| New York City set to impose new COVID-19 closures despite Orthodox Jewish protests Posted: 07 Oct 2020 11:34 AM PDT  New York City will begin enforcing new shutdown rules on businesses and schools in coronavirus hot spots on Thursday that have already triggered angry protests from a small contingent of Orthodox Jews in one of the affected areas. Mayor Bill de Blasio first announced his plan to tamp down outbreaks in parts of Brooklyn and Queens on Sunday after the rate of positive coronavirus tests in some neighborhoods exceeded 3% for seven straight days. De Blasio's decision to delineate the neighborhoods where closures would be enforced using postal ZIP codes drew scorn from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, a fellow Democrat with whom he has often feuded.
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| Elderly couple kidnapped, smuggled into Canada and held hostage by ‘cocaine ring' Posted: 07 Oct 2020 03:44 PM PDT  'My understanding from the family is that they're shook up, but doing fine,' says friend Justus Martin
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| A Florida Keys girl was being attacked by pit bulls. Her neighbor is getting a medal Posted: 08 Oct 2020 02:08 PM PDT  When his neighbor was in danger one day in 2018, Donald Lowrie raced right into the fight. Now Lowrie, 50, is being celebrated as a national hero for rescuing the 8-year-old girl who was being attacked in her home by two pit bulls. Lowrie is one of 17 people awarded the 2020 Carnegie medal, which recognizes people who have risked their lives trying to save others.
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| Pham Doan Trang: Vietnam arrests leading pro-democracy blogger Posted: 07 Oct 2020 12:08 PM PDT  Pham Doan Trang is accused of anti-state activities, which could see her jailed for years.
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| Cash-strapped local officials reportedly rushed to secure part of Mark Zuckerberg's $250 million donation to cover debt and other costs incurred ahead of the election Posted: 08 Oct 2020 11:12 AM PDT  Nearly 2,000 of the nation's election offices are seeking part of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's $250 million donation to help offset election costs.
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| Amy Coney Barrett served as 'handmaid' in religious group Posted: 08 Oct 2020 12:10 PM PDT  Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett served as a "handmaid," the term then used for high-ranking female leaders in the People of Praise religious community.
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| Trump 'symptom-free for over 24 hours' and has produced coronavirus antibodies, doctor says Posted: 07 Oct 2020 11:16 AM PDT  President Trump's doctor has released an oddly informal update on his health.Just a day and a half after leaving the hospital, Trump is displaying no symptoms of coronavirus, and hasn't for the past 24 hours, Trump's physician Dr. Sean Conley said in a Wednesday release. Trump apparently said "I feel great!" this morning, has normal vital signs, and has not used supplemental oxygen since his release from the hospital. In addition, Trump has produced detectable levels of COVID-19 antibodies — something that was undetectable when he first tested positive for COVID-19 last week.> POTUS doctor says he's symptom-free for over 24 hours and that his blood demonstrates detectable levels of antibodies compared to last week pic.twitter.com/goZ8qLhGAY> > — Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) October 7, 2020As previous releases from the White House have noted, Trump's doctor has released only the information Trump has allowed him to, meaning there may be more details of his medical status left unpublicized. The note makes no mention of what drugs Trump may be taking, or if he stopped taking medication altogether. Trump's medical team still has not answered when Trump last tested negative for COVID-19.More stories from theweek.com Mike Pence was the unlikely winner of the vice presidential debate The myth of Mike Pence's appeal Trump is shockingly bad at this
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| Slain Black man's family vows legal fight against police Posted: 08 Oct 2020 05:31 AM PDT  An attorney for the family of a Black teen killed by a suburban Milwaukee police officer vowed Thursday to keep fighting and working to prove racism pervades the officer's department, after a prosecutor declined to file charges in the case. Attorney Kimberley Motley said she plans to file a federal lawsuit against Wauwatosa Police Officer Joseph Mensah in 17-year-old Alvin Cole's death. Motley sued in state court on Tuesday seeking department documents that she believes will show Mensah's supervisors are racist and that officers have racially profiled Black drivers for years.
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| Florida principal fired for Holocaust comments will be rehired, school board votes Posted: 07 Oct 2020 03:21 PM PDT  The Palm Beach County School Board voted to rehire a former high school principal who was fired last year after he refused to say the Holocaust was a "factual, historical event."
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| Affirmative action debate ignores Asian American community college students Posted: 08 Oct 2020 06:34 AM PDT  As California votes on affirmative action, nearly half the state's AAPI students who start off at community colleges would benefit, advocates say.
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| Fire 'continues to burn' at South Korea tower block Posted: 08 Oct 2020 07:07 PM PDT  The fire is still burning after hundreds had to evacuate the building in Ulsan.
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| Dems crushing GOP incumbents in ad spending in key Senate races Posted: 08 Oct 2020 12:38 PM PDT  In some cases, the Democrats have outspent Republican incumbents by as much as 2 to 1.
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| Trump calls Kamala Harris 'monster' and 'communist' in Fox tirade after VP debate Posted: 08 Oct 2020 06:01 AM PDT  President Donald Trump has attacked Kamala Harris following the vice presidential debate on Wednesday night, calling the California senator "unlikeable" and falsely claiming she is a "communist" in an interview with Fox News' Maria Bartiromo. Speaking about the Democratic vice presidential nominee's debate performance, the president said on Thursday morning: "She was terrible … totally unlikeable." It's a label the president has often used to attack the Democratic Party and his apparent enemies, reportedly claiming the party's platform was "probably communist" at a campaign event in Ohio last month.
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| CDC officials are reportedly horrified their boss wrote a letter excusing Mike Pence from their own quarantine guidance Posted: 07 Oct 2020 04:07 PM PDT  Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are reportedly flabbergasted that their boss, CDC chief Robert Redfield, took the extraordinary step of signing a letter excusing Vice President Mike Pence from quarantining.While Pence has so far tested negative for coronavirus, over a dozen people in Trump's orbit have been diagnosed with the disease since last week. Nevertheless, following a "detailed discussion" with Trump's doctor about Pence's chances of exposure to the disease, Redfield determined that "from a public health standpoint, it is safe for the vice president to participate in the upcoming vice-presidential debate.""To me, if we are not involved in the investigation, I don't know how we could make that determination," one CDC official told The Washington Post anonymously. "We should stick to our guidance. You should be quarantined for 14 days if exposed." Another CDC official expressed dismay that such a letter was written by the agency's chief at all: "Pence should have asked for a private entity to endorse he was 'clean.' Using his special privileged access to the nation's top public health official is disturbing."According to the CDC website, "For COVID-19, a close contact is anyone who was within six feet of an infected person for at least 15 minutes." But the Post points out, "Pence attended the Rose Garden ceremony two Saturdays ago marking the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett — an event attended by several others since diagnosed with COVID-19."More stories from theweek.com Mike Pence was the unlikely winner of the vice presidential debate The myth of Mike Pence's appeal Trump is shockingly bad at this
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| Texas man who sold AR-15 rifle used in 2019 Midland-Odessa mass shooting pleads guilty to dealing firearms without license Posted: 07 Oct 2020 06:30 PM PDT  Marcus Anthony Braziel, 45, pleaded guilty to one count of dealing firearms without a license and one count of subscribing to a false tax return.
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| Hurricane watches issued for northern Gulf Coast ahead of Hurricane Delta landfall Posted: 07 Oct 2020 08:18 AM PDT  Hurricane Delta, after battering the Yucatán Peninsula with 100-mph winds, re-emerged into the Gulf of Mexico Wednesday, where it could restrengthen into a Category 3 storm before making landfall on the northern Gulf Coast.
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| DeVos pledges use of 'bully pulpit' to urge school reopening Posted: 07 Oct 2020 02:38 PM PDT  The comments come the same day Boston schools paused reopening plans because of a rise in coronavirus cases.
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| Before attack, a Pakistani teen sought better life in France Posted: 07 Oct 2020 11:11 PM PDT  Ali Hassan was only 15 when he left Pakistan to be smuggled to Europe, following the path of his older brother and many other young men from his home country dreaming of a better life. Before the Sept. 25 attack, he proclaimed in a video he was seeking vengeance after the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo published caricatures of Islam's Prophet Muhammad. Little is known about Hassan's time in France.
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| Court documents call for Parkland parents to prove mental anguish after school shooting Posted: 07 Oct 2020 07:53 AM PDT  Parents who sued a school district after their children died in a mass shooting at a Florida high school are being asked to turn over their psychiatric records to prove they have suffered mental anguish.
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| Transgender woman's killing in Georgia marks "grim milestone" Posted: 07 Oct 2020 11:12 AM PDT  Felycya Harris, a beloved interior decorator and dancer, is being remembered by friends for her upbeat personality.
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| Facebook finds pro-Trump group helped make hundreds of accounts to spam comments with attacks on Biden Posted: 08 Oct 2020 10:39 AM PDT  Social media giant finds Turning Point USA enlisted marketing group for 'coordinated inauthentic behavior' campaign, Facebook says
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| Barrett confirmation hearing may pressure Feinstein, Harris to subdue their political instincts Posted: 08 Oct 2020 08:55 AM PDT  California Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris face distinct challenges at Judge Amy Coney Barrett's Supreme Court confirmation hearing.
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| A ‘golden-hearted young man’: Another Florida correctional officer dies of COVID-19 Posted: 08 Oct 2020 10:25 AM PDT  The email from the warden came Tuesday evening, bearing bad news.
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| U.S. sues Yale for alleged bias against Asian and white applicants Posted: 08 Oct 2020 03:27 PM PDT  The lawsuit escalates the Trump administration's push against affirmative action in admissions to elite universities, after it publicly supported a lawsuit by Asian-American students accusing Harvard University of discriminating against them. The Justice Department said Asian-American and white applicants were typically only one-eighth to one-fourth as likely to win admission to Yale as similarly qualified Black applicants.
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| A transgender man is suing Amazon, claiming he was denied a raise after disclosing he was pregnant Posted: 07 Oct 2020 12:02 PM PDT  Shaun Simmons, a transgender man in New Jersey, told NBC News he was passed over for a promotion when he told his manager he was pregnant.
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| A federal judge has ordered Twitter to reveal the identity of an anonymous account linked to a conspiracy theory about murdered DNC staffer Seth Rich Posted: 08 Oct 2020 07:44 AM PDT  Since his death in 2016, Seth Rich has been the subject of a conspiracy that claims, without evidence, that he was killed as part of a cover up.
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| 'Staggering numbers': Early voting is breaking records in 2020, fueled by a big mail-ballot lead for Democrats Posted: 07 Oct 2020 04:06 PM PDT  More than 5 million people have already voted early in the presidential election. Democrats have taken a commanding lead in returning mail ballots.
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| China will exploit new sailing routes to the Atlantic and threaten UK interests, warns First Sea Lord Posted: 08 Oct 2020 10:14 AM PDT  The First Sea Lord has warned that China will exploit new sailing routes to the Atlantic that are being opened up as a result of melting polar ice caps. In a speech on board the aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales Admiral Tony Radakin said the effects of climate change on the northern sea passage would create "new maritime trade routes across the top of the world" which would halve "the transit time between Europe and Asia". Admiral Radakin said: "When China sails its growing Navy into the Atlantic, which way will it come, the long route, or the short?" He cautioned that the free movement of "nations, their navies, and above all their merchant ships" could be put at risk when China starts to use these routes as it would "threaten this concept" of free maritime movement. "The world is getting more competitive, more contested," he added. "We will have to play our role in that world. As the High North becomes more open and accessible it's going to be more contested and competitive as well."
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| Surgeon General cited for taking photos in Hawaii park closed due to Covid-19 Posted: 08 Oct 2020 08:40 AM PDT  Mr Adam's lawyer says the surgeon general is not seeking special treatment regarding the citation
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| Putin Is Facing the Toughest Fight of His Presidency as Former USSR Goes up in Flames Posted: 08 Oct 2020 08:36 AM PDT  Tuesday, October 7, was Russian President Vladimir Putin's 68th birthday, and, in keeping with his Soviet-style personality cult, it would normally have been an occasion for Putin to bask in public fanfare. But this year was different. Putin is holed up at his residence outside Moscow, where he has been since early April, avoiding infection from the coronavirus that is again rampant in Russia, while unrest surges in three countries of the former Soviet Union, and France and Germany are pushing for new EU economic sanctions against Russia because of the poisoning of Russian democrat Alexei Navalny.In honor of Putin's birthday, the Russian news agency Tass released the final episode of a series entitled 20 Questions with Vladimir Putin, a special interview project to commemorate Putin's twenty years as leader. In this episode Putin does not discuss pressing economic issues or international affairs, but rather his hobbies, family and other personal matters. Significantly, while Putin mentions that he enjoys his "sweet" grandchildren, he also confesses to his interviewer that "when you occupy this position, sometimes it feels like you cease to be a human being and become nothing more than a mere function."Funeral for Reporter Who Set Herself on Fire Reawakens Russia's Passion to Stand up to PutinNo wonder Putin has begun feeling like an automaton. Bad things have been happening to Putin in battalions lately. On July 9, just as the number of coronavirus cases in Russia had begun to decline and the virus seemed under control, mass protests erupted in the Siberian district of Khabarovsk over the arrest on unsubstantiated murder charges of the popular governor, Sergei Furgal.The unrest in Khabarovsk, a cause for deep concern in the Kremlin, was soon overshadowed by events in Belarus, where the largest political rally in over a decade took place in Minsk on July 30 in support of the opposition presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya. Opposition protests, accompanied by mass arrests, plunged Belarus into turmoil after Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, in power for 26 years, reported a landslide victory in the August 9 presidential elections. Despite a severe crackdown, the protests have continued. On October 4, 100,000 people marched in Minsk demanding Lukashenko's resignation.The events in Belarus, a neighboring country that serves as Russia's strategic buffer to NATO states, pose a huge dilemma for Putin. The overthrow of an authoritarian leader like Lukashenko by a grassroots democratic movement would set a dangerous example that Russians might at some point follow. But if the Kremlin sends paramilitary forces into Belarus to support Lukashenko, as Putin suggested last month might be done, such a move could result in more Western sanctions against Russia, which would further damage Russia's faltering economy.Adding to the Kremlin's troubles, a violent conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27 over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, which lies in Azerbaijan, but is controlled by ethnic Christian Armenians who are backed by the Armenian government. Russia would like to put an end to what is the deadliest fighting between Azerbaijan and Armenia in 25 years, but both countries are ignoring appeals for a cease-fire.Just days later, a political uprising engulfed the Central Asian state of Kyrgyzstan, yet another former Soviet republic. As with Belarus, claims of rigged elections ignited the turmoil. On October 5, following parliamentary elections the previous day, masses of demonstrators took to the streets, eventually seizing government buildings and the office of the president, Sooronbai Jeenbekov, who is now in hiding. Kyrgyzstan has seen years of political conflict, characterized more by fighting among elite rival groups and clans than by struggles for democracy, so the situation there is not comparable to that in Belarus, which has much greater implications for the Kremlin. Nonetheless, the Kremlin cannot ignore the chaos in a country that depends economically on Russia and houses a Russian military base.The spread of COVID-19, which has caused significant unemployment and economic disruption in Kyrgyzstan, contributed to the political discontent there, as it has elsewhere, including in Russia. (From January to September 2020, the number of bankruptcies of Russian citizens and individual entrepreneurs increased by 64.9 percent, to 77,000.) According to Russia's Levada-Center, a polling organization, Putin's approval ratings dropped to an all-time low of 59 percent when the coronavirus reached pandemic levels in April and May of this year, only to climb back up as the rates of infection declined. So the recent steep rise in Russia's coronavirus cases, with daily totals approaching the record high of 11,656 on May 11, is further cause for disquiet among Putin and his government.But of all the problems Putin faces as he continues to isolate, communicating with his political and military advisors mainly through video conferences, the most troubling may be that of Navalny, who the Kremlin failed to eliminate as planned on August 20. As with GRU defector Sergei Skripal, Russia's security services botched their job, and Navalny not only survived, but is speaking out publicly about the poisoning, which he attributes to Putin directly. And he is urging tougher western sanctions on members of Putin's inner circle. In a recent interview with Germany's Bild newspaper, cited by Radio Liberty, Navalny stressed that "the most important thing is to impose entry bans against those who profit from the regime and freeze their assets… They embezzle money, steal billions, and at the weekend they fly to Berlin or London, buy expensive apartments, and sit in cafes."Although the fearless Navalny plans to return to Russia once he has recovered from the poisoning to continue his opposition to the Putin regime, he does not pose an immediate political threat to Putin. According to an in-depth analysis last week by Levada-Center Deputy Director Denis Volkov, only one third of the 77 percent of Russians who had heard about Navalny's poisoning believe that it was a deliberate attack. Most think that it was a provocation by western security services or something Navalny did to himself. This is because of long-formed views of older Russians, who get their news on Russian state-controlled television, from which Navalny and other opposition politicians are banned. Navalny's audience comes from younger Russians who regularly consult the internet. Volkov points out that: "Russian television and the Internet do not just differ in interpretation, but present two different pictures of what is happening."But, Volkov says, this situation is changing: "For his supporters, Navalny is important, first of all, because he 'speaks the truth,' 'gives an alternative point of view,' 'fights against the authorities' and 'is not afraid.' Although Navalny gained his fame as the author of high-profile anti-corruption investigations, in his current image this characterization fades into the background. In the context of declining public support for top officials, his image as an alternative to the current government and its policies is becoming increasingly important. And this makes the Kremlin nervous."Volkov goes on to point out that Navalny's positive image is a result of his painstaking work on the internet, his effective team of like-minded colleagues and his network of regional headquarters: "For some of his supporters from the regions, Navalny was the first politician from Moscow whom they saw in person. All this allowed him to slowly but surely build up his authority." Although current Russian political views are dominated by the older generation, which is afraid of change and dislikes Navalny, it is only a matter of time, Volkov says, before the younger generation becomes more politically active.It is worth noting that Putin's birthday also marks the fourteenth anniversary of the as yet unsolved murder of Russian journalist and fierce Putin critic Anna Politkovskaya, who was gunned down in the stairwell of her Moscow apartment building on October 7, 2006. Referring to this "coincidence"—some say the killing was a birthday gift to Putin—St. Petersburg Parliamentary deputy Boris Vishnevsky, a member of the liberal Yabloko party, had this to say:"Today, sitting in his bunker, Putin will receive flattering congratulations from the stalwarts of his 'vertical' power base, who assure him that 'without Putin there will be no Russia.' But the event that happened on a previous October 7 [Politkovskaya's murder] will be remembered for a very long time. As well as Anna Politkovskaya herself. And today's event [Putin's birthday] will be forgotten as soon as the birthday boy loses power."Read more at The Daily Beast.Get 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.
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| Strippers agreed to a private dance for $1,000, but the men wanted more, Miami Beach cops say Posted: 08 Oct 2020 12:37 PM PDT  A $1,000 private dance involving two hired strippers in a Miami Beach hotel room turned into a car chase and a shooting after the two women refused to have sex with their clients, Miami Beach police said.
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| Divers discover French WWI submarine off Tunisia Posted: 08 Oct 2020 08:33 AM PDT  Tunisian divers have discovered a French submarine wreck from World War I, the Ariane, which was sunk by a German submarine in 1917.
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| Russia evacuates villages as huge blaze breaks out at arms depot Posted: 07 Oct 2020 05:50 AM PDT  Russian authorities evacuated more than 2,300 people from villages in the region of Ryazan on Wednesday and five people were taken to hospital after a blaze broke out at an ammunition depot, sending thick smoke belching into the air. Fires and explosions at ammunition depots have plagued the Russian army for years and drawn criticism of lax safety standards.
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| US Army Europe and US Army Africa to merge as commander pins on fourth star Posted: 08 Oct 2020 11:40 AM PDT  The U.S. Army Europe commander pins on his fourth-star and brings U.S. Army Africa into the fold.
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| California's Glass Fire has destroyed more than 350 commercial buildings, including a 3-Michelin star restaurant in Napa and the state's oldest resort Posted: 07 Oct 2020 02:50 PM PDT  California's oldest resort, White Sulphur Springs, lost 17 of its 20 buildings — the owners have plans to rebuild, according to NBC.
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| Trump's spy chief declassified a slew of documents that national security veterans say were part of an effort to boost the president's Russia claims Posted: 06 Oct 2020 09:05 PM PDT  Former officials accused intelligence chief John Ratcliffe of selectively declassifying information that could compromise US sources and methods.
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| New portrait of Queen Victoria's African goddaughter sheds light on forgotten Black history Posted: 08 Oct 2020 06:32 AM PDT  Sarah Forbes Bonetta, born to an African ruler as Aina, became Queen Victoria's goddaughter in the mid-19th century.
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| Harris attacks Trump for failing to condemn white supremacists: ‘It wasn’t like he didn’t have a chance. He didn’t do it and then he doubled down.’ Posted: 07 Oct 2020 08:06 PM PDT  Sen. Kamala Harris on Wednesday said that President Trump had had the opportunity to condemn white supremacy, but "he didn't do it — and then he doubled down."
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| Trump news: President gets all-clear for weekend return to public duties, as he pleads for support from seniors Posted: 08 Oct 2020 05:02 PM PDT  Follow the latest updates
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| Correctional officer pressured female inmates into sexual activity, Mississippi cops say Posted: 08 Oct 2020 10:58 AM PDT  The jailer is now out of a job.
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| Thousands of coronavirus deaths recorded by ONS not due to Covid, new figures show Posted: 08 Oct 2020 05:25 AM PDT  Thousands of coronavirus deaths recorded by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) were not due to Covid, new figures show. On Thursday, the ONS published data comparing Covid deaths in England and Wales to those from influenza and pneumonia up to the end of August. In order to make the comparison, the body published, for the first time, figures for people who had died "due" to Covid rather than those who had the virus mentioned on their death certificate. While official figures show that 52,327 people died from coronavirus up to the end of August, 48,168 deaths were "due" to the disease – 4,149 fewer than official records show. Early in the pandemic, the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned that even if coronavirus appeared on a death certificate as a "significant condition", the death should not be included in the figures. WHO guidelines say such deaths "are not due to Covid-19 and should not be classified as such". The new figures back up research from academics at the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine at Oxford University, who last month found that coronavirus was not the main cause of death for nearly one third of recorded Covid-19 victims in July and August. The team uncovered the discrepancy after comparing deaths from all causes to the coronavirus figures. Their analysis showed that around 30 per cent of people included in the coronavirus death toll over the summer months had died from other causes. It means someone who suffered a heart attack, or even died in a road traffic accident, may have been included in the figures if they had also tested positive for coronavirus at some point or if doctors believed the virus may have exacerbated their condition. Experts at Oxford are concerned that the problem with over-counting will get worse as more people in the population contract coronavirus. They are worried it means thousands more people died at the peak because of the pandemic response rather than because of the virus and have been wrongly included in the Covid-19 statistics. The new ONS figures also show that Covid was nearly four times deadlier than flu and pneumonia between January and August, with 48,168 deaths, compared with 13,619 for pneumonia and 394 deaths due to influenza. But the figures also showed that the deaths for flu and pneumonia were nearly 3,500 lower than would normally be expected based on the five-year average, suggesting that some people died of Covid instead (the graphic below shows how flu and Covid-19 compare).
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| In midst of cardinal scandal, pope seeks to reassure money inspectors Posted: 08 Oct 2020 05:17 AM PDT  Pope Francis sought to assure external inspectors of the Vatican's financial operations on Thursday that he was pushing ahead with reforms, as the Holy See reeled from a scandal in which he fired a powerful cardinal. In an address to Moneyval, the Council of Europe's financial monitoring arm, Francis listed recent actions he had taken to make Vatican finances more transparent. Last month, the pope fired Italian Cardinal Angelo Becciu, accusing him of embezzlement and nepotism.
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