| UN: Central African Republic on way to successful elections Posted: 19 Oct 2020 05:41 PM PDT |
| Argentina hits 1 million cases as virus slams Latin America Posted: 19 Oct 2020 04:58 PM PDT  At the edge of Argentina in a city known as "The End of the World," many thought they might be spared from the worst of the coronavirus pandemic. Sitting far from the South American nation's bustling capital, health workers in Ushuaia were initially able to contain a small outbreak among foreigners hoping to catch boats to the Antarctic at the start of the crisis. "We were the example of the country," said Dr. Carlos Guglielmi, director of the Ushuaia Regional Hospital.
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| How clothes reflect growing Oromo ethnic pride in Ethiopia Posted: 19 Oct 2020 04:30 PM PDT  Oromos have complained of marginalisation but they are now increasingly assertive in their identity.
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| High court allows 3-day extension for Pennsylvania ballots Posted: 19 Oct 2020 04:10 PM PDT  The Supreme Court will allow Pennsylvania to count ballots received up to three days after the election, rejecting a Republican plea. The justices divided 4-4 Monday, an outcome that upholds a state Supreme Court ruling that allowed election officials to receive and count ballots until Nov. 6, even if they don't have a clear postmark. Chief Justice John Roberts joined with the three liberal justices to reject Pennsylvania Republicans' call for the court to block the state court ruling.
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| Trump set to remove Sudan from state sponsors of terrorism list Posted: 19 Oct 2020 04:06 PM PDT  The US president says he will act once Sudan pays $335m to "US terror victims and families".
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| Senate to work through weekend to push Barrett onto court Posted: 19 Oct 2020 03:56 PM PDT  Wasting no time, the Senate is on track to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court by next Monday, charging toward a rare weekend session as Republicans push past procedural steps to install President Donald Trump's pick before Election Day. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he will begin the process as soon as the Senate Judiciary Committee wraps up its work Thursday. With a 53-47 Republican majority, and just two GOP senators opposed, Trump's nominee is on a glide path to confirmation that will seal a conservative hold on the court for years to come.
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| UN Security Council discusses Nagorno-Karabakh fighting Posted: 19 Oct 2020 03:05 PM PDT  United Nations Security Council members called on Armenia and Azerbaijan to respect a new ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh during a meeting on the disputed region Monday.
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| UN arms embargo on Iran expires Posted: 19 Oct 2020 11:47 AM PDT  While Iran says it plans no "buying spree," it can now in theory purchase weapons to upgrade military armaments dating back to before its 1979 Islamic Revolution and sell its own locally produced gear abroad.
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| Biden's plan to revive Iran talks could calm the Middle East – but on Israel he and Trump largely agree Posted: 19 Oct 2020 11:32 AM PDT  When the Taliban recently voiced its hope that Donald Trump would win a second term because he would withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan, it was a reminder that the 2020 U.S. election has big implications for the Middle East – and, by consequence, for American national security.Foreign policy barely registers on Americans' election agenda this year in a race dominated by the coronavirus pandemic, economic woes and structural racism. Nonetheless, the United States' global role is on the ballot in November. Trump has an "America First" vision in which narrowly defined U.S. interests rank as more important than helping maintain the global order. Biden, whose decades of foreign policy experience include chairing the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, wants to restore the United States' international stature.A Biden win would change American foreign policy significantly. But my research on U.S. policy in the Middle East suggests the United States' actual engagement there might only show cosmetic changes. Trump's Mideast policyTrump came to office promising to tame Iran, end the Islamic State and make "the deal of the century" between Israel and the Palestinians. But he has executed no grand strategy in the Middle East. Today Iran is emboldened, there's no Israeli-Palestinian peace deal and, despite Trump's claims, the Islamic State still exists. Trump withdrew the U.S. from a 2015 international agreement that restricted Iran's nuclear program in exchange for lifting sanctions. But restoring sanctions has not curbed the Iranian government's regional influence, much less forced regime change. New sanctions just imposed on Iran's banking system, for example, are mostly just making life harder for ordinary Iranians during a pandemic by reducing the value of the Iranian currency. One consistency in Trump's Middle East policy is Israel. Trump steadfastly supports its escalating opposition to Iran and aggressive policies in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza territories. Trump also departed from decades of settled U.S. policy on Israel's capital, Jerusalem – a holy city for Muslims that the Palestinians likewise claim as their capital – by moving the U.S. embassy there from Tel Aviv. This shift angered Muslim nations across the Middle East and beyond, and effectively killed hopes of peace with Israel. The Trump White House scored one diplomatic victory in the region by normalizing relations between Israel and two Arab nations, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. In numbers, that matches what presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter together achieved in the Middle East: Carter normalized Israeli ties with Egypt and Clinton with Jordan. But without a just solution to Palestinian demands for statehood, critics say, genuine peace with Arabs is not possible. Either way, Trump has unquestionably altered the geopolitics of the Middle East, pushing aside Israel-Palestine as the region's main conflict. For both the U.S. and leading Arab nations, the priority is now stopping Iran from developing nuclear weapons and reducing Iranian attacks on American interests and allies. Biden's challengesIf Biden wins the election, he would have to contend with more hostile U.S.-Iran relations than what he and Barack Obama bequeathed to Trump in 2016. In a CNN op-ed when Biden promised to rejoin the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, Biden wrote that through greater cooperation, he believes Iran can be pacified. Rejoining the deal – signed by the U.S., China, Russia and several European powers – would have the effect of improving frayed U.S. cooperation with those nations, too. But increased engagement with Iran would hurt U.S.-Saudi relations, which have grown closer under Trump's son-in-law and Mideast adviser, Jared Kushner. Saudi Arabia is entangled in what it considers to be a zero-sum struggle with Iran for domination of the Gulf region. The Saudis see U.S. pressure on Iran as a key component of its strategy to contain Iranian influence. Biden has also signaled that the U.S. will no longer support Saudi Arabia in its devastating intervention in Yemen's civil war. Iraq, Syria and Libya are all also embroiled in civil wars, conflicts that Biden – who believes the U.S. has "an obligation to lead" – would have to decide how to engage with. Biden would also contend with a new development in the Middle East: Turkey, which now has military presence in Syria, Iraq, Qatar and Libya. Trump has largely accommodated Turkey's growing regional assertion of its influence. Israel-PalestineBiden's rhetoric about Israel differs from Trump's. In May he came out publicly against Israel's proposed annexation of the West Bank – an inflammatory plan that the Trump administration may have quietly opposed but would not condemn. Israel has since suspended that plan as part of the United Arab Emirates deal.But there's no sign the United States' Israel policies would differ substantively under Biden. His campaign has repeatedly stated its "ironclad" support for Israel, condemning any effort to boycott the country or withhold aid to force policy change. As vice president, Biden in 2016 helped get the country its biggest ever U.S. aid package, US$38 billion. Biden has already announced he would not move the U.S. embassy back to Tel Aviv if elected.The U.S. is Israel's strongest ally. Every American president since 1973 has given substantial foreign aid and military technology to the Israelis while shielding Israel from international condemnation over its policies toward Palestinians.[Deep knowledge, daily. Sign up for The Conversation's newsletter.]Palestinians almost certainly won't get their land back under Biden. But they could get more money and political support. Biden promises to restore some of the $600 million in U.S. aid to the Palestinian Authority and to the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, among other agencies. Trump eliminated that funding last year in a failed effort to force Palestinians to accept his peace plan. Obama created some goodwill in the Mideast, which may help Biden. But the region presents challenges that have for decades stymied American presidents, Democratic and Republican alike.This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Muqtedar Khan, University of Delaware.Read more: * Has Trump proposed a Middle East peace plan – or terms of surrender for the Palestinians? * Arms and influence in the Khashoggi affairMuqtedar Khan is the academic director of the American Foreign Policy Institute at the University of Delaware, which has received a SUSI grant from the U.S. Department of State.
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| Trump says Sudan to be removed from terrorism list Posted: 19 Oct 2020 11:24 AM PDT  President Donald Trump on Monday said Sudan will be removed from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism if it follows through on its pledge to pay $335 million to American terror victims and their families. The move would open the door for the African country to get international loans and aid needed to revive its battered economy and rescue the country's transition to democracy. The announcement, just two weeks ahead of the U.S. presidential election, also comes as the Trump administration works to get other Arab countries, such as Sudan, to join the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain's recent recognition of Israel.
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| Guinea's opposition leader claims election victory Posted: 19 Oct 2020 11:19 AM PDT  Guinea's opposition candidate Cellou Dalein Diallo has declared himself the winner of the West African country's presidential election before the official results have been announced. "Despite all the anomalies of this election ... and in view of the results that came out of the polls, I emerge victorious from this presidential election," he said Monday, a day after the vote, to scores of cheering supporters who thronged his party's headquarters in the capital, Conakry. Diallo did not give any figures to back up his claim but said it was based on information gathered by his party, the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea.
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| Trump envoy traveled to Syria for talks on missing Americans Posted: 19 Oct 2020 10:49 AM PDT  A senior White House official made an unusual, secret visit to Syria for high-level talks aimed at securing the release of two Americans who have been missing for years amid the country's long civil war, Trump administration officials said Monday. Kash Patel, a deputy assistant to President Donald Trump, went to Syria as part of an administration effort to secure the release of Americans overseas, including missing journalist Austin Tice, the officials said on condition of anonymity.
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| UK insists EU must go further to break Brexit deadlock Posted: 19 Oct 2020 10:34 AM PDT  Britain on Monday welcomed signals that the European Union was ready to intensify stalled post-Brexit trade talks, but said its commitments did not yet go far enough to restart face-to-face negotiations.
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| End Sars protests: Amnesty warns of 'escalating attacks' Posted: 19 Oct 2020 10:08 AM PDT  Protesters at the offices of the central bank are wounded after being attacked, rights group says.
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| World Bank: 5.2% decrease in MENA economies expected in 2020 Posted: 19 Oct 2020 09:23 AM PDT |
| Judge puts Wisconsin capacity limit order back into effect Posted: 19 Oct 2020 08:57 AM PDT |
| 'What?' Former UK PM May shocked by minister's Brexit remark on security Posted: 19 Oct 2020 08:37 AM PDT |
| International Law Can’t Solve the Greco-Turkish Island Problem Posted: 19 Oct 2020 08:28 AM PDT  (Bloomberg Opinion) -- Kastellorizo is one of those places that might become a cause for war even though most people couldn't find it on a map.The combatants would be Greece and Turkey, formally NATO "allies" but in reality perennial foes since the sloppy unraveling of the Ottoman Empire. And their war would be less about the island as such than about the Mediterranean waters said to belong to it. That's because underneath the sea bed, there may be lots of oil and gas.Kastellorizo derives from "red castle," after its landmark as seen in the evening light. Known to the Turks as Meis, the island is a charming place inhabited by a few hundred people. After a lively history — Byzantine, Maltese, Ottoman and so forth — it was transferred in 1947 by the victors of World War II from the defeated Axis power Italy to Greece. This all but guaranteed trouble forever after.Just look at a map. Kastellorizo is far away from mainland Greece and also quite distant from Greece's Aegean islands. But it's literally swimming distance from the Turkish coast. At the risk of exaggeration, from Ankara's point of view, it's a bit as though an international conference had transferred New York's Staten Island to China.This situation wasn't so bad as long as not much was going on in the open seas south of the coastline shared by Turkey and Kastellorizo. But now hydrocarbons are being discovered all around the eastern Mediterranean. The question has become: Who will get to drill in this part of the sea, Greece or Turkey?This is where international law gets complicated. Greece claims much of those waters, citing the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, in force since 1994. UNCLOS generally foresees countries asserting their sovereignty over 12 nautical miles (22 km) from their coasts. Beyond these "territorial waters," they also get another 12 nautical miles as a "contiguous zone" of control. And they can establish an "exclusive economic zone" for 200 nautical miles from shore. This also includes the "continental shelf" — that is, the seabed below and whatever oil and gas may be in it.The Greeks, who are signatories to UNCLOS, therefore argue that their little outlier of Kastellorizo should project its own 200 nautical miles southward. After connecting some lines to other Greek islands, they want a map that would cut the exclusive economic zone Turkey desires roughly in half.Unsurprisingly, Turkey isn't happy about that. And — like the U.S., incidentally — it never signed UNCLOS. It's still expected to obey what's known as "customary" law, which is basically the weight of precedent and established practice. But it can't be dragged to an international tribunal against its will.That's too bad in a way, because UNCLOS is actually quite flexible in such circumstances, says Robin Churchill, an expert at Scotland's University of Dundee. In 2012, for instance, a court settled a similar dispute between Nicaragua and Colombia by granting only the 12-nautical-mile territorial zone to several Colombian islands that would have unduly sliced up the Nicaraguan economic zone. The outcome was accepted as "equitable."The eastern Mediterranean is a harder case. UNCLOS, also dubbed a "constitution for the oceans," runs into limitations in such a crowded sea. All the continental shelves of the surrounding countries overlap. And those nations share histories of ancient grudges. The Greco-Turkish conflict, for instance, has a tortuous offshoot on the island of Cyprus, where an ethnically Greek republic in the south and an ethnically Turkish one in the north can't agree on anything, except that they also want that gas.The worst way forward is the one currently in the offing: a cynical game that may eventually be decided by brute force. Greece is doing a deal with Egypt that conflicts with another one between Turkey and Libya, and so on. Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan this week sent, yet again, a research ship accompanied by navy frigates into the contested waters. At one point this summer a Greek ship ran into a Turkish one; at another France dispatched a frigate and two fighter jets to the region.It's tempting for Europe to simply line up behind Greece, as my colleague Ferdinando Giugliano urges. It's a fellow member of the European Union, after all. By contrast, Erdogan is the region's bete noir, stirring up trouble from Syria to Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh, while cracking down on civil liberties at home.Unreasonable and aggressive as Erdogan is, however, the West should admit that Turkey has half a point when it complains that the Greek position on Kastellorizo is "maximalist." Based on the spirit of UNCLOS, says Churchill, the cutting up of Turkey's exclusive economic zone to such an extent seems unfair. To avoid war, therefore, the West should make Erdogan an offer.One idea I like is to use Europe's own experience after World War II as inspiration. In the 1950s, old enemies France and Germany placed coal and steel — the industries of warfare — under a joint authority that guaranteed shared access and benefits. Out of this "Schuman plan" grew what is today the EU. And what coal and steel were then, oil and gas are now.Something similar could work in the eastern Mediterranean, if only its ancient enemies could also rise above their feuding and grasp their responsibility to prevent war. With luck, Europe will transition from brown to green energy fast enough so that nobody will even need all that dirty stuff under the sparkling blue sea anyway.(Corrects details on collision in the 11th paragraph.)This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Andreas Kluth is a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion. He was previously editor in chief of Handelsblatt Global and a writer for the Economist. He's the author of "Hannibal and Me." 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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| The Latest: Debate commission adopts new rules to mute mics Posted: 19 Oct 2020 08:26 AM PDT  President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden will have their microphones cut off in Thursday's debate while their rival delivers their opening two-minute answer to each of the debate topics. Trump has taken actions to reduce patient costs for some drugs, such as insulin, but the steps have been less ambitious than those in a bill from Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., that the House passed last year.
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| UK's Gove says EU's Barnier response in Brexit talks is constructive Posted: 19 Oct 2020 08:01 AM PDT |
| UK's Gove says Barnier agreed to work on legal texts for Brexit deal Posted: 19 Oct 2020 07:54 AM PDT |
| A desk of their own to ease remote learning for kids in need Posted: 19 Oct 2020 07:02 AM PDT  As remote schooling surged during the pandemic, parents across the country realized that many kids didn't have desks at home. For Mitch Couch in the Central California town of Lemoore, inspiration struck when his 16-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son kept taking over the kitchen table for their remote lessons. The desks he made were kid-size, simple and inexpensive, fashioned from plywood with a hutch for workbooks and papers.
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| Hospital: Palestinian official Erekat in critical condition Posted: 19 Oct 2020 06:58 AM PDT |
| Egypt says another trove of ancient coffins found in Saqqara Posted: 19 Oct 2020 06:48 AM PDT  Egyptian archaeologists have unearthed another trove of ancient coffins in a vast necropolis south of Cairo, authorities said Monday. The Tourism and Antiquities Ministry said in a statement that archaeologists found the collection of colorful, sealed sarcophagi buried more than 2,500 years ago at the Saqqara necropolis. Mostafa Waziri, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said more than 80 coffins were found.
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| High court to review two cases involving Trump border policy Posted: 19 Oct 2020 06:40 AM PDT  The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear two cases involving Trump administration policies at the U.S.-Mexico border: one about a policy that makes asylum-seekers wait in Mexico for U.S. court hearings and a second about the administration's use of money to fund the border wall. The justices' decision to hear the cases continues its practice of reviewing lower court rulings that have found President Donald Trump's immigration policies illegal over the past four years. If Democrat Joe Biden wins the White House, he has pledged to end "Migrant Protection Protocols," which Trump considers a cornerstone policy on immigration.
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| Family of Moscow-Born Teen Who Beheaded Teacher Were from Chechnya Where Charlie Hebdo Cartoons Are Demonized Posted: 19 Oct 2020 06:15 AM PDT  MOSCOW—The man known as "Putin's attack dog" has spent years promoting a violent response to the publication of controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. When a teenager from a Chechen family beheaded a school teacher in France on Friday for sharing these images with his class, Ramzan Kadyrov, the Putin-backed ruler of Chechnya, took to social media to lecture France about its "unacceptable attitude to Islamic values."Kadyrov has worked hard to make the French controversy a cause célèbre in the Muslim-majority region of Russia. He gathered hundreds of thousands of Chechens for an anti-Charlie Hebdo rally, just a few days after terrorists killed 12 and injured 11 people at the satirical newspaper's office in January 2015. That was the biggest rally ever seen in the Northern Caucasus. With a white vest on, Kadyrov spoke to a crowd of about a million people, calling on Muslims to rise against those who "deliberately kindle the fire of religious hostility."When Charlie Hebdo republished the cartoons on September 2 to mark the opening of a trial of those involved in the terror attack, Chechnya's official Instagram account responded with a call in the Chechen language saying, "May the Almighty punish them for their deeds as quickly as possible." Two days later Chechen Islamic jurist Salakh Mezhiyev condemned the French publication as part of "the West's well-planned attack against Islam." A rain of angry statements followed, and Instagram users called to make Charlie Hebdo "burn in hell."Parents of Student Arrested After Teacher Beheaded for Showing Anti-Muslim CartoonSvetlana Gannushkina, the head of Moscow's Civic Assistance Committee, said there could be no doubt what the Chechen leader was advocating. "The message Kadyrov has been sending his people is pretty clear, she told The Daily Beast. "He calls for Muslims to take measures against those mocking Muhammad."The son of a Chechen émigré family in the suburbs of Paris did just that on Friday. A French teacher of geography and history, 47-year old Samuel Paty, was decapitated in the street in the Conflans Saint-Honorine neighborhood by Abdullah Anzorov, 18, about a week after Paty had shown the Muhammed cartoons to his students.Witnesses heard Anzorov yell during the attack, "Allahu Akbar!" The attacker was later shot dead after firing a plastic pellet gun at police. The authorities have arrested at least ten members of Anzorov's Chechen family.The teenager himself was born in Moscow and only visited Chechnya as a young child, but Grigory Shvedov, editor-in-chief of the Caucasian Knot media site, told The Daily Beast that Kadyrov's influence stretched well beyond the republic's borders. "It has to do with so-called 'Kadyrovtsy,' they are responsible for spreading intolerance, hatred of critical thinking," he said. "The murder in France took place after Chechnya's main mufti condemned Charlie Hebdo."Kadyrov, whose hardline policies are fully supported by President Vladimir Putin, did condemn the terrorist attack at the end of his social media tirade, but he also doubled down on his criticism of the cartoonists and those who would challenge Islamic fundamentalism. "While speaking out categorically against any manifestation of terrorism," he wrote. "I also urge not to provoke believers, not to offend their religious feelings."Kadyrov has been lecturing on public morality and behavior for years. Enjoying Kremlin-backed power in his republic, he forbade smoking and drinking, banned women from entering state buildings without scarves on, and called for a crusade against his own LGBT citizens in order "to purify our blood."Chechen nationals across the world continue to follow Kadyrov, watching his videos and messages on Telegram and Instagram. His own Instagram account was blocked after U.S. sanctions, but he continues to spread his message via the republic's official account.Yekaterina Sokirianskaya, the founder of the Conflict Analysis and Prevention Center think tank, has been researching Chechen émigrés in Europe and the U.S. "Many Chechens in the West are shocked, ashamed, they condemned the murderer for spoiling their nation's reputation," she said. "As my own research showed, most young Chechen refugees blend in, learn languages, study and work on the West. They have no other home, since returning to Chechnya would be too dangerous for most of them."Judging by how much Anzorov rushed to photograph his beheaded victim and publish photographs on Twitter, he was prepared for a demonstratively violent act for some time, using the teacher as a pretext."The shocking photographs were published on Twitter in a post addressed to French President Emmanuel Macron, which read, "I have executed one of your dogs."Chechnya watchers in Russia believe that many Muslims who oppose Kadyrov's domestic policy have been seduced by his criticism of Charlie Hebdo and French politicians who support tolerance and freedom of speech. "Kadyrov makes statements about Muslims in Myanmar, Muslims in Palestine, he has ambitions of becoming the leading voice for all Russian Muslims," Sokirianskaya told The Daily Beast.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. 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| Some states allow ballots if voters die before Election Day Posted: 19 Oct 2020 05:05 AM PDT |
| The Biden-Clegg connection: how the former deputies find themselves bound together ahead of election Posted: 19 Oct 2020 04:55 AM PDT  In 2018, when Joe Biden appeared on Sir Nick Clegg's post-Brexit podcast "Anger Management", the ex-Lib Dem leader was glowing of his former opposite number. "Of all the people I met in Government, I genuinely never met someone who had so much wisdom, and so much warmth," he said of the former US vice president. Sir Nick, who is now Facebook's global head of policy and communications, has much in common with Biden: both deputy heads of government during the overlap between Barack Obama's presidency and David Cameron's Coalition government, and seemingly friends ever since. Now, after four years of careful bargaining and quiet concessions to President Donald Trump and his Republican allies, Facebook may soon have to explain itself to a Democratic Party that blames its services for stoking extremism, enabling discrimination and putting Trump in the White House in 2016. If there is a hope of rapprochement - as very well there might be, given Facebook's overwhelmingly progressive workforce - it is likely to begin with the one-time MP for Sheffield Hallam. "It absolutely helps," says Steve Goldstein, a former top official under Presidents Bush and Trump who has met both Sir Nick and Biden and dealt with Facebook in his official duties. "When he was hired it was a bit of a surprise, because they hired somebody from outside the United States, but they also hired a former politician. I'm sure it was done to emphasise the global nature of the corporation... looking back on it, it was a very smart move on Facebook's part." Biden and Sir Nick enjoyed their time together as deputy heads of state. After securing the White House in 2012 with Obama, the then Vice President thanked his opposite number for his "friendship" and praised the "close and enduring relationship" between the UK and the US. A year later, Sir Nick used Biden's visit to the UK to stress the importance of Britain remaining in the European Union. During the visit, he declared that the US vice-president was a "real friend of the UK". The pair were also founding members of the Transatlantic Commission on Election Integrity, which launched in May 2018. The commission pulled together public and private sector leaders to help identify and plug gaps that could be exposed during elections.
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| As virus surges, Iran breaks one-day record for deaths again Posted: 19 Oct 2020 04:01 AM PDT  Iran's single-day death toll from the coronavirus smashed a record set less than a week ago, with 337 dead confirmed Monday as a resurgence of infections is overwhelming hospitals. On social media, Iranian news outlets dramatically dubbed the day "Black Monday" and lamented the grim milestone — which represented a significant increase over Iran's previous one-day record of 279 set Wednesday. Health officials announced last week that Iran's capital, Tehran, had run out of intensive care beds for virus patients, and overwhelmed hospitals across the city suspended all nonemergency treatments.
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| Trump’s Iran strategy will fail, no matter what wild threats he makes on the Limbaugh show Posted: 19 Oct 2020 04:00 AM PDT |
| 10 things you need to know today: October 19, 2020 Posted: 19 Oct 2020 03:52 AM PDT |
| Chagos Islands dispute: Mauritius calls US and UK 'hypocrites' Posted: 19 Oct 2020 03:26 AM PDT  Prime Minister Jugnauth says the UK cannot talk about human rights and remain in the Chagos Islands.
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| UN stockpiling billion syringes for Covid-19 vaccine Posted: 19 Oct 2020 03:23 AM PDT  The United Nations said Monday it would stockpile one billion syringes around the world by the end of 2021, to be used for the delivery of any future coronavirus vaccine.
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| Loop Insights and Empower Clinics Combine Venue Tracing With COVID-19 Testing Expertise to Create First Ever “Travel Bubble” Solution for Global Travel Industry Set to Lose $3.3 Trillion Posted: 19 Oct 2020 03:00 AM PDT |
| UN hosts Libyan military leaders in hopes of end to conflict Posted: 19 Oct 2020 02:40 AM PDT  Military leaders from Libya's warring sides met Monday in Geneva in hopes of a U.N.-brokered breakthrough that could pave the way for a "complete and permanent cease-fire" in the conflict-ridden North African country. U.N. organizers say the round is expected to run through Saturday, and Williams' mission "hopes that the two delegations will reach a solution to all outstanding issues in order to achieve a complete and permanent cease-fire across Libya."
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| Israeli hospital hosts wedding of COVID-19 patient's son Posted: 19 Oct 2020 02:34 AM PDT |
| 2020 Watch: Debate a chance for Trump to generate momentum Posted: 19 Oct 2020 02:32 AM PDT  President Donald Trump is openly contemplating the prospect of losing, while Democratic challenger Joe Biden is warning his supporters against overconfidence as the 2020 presidential election speeds into its closing days. Trump is drawing huge crowds reminiscent of 2016's final days, and Biden is sticking to his cautious approach with small events focused more on adhering to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's social distancing recommendations than energizing his supporters. While there will be plenty of action, this week will center on Thursday's final debate, which may be Trump's last and best chance to change the direction of this election.
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| ETA’s bloody history: 853 killings in 60 years of violence Posted: 18 Oct 2020 11:34 PM PDT  The now-defunct Basque separatist militant group ETA was formed more than six decades ago to try to form an independent state in parts of northern Spain and southern France. A former ETA leader, Josu Urrutikoetxea, is going on trial Monday in Paris on terrorism charges. — 1958: ETA is created during Gen. Francisco Franco's dictatorship in Spain aiming to carve out an independent Basque state in northern Spain and southern France.
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| Thai authorities seek to censor coverage of student protests Posted: 18 Oct 2020 11:30 PM PDT  Thai authorities worked Monday to stem a growing tide of protests calling for the prime minister to resign by threatening to censor news coverage, raiding a publishing house and attempting to block the Telegram messaging app used by demonstrators. The efforts by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha's government to drain the student-led protests of support and the ability to organize comes as demonstrations have grown in the capital and spread around the country, despite an emergency decree, which bans public gatherings of more than four people in Bangkok, outlaws news said to affect national security and gives authorities broad power to detain people.
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| Facing terror charges, ETA's last boss apologizes for deaths Posted: 18 Oct 2020 11:27 PM PDT  The last known chief of ETA, the now-extinct Basque separatist militant group, was back in court Monday in Paris to face terrorism charges that he deems "absurd" because of his role in ending a conflict that claimed hundreds of lives and terrorized Spain for half a century. Josu Urrutikoetxea led ETA during one of its bloodiest periods, when its victims included children bombed to death while sleeping in a Zaragoza police compound, where a monument to their stolen lives now stands. In a rare interview after 17 years on the run, he offered an apology, advised other separatist movements against resorting to violence and painted himself as a changed man.
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| UK tells EU: door is ajar so come to us with a few Brexit concessions Posted: 18 Oct 2020 11:21 PM PDT |
| Japan's Prime Minister Suga to Deliver Video Address at Milken Institute Global Conference on October 19, 2020 Posted: 18 Oct 2020 11:08 PM PDT  The Milken Institute announced today that the Prime Minister of Japan, Yoshihide Suga, is scheduled to deliver a video address at the annual Milken Institute Global Conference 2020. This marks the second time the Prime Minister will deliver remarks on an international platform since his video address at the U.N. General Assembly last month.
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| As virus flares globally, new strategies target hot spots Posted: 18 Oct 2020 10:15 PM PDT  After entire nations were shut down during the first surge of the coronavirus earlier this year, some countries and U.S. states are trying more targeted measures as cases rise again around the world, especially in Europe and the Americas. Spanish officials limited travel to and from some parts of Madrid before restrictions were widened throughout the capital and some suburbs. Italian authorities have sometimes quarantined spots as small as a single building.
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| Trump 'running angry,' attacks polls, press and Dr. Fauci Posted: 18 Oct 2020 09:33 PM PDT  An angry President Donald Trump came out swinging Monday against Dr. Anthony Fauci, the press and polls that show him trailing Democrat Joe Biden in key battleground states in a disjointed closing message two weeks out from Election Day. On the third day of a western campaign swing, Trump was facing intense pressure to turn around his campaign, hoping for the type of last-minute surge that gave him a come-from-behind victory four years ago. "I'm not running scared," Trump told reporters before taking off for Tucson, Arizona, for his fifth rally in three days.
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| Morales party claims win as Bolivia seems to shift back left Posted: 18 Oct 2020 09:24 PM PDT  Bolivia appeared Monday to be shifting sharply away from the conservative policies of the U.S.-backed interim government that took power last year after leftist President Evo Morales resigned, with the self-exiled leader's party claiming victory in a weekend presidential election. The leading rival of Morales's handpicked successor, Luis Arce, conceded defeat as did interim President Jeanine Áñez, a bitter foe of Morales. .Officials released no formal, comprehensive quick count of results from Sunday's vote, but two independent surveys of selected polling places gave Arce a lead of roughly 20 percentage points over his closest rival — far more than needed to avoid a runoff.
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| 2016 sequel? Trump's old attacks failing to land on Biden Posted: 18 Oct 2020 09:18 PM PDT  President Donald Trump stood before a crowd in a state that had once been firmly in his grasp. "Did you hear the news?" the president asked the hopeful crowd. "Bruce Ohr is finally out of the Department of Justice."
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| Australia: Most of 1,100 refugees in US deal have resettled Posted: 18 Oct 2020 09:16 PM PDT  The United States is expected to have resettled more than 1,100 refugees by early next year under a deal President Donald Trump reluctantly honored with Australia, an Australian official said on Monday. President Barack Obama's administration struck a deal in 2016 to accept up to 1,250 refugees from Iran, Bangladesh, Somalia and Myanmar whom Australia had banished to Pacific island camps. Trump condemned the deal as "dumb" but agreed to honor the U.S. commitment, subject to "extreme vetting" of the refugees.
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| EU-US alliance 'on life support' after four years of Trump Posted: 18 Oct 2020 08:53 PM PDT  Back in 2016, German Chancellor Angela Merkel greeted Donald Trump's victory with an extraordinary warning: that she would work with the US president on the condition that he respect democratic values. Things did not improve from there.
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| North Korean justice system treats people as 'less than animals', rights group finds Posted: 18 Oct 2020 08:38 PM PDT  Torture, humiliation and coerced confessions are rampant in North Korea's pretrial detention system which treats people as worth "less than an animal", a rights group said Monday in a report on the country's opaque legal processes. US-based Human Rights Watch drew on interviews with dozens of former North Korean detainees and officials to highlight what it called inhuman conditions at detention facilities that often amount to torture. Nuclear-armed North Korea, accused of widespread rights abuses by the United Nations and other critics, is a "closed" country and little is known about its criminal justice system. Mistreatment of detainees - beating with a stick or kicking - was "especially harsh" in the early stages of pretrial detention, interviewees said. "The regulations say there shouldn't be any beatings, but we need confessions during the investigation and early stages of the preliminary examination," a former police officer said. "So you have to hit them in order to get the confession." Former detainees said they were forced to sit still on the floor, kneeling or with their legs crossed, for as long as 16 hours a day, with even a flicker of movement leading to punishment. The punishments ranged from hitting - using hands, sticks, or leather belts - to forcing them to run in circles around a yard up to 1,000 times. "If I or others moved (in the cell), the guards would order me or all the cellmates to extend our hands through the cell bars and would step on them repeatedly with their boots," said former detainee Park Ji Cheol. Yoon Young Cheol, another former detainee, added: "There, you are just treated like you are worth less than an animal, and that's what you end up becoming." Some female interviewees testified to rampant sexual violence at the facilities. Kim Sun Young, a former trader in her 50s who fled North Korea in 2015 said she had been raped by her interrogator at a detention centre. Another police officer sexually assaulted her by touching her underneath her clothes while interrogating her, Kim added, but said she had been "powerless to resist". The report called on Pyongyang to "end endemic torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in detention" and urged South Korea, the United States and other UN member states to "publicly and privately pressure the North Korean government". North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is the third generation of his family to rule the country, where state surveillance is widespread and dissent not tolerated. The country already stands accused by the UN of "systematic, widespread and gross" human rights violations that range from torture, extrajudicial killings to running prison camps. Pyongyang maintains that it protects and promotes "genuine human rights", and says there is no justification for the West to try to set human rights standards for the rest of the world. It condemns international criticism on the issue as a smear campaign to undermine its "sacred socialist system".
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| UK says door remains 'ajar' for post-Brexit trade deal Posted: 18 Oct 2020 07:40 PM PDT  Britain still wants to reach a post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union despite the current deadlock, a senior government minister insisted ahead of fresh talks Monday.
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