| Global Hygienic and Aseptic Valves Industry Posted: 25 Aug 2020 05:35 PM PDT |
| Former Australian PM Tony Abbott to head new UK trade board Posted: 25 Aug 2020 04:30 PM PDT  Former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott is to be Britain's new joint president of the Board of Trade. Mr Abbott, a vocal supporter of Brexit, who led Australia from 2013 to 2015, will be tasked with drumming up deals for the UK around the world, the Sun reported last night. The Board of Trade has traditionally been made up of British politicians and business executives. Its mission is to "champion exports and inward and outward investment to deliver economic growth and prosperity". It came as farmers and business chiefs have been given a louder voice to ensure they do not lose out in trade negotiations as ministers bid for a raft of post-Brexit deals. Bosses in 11 sectors including agriculture, manufacturing and financial services have signed non-disclosure agreements so they can help to shape potential deals with other countries - including commercially sensitive rules on tariffs and rules of origin.
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| Kremlin questions German doctors’ diagnosis that Putin critic was poisoned Posted: 25 Aug 2020 04:17 PM PDT  The Kremlin on Tuesday attempted to throw cold water on the diagnosis of German doctors who said Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader who fell ill on a flight last week, was poisoned. The Charité hospital in Berlin said Monday that its tests on Navalny indicated he was poisoned with cholinesterase inhibitors, which affect the nervous system. Navalny, an outspoken critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, entered a coma last Thursday and is receiving treatment in Berlin.
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| Global Air Cargo Industry Posted: 25 Aug 2020 04:15 PM PDT |
| RNC Speaker Cancelled After Boosting QAnon Conspiracy Theory About Jewish Plot to Enslave the World Posted: 25 Aug 2020 03:43 PM PDT  One of the speakers for the second night of the Republican National Convention was pulled from the program after The Daily Beast surfaced a tweet from her, earlier in the day, urging her followers to investigate a supposed Jewish plot to enslave the world."Do yourself a favor and read this thread," Mary Ann Mendoza, who is a member of the Trump campaign's advisory board, tweeted to her more than 40,000 followers Tuesday morning.> Do yourself a favor and read this thread. https://t.co/BfxVokBE3k> > — Angel Mom Mary Ann Mendoza��TEXT EMPOWER TO 88022 (@mamendoza480) August 25, 2020Mendoza, an "angel mom," was scheduled to speak Tuesday about her son's 2014 death at the hands of a drunk driver who was in the country illegally. But a Republican source familiar with the programming said the speech had been cancelled amid uproar over her tweet.Hours earlier, Mendoza had linked to a lengthy thread from a QAnon conspiracy theorist that laid out a fevered, anti-Semitic view of the world. In its telling, the Rothschilds—a famous Jewish banking family from Germany—created a plot to terrorize non-Jewish "goyim," with purported details of their scheme that included plans to "make the goyim destroy each other" and "rob the goyim of their landed properties." Fox Regular Claims George Soros 'Controls a Very Large Part' of the State DepartmentDrawing on more than a century's worth of anti-Semitic hoaxes and smears, the thread claimed that malevolent Jewish forces in the banking industry are out to enslave non-Jews and promote world wars. Riddled with QAnon references, the thread from Twitter user @WarNuse claimed that the Titanic had been sunk to protect the Federal Reserve, and that every president between John F. Kennedy and Donald Trump was a "slave president" in the thrall of a global cabal. The thread also promoted "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion," an anti-Semitic hoax popular in Nazi Germany, and claimed that its allegations about a Jewish plot to control the world are real. "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is not a fabrication," the thread that Mendoza shared reads. "And, it certainly is not anti-semetic (sic) to point out this fact." After The Daily Beast published this article, Mendoza deleted her tweet and tweeted an apology "for not paying attention to the intent of the whole message." While Mendoza had initially urged her followers to read the thread, she claimed on Tuesday evening that she had not read all of the posts in the thread."That does not reflect my feelings or personal thoughts whatsoever," Mendoza tweeted.Though her speech was cancelled, the Mendoza episode is just the latest example of a convention speaker with a checkered background. As the Republican festivities enter their second night, several scheduled speakers have already been exposed for holding bizarre beliefs. Public school teacher Rebecca Friedrichs, who spoke at the convention on Monday, has claimed that public schools use their curricula to "groom" children for sexual predators like Jeffrey Epstein. On Tuesday, Vice reported that anti-abortion activist and convention speaker Abby Johnson praised the idea of police racially profiling her biracial son as "smart." "Statistically, my brown son is more likely to commit a violent offense over my white sons," Johnson said in a video. Mendoza's tweet urging her followers to check out the anti-Semitic thread came on the eve of her Republican convention appearance. While the thread includes extensive anti-Semitism and references to QAnon, it also alleges that Hillary Clinton is a "Satanic High Priestess" and that Barack Obama's Washington home smells like sulfur — a reference to the idea, popular with InfoWars host Alex Jones, that Obama somehow smells like sulfur because he's connected to the devil and Hell.The Trump campaign and Mendoza didn't respond to requests for comment. Mendoza is also on the advisory board of We Build the Wall, the privately funded border wall effort whose leaders, including former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, were recently indicted for fraud.In addition to the thread she encouraged people to read, Mendoza also has posted her own tweets that push conspiracy theories about Democratic billionaire George Soros. One tweet from June 2019 claimed that Soros was pushing for more immigration to install a "one world government.""These are the violent types of people that SOROS, the ROTHCHILDS (sic) and the United Nations have NO problem using as pawns and uprooting them and bringing them to the USA to accomplish their ONE WORLD GOVT!" Mendoza tweeted.Mendoza has alleged that public health advice advocating for mask-wearing are using the "Soros playbook," and claimed that Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government's lead infectious disease expert, is paid by Soros.In a Sept. 2019 tweet, Mendoza called Soros, a Holocaust survivor, a "Nazi." "This Nazi is still at it & the progressives love him for it," she wrote. 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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| Global Digital Cameras Industry Posted: 25 Aug 2020 03:35 PM PDT |
| Trump — 'No Mr. Nice Guy' — shows softer side to win voters Posted: 25 Aug 2020 03:06 PM PDT  President Donald Trump kicked off his reelection campaign with a swaggering World Series ad that declared he's "No Mr. Nice Guy," but his campaign has taken pains to highlight a softer side of the famously brusque and bombastic chief executive during this week's Republican convention. The competing depictions of the president come after the Democrats spent last week showcasing the compassion of Joe Biden. House Minority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana recalled how Trump sat by his hospital bedside as he recovered from a near fatal gunshot wound in 2017.
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| US Sen. Stabenow urges USDA to extend food program waivers Posted: 25 Aug 2020 02:34 PM PDT |
| Global Fruit Jams, Jellies and Preserves Industry Posted: 25 Aug 2020 01:55 PM PDT |
| Global Soy Foods Industry Posted: 25 Aug 2020 01:35 PM PDT |
| Canada court blocks release of more documents to Huawei's Meng Wanzhou Posted: 25 Aug 2020 01:17 PM PDT  Meng, 48, was arrested in December 2018 at Vancouver International Airport on a warrant from the United States, charging her with bank fraud for allegedly misleading HSBC about Huawei's business dealings in Iran. Although Canada released some documents requested by Meng and her team, lawyers for the Canadian attorney general declined to release all of the documents, claiming that some would threaten national security if disclosed. A federal judge agreed with the Canadian government's lawyers, deeming the information requested not relevant to Meng's arrest.
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| UN security council rejects US attempt to extend Iran sanctions Posted: 25 Aug 2020 12:56 PM PDT  Indonesia said no further action could be taken on US request because there was no consensus on 15-nation bodyThe US has suffered another humiliating diplomatic setback after the president of the UN security council rejected the Trump administration's attempt to extend economic sanctions on Iran.America was rebuffed last week when 13 countries on the security council argued that the US had no legal right to "snap back" sanctions because it had already walked out of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran.On Tuesday, Indonesia – which this month holds the security council's rotating presidency – said that no further action could be taken on the US request, because there was no consensus on the 15-nation body.The announcement prompted an angry response from Kelly Craft, the US envoy to the UN, who said: "Let me just make it really, really clear: the Trump administration has no fear in standing in limited company on this matter. I only regret that other members of this council have lost their way and now find themselves standing in the company of terrorists."The US claims it still has a right to intervene on the nuclear deal since the original Iran deal listed the US as a participant, and it requires only one signatory to the deal for the sanctions to be reimposed.Pompeo said on Thursday he had triggered a 30-day process to reimpose sanctions taking the crisis into the heart of the UN general assembly, the annual UN conference addressed by heads of state.Russia's UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, said he hoped the United States would now drop its bid to snap back Iran sanctions, "which is not only illegal, but simply will not lead to achieving the result that was envisaged by the United States".Nebenzia's deputy, Dmitry Polyanskiy, interpreted the Indonesian assessment in a Twitter post: "It means, there is NO SNAPBACK."The Iran deal allowed for the embargo on conventional arms sales to be lifted after five years, a deadline that expires in mid-October. The US is vehemently opposed to Tehran being able to strengthen its military, although it is not clear whether Russia or China would be willing to sell arms to Iran – or whether a cash-strapped Iran currently has the means to purchase sophisticated electronic weaponry.The EU has its own separate arms embargo, but is working to keep alive the 2015 deal – known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – partly in the hope that the deal could be revived if Trump is unsuccessful in his bid for re-election.The UK's acting deputy envoy, James Roscoe, said: "We do not support a move to snap back at this time, which would be incompatible with our current efforts to preserve the JCPOA … It is the UK's opinion that the United States ceased to be a participant to the JCPOA following their withdrawal from the deal on the 8th of May 2018."Niger is president of the security council in September and Russia in October. Neither country is likely to adopt a different position to Indonesia so making it hard to see how the US can push the Iran issue back on to the agenda before November.
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| Global Switching Mode Power Supply Industry Posted: 25 Aug 2020 12:55 PM PDT |
| Global Corrosion Inhibitors Industry Posted: 25 Aug 2020 12:15 PM PDT |
| German doctors 'rushed to conclusion' on Alexei Navalny 'poisoning' says Kremlin Posted: 25 Aug 2020 11:36 AM PDT  Vladimir Putin's spokesman on Tuesday said German doctors had "rushed to conclusions" over the suspected poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, and rejected claims the Russian president had any hand in the incident. The Charité Hospital in Berlin, where Mr Navalny remains unconscious after suddenly falling ill last week, on Monday said multiple tests showed the activist had been poisoned. Doctors noted the effects of "cholinesterase inhibitors", a group of chemical compounds that includes Novichok, the nerve agent used against ex-Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal in Salisbury. But Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters: "A decrease in the level of cholinesterase is possible for a variety of reasons, for example when taking and using various medications. "We do not understand why our German colleagues are in such a hurry to use the word poisoning." Mr Peskov dismissed as "empty noise" the idea that the Kremlin might have ordered any poisoning. Russia did not see any reason to open a criminal investigation into the incident, he added. The Charité Hospital said it was working to establish the exact toxin that had poisoned Mr Navalny but was treating him with atropine, the same medication British doctors gave Mr Skripal and his daughter following the 2018 Salisbury attack. Cholinesterase inhibitors are found in nerve agents, pesticides and some medicines, including those that relieve symptoms of dementia.
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| First commercial flight from Israel to UAE set for next week Posted: 25 Aug 2020 11:17 AM PDT  Senior U.S. and Israeli officials will take the first commercial flight between Israel and the United Arab Emirates next week, flying from Tel Aviv to Abu Dhabi in a symbolic and substantive demonstration of improved ties since the countries' historic agreement this month to normalize relations. The flight, likely on an Israeli El-Al airliner emblazoned with the Jewish state's national colors of blue and white and the Star of David, will be the first known direct trip by the flag-carrier to a Gulf Arab country and an important sign of progress in implementing the Aug. 13 agreement between Israel and the UAE, officials said Tuesday. U.S. officials said the U.S. delegation on board will be headed by President Donald Trump's senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner and will include national security adviser Robert O'Brien, Mideast envoy Avi Berkowitz and envoy for Iran Brian Hook, administration officials said.
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| UN council rejects US demand to `snap back' Iran sanctions Posted: 25 Aug 2020 10:45 AM PDT  The president of the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday rejected the Trump administration's demand to restore all U.N. sanctions on Iran, a move that drew an angry rebuke from the U.S. ambassador who accused opponents of supporting "terrorists." Indonesia's ambassador to the U.N., Dian Triansyah Djani, whose country currently holds the rotating council presidency, made the announcement in response to requests from Russia and China to disclose results of his polling of the views of all 15 council members on the U.S. action.
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| Falwell says he's resigned from Liberty University Posted: 25 Aug 2020 10:44 AM PDT  Jerry Falwell Jr. announced his resignation Tuesday as the head of Liberty University after a provocative photo and revelations of his wife's extramarital affair roiled the evangelical school founded by his father. Falwell's exit marks a precipitous fall from power for one of the country's most visible conservative Christian leaders and ardent supporters of President Donald Trump. According to the school, he initially offered to resign Monday, hours after a news outlet published an interview with a man who said that he had a yearslong sexual relationship with Becki Falwell and that Jerry Falwell participated in some of the liaisons as a voyeur.
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| AP Exclusive: Inmate beaten to death at federal lockup Posted: 25 Aug 2020 10:44 AM PDT  The killing of an inmate who was beaten to death at a federal lockup in Indiana is under investigation by the FBI, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press about an attack that revives questions about safety in the beleaguered federal prison system. An autopsy determined the May death of Jose Nieves-Galarza, 59, was caused by "blunt-force injuries" that caused him to bleed to death in his cell. The blows nearly ruptured the man's aorta and were "most likely inflicted" by someone's foot, according to an autopsy report obtained by the AP.
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| New US virus cases fall as masks gain favor but testing lags Posted: 25 Aug 2020 10:26 AM PDT  The number of Americans newly diagnosed with the coronavirus is falling — a development experts say most likely reflects more mask-wearing but also insufficient testing — even as the disease continues to claim nearly 1,000 lives in the U.S. each day. About 43,000 new cases are being reported daily across the country, down 21% from early August, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. While the U.S., India and Brazil still have the highest numbers of new cases in the world, the downward trend is encouraging.
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| Business groups given unprecedented access to trade talks Posted: 25 Aug 2020 09:57 AM PDT  Farmers and business chiefs have been given a louder voice to ensure they do not lose out in trade negotiations as ministers bid for a raft of post-Brexit deals. Bosses in 11 sectors including agriculture, manufacturing and financial services have signed non-disclosure agreements so they can help to shape potential agreements with other countries - including commercially sensitive rules on tariffs and rules of origin. The change is part of a major overhaul of the Government's trade machinery as talks intensify with the US, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Trade groups have previously expressed concern that such gagging orders would prevent them from fully consulting members on issues discussed on the panels. But Trade Secretary Liz Truss said: "This is about bringing business closer to the negotiating table and using their expertise to help secure the best possible deals that deliver jobs and growth across Britain." The changes were inspired by the more formalised, structured relationships between industry groups and the governments of the US, Australia and Canada. They will give British business leaders unprecedented levels of access to the talks. Notably absent from the group on agriculture and food will be representatives of the animal welfare lobby such as the RSPCA and consumer groups such as Which?, despite concerns that a UK-US trade deal could reduce food standards by leading to chlorinated chicken and hormone-fed beef on British supermarket shelves. The panel is the biggest of the eleven, with 26 members including the likes of the National Farmers' Union. A separate Trade and Agriculture Commission was announced last month to ensure that the sector remains competitive but animal welfare and environmental standards are not undermined. This also excludes the RSPCA, which described the commission as a "fig leaf". Food standards have been seen as a stumbling block in US-UK talks, particularly given the influence of agricultural groups in Washington, but Mrs Truss has repeatedly insisted that regulations will not be dumbed down in a US trade deal and will be protected by the Food Standards Agency.
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| St Kitts and Nevis Reaffirms Ties with Brazil at UNESCO Posted: 25 Aug 2020 09:55 AM PDT  As diplomatic missions to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) have started to resume, the ambassador of the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis to UNESCO met his counterpart representing Brazil. Dr David Doyle, Ambassador of St Kitts and Nevis to UNESCO, and His Excellency Santiago Irazabal Mourão, Ambassador of Brazil to UNESCO, identified areas of mutual interest to both countries.
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| Global Digital Signal Processors Industry Posted: 25 Aug 2020 09:15 AM PDT |
| Africa declared free of wild polio in 'milestone' Posted: 25 Aug 2020 09:07 AM PDT  Nigeria is now rid of wild polio having had more than half of global cases less than 10 years ago.
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| Sudan and Pompeo 'discuss removal from terror list' Posted: 25 Aug 2020 09:06 AM PDT  Sudan is on the US' list of state sponsors of terror as al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden lived there.
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| Global Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) Displays Industry Posted: 25 Aug 2020 08:55 AM PDT |
| U.N. council president says no further action on U.S. sanctions move on Iran Posted: 25 Aug 2020 08:48 AM PDT |
| Nikki Haley claims 'America is not racist,' later says she 'faced discrimination' Posted: 25 Aug 2020 08:14 AM PDT  Nikki Haley, the former ambassador to the United Nations, made contradictory statements on race while speaking Monday, the first night of the Republican National Convention. Haley, whose parents are immigrants from India, said during her speech that "America is not a racist country." Moments later, she said her family faced discrimination.
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| New Air Cargo Security Standards Could Gum Up e-Commerce Exports Posted: 25 Aug 2020 07:59 AM PDT  The U.S. supply chain industry appears divided over how the government should implement new international security standards for cargo carried on freighter aircraft and whether certain exporters get special treatment to minimize associated cost increases.Some worry there could be shipping delays if the Transportation Security Administration doesn't figure out a plan well before the standards take effect July 1.At issue is whether the TSA will recognize the security controls of e-commerce fulfillment centers, warehouses and other shippers as sufficient rather than require them to pay costs associated with 100% screening of their air cargo shipments.In either case, shippers will face increased costs and responsibility for securing their export cargo.The debate could pit the likes of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT), FedEx Corporation (NYSE: FDX), United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE: UPS), airlines and freight forwarders against each other over what qualifies as a level playing field."If the e-commerce carriers are going to lock a few doors and check a few IDs and then deem their cargo secure for all-cargo flights, that's not real security," Brandon Fried, executive director of the Airforwarders Association, said in an interview.Under the new international standards scheduled, all cargo on freighter aircraft must be screened for explosives as done the past decade for cargo moving on passenger planes. The U.N. agency responsible for supporting aviation wants to harmonize air cargo screening and make it more rigorous by phasing out "known shipper" programs whereby carriers and freight forwarders are responsible for vetting customers to ensure their cargo is safe to transport.The U.S. known-shipper program is an extra layer of security to keep anonymous packages off passenger aircraft.Governments can offer two ways to avoid physical screening of cargo by the carrier or regulated freight agent prior to loading: a voluntary, "known consignor" program allowing businesses that ship goods to demonstrate they have secure facilities and common security protocols to prevent tampering, which could serve as a substitute for physical detection; and allowing businesses to screen shipments themselves or use certified third parties. The latter method already exists in large measure. The TSA established the Certified Cargo Screening Program (CCSP) in 2010 as a less expensive option to prevent backlogs of cargo at passenger airline facilities. Warehouses, ground handlers and independent security companies that meet strict criteria can screen cargo upstream from the airport using various technology, including X-ray and explosive trace detection. They must send shipments directly to the airline by trucks that can verify an unbroken chain of custody. More recently, the TSA has declared canines an approved method of explosives detection and certified several companies to do the work.The U.S. hasn't followed other countries in using the known consignor concept because it doesn't meet the same level of security controls as the CCSP. "Congestion at the airports is already an issue, and will only be exacerbated by this change if not properly managed," said Aaron Ambrite, director of global compliance at AIT Worldwide Logistics, via email. Securing shipments or supply chains?The TSA is considering development of a new regulatory program for warehouses, e-commerce fulfillment centers, third-party logistics providers or other facilities that process cargo for air transport. Industry comments on how to shape an alternative framework that aims to screen the supply chain, rather than shipments themselves, are due Thursday.Whether the agency and industry can work together on an alternative framework that meets all the requirements is an open question. Two camps are forming over how to meet the international standards.On one side are logistics intermediaries and security experts who argue the same structure for passenger cargo security should apply to the all-cargo sector. That would be cheaper for exporters than a known consignor program, which they say would need to be layered with additional screening requirements for air shipping. They note many U.S. all-cargo carriers already screen export cargo, without significant disruption in service, because some countries require the checks for all aircraft types before departure. And airlines such as Lufthansa and Qatar Airways find it easier to screen cargo for their freighters to the same standard as cargo going on their passenger jets. Others say it makes sense to allow large retailers, manufacturers and distributors to become known consignors and have their facility security deemed equivalent to shipment screening. The concept somewhat resembles the U.S. Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, a voluntary program that vets import supply chains against baseline standards in exchange for expedited processing, but which TSA says doesn't meet standards for air cargo security.Given a choice, retailers and other exporters ultimately will decide which system best maintains smooth shipment flow and whether to take on the additional cost of meeting new requirements, either as a regulated party or as a known consignor.Online retailers and other shippers that consider themselves already secure for their own commercial or regulatory reasons might opt to participate in a known consignor regime if they believe screening will make it difficult for them to meet service deadlines, said an airline industry official involved in regulatory affairs who asked not to be identified because the conversation with a reporter was not authorized by higher-ups.Opponents of the known-consignor model say another cargo-security program would force direct and indirect air carriers to deal with multiple handling and administrative requirements for accepting freight, leading to extra work and potential mistakes in a fast-moving environment. "If you've got a program that allows a shipper to do something that's less than screening cargo, that puts it at risk. And, it also adds a big window of opportunity for confusion" about which cargo gets different treatment and how to make airport transfers from all-cargo to passenger aircraft, Douglas Brittin, who was responsible for creating the CCSP as head of TSA's air cargo division, told FreightWaves.Brittin, who also served as secretary general of The International Air Cargo Association, said in formal comments to TSA that a layered security approach is necessary because background checks aren't sufficient to stop a disgruntled, or extremist, employee from tampering with shipments or manipulating data. Carriers already process shipments with different levels of security, countered the airline industry representative."I don't think it's a problem for any competent entity, frankly," the source said. "You already have to segregate 'known shipper' from unknown shipper cargo if it's going to go on a passenger plane. You already have to segregate secure cargo from unsecure cargo in your warehouse. And you already have to segregate at cargo acceptance what's already been screened. They have these systems in place."And, said Steve Alterman, president of the Cargo Airline Association, there is so much material moving through large distribution centers "there is no way a terrorist will know whether something will go on a plane or truck" or its ultimate destination.Supporters of physical screening urged the TSA to modify and expand the CCSP and third-party K-9 programs to accommodate more shipments designated for freighter aircraft. "While many shippers have existing facility security programs, most are primarily focused on inventory theft prevention and not aviation security specifically. ... [They] do not adequately address the possibility of the introduction of improvised explosives into the box, pallet or container about to be shipped," the Airforwarders Association said in its filing. "Many shipper warehouses and distribution centers are simply 'pass-through' or temporary storage facilities where containers are stored and prepared for transit. The insertion of destructive material can take place before the shipment arrives at the shipper's facility or while in the care and custody of the shipper."Economic impactRaising security levels to the air standard would require shippers to make substantial investments that they previously have been unwilling to make, critics of a special shipper program say. Extra expenses would likely include additional personnel and supervisors, extensive employee background checks and government credentials, training, screening technologies that can range in price from $30,000 to $250,000 per unit plus maintenance, and creating a physically secure area in the warehouse for screening. * A Smiths Detection dual-view scanner for palletized goods. (Photo: Smiths Detection)Shippers are eligible to join the CCSP, but relatively few have joined, preferring to outsource screening functions to their logistics providers for a reasonable price and avoid more government oversight, proponents of an expanded CCSP approach say. Or shippers could save money by insourcing inspections and packing boxes with trained personnel in a fully secure warehouse screening area, as is the current practice at many CCSP seafood, fruit-packing and pharmaceutical facilities. Physical search and the K-9 program both reduce the cost of entry into the CCSP."TSA should not seek to develop a new and separate program for the possible benefit of some shippers with a goal of perhaps saving them pennies a pound, but which could potentially place all-cargo flight crews and personnel, as well as other employees across the air cargo supply chain at high risk," Brittin wrote the agency. "By doing so, TSA risks giving the appearance that the safety and security of air crews and personnel in the all-cargo sector are of lesser value than those in the passenger carrier environment."A combination of more CCSP shippers and expansion of K-9 usage by forwarders and all-cargo carriers should easily handle the issue, without having to create something new and, arguably, less safe, he said in the interview. The direct and indirect air carriers easily screen large configurations of cargo, even unit load devices, with the canine program at very low cost and can pass that back to shippers.Brittin recommended carriers and forwarders step up contracts with third-party K-9 companies to ensure there are enough trained teams in place by next July.Industry experts warn that TSA can't develop a rulemaking for a new shipper security program, with an impact study and public comment period, by the International Civil Aviation Organization's deadline, making the CCSP a likely fallback."My concern is the industry would be stuck with a 100% screening when they're not in a position to do it because they had been counting on an alternative framework," said Alterman, noting there are only eight cargo K-9 providers. And if other countries don't like the alternative to 100% screening, there is a danger they could impose restrictions on inbound shipments from the U.S., he added.Hong Kong is far ahead of the U.S. in implementing the new air cargo security requirements. Since January, airlines and ground handlers there began inspecting a quarter of all shipments, with inspection levels stepping up in phases to 100% by next June.Click here for more FreightWaves stories by Eric Kulisch. Contact: ekulisch@freightwaves.comRECOMMENDED READING:Swiss Air Lines cleared for more types of cabin cargoUS, China reciprocate on more airline accessE-commerce drives multipronged expansion at UPS AirlinesSee more from Benzinga * Treasury's First Explanation Of YRC Loan Not Enough * Class I Railroads Brace For Tropical Storms Marco And Laura * Two Storms Spell Double Trouble – WHAT THE TRUCK?!? (With Video)(C) 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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| The US Cannot Afford to Risk Another Endless War by Exerting Max Pressure on Iran Posted: 25 Aug 2020 07:58 AM PDT  The reality is that Iran, at best, is a middling power with an aging military checked by other regional powers.
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| Pompeo warned diplomats to avoid politics; he'll talk at RNC Posted: 25 Aug 2020 07:04 AM PDT  Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sent a cable to all U.S. diplomatic missions last month warning American diplomats that under federal law they should not take overt sides in the presidential campaign. On Tuesday, he plans to ignore his own warning by speaking to the Republican National Convention endorsing President Donald Trump for a second term. Pompeo's message to State Department employees reminding them of restrictions on political activity under the Hatch Act was not unusual.
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| Floyd’s death sparks new activism among communities of color Posted: 25 Aug 2020 06:59 AM PDT  When Washington, D.C.'s NFL team dropped the offensive reference to Native Americans from its name last month after decades of resistance, activist Frances Danger knew why: the Black Lives Matter movement. Danger said the change would never have happened without the massive marches to protest the death of an African American man under the knee of a white police officer in Minneapolis. "Unfortunately, George Floyd had to lose his life for this to happen," Danger said.
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| FDA chief apologizes for overstating plasma effect on virus Posted: 25 Aug 2020 06:49 AM PDT  Scientists and medical experts have been pushing back against the claims about the treatment since President Donald Trump's announcement on Sunday that the FDA had decided to issue emergency authorization for convalescent plasma, taken from patients who have recovered from the coronavirus and rich in disease-fighting antibodies. Trump hailed the decision as a historic breakthrough even though the treatment's value has not been established. The announcement on the eve of Trump's Republican National Convention raised suspicions that it was politically motivated to offset critics of the president's handling of the pandemic.
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| Algorithmia launches Teams edition to help companies get machine learning applications into production faster and more cost effectively Posted: 25 Aug 2020 06:00 AM PDT |
| Lawyer: Blake not likely to walk again after shot by police Posted: 25 Aug 2020 05:48 AM PDT  Jacob Blake, the Black man shot multiple times by police in Wisconsin, is paralyzed, and it would "take a miracle" for him to walk again, his family's attorney said Tuesday, while calling for the officer who opened fire to be arrested and others involved to lose their jobs. The shooting of Blake on Sunday in Kenosha — apparently in the back while three of his children looked on — was captured on cellphone video and ignited new protests over racial injustice in several cities, some of which have devolved into unrest. It came just three months after the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police touched off a wider reckoning on race.
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| Iran's Rouhani says talks possible, if U.S. returns to 2015 nuclear deal Posted: 25 Aug 2020 05:41 AM PDT |
| The Republicans Promised Uplift and Then Tried to Rewrite History Posted: 25 Aug 2020 05:16 AM PDT  President Donald Trump was trying to rewrite history and enlist frontline COVID workers to the cause. The strain showed.Flanked in the East Room of the White House by Americans involved in the fight against the coronavirus -- a nurse, a trucker, a postal worker, another nurse -- Trump set off Monday for more than four rose-colored minutes recasting the recent past before his Night 1 convention audience."Tell me a little about your stories," he asked his guests at first. But he had a few of his own: about dastardly Democrats and governors who disappointed him, about his preferred nicknames for the virus and the insufficient gratitude for his government's efforts."We have delivered billions of dollars of equipment that governors were supposed to give, and in many cases they didn't get," he complained. "So the federal government had to help them, and all of the people that did this incredible work, they never got credit for it. But you understand where it came from."At least twice, Trump called the pandemic "the China virus," seeking to deflect blame."I don't want to go through all the names," he said at one point, "because some people may get insulted. But that's the way it is."And this is the way it was, as ever, on Monday night: a reelection team that had pledged a message of uplift and unity beforehand -- with its candidate struggling in the polls amid poor appraisals of his pandemic response -- and a principal who knows no other way but rampaging and revisionism.All night, the proceedings played out in this perpetual tug. Any aspirational appeals from speakers like Nikki Haley, the former United Nations ambassador, and Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the chamber's only Black Republican, seemed doomed to be shadowed by the often ominous tone of the evening.Some of the convention's opening sequences often more closely resembled Trump's preferred Fox News programming, with a roster of contributors holding forth on "the Russia hoax," the "socialist" Democrats, and the mental acuity and stamina of their nominee, Joe Biden."I'm speaking to you from an auditorium emptier than Joe Biden's daily schedule," Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, one of the president's most vocal and combative congressional supporters, yukked into the camera at one point, railing against the "woketopians" of the left.Other speakers included Charlie Kirk, a prominent right-wing provocateur with a book called "The MAGA Doctrine," and Mark and Patricia McCloskey, who became social-media-famous this year after pointing guns at protesters marching near their home in St. Louis.Sitting side by side on a couch, they solemnly told viewers what they saw at stake in a Biden administration:"Make no mistake, no matter where you live," McCloskey said, "your family will not be safe in the radical Democrats' America."Later, there was an address from Donald Trump Jr., who called Biden "the Loch Ness monster of the swamp" with a "radical left-wing" platform that would impede economic recovery."He sticks his head up every now and then to run for president," the president's son said of Biden, "then he disappears and doesn't do much in between."Kimberly Guilfoyle, the younger Trump's girlfriend who has become a top fundraising figure in the reelection, also appeared Monday, deploying some of the evening's darker imagery."If you want to see the socialist Biden-Harris future for our country, just take a look at California," she thundered from an auditorium in Washington. "It is a place of immense wealth, immeasurable innovation and immaculate environment -- and the Democrats turned it into a land of discarded heroin needles in parks, riots in streets and blackouts in homes."In one memorable flourish, Trump shared the screen with a different group of guests at the White House: former hostages, in a bid to highlight the administration's work in freeing people who had been held in other countries.Taken together, the accumulation of rhetoric made plain that if Trump believes his party should be a big-tent enterprise, he is also not much interested in persuading skeptics to join him.He at once perpetuated the abiding tenets of an us-against-them presidency and laid bare the narrow political path he hopes to navigate to a second term."I think it's dumb," Michael Steel, a longtime Republican strategist, said of the president's approach. "But I do think it's indicative not just of his campaign but of his administration. He has chosen every single time to double down on his base rather than expanding his appeal."Steel, a veteran of Jeb Bush's presidential campaign four years ago, added one note of caution: "I should have drop-kicked my crystal ball into a flaming dumpster after 2016."If both admirers and critics of the president seem inclined to append such caveats lately, many in Trump's orbit are also acutely aware of the race's present dynamics: Biden is winning. Trump, so polarizing at this stage of his tenure, will have a hard time changing many minds, meaning his clearest shot at reelection involves sullying Biden's standing -- and, Democrats fear, throwing up barriers in the voting process itself.And yet, strategists in both parties agree that all of this might still prove enough for Trump. They are mindful of an electoral map that pushed him into office in 2016 despite a significant deficit in the popular vote. They cite the typical durability of his support levels -- rarely spectacular but not yet irreversibly disastrous, either -- and see a way forward for him: the enthusiasm of his base combining with a coalition of nose-holding Trump voters, a series of lucky breaks and some ill-timed Democratic stumbles to lift him once more."They have done the math and they cannot win unless the base turns out in full force," said Carlos Curbelo, a former Republican congressman from Florida who clashed at times with Trump and did not support him in 2016. "His path to victory is similar to his path to victory last time, which is to consolidate his base and demonize the opposition."Some additions to the Republican lineup Monday, which included several Black supporters, did appear geared toward projecting more inclusion, not only (or even primarily) to court Black voters but also to combat perceptions -- often damaging among white voters -- that Trump and his party have given safe harbor to racist views.Scott -- who publicly condemned Trump's remarks after the 2017 neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, but has generally been a reliable ally -- was among the most notable speakers. "President Trump built the most inclusive economy ever," he said, hailing the nation's financial position before the virus hit and criticizing Biden's record for Black Americans.There was also Vernon Jones, a Georgia state legislator and a rare Democratic endorser of the president, one week after a Democratic convention that often showcased Republican backers of Biden.With Trump in charge, of course, political discipline can always be fleeting.In recent days, the president and his team had predicted he would be presiding over a four-day testament to optimism and national sunniness."Very uplifting and positive," he said of his desired convention tenor over the weekend."We definitely want to improve on the dour and sour mood of the DNC," Kellyanne Conway, the president's counselor, told reporters.By Monday afternoon, appearing in Charlotte, North Carolina, at the roll call vote for his nomination, Trump was lashing out at the editorial decisions of cable television networks and urging delegates to chant "12 more years" instead of four to "really drive them crazy" on the other side.He repeatedly made baseless claims about mail-in voting, insisting he could only lose in November if the system was "rigged.""In a very, very nice way, I will tell you," the president said at one point, never quite bridging dark and light, "they are trying to steal the election."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company
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| Gaza locks down after detecting local transmission of virus Posted: 25 Aug 2020 04:59 AM PDT  Gaza's militant Hamas rulers imposed a territory-wide curfew on Tuesday after authorities detected the first local cases of the coronavirus, raising fears of a wider outbreak in the blockaded territory that is home to some 2 million Palestinians. Gaza has registered more than 100 cases and a fatality since the start of the pandemic, but until now all the infections were linked to quarantine facilities for returning travelers. Early Wednesday, Gaza's health ministry announced the detection of two new cases at Shifa Complex, the largest hospital in the territory, and said they were unrelated to the four COVID-19 patients who were uncovered the previous day and marked the first community transmission.
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| Evacuations ordered as Hurricane Laura aims at U.S. coast Posted: 25 Aug 2020 04:13 AM PDT  Thousands of people were ordered to evacuate the Texas and Louisiana coasts Tuesday as Laura strengthened into a hurricane that forecasters said could slam into land as a major storm with ferocious winds and deadly flooding. More than 385,000 residents were told to flee the Texas cities of Beaumont, Galveston and Port Arthur, and still more were ordered to evacuate low-lying southwestern Louisiana, where forecasters said more than 11 feet (3.35 meters) of storm surge topped by waves could submerge entire towns. The National Hurricane Center projected that Laura will become a Category 3 hurricane before landfall, with winds of around 115 mph (185 kph), capable of devastating damage.
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| Kremlin brushes off allegations over Navalny's poisoning Posted: 25 Aug 2020 03:56 AM PDT  The Kremlin brushed off allegations Tuesday that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was the victim of an intentional poisoning orchestrated by authorities and said there were no grounds for a criminal investigation so far since it hasn't been fully established what caused the politician to fall into a coma. The Russian government's insistence that Navalny wasn't necessarily the victim of a deliberate poisoning - comments amplified by Russian doctors and pro-Kremlin media — came a day after doctors at a German hospital where the 44-year-old is being treated said tests indicated he was poisoned.
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| 10 things you need to know today: August 25, 2020 Posted: 25 Aug 2020 03:38 AM PDT |
| Islamic State ramping up attacks in Iraq and Syria, says UN counter-terror chief Posted: 25 Aug 2020 03:25 AM PDT  The Islamic State (IS) terror group is reorganising and ramping up its guerrilla-style attacks in Syria and Iraq, the United Nations' counter-terrorism chief has warned, adding that the crisis unleashed by coronavirus could make it easier to recruit a new generation of jihadists. More than 10,000 IS fighters remain at large in Iraq and Syria, more than two years after the militant group's claimed defeat, Vladamir Voronokov, the head of the UN's Counter-Terrorism Office said. "Small cells" of jihadists continue to move freely between the two countries to carry out ambushes, arson, and gun and bomb attacks, while the group and its affiliates have also claimed to be behind recent terrorism in Egypt, Libya, Afghanistan, Yemen and West Africa, he added. In a briefing to the UN Security Council last night Mr Voronokov said that travel restrictions and national lockdowns due to the coronavirus pandemic appeared to have temporarily reduced the risk of terrorist attacks in Europe. But the former Russian diplomat added that IS and other terror groups would try "to exploit the far-reaching disruption and negative socioeconomic and political impacts of the pandemic."
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| Iran hails 'constructive' talks with visiting IAEA chief Posted: 25 Aug 2020 03:09 AM PDT  Iran's nuclear body said it held "constructive" talks on Tuesday with the visiting head of the International Atomic Energy Agency amid tensions over a US bid to reimpose UN sanctions.
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| Mladic lawyers call on UN judges to overturn his convictions Posted: 25 Aug 2020 03:00 AM PDT  Lawyers for Ratko Mladic called on U.N. judges Tuesday to overturn his convictions for crimes including genocide committed as commander of Bosnian Serb forces throughout the 1992-95 Bosnian War. Mladic was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2017 for his role in atrocities including the Srebrenica massacre and the siege of Sarajevo. At a hearing conducted partly by video conference at the U.N.'s International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, Mladic's legal team spent the day insisting that his 2017 convictions were riddled with legal and factual errors.
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| Pompeo in Sudan visit pushes normalizing ties with Israel Posted: 25 Aug 2020 02:56 AM PDT  U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Sudan on Tuesday to push for normalizing ties with Israel, building on momentum from the recent historic agreement to establish relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. The Sudanese transitional government said, however, that it does not have a mandate to establish diplomatic ties with Israel. It called on the Trump administration to not make the removal of Sudan from a U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism contingent upon normalizing relations with Israel.
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| Kremlin says no reason for now to investigate Alexei Navalny's illness Posted: 25 Aug 2020 02:48 AM PDT |
| Iran dismisses demands beyond nuke deal as IAEA head visits Posted: 25 Aug 2020 02:43 AM PDT  Iran won't accept any additional demands beyond its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal, the country's top nuclear official declared Tuesday as the chief of the U.N. nuclear watchdog made his first visit to Iran. Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency arrived in Iran on Monday to press for access to sites where the Islamic Republic is suspected of having stored or used undeclared nuclear material. Grossi took over the IAEA after the sudden death of its late director-general Yukiya Amano last year.
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| Dictator’s Gun-Toting Son, 15, Is Being Groomed as Belarus’ King Joffrey Posted: 25 Aug 2020 01:49 AM PDT  From the age of 5, he has rubbed shoulders with the most feted and feared world leaders, from the Obamas and two successive popes to Hugo Chavez and Vladimir Putin. By 7 he had been gifted a handgun made of gold by Dmitry Medvedev, who was Russia's president at the time. This week, Nikolay Lukashenko, the youngest son of the "last dictator in Europe," came of age during the worst period of his father's reign. With 100,000 protesters demanding Alexander Lukashenko's resignation and free and fair elections in Minsk, the 15-year-old flew over the crowds in a helicopter, all dressed up in the tactical gear of an elite commando. Another image released by the regime showed him sitting at a table opposite his father with an automatic rifle at his side, apparently ready to defend his life.Like much of his 26-year rule, the bravado does not match the reality, but it's clear that Lukashenko Sr. is warning a rebellious nation that he is going nowhere. Amid popular outcry over corrupt elections earlier this month, he told protesters they would have to kill him before a fresh presidential election would be granted. With his heavily armed son waiting in the wings, even the death of Lukashenko may not signal the end of Europe's only surviving autocracy west of Moscow. "Lukashenko said publicly many times that he would fire back until the very last bullet," a Belarusian political insider told The Daily Beast. "The appearance of Lukashenko with his son was supposed to demonstrate that they are not cowards and will fight till the very end."Video footage of the surreal scene on the helicopter was released on Sunday. Lukashenko Jr., widely known as Kolya, struggled to adjust his combat gear as if it was a school backpack. "So, where are they?" he asked of the protesters below. Lukashenko responded: "They learned you'd be here, so they've escaped like rats." It was Kolya's most prominent appearance during the weeks of protest. The conversation between father and son summed up the family's attitude to their subjects."This child grew up without his mother. He was spoiled, allowed anything he wanted," Pavel Marinich, an exiled opposition leader, told The Daily Beast. "This boy has heard that the Belarusian nation is 'little people;' that women cannot be presidents; that the real role of women is 'to decorate the world.' He also heard his father say: 'People do not become presidents, they are born to be presidents.'"Technically, Kolya cannot become president until he is 35 under the Belarusian constitution, but Lukashenko has shown scant regard for the rule of law in the past.As a baby, very little was known about Kolya. Until 2007, his existence was scarcely acknowledged and his mother has never been publicly identified, although he is believed to be the child of Lukashenko's former personal physician. Once he was 5, he became a mascot taken wherever Lukashenko went. Explaining why he brought Kolya, dressed in a tiny military uniform, to so many formal parades, the president said: "If I am not at home, he cannot sleep, he cannot eat, he is not a child at all."He attended meetings with heads of states and sat at the General Assembly of the United Nations, where he met Michelle and Barack Obama. He shook hands with his dad's political partners in Russia, Asia, and Latin America. The photographs taken when he met Chavez showed a handgun in a holster under his child-sized suit. > Best awkward photo ever at UNAssembly: Belarus tyrant Lukashenko with 11yrold son and the Obamas pic.twitter.com/Jmgsi1dS1G> > -- Lorcan (@Lorcan_Lovett) October 2, 2015Lukashenko has said that of his three sons, Nikolay, who "has the sharp character of his father," is the likely successor. The other two boys, from a failed marriage, have had relatively little public prominence. Kolya "might become the president in some 20 years," Lukashenko once said. Since Kolya was a toddler, his father has jailed his opponents and potential presidential rivals. But this year Lukashenko's KGB and police demonstrated outrageous violence. According to Human Rights Watch, more than 7,000 people were detained in just four days. "All of them suffered abuse, male detainees were beaten, in most cases both by detaining officers and at the detention center," said Tanya Lokshina, associate director for Human Rights Watch's Europe and Central Asia division. "The women were ill-treated, humiliated, some were beaten; several cases of rape have been reported."Kolya, a tall blond teenager, is familiar with his father's poor treatment of women. His mother has been erased from public life— Lukashenko explained to the nation that his son was "from God"—and an ex-wife was also sidelined. Women, the president believes, should have no fewer than three children and should all be a specific height: "A woman should be 165-175 centimeters, that is normal for a woman," he has said. There was a time when Kolya's supposed mother, Irina Abelskaya, appeared in public alongside the president but then other women, much younger than his mother but also blonde, took her place. Lukashenko prefers to be seen with models; several of his temporary partners were winners of beauty contests. He regularly took an escort of four striking women to his official meetings, in the fashion of Gaddafi's bevvy of nurses. He argued that it was a beneficial work practice. "My beauties are coming, one is blond, another one brunette and everybody around forgets about the paperwork and just stares at them. So, I got it: they are my real weapon," he once said, about the female members of his service. Even Kolya's memories of his childhood fade, there are ample photographic and video reminders all over the internet. It is unclear if the teenager runs his own social media accounts, as most of the images on his Instagram and VK accounts look to have been officially collated, but there are scores of images elsewhere, often posted by Russian fans of the boy who is growing into a dashing young man.> View this post on Instagram> > Ваш самый любимый Николай. Надеюсь он справится с хейтом в его сторону��❤ Помните,что он ни в чем не виноват. Дети НЕ должны отвечать за поступки родителей. ЯМыКоля колялукашенко колялукашенкокраш николайлукашенко kolyalukashenko принцбелорусский лукашенкоколя лукашенкониколай крашвсеяруси> > A post shared by Николай краш (@___kolya.lukashenko.fan___) on Aug 17, 2020 at 1:59pm PDTWhether it's a sweetheart image posted by Russian fangirls on VK or a state-issued photograph of a future leader with a semi-automatic, it's hard to know what Kolya is really thinking. Some Russian speaking internet users have been joking about saving the boy from his father: "Kolya Lukashenko, shoot into the air, if the old man holds you a hostage," Alexander Litreyev wrote on Twitter.The harm done to a child growing up in this kind of environment is impossible to calculate from the outside, it is unknown if he has his father's thirst for power or wishes to fade into the background when Lukashenko finally leaves office. Whatever this potential boy-king is thinking, hundreds of thousands of Belarusian protesters are determined that the county's next president will be elected, not born into 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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| Turkey detains IS suspect planning 'sensational' attack Posted: 25 Aug 2020 12:41 AM PDT |
| Israel bombs Gaza militants in response to fire balloons Posted: 25 Aug 2020 12:17 AM PDT  Israel's military said it bombed militant positions in the Gaza Strip early on Tuesday in response to incendiary balloons launched into southern Israel farmlands a day earlier. It was the second night in a row that Israel bombed the coastal territory. Tensions between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza have intensified in recent weeks.
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