| PRESS DIGEST- Financial Times - Aug. 20 Posted: 19 Aug 2020 05:36 PM PDT |
| Global Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) Industry Posted: 19 Aug 2020 05:22 PM PDT |
| What is 'snapback'? US' Iran sanctions move explained Posted: 19 Aug 2020 04:39 PM PDT  The United States will initiate a controversial procedure called "snapback" at the United Nations Security Council on Thursday in a bid to unilaterally reimpose sanctions on Iran.
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| US to trigger controversial 'snapback' of Iran sanctions at UN Posted: 19 Aug 2020 04:25 PM PDT  President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will activate a controversial mechanism aimed at reimposing UN sanctions on Iran, escalating a row with European allies that has huge repercussions for the Iranian nuclear deal.
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| Florida modeled a smooth mail election. Yes, Florida. Posted: 19 Aug 2020 03:51 PM PDT  The votes were swiftly counted, winners were declared, and by about 10 o'clock that night most of the results of Tuesday's primary election — one with large numbers of mailed votes — were known in Florida. Where, in 2018, the outcomes of the gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races were up in the air well after Election Day. Despite its reputation for confusing ballot design and controversial election administration, Florida was, in some respects, a model for how to conduct an election and count the vote in a pandemic-era election.
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| Mali coup: UN joins global condemnation of military takeover Posted: 19 Aug 2020 03:43 PM PDT  President Keïta was forced to resign after being detained by soldiers.
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| Trump demands restoration of sanctions on Iran and predicts 'peace in the Middle East' Posted: 19 Aug 2020 03:04 PM PDT  Donald Trump announced on Wednesday night that he has ordered administration officials to ask the United Nations to "snap back" all sanctions on Iran, and again hawkishly pledged that the country "will never have a nuclear weapon."The president opened a coronavirus briefing with the announcement, trying to implement an Obama administration policy that was part of an Iranian nuclear deal from which he withdrew the United States.
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| Trump says directing Pompeo to notify U.N. of intent to 'snapback' Iran sanctions Posted: 19 Aug 2020 02:58 PM PDT |
| Before 'Coup 53,' the US and Iran were old friends Posted: 19 Aug 2020 02:47 PM PDT  The British- and American-backed plot to overthrow Iran's prime minister in 1953 laid the groundwork for the 1979 Iran hostage crisis and decades of hostility with the U.S. A documentary about the plot released on Aug. 19 offers new details of what happened.I believe it is worth recalling the time before the events chronicled in "Coup 53," when the two countries had a distinctly different relationship.In the 1800s, American missionaries journeyed to what was then called Persia. The missionaries helped build important institutions – schools, colleges, hospitals and medical schools – in Persia, many of which still exist. Dr. Joseph Plumb Cochran, an American physician fluent in Persian, Turkish, Kurdish and Assyrian, founded a hospital in Urmia in 1879, as well as Iran's first medical school. When Cochran died at Urmia in northwestern Iran in 1905, over 10,000 people attended his funeral. This image clashes with most American stereotypes of Iran and its people, and is at odds with decades of anti-Iranian sentiment emanating from Washington. Iran and the United States, in fact, have a deep history of mutual respect and friendship.From 1834, when the first Protestant American mission was established in Urmia, until 1953, when the CIA's involvement in Iran's internal affairs set the United States on the road to conflict with Tehran, Americans were the good guys. Imperial bad guysMy interest in the history of Iranian-American relations stems from 45 years as an archaeologist specializing in Iran, and from research on Iranian history in the context of changes undergone by Iran's nomadic population through time.For years, Americans have seen images of Iranians shouting "Death to America." Now it's the country's lawmakers doing it. President Trump returns the sentiment, recently threatening Iran with death and destruction.But before all that happened, when Americans were the good guys, there were other countries who were instead reviled by Iran. The bad guys, at whose hands Iran suffered most, were Russia and Great Britain. Those two nations – often at the invitation of Iran's leaders – economically exploited Persia to further their own imperial ambitions, using sustained diplomatic, military and economic pressure.After two ill-judged wars fought against Russia – the First (1804-1813) and Second Russo-Persian Wars (1826-1828) – Persia (the name Iran was officially adopted in 1935) lost large amounts of territory to the czar.Much later, Russia found another means of exerting control over the Persian crown, loaning millions of rubles to its rulers, like Mozaffar ed-Din Shah, who reigned from 1896-1902 and needed capital to fund his lavish lifestyle.With the exception of the Anglo-Persian War (1856-1857), Persian relations with Great Britain were less openly hostile. But what they lacked in martial vigor was more than compensated for by economic exploitation. Towards the end of the 19th century, the shah granted exclusive concessions to the British for everything from telegraph lines to tobacco. Rights to Iran's oil were given to the Anglo-Persian (later Anglo-Iranian) Oil Company. So assured were Britain and Russia in their control of Persia that, in 1907, they signed the infamous Anglo-Russian Convention. That agreement divided the country – unbeknownst to its Parliament, let alone its inhabitants – into Russian, British and "neutral" spheres of influence. After it became public it provoked the outrage of ordinary Persians and the international community at large. America the goodIran's relations with the United States were completely different. The 19th- and early 20th-century history of British and Russian imperial ambitions and involvement in Iran put Iran in a dependent, exploited position at the hands of the governments of these two countries. But the presence in Iran of American missionaries and, later, invited government technocrats was of an entirely different quality. These were Americans offering aid, with no expectation of advantage to be gained officially for the United States government. American Presbyterian missionary efforts in Iran began in 1834 and focused on education, with 117 schools established around Urmia by 1895. Efforts were also directed at medical and social welfare. These were nongovernmental missions. The U.S. government was conspicuous by its absence in Iran and Iranian affairs. By the late 19th century, the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions had opened new stations in cities across northern Iran, from Tehran to Mashhad. American diplomatic relations with Persia were established in 1883. A decade later the American Presbyterian Hospital was founded in Tehran by John G. Wishard.After the First World War, Presbyterian schools for both boys and girls proliferated, the most famous of which were the American College of Tehran for boys, established in 1925, and Iran Bethel School for girls. In 1910, the Persian Parliament, aware that their country's finances were in disarray, invited the U.S. to identify a "disinterested American expert as Treasurer-general to reorganise and conduct collection and disbursement of revenue." Despite Russian attempts to block the initiative, W. Morgan Shuster, a distinguished career civil servant, was appointed by Persia in February 1911. He arrived in Tehran in May, bringing with him four other Americans. The mission was a failure, lasting only eight months, and, unsurprisingly, was adroitly sabotaged by the combined efforts of British and Russian diplomats in Tehran.The country's financial situation after the First World War was still precarious. With none of the colonialist baggage associated with the two European superpowers, America was turned to, almost as a last resort, to fix what ailed Iran. Riza Shah (father of the last shah) appointed an American, Arthur C. Millspaugh, as the administrator-general of the finances of Persia. When Millspaugh arrived in Tehran in 1922, a newspaper editorial addressed him with these words: "You are the last doctor called to the death-bed of a sick person. If you fail, the patient will die. If you succeed, the patient will live."Despite his often testy relations with foreigners, Riza Shah acknowledged Millspaugh's American Financial Mission was "the last hope of Persia." The fact that the mission was far from an unqualified success does not detract from its importance. Nor did it diminish America's image as an honest broker in Iranian eyes, in contrast to that of Russia and Great Britain.Of course, not every Iranian-American interaction during this period was positive. Robert Imbrie, the American consul in Tehran, was brutally murdered in 1924, allegedly because a fanatical religious leader accused him of being a Baha'i and poisoning a well. Riza Shah used the episode to crack down on dissidents and impose strict controls on public gatherings. America the badAmerica's benign image in Iran was forever shattered in 1953 when the CIA, working with Great Britain, engineered a coup against Mohammad Mossadegh, the democratically elected prime minister, who had nationalized the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. Even though the overthrow of Mossadegh damaged Iranian trust in America, the years just prior to Iranian revolution in 1979 saw the number of Iranian students in the United States steadily rise. Over one-third of the approximately 100,000 Iranian students pursuing university degrees abroad in 1977 were in the U.S. By the time of the Islamic revolution two years later, that number had climbed to 51,310, making Iran by far the biggest single source of foreign students in America, with 17% of the total foreign student population. The next-largest contributor of foreign students, Nigeria, accounted for only 6%. "Iranian students have been here for nearly a century … there are deep and abiding connections that reveal themselves when you look at the historical record," researcher Steven Ditto, who wrote a report on Iranian students in the U.S., told The Washington Post in 2017. Even today, some Iranians still manage to overcome the hurdles they face in studying in America. Two of my current Ph.D. students in Near Eastern archaeology come from Iran. In 2019, there were over 12,000 Iranian students in the U.S. The legacy of American goodwill, personal friendship and doing the right thing by Iran has not been completely lost, although scenes of anti-American demonstrations against the Great Satan on the streets of Tehran – some organized by the government – may make it seem as though America's good relationship with Iran has been lost irretrievably. Deep friendships dating back well over a century can withstand a great deal. A reservoir of goodwill and affection may lie dormant while political storms rage. Iran and America were good friends in the past, and for good reason. I believe that Americans would do well to remember that.This is an updated version of an article originally published on July 31, 2018.This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.Read more: * Iran: decades of unsustainable water use has dried up lakes and caused environmental destruction * US and Iran have a long, troubled historyProf Daniel Thomas Potts is not currently in receipt of any external grants but received funding in former employment at the Univ. of Sydney (Australia) from the Australian Research Council, specifically for fieldwork in Iran, from 2003-2012.
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| Progressives irked by spotlight on GOP at Dem convention Posted: 19 Aug 2020 02:46 PM PDT  For nearly three minutes at this week's Democratic National Convention, Cindy McCain recounted Joe Biden's friendship with her late husband, John McCain, the Arizona senator and former Republican presidential candidate. Colin Powell, President George W. Bush's secretary of state, praised Biden for two minutes. John Kasich of Ohio and Christine Todd Whitman of New Jersey also got prominent speaking slots.
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| Dozens of migrants die in shipwreck off Libya - UN Posted: 19 Aug 2020 02:17 PM PDT  The UN reports the deaths of at least 45 people in the largest shipwreck off Libya's coast this year.
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| Dr. Fauci Just Warned of 'Serious' COVID Side Effects Posted: 19 Aug 2020 02:04 PM PDT  Several months into the pandemic, it's becoming clear that even those with seemingly mild cases of coronavirus may sustain long-term health damage. During a live episode of the podcast Healthy You: Surviving a Pandemic, hosted by George Washington University, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country's go-to infectious disease expert, warned about these "long haulers"—those who battle a more mild form of the virus but suffer from lingering side effects for months after. Read on, and click here for the full 98 Signs You've Already Had Coronavirus.1 On the Serious Long-Term Side EffectsLong haulers—those who are still experiencing the wrath of COVID-19 long after the virus subsides—are extremely concerning to Dr. Fauci. He explains that many of the most troubling cases of the virus involve people who did not require hospitalization, and actually recover within a few weeks. However, "a substantial proportion of them don't feel right," experiencing fatigue, muscle aches, and brain fog. "The thing that worries me more is what we're seeing about the subtle insidious effects on the cardiovascular system and the nervous system, namely MRIs and PET scans that show abnormalities of inflammatory processes in the brain, in the heart of some individuals," he explained, adding that it isn't just "1% or 2%" of individuals, but "double digit percent" who are experiencing this. "Now they may be reversible and they may completely clear after a while, but we don't know that. So we better be careful that just because a person survives—and obviously the overwhelming amount of people do survive—that there may be a certain percentage of people who might have serious residual effects to follow that."2 On How Children Are Not Immune to the VirusChildren are not immune to coronavirus, points out Dr. Fauci. "We should not neglect the fact that children, some can get seriously ill," he said, adding that the chances are "much lesser, lesser likelihood than the adults." He also touched upon some of the serious health conditions seen in younger people, revealing that we still don't have a grasp on what the long term damage may be. "There are other syndromes that we're just starting to see right now, inflammatory syndromes that children have. We don't know the extent of that. It seems to be unusual, but we don't know the full extent, but the issue is we're starting to learn a lot about children getting infected. They clearly do. And there've been some studies to show that children from 10 to 19 can transmit to adults as easily as adults transmit to them," he said. 3 On the Not-So-Likelihood That Russia Has a Safe and Effective Vaccine"It's not bogus because he has a vaccine, what's bogus is to say you have a vaccine that's safe and effective," Fauci responded when asked about Russian President Vladamir Putin's claims of a coronavirus vaccine."There's a big difference between having a vaccine and proving in trials, that are really well-designed, randomized placebo-controlled trials, that when you're starting to give it widely to hundreds of millions of people, that you're giving a safe and effective vaccine," he said. "The Russians, to my knowledge and I'm pretty sure I'm correct, have not been studying this intensively in very large, randomized, placebo-controlled trials."4 On the Best Way to Convince People to Get VaccinatedFauci pointed out that "vaccine disinformation can lead to vaccine hesitancy." Therefore, it is important to engage these individuals rather than criticize them—especially those in minority communities. "You get out there and you get community representatives to engage them, to try and be as transparent as you possibly can with the data, answer the questions that they have and try to convince them that vaccinations in general, particularly a safe and effective vaccine for COVID-19, is something that's important for them, their families and society in general," Fauci said. While he hopes that most people will choose to get vaccinated, he would never support a mandated approach, as it would be "unenforceable and inappropriate."5 On How to Send Children Back to School SafelyFauci explained that there isn't a one-size-fits-all answer to sending children to school, and that it should be entirely dependent on the level of infection in the community. "You really want to think twice before you get the children back to school," he admitted. "I don't think there should be an all or none—all the kids go back or all the kids stay locked in. You've got to look at extenuating circumstances and you've got to look at the location where the school is."6 On the Potential for Infection in Colleges and Universities "It's a big, big difference," Fauci said, when asked about how the reopening of colleges and universities should be handled. "People are coming from all over the country. You might be having people coming from red zones, yellow zones and green zones. It really varies." While he admits it may be "conceivable" to successfully bring people back to colleges and universities, it would involve a lot of work—such as testing everyone before coming in, doing intermittent surveillance testing, and having the capability of identifying, isolating and contact tracing.7 On How You Can Help Control This OutbreakIn terms of the pandemic, Dr. Fauci is most concerned about those who aren't abiding by the fundamental principles. "It is completely in our power, even prior to a vaccine, to be able to control this outbreak," he said. "If we abide by the certain fundamental public health principles that we talk about—wearing of masks, physical distancing, avoiding crowds, outdoor more than indoor, sanitation, washing hands with soap and water—if you just do that, you could definitely influence the course of the outbreak." So do as he says, and to get through this pandemic at your healthiest, don't miss these 37 Places You're Most Likely to Catch Coronavirus.
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| U.S companies unveil Iraq investments before premier's White House visit Posted: 19 Aug 2020 01:51 PM PDT  Five U.S. firms including Chevron Corp signed agreements on Wednesday with the Iraqi government aimed at boosting Iraq's energy independence from Iran as the Iraqi prime minister prepared to make his first visit to the White House on Thursday. The U.S. Department of Energy in a statement said that Honeywell International Inc , Baker Hughes Co , General Electric Co , Stellar Energy and Chevron signed commercial agreements worth as much as $8 billion with the Iraqi ministers of oil and electricity.
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| Global Capsule Endoscope Systems Industry Posted: 19 Aug 2020 01:42 PM PDT |
| Mali coup: Military promises elections after ousting president Posted: 19 Aug 2020 01:40 PM PDT President Keïta announced his resignation on Tuesday after being detained by soldiers.
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| Why U.S. intelligence findings undermine the Trump administration's Beijing-centric coronavirus narrative Posted: 19 Aug 2020 01:37 PM PDT  American officials familiar with a new internal report conducted by U.S. intelligence agencies said the findings affirm previous claims that local officials in Wuhan and Hubei Province hid coronavirus information from Beijing at the beginning of the pandemic, The New York Times reports.The U.S. report certainly doesn't exculpate the central government from wrongdoing, which occurred at all levels of the Chinese Communist Party, but it does make for a more nuanced reading of the pandemic's origins and complicates the Trump administration's narrative pinning the spread of the virus directly on Beijing's malfeasance.Michael Pillsbury, a China Scholar at the Hudson Institute who informally advises Trump, said "it makes a huge difference" if Wuhan officials were actually shielding the central government from key information. If Chinese President Xi Jinping wasn't primarily responsible for any cover-ups, Pillsbury told the Times, then his subordinates likely had not engaged in "total deceit" on the coronavirus. That could reopen a door for "good-faith negotiations" between Washington and Beijing that have stalled in large part due to divisions over the virus.Pillsbury, for what it's worth, is a proponent of the U.S. competing with China, but also wants the U.S. to stick to the January trade agreement signed by Trump and Xi. Read more at The New York Times.More stories from theweek.com Joe Biden is already planning a failed presidency The elephant in the room at the DNC 5 brutally funny cartoons about Trump's assault on the Post Office
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| US readies controversial Iran sanctions 'snapback' Posted: 19 Aug 2020 01:20 PM PDT  US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected to activate a controversial mechanism aimed at reimposing UN sanctions on Iran during a visit to New York Thursday, diplomats say.
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| The anti-war wing of both parties is dead Posted: 19 Aug 2020 12:55 PM PDT  Elect Joe Biden, former (Republican) Secretary of State Colin Powell said in his Democratic National Convention appearance Tuesday night, and he'll "restore America's leadership in the world."Powell's comments were followed by a video touting Biden's friendship with the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), another heavyweight GOP hawk. Meanwhile, there's a pro-Biden super PAC of George W. Bush administration alumni, and Biden has racked up support from a who's who of neoconservatives (Bill Kristol, Max Boot, David Frum, Jennifer Rubin), as commentators left and right have observed.These alignments highlight an increasingly undeniable fact of American politics in 2020: The anti-war wing of both major parties is dead. Your presidential choice is between war and war. There's no faction of Republicans or Democrats which combines real power with a durable, principled interest in turning American foreign policy away from global empire.That's not to say no one in major-party politics diverges from Washington's standard-issue military interventionism. There's Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) challenging Trump administration officials in Senate hearings and seeking to counter Trump's more hawkish influences on the links. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) has pushed for the U.S. to exit Yemen's civil war and has slammed the administration's January dalliance with executive warfare against Iran. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) tries every year to rein in abuses of the 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force in Iraq, and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) has spent decades in lonely opposition to military adventurism. As a Democratic presidential candidate this past year, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was more interested in peace than the party establishment which has now twice rejected him as their standard-bearer.I don't mean to discount the good work of these and other comparatively anti-war legislators. It is not without effect. There's some evidence, for example, that Paul steered Trump toward decreasing the U.S. military footprint in Syria. But neither should their ability to retain office confuse us into thinking they have more control over American foreign policy than they do.The reality is these officials and anyone who agrees with them have little meaningful power on this issue — occasional influence, perhaps, but certainly not power than can be reliably wielded. Paul's golf course chats with Trump may eke a win from time to time, but this is a lucky backchannel that can be dammed at any moment. It has no formal, institutional authority. This week's handwringing at Foreign Policy about the supposed ascendancy of "isolationism" on left and right alike is absurd, the foreign policy version of Tucker Carlson's bizarre claim of libertarian dominance of Washington. The main voices advocating greater restraint in American foreign affairs are not isolationist, and though they kick up quite a ruckus, they have little to no say over actual policy direction. How can anyone look at half a dozen wars and think we have an isolationism problem?The Trump vs. Biden race only underlines this state of affairs. Neither will give us a foreign policy that can even plausibly be caricatured as isolationism, Trump's inane protectionism notwithstanding.The president pays occasional lip service to ending "endless wars" and prioritizing diplomacy ("the greatest deals," in his parlance), but his better impulses are constantly overcome by his selfishness, short attention span, stupid militarism, and choice of counsel like Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Trump has brought us closer to open conflict with China, squandered his chance for productive negotiations with North Korea, exacerbated tensions with Iran, and repeatedly recommitted to enabling Saudi war crimes. What few good foreign policy ideas he hits upon are almost always happenstance byproducts of service to his own political fortunes. He has yet to end a single war.Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris, are more conventional liberal interventionists than Trump, but the crucial assumption of intervention is same. There are a few points for war critics to like here, including Biden's vehement opposition to the Obama-era surge in Afghanistan, Harris's objection to U.S. involvement in Yemen, and their plan to rejoin the Iran nuclear deal. Biden pledges he'll "end the forever wars in Afghanistan and the Middle East," but, like Trump, lacks a specific plan to do so. Biden has no apparent interest in Pentagon cuts, has hired some markedly hawkish advisers (are all those neocons going to stick around, too?), and is trying to out-hawk Trump on China. Certainly with Biden we can expect more multilateral diplomacy and fewer reckless tweets, but there's little reason to think he'll break the broader foreign policy patterns of the past 20 years.From a purely political perspective, what's curious about all this is the mutual foregoing of potential electoral gain. Restraint rhetoric is consistently popular — our last three presidents all campaigned on it to some degree — and public opinion is on a years-long trend toward wanting a smaller U.S. military role abroad, one more tailored to defending U.S. interests, narrowly conceived. You'd think one party or the other would espy an opportunity here.Or perhaps both already have. Each candidate has duly recited his lines about ending endless wars and can truthfully point to his opponent's failure to do likewise. And whoever takes office in January can continue exactly that failure, probably without much political consequence. He can deplore his bombs and drop them too. Americans will remain preoccupied with more immediate domestic concerns; Washington will stay stuck in its interventionist consensus; and those endless wars will live up to their name.More stories from theweek.com Joe Biden is already planning a failed presidency The elephant in the room at the DNC 5 brutally funny cartoons about Trump's assault on the Post Office
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| Iowa governor's push to reopen schools descends into chaos Posted: 19 Aug 2020 12:35 PM PDT  An aggressive push by Iowa's pro-Trump governor to reopen schools amid a worsening coronavirus outbreak has descended into chaos, with some districts and teachers rebelling and experts calling the scientific benchmarks used by the state arbitrary and unsafe. At issue is Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds' mandate in July that districts offer at least 50% classroom instruction. The conflict intensified Wednesday when the statewide teachers union announced a lawsuit challenging the governor's ability to make such decisions for local districts.
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| US won't seek death penalty against pair of IS militants Posted: 19 Aug 2020 12:33 PM PDT  The Justice Department has notified the British government that it will not pursue the death penalty against two Islamic State militants suspected in the beheadings of Western hostages, removing a hurdle in the potential prosecution of the men in the United States. The decision could open the door to Britain to begin sharing evidence with federal prosecutors in the U.S for any possible case against El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey. An earlier British court ruling had blocked the sharing of evidence with U.S. authorities because the U.S. had not offered assurances that the death penalty, which was abolished years ago in the United Kingdom, was off the table.
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| Greek national security adviser resigns over Turkey remarks Posted: 19 Aug 2020 12:33 PM PDT  Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' top national security adviser stepped down Wednesday after suggesting that Greece conceded ground to Turkey in the neighbors' ongoing face-off over offshore energy prospecting rights in the eastern Mediterranean. Alexandros Diakopoulos said his comments — which he had later retracted — "caused confusion and created a problem" for Mitsotakis and his center-right government, "which was not my intention." Over the past 10 days, Greek and Turkish warships have been shadowing each other between the island of Crete, southern Turkey and Cyprus, waters where Turkey sent a research ship to look for potential undersea gas and oil deposits.
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| UN Security Council urges Mali mutineers to return to barracks Posted: 19 Aug 2020 12:24 PM PDT  The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday urged mutineers in Mali to immediately release detained officials, including the country's president, and "return to their barracks without delay."
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| Trump, Pence campaign events signal lax approach to virus Posted: 19 Aug 2020 12:19 PM PDT  Sitting and standing shoulder to shoulder, some without face masks, hundreds of supporters of President Donald Trump jammed into an airplane hangar for an Arizona campaign event this week, ignoring the advice of Trump's own health experts. Like his boss, Vice President Mike Pence went mask-less in Iowa last week as he reached across a barrier to autograph a half-dozen familiar red Trump campaign hats, literally crossing the line of vulnerability outlined by the coronavirus task force he heads. The episodes, along with similar ones in New Jersey, Florida and Wisconsin, project a confusing message to the public even as Trump and Pence are trying to secure the confidence of Americans during a global pandemic and in the lead-up to the November election.
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| Global Blood Warmer Devices/Sample Warmer Industry Posted: 19 Aug 2020 12:02 PM PDT |
| US blacklists UAE firms for supporting Iran airline Posted: 19 Aug 2020 12:00 PM PDT  The US Treasury placed two United Arab Emirates-based companies on its sanctions blacklist Wednesday for their support of Iran's already-sanctioned Mahan Air.
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| U.N. Security Council condemns mutiny in Mali, urges soldiers return to barracks Posted: 19 Aug 2020 11:40 AM PDT |
| Israel pushes for changes in UN's Lebanon peacekeeping force Posted: 19 Aug 2020 11:35 AM PDT  As the United Nations prepares to renew the mandate of its peacekeeping operation in southern Lebanon, Israel is working with Security Council members to push for tough changes in the way the force deals with the Hezbollah militant group, Israeli officials said Wednesday. Israeli diplomatic and military officials say the force, known as UNIFIL, has been largely ineffective and see the upcoming vote on extending its mandate as an opportunity to make reforms. UNIFIL was originally created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops after a 1978 invasion.
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| Syrian refugee's relief after testimony at war crimes trial Posted: 19 Aug 2020 11:23 AM PDT  A Syrian refugee in Germany spoke of his relief after being able to testify Wednesday at the trial of two ex-members of Syria's secret police who are accused of crimes against humanity, the first high-profile case worldwide against former officials during the long-running conflict. Wassim Mukdad, who fled to Germany four years ago, is among more than a dozen alleged victims testifying before a regional German court about the abuse they suffered at a Syrian government detention center where thousands of opposition protesters were tortured. The main defendant in the trial is Anwar Raslan, a former member of Syria's secret police suspected of overseeing the abuse of detainees at the notorious Al Khatib jail near Damascus, also known as Branch 251.
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| Global Domain Name System (DNS) Firewall Industry Posted: 19 Aug 2020 11:22 AM PDT |
| UN: 45 migrants killed when boat capsizes off coast of Libya Posted: 19 Aug 2020 11:18 AM PDT |
| Global Electric and Hybrid Vehicles Driveline Industry Posted: 19 Aug 2020 11:02 AM PDT |
| Ex-FBI lawyer admits to false statement during Russia probe Posted: 19 Aug 2020 10:47 AM PDT  A former FBI lawyer pleaded guilty Wednesday to altering a document related to the secret surveillance of a former Trump campaign adviser during the Russia investigation. Kevin Clinesmith is the first current or former official to be charged in a special Justice Department review of the investigation into ties between Russia and Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. Attorney General William Barr appointed John Durham, the U.S. attorney in Connecticut, to scrutinize decisions made by officials during that probe.
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| Global Electric Vehicle Range Extender Industry Posted: 19 Aug 2020 10:42 AM PDT |
| Iran surpasses 20,000 COVID deaths Posted: 19 Aug 2020 09:51 AM PDT  Iran surpassed 20,000 coronavirus deaths Wednesday, the highest death toll in any Middle East country amid the pandemic so far. Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said Wednesday that the Islamic Republic — also the home of the Middle East's first major COVID-19 outbreak months ago — has recorded 20,125 coronavirus deaths and 350,200 confirmed cases of the virus, the Associated Press reports. The toll follows Iran managing to stem the outbreak, which then saw spikes once more in June, and comes on the heels of Iran's decision to hold its university entrance exams for about 1.4 million students — which generally take place in large groups in large testing centers for several hours.
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| Harris prepares to make history with VP acceptance speech Posted: 19 Aug 2020 09:50 AM PDT  Kamala Harris is poised to make history on Wednesday as the first Black woman to accept a spot on a major party's presidential ticket, a moment intended to galvanize Democratic voters heading into the fall campaign against President Donald Trump. This will be her second time speaking to the Democratic National Convention. Former President Barack Obama will speak ahead of Harris, the nation's first Black president handing off to the first Black woman on a major presidential ticket.
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| Global Food & Beverage Disinfection Industry Posted: 19 Aug 2020 09:42 AM PDT |
| UN: Committee drafting new Syria constitution meets Aug. 24 Posted: 19 Aug 2020 09:41 AM PDT |
| Global Food Service Packaging Industry Posted: 19 Aug 2020 09:22 AM PDT |
| Global Food Ultrasound Industry Posted: 19 Aug 2020 09:02 AM PDT |
| UN hails aid workers after record attacks Posted: 19 Aug 2020 08:51 AM PDT  The United Nations paid tribute Wednesday to humanitarian workers now battling the COVID-19 pandemic after a year in which they found themselves under greater attack than ever before.
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| Sanders, rising Democrats call for Midwest to unite to win Posted: 19 Aug 2020 08:47 AM PDT  Sen. Bernie Sanders and others from the liberal wing of the Democratic Party called on Democrats from key Midwestern states Wednesday to work together to not only defeat President Donald Trump, but to also forge ahead with a progressive agenda. All three are central to this year's campaign of both Democratic nominee Joe Biden and Trump.
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| Editorial Roundup: US Posted: 19 Aug 2020 08:44 AM PDT |
| Pompeo pledges support for Iraq, targets pro-Iran militias Posted: 19 Aug 2020 08:36 AM PDT  Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pledged on Wednesday that the Trump administration will continue to support Iraq as it confronts the threat posed by the Islamic State group, but he also called for the Baghdad government to redouble efforts to rein in pro-Iran militias. Pompeo said the United States was committed to helping Iraq regain and maintain security, despite President Donald Trump's oft-stated desire to reduce and then eliminate the American troop presence there.
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| Putin's unexpected dilemma: What to do in Belarus? Posted: 19 Aug 2020 08:28 AM PDT  The eruption of anti-government protests in Belarus has presented an unexpected dilemma for President Vladimir Putin, with the Kremlin strongman cautiously weighing his options at a sensitive moment for Russia.
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| Trail of bubbles leads scientists to new coronavirus clue Posted: 19 Aug 2020 08:14 AM PDT  A doctor checking comatose COVID-19 patients for signs of a stroke instead stumbled onto a new clue about how the virus may harm the lungs -- thanks to a test that used tiny air bubbles and a robot. Dr. Alexandra Reynolds, a neurologist at New York's Mount Sinai Health System, initially was baffled as she tracked "the cacophony of sound" made by those harmless bubbles passing through the bloodstream of patient after patient. As patients flooded New York hospitals last spring, Mount Sinai's intensive care unit that usually handles patients with brain diseases turned overnight into a COVID-19 ward, with patients heavily sedated as ventilators kept them alive.
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| Obama, in scathing Trump rebuke, warns democracy on the line Posted: 19 Aug 2020 08:05 AM PDT  Barack Obama will issue a blistering rebuke of President Donald Trump in Wednesday's Democratic Party convention, accusing his successor of unleashing America's "worst impulses" and treating the presidency as a reality show "to get the attention he craves." In excerpts released ahead of his address, the former president also puts the stakes in the November election in stark terms, warning that the future of American democracy is on the line in the race between Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden. "I am also asking you to believe in your own ability — to embrace your own responsibility as citizens — to make sure that the basic tenets of our democracy endure," Obama says in the excerpts.
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| Global Marine Grease Industry Posted: 19 Aug 2020 08:02 AM PDT |
| George Clooney-Backed Investigative Org Exposes North Korean Banking Scandal In DR Congo Posted: 19 Aug 2020 07:52 AM PDT |
| Christiana Figueres, Architect of the Historic Paris Climate Agreement, to Keynote the 2020 Greenbuild International Conference and Expo Posted: 19 Aug 2020 07:00 AM PDT |
