| Coronavirus: South Africa virus cases pass half million mark Posted: 01 Aug 2020 03:55 PM PDT  The country has the world's fifth-highest number of infections, and largest tally in Africa.
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| South Africa hits 500,000 confirmed cases, still not at peak Posted: 01 Aug 2020 01:16 PM PDT  South Africa on Saturday surpassed 500,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases, representing more than 50% of all reported coronavirus infections in Africa's 54 countries. Experts say the true toll of the pandemic worldwide is much higher than confirmed cases, due to limited testing and other reasons.
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| Iran claims to have detained leader of California-based militant group Posted: 01 Aug 2020 12:35 PM PDT  Iran said Saturday that it had detained a leader of a California-based group for allegedly plotting a fatal mosque attack in 2008 that left more than 200 injured. The country's Intelligence Ministry said it detained the Kingdom Assembly of Iran's Jamshid Sharmahd, who is Iranian-American, as part of a "complex operation," The Associated Press reported. Iran says Sharmahd ran the group's Tondar wing and also claimed that the militant opposition group was planning additional attacks in the Middle Eastern nation amid tensions between the U.S. and Tehran relating to the deterioration of their 2015 nuclear deal.
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| Thousands demonstrate as anti-Netanyahu protests gain steam Posted: 01 Aug 2020 11:33 AM PDT  Thousands of demonstrators gathered outside the official residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday and thronged the streets of central Jerusalem, as weeks of protests against the Israeli leader appeared to be gaining steam. The demonstration in central Jerusalem, along with smaller gatherings in Tel Aviv, near Netanyahu's beach house in central Israel and at dozens of busy intersections nationwide, was one of the largest turnouts in weeks of protests. Throughout the summer, thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets, calling for Netanyahu to resign, protesting his handling of the country's coronavirus crisis and saying he should not remain in office while on trial for corruption charges.
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| Connie Culp, 1st US partial face transplant recipient, dies Posted: 01 Aug 2020 10:35 AM PDT  Connie Culp, the recipient of the first partial face transplant in the U.S., has died at 57, almost a dozen years after the groundbreaking operation. The Cleveland Clinic, where her surgery had been performed in 2008, said Saturday that Culp died Wednesday at the Ohio clinic of complications from an infection unrelated to her transplant. Dr. Frank Papay, who is the chair of Cleveland Clinic's dermatology and plastic surgery institute and was part of Culp's surgical team, called her "an incredibly brave, vibrant woman and an inspiration to many."
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| Chicago homicides and shootings rise sharply in 2020 Posted: 01 Aug 2020 09:26 AM PDT |
| Global Meat Speciation Testing Industry Posted: 01 Aug 2020 08:49 AM PDT |
| NASA astronauts aim for Florida coast to end SpaceX flight Posted: 01 Aug 2020 08:14 AM PDT  The first astronauts launched by Elon Musk's SpaceX company departed the International Space Station on Saturday night for the final and most important part of their test flight: returning to Earth with a rare splashdown. NASA's Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken bid farewell to the three men left behind as their SpaceX Dragon capsule undocked and headed toward a Sunday afternoon descent by parachute into the Gulf of Mexico. Despite Tropical Storm Isaias' surge toward Florida's Atlantic shore, NASA said the weather looked favorable off the coast of Pensacola on the extreme opposite side of the state.
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| U.K. Officials' New Trump Quandary: What if He Loses? Posted: 01 Aug 2020 07:19 AM PDT  LONDON -- Queen Elizabeth II threw him an extravagant state banquet at Buckingham Palace. Former Prime Minister Theresa May welcomed him to Blenheim Palace, the family seat of his hero, Winston Churchill. Her successor, Boris Johnson, refused to join a global chorus of criticism after he ordered troops to break up a Black Lives Matter protest outside the White House.Few countries have worked harder than Britain to please President Donald Trump. But now, with Trump trailing in the polls to former Vice President Joe Biden, British officials are waking up to an unsettling prospect: The president they tried so hard to accommodate may be out of power next year.In Paris and Berlin, a Trump defeat would be welcomed as an unalloyed relief, removing a leader who has sundered alliances, threatened a trade war and tried to dismantle the European project. But in London, where Johnson's government just left the European Union, it is more complicated.At a moment of British isolation, Trump's full-throated endorsement of Brexit has made the United States a safe harbor. His promise of a lucrative trade deal gave Johnson a selling point with his voters. His populist politics were in sync with the bare-knuckle tactics of the Brexiteers.If Biden wins in November, Britain would face a president who opposed Brexit, would look out for the interests of Ireland in a post-Brexit Europe and would have little motive to prioritize an Anglo American trade deal. His former boss, President Barack Obama, once warned Britons that if they left the European Union, they would put themselves at the "back of the queue" in any trade talks with the United States."It will not be lost on Biden that the last two British prime ministers went out of their way to be nice to and about Trump," said Peter Westmacott, a former British ambassador to the United States. "He is instinctively comfortable with Brits, but London will have to work on the relationship."As Trump's polling numbers have eroded, pro-government papers have begun to make the case that a President Biden would actually be better for Britain than President Trump. Unlike Trump, he is a believer in alliances. He would not subject Johnson to rude lectures about the need for Britain to take a harder line against China. He would not be toxic with much of the British public.In a recent column in The Sunday Times, a well-connected political journalist, Tim Shipman, quoted an unnamed government minister saying that a Trump defeat "would make things much easier."That sounds like a government hedging its bets. Johnson has been careful to say nothing about the U.S. election but he has already tried to keep Trump at arm's length even as he avoids offending him. Trump, by contrast, called into a London radio show in the heat of the British election to praise Johnson and run down his opponent.Britain's uneasiness is compounded by the strangeness of this election. The Biden campaign has all but banned contact with foreign governments to avoid the questions that dogged the Trump campaign in 2016 about its ties to Russia. The pandemic has deprived Britain of its long practice of embedding a diplomat in the challenger's campaign because there is little in-person campaigning.Jonathan Powell, who as a young British diplomat rode on the bus during Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign, said the connections he made were valuable in smoothing over bitterness Clinton's aides felt toward Britain's Conservative government after it had tried to dig up incriminating details about Clinton's years at Oxford to help George H.W. Bush's campaign. Powell later introduced Clinton to Tony Blair, who went on to become prime minister and a friendlier counterpart.Riding the bus is less important this time, he said, given that Biden is already so well-known to British officials. But the lack of a personal connection may foretell a relationship that is destined to become more distant.The risk for Britain, several experts said, is not a sudden rupture but a gradual slide into irrelevance. Biden's emphasis, they said, would be on mending fences with Berlin and Paris, not celebrating a "special relationship" with London that got plenty of attention from his predecessor.On a visit to London in October 2018, Biden, not yet a candidate, cast his opposition to Brexit in geopolitical terms, saying it would make Britain less valuable to the United States as a lever to influence the European Union."Had I been a member of Parliament, had I been a British citizen, I would have voted against leaving," Biden said at Chatham House, the London research institution. "U.S. interests," he added, "are diminished with Great Britain not an integral part of Europe."Charles Kupchan, a professor at Georgetown University who worked on European affairs in the Obama White House and is advising Biden's campaign, said, "The question is not, 'Will there be a special relationship?' There will be. The question is, 'Will the special relationship matter?'"British officials recognize the challenge. They cite human rights and Russia as areas where Britain could carve out a robust role alongside the United States. Johnson's recent reversal, barring Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei from access to its 5G network, brings Britain in line with a more hawkish American policy toward China, which is likely to extend beyond Trump's presidency.He may need to patch up other lingering issues. In 2016, when Johnson was mayor of London, he recounted in a newspaper column that Obama replaced a bust of Churchill in the Oval Office with one of Martin Luther King Jr. and attributed the switch to "the part-Kenyan president's ancestral dislike of the British Empire."Some say fears of tension between Johnson and Biden are overblown."It's part of the job for American presidents to get along with prime ministers," said Tom Tugendhat, a Conservative member of Parliament who is chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee and has spoken with advisers to Biden.Still, there are potential land mines, not least Northern Ireland. A devoted Irish American, Biden will fiercely defend Ireland's interests, as will his allies in the Democratic Party's Irish lobby on Capitol Hill. In speeches, Biden's go-to literary reference is from "Easter 1916," a poem by Irish poet William Butler Yeats about the Irish uprising against British rule.British diplomats gamely point out that Biden has English roots, too. He has talked of a great-great-great grandfather who was a captain in the British East India Trading Co. But they say that as far as Brexit goes, his primary concern is likely to be the preservation of the Good Friday Agreement, the Clinton-era accord that ended decades of sectarian strife in Northern Ireland."Biden is very keen on his Irish Catholic roots, though he has British ones, too," Westmacott said. "If the U.K. ends up with a no deal or other Brexit outcome which is bad news for Ireland, he will not be impressed."So far, Johnson has avoided that problem by striking a withdrawal agreement with the European Union that leaves an open border on the island of Ireland. But Ireland could still suffer economic damage if Britain fails to negotiate permanent trading arrangements with Brussels.Trade is another area where Biden could prove frustrating. Trump's promise of a blockbuster deal with Britain had already begun to fade, with his trade representative, Robert Lighthizer, saying last month it was unlikely before the election. Were Biden to win, experts said, he would face a Democratic Party deeply skeptical of a deal at a time when free trade is in retreat worldwide.British officials recently floated the idea of both countries joining the successor agreement to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which Trump pulled out of in 2017, as a way to sidestep the thorny issues in a direct negotiation.But even if Biden were to rejoin TPP -- a big if -- analysts noted that its provisions on food sanitation were largely written by the United States and would raise the same objections that have stymied trans-Atlantic talks."In other words," said Sam Lowe, a trade expert at the Center for European Reform, "the chlorine chicken debate is here to stay."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company
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| Chicago hospital apologizes for performing genital surgery on intersex infants: ‘Approach was harmful and wrong’ Posted: 01 Aug 2020 06:52 AM PDT  A children's hospital in Chicago has apologized for performing genital surgery on infants, becoming the nation's first major hospital to publicly declare that the procedure is "harmful and wrong." In a statement released Tuesday by the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, its CEO and medial staff recognized the "painful history" associated with cosmetic surgeries on infants who are born with intersex traits "to make genitalia appear more typically male or female." The procedure, which has been deemed a form of "torture" by the United Nations, has been condemned by a number of human rights organizations, including the Human Rights Watch, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology, and GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ Equality.
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| Global Microbial Lipase Industry Posted: 01 Aug 2020 05:49 AM PDT |
| France starts testing travelers from 16 nations for virus Posted: 01 Aug 2020 05:25 AM PDT  Travelers entering France from 16 countries where the coronavirus is circulating widely now must undergo virus tests upon arrival at French airports and ports. French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced last month that the tests would be required starting Aug. 1 for passengers France is allowing in from a list of approved countries unless they present proof of a negative test done within 72 hours of their departure. France is not permitting general travel to and from the 16 countries, which include the United States and Brazil.
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| AP FACT CHECK: Trump's election agitations and distortions Posted: 01 Aug 2020 05:09 AM PDT  Heads snapped and eyes rolled when President Donald Trump made a case for considering an election postponement in the pandemic. Republican and Democratic lawmakers, who agree on precious little, said forget about it. Among them, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell agreed Nov. 3 is set in stone.
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| Biden eyes major foreign policy shifts if he wins Posted: 01 Aug 2020 05:06 AM PDT  Should former Vice President Joe Biden win the White House in November, America will likely be in for a foreign policy about-face as Biden reverses, dismantles or severely curtails many of President Donald Trump's most significant and boldest actions. From the Middle East to Asia, Latin America to Africa and, particularly, Europe, and on issues including trade, terrorism, arms control and immigration, the presumptive Democratic nominee and his advisers have vowed to unleash a tsunami of change in how the U.S. handles itself in the international arena. With few exceptions, Americans could expect Biden to re-engage with traditional allies.
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| Thousands protest in Berlin against coronavirus restrictions Posted: 01 Aug 2020 04:52 AM PDT  Thousands protested Germany's coronavirus restrictions Saturday in a Berlin demonstration marking what organizers called "the end of the pandemic" — a declaration that comes just as authorities are voicing increasing concerns about an uptick in new infections. Police used bullhorns to chide participants to adhere to social distancing rules and to wear masks, apparently with little success.
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| Emirati nuclear plant successfully starts up first reactor Posted: 01 Aug 2020 04:48 AM PDT |
| Iran says it detains leader of California-based exile group Posted: 01 Aug 2020 04:33 AM PDT |
| Thousands in Russia's Far East protest governor's arrest Posted: 01 Aug 2020 03:44 AM PDT  Thousands of demonstrators rallied Saturday in the Russian Far East city of Khabarovsk to protest the arrest of their governor, keeping up a three-week wave of opposition that has challenged the Kremlin. Smaller demonstrations took place in at least 10 other cities and 55 people were detained in those protests, according to the OVD-Info organization that monitors political arrests. No detentions were reported at the Khabarovsk rally.
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| Global Multi-Axis Sensors Industry Posted: 01 Aug 2020 03:29 AM PDT |
| China-US relations: why Wang Yi went back to Wolf Warrior mode after offering an 'olive branch' Posted: 01 Aug 2020 02:30 AM PDT |
| The US election is entering its final stretch – here are the key areas to watch Posted: 01 Aug 2020 12:00 AM PDT  From potential vice-presidential candidates to voter suppression and debates, these are the areas the Guardian's politics team will be following * Join us for a live digital event with the former US attorney general Eric Holder to discuss voter suppression in the 2020 election, next Thursday at 5pm ET. Register nowElection day in the US is officially 3 November, but amid the coronavirus pandemic, Americans are being encouraged to take advantage of early voting initiatives that open as soon as September to decrease the risks to themselves and others.From voter suppression to polling and debates, here are some of the key areas and figures the Guardian's politics team will be watching as the race enters its final stretch. Donald TrumpThe Trump campaign has less than 100 days to change the dominant narratives of the year: that the president failed the leadership test during the coronavirus pandemic and missed the profound shift in public mood following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May.With his attempts to distract having largely failed, Trump has finally worn a face mask and promised a coronavirus "strategy" but provided few details so far. He may be pinning his hopes on an "October surprise", such as the discovery of a vaccine, and a better than expected economic recovery, which has experienced the sharpest contraction since the second world war according to data released this week.He has shown even less willingness to engage with the cause of Black Lives Matter, inverting it to a racist campaign theme, stoking fear of violence in cities and portraying it as an existential threat to suburbs. "Law and order" may resonate with parts of his base but, polls suggest, it may be too little too late to rescue Trump from a one-term presidency. David Smith Joe BidenLess than 100 days out, the Biden campaign is currently well positioned to defeat Trump in November. The former vice-president leads Trump by double digits in a slate of new national polls, as the president's handling of the coronavirus pandemic weighs on his approval rating.Biden has narrower but consistent margins in several battleground states as his campaign eyes an expansion in traditionally Republican states such as Arizona and Georgia, which could pave the way for Democrats to take back the Senate. And with the party largely united behind him, Biden has started to lay out an ambitious recovery plan as Trump's edge on the economy slips.But there are risks, too. Though Biden is less unpopular than Hillary Clinton was in 2016, Democrats worry about his favorability ratings, which have slipped amid an advertising assault by the Trump campaign.Biden's supporters are far less enthusiastic about his candidacy than Trump's supporters are about his re-election. And polling suggests Biden has more work to do to mobilize young and minority voters, who were a key part of the coalition that twice elected Barack Obama. Lauren Gambino Biden's pick for vice-presidentA presidential candidate's running mate is usually one of the bigger lodestars in any campaign cycle. But Biden's pick is particularly momentous, and he has said it will be announced in the first week of August. He has vowed to choose a woman, and if he wins, would usher into the White House the first female vice-president in American history.He has also said four of the candidate he is considering are African American. There has never been an African American female nominee on either the Republican or Democratic presidential tickets.The selection is also important because Biden, 77, has indicated he may not run for a second term, immediately elevating his running mate into contention as his presidential heir.Running mates rarely tip an election dramatically in one direction but it's possible that Biden's vice-presidential pick could help energize key voting blocks such as women or African Americans. Daniel Strauss Swing statesThe 2020 presidential election will really be fought in just a handful of states scattered across the country, which will determine the winner of the electoral college, and therefore determine who takes the White House.In 2016, Trump pulled off a shocking victory by becoming the first Republican presidential candidate in 28 years to win Michigan, Pennsylvania or Wisconsin. Trump swept all three midwestern states, and he can only afford to lose two of them in November and still secure a second term.But the president is also struggling to maintain control of states he won a bit more easily in 2016 – namely Florida, Arizona and North Carolina. Polls indicate Biden is pulling ahead in those battleground states, as well as in the midwest.With only 100 days to go until the election, Trump's campaign resources are expected to be stretched thin, and the president's path to re-election is narrowing. Joan E Greve PollingPolling might be the one thing that a lot of people are decidedly not watching out for in the 100 days until the election. The failure of polls to detect Trump's momentum in the upper midwest, Pennsylvania and Florida in the 2016 election lured many people who feared a Trump victory into a false sense of security and teed up a painful reckoning.So why watch polls in 2020? For one thing, there's reason to believe that state-level polling has improved since 2016. The polls then had a particular blind spot to voters without a college degree, a group that ended up voting overwhelmingly for Trump. This time around most pollsters are weighting for education. Other factors working in pollsters' favor: there are fewer undecided voters this time, and there has been more polling in places such as Michigan and Wisconsin.But there are good reasons, apart from 2016, to take the polls with a big grain of salt. In order to accurately interpret their data, pollsters must make predictions about voter turnout – and this year, with the pandemic, mail-in voting and aggressive Republican efforts to suppress the vote, predicting voter turnout could pose a unique challenge.No matter how any one polling snapshot might be right or wrong, the polls are worth glancing at to see how they're changing. A noticeable shift across the polls could indicate a narrowing or widening race. One hundred days isn't long, but it's enough time for twists that could decide the election. Tom McCarthy The SenateTrump's falling poll numbers have rendered the Republican party into a state somewhere between anxiety and panic not only about what November's elections will mean for the White House, but what it will mean for congressional candidates too."The mood is like probably what it felt like when you were on the Titanic," Joe Walsh, a former congressman from Illinois, recently told the Guardian.Republicans realise they could lose everything, with the presidency and Senate following the House of Representatives, which they surrendered to the "blue wave" in the 2018 midterm election.The Senate is critical, and Democrats need a net gain of three seats to flip it. If Republicans can retain their majority, they will be able to obstruct significant parts of the Democratic agenda, just as they did for much of Obama's presidency.The Republican senators Susan Collins of Maine, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Cory Gardner of Colorado, Martha McSally of Arizona and Thom Tillis of North Carolina are all trailing in polls. Even leading Trump loyalists Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham face stiff challenges from Democratic opponents raising huge funds in Kentucky and South Carolina, respectively. David Smith Voter suppressionThere is deep concern about America's ability to run a free and fair election this year. Trump is already laying the groundwork to contest the results of the election, falsely saying that increased mail-in balloting will lead to widespread "fraud" and that the election will be rigged.There is no evidence to support the president's claims, but his rhetoric offers another threat to America's election infrastructure, which is already straining under the pandemic. Trump's rhetoric is particularly concerning this year, when experts expect there to be delays in reporting official election results. Trump, they say, could use the uncertainty in the days after the election to claim victory as ballots are still being counted.Election officials across the country also face the unprecedented challenge of having to accommodate expected high turnout both in mail-in and in-person voting. Many states that do not typically see widespread mail-in voting have seen an unprecedented surge of requests for ballots and have struggled to keep up with them, while some states, such as Texas, have refused to ease restrictions around mail-in voting, even amid Covid-19. Thousands of mail-in ballots have been rejected during the primaries, and even more could be blocked this fall, for technical reasons.Election officials are also scrambling to figure out how they can staff the polls and find places for polling sites as the people and locations that would typically serve drop out because of concern over the virus. Republicans in Congress have also refused to allocate much money to states to help them run elections; one estimate says states need about $4bn to upgrade their election systems, Congress has allocated just $400m so far. Sam Levine Foreign interferenceUS intelligence agencies found that the Russian government, under the direction of Vladimir Putin, conducted a coordinated campaign to influence the 2016 election, which aimed to damage Hillary Clinton's presidential bid and undermine the US democratic process.In a statement to Congress this month, William Evanina, the director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, said Russia was again using a range of methods to weaken the US ahead of the 2020 election, including online disinformation "designed to undermine confidence in our democratic process and denigrate what it sees as an anti-Russia 'establishment' in America".Intelligence experts have warned that the US this year will be most vulnerable to a foreign disinformation campaign in the immediate aftermath of the vote, if the outcome is close and there are disputes over the legitimacy of the vote count.Evanina also issued a warning about Chinese and Iranian interference, saying the three campaigns represented "a direct threat to the fabric of our democracy".Democrats, however, complained that the warning was far too vague, and created a false equivalence between the activities and intent of the three countries. They see Russia as by far the most urgent threat in terms of seeking to undermine confidence in democratic institutions, for example by amplifying Donald Trump's unsubstantiated claims that postal ballots are subject to rigging. Julian Borger ConventionsThe coronavirus pandemic has dampened both parties plans to stage conventions in late August, where presidential nominations are traditionally conferred in front of massive, cheering crowds.Trump recently canceled the Republican national convention events in Jacksonville, Florida, amid record numbers of coronavirus cases and deaths in that state. The change-up came after the president's insistence on packed crowds compelled the party to move the event to Florida from North Carolina, where the governor had balked at hosting a full-scale event.Democrats still plan on having Biden accept his nomination in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, though the party officials have urged most attendees to stay home. All the official business – setting rules, adopting a policy platform and formally nominating Biden, will be conducted remotely.This will be the first time in modern US history that the major parties have abandoned crowded conventions, a tradition they upheld during the civil war and second world war.By giving the event a miss, Democrats and Republicans are also losing a chance to galvanize supporters in crucial swing states. Despite the restrictions this year, both parties have promised a spectacle, with "exciting" TV programming and virtual celebrations. Maanvi Singh DebatesThe two septuagenarian presidential nominees are set to go head-to-head in three televised presidential debates between 29 September and 22 October, with one vice-presidential debate.After initially threatening not to take part, the Trump campaign has recently pushed for an additional debate in September, arguing that the coronavirus crisis could prompt much earlier voting. But the debate format also suited Trump in 2016, when the then candidate loomed behind the Democratic contender Hillary Clinton, mocked her and threatened to jail her, and his campaign will be hoping to dominate the stage again.But Biden's campaign has said it will not "ride the rollercoaster of the ever-changing Trump campaign position on debates, nor are we going to be distracted by his demands". Enjoli Liston
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| Joe Biden nears final decision on running mate Posted: 31 Jul 2020 10:40 PM PDT  As Joe Biden nears the announcement of his vice presidential choice, the top contenders and their advocates are making final appeals. The campaign hasn't finalized a date for naming a running mate, but three people who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the plans said a public announcement likely wouldn't happen before the week of Aug. 10. Biden said in May that he hoped to name his pick around Aug. 1 and told reporters this week that he would "have a choice in the first week of August."
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| 'Rebuilding Paradise' looks at emotional toll of deadly fire Posted: 31 Jul 2020 10:11 PM PDT  Almost two years since a wildfire swept through his mountain town and virtually wiped it out, Steve "Woody" Culleton got to put the final touches on his new home. The landscaping marked the final chapter of a long ordeal that was captured in "Rebuilding Paradise," a new documentary directed by Ron Howard about the aftermath of the most destructive wildfire in California's history. Howard said he had his doubts when he went to Paradise to witness the devastation.
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| Portland protest peaceful after federal presence reduced Posted: 31 Jul 2020 10:06 PM PDT  More than a thousand people showed up in downtown Portland early Saturday to peacefully protest, about three days after the announcement that the presence of U.S. agents there would be reduced — a deal that Oregon officials hope will continue to ease tensions as the city tries to move on from months of chaotic nightly protests. The change in tone outside a federal courthouse that's become ground zero in clashes between demonstrators and federal agents came after the U.S. government began drawing down its forces in the liberal city under a deal between Democratic Gov. Kate Brown and the Trump administration. As of midnight on Saturday, no federal agents had emerged from the courthouse, which has been the center of protests for weeks, and there was no noticeable law enforcement presence surrounding the area.
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| Mexico No. 3 in virus deaths; storm could hinder US response Posted: 31 Jul 2020 09:45 PM PDT  Mexico now has the third most COVID-19 deaths in the world, behind Brazil and the United States, where a hurricane bearing down on the East Coast on Saturday is threatening to complicate efforts to contain the virus. "We had to put safety first," Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez said Friday. Meanwhile, Mexican health officials on Friday reported 688 new deaths, pushing the country's confirmed total to over 46,600.
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| Hurricane Isaias lashes Bahamas, virus-hit Florida braces Posted: 31 Jul 2020 09:04 PM PDT  Hurricane Isaias snapped trees and knocked out power as it blew through the Bahamas on Saturday and headed toward the Florida coast, where officials said they were closing beaches, parks and coronavirus testing sites. Florida authorities said they have prepared shelters, but didn't expect to have to evacuate people. "The most important thing we want people to do now is remain vigilant," said Gov. Ron DeSantis.
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| Hong Kong Takes the Zero-Risk Poll Option Posted: 31 Jul 2020 05:14 PM PDT  (Bloomberg Opinion) -- Hong Kong's decision to bar a dozen pro-democracy candidates from contesting legislative elections and then to postpone the vote by a year won't leave its economic prospects unscathed. It's a striking reminder of how threatening elections can be for authoritarian governments — even those where the system is stacked in their favor.The authorities' actions further narrow the scope for public dissent in the former British colony, after Beijing passed a national security law at the end of June following months of anti-government and pro-democracy protests last year. That legislation overrides Hong Kong's Basic Law, the document that enshrines the liberties that were supposed to be guaranteed for 50 years under the terms of the city's return to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.Disinterested observers may wonder why they bothered. Hong Kong's Legislative Council has limited power. The assembly has no direct link to the city's executive-led and Beijing-appointed government, although it approves spending and taxes. Only half of the 70 seats are directly elected by voters under universal suffrage. The rest are mostly picked by corporations and individuals representing industries and professions, some with tiny electorates and many tilted heavily toward the pro-Beijing establishment.The government's stated reason for the delay — the risk of spreading infection amid a resurgence in Covid-19 cases — looks flimsy. Hong Kong's third wave is indeed grave, but there is little evidence that the election would make it worse. South Korea's April ballot caused no significant outbreaks and it recorded its highest turnout in almost three decades.Consider what Hong Kong would have gained by allowing a free vote to go ahead. An open and inclusive campaign would have been a showcase for the values that the city's chief executive says remain intact, and given the government a counter-argument to those who contend the security law has extinguished Hong Kong's essential freedoms. As Ben Bland of the Lowy Institute points out, anti-establishment voices would have been given a safe place to speak up, international recognition, political experience and funding. The government wasn't willing to risk it. Officials went to the opposite extreme, disqualifying even moderate opposition candidates such as the sitting legislator who represents the accountancy profession — hardly a hotbed of radicalism.In fact, the chances of an electoral embarrassment were high. Last year, voters turned out in record numbers for the District Council elections — bodies that handle mundane matters such as refuse collection and traffic. Such was the level of anti-government feeling that pro-democracy candidates secured almost 90% of 452 seats (a result exaggerated somewhat by a first-past-the-post system). That was before the security legislation. Sentiment has eased, but not changed.Authorities' reluctance to chance a repeat reflects a basic truth: Voting matters, even in a non-democratic or partly democratic system, where elections are often seen as hollow political theater.Hong Kong's government doesn't have quite the same pretense as the former Soviet states, or Russia, where President Vladimir Putin requires mass demonstrations of popular adulation. Neither can it afford to hold controlled competitive elections as Singapore does. It does, though, crave popular support, as seen by the flurry of advertisements, appeals and petitions as the government sought to claim approval for the national security law.Official nervousness isn't without reason. Elections, however partial and even without real opposition, can bolster non-democratic governments. They can also bring instability. A 2015 University of Oslo study of 259 autocracies found election years were associated with an increased probability of regime breakdown in the short term. Take a glance at Belarus, where Alexander Lukashenko is seeking a sixth term as president. The country is witnessing the largest pro-opposition rallies ever, even after the government silenced the media and hounded most opposition voices.Hong Kong's government has now created an even bigger problem for itself. There is no clearly determined path after elections are postponed and candidates disqualified. Does the legislature simply stay on, and if so what happens to lawmakers who have been barred from running again? The Basic Law, after all, clearly stipulates a term of four years, which is ending.By doing all this just as it cracks down on even teenage activists and removes library books, authorities are also blocking all release valves for public discontent. The risk, says Lee Morgenbesser of Griffith University, who studies elections in authoritarian states, is that bottled-up anger eventually erupts.Hong Kong's rapid dismantling of its institutions has been unparalleled. Even Putin took years to mount his assault. Add in the background of a grim economic situation and the mishandling of a public health emergency, and the alarm among international businesses is only likely to grow.This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Clara Ferreira Marques is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering commodities and environmental, social and governance issues. Previously, she was an associate editor for Reuters Breakingviews, and editor and correspondent for Reuters in Singapore, India, the U.K., Italy and Russia.Matthew Brooker is an editor with Bloomberg Opinion. He previously was a columnist, editor and bureau chief for Bloomberg News. Before joining Bloomberg, he worked for the South China Morning Post. He is a CFA charterholder.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| DC releases police footage from 2018 deaths of 3 Black men Posted: 31 Jul 2020 02:33 PM PDT  Under pressure from the D.C. Council, Washington's Metropolitan Police Department on Friday released long-sought body camera and security footage from the 2018 deaths of three young Black men in 2018. The release was compelled by an emergency police reform bill that Mayor Muriel Bowser criticized as rushed. "The council has determined that this is the statute, that's the law of the land and we're going to abide by it," said MPD Chief Peter Newsham.
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