in a commercial for the library system. He did the spot, he said, 'and my pay was a chocolate soda.' After high school in Houston, Hurst studied theater at Tulane University in New Orleans, then got a master's in fine arts from Temple University in Philadelphia. All of his experience was on stage until he moved to Los Angeles. His first TV credit was for 'Sanford and Son' in 1972 and his final credit was for 'B My Guest,' a 2016 TV short. In addition to working on the first five seasons of 'The Dukes of Hazzard,' which ran from 1979 to 1985, Hurst appeared on myriad shows including 'The Six Million Dollar Man,' 'Little House on the Prairie,' 'MASH,' 'Baretta' and '227' and the miniseries 'From Here to Eternity.' Hurst said on that podcast that he 'thanked God all the time' for the success of 'The Dukes of Hazzard' and its fandom. 'The stunt guys were the heroes of the show,' he said, 'and all of us in the cast knew that the first star on the show was the General Lee,' the orange 1969 Dodge Charger with a Confederate battle flag emblazoned on top, driven by characters Bo and Luke Duke, the latter played by Tom Wopat. Hurst was married twice, first to acting coach Candace Kaniecki, mother of actor Ryan Hurst, and then to Shelly Weir, mother of Collin Hurst. Ryan Hurst is best known for his roles as Opie on 'Sons of Anarchy' and Beta on 'The Walking Dead.'
AU Financial Review
a day ago
- Business
- AU Financial Review
ASX darling's bizarre housing problem: Too many cheap US mortgages
Plumbing materials supplier Reece has been belted by a slowdown in the US residential construction market, compounded by a glut of cheap, COVID-era home loans.
Mint
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Mint
North Korea's Kim Jong-Un opens luxury beach resort with 54 hotels, cinema, beer pubs; Here's what it offers
The Wonsan Kalma coastal resort zone is now open in North Korea, following nearly seven years of construction, according to state media reports on Thursday. It features 54 hotels, cinema, beer pubs among others. Kim Jong Un, more often seen overseeing missile tests, was seen promoting the destination alongside his family. Calling the resort one of the country's 'greatest feats' of the year, Kim watched the celebrations while seated with his daughter, Kim Ju-ae, and his wife, Ri Sol-ju. Dressed in a dark suit, white shirt, and tie, departing from his usual Mao-style attire, Kim oversaw the festivities at the resort. Stretching across three miles (5 km) of coastline on the Kalma Peninsula, the resort features hundreds of facilities, including 54 hotels, a large indoor and outdoor waterpark, a mini-golf course, a movie theater, several shopping malls, dozens of restaurants, five beer pubs, and two video game arcades, according to a guide map located at its northern entrance. Construction on the project began in early 2018 but faced delays due to setbacks and the COVID-19 pandemic. The resort is set to open to domestic tourists on July 1. Although foreign visitors are still barred from entering the country under COVID-era restrictions, Russian travel agency Vostok Intur has organized a week-long tour starting July 7, according to the resort's website. The itinerary includes a flight from Pyongyang to Wonsan on July 8, a four-night stay at the beach resort, followed by one night at the nearby Masikryong ski resort, and concludes with a day of sightseeing back in the capital.
New York Post
2 days ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Hochul's ex-aide accused of working as Chinese foreign agent faces new bribery charges
A former top aide to Gov. Kathy Hochul and ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo who allegedly worked as a Chinese foreign agent was hit with more federal charges Wednesday tied to a COVID-era kickback scheme worth millions. Linda Sun and husband Chris Hu allegedly made off with as much as $8 million in the wide-scale fraud after she facilitated multiple contracts between New York state and two Chinese-based vendors for pandemic equipment, according to the US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. One of the companies was run by Hu, 40, and his business partner, and the other was operated by Sun's second cousin, but the staffer never disclosed the personal ties, according to prosecutors. Advertisement 3 Linda Sun and her husband, Christopher Hu after a hearing in April. Gregory P. Mango Sun, 41, even allegedly doctored documents that showed the two companies were recommended by Chinese officials. Her husband is accused of keeping track of the expected ill-gotten proceeds on a spreadsheet under the title 'Me.' US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella assailed Sun, of Manhasset, for enriching herself when the state 'was at its most vulnerable at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.' Advertisement 'When masks, gloves, and other protective supplies were hard to find, Sun abused her position of trust to steer contracts to her associates so that she and her husband could share in the profits,' he said in a statement. A lawyer for Sun said his client 'vehemently denied' Thursday's charges. 'The newest allegations continue the government's trend of making and publicizing feverish accusations unmoored from the facts and evidence that we expect will actually come out at trial,' said attorney Jarrod L. Schaeffer. When the pandemic first engulfed New York, Sun was part of a group of officials tasked with obtaining personal protective equipment and used her influence to work with the Chinese government to get the much-needed items. Advertisement 3 The new allegations involve a wide-scale kickback scheme. The Jiangsu Department of Commerce recommended four Chinese vendors to state officials for supplies on March 20, but Sun allegedly meddled with the document by replacing the first suggested business with her cousin's company, prosecutors said. She also allegedly inserted wording that claimed her relative's company's surgical masks were 'the gold standard' in the altered email. She helped her hubby's company by claiming in a state document it was referred to by the 'Chinese chamber of commerce,' the feds alleged. Advertisement The cousin's company funneled $2.3 million in 2020 and 2021 in kickbacks to the indicted couple, according to a spreadsheet kept on their personal computer, according to prosecutors. The spreadsheet kept by Hu estimated the couple expected to clinch $8.02 million from the two companies and alleged plot, prosecutors said. 'This alleged scheme not only created an unearned and undisclosed benefit for the defendants and their relatives, but it also exploited the state's critical need for resources in a health crisis,' FBI Assistant Director in Charge Raia said in a statement. 3 Sun worked for Gov. Hochul and former Gov. Cuomo. Gregory P. Mango Sun was arrested and initially charged in September with acting as a foreign agent to discreetly push Chinese interests in exchange for millions of dollars in bribes and other fancy perks like salted ducks. Hu was also arrested the same time as his wife and accused of laundering money by opening bank accounts in the name of a close relative, even though it was for his own use. The new charges against the couple include honest services wire fraud, honest services wire fraud conspiracy and bribery. They also face conspiracy to defraud the United States because the federal government doled out COVID funds to the state and Hu was slapped with a tax evasion charge because he allegedly didn't report the corrupt payments on his income taxes. Advertisement Hochul's office previously said Sun was terminated in 2023 when allegations of misconduct first surfaced. The arraignment for new charges against Sun and Hu are scheduled for Monday. A lawyer for Hu didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Euronews
3 days ago
- Health
- Euronews
Why children aren't getting vaccinated anymore
Millions of children are skipping routine vaccinations, and the downward trend could continue in the coming years, according to a new global study. Over the past half-century, routine immunisations against diseases like measles, polio, and tuberculosis (TB) have saved an estimated 154 million lives, mostly among children under the age of five, according to the report published in The Lancet medical journal. But both wealthy and developing countries are now backsliding on vaccinations due to healthcare disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise of vaccine misinformation, the study found. Experts believe recent cuts to global aid will make the situation worse. The share of children who got the measles vaccine, for example, dropped in 100 countries between 2010 and 2019, according to the analysis of 11 immunisations across 204 countries and territories. The consequences can be fatal. Measles outbreaks in Europe and the United States have killed 17 people and sickened thousands of others over the past year. 'More children will be hospitalised, permanently damaged and die from fully preventable diseases if the trend is not reversed,' Andrew Pollard, who leads the Oxford Vaccine Group and was not involved with the new study, said in a statement. Millions of children went without routine jabs due to COVID-era disruptions between 2020 and 2023, the analysis found. An estimated 15.6 million children missed a measles jab or the full three doses of the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine, while 15.9 million did not get the polio vaccine and 9.18 million missed the TB jab. By 2023, there were 15.7 million so-called 'zero-dose children' who likely had not gotten any vaccines, which is down from 58.8 million in 1980 but an increase from pre-pandemic levels, the study found. Today, most of these children live in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, though the European Union and the United Kingdom are home to more than 165,000 zero-dose children. Vaccine coverage still falling While vaccination rates tend to be higher in Europe, they are not immune to these trends. Since 2010, vaccine coverage has fallen for at least one jab in 21 wealthy countries, including Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the UK. 'The challenge now is how to improve vaccine delivery and uptake in areas of low coverage,' Emily Haeuser, the study's lead author and a researcher at the US-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), said in a statement. The findings also indicate that key global health targets will likely not be met. Health officials wanted to halve the number of zero-dose children between 2019 and 2030, but only 18 countries had met this threshold by 2023. Health experts say recent cuts to global health funding could further undermine that goal. 'Around the world, the increasing number of countries torn apart by civil unrest and wars, combined with the drastic cuts in foreign aid from rich nations, such as USA and UK, makes it difficult to get vaccines to many populations,' David Elliman, an honorary associate professor at University College London who was not involved with the study, said in a statement. Even so, researchers called for renewed investment in immunisation campaigns, as well as targeted efforts to combat vaccine hesitancy and misinformation and initiatives to rebuild public trust in health authorities. 'It is in everyone's interest that this situation is rectified,' Elliman said. 'Not only is it a moral imperative to improve the health of all children [but also] no one is safe until everyone is safe'.
