| Fact check: Meme accurately describes legal trouble for members of 2016 Trump campaign Posted: 02 Sep 2020 05:54 AM PDT  A viral Facebook post is accurate about legal issues facing Steve Bannon, Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, Michael Flynn, Roger Stone and Michael Cohen.
|
| A month on, signal in Beirut rubble raises hope for survivor Posted: 03 Sep 2020 09:31 AM PDT  A pulsing signal was detected Thursday from under the rubble of a Beirut building that collapsed during the horrific port explosion in the Lebanese capital last month, raising hopes there may be a survivor still buried there. The effort unfolded after the sniffer dog belonging to the Chilean search and rescue team first detected something as the team was going through Gemmayzeh Street in Beirut and rushed toward the rubble of a building. It is extremely unlikely that any survivors would be found a month after the blast that tore through Beirut in August when nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate ignited at the port.
|
| Typhoon Maysak: Ship with crew and thousands of cattle missing Posted: 03 Sep 2020 05:10 AM PDT  One sailor is rescued from a ship with 43 crew and 6,000 cattle thought sunk in the East China Sea.
|
| Duped by Russia, freelancers ensnared in disinformation campaign by promise of easy money Posted: 02 Sep 2020 12:58 PM PDT  When freelance journalist Laura Walters submitted a 1,000 word article about Chinese political influence in New Zealand to her new editors at non-profit media outlet Peace Data, the response was emphatic. "I'd like to express our deep gratitude for your work," wrote Peace Data communications manager Alice Schultz in a June 15 email seen by Reuters. "It's hard to believe how totalitarian countries like China (or Russia) are finding their ways to meddle even in the strongest democracies around the globe."
|
| Critics fear NYPD Asian hate crime task force could have unintended consequences Posted: 02 Sep 2020 07:59 AM PDT  "Law enforcement has been one of the biggest perpetrators of violence against Asian Americans and communities of color and continues to be one of the biggest perpetrators of violence," an activist said.
|
| Overwhelmingly strong results could end COVID-19 vaccine trials early, Fauci says Posted: 02 Sep 2020 04:00 AM PDT  A COVID-19 vaccine could be available earlier than expected if ongoing clinical trials produce overwhelmingly positive results, Dr. Anthony Fauci said.
|
| Electoral college explained: how Biden faces an uphill battle in the US election Posted: 01 Sep 2020 11:30 PM PDT  Trump won the presidency in 2016 despite Clinton receiving almost 3m more votes, all because of the electoral college. How does the system work? Who elects the US president?When Americans cast their ballots for the US president, they are actually voting for a representative of that candidate's party known as an elector. There are 538 electors who then vote for the president on behalf of the people in their state.Each state is assigned a certain number of these electoral votes, based on the number of congressional districts they have, plus two additional votes representing the state's Senate seats. Washington DC is also assigned three electoral votes, despite having no voting representation in Congress. A majority of 270 of these votes is needed to win the presidency.The process of nominating electors varies by state and by party, but is generally done one of two ways. Ahead of the election, political parties either choose electors at their national conventions, or they are voted for by the party's central committee.The electoral college nearly always operates with a winner-takes-all system, in which the candidate with the highest number of votes in a state claims all of that state's electoral votes. For example, in 2016, Trump beat Clinton in Florida by a margin of just 2.2%, but that meant he claimed all 29 of Florida's crucial electoral votes.Such small margins in a handful of key swing states meant that, regardless of Clinton's national vote lead, Trump was able to clinch victory in several swing states and therefore win more electoral college votes. Biden could face the same hurdle in November, meaning he will need to focus his attention on a handful of battleground states to win the presidency.A chart showing electoral college votes by state The unequal distribution of electoral votesWhile the number of electoral votes a state is assigned somewhat reflects its population, the minimum of three votes per state means that the relative value of electoral votes varies across America.The least populous states like North and South Dakota and the smaller states of New England are overrepresented because of the required minimum of three electoral votes. Meanwhile, the states with the most people – California, Texas and Florida – are underrepresented in the electoral college. Wyoming has one electoral college vote for every 193,000 people, compared with California's rate of one electoral vote per 718,000 people. This means that each electoral vote in California represents over three times as many people as one in Wyoming. These disparities are repeated across the country.A visual of population per electoral vote by state Who does it favour?Experts have warned that, after returning two presidents that got fewer votes than their opponents since 2000, the electoral college is flawed. In 2000, Al Gore won over half a million more votes than Bush, yet Bush became president after winning Florida by just 537 votes.A chart showing recent election outcomes by popular vote and electoral college marginsProfessor George Edwards III, at Texas A&M University, said: "The electoral college violates the core tenet of democracy, that all votes count equally and allows the candidate finishing second to win the election. Why hold an election if we do not care who received the most votes?"At the moment, the electoral college favours Republicans because of the way Republican votes are distributed across the country. They are more likely to occur in states that are closely divided between the parties."Under the winner-takes-all system, the margin of victory in a state becomes irrelevant. In 2016, Clinton's substantial margins in states such as California and New York failed to earn her enough electoral votes, while close races in the battleground states of Pennsylvania and Michigan took Trump over the 270 majority.A visual showing margins and electoral votes by state gained by Trump and Clinton in 2016As candidates easily win the electoral votes of their solid states, the election plays out in a handful of key battlegrounds. In 2016, Trump won six such states - Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – adding 99 electoral votes to his total. The demographics of these states differ from the national average. They are older, have more white voters without college degrees, and often have smaller non-white populations. These characteristics generally favour Republicans, and made up the base of Trump's votes in 2016.For example, 67% of non-college-educated white people voted for Trump in 2016. In all six swing states, this demographic is overrepresented by at least six percentage points more than the national average. default The alternativesSeveral alternative systems for electing the president have been proposed and grown in favour, as many seek to change or abolish the electoral college.Two states – Maine and Nebraska – already use a different method of assigning their electoral college votes. The two "Senate" votes go to the state-wide popular vote winner, but the remaining district votes are awarded to the winner of that district. However, implementing this congressional district method across the country could result in greater bias than the current system. The popular vote winner could still lose the election, and the distribution of voters would still strongly favour Republicans. The National Popular Vote Compact (NPVC) is another option, in which each state would award all of its electoral college votes in line with the national popular vote. If enough states signed up to this agreement to reach the 270 majority, the candidate who gained the most votes nationwide would always win the presidency. However, the NPVC has more practical issues. Professor Norman Williams, from Willamette University, questioned how a nationwide recount would be carried out under the NPVC, and said that partisanship highlighted its major flaws. Only Democratic states are currently signed up, but support could simply switch in the future if a Republican candidate faces winning the popular vote but not the presidency.The NPVC is a solution that would elect the president with the most votes without the difficulty of abolishing the electoral college that is enshrined in the constitution. In 1787, the Founding Fathers could not decide on the best system to elect the president. Some delegates opposed a straight nomination by Congress, while others wanted to limit the influence of a potentially uninformed public and the power a populist candidate could have with a direct popular vote. The resulting electoral college, with electors acting as intermediaries for their states, is their compromise. This system also invoked a clause known as the three-fifths compromise between northern and southern delegates, as they debated how slavery would affect a state's representation. Their agreement was that three-fifths of enslaved individuals (who could not vote) would count towards a state's population, awarding a disproportionate amount of power in the electoral college to the southern states. While the 13th amendment which abolished slavery in effect removed the three-fifths clause, the impacts of an unbalanced electoral college with unequal representation remain. The current system is still vulnerable to distorted outcomes through actions such as gerrymandering. This practice involves precisely redrawing the borders of districts to concentrate support in favour of a party. The result being abnormally shaped districts that disenfranchise certain groups of voters.Today, an amendment that would replace the college with a direct national popular vote is seen by many as the fairest electoral system.According to Professor Edwards III, "There is only one appropriate way to elect the president: add up all the votes and declare the candidate receiving the most votes the winner."default
|
| Video shows police put hood on Black man killed by asphyxiation Posted: 02 Sep 2020 05:07 PM PDT  A Black man who had run naked through the streets of a city in New York died of asphyxiation after a group of police officers put a hood over his head, then pressed his face into the pavement for two minutes, according to video and records that were released Wednesday by the man's family.
|
| 'You matter to us': Delta Air Lines upgrades Black traveler harassed by white flyer Posted: 03 Sep 2020 11:33 AM PDT  Demetria Poe is applauding Delta Air Lines for "taking a stance" against racism and discrimination after she was harassed by her seatmate on a flight.
|
| 12-year-old displaying Trump sign punched several times by woman, Colorado police say Posted: 03 Sep 2020 09:36 AM PDT  "The suspect then attempted to take the banner but was unsuccessful."
|
| Biden, Harris, and Abortions Late in Pregnancy Posted: 02 Sep 2020 03:30 AM PDT  Do Joe Biden and Kamala Harris believe that abortion should be legal even late in pregnancy? Here are four pieces of evidence that suggest the answer is yes.First: Biden and Harris are strong supporters of Roe v. Wade.Roe requires that abortion be permissible even at the end of pregnancy whenever a physician believes it necessary to protect a woman's health. Doe v. Bolton, the companion case to Roe, says that "the medical judgment may be exercised in the light of all factors -- physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman's age -- relevant to the well-being of the patient." While it has sometimes been suggested that Doe did not intend to say a broad health exception is constitutionally required, subsequent court decisions have insisted on it.We have reason to think that each year in America, more than 10,000 abortions take place after the 20th week of pregnancy, and that the bulk of these abortions do not take place because of risks to mothers' physical health or because of fetal abnormality. Yet prosecutions for violating state statutes that appear to prohibit abortion late in pregnancy are vanishingly rare, perhaps because the Supreme Court appears to have made such laws unenforceable.Biden has said that there will be "a litmus test on abortion" for any Supreme Court justices he nominates. Neither he nor Harris says that the Court should adjust its jurisprudence to allow abortion to be banned late in pregnancy.Second: Biden and Harris have each sponsored bills that appear to keep abortion late in pregnancy legal even if the Supreme Court were to change its mind.Harris has sponsored legislation, the "Women's Health Protection Act," that explicitly provides for legal abortion after viability when "the treating health care provider" thinks it necessary for the mother's "health," and that later adds that all terms in the law should be construed "liberally." She has also sponsored separate legislation to provide federal funding for abortion, with no time limitation in the bill text; and to require state governments to pay for abortions, again with no time limitation in the bill text. During her presidential campaign, she said that she would require states to show the Justice Department that any changes in abortion policy they intended to make conformed to the Women's Health Protection Act.Biden, too, sponsored legislation while in the Senate to make abortion legal after viability when needed to protect "health," with the text not specifying physical health.Third: The Democratic platform endorses "reproductive health, rights, and justice," "including safe and legal abortion," and opposes "federal and state laws that create barriers to reproductive health and rights." It endorses taxpayer funding of abortion as well. The endorsements are not qualified, and no limitations based on stage of pregnancy are mentioned.Fourth: Neither Biden nor Harris says that they believe abortions late in pregnancy should be prohibited.I see one piece of evidence that Biden does not believe abortions late in pregnancy should be legal. In 1997, he said explicitly that he would like to ban all abortions after viability. But he was speaking in favor of legislation that a) was, by his account, consistent with Roe v. Wade and b) might not have banned any abortions at all.All in all, then, the evidence justifies the conclusion that Biden and Harris believe abortion should be legal at any stage of pregnancy so long as an abortionist is willing to say it will promote the mother's emotional health -- and journalists who assert otherwise are creating confusion where none need exist.
|
| NSA surveillance exposed by Snowden ruled unlawful Posted: 03 Sep 2020 06:48 AM PDT  Whistleblower Edward Snowden tweets he feels vindicated by the ruling from the US Court of Appeals.
|
| Trump's press secretary refuses to blame Russia for the nerve-agent attack on Putin's top opponent Posted: 03 Sep 2020 11:39 AM PDT  Other world leaders have explicitly demanded an explanation from the Russian government for Navalny's poisoning.
|
| 25 more endangered children located as sex trafficking busts continue in 2 states Posted: 02 Sep 2020 09:51 AM PDT  Operations in Ohio and Indiana seek missing children who may be victims of sex trafficking.
|
| Hotel deals and what's open in Las Vegas over Labor Day Posted: 02 Sep 2020 06:55 PM PDT  Resorts, casinos and restaurants are open but bars are not. Vegas still manages to draw some of its fans despite the pandemic
|
| UK public tribunal to probe Uighur genocide allegations Posted: 03 Sep 2020 01:31 AM PDT  A prominent British human rights lawyer is convening an independent tribunal in London to investigate whether the Chinese government's alleged rights abuses against Uighur Muslims in the far western Xinjiang region constitute genocide or crimes against humanity. The tribunal is expected to reveal new evidence and testimony over several days' hearings next year. While the tribunal does not have government backing, it is the latest attempt to hold China accountable for its treatment of the Uighurs and ethnic Turkic minorities, who have been subject to an unprecedented crackdown since 2017.
|
| Savannah church separates from United Methodist Church in support of LGBTQ Posted: 03 Sep 2020 10:12 AM PDT  A Georgia congregation said Thursday that it has finalized its split from the United Methodist Church after the denomination's divisive vote last year to strengthen bans on same-sex marriage and ordination of LGBTQ pastors.
|
| Abcarian: White people will contort themselves to justify the police killing of Black people Posted: 02 Sep 2020 03:00 AM PDT  White sympathy for the Black Lives Matter movement skyrocketed after George Floyd's death, but it's starting to wane.
|
| A barista at a Target Starbucks was fired for a satirical TikTok showing how to make a 'Blue Lives Matter' drink with 'bleach' Posted: 03 Sep 2020 01:41 PM PDT  A barista who made a "Blue Lives Matter" drink in a TikTok video was fired, according to Target, which housed the Starbucks store near Indianapolis.
|
| Nile dam row: US cuts aid to Ethiopia Posted: 03 Sep 2020 03:14 AM PDT  Ethiopia has begun filling the mega dam before reaching an agreement with Sudan and Egypt.
|
| U.S. agency defends decision to withhold report on Russian claims about Biden's health Posted: 02 Sep 2020 12:20 PM PDT  The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Wednesday defended its decision to withhold circulation of an intelligence report warning that Russia was trying to portray Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden as mentally unstable. A draft of the report, headlined "Russia Likely to Denigrate Health of US Candidates to Influence 2020 Election," was submitted to the agency's legislative and public affairs office on July 7, according to ABC News, which first reported the matter. Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf told Fox News on Wednesday that the agency held up the memo because it lacked necessary context and was "very poorly written."
|
| Facebook said it removed 2 of Rep. Clay Higgins' posts for violating the company's policies against inciting violence after the congressman suggested killing armed protesters Posted: 03 Sep 2020 02:43 PM PDT  Rep. Clay Higgins wrote that he'd "drop any 10 of you where you stand" if demonstrators showed up to a Louisiana protest with guns.
|
| Kennedy loses Senate bid; race for his House seat is tight Posted: 02 Sep 2020 05:57 AM PDT  U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III became the first in his storied political family to lose a run for Congress in Massachusetts, falling short in his bid to unseat U.S. Sen. Edward Markey in a hard-fought Democratic primary. Meanwhile, the race for Kennedy's House seat in the 4th Congressional District remained too close to call, with Democrats Jake Auchincloss and Jesse Mermell separated by a tight margin.
|
| China cracks down on Inner Mongolian minority fighting for its mother tongue Posted: 03 Sep 2020 10:21 AM PDT  Teachers and students have refused to comply with a new bilingual education program in Inner Mongolia. The state is cracking down in response.
|
| Louisiana governor saw the impact of Hurricane Laura. It's 'probably worse' than Hurricane Rita, he says. Posted: 02 Sep 2020 03:18 AM PDT  With 600,000 Louisianans still without clean water following Hurricane Laura, nine parishes are now eligible for FEMA help.
|
| When Kamala Harris Put Ideology before Justice Posted: 02 Sep 2020 03:30 AM PDT  You might have forgotten the first time you heard the name Kamala Harris. It was probably 16 years ago, when Harris found Democrats, along with decent people of all political persuasions, united against her.At the time, the story of a murdered California policeman had become national news amid widespread indignation over Harris's role in the case. Her actions revealed her true nature as a ruthless partisan committed über alles to the causes embraced by far-left ideologues — even when that commitment meant denying justice to a fallen officer and inflicting injustice on his family and law-enforcement colleagues.On the night of April 10, 2004, San Francisco police officer Isaac Espinoza and his partner, Barry Parker, were patrolling the city's Bayview District. Despite Bayview's being a notoriously high-crime neighborhood filled with danger, a selfless sense of duty had led Officer Espinoza to request it as his assignment "because he felt he made the most impact as a cop there."As the officers drove the streets, they noticed a man in a long, dark coat who appeared to be acting in a suspicious manner, walking with only one of his arms swinging naturally, as if he were trying to conceal something. They decided they should pull over to stop and talk to him. Officer Espinoza exited the patrol car and followed the man on foot, calling out an order to halt and identifying himself as law enforcement. The man — later identified as David Hill — first sped up before eventually slowing and stopping. He turned around, lifted the AK-47 rifle he had been hiding, and opened fire, murdering Officer Espinoza, who had never even unholstered his service weapon.Hill was a member of the West Mob, a criminal street gang that terrorized those who lived and worked within its geographic "territory" by committing rapes, homicides, assaults with firearms, narcotic sales, car thefts, burglaries, and robberies. As an expert testified at trial, "Retaliation against a [rival] gang member sends a message to other gang members, but the murder of a police officer sends a message to the community: 'Hey, even your protectors can be touched.'"That was Officer Espinoza: a protector of the community, a devoted husband to his wife, and a doting father to his three-year-old daughter, cut down in cold blood.Just three days after Espinoza's murder, before he had been laid to rest and without caring to call his widow, Harris, who was then the San Francisco district attorney, invited reporters and camera crews to a news conference to announce that she would not seek a death sentence in the case. Per the New York Times, she argued that doing so would "send the wrong message" and be "a poor use of money." But California assemblyman Joseph Canciamilla, a fellow Democrat, explained it better: "This is clearly a case where local politics took precedence over the facts of the case and a deliberative review of the circumstances."Indeed, members of Harris's own political party were admirably united against her decision. Both of California's U.S. senators at the time, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, spoke out against it and called for the death penalty in the case.Senator Feinstein, speaking at Officer Espinoza's funeral, received a standing ovation after passionately arguing that "this is not only the definition of tragic, but it is one of the special circumstances called for in the death-penalty law passed by the state of California."Senator Boxer announced that "when a police officer is murdered, those responsible should be punished to the fullest extent of the law," and urged federal officials to bring a capital case against Hill if Harris wouldn't.Even San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom, who is now the governor of the state, was greatly disturbed by the miscarriage of justice. "I never thought something could challenge me in terms of my strong opposition to the death penalty," he said. "But this experience has rattled my view. It really has."As the story spread from the West Coast to the East Coast, the sentiments felt nationwide by public officials and private citizens alike were put into words by Officer Espinoza's mother: Her son had "made the ultimate sacrifice," she said, yet he was being denied "the ultimate justice." (For Hill, Officer Espinoza's murderer, this was a cause for celebration. He has said that he's "forever grateful" to Harris, and praised her "courage and integrity.")It is not unreasonable to assume that, based on Joe Biden's age and declining mental acuity, his vice president would wield extraordinary power and might even become president. Given those possibilities, we would do well to reflect on the case of Officer Isaac Espinoza and consider what a Biden-Harris administration could portend for law and justice in the United States, as well as for the brave men and women of law enforcement who, night and day, stand guard to protect us.
|
| In-person learning creates dilemma for New York's poorest families Posted: 02 Sep 2020 10:18 PM PDT  As the first day of school approaches, New York's poorest -- often uninsured families -- face a risky choice: send kids to school where they could contract coronavirus, or keep them home for online classes, potentially compromising their academic progress and preventing parents from working.
|
| Toronto crash: Passengers ignored safety commands, report finds Posted: 03 Sep 2020 08:50 AM PDT  A report reveals how passengers ignored safety advice after a plane collided with a fuel tanker.
|
| Portland police missing in action against militias Posted: 02 Sep 2020 05:01 AM PDT  The shooting death of a man in Portland on Saturday night signified an even darker turn in the conflict, as the city has seemingly become a magnet for armed right-wing militias and left-wing agitators.
|
| Venezuelan charged in Miami money laundering case gunned down by motorcycle assassin Posted: 02 Sep 2020 11:10 AM PDT  A Venezuelan businessman charged in Miami with laundering millions of dollars from oil contracts was gunned down Tuesday by a motorcycle assassin in Venezuela, according to authorities.
|
| Israel announces partial national lockdown after coronavirus surge Posted: 03 Sep 2020 10:59 AM PDT  Israel will impose a partial national lockdown next week to battle a coronavirus infection surge, the head of its pandemic task force said on Thursday, shouting his exasperation in an emotional television address. The health official, Ronni Gamzu, said Israel was facing a "pivotal moment" in trying to contain the spread of COVID-19, with some 3,000 new cases now reported daily in a population of nine million. Other health experts have said political in-fighting among members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government has led to a slow response to a second wave of cases after a national lockdown flattened the infection curve in May.
|
| Soldier to receive Medal of Honor for Iraq hostage rescue Posted: 02 Sep 2020 11:10 AM PDT  An American soldier who helped rescue about 70 hostages set to be executed by Islamic State militants in Iraq has been approved to receive the Medal of Honor for actions during a daring 2015 raid, The Associated Press has learned. Sgt. Maj. Thomas "Patrick" Payne, a Ranger assigned to the U.S. Army's Special Operations Command, will receive the U.S. military's highest honor for valor in combat in a White House ceremony set to be held on the 19th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Payne was initially given the Army's second-highest award, the Distinguished Service Cross, for the special operations raid, which is now being upgraded to a Medal of Honor.
|
| Facebook has banned an Indian politician from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling party for violating its rules on hate speech Posted: 03 Sep 2020 04:38 AM PDT  Facebook's attitude to right-wing figures has been at the center of a political debate in India following an explosive Wall Street Journal report.
|
| Black jogger jailed after mistaken ID arrest speaks out Posted: 03 Sep 2020 12:08 PM PDT  A Black jogger who spent nearly two days in jail after mistakenly being arrested by San Antonio police because they said he fit the description of an assault suspect says it was a traumatic experience that no one should have to go through. Mathias "Marty" Ometu, a 33-year-old insurance agent, was misidentified as an assault suspect on Aug. 25, wrestled into a patrol vehicle and jailed on charges of having assaulted two officers during his arrest. "I was guilty before proven innocent," Ometu said Wednesday in his first public comments about the case, the San Antonio Express-News reported.
|
| China rails against 'discriminatory' India app ban Posted: 03 Sep 2020 02:19 AM PDT  China on Thursday decried a fresh ban by India on scores of Chinese apps -- including the hit game PUBG -- as a bitter border showdown seeped out into the tech sphere.
|
| Africa's week in pictures: 28 August-3 September 2020 Posted: 03 Sep 2020 04:08 PM PDT  A selection of the week's best photos from across the continent and beyond.
|
| White House press secretary refuses to say it's illegal to vote twice in an election Posted: 03 Sep 2020 11:22 AM PDT  President Trump repeatedly told his supporters in North Carolina on Wednesday that they should vote twice in the presidential election, first by mail and then in person. But as is often the White House's attempt at clearing up Trump's missteps, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany essentially insisted that everyone who watched Trump heard him wrong.A reporter on Thursday asked McEnany point blank if it's illegal to vote twice in the same election, but she refused to answer. McEnany instead insisted "the president does not condone unlawful voting," and said the reporter was "missing a very crucial line from the president's remarks." Trump had suggested testing if a local election bureau had recorded a person's vote by mail, suggesting they wouldn't be allowed to vote in person if it had and that their vote would later be canceled if it hadn't.But as the reporter noted, not every state counts absentee votes before Election Day, meaning a prior vote may not have been in the books by the time someone came around a second time. It also doesn't seem healthy for democracy if Trump is explicitly asking his supporters to test an electoral system's limits, especially since it's widely known that America's election systems don't always function as well as they should.> McEnany won't affirm that it's illegal to vote twice in the same election pic.twitter.com/MIarcVo365> > — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 3, 2020McEnany made a similar statement Thursday morning on Fox News, saying "the president is not suggesting anyone do anything unlawful." To be clear, it's against the law to intentionally vote twice anywhere in the U.S. And in North Carolina, where Trump encouraged the crime, it's a felony.More stories from theweek.com 7 scathing cartoons about Trump's divisive Kenosha response Dow Jones drops 800 points in worst day for the stock market since June Attorney General Barr won't agree it's illegal to vote twice, as Trump urged, claims ignorance of state laws
|
| High-flying drone drops weed over Tel Aviv Posted: 03 Sep 2020 07:50 AM PDT  A drone dropped packets of what looked like cannabis over a main square in Tel Aviv on Thursday after activists seeking to legalize the drug in Israel promised free weed from the air on social media. Police said they arrested two men who operated the quadcopter that flew over Rabin Square, a site often used for street protests and political rallies. "The time has come," the Green Drone pro-legalization group said on its Telegram web messaging channel.
|
| Former bodyguard of Kim Jong-il claims he is 'a dead man' if deported to South Korea Posted: 02 Sep 2020 09:45 PM PDT  A man who claims to be the former bodyguard of Kim Jong-il, the late North Korean leader, has said he fears for his life if he is deported by to South Korea after Canada denied his asylum application. "The situation is bleak," Lee Young-guk, 57, told the Toronto Star. "(The North Korean regime) tried to kidnap me when I was in South Korea. If Canada returns me there, I'm a dead man." Mr Lee, who published a book "I was Kim Jong-il's bodyguard" claims he began a ten-year stint in the security team of current leader Kim Jong-un's late father in 1978, after which he became a military adviser from 1988 to 1991. According to his account, he escaped twice, and the first time he was captured and sent to the Yodok concentration camp for five years, where he personally buried more than 300 inmates who died. In 2000, he managed to flee to Seoul, the South Korean capital, via China – a common, but dangerous, route for defectors. But in 2016 he left South Korea for Canada, arriving in Toronto with his wife and two children and claiming asylum on the basis that he was facing threats for his outspoken criticism of the North while the two countries were trying to stabilise their relations. He also alleges that he faced two kidnapping attempts in South Korea, in 2004 and 2007, although he only chose to report them in 2014, long after the five-year statutory time limit for prosecution. Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board said it rejected his claim as it lacked credibility. It accused him of playing down his role as a military adviser under Kim's authoritarian rule and questioned why he had waited so long to report the kidnappings. "There is no serious possibility that the claimants would be persecuted or would be subjected, on a balance of probabilities, to a danger of torture or to a risk to life or a risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment in South Korea," said Brenda Lloyd, the asylum adjudicator. Mr Lee told the Star he was disappointed and would appeal, arguing that: "In a dictatorial system, if you don't follow what the government tells you to do, your whole family and you get punished and destroyed." The case arises at a time when North Korean defector groups are facing increasing pressure from the South Korean government, keen to reconcile with Pyongyang, to tone down their activities. In July, Human Rights Watch accused Seoul of trying to intimidate defector activists who were sending leaflets across the border that strongly criticised the North's leadership and rights record. The South Korean government suddenly imposed new red tape on these groups with the threat of increased inspections. "The recent controversy regarding cross-border leaflets should not override the need to support and protect a diverse civil society that presses North Korea to respect human rights," said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director. Seoul has denied that it acted in an effort to restore damaged bilateral ties after the collapse of international talks to end Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme. Jack Kim of HanVoice, a Toronto-based advocacy group for human rights in North Korea, told the Star that Mr Lee's case highlighted the complex dynamics between North and South and defectors, who were often caught in the middle of rapidly shifting politics. North Korean refugees also faced discrimination, he said, adding: "It is likely there are agents of the north in the country. It is hard to quantify how many there are, but there is a subjective fear North Koreans do have."
|
| SpaceX broke a record by launching 180 satellites in 1 month — accelerating Elon Musk's project to blanket Earth in high-speed internet Posted: 03 Sep 2020 07:45 AM PDT  SpaceX's newest satellites sport sun visors — an effort to reduce their brightness in the night sky and their impact on astronomers' telescopes.
|
| Tree-cutter pinned to ground for 4 days when it falls on him, Minnesota sheriff says Posted: 03 Sep 2020 11:43 AM PDT  The man spent over 100 hours trapped under a tree, officials say.
|
| 'You shoot at the police, expect us to shoot back': Ohio sheriff responds to protest 'lawlessness' Posted: 03 Sep 2020 03:03 PM PDT  Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones said in a statement Wednesday that he won't allow individuals to harm his deputies.
|
| Health officials warn U.S. is not ready to roll out COVID-19 vaccine Posted: 02 Sep 2020 01:50 PM PDT  While one or more vaccine could be available toward the end of this year or early next, the path to delivering vaccines to 330 million people remains unclear for the local health officials expected to carry out the work.
|
