MELINDA GATES

“It’s time to fund Black feminist movements like we want them to win,” supporters of the nonprofit Black Feminist Fund write in the letter to other philanthropists. The Black Feminist Fund's research says that dropped to less than 0.5% in 2018. Black women and girls made up nearly 7% of the U.S. population, according to 2022 U.S. Census figures. Tynesha McHarris, co-founder and co-executive director of Black Feminist Fund, said the fact that Black women and girls do not get a share of donations equal to their share of the American population is a sign of larger problems. “There’s a trust gap between some in philanthropy and the leadership of Black women and Black gender expansive folks,” McHarris told The Associated Press.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced Wednesday that it is making grants of more than a $1 billion as part of a sweeping national plan to improve math education over the next four years.

BERLIN — The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced at the World Health Summit in Berlin that it would commit $1.2 billion to help eradicate polio worldwide. The money will support the Global Polio Eradication Initiative through 2026. The Gates Foundation is proud to commit $1.2B toward helping health workers stop all forms of this virus and protect children forever. Working together, the world can end this disease,” Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said Sunday at the summit. Melinda Gates, co-chair of the foundation, also spoke at the summit noting the additional benefits of the initiative.

A year after Bill and Melinda Gates announced in a joint statement that they were getting divorced after 27 years, Bill Gates reflected on the breakup and

Make your wedding memorable and sustainable.

25-year-old Jennifer Gates married Nayel Nassar on October 16th, and her parents both walked her down the aisle while she wore a Vera Wang dress.

Bill and Melinda Gates have backed a U.K. start-up called Exscientia that's trying to design new drugs with artificial intelligence software.

SEATTLE — Bill and Melinda Gates have officially divorced according to court papers filed in King County Superior Court in Washington state on Monday. Bill and Melinda Gates announced in May that they were divorcing after 27 years of marriage. Bill Gates, who co-founded Microsoft, is worth an estimated $124 billion, according to Forbes. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, created in 2000 by merging the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation, bills itself as a nonprofit that fights “poverty, disease and inequity around the world.”Last year, Bill Gates, formerly the world’s richest person, said he was stepping down from Microsoft’s board to focus on philanthropy. Gates was Microsoft’s CEO until 2000 and since then has gradually scaled back his involvement in the company he started with Paul Allen in 1975.

The deal would give Melinda Gates the option to resign and receive "personal resources" for further charity work.

Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates will continue to work together as co-chairs of their foundation even after their planned divorce.

World leaders, philanthropists and other organizations have pledged to provide at least $40 billion at an international conference in Paris to boost gender equality, as women across the world have been deeply affected by the consequences of the pandemic.

A U.N.-sponsored global gathering to promote gender equality has generated about $40 billion in pledges towards aiding women and girls on Wednesday.

The head of the U.N.’s premiere global body fighting to empower women says an international conference opening in Paris on Wednesday aims to fast-track the slow road to gender equality and mobilize millions of dollars to achieve the long-sought goal quickly.

Buffett Gates Foundation FILE - In this May 5, 2019, file photo Warren Buffett, Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, smiles as he plays bridge following the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting in Omaha, Neb. Warren Buffett made a $4.1 billion annual philanthropic contribution and said he’s halfway through his goal of giving away most of his money. The billionaire investor also said he is stepping down as trustee of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as he exits all other corporate boards. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File) (Nati Harnik)NEW YORK — (AP) — Warren Buffett is resigning as a trustee from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Buffet gave no reason for stepping down from the Gates Foundation, but questions have been raised about the structure of its leadership after reports of Bill Gates' behavior in the workplace.

Warren Buffett resigned Wednesday as trustee of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which says it will announce plans in July to answer questions raised about its leadership structure.

The divorce lawyer for Melinda Gates now also reps Connecticut lawmaker Alex Kasser in her split from top Morgan Stanley executive Seth Bergstein.

Mark McCloskey, one half of a white couple who pointed guns at Black Lives Matter protesters in St. Louis last year, filed paperwork Tuesday to run for Missouri's Senate seat.The state of play: In addition to his filing with the Federal Election Commission, McCloskey also launched a campaign website accepting donations for his bid. Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free."Mark is a Conservative outsider who will bring backbone and guts to the US Senate to continue fighting for President Trump's agenda," his website states.Flashback: Mark and Patricia McCloskey, both personal injury attorneys, were indicted in October on charges of unlawful use of a weapon and tampering with evidence after they pointed guns at anti-racism protestors from the lawn of the St. Louis mansion last July.Their actions made them popular in some conservative circles and were subsequently invited to speak at the Republican National Convention in August.They are due to stand trial in NovemberMore from Axios: Sign up to get the latest market trends with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free

Despite damaging allegations suggesting Bill Gates pursued women who worked for him, don’t expect changes to his roles at the two iconic institutions he co-founded, Microsoft and his namesake philanthropic foundation, raising accountability concerns from critics.

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam on Tuesday defended the freezing of pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai's assets as a necessary move under the city's new national security law to protect the safety of all Chinese people. Lam told reporters the move was authorized under the sweeping law that was imposed on the city by Beijing last year and empowered authorities to “freeze suspicious assets involved that would undermine national security." “It means the Hong Kong government is very serious and rigorous when dealing with national security matters, because it involves something that endangers national security, not just the safety of Hong Kong society, but also the safety of 1.4 billion Chinese people,” Lam said.

Gabriel Adkins, an Elizabeth City councilman who is Black, has been vocal about Andrew Brown’s shooting by Pasquotank County deputies.

A woman threatened to stab her husband over an argument about money to move to Japan before she allegedly killed their two children with a meat cleaver in a suburban Phoenix apartment, police said Sunday.

Rev. Franklin Graham, head of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and one of former President Trump's earliest and most influential evangelical Christian backers, told Axios on HBO it would "be a very tough thing" for Trump to seek a second term in 2024. "I think for him, everything will depend on his health at that time," said Graham, 68. "If he still has energy and strength like he does. I don't." Trump, 74, "does not eat well, you know, and it's amazing the energy that he has," Graham added. "He's lost weight, 15 pounds, maybe. So he might be in good health and in good shape. I don't know." Graham may be a Trump supporter, but he told Axios he would "absolutely" work with President Biden's administration, if asked, to encourage people to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Rev. @Franklin_Graham says he'd "absolutely" work with Biden to reach out to Christians about getting vaccinated if he were asked to: "I would work with the CDC. I would work with all of 'em to try to help save a life." #AxiosOnHBO pic.twitter.com/NEyKWwXCo5 — Axios (@axios) May 17, 2021 White evangelical Christians are one of the groups most hesitant to get vaccinated, according to multiple surveys. Graham was public about getting vaccinated himself, drawing jeers from many of his supporters, but he was clear with Axios that he sees encouraging people to get vaccinated right up there with saving souls. "I want people to know that COVID-19 can kill you, so we have a vaccine out there that could possibly save your life," he said. "And if you wait, it could be too late." More stories from theweek.com7 scathingly funny cartoons about Liz Cheney's ousterUFOs are very real, 60 Minutes reports, they're still unidentified, and they aren't AmericanPoll: Most GOP voters think 2020 election was illegitimate, but lawmakers should prioritize other issues

It's the couple's second child together.

The World Health Organization says the trend may worsen due to the coronavirus pandemic.

A powerful cyclone roaring in the Arabian Sea was moving toward India's western coast on Monday as authorities tried to evacuate hundreds of thousands of people and suspended COVID-19 vaccinations in one state. Cyclone Tauktae, which has already killed six people in parts of southern India, is expected to make landfall on Monday evening in Gujarat state with winds of up to 175 kph (109 mph), a statement by the India Meteorological Department said. After the cyclone slams ashore, forecasters warn of the potential for extensive damage from high winds, heavy rainfall and flooding in low-lying areas.

A former suburban Minneapolis police officer charged with second-degree manslaughter for fatally shooting 20-year-old Black motorist Daunte Wright is scheduled to appear in court via videoconference Monday. Former Brooklyn Center Officer Kim Potter, who is white, has an omnibus hearing, also known as a pretrial hearing, on Monday afternoon in Hennepin County District Court. Wright, father of a young son, was killed April 11 after a traffic stop.

The New York Times reported the accusations against Larson were a point of contention between Bill and Melinda Gates.

Australia’s oldest-ever man has included eating chicken brains among his secrets to living more than 111 years. Retired cattle rancher Dexter Kruger on Monday marked 124 days since he turned 111, a day older than World War I veteran Jack Lockett was when he died in 2002. Kruger told Australian Broadcasting Corp. in an interview at his nursing home in the rural Queensland state town of Roma days before the milestone that a weekly poultry delicacy had contributed to his longevity.

Shannon Keeler was enjoying a weekend getaway with her boyfriend last year when she checked her Facebook messages for the first time in ages. The messages rocketed Keeler back to the life-shattering night in December 2013 when an upperclassman at Gettysburg College stalked her at a party, snuck into her dorm and barged into her room while she pleaded with him and texted friends for help. Eight years later, she still hopes to persuade authorities in Pennsylvania to make an arrest, armed now with perhaps her strongest piece of evidence: his alleged confession, sent via social media.

The class of 2021 will be celebrating in half-empty stadiums. Here’s what commencement speakers should tell you

With the conflict between Israel and Hamas intensifying, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) on Sunday encouraged the Biden administration to "push harder" for a ceasefire. Since the fighting began last Monday, more than 180 Palestinians have died in Gaza, including 52 children, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. At least eight Israelis have died, including two children. Israel has been conducting airstrikes against Hamas, and in return, Hamas has been firing rockets into Israel. On Saturday, Israeli airstrikes leveled several buildings in Gaza, including one that housed offices for The Associated Press and Al Jazeera. "We can't have the targeting of buildings with press organizations," Schiff said during an interview on Face the Nation. "We can't continue to see this loss of civilian life. It's got to come to an end. While I fully defend Israel's right to defend itself, it needs to do what it needs to do to protect its people, I don't want that to be interpreted as support for Israeli settlement policy or the eviction of Palestinians from their homes." Palestinians, Schiff added, have "a right to live in peace and freedom, to a state of their own, living side by side in peace with Israel." Schiff, the chair of the House Intelligence Committee, called the loss of life "deplorable," adding that the "death toll increases and violence has got to stop." He wants the United States to "do everything possible to bring about a ceasefire. I think the administration needs to push harder on Israel and the Palestinian Authority to stop the violence, bring about a ceasefire, end these hostilities, and get back to a process of trying to resolve this long-standing conflict." Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Hady Amr is now in the region to talk with both sides, and on Saturday, the White House said President Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, letting them know he wants the violence to end. More stories from theweek.comPoll: Most GOP voters think 2020 election was illegitimate, but lawmakers should prioritize other issues7 scathingly funny cartoons about Liz Cheney's ousterManhattan prosecutors are reportedly investigating if Trump paid tuition of CFO's grandkids

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is leading calls to take reports of UFOs more seriously ahead of the expected release next month of a government report on such sightings. Why it matters: Rubio, who as acting Senate Intelligence Committee chair asked for an unclassified copy of the report to be released to Congress, told CBS "60 Minutes" in an interview broadcast Sunday: "Anything that enters an airspace that's not supposed to be there is a threat." Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for freeDriving the news: Former Navy Lieutenant Ryan Graves told CBS' Bill Whitaker he and other members of his F/A-18 fighter squadron detected unexplained sightings of UFOs, also known as "unidentified aerial phenomena" (UAP), in restricted airspace southeast of Virginia Beach "every day for at least a couple years," starting in 2014.The Pentagon confirmed it couldn't identify images of these UAPs, shared with "60 Minutes." Graves said he couldn't rule out technology developed by the governments of Russia or China."I am worried, frankly. ... if these were tactical jets from another country that were hanging out up there, it would be a massive issue," Graves said. "But because it looks slightly different, we're not willing to actually look at the problem in the face. We're happy to just ignore the fact that these are out there, watching us every day." Between the lines: Loue Elizondo, the former director of the Pentagon's Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program, told Whitaker sometimes there were "simple explanations" for UAPs, others not so simple, but they would go through due diligence. "Is it some sort of new type of cruise missile technology that China has developed? Is it some sort of high-altitude balloon that's conducting reconnaissance?" Elizondo added."Ultimately when you have exhausted all those what ifs and you're still left with the fact that this is in our airspace and it's real, that's when it becomes compelling, and that's when it becomes problematic." Of note: Rubio told Whitaker there's a "stigma" on Capitol Hill when it comes to UAPs and "I don’t think we can allow the stigma to keep us from having an answer to very a fundamental question." "I want us to take it seriously and have a process to take it seriously," he added. The bottom line: "I want us to have a process to analyze the data every time it comes in," Rubio said. "That there be a place where this is cataloged and constantly analyzed, until we get some answers. Maybe it has a very simple answer. Maybe it doesn't." “There’s a stigma on Capitol Hill. Some of my colleagues are very interested in this topic and some kind of giggle when you bring it up,” says Senator Marco Rubio, who has called for a detailed analysis on unidentified aerial phenomena. https://t.co/BxU4tf5qMi pic.twitter.com/eOPu5xGrOl— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) May 16, 2021 Representatives for Rubio did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.Go deeper: U.S. military formalizes UFO sighting report processMore from Axios: Sign up to get the latest market trends with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free

Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast / Photo GettyBachelor sex-offender Jeffrey Epstein gave Bill Gates advice on ending his marriage with Melinda after the Microsoft co-founder complained about her during a series of meetings at the money manager’s mansion, according to two people familiar with the situation.Gates used the gatherings at Epstein’s $77 million New York townhouse as an escape from what he told Epstein was a “toxic” marriage, a topic both men found humorous, a person who attended the meetings told The Daily Beast.The billionaire met Epstein dozens of times starting in 2011 and continuing through to 2014 mostly at the financier’s Manhattan home—a substantially higher number than has been previously reported. Their conversations took place years before Bill and Melinda Gates announced this month that they were splitting up.Gates, in turn, encouraged Epstein to rehabilitate his image in the media following his 2008 guilty plea for soliciting a minor for prostitution, and discussed Epstein becoming involved with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.The people familiar with the matter said Gates found freedom in Epstein’s lair, where he met a rotating cast of bold-faced names and discussed worldly issues in between rounds of jokes and gossip—a “men’s club” atmosphere that irritated Melinda.“[It’s] not an overstatement. Going to Jeffrey’s was a respite from his marriage. It was a way of getting away from Melinda,” one of the people who was at several of the meetings said, adding that Epstein and Gates “were very close.”A representative for Bill told The Daily Beast: “Your characterization of his meetings with Epstein and others about philanthropy is inaccurate, including who participated. Similarly, any claim that Gates spoke of his marriage or Melinda in a disparaging manner is false.” A representative for Melinda did not respond to a request for comment for this report.As The Daily Beast exclusively reported, Melinda Gates was furious over Bill’s relationship with Epstein, and was put off by the creepy financier upon meeting him in September 2013, after the couple accepted an award at a New York City hotel. Melinda’s anger, people familiar with the matter said, eventually led to the demise of Bill and Epstein’s friendship.The Wall Street Journal recently reported Melinda Gates consulted divorce lawyers in October 2019, around the time it was publicly revealed that Bill met with Epstein—who had died by suicide in jail months earlier—multiple times in the past.Melinda Gates Warned Bill About Jeffrey EpsteinOn May 3, the high-powered couple announced they were ending their 27-year marriage in a statement that read, in part: “We no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in this next phase of our lives. We ask for space and privacy for our family as we begin to navigate this next life.” In her petition for divorce Melinda said her marriage is “irretrievably broken” and indicated the couple had settled on a plan to divide their vast assets outside the courtroom.Last week, the New York Post reported that Gates told his golfing buddies he was in a “loveless” marriage which “had been over for some time,” while People described Epstein as a “sore spot” in the couple’s relationship.But Epstein wasn’t the couple’s only point of contention. On Sunday, the New York Times reported that Gates allegedly made advances on women who worked at Microsoft and his foundation while he was married to Melinda. The Journal followed up with its own report, revealing that Gates resigned from Microsoft’s board in 2020 amid an internal investigation into an alleged sexual relationship with a company engineer, who came forward in late 2019. (“There was an affair almost 20 years ago which ended amicably,” a Gates spokeswoman told the Journal, adding that his departure from the board wasn’t related to the relationship.)People close to Bill Gates told The Daily Beast that the deterioration of their relationship could be seen in Bill and Melinda’s body language. The couple used to interact with “more laughter and ease,” said one friend of Bill, who added that eventually, “being around them was like arriving at a summit.”“It wasn’t like arriving at a dinner with a couple or something; it was more like two heads of state,” the friend added. “So that’s why Epstein could have been a factor [in their split], but was it the factor? That I fundamentally don’t believe.”The friend said the couple’s strictly regimented existence as billionaire philanthropists supplanted the more normal life and levity they enjoyed in younger years. “Bill is far less comfortable being out in the world,” the person said. “For Bill, it was just so rare he was allowed to do normal things, which I think he really craved.”To Bill, such “normal” things included meeting new people over dinner at Epstein’s home—a break from the tech mogul’s tightly choreographed schedule of events where he’d be seated at the head table with the most prominent guests.“Bill was embarrassed by the attention an entourage would have brought,” the person said. “His entourage was security, and he never looked comfortable with it. With Melinda, it was very imperious, ‘The Queen has arrived’ kind of thing.”Here’s What the Feds Found in Jeffrey Epstein’s Manhattan MansionGates may have visited Epstein, the person said, because Gates “enjoys talking and ideas and basically arguing with people, and he can be a really brutal person to argue with.”“He likes nothing better than to get together and debate or lecture people, or tell everyone what he’s doing with the polio vaccine. He has an ability, unlike any other person I’ve ever met, to lecture to a table of people without stopping for an hour.“Anyone that gave him a stage for a performance and said, ‘Bill, come talk to us about what you’re passionate about,’ that would be something he would enjoy.”Still, the person was surprised about the couple’s divorce announcement earlier this month: “I thought they would have made each other miserable for the rest of their lives.”Meanwhile, a former Gates Foundation employee told The Daily Beast that Gates wanted to get in the good graces of some of Epstein’s professional connections. “My understanding was he wasn’t hanging out with Epstein to get women,” the employee said.“Bill’s not amenable to anyone telling him what he should or shouldn’t do,” the person added. “If anyone were to say, ‘I don’t think you should hang out with [Epstein],’ it would have been Melinda.”The ex-employee said Bill and Melinda appeared to be distant and leading separate lives even more than a decade ago. “This has been going on a long time,” the source said, adding that Melinda was “bitter” and “wasn’t that into him.”“Their body language when they would be together, it was like a Melania and Donald thing: ‘Don’t hold my hand, get on the other side of the table,’” the person said, referring to reports of the former First Lady apparently yanking her hand from then-President Trump during public appearances over the years.Melinda Gates Called Divorce Lawyers in 2019 After Epstein Report: WSJAccording to the ex-employee, Melinda seemed to have a chip on her shoulder because “no one really did see her as an equal to Bill” and her work didn’t get as much media attention. “It really irritated her that people were more into Bill,” they said.Another former employee told The Daily Beast that Epstein was a topic of conversation among staff even in 2017—three years after the men’s friendship reportedly fizzled—because of concerns that Gates' previous ties to Epstein could harm his reputation.“When you work at the foundation, your whole job in life is to protect and preserve and build up the reputation of Bill and Melinda Gates,” the person said. “I think that’s why it still came up.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

The toddler’s mother says Tinslee’s condition continues to improve, while the hospital says her treatment causes her to suffer.

May 16—State police say they clocked three drivers going more than 115 mph — among 46 traveling at speeds in excess of 90 mph — in the span of a few hours early Sunday in the Seacoast region. State police, using troopers in cruisers and members of the State Police Aviation Unit, stopped 121 motor vehicles between 6 and 11 a.m. Sunday along Route 95 in Hampton Falls. The enforcement effort was ...

Viral footage posted last week showed the animal roaming around a Houston neighbourhood.

The recent controversy surrounding Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit and trainer Bob Baffert was highlighted this weekend during Saturday Night Live’s “Weekend Update.”

The pontiff denounced the conflict during his Sunday blessing, asking if "we truly think that we can build peace by destroying the other?"

The Israeli military spokesman said Israeli troops were trying to trick Hamas into going into its network of underground tunnels, but he denied being part of the ploy.

A former Massachusetts mayor first elected at the age of 23 by promoting himself as a successful entrepreneur was convicted on Friday of stealing money from investors in his startup to pay for his lavish lifestyle and soliciting bribes from marijuana vendors who wanted to operate in the struggling city.

Only three out of 10 Scots believe the SNP has given them enough facts about independence in order to make a fully informed choice in any second referendum, according to a poll unveiled by Gordon Brown. The survey, commissioned by the former Prime Minister's Our Scottish Future think tank, found 58 per cent said they would not know enough about the impact of separation on issues like the English border and currency. Among the other matters a majority said were not confident about were a separate Scotland's security and defence arrangements, its tax policy and how it could join the EU. Half of Scots were also unsure about whether the monarch would remain head of state and how public services such as the NHS and schools would be funded without the Barnett formula. Mr Brown said that the SNP must “open the books” and warned that the SNP Government "cannot be both judge and jury" when setting out the case for an independent nation. Instead, he argued that the Nationalists should be prepared to open its case up to public scrutiny through parliamentary hearings.

The student reporter who gained national attention when he interviewed then-President Barack Obama at the White House in 2009 has died of natural causes, his family says.

This is the beverage giant’s latest cut after announcing last year it was downsizing its portfolio.

NYC Pride said it was reevaluating the need for NYPD presence, which can be "threatening, and at times dangerous" to members of the LGBTQ community.

Black men are not using their full power as citizens – and communities suffer.

A drastically truncated version of a Hindu chariot festival took place Saturday in Nepal's capital amid strict COVID-19 restrictions, following an agreement by organizers and authorities that prevented a repeat of violent confrontations between police and protesters last year. Typically, a five-story-high wooden chariot of the deity Rato Machindranath — whose statue is made from clay and covered in red paint with wide-open eyes — is pulled by devotees around a suburb of the capital, Kathmandu.

British, European and American diplomats and donors have voiced serious concerns about how the World Health Organization handled sex abuse allegations involving its own staff during an outbreak of Ebola in Congo, as reported this week by The Associated Press.

President Barack Obama presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Bill and Melinda Gates during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on November 22, 2016. Ron Sachs/CNP/Sipa USA/TNS

Their fortunes start at $6.99 billion and go up — way up — from there

Bill and Melinda Gates are ending their marriage after 27 years. Why the news is so difficult to digest.

Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast / Photos via GettyMelinda Gates met with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein alongside her husband Bill in New York City and soon after said she was furious at the relationship between the two men, according to people familiar with the situation.The previously unreported meeting occurred at Epstein’s Upper East Side Mansion in September 2013, on the same day the couple accepted the Lasker Bloomberg Public Service Award at the Pierre Hotel and were photographed alongside then-mayor Mike Bloomberg.The meeting would prove a turning point for Gates’ relationship with Epstein, the people familiar with the matter say, as Melinda told friends after the encounter how uncomfortable she was in the company of the wealthy sex offender and how she wanted nothing to do with him.Gates’ friendship with Epstein—who for years was accused of molesting scores of underage girls—still haunts Melinda, according to friends of the couple who spoke to The Daily Beast this week in light of the pair’s divorce announcement, which had been weeks in the making.Jeffrey Epstein Accuser Names Powerful Men in Alleged Sex RingThe Daily Beast has learned that financial and public relations specialists had been feverishly working on details of the pair’s split for weeks before the couple announced their divorce on Monday.“After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage,” the two said in a brief statement posted on Twitter. “We have raised three incredible children and built a foundation that works all over the world to enable all people to lead healthy, productive lives.”A representative for Bill and Melinda Gates did not respond to requests for comment for this story.The ties between Gates and Epstein ran much deeper than the tech mogul first admitted. As The New York Times reported, starting in 2011, Gates met with Epstein on numerous occasions. This was three years after Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting an underage girl in Florida; by then, accusations that Epstein exploited girls and young women were widely reported in the press.As The Times reported, two people close to Gates acted as intermediaries between the two: Boris Nikolic, a biotech investor and former adviser to Gates who was mysteriously named a backup executor in Epstein’s last will and testament; and Melanie Walker, who worked at the Gates foundation and served as a science advisor to Epstein. A person close to Walker told The Daily Beast she did not attend nor help set up any meetings between Gates and Epstein. Nikolic did not return multiple requests for comment.Soon after Epstein’s arrest in July 2019, Gates became one of many prominent people to face scrutiny over ties to the sex-trafficker.The New York Times revealed Gates had met with Epstein at a 2011 get-together at Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse that included the financier’s ex-girlfriend Eva Andersson-Dubin and her daughter. (Virginia Giuffre, a survivor of Epstein’s sex ring, has accused Dubin’s hedge-funder husband, Glenn, of abuse—a charge he strenuously denies).Indeed, the Times reported Gates visited Epstein multiple times from 2011 to 2013, and that Epstein had tried pitching a new charitable fund to JPMorgan honchos and to the Gates foundation. In 2013, Gates also took a ride on Epstein’s private jet (christened by tabloids as the Lolita Express), from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey to Palm Beach, Florida, according to flight records reviewed by the Times. CNBC also reported that Gates rendezvoused with Epstein in New York in 2013.When Gates first met Epstein, he was still Microsoft’s chairman and the second richest person in the world with a net worth of $56 billion.“I met him. I didn’t have any business relationship or friendship with him,” Gates said in September 2019, as media coverage into his connections with Epstein were heating up. “I didn’t go to New Mexico or Florida or Palm Beach or any of that. There were people around him who were saying, ‘Hey, if you want to raise money for global health and get more philanthropy, he knows a lot of rich people.’“Every meeting where I was with him were meetings with men. I was never at any parties or anything like that. He never donated any money to anything that I know about.”One associate in the technology world who’s attended the same events as Epstein, including a TED conference in Monterey, California, was surprised Gates had considered cultivating philanthropic ties with the late peadophile.“I can’t make the claim that so many are claiming,” the person told The Daily Beast on the condition of anonymity, referring to people in Epstein’s orbit who’ve said they had no suspicions of Epstein’s abuse. “If you ask Bill Gates, he’ll say, ‘Oh I had absolutely no idea he wasn’t up to anything of the highest moral character.’ But I seriously doubted Epstein’s moral character.”“The people around him,” the person added, referring to Epstein, “had a varying spectrum of what they knew and what they didn’t know and how they rationalized it.”This person wasn’t surprised that Melinda Gates was put off by Epstein, saying “a lot of people were uncomfortable with Epstein, completely independent of his” sexual misconduct. “He just was an obnoxious guy. He almost made a point of having bad manners, not paying attention at dinner… I could see how anybody, even without suspicions, would not want to be around him.”Still, Epstein had a “superhuman” ability as a social climber, the one-time colleague of the financier said, adding that the photos displayed in Epstein’s mansion of former President Bill Clinton and the Pope were “really obnoxious, especially if you’re somebody like Melinda and hanging around with heads of state anyway. Then to have someone do this endless name-dropping…“When he got up from the table at dinner, he wouldn’t just get up, he’d tell you he had a call with a president of some country.”Epstein also reportedly had a habit of bragging that he was an unofficial adviser to Bill Gates—a claim the Microsoft founder’s representatives denied. One Times report indicates Epstein claimed to be a tax consultant for the tech magnate.After his initial meeting with the financier, the billionaire philanthropist told Gates Foundation staff in an email: “His lifestyle is very different and kind of intriguing although it would not work for me.” Asked about this message, Gates’ spokeswoman said he “was referring only to the unique decor” at Epstein's Manhattan mansion and “Epstein’s habit of spontaneously bringing acquaintances in to meet Mr. Gates.”The rapport between Gates and Epstein seems to have fizzled in the fall of 2014, sometime after Gates donated $2 million to MIT’s Media Lab. The lab’s former director Joi Ito, in an internal email unearthed by the New Yorker, claimed Epstein facilitated that donation. As the Times investigation noted: “Mr. Epstein complained to an acquaintance at the end of 2014 that Mr. Gates had stopped talking to him, according to a person familiar with the discussion.”Some special guests at @thrive's leadership meeting: board member @DavidAgus & Dr Melanie Walker who's working w/@BillGates on global health pic.twitter.com/SaqQ4HQSrt— Arianna Huffington (@ariannahuff) March 7, 2017 Gates wasn’t Epstein’s only link to Microsoft. Walker, a neurosurgeon who worked for the Gates’ foundation from late 2005 to 2013, had known Epstein since 1992. She told the Times that she’d just graduated from college and Epstein had offered to land her a modeling job at Victoria’s Secret because he was an adviser to Les Wexner, the founder of the lingerie chain’s parent company, L Brands.Walker once stayed in an Epstein-owned apartment in Manhattan while traveling to New York, and in 1998, she became the financier's science adviser. Within a few years, she moved to Seattle to be with her now husband, then-Microsoft executive Steven Sinofsky, and was hired by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. There she met Nikolic, the Times report adds, and introduced him to Epstein.For his part, Nikolic told Bloomberg News he was “shocked” to be named as a “successor executor” in Epstein’s will, a position he quickly turned down. “I was not consulted in these matters and I have no intent to fulfill these duties, whatsoever,” he said in a statement released by his spokeswoman in August 2019.Nikolic is a graduate of Harvard Medical School, where at least one faculty member received funding that was facilitated by Epstein. According to Bloomberg, Nikolic “waxed enthusiastic about Epstein’s financial advice in discussions with private bankers” in 2014, ahead of a public offering for a genome editing firm Nikolic had funded.When Jeffrey Epstein needed a backup person to handle his estate, he chose Boris Nikolic, an ex-science adviser to Bill Gates https://t.co/ke2X08uwrL— Bloomberg (@business) August 20, 2019 Little is known about Nikolic and Epstein’s relationship, though Bloomberg reported the biotech venture capitalist insisted they had no financial ties.Meanwhile, Linda Stone, an ex-Microsoft VP, appears to have longer-standing ties to Epstein and vouched for him at MIT. “Ito was introduced to Epstein in February 2013 by Linda Stone, a former member of the Media Lab’s Advisory Council, at a TED Conference in Long Beach, California,” said one 2020 MIT report into Epstein’s largesse reviewed by The Daily Beast.“He has a tainted past, but Linda assures me that he’s awesome,” Ito said in an email to three MIT staffers, according to the document. But, in June 2013, when a lab assistant raised questions about Epstein’s checkered past, Ito asked Stone for help in avoiding a potential backlash over Epstein’s donations to the MIT Media Lab. In an email cited in the MIT report, Stone advised Ito that Epstein had “given a tremendous amount of money to Harvard” and “other scientists” and it would be “good to show that list.”“Focus on his funding of Harvard, scientists, over many years,” added Stone, whose tenure at Microsoft lasted from 1993 to 2002. She then mentioned Epstein “aggressively funds science & tech & interesting people.”The report notes that Stone apparently believed Epstein when he “insisted to her that he was ‘wrongfully convicted,’ pointing both to his light sentence and his assertion that he had been cleared by a lie detector test as evidence that he was truly innocent of the charges.”Epstein’s address book contained multiple phone numbers for Stone and listed Kelly Bovino—a former model who sources tell The Daily Beast was once part of Epstein’s inner circle—as Stone’s “emergency contact.” As The Daily Beast reported, Giuffre has publicly accused Bovino of aiding Epstein’s trafficking scheme.The tech insider who spoke to The Daily Beast noted Stone thrived on connecting people but that she “has a lot of friends who are infinitely richer than Epstein.” They added: “I can’t see anything Linda got out of it.”Here’s a curious photograph. Jeffrey Epstein talks to Nathan Myhrvold, formerly Microsoft’s chief technology officer, at the 2000 https://t.co/oEYOr4QjJI John Brockman billionaires’ dinner. pic.twitter.com/2DMKGe8s6Z— Xeni Jardin is fully vaccinated (@xeni) October 12, 2019 Epstein’s rolodex also had a variety of phone numbers for Nathan Myhrvold, Microsoft’s former chief technology officer. In July 2019, Vanity Fair reported the men were longtime friends, and that Epstein allegedly visited Myhrvold’s investment firm, Intellectual Ventures, with “young girls” who were possibly “Russian models” in tow.In 2003, Vanity Fair named Myhrvold as one of the many businessmen to dine with Epstein at his Manhattan townhouse, and the 2019 article cites a source who claimed Myhrvold openly discussed visiting Epstein’s homes in Florida and New York.A flight records database shows Myhrvold traveled on Epstein’s plane, in December 1996 and January 1997. Other passengers included Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz and “GM,” believed to be Epstein’s alleged accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.When Giuffre sued Dershowitz for defamation in April 2019, her complaint alleged the famed lawyer attempted to throw Myhrvold under the bus. The document refers to Giuffre by her maiden name, Roberts. “In May 2015 Dershowitz requested confidential settlement negotiations with Ms. Roberts’ lawyers in which Dershowitz sought to convince Ms. Roberts lawyer that Ms. Roberts was mistaken, and that the person to whom Epstein had lent Ms. Roberts was Nathan Myhrvold, not Dershowitz.”The lawsuit added that Giuffre “was, and is, clear that it was Dershowitz, not Myhrvold, with whom she had sex.”Myhrvold’s spokesperson told Vanity Fair: “Nathan has no knowledge of or any involvement in the various crimes that Mr. Epstein is accused of committing.”“He was never a client of his money management business, and he’s never done business with him of any sort,” the spokesperson added. “Back in the day Epstein was a regular at TED conferences and he was a large donor to basic scientific research, so while Nathan knew him and has socialized with him, that’s exactly where their association ends.”Myhrvold did, however, take a trip to Russia with tech journalist and conference host Esther Dyson sometime in the 1990s, and spent time with Epstein there.When reached by The Daily Beast, Dyson said that Epstein joined her and Myhrvold for a couple of days when their itineraries intersected in Sarov. The Microsoft executive had planned the meetup with the financier, she said.One photo Dyson posted on social media of herself and Epstein is timestamped 1998. Another image of Myhrvold includes the caption: “at Microsoft Russia in Moscow, April 98. This was the beginning of a three-week trip during which Nathan and a variety of hangers-on (including a bodyguard) explored the state of post-Soviet science.”Years later Dyson saw Epstein at Edge dinners and other events but says she didn’t have much interaction with him.“I wasn’t his category so to speak,” Dyson told The Daily Beast. “He liked rich people and scientists and there were a lot of them at [Edge] dinners.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

A big change in the weather will soon unfold across the Pacific Northwest thanks to the presence of an approaching storm system in the Pacific. Wednesday featured above-normal warmth across the Pacific Northwest. For example, Portland, Oregon, recorded a high temperature of 82 degrees; normally, the city only reaches 67 degrees on May 5. Farther south, Medford, Oregon, soared to 90 degrees, well above the typical value of 71 degrees. However, even where temperatures were close to normal farther inland, a big change is on the horizon. For most locations in the region, Thursday will be another tranquil day. However, conditions will begin to change along the coast as rain moves in during the afternoon. As a cold front and low pressure draw closer, winds will also ramp up as the rain increases and spreads inland. After arriving over land late Thursday, the storm and cold front will move into the northern Rockies Friday, with a cold front stretching southwestward from there. Ahead of the front, thunderstorms could break out in central Montana, northwestern Wyoming, southeastern Idaho and northwestern Nevada Friday. Some of those storms may contain hail and gusty winds, but widespread severe weather is not expected. Much colder air will advance eastward in the wake of the front. After temperatures in Boise, Idaho, soar into the middle to upper 80s Thursday, the mercury will struggle to reach the middle 60s Friday. Great Falls, Montana, will have a high in the middle 70s Thursday, but it will fail to reach 60 degrees Friday. "While the temperature drop from Thursday to Friday will be dramatic, lows are unlikely to threaten any records," said AccuWeather Meteorologist Mary Gilbert. CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP In the higher elevations of Washington and Idaho, the air may be cold enough that rain showers could even mix with snow. It is not out of the question that the Cascades of Washington and the mountains of Idaho and western parts of Montana and Wyoming receive a light accumulation of snow Friday night. "With the influx of colder air on Thursday night, snow levels will also plummet, allowing flakes to fly as low as 2,500 feet," Gilbert said. Gilbert explained that any significant snow accumulation is unlikely because of the warmth preceding the storm. That said, it is not out of the question that the Cascades of Washington and the mountains of Idaho and western parts of Montana and Wyoming receive a light accumulation of snow Friday night. "Any wet roads could become slick, especially for the higher elevations," cautioned Gilbert. The below-normal temperatures, precipitation and wind are expected to stick around through the weekend. The coastal Northwest should begin to experience a warming and drying trend by Monday. However, over the interior, rain showers and higher-elevation snow showers will still be in the forecast. Much of the northern and central Rockies are expected to have rain and snow to deal with into Tuesday. Additional snow accumulations are also possible. By midweek, precipitation should come to an end across the entire area, and temperatures will trend upward. Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier, Spectrum, FuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios.

If you're going to get married, it can be worth considering how you and your spouse would each protect your financial interests in case you split up.

When the richest of the rich split up, the usual dilemmas are mixed in with the fate of enormous charitable efforts and billion-dollar stock holdings.

Additional arrests have been made after an Atlantic City, New Jersey boardwalk shop owner died shortly following an armed robbery involving multiple teenagers last month.

Bill and Melinda Gates-Divorce FILE - In this Feb. 1, 2019, file photo, Bill and Melinda Gates smile at each other during an interview in Kirkland, Wash. The Microsoft co-founder and his wife, with whom he launched the world's largest charitable foundation, said they would continue to work together at The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, with an endowment of nearly $50 billion, donates about $5 billion annually to causes around the world. Since 2008, Bill Gates has had Gates Ventures. “She’s done this not only behind closed doors but by being somebody who kind of tempers Bill Gates,” Soskis said.

As much as billionaire couple Bill and Melinda Gates want to keep their pending divorce private, the split is already sending shockwaves through the worlds of philanthropy and public health.

A Malian woman gave birth to nonuplets in Morocco on Tuesday and all nine babies are "doing well", her government said, although Moroccan authorities had yet to confirm what would be an extremely rare case.

Bill and Melinda Gates had spoken about their equal partnership and long marriage before announcing their split.

Bill and Melinda Gates say they're divorcing.

A new mass fundraising campaign aims to inspire 50 million people around the world to make small donations to Covax, the international effort to push for equitable global distribution of COVID-19 vaccinations.

This year, Red Nose Day will rise again.

FILE - Melinda Gates attends a meeting at the G-7 Finance in Chantilly, north of Paris, on Thursday, July 18, 2019. Philanthropy is in a unique position to speed global change, but government action is necessary to implement it, Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said Wednesday, March 17, 2021. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, file)NEW YORK – Philanthropy is in a unique position to speed global change, but government action is necessary to implement it, Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said Wednesday. Facebook will now offer family members of domestic violence victims up to 20 days of paid leave. “It’s a horrific number and that’s before coronavirus where we know that domestic violence is spiking ….

FILE - In this May 5, 2019, file photo Warren Buffett, Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, speaks during a game of bridge following the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting in Omaha, Neb. Investor Buffett's fortune surged above $100 billion Wednesday, March 10, 2021, when shares of his company hit a record high at over $400,000 apiece. – Investor Warren Buffett's fortune surged above $100 billion Wednesday when shares of his company hit a record high at over $400,000 apiece. Buffett's fortune, which is mostly tied to his ownership of 248,734 Class A shares, topped $101 billion at the stock's peak Wednesday. Amazon's Jeff Bezos is listed as the world's richest man with a $179.6 billion fortune.

In this Feb. 1, 2019, Melinda Gates speaks while being interviewed in Kirkland, Wash. A gender equality philanthropic initiative spearheaded by Melinda Gates investment company, with support from MacKenzie Scott, has announced 10 project finalists for $40 million in funding slated to be awarded this summer. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)A gender equality philanthropic initiative spearheaded by Melinda Gates’ investment company, with support from MacKenzie Scott, has announced 10 project finalists for $40 million in funding slated to be awarded this summer. Gates, who committed $1 billion in 2019 toward advancing gender equality in the U.S., citing the low rates of women in leadership positions, said in the announcement of the finalists that solutions towards gender equality require investment. AdScott said in the announcement that the 10 finalists “inspire hope for change.”Other philanthropic initiatives towards gender equality were also announced on Monday, including from Google.org, the charitable arm of Google. It has put out an open call for applications for a $25 million challenge that aims to fund organizations “creating pathways to prosperity for women and girls."

Treasury Secretary-nominee Janet Yellen sits in a chair before the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)WASHINGTON – The Treasury Department announced Wednesday that Didem Nisanci will serve as Janet Yellen's chief of staff once Yellen is confirmed by the Senate. Jason Leibenluft will serve as counselor to the Treasury secretary after having been a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. He worked during the Obama-Biden administration in a variety of roles, including deputy director of the National Economic Council. Other staff picks, according to Treasury, include Calvin Mitchell as the assistant secretary for public affairs.

Despite record amounts of charitable donations this year, nonprofits across the country are being suffocated by the effects of the pandemic. December is typically the most important month for nonprofit revenues, as Christmas and end-of-year tax deductions drive a flood of charitable giving. That’s a $60 million drop for the iconic fundraising drive being crippled by the pandemic in numerous ways. Fidelity Charitable said it has distributed 32% more grants and seen a 20% increase in people setting up investment accounts for charitable giving this year. The national advocacy group projects 12,000 arts and cultural nonprofits are at risk of being wiped out forever.

Laboratory technicians test a blood sample for HIV infection at the Reproductive Health and HIV Institute (RHI) in Johannesburg, Thursday, Nov. 26 2020. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa highlighted the new drug in a weekly newsletter, saying the long-term acting and injectable HIV drug has “the potential to significantly strengthen our response to the epidemic.”The region is especially hard-hit. South Africa has the biggest epidemic in the world with 7.7 million people living with HIV, according to UNAIDS. She said that while PrEP has been pivotal, this new injectable drug will make life easier. The clinical trials were conducted among more than 3,200 women at research sites in South Africa, Uganda, Eswatini, Kenya, Malawi, Botswana and Zimbabwe.

That includes Covax, an ambitious but troubled global project to buy and deliver virus vaccines for the world’s poorest people. France and the European Union's executive commission each promised 100 million euros (about $118 million) for the WHO vaccine efforts. Spain promised 50 million euros (about $59 million), and the Gates Foundation promised $70 million (about 59.3 million euros). The new financing is in addition to the funds that countries previously contributed to Covax. Many European countries are back under various levels of lockdowns and with their hospitals under heavy strain.

Results so far suggest that the drug, cabotegravir, was 89% more effective at preventing HIV infection than Truvada pills, although both reduce that risk. The results mirror those announced earlier this year from a similar study testing the shots versus the daily pills in gay men. It promises HIV prevention help to young women, “those who need it the most,” he said. There were more side effects, mostly nausea, with the daily pills. “People need choices for HIV prevention,” and this gives a new option, Warren said in a statement.

Refrigeration, cargo planes, and, above all, money: All risk being in short supply for the international initiative to get coronavirus vaccines to the worlds most vulnerable people. Covax was conceived as a way of giving countries access to coronavirus vaccines regardless of their wealth. Countries taking part in the project can either buy vaccines from Covax or get them for free, if needed. Other countries, including France and Germany, will technically join Covax but won't procure vaccines for their citizens via the initiative. “We would have no say over the vaccines, the price, the quality, the technical platform or the risks,” Auer said.

A separate data system operated by state health officials has documented around 2,300 infections among school-age children since Sept. 1. ___MILAN — Italy has tallied 2,548 new coronavirus cases, the highest daily total in five months. — Maryland is reporting zero coronavirus deaths in a 24-hour period for the first time since March 28. That doesn’t necessarily mean no COVID-19 deaths occurred in that time frame, because sometimes there is a delay in the submission of a death certificate. ___LONDON — The European Medicines Agency has begun its first review process for an experimental COVID-19 vaccine being developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca.

FILE - In this April 21, 2010 file photo, Bill Gates Sr. talks to reporters in Seattle. Gates, a lawyer and philanthropist and father of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, died Monday, Sept. 14, 2020, at age 94. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren,File)SEATTLE – William H. Gates II, a lawyer and philanthropist best known as the father of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, has died at 94. “My dad’s wisdom, generosity, empathy, and humility had a huge influence on people around the world,” Bill Gates wrote in a tribute. Gates Sr. was a towering figure by reputation and in person — he stood 6-foot-7 (2 meters) tall — and his counsel was often sought.

Politicians and public health leaders have publicly committed to equitably sharing any coronavirus vaccine that works, but the top global initiative to make it happen may allow rich countries to reinforce their own stockpiles while making fewer doses available for poor ones. Activists warn that without stronger attempts to hold political, pharmaceutical and health leaders accountable, vaccines will be hoarded by rich countries in an unseemly race to inoculate their populations first. That means rich countries can sign deals on their own with drugmakers and then also get no-strings-attached allocations from Gavi. By giving rich countries this backup plan, theyre getting their cake and eating it too, said Anna Marriott of Oxfam International. Right now theres no vaccine for anyone, he said, and were trying to solve that problem.Berkley said Gavi needed to make investing in a global vaccine initiative attractive for rich countries.

Police departments have received requests to ensure the safety of the polio workers. Rana Mohammad Safdar, who oversees anti-polio operations in the country, said polio workers would adhere to social distancing regulations while carrying out their duty. Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria are the three countries in the world where polio a disabling and life-threatening disease caused by the polio virus is still endemic. Since January, Pakistan has reported 58 new polio cases from various parts of the country, including the northwestern region bordering Afghanistan. Pakistan has had more than 253,000 cases of the coronavirus, including 5,320 deaths, since the first infection was detected in February.

A rooftop patio outdoor space is shown at Mary's Place, a family homeless shelter located inside an Amazon corporate building on the tech giant's Seattle campus, Wednesday, June 17, 2020. The shelter marks a major civic contribution bestowed by Amazon to the hometown it has rapidly transformed. But the facility also serves as a stark display of haves-and-have-nots, given that some blame Amazon's explosive growth over the past decade for making living in Seattle too costly for a growing number of people. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Four years ago, the United Nations set goals for limiting HIV infections and improving treatment by the end of 2020, and all will be missed because the coronavirus pandemic is hurting access to care, the report concludes. Here are highlights from the report:INFECTIONSAbout 1.7 million new HIV infections occurred in 2019 down 23% since 2010 but far short of the 75% reduction goal. Were still seeing 150,000 kids being newly infected with HIV each year.In sub-Saharan Africa, girls and young women make up 10% of the population but account for 25% of new HIV infections. It breaks my heart that 4,500 girls, young women, were being infected every week in Africa every week! Were very, very worried, profoundly worried, about COVID-19 harming patients and efforts to curb the HIV, she said.

Leaders of a large study in the United Kingdom that is rigorously testing the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine and other medicines for hospitalized COVID-19 patients say they will stop putting people on the drug because its clear it isnt helping. Results released Friday from 1,542 patients showed the drug did not reduce deaths, time in the hospital or other factors. The results convincingly rule out any meaningful mortality benefit, study leaders at the University of Oxford said in a statement. The Oxford study is the largest study so far to put hydroxychloroquine to a strict test. The World Health Organization is leading a similar study testing hydroxychloroquine and several other therapies versus standard of care.