| Camfil US Supports Clean Air Vision - Joins The Very First International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies Posted: 06 Sep 2020 04:13 PM PDT  Camfil is raising awareness globally on International Day of Clean Air for blue skies on September 7th, 2020. Camfil US Clean Air Vision International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies - Camfil US Initiative Supporting United Nations. Riverdale, NJ, Sept. 06, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Riverdale, NJ - The very first International Day of Clean Air for blue skies will be held on September 7th, 2020. The Day aims to: Raise public awareness at all levels—individual, community, corporate and government—that clean air is important for health, productivity, the economy and the environment. The United Nations has recognized the 7th of September as the 'International Day of Clean Air for blue skies' to emphasize the importance of clean air for the health and day-to-day lives of people, as air pollution is the single greatest environmental risk to human health. Air pollution remains one of the main avoidable causes of death and disease globally. The 2030 Agenda for UN Sustainable Development outlines a roadmap to achieve "the future we want" to build. CAMFIL USA Clean Air Vision 2020 INITIATIVE Camfil supports the vision and believes that clean air should be a human right. We have marked this week as 'Camfil Clean Air Awareness Week' to share, spread, and discuss the effects of air pollution. Learn more about Camfil at www.camfil.us. Follow our blog, press coverage, social media daily and help us create awareness. CAMFIL USA CLEAN AIR RESOURCES ONLINE Clean Air Blog Follow our blog: * How We Can Establish Clean Air As A Human Right which was first published on February 16, 2018. * Why Clean Air Must Absolutely Be A Human Right * Other Resources related to clean air and COVID Camfil US Clean Air Initiative in the Press https://hvacairfiilters.submitmypressrelease.com Camfil US Video Resources Video resources on clean air initiatives by Camfil USA http://www.youtube.com/c/CamfilUSAAirFilters Find a Camfil Branch Near you. https://cleanair.camfil.us/locations/ Media Contact: Lynne Laake Camfil USA Air Filters T: 888.599.6620 E: Lynne.Laake@camfil.com F: Friend Camfil USA on Facebook T: Follow Camfil USA on Twitter Y: Watch Camfil Videos on YouTube L: Follow our LinkedIn Page News Via: KISSPR Story News Distribution https://story.kisspr.com Attachment * Camfil US Clean Air Vision
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| Letter from Africa: Why journalists in Nigeria feel under attack Posted: 06 Sep 2020 04:01 PM PDT  A video of a tongue-lashing one reporter recently received comes as no surprise, writes Mannir Dan Ali.
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| UK PM Johnson to give EU 38 days to strike Brexit deal -Telegraph Posted: 06 Sep 2020 02:13 PM PDT |
| Belarus crowds defy heavy military presence to demand end to Lukashenko's rule Posted: 06 Sep 2020 02:05 PM PDT  Huge crowds of protesters on Sunday flooded the Belarusian capital of Minsk, braving a massive deployment of forces to urge strongman Alexander Lukashenko to quit power. More than 100,000 people are estimated to have taken to the streets over the past three weekends and Sunday's event may have been larger still. Troops, water cannon, armoured personnel carriers and armoured reconnaissance vehicles were deployed to the city centre but protesters from all walks of life - from parents with children to students and even priests - rallied in a show of defiance. Authorities said at least 100 protesters were detained. Unprecedented demonstrations broke out after Lukashenko, who has ruled the ex-Soviet state for 26 years, claimed re-election with 80 per cent of the vote on August 9. Opposition rival Svetlana Tikhanovskaya says she won the vote but Lukashenko's security forces have detained thousands of protesters, many of whom accuse police of beatings and torture. Several people have died in the crackdown. Buoyed by a show of support from Russia, Lukashenko has rejected calls for new elections. Western countries fear a loud show of support for protesters could provoke a Russian military intervention at a moment when Europe is also weighing how to respond to the suspected poisoning of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny. In an interview with the Financial Times, Lithuania's foreign minister urged the European Union to impose sanctions on Belarus and counter Russia's influence. Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have imposed travel bans on Lukashenko and 29 other Belarusian officials without waiting for the rest of the EU to act, signalling impatience with the bloc's cautious approach. On Sunday, the protesters marched towards Lukashenko's residence at the Independence Palace where they chanted "Tribunal" and "How much are you getting paid?" Many say they will keep taking to the streets until he quits. "Lukashenko must go," said Nikolai Dyatlov, a 32-year-old protester. "Why is our legitimately elected president located in a different country?" he asked, referring to Tikhanovskaya. Another protester, 40-year-old Anastasia Bazarevich, said: "Half of the village where my grandma lives comes out and protests every night." Russia has said it will respond to any Western attempts to "sway the situation". Putin is keen to unify Russia and Belarus, and Moscow has accompanied its recent offers of military aid with calls for tighter integration. Lukashenko has in the past ruled out outright unification and sought to play Moscow off against the West but his options are now limited. On Thursday, Lukashenko hosted Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and said the two countries had managed to agree on issues they "could not agree earlier," and that he planned to "dot all the i's" with Putin in Moscow in the next few weeks.
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| Paul Rusesabagina: President denies Hotel Rwanda hero was kidnapped Posted: 06 Sep 2020 11:40 AM PDT  The Rwandan president denies claims that Paul Rusesabagina was spirited out of Dubai to face arrest.
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| City won't waste John Oliver's donation, on 1 condition Posted: 06 Sep 2020 10:32 AM PDT  A Connecticut city won't waste an opportunity to get a sizeable donation from comedian John Oliver about a weeks-long joke pertaining to the name of a sewage plant in the area. Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton said on WTNH-TV that he would accept Oliver's challenge to name the city's sewage plant after him following Oliver's offer to donate $55,000 to local charities. The announcement was the latest volley in a war of words between the host of HBO's "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" and Boughton after Oliver first bashed Danbury on an Aug. 16 during a segment on racial disparities in jury selection that was actually focused on other areas of Connecticut.
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| Hamas leader says group has missiles that can hit Tel Aviv Posted: 06 Sep 2020 10:07 AM PDT |
| Harris warns suppression, interference could alter election Posted: 06 Sep 2020 09:41 AM PDT  Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris says foreign interference, doubt cast about the election by President Donald Trump and voter suppression could potentially cost her and Joe Biden the White House in November. Trump has repeatedly railed against mail balloting, which he says without offering proof will lead to widespread voter fraud.
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| Rwanda's president says 'Hotel Rwanda' hero must stand trial Posted: 06 Sep 2020 08:52 AM PDT  Rwanda's president says that the man portrayed as a hero in the film "Hotel Rwanda" will stand trial for allegedly supporting rebel violence. President Paul Kagame, appearing on national television Sunday, did not explain how Paul Rusesabagina was brought to Rwanda where he has been held in custody for more than a week. Rusesabagina is credited with saving 1,200 lives during Rwanda's 1994 genocide by letting people shelter in the hotel he was managing during the mass killings.
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| Veterans are divided about reports Trump disparaged military Posted: 06 Sep 2020 08:45 AM PDT  In this soldier's city and across the country, veterans and military families are divided about reports that President Donald Trump made disparaging comments toward the military, with some service members bristling at the remarks and others questioning whether they happened. Thomas Richardson, a retired member of the Army's 82nd Airborne, did not like what he heard. Richardson was trained to respect the office of commander in chief, but he was rankled by allegations in The Atlantic, many of them independently confirmed by The Associated Press, that Trump had referred to fallen and captured U.S. service members as "losers" and "suckers."
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| Race for Coronavirus Vaccine Pits Spy Against Spy Posted: 06 Sep 2020 08:32 AM PDT  WASHINGTON -- Chinese intelligence hackers were intent on stealing coronavirus vaccine data, so they looked for what they believed would be an easy target. Instead of simply going after pharmaceutical companies, they conducted digital reconnaissance on the University of North Carolina and other schools doing cutting-edge research.They were not the only spies at work. Russia's premier intelligence service, the SVR, targeted vaccine research networks in the United States, Canada and Britain, espionage efforts that were first detected by a British spy agency monitoring international fiber optic cables.Iran, too, has drastically stepped up its attempts to steal information about vaccine research, and the United States has increased its own efforts to track the espionage of its adversaries and shore up its defenses.In short, every major spy service around the globe is trying to find out what everyone else is up to.The coronavirus pandemic has prompted one of the fastest peacetime mission shifts in recent times for the world's intelligence agencies, pitting them against one another in a new grand game of spy versus spy, according to interviews with current and former intelligence officials and others tracking the espionage efforts.Nearly all of the United States' adversaries intensified their attempts to steal American research while Washington, in turn, has moved to protect the universities and corporations doing the most advanced work. NATO intelligence, normally concerned with the movement of Russian tanks and terrorist cells, has expanded to scrutinize Kremlin efforts to steal vaccine research as well, according to a Western official briefed on the intelligence.The contest is reminiscent of the space race, where the Soviet Union and America relied on their spy services to catch up when the other looked likely to achieve a milestone. But where the Cold War contest to reach the Earth's orbit and the moon played out over decades, the timeline to help secure data on coronavirus treatments is sharply compressed as the need for a vaccine grows more urgent each day."It would be surprising if they were not trying to steal the most valuable biomedical research going on right now," John C. Demers, a top Justice Department official, said of China last month during an event held by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "Valuable from a financial point of view and invaluable from a geopolitical point of view."China's push is complex. Its operatives have also surreptitiously used information from the World Health Organization to guide its vaccine hacking attempts, both in the United States and Europe, according to a current and a former official familiar with the intelligence.It was not clear how exactly China was using its influential position in the WHO to gather information about vaccine work around the globe. The organization does collect data about vaccines under development, and while much of it is eventually made public, Chinese hackers could have benefited by getting early information on what coronavirus vaccine research efforts the WHO viewed as most promising, according to a former intelligence official.American intelligence officials learned about China's efforts in early February as the virus was gaining a foothold in the United States, according to current and former American officials. The CIA and other agencies closely watch China's moves inside international agencies, including the WHO.The intelligence conclusion helped push the White House toward the tough line it adopted in May on the WHO, according to the former intelligence official.Besides the University of North Carolina, Chinese hackers have also targeted other universities around the country and some may have had their networks breached, American officials said. Demers said in his speech that China had conducted "multiple intrusions" beyond what the Justice Department revealed in an indictment in July, which accused two hackers of working on behalf of China's Ministry of State Security spy service to pursue vaccine information and research from American biotechnology companies.The FBI warned officials at UNC in recent weeks about the hacking attempts, according to two people familiar with the matter. The Chinese hacking teams were trying to break into the computer networks of the school's epidemiology department but did not infiltrate them.A UNC spokeswoman, Leslie Minton, said that the school "regularly receives threat alerts from U.S. security agencies." She directed further questions to the federal government, but said the school had invested in "around-the-clock monitoring" to "help guard against advanced persistent threat attacks from state sponsored organizations."Besides hacking, China has pushed into universities in other ways. Some government officials believe it is trying to take advantage of research partnerships that American universities have forged with Chinese institutions.Others have warned that Chinese intelligence agents in the United States and elsewhere have tried to collect information on researchers themselves. The Trump administration ordered China on July 22 to close its consulate in Houston in part because Chinese operatives had used it as an outpost to try to make inroads with medical experts in the city, according to the FBI.Chinese intelligence officials are focused on universities in part because they view the institutions' data protections as less robust than those of pharmaceutical companies. But spy work is also intensifying as researchers share more vaccine candidates and antiviral treatments for peer review, giving adversaries a better chance of gaining access to formulations and vaccine development strategies, said an American government official briefed on the intelligence.So far, officials believe that foreign spies have taken little information from the American biotech companies they targeted: Gilead Sciences, Novavax and Moderna.At the same time the British electronic surveillance agency GCHQ was learning about the Russian effort and American intelligence learned of the Chinese hacking, the Department of Homeland Security and FBI dispatched teams to work with American biotech teams to bolster their computer networks' defenses.The Russian effort, announced by British, American and Canadian intelligence agencies in July, was primarily focused on gathering intelligence about research by Oxford University and its pharmaceutical corporate partner, AstraZeneca.The Russians caught trying to get vaccine information were part of the group known as Cozy Bear, a collection of hackers affiliated with the SVR. Cozy Bear was one of the hacking groups that in 2016 broke into Democratic computer servers.Homeland security officials have warned pharmaceutical companies and universities about the attacks and helped institutions review their security. For the most part, officials have observed the would-be vaccine hackers using known vulnerabilities that have yet to be patched, not the more exquisite cyberweapons that target unknown gaps in computer security.No corporation or university has announced any data thefts resulting from the publicly identified hacking efforts. But some of the hacking attempts succeeded in at least penetrating defenses to get inside computer networks, according to one American government official. And hackers for China and Russia test weaknesses every day, according to intelligence officials."It is really a race against time for good guys to find the vulnerabilities and get them patched, get those patches deployed before the adversary finds them and exploits them," said Bryan S. Ware, the assistant director of cybersecurity for the Homeland Security Department's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. "The race is tighter than ever."While only two teams of hackers, one each from Russia and China, have been publicly identified, multiple hacking teams from nearly all the intelligence services of those two countries have been trying to steal vaccine information, according to law enforcement and intelligence officials.Russia announced on Aug. 11 that it had approved a vaccine, a declaration that immediately aroused suspicion that its scientists were at least aided by its spy agencies' work to steal research information from other countries.American officials insist their own spy services' efforts are defensive and that intelligence agencies have not been ordered to steal coronavirus research. But other current and former intelligence officials said the reality was not nearly so black and white. As American intelligence agencies try to find out what Russia, China and Iran may have stolen, they could encounter information on those countries' research and collect it.Officials expressed concerns that further hacking attempts could hurt vaccine development efforts. Hackers extracting data could inadvertently -- or purposefully -- damage research systems."When an adversary is doing a smash-and-grab, there is even more likely a chance of not just stealing information but somehow disrupting the victim's operations networks," Ware said.While some of Russia's and China's spying may have been aimed at checking their own research or looking for shortcuts, some current and former officials raised the possibility that the countries sought instead to sow distrust in an eventual vaccine from Western countries.Both Russia and China have already spread disinformation about the virus, its origins and the American response. Russian intelligence services in particular are laying the groundwork for a more aggressive effort to escalate the anti-vaccine movement in the West and could use the allegations of spying to give its narrative greater traction.Russia has a long record of trying to amplify divisions in American society. Current and former national security officials said they expect Russia to eventually spread disinformation about any vaccine approved in the West."This case seems to be a throwback to the old Soviet Union," said Fiona Hill, the former National Security Council official and Russia expert who testified in the impeachment hearings against President Donald Trump. "Russia and the Chinese have been out there on disinformation campaigns. How better to create confusion and weaken the U.S. further than to whip up the antivax movement? But you make sure all your guys are vaccinated."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company
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| Colleges combating coronavirus turn to stinky savior: sewage Posted: 06 Sep 2020 08:26 AM PDT  Days after he crossed the country to start college, Ryan Schmutz received a text message from Utah State University: COVID-19 had been detected at his dorm. Schmutz was one of about 300 students quarantined to their rooms last week, but not because of sickness reports or positive tests. Instead, the warning bells came from the sewage.
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| Navajo woman who survived COVID-19 finds joy in simple steps Posted: 06 Sep 2020 08:22 AM PDT  An ambulance whisked Carol Todecheene from her house in late March as some of her 13 rescue dogs barked and neighbors stood in their yards wondering what was wrong. Dr. Jonathan Iralu, an infectious disease specialist for the Indian Health Service in Gallup, New Mexico, said it's important to encourage COVID-19 patients throughout their recovery not to give up hope.
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| 100,000 march in Minsk to demand Belarus leader resigns Posted: 06 Sep 2020 08:20 AM PDT  Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched Sunday to the outskirts of the presidential residence in the capital of Belarus, calling for the country's authoritarian leader to resign as protests against President Alexander Lukashenko entered their fifth week. Protests also took place in major cities throughout Belarus, said Interior Ministry spokeswoman Olga Chemodanova. Crowd sizes for those protests were not immediately reported, but Ales Bialiatski, head of the Viasna human rights organization, said the demonstration in Minsk attracted more than 100,000 people.
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| German politicians question Russia gas project after Navalny suspected poisoning Posted: 06 Sep 2020 07:13 AM PDT  Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday faced growing pressure to reconsider Germany's Nord Stream 2 pipeline project with Russia following the suspected poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said the question of sanctions on the pipeline, which will bring gas from Russia to Germany, rested on Moscow's cooperation in clearing up what exactly happened to Navalny. Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said suspicion would fall on Russia if it failed to help resolve the matter.
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| German politicians question Russia gas project after Navalny suspected poisoning Posted: 06 Sep 2020 07:06 AM PDT |
| QAnon conspiracy emerges in some state legislative races Posted: 06 Sep 2020 07:05 AM PDT  Candidates engaging with the QAnon conspiracy theory are running for seats in state legislatures this year, breathing more oxygen into a once-obscure conspiracy movement that has grown in prominence since adherents won Republican congressional primaries this year. While he does not describe himself as a QAnon adherent, he has liked and forwarded videos made by QAnon backers.
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| 10 things you need to know today: September 6, 2020 Posted: 06 Sep 2020 06:52 AM PDT |
| Mayor promises police reforms following Daniel Prude's death Posted: 06 Sep 2020 06:37 AM PDT  The mayor of Rochester promised reforms are coming to the city's police department as community elders sought to bring calmer minds to a fifth night of demonstrations Sunday over the March death of Daniel Prude, who lost consciousness after police held him down with a hood over his head. Mayor Lovely Warren announced at a news conference Sunday that the crisis intervention team and its budget would move from the police department to the city's department of youth and recreation services. Police Chief La'Ron Singletary, who joined Warren at the news conference, said he supports the need for reform in his department and is working with experts and clinicians in getting outpatient services for people with mental health issues that bring them into repeated police contact.
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| Jacob Blake speaks out for first time since police shooting Posted: 06 Sep 2020 06:28 AM PDT  Jacob Blake has spoken publicly for the first time since a Kenosha, Wisconsin, police officer shot him seven times in the back, saying he's in constant pain from the shooting, which doctors fear will leave him paralyzed from the waist down. Blake, a 29-year-old father of six, also said he has staples in his back and stomach. "Your life, and not only just your life, your legs, something you need to move around and forward in life, can be taken from you like this," Blake said, snapping his fingers.
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| States plan for cuts as Congress deadlocks on more virus aid Posted: 06 Sep 2020 06:28 AM PDT  With Congress deadlocked for months on a new coronavirus relief package, many states haven't had the luxury of waiting to see whether more money is on the way. As the U.S. Senate returns to session Tuesday, some governors and state lawmakers are again urging action on proposals that could provide hundreds of billions of additional dollars to states and local governments.
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| Census Bureau must temporarily halt winding down operations Posted: 06 Sep 2020 06:17 AM PDT  The U.S. Census Bureau for now must stop following a plan that would have it winding down operations in order to finish the 2020 census at the end of September, according to a federal judge's order. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California, issued a temporary restraining order late Saturday against the Census Bureau and the Commerce Department, which oversees the agency. The order stops the Census Bureau from winding down operations until a court hearing is held on Sept. 17.
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| Cyprus worried as 4 migrant boats reach island in 48 hours Posted: 06 Sep 2020 06:02 AM PDT |
| Tunisia: Policeman and three militants dead after 'terrorist' attack Posted: 06 Sep 2020 05:57 AM PDT  The incident happened in Sousse, where 38 people, mostly Britons, were killed in a 2015 attack.
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| Summer of protest: Chance for change, but obstacles exposed Posted: 06 Sep 2020 05:25 AM PDT  Memorial Day brought the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, prompting hundreds of thousands of Americans to take to the streets in protest. President Donald Trump called Floyd's death a "disgrace" and momentum built around policing reform. The three-month stretch between the symbolic kickoff and close of America's summer has both galvanized broad public support for the racial justice movement and exposed the obstacles to turning that support into concrete political and policy changes.
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| Jill Biden drawing on classroom time for case against Trump Posted: 06 Sep 2020 05:21 AM PDT  When Jill Biden introduced herself to millions of Americans during last month's Democratic National Convention, she did so from a high school where she once taught English near her Delaware home. The emphasis on education is a natural fit for someone who was a public school teacher for more than 20 years, earned two master's degrees and then a doctorate in education and continued teaching at a community college when her husband, Joe Biden, was vice president. "I feel if Joe had been president at this time we would not be in the midst of this chaos," Jill Biden told a mother and two teachers during a discussion that lasted more than half an hour on the patio of a private home last week in Wauwatosa, outside Milwaukee.
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| As pandemic raged, roadways became speedways Posted: 06 Sep 2020 05:17 AM PDT  Some drivers took advantage of roads and highways emptied by the coronavirus pandemic by pushing well past the speed limit, a trend that continues even as states try to get back to normal. The Iowa State Patrol recorded a 101% increase from January through August over the four-year average in tickets for speeds exceeding 100 mph, along with a 75% increase in tickets for speeds of 25 mph or more over the posted speed limit. California Highway Patrol officers issued more than 15,000 tickets from mid-March through Aug. 19 for speeds exceeding 100 mph, more than a 100% increase over the same time period a year ago.
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| Beirut search effort sparked by dog stops, no survivor found Posted: 06 Sep 2020 05:12 AM PDT  A search operation of a building that collapsed during last month's deadly blast in Beirut stopped on Sunday after rescue workers said they did not find any survivors. The devastating explosion of nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate at the port of Beirut caused widespread damage to several neighborhoods. The Lebanese capital is still reeling from the blast, with a quarter of a million people made homeless by the impact of the explosion on apartment buildings.
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| Banning Chinese Nationals Takes Cold War to Extremes Posted: 06 Sep 2020 05:00 AM PDT  (Bloomberg Opinion) -- With tensions between the U.S. and China heating up, there are increasing calls for expelling or barring Chinese nationals from U.S. universities and corporations. Whatever the national security justification for these moves, policy makers should be aware of the potential downsides -- loss of economic vitality, and the potential for a wave of racial discrimination. Over the past few years, U.S. public opinion of China has soured dramatically, accelerating a trend that began with the accession of Chinese leader Xi Jinping in 2012. The trend is bipartisan and holds across age groups. The reasons for it are varied and manifold.Many Americans blame China for failing to contain the initial Covid-19 outbreak, while long-simmering touchpoints such as job competition, industrial espionage, trade disparities, and environmental concerns are also coming back to the fore. On top of these things, there's the actions of the Chinese government itself: The assumption of control in Hong Kong and the repression of the Uighur minority have reached many American ears. And China's maritime expansionism and clashes with neighbors such as India provide uncomfortable parallels to aggressive rising powers of the past.In this climate, perhaps it's no surprise to see growing suspicion of Chinese nationals working or studying in the U.S. This summer, President Donald Trump issued an executive order suspending visas for many Chinese graduate students and post-doctoral researchers, and urged the State Department to consider revoking existing visas. Republican Senators Tom Cotton and Marsha Blackburn would go further, introducing a bill that would ban Chinese nationals from studying STEM subjects such as math and engineering at the graduate level in the U.S.Chinese workers, too, are feeling the heat. Under long-standing U.S. government rules, hiring foreign workers in certain high-tech industries is considered an export, since those workers could then move back home and take back the technological knowledge they learned in America. In recent years, as the trade war with China has heated up, the government has become much more willing to deny companies approval to hire Chinese nationals. Meanwhile, a number of universities have expelled professors with ties to certain Chinese government organizations.Some of these moves doubtless have national security justifications. China has been found to conduct espionage at U.S. universities and companies, attempting to nab the latest U.S. technologies cheaply. As security competition between the two countries intensifies, it makes sense to intensify U.S. efforts to keep sensitive technologies secret -- both to preserve a military edge, and to retain U.S. companies' competitive advantage so that the country doesn't become too reliant on Chinese national champions such as Huawei Corp.Banning Chinese graduate students and researchers en masse, though, is a blanket move -- an extreme response to the espionage problem. It's possible that this sort of nuclear option is the only way to avoid critical security lapses, but it may constitute an overreaction by an administration that has already shown a tendency toward xenophobia and poor policy judgment in many other areas. When considering whether these policies make sense, it's thus important to also consider the economic and social costs.Some of those costs will fall on the U.S.One cost will be weakened U.S. research capabilities. In many STEM fields, foreign students -- of whom Chinese students are a large portion -- are absolutely essential:The U.S. wouldn't be able to replace these students quickly. The closest substitute would be foreign students and researchers from other countries, but even if this were possible in the age of Trump and Covid-19, switching to new personnel would entail the loss of months or even years of experience and knowledge. Inducing native-born students to fill these fields in large numbers would be an even slower and more costly process. A mass expulsion of Chinese students would thus hamper STEM research efforts at a large number of university research labs, as well as the companies with whom those labs partner.That, along with the expulsion of Chinese workers, could cause the U.S. to stumble in some critical fields such as artificial intelligence. It also would hurt college towns, which lure corporate investment by having a large pool of research workers, and who are key drivers of economic investment and prosperity in otherwise declining regions.In addition to the economic costs, there's also the danger of sparking a racist backlash against not just Chinese nationals, but also Asian Americans. Reports of anti-Asian hate crimes and harassment have already soared, due to antipathy toward China over the coronavirus. A nationwide campaign to expel Chinese students or workers could exacerbate the problem. After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, President George W. Bush went out of his way to stress that the U.S. was not in a civilizational conflict with Islam; this may have helped to tamp down the wave of anti-Muslim sentiment that bubbled up. The Trump administration is unlikely to display the same foresight.It's very difficult to weigh potential economic losses and social dangers against the imperatives of national security. But U.S. policy makers need to understand the trade-offs involved.This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Noah Smith is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He was an assistant professor of finance at Stony Brook University, and he blogs at Noahpinion.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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| Here’s a Smarter Way for Biden to Attack Trump Posted: 06 Sep 2020 05:00 AM PDT  (Bloomberg Opinion) -- President Donald Trump poses an unusual problem for his opposition. He's "a target-rich environment," said Ruy Teixeira, a senior fellow at the liberal Center for American Progress. "He has befuddled his opponents by giving them too much to react to. It keeps the Democrats from having a disciplined message about why Trump sucks."Depending on the news cycle, the anti-Trump message may be that he is a tool of Russian President Vladimir Putin, or a racist, or a threat to democracy, or a failure, or a bad person, or a golfer. His Democratic challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden, seems convinced much of the time that most voters have already rejected Trump as unfit for the presidency and that he need only establish himself as a decent alternative. He may be right. A similar campaign strategy might have worked in 2016, too, if the Democratic nominee that year, Hillary Clinton, had not been so widely disliked.If the race gets tight, though, Biden may have to tighten his focus, or find himself wishing that he had done it earlier. Already each sign that Trump is closing the gap in the polls, especially in swing states, is giving panic attacks to Biden supporters who don't want to relive the surprise of election night four years ago. (There are, weirdly, fewer cases of nerves in the Trump camp, even though Trump has consistently been behind in the polls and has made some screwy strategic decisions of his own.)But how should Biden focus his critique of Trump to maximize his chances? Which target should he choose? The appeal of a character-based attack on Trump is obvious. It's flattering to Biden. The president keeps creating new material for it. And it's the kind of criticism of Trump that has the broadest appeal. At the end of the spring, Gallup pollsters asked whether "honest and trustworthy" were terms that applied to Trump, and 62 percent of the respondents said no.The limitation of this focus, though, is evident in Gallup's headline: "Americans' Views of Trump's Character Firmly Established." Gallup got the exact same numbers when it asked that question about Trump in April 2017. If a voter doesn't think poorly of Trump's personality traits or doesn't care about them, Biden is unlikely to be able to get him to see it differently.Biden will have to continue to make the case that Trump has failed the country: That's part of any challenger's campaign against an incumbent president. And while voters generally have firm views on how well Trump has performed, it is more plausible that some of them will change their views on that question than on his basic character in the remaining weeks of the campaign. But such changes in opinion are more likely to result from changes in condition — in the state of the economy, and in the course of the coronavirus — than from anything either campaign says.For some of Trump's opponents, what bears emphasis is all the ways he is "not normal," and indeed gleefully or ignorantly smashes old norms. They released a short burst of criticism about Trump's misuse of the White House and his administration's violations of the Hatch Act, which restricts the political activities of government employees, during the Republican convention — and their fury redoubled when the administration came back with the cynical response that voters don't care about such things. Cynical doesn't mean wrong, though, at least with respect to on-the-fence voters.What might make a difference, though, would be for Biden to make the case that Trump's populism is a scam: that he says he's fighting for Americans, but is really in it only for himself and his friends. The night he was elected he promised to stand for "the forgotten men and women of our country," but then immediately surrounded himself with Goldman Sachs alums.He has talked for five years about building a wall, but hardly any building has happened. His administration's main actual accomplishment is a corporate tax cut. Manufacturing jobs haven't come back, but Trump's hotels have gotten a lot of government business. He spends his days and nights tweeting about his enemies, not your needs.This type of criticism overlaps with some of the other attacks on Trump: It touches on his dishonesty and his failure to deliver on promises. Without being narrowly addressed to white working class voters in the Midwest, it speaks directly to some of the people who backed Trump last time after having voted for Democrats previously. It takes their concerns seriously, and gives them a reason to change their minds instead of trying to shame them for giving Trump a chance. At the same time, it doesn't alienate other types of voters that Biden needs, such as those who voted for third parties last time.And if that's not enough to appeal to Biden and his aides, they should reflect that criticizing Trump this way is sure to drive him to new heights of rage.This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Ramesh Ponnuru is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He is a senior editor at National Review, visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and contributor to CBS News.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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| Doctor: Berlusconi in "delicate" phase of virus treatment Posted: 06 Sep 2020 04:45 AM PDT  Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi is responding "optimally" to COVID-19 treatment but is the most vulnerable type of patient and is in "the most delicate phase" of his infection, his personal doctor said Sunday. Dr. Alberto Zangrillo repeated that he nevertheless remained "cautiously optimistic" about Berlusconi's recovery. Berlusconi turns 84 in a few weeks and has had a history of heart problems that required a pacemaker several years ago.
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| Brexit talks at ‘moment of reckoning’, says Dominic Raab, as he warns UK will not budge on sticking points Posted: 06 Sep 2020 04:26 AM PDT  Brexit negotiations are facing a "moment of reckoning" this week, Dominic Raab has warned, as he insisted the UK would not "haggle away" state aid and fisheries. The Foreign Secretary said there was a "deal to be done" ahead of key trade talks in London but vowed that the UK would not budge on the two main areas of "contention". He accused Brussels of "double standards" over its refusal to move on state aid, describing the issue as a "point of principle". Mr Raab said "We're only asking to be treated just as the EU would expect, or any other third country negotiating with the EU. I don't think that sounds unreasonable, that's just plain common sense. "We want a positive relationship and the arm of friendship and goodwill is extended. It's up to the EU to decide whether they want to reciprocate."
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| Germany: 800 mourn death of 5 kids allegedly killed by mom Posted: 06 Sep 2020 04:17 AM PDT  More than 800 people came together for a memorial for the five children who were allegedly killed by their mother at their home in the western city of Solingen, the German news agency dpa reported Sunday. Neighbors, friends and others mourning the deaths of the five young children lit candles Saturday night in front of the building where they had lived. Prosecutors have charged the 27-year-old mother of the five children, who were found dead at their home on Thursday, with murder.
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| Pope: Gossiping is "plague worse than COVID" Posted: 06 Sep 2020 03:53 AM PDT  Pope Francis said Sunday that gossiping is a "plague worse than COVID" that is seeking to divide the Catholic Church. Francis strayed from his prepared text to double down on his frequent complaint about gossiping within church communities and even within the Vatican bureaucracy. Francis didn't give specifics during his weekly blessing, but went on at some length to say the devil is the "biggest gossiper" who is seeking to divide the church with his lies.
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| Israel imposes overnight curfews as virus deaths pass 1,000 Posted: 06 Sep 2020 03:44 AM PDT  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday announced overnight curfews on some 40 cities and towns hit hard by the coronavirus, but backed away from reported recommendations for full lockdowns after an uproar by politically powerful religious politicians. The government has been forced to take new action after failing to contain an outbreak that has claimed more than 1,000 lives and remains at record levels of new infections. The curfews will go into effect Monday night at 7 p.m. and will last until 5 a.m. It was not known how long they will remain in place.
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| Hong Kong police arrest 289 at protests over election delay Posted: 06 Sep 2020 03:02 AM PDT  About 290 people were arrested Sunday at protests against the government's decision to postpone elections for Hong Kong's legislature, police said. The elections were to have taken place Sunday but Chief Executive Carrie Lam on July 31 postponed them for one year. Lam blamed an upsurge in coronavirus cases, but critics said her government worried the opposition would gain seats if voting went ahead on schedule.
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| Would Biden ease up on China? Posted: 06 Sep 2020 03:01 AM PDT  As a senator and vice president, Joe Biden — like politicians from both parties and presidents dating back to Ronald Reagan — embraced the idea that the U.S. could coax China into acting as a "responsible stakeholder." As the Democratic presidential nominee, Biden now calls Chinese President Xi Jinping a "thug." Until recently, the consensus in Washington held that more trade and dialogue with Beijing would help defuse tensions and eventually bring China into the liberal world order shaped by America.
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| Would Biden ease up on China? Posted: 06 Sep 2020 03:01 AM PDT As a senator and vice president, Joe Biden — like politicians from both parties and presidents dating to Ronald Reagan — embraced the idea that the United States could coax China into acting as a "responsible stakeholder." As the Democratic presidential nominee, Biden now calls Chinese President Xi Jinping a "thug." Until recently, the consensus in Washington held that more trade and dialogue with Beijing would help defuse tensions and eventually bring China into the liberal world order shaped by America.
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| Mali coup: Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta flies to UAE Posted: 06 Sep 2020 02:59 AM PDT  Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta was toppled by the military in August after mass protests against his rule.
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| Wildfires, excessive heat and maybe blackouts in California Posted: 06 Sep 2020 12:55 AM PDT  Rescuers in military helicopters airlifted 207 people to safety after an explosive wildfire trapped them in a popular camping area in California's Sierra National Forest, one of dozens of fires burning Sunday amid record-breaking temperatures that strained the state's electrical grid and could lead to planned power outages. The California Office of Emergency Services said Black Hawk and Chinook helicopters were used for the rescues that began late Saturday and continued overnight from Mammoth Pool Reservoir.
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| UK warns EU on Brexit: We won't blink first Posted: 05 Sep 2020 11:46 PM PDT |
| Multiple people injured in series of stabbings in England Posted: 05 Sep 2020 11:29 PM PDT  Multiple people were injured in late-night stabbings in a busy nightlife area of the central England city of Birmingham, police said. West Midlands Police said officers were called to reports of a stabbing in the city center shortly after midnight on Sunday. Cara Curran, a club promoter, said she saw multiple people fighting in the street.
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| For Lebanese, recovery too heavy to bear a month after blast Posted: 05 Sep 2020 10:20 PM PDT  A month after Beirut's devastating explosion, Ghassan Toubaji still sits under a gaping hole in his ceiling — he can look up through the dangling plaster, wires and metal struts and the broken brick roof and see a bit of sky. Between that and Lebanon's crumbled economy, he can't go back to work. Teams of volunteers, a symbol of the help-each-other spirit that's grown up from the failures of Lebanon's corrupt political class, came by his apartment and assessed the damage.
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| Chinese group plans to recover WWII American plane from lake Posted: 05 Sep 2020 10:18 PM PDT  A Chinese group plans to try to recover a fighter plane from the legendary Flying Tigers group of American pilots that crashed in a lake during World War II. The Flying Tigers, who were sent to China in 1941 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt before Washington joined the war, have long been one of the most potent symbols of U.S.-Chinese cooperation. The Tigers fought Japanese invaders from December 1941 until they were absorbed into the U.S. military the following July.
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| German foreign minister raises spectre of Nord Stream 2 sanctions over Navalny poisoning Posted: 05 Sep 2020 09:55 PM PDT  Germany could drop the Nord Stream 2 pipeline as punishment for the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Berlin said for the first time on Sunday as it threatened the Kremlin with sanctions. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that "I hope... that the Russians do not force us to change our position on Nord Stream," in comments made to Bild newspaper. Mr Maas said that Berlin "would be compelled" to raise the issue of sanctions with its allies if Russia did not take steps towards investigating Mr Navalny's poisoning in the coming days. " If the Russians don't take part in solving the case then it is a further indication that they were involved," Mr Maas said. "If they don't go beyond smoke and mirrors we'll have to assume that Russia has something to hide." British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said that "The use of chemical weapons in this kind of context is pure gangsterism and Russia does have responsibility never to use it as a government, and second of all to make sure no-one else can use it within its territory." Nord Stream 2 is a new pipeline that would allow more Russian gas to flow to Europe via Germany, and is of strategic importance to Russia. But cancelling the project would be an ultima ratio for Germany, given its own financial interest in seeing the project through. There is little over 100 kilometres of the multi-billion euro pipeline still to be laid, but nothing has happened on the project since the US - which is opposed to it - threatened the companies involved with severe sanctions last December. And since a German army laboratory confirmed on Wednesday that Mr Navalny had been the victim of an assassination attempt with the nerve gas Novichok, domestic pressure has grown on the German government to cancel the gas line. Even within the ruling Christian Democratic Union party, influential foreign policy expert Norbert Röttgen said that "if the project were to be completed that would give Putin the ultimate proof that he can carry on with his politics as normal. A European decision should be: stop Nord Stream 2." Mr Maas made clear though that he wanted to avoid hitting the gas line if at all possible. "Those calling for a stop need to know what the consequences are," he said. "There are more than 100 companies from 12 European countries involved, and roughly half of them are German." There are also indications that Chancellor Angela Merkel has shifted her stance after saying last week that the pipeline should remain "decoupled" from Navalny. The statement came in for criticism from sections of the media. Asked at Friday's press conference if she would repeat the statement, her spokesman, Stefan Seibert, declined to comment. Mr Navalny is currently lying in an artificially induced coma in Berlin's Charité hospital. Doctors say that his condition is improving but that he will have a long road to recovery.
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| Experts warn China-India standoff risks unintentional war Posted: 05 Sep 2020 09:19 PM PDT  As a monthslong military standoff between India and China along their disputed mountain border protracts, experts warn that the nuclear-armed countries — which already have engaged in their bloodiest clash in decades — could unintentionally slide into war. For 45 years, a series of agreements, written and unwritten, maintained an uneasy truce along the border on the eastern edge of the Himalayan region of Kashmir. "The situation is very dangerous on the ground and can spiral out of control," said Lt. Gen. D.S. Hooda, who was head of the Indian military's Northern Command from 2014 to 2016.
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| Dozens arrested as violent Portland protests continue Posted: 05 Sep 2020 09:12 PM PDT  Hundreds of people gathered for rallies and marches against police violence and racial injustice Saturday night in Portland, Oregon, as often violent nightly demonstrations that have happened for 100 days since George Floyd was killed showed no signs of ceasing. Video posted online appeared to show tear gas being deployed to clear protesters from what police said was an unpermitted demonstration.
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| Cohen memoir casts him as 'star witness' against Trump Posted: 05 Sep 2020 06:17 PM PDT  Michael Cohen's tell-all memoir makes the case that President Donald Trump is "guilty of the same crimes" that landed his former fixer in federal prison, offering a blow-by-blow account of Trump's alleged role in a hush money scandal that once overshadowed his presidency. Of all the crises Cohen confronted working for Trump, none proved as vexing as the porn actress Stormy Daniels and her claims of an extramarital affair with Trump, Cohen writes in "Disloyal: The True Story of the Former Personal Attorney to President Donald J. Trump." Trump, despite his later protestations, green-lighted the $130,000 payment to silence Daniels ahead of the 2016 election, reasoning he would "have to pay" his wife a far greater sum if the affair ever became known, Cohen writes, adding the president later reimbursed him with "fake legal fees."
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| Typhoon unleashes rain, strong winds in southern Japan Posted: 05 Sep 2020 05:53 PM PDT  The second powerful typhoon to slam Japan in a week unleashed fierce winds and rain on southern islands on Sunday, blowing off rooftops and leaving homes without power as it edged northward into an area vulnerable to flooding and mudslides. Weather officials warned that the rainfall from what could be a record storm would be fierce. Several rivers on the main southwestern island of Kyushu were at risk of overflowing, officials said.
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