| Coronavirus: How it turned the tables on Ghana's diaspora Posted: 27 Jul 2020 05:15 PM PDT  Coronavirus has given Ghanaians a new perspective on the pull of living abroad.
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| Pandemic to bring surge in child wasting cases: UN Posted: 27 Jul 2020 05:10 PM PDT  The unprecedented social and economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic will see nearly seven million more children experience stunting as a result of malnutrition, the United Nations said Tuesday. Now as lockdowns and international trade routes disrupt vital aid supplies, the UN warned that the coronavirus pandemic could have an "intergenerational effect" on the health of millions. "The profound impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on early life nutrition could have intergenerational consequences for child growth and development and life-long impacts on education, chronic disease risks and overall human capital formation," wrote the researchers.
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| Hunger to kill 128K more children over pandemic's first year Posted: 27 Jul 2020 03:34 PM PDT  Coronavirus and its restrictions are pushing already hungry communities over the edge, killing an estimated 10,000 more young children a month as meager farms are cut off from markets and villages are isolated from food and medical aid, the United Nations warned Monday. In the call to action shared with The Associated Press ahead of publication, four U.N. agencies warned that growing malnutrition would have long-term consequences, transforming individual tragedies into a generational catastrophe. Hunger is already stalking Haboue Solange Boue, an infant from Burkina Faso who lost half her former body weight of 5.5 pounds (2.5 kilograms) in just a month.
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| Trump lawyers renew legal assault on tax records subpoena Posted: 27 Jul 2020 02:30 PM PDT  President Donald Trump's lawyers filed fresh arguments Monday to try to block a criminal subpoena for his tax records, saying it was issued in bad faith, might have been politically motivated and calling it a harassment of the president. Lawyers filed a rewritten lawsuit in Manhattan federal court to challenge the subpoena by a state prosecutor on grounds they believe conform with how the U.S. Supreme Court said the subpoena can be contested. The high court ruled earlier this month that Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. could subpoena tax records from Trump's accountant over his objections.
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| Trump won't say if he's confronted Putin over Russia's reported bounties on US troops Posted: 27 Jul 2020 02:13 PM PDT  Trump on Monday would not say whether he's confronted Putin over reports Russia paid Taliban-linked militants to kill US soldiers.
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| Democratic National Convention to require masks, distancing Posted: 27 Jul 2020 02:06 PM PDT |
| Trump seeks political shot in the arm in vaccine push Posted: 27 Jul 2020 01:00 PM PDT  President Donald Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic put his political fate in grave jeopardy. Now he's hoping to get credit for his administration's aggressive push for a vaccine -– and crossing his fingers that one gets approved before Election Day. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence visited vaccine development sites on Monday, marking the beginning of the largest COVID-19 vaccine research trial yet.
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| UN refugee agency to install housing units in Mexico Posted: 27 Jul 2020 12:41 PM PDT |
| Susan Rice Wants to Run for Office. Will Her First Campaign Be for V.P.? Posted: 27 Jul 2020 12:18 PM PDT  On an autumn Friday not long before the 2018 elections, Susan E. Rice was traveling through the Phoenix airport and watching from afar as Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh moved steadily toward confirmation. The convulsive Senate battle had reached a climax, and for Rice's party an unhappy one: Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, had just announced her support for Kavanaugh, effectively sealing his victory.When a former White House colleague tweeted plaintively, asking who might take down Collins in the 2020 election, Rice fired off a two-letter reply: "Me."The message excited Rice's followers, startled her friends and puzzled Democratic Party leaders, most of whom were surprised to learn the former national security adviser had any interest in electoral politics. Party strategists were already in the process of recruiting a challenger for Collins, and Rice had not been on their radar as an option. Though she had family roots in Maine, she did not even live in the state.In public, Rice did little to clarify her intentions, and she made no overtures to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. When Rice announced several months later that she had decided against running for family reasons, most Democrats concluded she had never given it real consideration.They were wrong: Before ruling out the race, Rice had quietly explored the idea of battling Collins for weeks, seeking advice from seasoned politicians in Maine, friendly operatives in Washington and top advisers to former President Barack Obama, including Valerie Jarrett and pollster Joel Benenson. Within her political circle, the sincerity of her interest was clear.In the end, Rice did not run. But her exploration of the race represented an emphatic declaration of new political aspirations. It was Rice's first and only examination of what it would mean to become a candidate, and test the appeal of her formidable credentials not to her fellow experts but to voters for whom the National Security Council is a distant and obscure institution.Rice, 55, is now among a handful of women under consideration to become Joe Biden's running mate. It is the latest stage in a path to power that has seen Rice chosen to be a Rhodes scholar at 21, an assistant secretary of state at 32 and ambassador to the United Nations little more than a decade later.The questions that faced Rice in 2018 presaged, in some respects, those that now surround her as a vice-presidential contender: How much do voters prize government experience, or care about the international stage? Is the country ready, just years after seeming to reject elite expertise with the election of President Donald Trump, to embrace a candidate defined chiefly as an analytical policy mind?And how eager, after all, is Rice to emerge from the halls of Washington and plunge into the undignified melee of a national political campaign?In 2018, at least, Jarrett said she believed Rice was "relishing the chance to actually run for office.""She loves a good battle," Jarrett said, adding of Rice's deliberations, "It wasn't just talking to her friends and family. It was talking to people who would have advised her on the nuts and bolts of a campaign."'A Personal Reckoning'Rice's electoral inexperience is not the only possible mark against her in the vice-presidential process: In an election dominated by a public-health disaster and economic recession, it is unclear how much a candidate best known for her foreign policy credentials would improve Biden's chances. And there are people close to Biden who fear that choosing her would force the campaign to spend precious days relitigating her role in responding to the 2012 terror attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that left four Americans dead and prompted months of Republican-led congressional hearingsWhile a galaxy of conspiracy theories about the attack has been discredited, Rice ended up taking the political fall for appearing on the Sunday shows to deliver a set of flawed administration talking points describing it as an outburst of spontaneous violence rather than organized terrorism. In her 2019 memoir, Rice wrote that the episode turned her "from being a respected if relatively low-profile Cabinet official to a nationally notorious villain or heroine, depending on one's political perspective."She would bring clear strengths to a ticket and administration, reinforcing Biden's message of sober and seasoned leadership and appealing further to Americans who pine for the Obama years. While she and Biden have had policy disagreements over the years, they share a deeply held view of the importance of diplomacy and international institutions, a concern for promoting democracy and human rights and a common pride in Obama-era achievements that they helped shape, like the Paris climate agreement and the Iran nuclear deal.Should Biden become president, few other potential vice presidents might be dispatched as easily on important missions around the world. Rice could confidently play that role, Benenson suggested, "while President Biden would do a lot of the repair, certainly in the early days of the administration, on the national stage."But hanging over everything is the question of Rice's abilities as a campaigner. She would be the first person chosen for vice president without prior elected experience since 1972, when the Democratic ticket included R. Sargent Shriver, the former Peace Corps director and John F. Kennedy's brother-in-law -- like Rice, a diplomat closely linked to a president sorely missed by his party.Rice is up against multiple candidates who have run for president themselves, including Sens. Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren, and others, like Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, who have endured grueling statewide campaigns.Allies of Rice have argued privately to Biden advisers that the learning curve for a first-time candidate might be smoother than normal given the strictures of a pandemic-era campaign. If a town-hall meeting or rally might be a relatively new setting for Rice, a television studio or webinar surely would not. They point, too, to the electoral inexperience on the opposing ticket: Rice, after all, has won exactly as many elections as Trump did before defeating Hillary Clinton in 2016.Ertharin Cousin, the former executive director of the United Nations World Food Program who is friends with Rice, said Rice had confided not long after Obama left office that she was intrigued by electoral politics, though she did not specify Maine as a venue. More recently, Cousin said, Rice had confirmed her interest in the vice presidency."She said to me: Joe Biden knows me and he knows my capabilities and if he thinks I'm right for him, then I'd be honored to serve with him, full stop," Cousin said.Cousin, who traveled with Rice in South Carolina during the 2008 presidential primary there, said that even then voters recognized her from her media appearances and connected with her as "a smart Black woman." The country has few Black diplomats, Cousin noted, and voters rarely see them up close.Still, Cousin allowed that becoming a national candidate was a daunting hurdle.Even for people who have been deeply involved in presidential politics, Cousin said, "I think the experience for the candidate is quite different."In an interview, Rice said she was comfortable on the campaign trail, pointing to her activities for Obama. Without addressing the vice presidency explicitly, Rice said she remained interested in running for office. She left open the door to seeking a Senate seat in Washington, D.C., where she grew up and has spent most of her professional life, if the city were to achieve statehood.Though not a Mainer herself, Rice's family is closely tied to the state: Her maternal grandparents emigrated there from Jamaica in the early 20th century, her mother was raised in Maine, and all the men of that generation attended Bowdoin College. Rice's mother, Lois Dickson Rice, who died in 2017, grew up in the state before graduating from Radcliffe College and settling down in Washington.Exploring the race in Maine, Rice said she had come away convinced she understood the needs of the state. She had a clear sense of what it would have taken to beat Collins, a dogged campaigner long viewed in Maine as a careful moderate. Rice's message, she said, would have been about Maine's "real socioeconomic challenges," like broadband access and providing health care to an aging population."It is true I have never run for office on my own behalf, but I've run for office on behalf of others," Rice said in an interview from a vacation home in Maine's Midcoast region. "If I were to decide to do it, there's nothing about it that on its face would feel uncomfortable or unfamiliar."The decision not to run for Senate, she said, had been about "a personal reckoning" with not wanting to uproot her family in her daughter's final years of high school."I would have, I think, been able to raise a formidable amount of money," Rice said. "And this is a state that twice voted for Barack Obama, so Maine is capable of supporting people with his perspective and people who look like me."In her memoir, Rice revealed that as a 10-year-old girl growing up in Washington she had dreamed of one day becoming a senator. But she soon learned that her city lacked representation in Congress and, after spending summers on Capitol Hill, found herself put off by "many members' unabashed egotism."In the same book, Rice expressed bluntly critical views of several senators who had thrown up strong resistance in 2012 to her possible nomination for secretary of state, effectively blocking her selection. She named one Republican senator as perhaps her most "disingenuous" adversary: Susan Collins.Candor and CautionRice declined to go into detail about the conversations she had about the Senate race. Several people who spoke to her at the time said they had stressed the great difficulty of winning office as an outsider in a state where newcomers are often described as being "from away."Among those cautionary voices was Tom Allen, a former Democratic congressman and mayor of Portland who ran against Collins in 2008. Allen, who said he had known Rice's mother, called himself an admirer of the diplomat and said she had given no definitive signal about her level of interest in the race."When you make inquiries," he said, "you're always serious at some level."One person who did take Rice seriously was Collins, who just days after Rice's tweet assailed her in a television interview as lacking even the basic credential of Maine residency. Two Republicans close to the Collins campaign said that the senator had been excited at the possibility of facing Rice, whose identification with the Benghazi attack and the Iran nuclear deal might have helped Collins soothe the discontent she has faced from conservatives who see her as inadequately loyal to Trump.The president himself has often joined in those attacks on Rice over the years, most recently having accused her, without evidence, of having participated in a scurrilous Obama administration plot against Michael Flynn, the retired general and disgraced former national security adviser. Rice has denied being involved in any such effort against Flynn, who later pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators in a case that is still in court.In February 2019, Collins' campaign took a poll and came away unimpressed by Rice's standing: It found the senator leading her by 16 percentage points, 47% to 31%, people briefed on the data said. ("I'm glad she wasted money on it," Rice said of the poll.)In her overtures to Democrats, Rice relied on a network of contacts from her time in the Obama administration, conferring with Michael Cuzzi, a former strategist for Obama's campaign in Maine. About a week after her tweet, she made an unadvertised appearance at a Rockport fundraiser for Janet Mills, now the governor of Maine.But Rice did not seek to court a swelling grassroots movement, in Maine and Washington, that was mobilizing against Collins after her vote for Kavanaugh. Other candidates were doing so, including Sara Gideon, the state House speaker, who would soon win support from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and build a grassroots following online that helped her raise $9 million in just a few months this spring.Rice eventually confirmed in April 2019, six months after her tweet, that she would not run for Senate. Some time after that, Rice said in an interview with The Portland Press-Herald that Maine "deserves senators who live there."Jim Mitchell, a Democratic lobbyist in Maine and former state party chair, said that there had been a swirl of excitement about Rice, but that few people in the state felt as if they could take her measure as a candidate."Retail politics still matters in a place like Maine, because there aren't a lot of people," he said. "I have no idea if the ambassador has those skills."Should the vice-presidential nomination go to another candidate, Rice would most likely be a top candidate for other offices in a Biden administration, perhaps including secretary of state.There is at least, in theory, another job prospect on the horizon: senator from the newly admitted state of Washington, D.C. It is perhaps an unlikely prospect, but so, too, were the ideas of moving to Maine and toppling a tenacious local Republican, or ascending more or less directly from the National Security Council to the vice presidency. In June, the Democratic-controlled House voted in favor of statehood.Rice, who in June wrote a New York Times Op-Ed column calling for an end to "the enduring oppression of the citizens of the District of Columbia," said she might be open to an eventual Senate run there."I'm a huge champion of statehood for D.C.," she said, "separate and apart from my own interests."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company
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| House OKs bill protecting Massachusetts tribe's reservation Posted: 27 Jul 2020 11:58 AM PDT |
| Soumaila Cissé: Ecowas demands release of Mali opposition leader Posted: 27 Jul 2020 11:08 AM PDT  Soumaila Cissé was kidnapped days before Mali's disputed elections which led to deadly protests.
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| From exhilaration to fatigue, home cooks assess new normal Posted: 27 Jul 2020 10:58 AM PDT  It's been months since the coronavirus pandemic limited restaurant options and caused many people — even the most kitchen-phobic among us — to try to cook more. Before she began quarantining in late March, 33-year-old television producer Erika Navarrete Nagle of Denver had never cooked chicken. ``I grew up in a Cuban family with a mother and sister who always cooked for me.
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| NASA's next Mars rover is brawniest and brainiest one yet Posted: 27 Jul 2020 10:41 AM PDT  With eight successful Mars landings, NASA is upping the ante with its newest rover. The spacecraft Perseverance — set for liftoff this week — is NASA's brawniest and brainiest Martian rover yet. It sports the latest landing tech, plus the most cameras and microphones ever assembled to capture the sights and sounds of Mars.
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| Israel says it stops Hezbollah fighters from crossing border from Lebanon Posted: 27 Jul 2020 10:30 AM PDT  For decades the border region has been the front line of on-off conflicts with the Lebanese group, Iran's most powerful regional proxy.
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| Lewis hailed as ‘conscience’ of Congress at Capitol memorial Posted: 27 Jul 2020 10:13 AM PDT  In a solemn display of bipartisan unity, congressional leaders praised Democratic Rep. John Lewis as a moral force for the nation on Monday in a Capitol Rotunda memorial service rich with symbolism and punctuated by the booming, recorded voice of the late civil rights icon. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Lewis the "conscience of the Congress" who was "revered and beloved on both sides of the aisle, on both sides of the Capitol." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell praised the longtime Georgia congressman as a model of courage and a "peacemaker."
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| Torrential rains wreak destruction in Yemen, killing dozens Posted: 27 Jul 2020 10:05 AM PDT |
| A 'runaway' to South Korea is suspected of bringing a coronavirus case back to North Korea after swimming across the border Posted: 27 Jul 2020 10:04 AM PDT  North Korea reportedly had cases as far back as March, but Kim Jung Un hasn't acknowledged coronavirus cases until now.
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| Sudanese bury victims of Darfur violence as troops deploy Posted: 27 Jul 2020 09:57 AM PDT |
| In shift, Tunisians top migrant groups reaching Italy by sea Posted: 27 Jul 2020 08:25 AM PDT  More boats carrying Tunisian asylum-seekers reached a tiny southern Italian island Monday, part of a steady stream from the economically struggling North African country that is sorely testing Italian small town mayors' ability to stop them escaping by the hundreds from quarantine amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Tunisian migrants are now the biggest single national group reaching Italy by sea, and in a sign of concern Italian Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese met in Tunisia on Monday with her Tunisian counterpart and the country's president. One held 11 people, wearing sunglasses and shorts, carrying knapsacks and water bottles and a poodle on a leash, Italy's ANSA news agency said.
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| Officer challenges account of violent clearing of protesters Posted: 27 Jul 2020 08:06 AM PDT  The U.S. Park Police and Secret Service violently routed protesters from Lafayette Square last month without apparent provocation or adequate warning, immediately after Attorney General William Barr spoke with Park Police leaders, according to an Army National Guard officer who was there. The account of National Guard Maj. Adam DeMarco challenges the Trump administration's explanation that vicious attacks by protesters led federal forces to turn on what appeared to be a largely peaceful crowd June 1 in the square in front of the White House.
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| White House Rose Garden is getting a face-lift Posted: 27 Jul 2020 07:51 AM PDT  Melania Trump on Monday announced details of a plan already underway to spruce up the White House Rose Garden, an iconic outdoor space famous for its proximity to the Oval Office. Mrs. Trump said the redesign will increase the garden's "beauty and functionality" and blend the past with the present in "complete harmony." "Protecting the historic integrity of the White House landscape is a considerable responsibility, and we will fulfill our duty as custodians of the public trust," she wrote in the opening of a detailed report on the project, which is expected to be completed in about three weeks.
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| Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Announces Anthony Fauci, Dolores Huerta, Colin Kaepernick, Dan Schulman, and Dan Springer Will Receive Its 2020 Ripple of Hope Award Posted: 27 Jul 2020 07:27 AM PDT  The 52nd annual Robert F. Kennedy Ripple of Hope Award celebrates outstanding changemakers who are working to advance equality, justice, and human rights during extraordinarily challenging times. New York, July 27, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights today announced its 2020 Ripple of Hope Award laureates: Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; Dolores Huerta, founder and president of the Dolores Huerta Foundation and co-founder of United Farm Workers of America; Colin Kaepernick, human rights activist, co-founder of Know Your Rights Camp, and Super Bowl quarterback; Dan Schulman, president and chief executive officer of PayPal; and Dan Springer, chief executive officer of DocuSign. The annual Robert F. Kennedy Ripple of Hope Award celebrates outstanding leaders who have demonstrated a commitment to social change, recognizing individuals across government, business, advocacy, and entertainment who have utilized their platform for the public good. At a time when the courageous pursuit of equality and justice has become political and riddled with adversity, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights stands with these modern-day human rights defenders in their inspirational fight for progress."Our country is yearning for leadership, for moral fortitude, for common decency and kindness, and this year's Ripple of Hope laureates give us great hope for the future," said Kerry Kennedy, president of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights. "Their work for equal justice touches every corner of society, sometimes at great personal cost. We are deeply honored to celebrate these changemakers, who have set forth countless ripples of hope at a time when our world is in such need of inspiration.""It is an honor to be recognized by Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights," said Dolores Huerta, founder and president of the Dolores Huerta Foundation and co-founder of United Farm Workers of America. "I accept this award on behalf of all the individuals who have committed themselves to organizing to maintain a democratic society. Like my dear friend and hero Robert F. Kennedy, they have created the path to a just, fair, and peaceful society. With their courage and integrity, they have united the ripples of hope into the great waves of social justice that we are witnessing in our world today.""In 2017, I was in the audience honoring Mr. Harry Belafonte as he accepted the Robert F. Kennedy Ripple of Hope Award. I am humbled to follow the footsteps of individuals like Mr. B and to be in the company of all the other laureates. Thank you for this prestigious award," said Colin Kaepernick, co-founder of Know Your Rights Camp, a free campaign for youth advancing the liberation and well-being of Black and Brown communities."It's a true honor to receive this recognition, which commemorates Robert F. Kennedy's passion for human rights and social justice as well as his timeless call to action—to make a difference for those who are most vulnerable in our society," said Dan Schulman, president and CEO of PayPal. "Congratulations to my fellow honorees, whose work and contributions to our communities are a source of inspiration for so many of us. Now more than ever, we're called upon to continue the work of Robert F. Kennedy and those who dedicated their lives to building a more equal and just world. I'm deeply committed to do all I can to serve this cause.""As the issues of social inequality, economic opportunity and justice become increasingly top of mind for us all, Robert Kennedy's words and teachings ring more true than ever," said Dan Springer, CEO of DocuSign. "We all need to play a part in the fight for basic human rights, and I'm unbelievably humbled to be included in this conversation with such an impressive group. This only accelerates my commitment to advance positive social change."The inspiration for the Ripple of Hope Award comes from Robert F. Kennedy's most famous speech in 1966 when he visited South Africa during the worst years of apartheid: "Each time a person stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, they send forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance." Past Ripple of Hope laureates include Barack Obama, Tim Cook, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Robert F. Smith, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Belafonte, John Lewis, Hillary Clinton, Bono, and Joe Biden.Typically an in-person ceremony, this year's gala will be hosted virtually on Thursday, December 10 in honor of National Human Rights Day when the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The milestone document proclaimed the inalienable rights everyone is inherently entitled to regardless of race, religion, sex, national or social origin, or political opinion. More on the 2020 RFK Ripple of Hope LaureatesDr. Anthony Fauci Dr. Anthony Fauci was appointed director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in 1984. He oversees an extensive portfolio of basic and applied research to prevent, diagnose, and treat established infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, tuberculosis, and malaria, emerging diseases such as Ebola and Zika, and the current outbreak of COVID-19. Dr. Fauci has advised six presidents on HIV/AIDS and many other domestic and global health issues and was one of the principal architects of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a program that has saved millions of lives throughout the developing world. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush in 2008. Dolores Huerta Dolores Huerta is a labor leader and community organizer who has worked to promote civil rights and social justice for over 50 years. In 1962, she and Cesar Chavez founded the United Farm Workers union; she served as vice president and played a critical role in many of the union's accomplishments for four decades. She received the Puffin/Nation $100,000 prize for Creative Citizenship in 2002, which she used to establish the Dolores Huerta Foundation (DHF). DHF is connecting groundbreaking community-based organizing to state and national movements to register and educate voters; advocate for education reform; bring about infrastructure improvements in low-income communities; advocate for greater equality for the LGBT community; and develop strong leaders. She received the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award from President Bill Clinton in 1998 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2012.Dan Schulman As president and CEO of PayPal, Dan Schulman is focused on democratizing and transforming financial services and e-commerce to improve the financial health of billions of people and businesses around the world. Under his leadership, PayPal has been named one of the top companies on JUST Capital and Forbes' list of the JUST 100, featuring "companies doing right by America," and been recognized as a Fortune Change the World company for its work tackling the biggest challenges facing society today. Dan has received the 2017 Brennan Legacy Award, established to honor the Supreme Court justice and his commitment to social justice and common human dignity; a 2017 Visionary Award from the Council for Economic Education for promoting economic and financial literacy; and the Financial Health Network's inaugural Visionary Award in 2018 for his commitment to improving the financial lives of people around the world. Dan Springer Dan Springer is the CEO of DocuSign, the company that pioneered e-signature and now helps organizations to automate their entire agreement process. Under Dan's leadership, the company is also committing money, time and other resources to help preserve the world's forests—through DocuSign for Forests, and other initiatives under the 'DocuSign IMPACT' umbrella. Dan is also personally committed to supporting community development. He recently donated more than $2.5 million to the Boys & Girls Club of San Francisco, and has called on tech industry leaders to continue reinvesting their equity back into Bay Area projects. Dan has almost 30 years of executive leadership experience, and prior to DocuSign he served as chairman and CEO of Responsys, where he led the company's sale to Oracle in 2013. Prior to that he was the MD of Modem Media, CEO of Telleo, CMO of NextCard, and a consultant at McKinsey & Company.Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights We are a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization that has worked to realize Robert F. Kennedy's dream of a more just and peaceful world since 1968. In partnership with local activists, we advocate for key human rights issues, championing changemakers, and pursuing strategic litigation at home and around the world. And to ensure change that lasts, we foster a social-good approach to business and investment, and educate millions of students about human rights and social justice.Attachment * Instagram CONTACT: Minhee Cho Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights 347-498-4236 mcho@rfkhumanrights.org
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| Tanzania presidential hopeful Tundu Lissu returns home after attempt on life Posted: 27 Jul 2020 06:53 AM PDT  Tundu Lissu, attacked in the capital in 2017, wants to run for office after treatment in Belgium.
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| Trump national security adviser O'Brien has the coronavirus Posted: 27 Jul 2020 06:45 AM PDT  President Donald Trump's national security adviser, Robert O'Brien, has tested positive for the coronavirus — making him the highest-ranking official to test positive so far. The White House said O'Brien has mild symptoms and "has been self-isolating and working from a secure location off site." Officials did not respond to questions about the last time the president and O'Brien had contact, but the White House insisted that "There is no risk of exposure to the President or the Vice President" and that the "work of the National Security Council continues uninterrupted."
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| Guatemala teacher pedals classroom to students in pandemic Posted: 27 Jul 2020 06:41 AM PDT  When the novel coronavirus closed Guatemala's schools in mid-March, teacher Gerardo Ixcoy invested his savings in a secondhand, adult tricycle. It's also a mobile classroom, with plastic sheets to protect against virus transmission, a whiteboard and a small solar panel that powers an audio player he uses for some lessons. Each day, the 27-year-old pedals among the cornfields of Santa Cruz del Quiché to give individual instruction to his sixth-grade students.
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| Israel says it thwarts Hezbollah infiltration attempt Posted: 27 Jul 2020 06:05 AM PDT  The Israeli military on Monday said it thwarted an infiltration attempt by Hezbollah militants — setting off one of the heaviest exchanges of fire along the volatile Israel-Lebanon frontier since a 2006 war between the bitter enemies. Neither side reported casualties during a battle that raged for over an hour, and Hezbollah denied involvement. Israel had been bracing for an attack since an Israeli airstrike in neighboring Syria killed a Hezbollah fighter last week.
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| Coronavirus: How fast is it spreading in Africa? Posted: 27 Jul 2020 05:59 AM PDT  The World Health Organization has voiced fears that the disease is accelerating in Africa, so what are the key trends?
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| Sudan to send more troops to Darfur after deadly attacks Posted: 27 Jul 2020 05:57 AM PDT  More than 80 people were killed in two attacks in Sudan's restive western region, the UN says.
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| Guardian US launches special series marking 100 days until planned US withdrawal from Paris Agreement Posted: 27 Jul 2020 05:44 AM PDT |
| Germany has rejected Trump's bid to bring Russia back into the G7 Posted: 27 Jul 2020 04:44 AM PDT  Trump said in June it was "common sense" for Russian President Vladimir Putin to be invited to the G7.
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| Group: Yemen rebels should be sanctioned over moored tanker Posted: 27 Jul 2020 03:58 AM PDT  A leading international rights group on Monday urged the U.N. Security Council to impose additional sanctions on Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels unless they provide U.N. experts access to an oil tanker moored off the coast of Yemen and in danger of leaking. The Houthi rebels, who control the area, have denied U.N. inspectors access to the vessel. The U.N. warned earlier this month of an environmental, economic and humanitarian catastrophe from the ship, which hasn't been maintained for over five years.
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| John Oliver blames China for your lack of knowledge about Uighur concentration camps Posted: 27 Jul 2020 03:21 AM PDT  John Oliver said Sunday's Last Week Tonight was going to be about eyelashes, and that was mostly just to set up a TikTok video. Its creator "is right," he said: "A lash-curler is a vital tool in anyone's beauty arsenal, and there's an ethnic group in China being systematically surveilled and imprisoned in an attempt to essentially wipe their culture off the map." Oliver started with the basics: "The people in question are the Uighurs. They're mostly a mostly Muslim minority in a region of China called Xinjiang, and the Chinese government has been treating them absolutely terribly.""If this is the first time you're hearing about an estimated million people who've been held in detention camps -- mostly Uighurs but also Kazakhs and other ethnic minorities -- you are not alone," Oliver said. "And it's probably because China has done its level best to keep this story from getting out." That may be harder now, because some of the face masks and other PPE used in America is likely made by forced Uighur labor, making us complicit, he added. "And while there is clearly nothing new about horrific practices being hidden deep in the supply chain of global capitalism, what is happening to the Uighurs is particularly appalling. So tonight let's talk about them: Who they are, what's been happening to them, and why?"Oliver ran though a bit of the historical enmity between Uighurs and Beijing, the 2009 riots, and China's crackdown with President Xi Jinping's 2014 Strike Hard Against Violent Terrorism law -- "think of it as the Patriot Act on steroids" -- and current Minority Report-like pre-emptive arrests and Chinese excuses: They are "simply being proactive" and sending them to helpful "vocational training facilities," among other euphemisms for "cultural erasure.""Whenever pressed on this, the Chinese government has been quick to use whataboutism," Oliver said. "They responded to U.S. criticism by invoking atrocities ranging from he genocide of Native Americans to George Floyd's death." Those "are fair hits, those are fair points right there," he said, "but it's also completely possible for two things to be wrong at the same time." What can you do? Pay attention, he said. Watch below. More stories from theweek.com Trump only pivoted on coronavirus after reportedly being warned of spikes among 'our people' in red states What Tom Cotton's 'necessary evil' comment says about America The GOP cancels the convention of Trump's dreams
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| Barr able to put his stamp on executive power as Trump's AG Posted: 27 Jul 2020 03:19 AM PDT  "We've been here an hour and now we all understand what you go through every day," a middle-age banker tells Barr, "so thank you." Barr can expect this kind of praise when he appears Tuesday for the first time before the House Judiciary Committee -- but only from its Republicans. To them, he is a conservative stalwart, an unflappable foe of the left and its excesses, and -- most importantly -- a staunch defender of President Donald Trump.
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| AP-NORC poll: Anxiety props up Biden, Trump voters fervent Posted: 27 Jul 2020 03:05 AM PDT  Murtice Sherek is not excited about Joe Biden. Roughly three months before Election Day, a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that Biden's supporters are less enthusiastic than Trump's — both about the campaign itself and about their candidate — although the Democrat's coalition may be equally motivated by anxiety.
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| Iraq PM orders probe after 2 protesters killed in clashes Posted: 27 Jul 2020 02:45 AM PDT  Iraq's prime minister said Monday he had ordered an investigation into the killing of two anti-government protesters, saying security forces were not authorized to fire "a single bullet" toward the demonstrators. Twenty-one protesters were also wounded in the overnight clashes. Separately, four katyusha rockets landed in Camp Taji, north of Baghdad, which houses U.S.-led coalition troops, according to three Iraqi security officials.
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| Woman accused of joining IS arrested on return to Germany Posted: 27 Jul 2020 02:39 AM PDT |
| 2020 Watch: Can Trump turn around his beleaguered campaign? Posted: 27 Jul 2020 02:36 AM PDT  With fewer than 100 days before polls open across America, President Donald Trump is running short on time to reset his beleaguered reelection bid. After spending much of the year playing down the crises, Trump has adopted a more serious tone in the latest round of White House pandemic briefings. Joe Biden, meanwhile, seems content to remain an afterthought right now as he rolls out new policies, narrows his search for a running mate and enjoys a discernible lead in most polls.
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| Palestinians: Settler vandals firebomb West Bank mosque Posted: 27 Jul 2020 01:52 AM PDT |
| Pilgrims arrive in Mecca for downsized hajj amid pandemic Posted: 27 Jul 2020 01:47 AM PDT  Muslim pilgrims have started arriving in Mecca for a drastically scaled-down hajj, as Saudi authorities balance the kingdom's oversight of one of Islam's key pillars and the safety of visitors in the face of a global pandemic. This year, Saudi Arabia's Hajj Ministry has said between 1,000 and 10,000 people already residing in the kingdom will be allowed to perform the pilgrimage. Two-thirds of those pilgrims will be from among foreign residents in Saudi Arabia and one-third will be Saudi citizens.
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| UN says Afghan civilian casualties down by 13% this year Posted: 27 Jul 2020 01:33 AM PDT  Afghanistan saw a 13% drop in the number of civilians killed and wounded in violence across the country in the first six months of this year, compared to the same period last year, according to a U.N. report released Monday. The report credited the drop in casualties in part to the reduction of operations by international forces — which now only act when called upon and in support of the Afghan forces — and also to a decrease in the number of attacks by the Islamic State group.
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| North Korea's Kim marks war anniversary amid virus concerns Posted: 27 Jul 2020 12:20 AM PDT  North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has visited a national cemetery and handed out commemorative pistols to army officers, state media reported Monday, as he pushes to muster public support for efforts to contain a potential coronavirus outbreak. On Sunday, North Korea said that Kim had put a city near the border with South Korea under lockdown and declared a state of emergency after a person with suspected COVID-19 symptoms was recently found there. If the person is diagnosed with the coronavirus, it would be North Korea's first officially confirmed case, though many outside experts believe the virus has already spread to the country.
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| How the global climate fight could be lost if Trump is re-elected Posted: 27 Jul 2020 12:00 AM PDT  The US will officially exit the Paris accord one day after the 2020 US election and architects of that deal say the stakes could not be higherIt was a balmy June day in 2017 when Donald Trump took to the lectern in the White House Rose Garden to announce the US withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, the only comprehensive global pact to tackle the spiraling crisis.Todd Stern, who was the US's chief negotiator when the deal was sealed in Paris in 2015, forced himself to watch the speech."I found it sickening, it was mendacious from start to finish," said Stern. "I was furious … because here we have this really important thing and here's this joker who doesn't understand anything he's talking about. It was a fraud."195 countriesThe terms of the accord mean no country can leave before November this year, so due to a quirk of timing, the US will officially exit the Paris deal on 4 November – 100 days from now and just one day after the 2020 presidential election.The completion of Stern's misery, and possibly any realistic hopes of averting disastrous climate change, rests heavily upon the outcome of the election, which will pit Trump against former vice-president Joe Biden, who has vowed to rejoin the climate agreement.The lifetime of the Paris agreement, signed in a wave of optimism in 2015, has seen the five hottest years ever recorded on Earth, unprecedented wildfires torching towns from California to Australia, record heatwaves baking Europe and India and temperatures briefly bursting beyond 100F (38C) in the Arctic.These sort of impacts could be a mere appetizer, scientists warn, given they have been fueled by levels of global heating that are on track to triple, or worse, by the end of the century without drastic remedial action. The faltering global effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions and head off further calamity hinges, in significant part, on whether the US decides to re-enter the fray."The choice of Biden or Trump in the White House is huge, not just for the US but for the world generally to deal with climate change," said Stern. "If Biden wins, November 4 is a blip, like a bad dream is over. If Trump wins, he seals the deal. The US becomes a non-player and the goals of Paris become very, very difficult. Without the US in the long term, they certainly aren't realistic."a chart that shows the global emissions of three hypothetical scenarios of greenhouse gas emissions depending on the depth and duration of the pandemic, and the rate of recoveryNearly 200 countries put their name to the Paris accords, pledging to face down the climate emergency and limit the average global temperature rise to "well below" 2C above the era before mass industrialization started pumping huge volumes of planet-warming gases into the atmosphere from cars, trucks, power plants and farms. A more aspirational goal of halting temperatures at a 1.5C rise was also included although, just five years on, the planet is already creeping perilously close to this mark.The Paris deal brought major, growing emitters like China and India on board with the quest to shift towards cleaner sources of energy, in part due to the urgings of Barack Obama, who claimed the agreement showed the US was now a "global leader in the fight against climate change".> If Trump wins, he seals the deal. The US becomes a non-player and the goals of Paris become very, very difficult> > Todd SternTrump, who once famously called climate science a "hoax", has never looked kindly on the deal, which he framed as an international effort to damage the US while letting China off too lightly. In his Rose Garden speech, Trump remarked that he was elected to "represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris." In reality, each country is free to choose its own emissions cuts without any sort of enforcement. "Paris is like a vessel, such as a glass – you can pour water or wine into it," said Sue Biniaz, a former US state department lawyer who drafted parts of the Paris deal. "It's not the design of Paris that's the problem, it's that there's not the political will to do enough." Abandoned climate effortsThe US government in practice abandoned any concern over the climate crisis some time ago, with the Trump administration so far rolling back more than 100 environmental protections, including an Obama-era plan to curb emissions from coal-fired power plants, limits on pollution emitted from cars and trucks and even energy efficiency standards for lightbulbs. In an often chaotic presidency, Trump's position on climate change has been unusually consistent – American fossil fuel production must be bolstered, restrictive climate regulations must be scrapped.Unswayed by growing alarm among Americans over the climate crisis, Trump is taking this same message to the election. "Biden wants to massively re-regulate the energy economy, rejoin the Paris climate accord, which would kill our energy totally, you would have to close 25% of your businesses and kill oil and gas development," the president said this month, without citing evidence, as he announced another rollback, this time of environmental assessments of pipelines, highways and other infrastructure.Despite all this, US emissions have continued to fall, due in large part to the downfall of a coal industry that Trump has attempted to prop up. The international ramifications have been telling, however – in the absence of any sort of positive cajoling from the US, global emissions have remained stubbornly high and most countries are lagging behind their own promised actions.According to the Climate Action Tracker, only Morocco is acting consistently with the Paris agreement's goals, with the global temperature rise set to exceed 3C by the end of the century even if the current pledges are met. Paris was meant to be only the beginning – countries are supposed to continually ratchet up their ambition levels until the more extreme ravages of climate change, such as dire flooding, heatwaves, crop failures and the loss of coral reefs, are avoided.> Four more years of Donald Trump could delay global emissions cuts by 10 years> > Dr Håkon Sælen of University of Oslo"There's been less political will from other countries to take action to a certain extent because the US isn't pushing for it," said Biniaz. "During the first four years of Trump it's easier to say it's likely to be an aberration, a short-term deviation, but if it's eight years it's harder to keep together the coalition of countries that care about this." 'Another meteorite is coming'Another four years of a Trump administration uninterested in the climate crisis could set back global emissions cuts by a decade, according to one published analysis, making the chances of meeting the goals of Paris near to impossible.Hakon Saelen, an environmental economist at the University of Oslo who led the study, said the US withdrawal is a "significant major blow" to the mitigation of the climate crisis. "The world cannot afford any delay if the 2C target is to be reached," he said. "Our model indicates that the chance of reaching it is very low already, but near zero with another Trump term."But even with an engaged Biden administration that is somehow able to get Congress to agree to a $2tn plan to shift the US on to renewable energy, the challenge is immense. The world has dithered on cutting emissions for so long that only an unprecedented, rapid overhaul of the way we travel, generate energy and eat will keep humanity within the bounds of safety outlined in Paris.The world will have to slash emissions by more than 7% a year this decade to have any hope of meeting the 1.5C target, according to the United Nations. This annual cut will be achievable this year only through the devastation of the coronavirus pandemic, which shuttered much of the global economy. A more sustainable path to decarbonization will need to be immediately identified and implemented."The warmer it gets the worse it gets and the [Paris] targets are broadly at a level where we things will get really bad," said Zeke Hausfather, director of climate and energy at the Breakthrough Institute. "We don't want people to give up hope, the human race won't become extinct at 2C but that's an unnecessarily high bar. There are still large threats and a lot of good reasons to keep warming below that.Stern said American voters will naturally be "supersonic focused" on coronavirus and the economic fallout. "But climate change can't be forgotten this election," he said. "The Covid crisis has shown us countries can do remarkable things in short order when they believe they have to. It shows us we need leaders who also understand what we need to do on climate change, because that is another meteorite heading our way."
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| What the US exiting the Paris climate agreement means Posted: 27 Jul 2020 12:00 AM PDT  Donald Trump is taking the US out of the global pact on 4 November – so how will this affect the rest of the world?The world will be watching the US presidential election on Tuesday 3 November, but just 24 hours later is another hugely consequential news event when the US will formally leave the Paris climate agreement.The Trump administration set the withdrawal in motion with a letter to the UN, and, in a coincidence of timing, the US will exit the day after the election, joining Iran and Turkey as the only major countries not to participate in the agreement. What is the Paris climate agreement?After decades of negotiations, all 197 nations in the world agreed to voluntarily cut the heat-trapping pollution that is causing the climate crisis. Only a handful have not ratified the deal.It is seen by many as the minimum effort the world needs to make on cutting emissions – but it still took a monumental diplomatic push to clinch the deal.It came together in Paris in 2015, under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The US negotiating team – including the then secretary of state, John Kerry – scrambled to try to Republican-proof the agreement.President Obama, who was part of 11th-hour efforts calling round other world leaders to join, said in his address "we met the moment", called it a turning point, while acknowledging more would need to be done.The agreement's official goal is to keep the world from becoming 2C hotter than before industrialization. But its ambition is to limit heating to 1.5C, a best-case-scenario scientists see slipping out of reach.Each country agreed to set its own targets and report back on progress. So is the agreement working?There have been some achievements in cutting emissions but the work countries have done so far is not enough to limit the temperature rise to 2C. The world is already about 1C hotter than the pre-industrial period.Despite the Paris agreement, it is on track to become around 3C hotter. Already, humans are suffering from what they have done to disrupt the climate. And yet more heating will trigger more intense heatwaves, faster sea-level rise that will flood major cities, and more extreme weather disasters that will strain government responses.. What will happen if Donald Trump is re-elected?Trump held a news conference in the White House's Rose Garden in June 2017 when he vowed to exit the agreement, saying it was unfair to the US, which would leave and then start negotiations to re-enter it or a new accord "on terms that are fair to the United States"."I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris," he said (the mayor of Pittsburgh responded by saying the city stood with Paris).Trump, though, could not immediately leave the agreement – he can do so only after the November election, in a quirk of timing.So on 4 November 2019, the US began the year-long process to pull out of the deal, sending the United Nations notification that it would formally withdraw on 4 November 2020. What will the world look like if humankind fails, and heating soars beyond 2C?In just a 2C hotter world, according to an analysis of 70 peer-reviewed studies by Carbon Brief: * Seas could rise an average of 56cm, or nearly 2ft. * 30m people in coastal areas could be flooded each year by 2055. * Thirty-seven per cent of the population could face a severe heatwave at least every five years. * 388m people could be exposed to water scarcity and 195m will be exposed to severe drought. * Maize crop yields could fall 9% by 2100. * The global per-capita GDP could fall 13% by 2100. Has Trump's administration tried to tackle the climate crisis?The short answer is: no.During the last four years, Trump's administration has undermined international climate efforts by aggressively supporting fossil fuels. Domestically, Trump has rescinded or weakened essentially all the major regulations that were meant to encourage a shift away from oil, gas and coal, and toward cleaner sources of energy. He has eliminated Obama-era rules requiring lower-carbon electricity and cars. He has expanded opportunities for drilling and mining. What will happen if Trump wins re-election?With another four years as president, Trump could lock in those changes, further delaying action at a time when scientists say it is urgently needed.The US promised to cut emissions 26% to 28% below 2005 levels by 2025. The reductions were meant to be just the beginning of US efforts.Depending on how deeply the economy is hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, the US could see its emissions drop between 20% and 27% below 2005 levels by 2025, according to an analysis by the economic firm Rhodium Group. While the US could technically achieve what it pledged, those reductions are not nearly enough to stall significant global heating. If every country made efforts on par with the US goals, the world would still get 3C or 4C hotter, according to independent analysis by the Climate Action Tracker.Even without the US government, the power sector has shifted away from coal and toward cheaper natural gas and renewable energy – contributing to the drop. But reductions beyond what Rhodium projects would probably require new rules and incentives from the government. What would happen if Joe Biden is elected?Biden would immediately move to rejoin the Paris agreement, which would take about 30 days. The former vice-president has outlined an ambitious climate plan, but most of it requires sign-off from Congress. His proposal will be nearly impossible to implement if Democrats do not take control of the Senate. Significant climate legislation will be difficult to pass even if Democrats do have a majority in the House and the Senate and Biden is in the White House.Biden has said he would set in motion plans to cut US emissions to net-zero by 2050 – which is on par with what scientists say every nation in the world needs to do to avoid the worst of the climate crisis.He wants the electricity system to be carbon-free by 2035. He says he would invest $2tn on clean energy infrastructure and other climate measures, spending as much as possible in his first four years in office. The presumed Democratic nominee would decarbonize buildings, invest in high-speed rail and try to make the US the top producer of electric vehicles.default What's at stake for the world if the US leaves?If Donald Trump is re-elected and the US remains outside the Paris agreement, other nations might be less likely to pursue aggressive climate actions. The US is the biggest historical contributor to climate change, even though it holds just 4% of the world's population.China is the biggest current emitter. It is dramatically slowing its domestic emissions growth, although it is also funding new coal plants in developing countries.With the US out of the picture, China could have more geopolitical influence, including in climate negotiations. It could also benefit greatly from clean energy manufacturing, particularly if the US continues to fall behind.Even if the US national government is not active in climate efforts, green-minded US states and localities would likely come together to continue to pledge action to the world.
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| Capgemini Press Release // Global citizens favor ‘smart cities’ and call for their hometowns to be sustainable Posted: 26 Jul 2020 11:30 PM PDT |
| AP PHOTOS: Young Israelis play leading role in new protests Posted: 26 Jul 2020 11:23 PM PDT  The wave of colorful and combative demonstrations against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in recent weeks have been dominated by young Israelis. Israel has a long tradition of political protests that draw huge crowds. In recent years, anti-Netanyahu rallies have mostly been the domain of Israel's old guardians of liberal values, who accuse the prime minister of using authoritarian tactics to chip away at the country's democratic ideals.
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| Following days of violence, Sudan to send more troops to Darfur Posted: 26 Jul 2020 10:36 PM PDT  After more than 80 people were killed in Darfur on Friday and Saturday, Sudan Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said on Sunday more troops will be sent to the region to protect citizens amid farming season.On Friday, 20 people were killed in Darfur by unidentified gunmen, and 60 more were killed on Saturday; the village of Masteri was also set on fire. So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attacks.The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement this "escalation of violence in different parts of Darfur region is leading to increased displacement, compromising the agricultural season, causing loss of lives and livelihoods, and driving growing humanitarian needs."Over the last 19 years, Darfur has been the site of intense fighting between rebel groups and people loyal to former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who was overthrown last year. The conflict has killed an estimated 300,000 people and displaced two million, the U.N. said.More stories from theweek.com Trump only pivoted on coronavirus after reportedly being warned of spikes among 'our people' in red states What Tom Cotton's 'necessary evil' comment says about America The GOP cancels the convention of Trump's dreams
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| Hawaiian Islands avoid direct hit from Hurricane Douglas Posted: 26 Jul 2020 10:17 PM PDT  Hawaii avoided a direct hit Monday from Hurricane Douglas and the Category 1 storm was swirling just north of the island chain. The Central Pacific Warning Center lifted the hurricane warning for the island of Kauai, the final remaining hurricane warning in place for the nation's only island state. The storm tracked just north of the islands, and officials said it appeared to pass about 45 miles (72 kilometers) north of Maui and possibly closer to Oahu.
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| AP FACT CHECK: A more measured Trump doesn't mean accurate Posted: 26 Jul 2020 10:01 PM PDT  President Donald Trump in recent days suddenly acknowledged the gravity of the coronavirus pandemic and edged away from some of his most audacious falsehoods about it. Trump minimized the potential risk to children and those around them as he advocated reopening schools. All this while Trump canceled Republican National Convention events in Jacksonville, Florida, bowing to the reality that many Republicans were reluctant to go a state where the virus has been out of control.
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| Wealthy donors pour millions into fight over mail-in voting Posted: 26 Jul 2020 09:56 PM PDT  Deep-pocketed and often anonymous donors are pouring over $100 million into an intensifying dispute about whether it should be easier to vote by mail, a fight that could determine President Donald Trump's fate in the November election. In the battleground of Wisconsin, cash-strapped cities have received $6.3 million from an organization with ties to left-wing philanthropy to help expand vote by mail. Meanwhile, a well-funded conservative group best known for its focus on judicial appointments is spending heavily to fight cases related to mail-in balloting procedures in court.
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