| London's famous Tower Bridge gets stuck in an open position Posted: 22 Aug 2020 12:43 PM PDT  London's famous Tower Bridge, which crosses the River Thames in the heart of the British capital, was stuck open on Saturday, leaving traffic in chaos and onlookers amazed at the sight. The historic bascule-and-suspension bridge failed to close after opening to allow ships to pass underneath on the Thames. City of London police tweeted shortly after 5 p.m. that the bridge was closed to pedestrians and traffic and mechanics were working to fix the problem.
|
| Protests against Israeli PM continue with momentum Posted: 22 Aug 2020 12:30 PM PDT  Thousands of Israelis protested outside the prime minister's official residence Saturday as summer-long demonstrations against Benjamin Netanyahu maintained their momentum. The protesters want the embattled Netanyahu to give up his post while he is on trial for corruption charges. The government's mishaps in handling the coronavirus crisis after relative success in its early stages has also fueled the demonstrations.
|
| 2 bodies found, 2 missing after explosion in Texas port Posted: 22 Aug 2020 12:13 PM PDT  The bodies of two missing crew members of a dredging boat were found Saturday following an explosion a day earlier in the Port of Corpus Christi in Texas, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. Two other crew members of the dredging vessel Waymon L Boyd remain missing and the search for them continues, Coast Guard Capt. Jason Gunning said during a Saturday afternoon news conference. The explosion happened at about 8 a.m. Friday when the vessel struck a submerged pipeline, according to the Coast Guard, and Port of Corpus Christi officials said it was a natural gas pipeline.
|
| Pompeo, Kushner to Mideast as US presses Arab-Israeli peace Posted: 22 Aug 2020 11:58 AM PDT  The Trump administration will send two top officials to the Middle East this week in a bid to capitalize on momentum from the historic agreement between Israeli and the United Arab Emirates to establish diplomatic relations. Three diplomats say Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and President Donald Trump's senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner plan to make separate, multiple-nation visits to the region in the coming days to push Arab-Israeli rapprochement in the aftermath of the Israel-UAE deal. Pompeo is expected to depart on Sunday for Israel, Bahrain, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Sudan, according to the diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the itinerary has not yet been finalized or publicly announced.
|
| Kushner reportedly plans Middle East trip to build on Israel-UAE deal Posted: 22 Aug 2020 11:24 AM PDT  President Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner is apparently heading to the Middle East next month in an attempt to keep momentum going after the U.S. helped broker a deal that normalized relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Axios reports.Kushner, along with White House envoy Avi Berkowitz, National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien, and the State Department's Special Envoy for Iran Brian Hook, is expected to make stops in Israel and several Gulf states, per Axios. The goal of the trip is to scope out the early days of the Israel-UAE deal and congratulate the countries' leaders, but he will also reportedly attempt to encourage other countries in the region, including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Oman, to strike similar agreements with Israel. U.S. officials have targeted those three countries as possibly being open to establishing diplomatic ties with Israel.President Trump has specifically said he expects Saudi Arabia to follow the UAE, but Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said that won't be possible until Israel achieves peace with Palestine. Read more at Axios.More stories from theweek.com Small-time scams are dissolving America from the inside The blocks behind Elizabeth Warren during her DNC speech held a secret message for sharp-eyed viewers The Trump show has jumped the shark
|
| Iran says 164 health care professionals among pandemic dead Posted: 22 Aug 2020 11:23 AM PDT |
| WHO says children aged 12 and over should wear masks like adults Posted: 22 Aug 2020 10:58 AM PDT |
| Ketamine that's injected during arrests draws new scrutiny Posted: 22 Aug 2020 10:08 AM PDT  Police stopped Elijah McClain on the street in suburban Denver last year after deeming the young Black man suspicious. Paramedics inject it into people like McClain as a sedative, often at the behest of police who believe suspects are out of control. Officially, ketamine is used in emergencies when there's a safety concern for medical staff or the patient.
|
| In just a week, wildfires burn 1 million acres in California Posted: 22 Aug 2020 09:43 AM PDT  Firefighters in California were racing to slow the spread of wildfires that burned nearly one million acres in a week and destroyed hundreds of homes as weekend weather threatened to spark new fires and overwhelm the state's firefighting ability. Responding to the emergency, President Donald Trump issued on Saturday a major disaster declaration to provide federal assistance. Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement that the declaration will also help people in counties affected by the fires with crisis counseling, housing and other social services.
|
| Spruced-up White House Rose Garden set for first lady speech Posted: 22 Aug 2020 08:53 AM PDT  The White House Rose Garden has been spruced up in time for its moment in the campaign spotlight. First lady Melania Trump will deliver her Republican National Convention speech Tuesday night from the garden, famous for its close proximity to the Oval Office. White House officials said the renovations were paid for by private donations.
|
| Fredie Blom: 'World's oldest man' dies aged 116 in South Africa Posted: 22 Aug 2020 08:44 AM PDT  Fredie Blom's identity documents showed he was born in 1904, although his record was never verified.
|
| AP FACT CHECK: Trump's distortion on Dems and the pledge Posted: 22 Aug 2020 08:14 AM PDT  President Donald Trump is accusing the Democrats of taking God out of the Pledge of Allegiance at their national convention. Remember Evangelical Christians, and ALL, this is where they are coming from-it's done. The first night of the Democratic National Convention, Joe Biden's grandchildren said the pledge, followed by the convention's chorus of "The Star Spangled Banner."
|
| As more colleges stay online, students demand tuition cuts Posted: 22 Aug 2020 07:49 AM PDT  As more universities abandon plans to reopen and decide instead to keep classes online this fall, it's leading to conflict between students who say they deserve tuition discounts and college leaders who insist remote learning is worth the full cost. Disputes are flaring both at colleges that announced weeks ago they would stick with virtual instruction and at those that only recently lost hope of reopening their campuses. Among the latest schools facing pressure to lower tuition are Michigan State University and Ithaca College, which scrapped plans to reopen after seeing other colleges struggle to contain coronavirus outbreaks.
|
| The bully pulpit: Trump pushes Washington, but virus resists Posted: 22 Aug 2020 07:40 AM PDT  His face framed by the golden Oval Office curtains behind him, President Donald Trump stared straight into the camera aimed at the Resolute Desk. Trump, whose improbable election ripped up the rules of American politics, had spent three-plus years defying history and orthodoxy in a chaotic spectacle that dominated the national discourse and fervently engaged both sides of a bitterly divided country. It was the kind of test presidents inevitably must face, and Trump responded with trademark certitude.
|
| With Coronavirus Cases Surging, Europe Braces for New Phase in Pandemic Posted: 22 Aug 2020 07:20 AM PDT  LONDON -- For all of the challenges in controlling the spread of the coronavirus, Europe's initial strategy was relatively straightforward: nearly universal, strictly enforced lockdowns.It eventually worked. And in the two months since most countries have opened up, improved testing and tracing have largely kept new outbreaks in check, and with basic rules on wearing masks and social distancing, life has been able to resume with some semblance of normality.But in recent days France, Germany and Italy have experienced their highest daily case counts since the spring, and Spain finds itself in the midst of a major outbreak. Government authorities and public health officials are warning that the Continent is entering a new phase in the pandemic.There isn't the widespread chaos and general sense of crisis seen in March and April. And newly detected infections per 100,000 people across Europe are still only about one-fifth the number in the United States over the last week, according to a New York Times database.But there are growing concerns that with the summer travel season drawing to a close, the virus could find a new foothold as people move their lives indoors and the fall flu season begins.With countries employing a variety of strategies -- and with rules often changing suddenly and guidance varying from nation to nation -- it remains to be seen which tactics will prove both enforceable and effective.The virus is also spreading across a landscape vastly changed from the one it found in the spring, with many cities' centers still largely empty of office workers and a public on guard.The increase in cases in Europe, as in many other parts of the world, is being driven by young people: The proportion of people ages 15-24 who are infected in Europe has risen from around 4.5% to 15% in the last five months, according to the World Health Organization.Dr. Hans Kluge, its director for Europe, said Thursday that he was "very concerned" that people under age 24 were regularly appearing among new cases."Low risk does not mean no risk," he said. "No one is invincible, and if you do not die from COVID, it may stick to your body like a tornado with a long tail."This time, European leaders have largely avoided imposing widespread lockdowns, and are instead relying on measures like targeted restrictions on movement in hot spots, increased mask requirements and public health education campaigns.Kluge said that strategy could work."Between the basic measures at the national level and additional targeted measures, we are in a much better position to eradicate localized viral outbreaks," he said. "We can manage the virus and keep the economy and the education system running."In France, President Emmanuel Macron has ruled out another countrywide lockdown, opting instead for "very localized strategies.""We cannot bring the country to a halt, because the collateral damage of confinement is considerable," he told Paris Match magazine this week, adding that "zero risk never exists in a society."A growing number of French cities have made mask wearing mandatory in crowded streets and markets, and on Thursday the southern cities of Nice and Toulouse became the first to extend the rule to all outdoor areas.But as the number of new infections rises daily -- on Thursday, there were nearly 4,800 new infections, a figure not reached since April -- some wonder whether the government is being too lax.Olivier Veran, the health minister, acknowledged Friday that the virus's spread was "accelerating," but he said the situation would remain under control as long as people observed social distancing and hygiene measures."We are several days away from the return from vacations," Veran said, warning that "people are going to get back to their lives" in places like offices and schools."The virus must not spread from younger people to older people," he added.A surge in cases in Spain, however, illustrates the difficulties of an ad hoc approach to virus suppression.Since the lifting of a state of emergency in June, 17 regional governments in the country have been directing their own efforts. That has left Spain splintered into a mosaic of different rules, many of which had to be changed almost immediately once hundreds of local outbreaks were identified.Countries like Britain have now introduced self-quarantine rules on travelers coming from Spain, wrecking Spanish hopes of a strong summer tourism recovery. Nightclubs were closed again within weeks of reopening, and some Spanish regions have recently gone further, including banning smoking in public outdoor spaces.The back-and-forth has also been coupled with uncertainty over whether regions are doing enough testing and tracing of infections. In the Madrid region, labor unions representing schoolteachers voted Wednesday to go on strike rather than reopen classrooms in September, in protest over what they consider inadequate safety guarantees from the regional government."Nobody should be in any doubt," Dr. Fernando Simon, the director of Spain's health emergency center, said Thursday. "Things are not going well."The approach in Britain, which has had the greatest rate of excess deaths in Europe during the pandemic, has a similarly disjointed feel, with sudden rule changes often confusing the public.In Birmingham, residents are facing the return of the "dark days" of lockdown, a local official has said, after a surge of new cases was reported. In northern England, including around Manchester, people from different households have been barred from meeting.But the country's health secretary, Matt Hancock, told the BBC this week that workers should go back to their offices. And the government is funding an initiative to get people back out into restaurants, covering a portion of the cost of some meals.The authorities are also requiring 14 days of self-quarantine for travelers coming from Austria, Croatia, France and the Netherlands, and have warned that more countries could be added.In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel has vowed to tackle the spread of the virus without closing national borders, despite a rise in daily infections not experienced since the end of April. She said Thursday that the European Union must be united and that it needed to "act even more European" to stop the virus."I don't think we're just going to close the borders again," she said. "Politically, we really want to avoid that at all costs."Nearly 40% of recent new infections in Germany have been brought back by returning vacationers, according to the government.The country's Foreign Ministry has warned against traveling to several popular destinations, including most of Spain and parts of Croatia. But returning travelers can now be tested for free at German airports.And even if political leaders did want to impose lockdowns again, there are indications that the public would not be so compliant a second time around.This month, tens of thousands of people in Berlin took part in demonstrations against coronavirus restrictions. And in the Netherlands, dozens of protesters from a group claiming that the virus was a government hoax clashed with police officers in The Hague on Thursday, an extreme example of rising tensions over the Dutch government's handling of the pandemic.Face masks, now common in much of Europe, have been a subject of confusion in the Netherlands, where the head of the country's National Institute of Public Health, Jaap van Dissel, has said that masks offer "fake protection."Although masks are now required on public transit, the Dutch government says it is more important for people to stay 6 feet apart in all situations. It has also urged people not to have more than six guests in their homes.Public wariness with regulations has been blamed for an uptick of cases in Belgium.As the summer has progressed, many people there stopped wearing masks in stores, and police have had to break up partying students at major squares in Brussels.As the infection rate has ticked up, politicians issued more restrictions and Prime Minister Sophie Wilmes issued broad mask-wearing requirements."The future will depend on the behavior of everyone," she said. "These are not suggestions, but orders."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company
|
| Top West Africa envoys meet in Mali with junta after coup Posted: 22 Aug 2020 07:01 AM PDT  Top West African officials met with the junta leaders and Mali's deposed president Saturday in the capital trying to negotiate a return to civilian rule after a coup this week. The mediation efforts came a day after thousands of Malians took to the streets of Bamako, the capital, to celebrate the coup that ousted elected President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. The West African regional bloc known as ECOWAS has strongly condemned the coup and said the high-level delegation will work "to ensure the immediate return of constitutional order."
|
| Mississippi flag designs: Would they make good tattoos? Posted: 22 Aug 2020 06:13 AM PDT  After mothballing its old Confederate-themed state flag, Mississippi could choose a new one with a magnolia, a shield with wavy lines representing water, or an "edgy" representation of the Mississippi River snaking along the state's western border. The Associated Press consulted three experts about five final designs to possibly replace the flag that was retired July 1. Steve Knowlton of Princeton, New Jersey, said the winning design should be simple and distinctive enough to be replicated on tattoos and pizza boxes.
|
| Leaked patent images reveal Russia's take on the Rolls-Royce Cullinan Posted: 22 Aug 2020 06:00 AM PDT  It's made by Aurus, the firm founded to develop president Vladimir Putin's limousine. Ostensibly aimed at the Bentley Bentayga and the Rolls-Royce Cullinan, the Aurus Komendant wears a stately design characterized by horizontal, rectangular headlights positioned on either side of a tall, upright grille with vertical slats. It's a design that borrows styling cues from the Senat, the aforementioned limousine, and that falls in line with the prototypes seen testing in the bitter Russian cold earlier this year.
|
| Russian opposition leader Navalny still comatose but stable after transfer to Berlin hospital Posted: 22 Aug 2020 05:20 AM PDT  Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has made it to Berlin after all.Navalny, a prominent critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been comatose since falling ill on a flight from Siberia to Moscow on Thursday. Medical staff at the Omsk, Russia, hospital where he was previously treated had initially refused to allow his transfer to the German capital, claiming he was too unstable to move, but they appeared to relent after international scrutiny, The Washington Post reports.Upon arrival in Berlin, Navalny was taken to a hospital where he underwent a comprehensive medical examination. Doctors reportedly would not comment on his illness or treatment until those were completed, although his supporters believe he was poisoned at the behest of the Kremlin. The hospital in Omsk denied the claims, but toxicology experts have expressed doubts poison could have been ruled out so quickly, The Associated Press reports. Moscow has similarly been accused of delaying the Berlin transfer.Jaka Bizilj of the German organization Cinema for Peace, which organized the flight, said Navalny is in stable condition. Read more at The Washington Post and The Associated Press.More stories from theweek.com Small-time scams are dissolving America from the inside Kushner reportedly plans Middle East trip to build on Israel-UAE deal The blocks behind Elizabeth Warren during her DNC speech held a secret message for sharp-eyed viewers
|
| Four years later, Republican senators admit, "yes, Trump conspired with the Russians" Posted: 22 Aug 2020 04:29 AM PDT  The Trump-Putin election scheming is laid out in the Republican-led Intelligence Committee's 1,000-page report
|
| UN atomic watchdog chief heading to Iran; seeks more access Posted: 22 Aug 2020 04:04 AM PDT |
| Pakistan sanctions Taliban to avoid global finance blacklist Posted: 22 Aug 2020 02:48 AM PDT  Pakistan has issued sweeping financial sanctions against Afghanistan's Taliban, just as the militant group is in the midst of a U.S.-led peace process in the neighboring country. The penalties, made public late Friday, target dozens of individuals including Taliban chief peace negotiator Abdul Ghani Baradar and several members of the Haqqani family, including Sirajuddin, the current head of the Haqqani network and deputy head of the Taliban.
|
| Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny arrives at Berlin for emergency treatment following alleged poisoning Posted: 22 Aug 2020 02:21 AM PDT  Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is being treated in a Berlin hospital for a suspected poisoning, after landing in Germany on Saturday morning on an emergency flight from Siberia. Supporters believe Mr Navalny - a prominent critic of Vladimir Putin, the Russian president - was poisoned, a claim disputed by Russian medical officials. Accompanied by his wife Yulia Navalnaya, Mr Navalny was transferred by air ambulance from Omsk in Siberia and landed in Berlin's Tegel Airport at 8:30am on Saturday morning, German media reported. He was later transferred to the Berlin's Charité Hospital, Germany's largest university clinic. Mr Navalny is currently in an induced coma and breathing through a ventilator. Doctors have described his condition as 'stable', according to local reports.
|
| South Korea, China reaffirm plans for leaders' summit Posted: 22 Aug 2020 02:17 AM PDT  Senior South Korean and Chinese officials on Saturday reaffirmed plans to arrange a summit between their leaders "at an early date" once coronavirus concerns subside, Seoul's presidential office said. At a meeting in the South Korean port city of Busan, top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi and South Korea's national security adviser, Suh Hoon, also discussed the international standoff over North Korea's nuclear weapons program and rising tensions between Washington and Beijing, the Blue House said in a statement. The government of South Korean President Moon Jae-in has been eager to improve bilateral relations that have been strained since South Korea deployed a U.S. anti-missile system on its soil in 2017 over Chinese objections.
|
| Most Russians Say ‘Hell, No!’ They're Not Taking Putin’s COVID-19 Vaccine Posted: 22 Aug 2020 02:11 AM PDT  MOSCOW— Vladimir Putin has registered the world's first state-approved vaccine against the coronavirus and probably expected congratulations—at least at home—for winning the global race for a vaccine, but even Russians aren't so sure this is a good idea.Epidemiologists, pharmacologists, and doctors in Russia have responded to the alleged breakthrough with skepticism, and they certainly aren't lining up to be injected first.Russian scientists plan to start the final stage of the trials on Monday, planning to begin the mass vaccination in October. Siberian scientists in the city of Novosibirsk are offering thousands of volunteers $1,997 for giving the vaccine a try, Znak news website reports. That is a lot of money for Novosibirsk, where the average monthly wage is $519. Many fear it is dangerous to open the vaccine to the public weeks before the third-stage trials are completed. "It seems that five months for the creation of such an important drug is too short a time," an article in popular newspaper Kommersant noted on Friday. The whole enterprise evokes Soviet-era scientific experimentation which included many great advances but sometimes carried a deadly price tag, from botched vaccines and accidental leaks from weapons labs, to the nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl.The Real Reason Behind Russia's COVID-19 Vaccine HacksTo promote the world-first vaccine, Putin has boasted that one of his own daughters was among the first to volunteer. The authorities want thousands more Russians aged between 18 and 60 to follow suit. The Daily Beast asked Russian doctors, scientists, business leaders, artists, housewives, and pensioners whether they would dare to take the untested, but potentially life-saving vaccine.The president of the Russian Society of Evidence-based Medicine, Dr. Vasily Vlasov, said he had no plans to use the vaccine, nor would he recommend it to his friends or family. He sounded frustrated, explaining that there was no way to examine any of the findings from the first two stages of the trials. "They announced the vaccine was ready; but the creators still have not published the actual results of their research," he said. "Everything is based on some unclear protocols and the longer they delay publishing, the more doubts people will have."The research looked a lot like a secret military operation from the start. The vaccine, created by a team of experts from the Russian Defense Ministry and the Gamaleya Institute, is called Sputnik V, in honor of the Cold War-era space-race winning satellite, which has also given its name to one of Russia's leading state-operated propaganda news sites.Leading epidemiologists and a trade group for medical experiments, the Russian Association of Clinical Trials, publicly urged the Kremlin to delay the vaccine's registration, but they were ignored. Some scientists warned that it was possible Sputnik V could even make the disease more virulent in those who have been vaccinated.The number of Sputnik volunteers remains unclear. Some sources suggest that just 76 people took part in trials, others said hundreds had been given the vaccine—some of them unofficially—before formal registration. Russian epidemiologists have been forced to rely on rumors: "Since the second phase was conducted by the Defense Ministry, everything's kept as a big secret," said Mikhail Favorov, an epidemiologist, who is worried about potential side effects. "Once the vaccine's been administered, there is nothing to be done—that's what is awful.""This vaccine is made of politics," said Alexander Nevzorov, a well-known radio observer. "This is a pharmacological record. Thirty eight people tried it, while the entire world says that 5,000 is not enough—this is both a record and a record of absolute impudence [arrogance?]."Normal life has been returning to Russia after lockdown: local tourism is booming and passengers are crowding onto planes, many without masks on. Moscow's restaurants, gyms and galleries are once again buzzing with visitors, though every day, the capital reports between 600 and 700 new cases. There is no doubt that an effective vaccine is needed here, just as it is in the rest of the world.To try to attract Russians to take the Sputnik V vaccination, the government invited the editor-in-chief of Echo of Moscow, Aleksey Venediktov, to try the vaccine. In a broadcast, he said he had declined. So did Venediktov's deputy, Olga Bychkova: "I don't want to become a guinea pig for these medical experiments," she told The Daily Beast.The Kremlin has high hopes for Sputnik V—imagining that it could capture as much as a quarter of the world's demand for a coronavirus vaccine, which would make $75 billion, according to the business newspaper Vedomosti.Denis Logunov, one of the Russian vaccine's creators, explained that the accelerated registration was needed "so that people from the risk group could participate in the study." That explanation brought no comfort to people with family members in at-risk groups. "My son, a scientist researching COVID, will not let me get vaccinated with Sputnik V, since the reaction could poison me," said Olga Frolova, a 67-year old pensioner.Many feel Russia should at least wait until some of the early volunteers have been exposed to the coronavirus and the effectiveness of the vaccine is properly tested. One of Lukoil's top managers, Vasily Zubakin, had a simple explanation for his decision to wait: "Being in the at-risk group at 61, I am simply afraid," he said.There is a deep-rooted public respect for doctors and scientists in Russia. Research conducted by the Higher School of Economics a few years ago asked what occupations people personally respected, and 41 percent named doctors as the most respected professionals. Yet for generations, authorities made doctors cover up a record of bad side effects to vaccines in the Soviet Union. "For decades, the Soviet government kept post-vaccine medical complications a secret. It wasn't until 1998 that the Russian Health Ministry drew up compensation laws," Vlasov told The Daily Beast. "I remember children suffering from cysts, and infected bones after Soviet vaccination against TB. We still have many questions about coronavirus."Among the Moscow elite, pop stars, film directors, radio and TV presenters all fear the impact of the coronavirus on their work. Theaters, which are at the heart of Russia's cultural life, are about to open their doors for the new season.Keeping the virus at bay is crucial for thousands in the entertainment industry, but many remain skeptical. "For now both me and all my friends feel doubtful about the creation of this vaccine, the fuss around it," popular comedian and choreographer, Yekaterina Varnava, told The Daily Beast. "At least eight months of trials should pass before it truly becomes real, legit; it's unclear how they suddenly made it work."Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
|
| AP PHOTOS: In Belarus, protesters show pride, worry, empathy Posted: 22 Aug 2020 12:56 AM PDT  Behind each protester in Belarus is a surprising story of awakening. A police officer who quit his job, ashamed of violence by his colleagues. Holding signs or personal tokens of resistance, they described their fears and hopes to The Associated Press, after nearly two weeks of protests against President Alexander Lukashenko's 26-year rule.
|
| Plane carrying Kremlin critic Navalny lands in Berlin - flight tracking data Posted: 22 Aug 2020 12:03 AM PDT |
| Comatose Russian dissident stable upon arrival in Germany Posted: 21 Aug 2020 11:55 PM PDT  Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, in a coma after a suspected poisoning, was flown from Siberia on Saturday to Berlin for treatment by specialists at the German capital's main hospital. After touching down shortly before 9 a.m. at a special area of the capital's Tegel airport used for government and military flights, Navalny was taken by ambulance to the downtown campus of Berlin's Charité hospital. "He survived the flight and he's stable," Jaka Bizilj, of the German organization Cinema For Peace, which organized the flight, told The Associated Press.
|
| Trump struggles to use power of presidency to counter Biden Posted: 21 Aug 2020 10:56 PM PDT  President Donald Trump spent the week of the Democratic National Convention forsaking what has historically been an incumbent's greatest advantage: He's in the job his challenger wants. It was a consequence of Trump's unwillingness to share the limelight, but also a necessary attempt to shift the November campaign from a referendum on his job performance to a choice between himself and Joe Biden. Trump is not hoping to win over converts.
|
| Tough choices for GOP over a Postal Service Trump belittles Posted: 21 Aug 2020 10:22 PM PDT  Congressional Republicans in tight reelections are in a precarious position over the embattled Postal Service as its bosses impose cost-cutting measures on one of the government's few beloved agencies. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a major Trump donor, insists he's trying to economize at an agency that's long bled billions annually. Meanwhile, Trump has railed almost daily about the Postal Service, which he considers wasteful, and has threatened to oppose extra money to help it handle expected record levels of mail-in ballots this fall, driven by the coronavirus pandemic.
|
| Reinforcements arriving to help in deadly California fires Posted: 21 Aug 2020 10:22 PM PDT  Firefighters and aircraft from 10 states began arriving in California Friday to help weary crews battling some of the largest blazes in state history as weekend weather threatened to renew the advance of flames that have killed six people and incinerated hundreds of homes. The bulk of damage was from three clusters of blazes that were ravaging forest and rural areas in the wine country and San Francisco Bay Area. Two Bay Area clusters, the LNU Lightning Complex and the SCU Lightning Complex, became respectively the second- and third-largest wildfires in recent state history by size, according to Cal Fire records.
|
| House passes bill to reverse changes blamed for mail delays Posted: 21 Aug 2020 10:16 PM PDT  With heated debate over mail delays, the House approved legislation in a rare Saturday session that would reverse recent changes in U.S. Postal Service operations and send $25 billion to shore up the agency ahead of the November election. Speaker Nancy Pelosi recalled lawmakers to Washington over objections from Republicans dismissing the action as a stunt. President Donald Trump urged a no vote, including in a Saturday tweet, railing against mail-in ballots expected to surge in the COVID-19 crisis.
|
| Global Household Cooking Appliances Industry Posted: 21 Aug 2020 09:45 PM PDT |
| Democratic plan in rural, swing state counties: Lose by less Posted: 21 Aug 2020 09:40 PM PDT  Jerry Volenec felt betrayed. Democrats are hoping to find just enough voters like Volenec to shave Trump's margins in rural areas while they rack up larger numbers in cities and suburbs. "The general theory of the case goes like this: We're trying not to lose as bad," veteran Democratic strategist James Carville said of the rural and small-town counties Trump swung to his side in 2016.
|
| Global Ink Additives Industry Posted: 21 Aug 2020 09:25 PM PDT |
| Biden, once an orator, reaches for rhetorical flourish again Posted: 21 Aug 2020 09:21 PM PDT  The early months of Joe Biden's third White House bid were marked with uneven debate performances and winding town halls in Iowa and New Hampshire. Biden did much to dispel that caricature Thursday night during his 24-minute address accepting the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. "It was a beautiful, powerful speech that hit so many notes," said Karen Finney, a Democratic strategist who worked for nominee Hillary Clinton's campaign in 2016.
|
| 'The whole world celebrates' on-camera birth of panda cub Posted: 21 Aug 2020 09:07 PM PDT  A brand new giant panda cub is sparking pandemic-fueled panda-mania, and officials at the National Zoo said traffic on their livestream spiked 1,200% over the past week. "I'm pretty sure we broke the Internet last night," National Zoo Director Steve Monfort said Saturday. The zoo's ever-popular Panda Cam traffic has been crashing since venerable matriarch Mei Xiang's pregnancy was announced this past week.
|
| 2 tropical storms a potential double threat to US Gulf Coast Posted: 21 Aug 2020 09:04 PM PDT  Two tropical stormjs advanced across the Caribbean Saturday as potentially historic threats to the U.S. Gulf Coast, one dumping rain on Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands while the other was pushing toward the tip of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, whose sprawling resorts had been almost emptied by pandemic restrictions. Tropical Storms Laura and Marco were both projected to approach the U.S. Gulf Coast at or near hurricane force. Two hurricanes have never appeared in the Gulf of Mexico at the same time, according to records going back to at least 1900, said Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach.
|
| Global Static Transfer Switch (STS) Industry Posted: 21 Aug 2020 08:25 PM PDT |
| Global Acrylonitrile Industry Posted: 21 Aug 2020 07:45 PM PDT |
| Global Bentonite, Fuller’s Earth & Allied Clays Industry Posted: 21 Aug 2020 07:25 PM PDT |
| Global Caprolactam Industry Posted: 21 Aug 2020 06:45 PM PDT |
