2020年9月16日星期三

Yahoo! News: Terrorism

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Yahoo! News: Terrorism


Joe Biden’s Latino problem goes beyond Florida

Posted: 15 Sep 2020 02:00 AM PDT

Joe Biden's Latino problem goes beyond FloridaJoe Biden is heading to Florida on Tuesday amid worries about his campaign's Latino outreach operation. Recent polls there have seen Biden's lead dwindle to just about 1 percent, in large part due to soft support among Latinos.


Breonna Taylor's mother reaches $12M settlement, police reform agreement with Louisville

Posted: 15 Sep 2020 01:09 PM PDT

Breonna Taylor's mother reaches $12M settlement, police reform agreement with LouisvilleThe family of Breonna Taylor, a Black woman who was shot and killed by police in her Louisville, Ky., apartment earlier this year, has settled a wrongful death lawsuit against the city for $12 million that includes an agreement to implement a number of police reforms.


Chinese virologist who claimed coronavirus was created in a lab and fled to US has been suspended by Twitter

Posted: 16 Sep 2020 10:00 AM PDT

Chinese virologist who claimed coronavirus was created in a lab and fled to US has been suspended by TwitterAcademic had 60,000 followers before her suspension


Ukraine, Belarus trade accusations over Jewish pilgrims

Posted: 16 Sep 2020 10:57 AM PDT

Ukraine, Belarus trade accusations over Jewish pilgrimsUkraine and Belarus traded angry accusations Wednesday over thousands of Hasidic Jewish pilgrims who have remained stuck on their border after Ukraine denied them entry because of coronavirus restrictions. Ukraine's presidential office urged Belarusian authorities to stop issuing misleading signals to the ultra-Orthodox Jewish pilgrims that they could eventually cross the border. "We are asking Belarusian authorities to stop fueling the tensions on the border and refrain from spreading false encouraging statements that could leave the pilgrims with a feeling that the Ukrainian border might be opened," it said.


'Completely preserved' Ice Age cave bear carcass found by reindeer herders in Russia

Posted: 15 Sep 2020 06:35 AM PDT

'Completely preserved' Ice Age cave bear carcass found by reindeer herders in RussiaScientists at North-Eastern Federal University (NEFU) in Yakutsk, Russia, on Monday announced a cave bear carcass was discovered by reindeer herders.


NASA mulls possible mission to Venus after recent discovery of possible life

Posted: 16 Sep 2020 01:32 PM PDT

NASA mulls possible mission to Venus after recent discovery of possible lifeNASA is considering approving by next April up to two planetary science missions from four proposals under review, including one to Venus that scientists involved in the project said could help determine whether or not that planet harbors life. The U.S. space agency in February shortlisted four proposed missions that are now being reviewed by a NASA panel, two of which would involve robotic probes to Venus. One of those, called DAVINCI+, would send a probe into the Venusian atmosphere.


'Hi, this is Navalny': Poisoned Putin critic posts photo from hospital as his aide says he plans to return to Russia

Posted: 15 Sep 2020 09:10 AM PDT

'Hi, this is Navalny': Poisoned Putin critic posts photo from hospital as his aide says he plans to return to Russia"I still can hardly do anything, but yesterday I was able to breathe on my own for the whole day," wrote Alexei Navalny, a prominent Putin opponent.


Scientific American backs Biden in its 1st presidential endorsement

Posted: 15 Sep 2020 10:28 AM PDT

Scientific American backs Biden in its 1st presidential endorsementThe magazine on Tuesday announced the first presidential endorsement in its 175-year history. Its editors said they felt "compelled" to do so because President Trump's rejection of science has cost tens of thousands of American lives.


An 88-year-old Black man killed by officers in California was a former employee of the same police department

Posted: 15 Sep 2020 04:24 PM PDT

An 88-year-old Black man killed by officers in California was a former employee of the same police departmentRobert Coleman, a resident of West Sacramento, worked for the police department for nearly a decade, authorities said.


Pompeo makes history as first U.S. secretary of state to visit Suriname and Guyana

Posted: 16 Sep 2020 03:10 PM PDT

Pompeo makes history as first U.S. secretary of state to visit Suriname and GuyanaWhile the 15-nation Caribbean Community bloc known as Caricom remains divided on the issue of Venezuela, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will visit two of its member states this week as the Trump administration seeks to turn up the pressure on Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.


The Latest: Sally's winds increase to 90 mph

Posted: 14 Sep 2020 10:46 PM PDT

The Latest: Sally's winds increase to 90 mphHurricane Sally is strengthening as it creeps toward Florida and Alabama. The National Hurricane Center says the Category 1 storm's winds have increased to 90 mph (150 kph). Sally was centered about 65 miles (105 kilometers) southeast of Mobile, Alabama, and 60 miles (95 kilometers) southwest of Pensacola, Florida, about midnight Tuesday.


Boeing Hid ‘Catastrophic’ 737 MAX Design Flaws That Killed Hundreds

Posted: 16 Sep 2020 03:58 AM PDT

Boeing Hid 'Catastrophic' 737 MAX Design Flaws That Killed HundredsThe final House Transportation committee report on the fatal design flaws of Boeing's 737 MAX—which killed 346 people in two accidents between 2018 and 2019—show the air disasters could have been avoided.The 239-page report, which was released Wednesday, is the product of an 18-month investigation that confirmed time and again that Boeing caved into "production pressure that ultimately jeopardized the safety of the flying public." The committee cites competition with Airbus as a primary cause of cuts in costs to maintain the 737 MAX production, even though those shortcuts were fatal. "Our report lays out disturbing revelations about how Boeing—under pressure to compete with Airbus and deliver profits for Wall Street—escaped scrutiny from the Federal Aviation Administration, withheld critical information from pilots, and ultimately put planes into service that killed 346 innocent people," the House committee chairman wrote. "What's particularly infuriating is how Boeing and FAA both gambled with public safety in the critical time period between the two crashes," Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) said. The report quotes Boeing's lead design engineer as being blindly unaware of the consequences of the MCAS software upgrade he approved that was designed to automatically push the jet's nose down in certain conditions. He approved the software upgrade despite warnings from at least one test pilot that the changes made in 2018 could be "catastrophic"—which they were on two occasions, first in Indonesia in November 2018 and then in Ethiopia in March 2019, which led to the global grounding of the popular workhorse for many airlines. The report also accuses Boeing of a "culture of concealment" saying they held back "crucial information from the FAA, its customers, and 737 MAX pilots," adding that the pilots were expected to learn to mitigate and override the MCAS system, which few were thoroughly trained on. The House committee members also fault FAA for giving Boeing so much leeway that led to the failure to report certain safety issues in their own self-regulation, suggesting that "conflicts of interest" jeopardized the safety of the flying public. They also cite several instances in which FAA officials gave Boeing a pass, overruling their own safety regulations to keep Boeing happy. The committee also apologized to the survivors of both crashes. "On behalf of the families of the victims of both crashes, as well as anyone who steps on a plane expecting to arrive at their destination safely, we are making this report public to put a spotlight not only on the broken safety culture at Boeing but also the gaps in the regulatory system at the FAA that allowed this fatally flawed plane into service."Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.


Utah police must now try de-escalation first after officer shot 13-year-old with autism

Posted: 15 Sep 2020 07:12 AM PDT

Utah police must now try de-escalation first after officer shot 13-year-old with autismPolicy that makes de-escalation tactics "mandatory" for Utah police went into effect hours after an officer shot a 13-year-old boy with autism.


In a lucky coincidence, a spacecraft is scheduled to fly by Venus just weeks after researchers announced finding potential signs of life

Posted: 16 Sep 2020 03:34 PM PDT

In a lucky coincidence, a spacecraft is scheduled to fly by Venus just weeks after researchers announced finding potential signs of lifeThe BepiColumbo spacecraft consists of two satellites launched together. It will fly by Venus twice: once in October, and once next August.


Trump's Threat to Pull Funding From Schools Over How They Teach Slavery Is Part of a Long History of Politicizing American History Class

Posted: 16 Sep 2020 01:59 PM PDT

Trump's Threat to Pull Funding From Schools Over How They Teach Slavery Is Part of a Long History of Politicizing American History Class"Is the point of history class to introduce young Americans to their heritage of heroes, the glories of American history?"


‘She paid the price’: ICE deports immigrant woman weeks after she alleges guards sexually assaulted her

Posted: 16 Sep 2020 11:13 AM PDT

'She paid the price': ICE deports immigrant woman weeks after she alleges guards sexually assaulted herThe immigrant woman was deported on Monday with little notice, her lawyer says


Maduro security forces committed crimes against humanity: U.N.

Posted: 16 Sep 2020 04:10 AM PDT

Maduro security forces committed crimes against humanity: U.N.The government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has committed systematic human rights violations including killings and torture amounting to crimes against humanity, U.N. investigators said in a report on Wednesday. Reasonable grounds existed to believe that Maduro and his interior and defence ministers ordered or contributed to the crimes documented in the report to silence opposition, the investigators said. Specifically they had information indicating Maduro ordered the director of the national intelligence service SEBIN to detain opponents "without judicial order", Francisco Cox of the U.N. Fact-Finding Mission told a news briefing.


Victoria police officer appears to stomp on man's head during arrest

Posted: 14 Sep 2020 09:33 PM PDT

Victoria police officer appears to stomp on man's head during arrestPolice are accused of using excessive force to arrest a man with mental health issues in Melbourne.


Donald Trump warns Iran of severe retaliation if US diplomat attacked to avenge killing of top general Soleimani

Posted: 15 Sep 2020 04:53 AM PDT

Donald Trump warns Iran of severe retaliation if US diplomat attacked to avenge killing of top general SoleimaniDonald Trump, the US president, warned Tehran it would face severe military retaliation if reports that it is planning to assassinate a US diplomat prove to be true. "Any attack by Iran, in any form, against the United States will be met with an attack on Iran that will be 1,000 times greater in magnitude!" Mr Trump tweeted on Monday evening. The threat comes a day after Politico reported that Iran was weighing up an assassination attempt against Lana Marks, the US ambassador to South Africa and long-time friend of President Trump. The reported plan is said to be in response to the killing of top Iranian commander General Qassim Soleimani by US forces in January this year. The report was based on documents seen by an anonymous US intelligence official and another who was "familiar with the issue". Ms Marks had been made aware of credible threats to her life, they said. The reporting has not been confirmed by any other major US news organisations or the US government. Serious tensions have been rising between the two countries since the assassination of Gen Soleimani, the leader of Iran's elite Quds force, in January.


Colorado city bans ketamine use amid Elijah McClain probe

Posted: 15 Sep 2020 10:31 AM PDT

Jill Biden's $695 'vote' boots are selling fast days after she wore them in public

Posted: 16 Sep 2020 02:46 PM PDT

Jill Biden's $695 'vote' boots are selling fast days after she wore them in publicStuart Weitzman, which designed Dr. Jill Biden's 5050 Vote boots, has pledged 100% of its profits from the item to a nonprofit organization.


Black man sues cops after being mistaken for burglar at his Wisconsin home, lawsuit says

Posted: 16 Sep 2020 01:45 PM PDT

Black man sues cops after being mistaken for burglar at his Wisconsin home, lawsuit says"It could have easily led to another death of an unarmed black man."


British Airways is fighting for its survival and burning through $26 million a day, CEO Alex Cruz said

Posted: 16 Sep 2020 03:50 AM PDT

British Airways is fighting for its survival and burning through $26 million a day, CEO Alex Cruz saidThe boss of British Airways, Alex Cruz, has told the UK government that the airline is burning through $26 million a day.


Two cranes collide at Austin construction site, sending at least 16 people to the hospital

Posted: 16 Sep 2020 03:40 PM PDT

Two cranes collide at Austin construction site, sending at least 16 people to the hospitalAt least 22 people were injured after two cranes collided in Austin, Texas, Wednesday morning, medics said.


Drone footage reveals the terrifying aftermath of Hurricane Sally

Posted: 16 Sep 2020 03:49 PM PDT

Drone footage reveals the terrifying aftermath of Hurricane SallyVideo shows catastrophic flooding, collapsed walls and damaged roofs


"Senate majority is at risk": GOP memo warns of looming losses as party struggles in key states

Posted: 16 Sep 2020 12:37 PM PDT

"Senate majority is at risk": GOP memo warns of looming losses as party struggles in key statesThe memo lists four states states which generally trend red but are now in the Democratic Party's sights


Defying fatwa, Iraqis flock to COVID cemetery to exhume dead, re-bury elsewhere

Posted: 15 Sep 2020 07:59 AM PDT

Defying fatwa, Iraqis flock to COVID cemetery to exhume dead, re-bury elsewhereIt took Abu Haider and his relatives several hours to dig up his nephew's grave and exhume the body at a cemetery in the southern Iraqi city of Najaf built especially for COVID-19 victims. When they had finished, they shrouded the body in white sheets, loaded it on to the back of a pickup truck and set off to re-inter it in Najaf's old "Valley of Peace" graveyard, the traditional resting place for Iraq's Shi'ites. In doing so, Abu Haider is not only reliving the pain of losing a loved one to the coronavirus pandemic that has infected nearly 300,000 Iraqis and killed more than 8,000.


Dems Say They’ll Trust COVID Vaccine—Just Not Trump

Posted: 16 Sep 2020 01:43 AM PDT

Dems Say They'll Trust COVID Vaccine—Just Not TrumpMoments after Democratic senatorial candidate Cal Cunningham said during a Monday night debate that he would be "hesitant" to take a COVID vaccine if it was approved by end of the year, Republicans were labeling him an "anti-vaxxer" and "irresponsible." "I'm going to ask a lot of questions," Cunningham said. "I think that's incumbent on all of us right now with the way we've seen politics intervening in Washington."Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) quickly responded, "We just heard a candidate for the U.S. Senate look on camera and tell 10 million North Carolinians he would be hesitant to take a vaccine. I think that's irresponsible."After the debate, Cunningham sought to clarify his remarks, telling reporters in a virtual spin room, "The point that I'm making is that we need to go through that due diligence." "We need to make sure that our public health professionals, our medical professionals, the FDA, and the professionals and scientists there sign off in this," he said. "If they sign off, free of politics, then I'll take that vaccine." But his detractors were already off to the races. "We thought we knew why Cal Cunningham was being systematically hidden from public scrutiny by his DC handlers, but we didn't know he'd go *this* far off the deep end," began a release from the Senate Leadership Fund, with the subject line "Cal Cunningham Goes Full Anti-Vaxxer in First North Carolina Senate Debate."  Matt Gorman, a Republican strategist, said Cunningham—who has led Tillis in most recent polls—gave "Republicans a foothold for the final stretch." "This attack is squarely aimed toward swing voters," Gorman said. "There's now a Cal Cunningham-sized hole in the wall. All the other candidates will notice and adjust their answers accordingly. If they get caught on this question, that's on them." Like most things in the Trump era, the hunt for the vaccine for the coronavirus the president knowingly downplayed to Americans has become mired in politics and tied up in Trump himself. An NBC poll released on Tuesday showed 56 percent of respondents do not trust the president's comments about the vaccine, with only 26 percent saying they do. This has left Democrats to walk a fine line between expressing confidence in the medical and scientific community working toward a vaccine and the words of the man at the top of the bureaucracy in charge of making sure that it's safe. "This is not something that is campaign-ending," said one Democratic strategist who spoke on condition of anonymity to speak candidly about the Cunningham race. "But it is a red flag for other Senate candidates to get this answer right."The Big Hole in Biden and Trump's COVID Vaccine PlansSen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) successfully walked that line in an interview earlier this month, telling CNN's Dana Bash, "I will say that I would not trust Donald Trump and it would have to be a credible source of information that talks about the efficacy and the reliability of whatever he's talking about." Harris said she worried that scientists and medical experts would be "muzzled" and "suppressed" by the administration in the rush to get a vaccine released before election day.  The messenger mattered, Harris said, noting that she felt more comfortable hearing those assurances from someone like Fauci, who "put the public health of the American people as the highest priority in terms of his work, and his reputation and his priority." "Yes. I trust Dr. Fauci," Harris said.  That answer drew fire from the president himself, who went off on Harris during a Labor Day press conference. Biden and Harris "should immediately apologize for the reckless anti-vaccine rhetoric that they are talking right now, talking about endangering lives and undermining science," Trump said."Undermining science" when it comes to vaccines hasn't always been such a concern to Trump. He has repeatedly and incorrectly linked vaccines with autism and even suggested creating a  commission about the safety of childhood immunizations led by prominent anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. During a measles outbreak in 2019, the president was silent for months before telling Americans to "get their shots." The day after Trump's Labor Day rant, former Vice President Joe Biden was even clearer about the campaign's position on the vaccination, accusing Trump of undermining public confidence by promising a vaccine by Election Day.  "I'm worried if we did have a really good vaccine people would be reluctant to take it. So, he is undermining public confidence," Biden said of the president. "But pray God we have it. If I could get a vaccine tomorrow, I'd do it. If it cost me the election I would do it. We need a vaccine and we need it now. We have to listen to the scientists."Josh Schwerin, senior strategist and communications director at Priorities USA, said as long as Democrats are clear that it's not the vaccine that's at issue, it will not hinder Democrats in the 2020 election. "It's not about a vaccine," he told The Daily Beast. "It's about Donald Trump and his lack of credibility." That credibility was the topic of conversation in a hearing in the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee last week, where top government scientists expressed concern that misinformation and politics could slow the nation's recovery. After listing several of the administration's missteps, including, but not limited to pushing conspiracy theories about the Centers for Disease Control and the number of people who have died as a result of COVID-19,  Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) asked whether Trump's "actions encourage public trust in vaccines and increase the number of people likely to get the vaccine, or do they discourage Americans from getting vaccinated for COVID-19?" Avoiding a direct comment on Trump, Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, said his staff would work hard to get the public facts about how the decisions are being made until they have a safe vaccine.  "What is the evidence that anybody would want to look at in making their own decision, discounting whatever political words they heard, whatever conspiracy theories popped up in their Facebook feed, and actually, saying, OK, let's see what the doctors say," he said.  He concluded, "I just hope Americans will take—choose to take—the information they need from scientists and physicians, and not from politicians."Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.


Rochester cops clear Daniel Prude protesters from city hall

Posted: 16 Sep 2020 08:10 AM PDT

Malaysian man 'finds' monkey selfies on lost phone

Posted: 16 Sep 2020 02:51 AM PDT

Malaysian man 'finds' monkey selfies on lost phoneZackrydz Rodzi says he was stunned to find photos after tracing lost phone to nearby jungle.


Jones: Why are privileged outsiders going into communities and burning things down?

Posted: 16 Sep 2020 04:00 AM PDT

Jones: Why are privileged outsiders going into communities and burning things down?Lancaster riot suspects held on $1 million bail each; Fox Nation host Lawrence Jones reacts.


ICE deported a key witness in an ongoing sexual assault investigation at a Texas detention center, report says

Posted: 16 Sep 2020 06:12 AM PDT

ICE deported a key witness in an ongoing sexual assault investigation at a Texas detention center, report saysThe DHS Inspector General initially forbade the woman's deportation, but u-turned on Monday, The Texas Tribune and ProPublica reported.


Michelle Obama recalls moment police officers accused her brother of stealing his own bike as a child

Posted: 16 Sep 2020 02:55 PM PDT

Michelle Obama recalls moment police officers accused her brother of stealing his own bike as a childFormer first lady welcomed her brother, Craig Robinson, and her mother, Marian Robinson, on her latest podcast episode


Joe Biden tells UK Good Friday Agreement will not become a 'casualty of Brexit' if he is president

Posted: 16 Sep 2020 11:22 AM PDT

Joe Biden tells UK Good Friday Agreement will not become a 'casualty of Brexit' if he is presidentJoe Biden, the US Democratic presidential nominee, has said he would not allow the Good Friday Agreement to become a "casualty of Brexit" if he is elected president. Mr Biden waded into the issue as Dominic Raab, Foreign Secretary, tried to reassure US politicians during a trip to Washington that Britain's support for the peace accord with Northern Ireland was "absolute". "We can't allow the Good Friday Agreement that brought peace to Northern Ireland to become a casualty of Brexit," tweeted the former vice-president, who is going up against President Donald Trump in November. He warned that any trade deal between the US and UK "must be contingent upon respect for the agreement and preventing the return of a hard border." Mr Biden's comments following a meeting between Mr Raab and Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in the House of Representatives, who said if the UK "violates its international agreements" and Brexit "undermines the Good Friday accord", there will be "absolutely no chance of a US-UK trade agreement passing the Congress." Mrs Pelosi said the lower house of Congress, which is currently controlled by her party, would defend the 1998 agreement as a "beacon of hope for peace-loving people throughout the whole world".


Breonna Taylor won't get 'true justice' until officers are fired or convicted, protesters say

Posted: 16 Sep 2020 02:41 PM PDT

Breonna Taylor won't get 'true justice' until officers are fired or convicted, protesters sayProtesters say a civil settlement is a step toward justice for Breonna Taylor. But they still want the officers who shot her to be held accountable.


U.S. plans to enforce U.N. sanctions on Iran with its own action

Posted: 16 Sep 2020 09:25 AM PDT

U.S. plans to enforce U.N. sanctions on Iran with its own actionThe United States said on Wednesday it plans to impose sanctions on those who violate a U.N. arms embargo on Iran, which Washington says will now stay in place instead of expiring in October as agreed under a 2015 nuclear deal. U.S. Special Representative for Venezuela and Iran Elliott Abrams said Washington could deny access to the U.S. market to anyone who trades in weapons with Iran, which President Donald Trump's administration accuses of seeking to develop nuclear weapons.


U.N.: Boat capsizes near Libya; 24 migrants presumed dead

Posted: 15 Sep 2020 12:25 AM PDT

U.N.: Boat capsizes near Libya; 24 migrants presumed deadThe U.N. migration agency said Tuesday that a boat carrying migrants bound for Europe capsized in the Mediterranean Sea off Libya, leaving at least two dozen people drowned or missing and presumed dead, the latest shipwreck off the North African country. Safa Msehli, a spokeswoman for the International Organization for Migration, told The Associated Press that Libya's coast guard intercepted three boats on Monday, and one of them had capsized.


Half of all Americans could find themselves in harsher conditions as the climate crisis causes wildfires on the West Coast, hurricanes on the East Coast, and natural disasters throughout the country

Posted: 15 Sep 2020 11:52 PM PDT

Half of all Americans could find themselves in harsher conditions as the climate crisis causes wildfires on the West Coast, hurricanes on the East Coast, and natural disasters throughout the countryWildfires this year have caused tens of thousands of people to flee their homes in Washington, Oregon, and California.


Coronavirus: What are the numbers out of Latin America?

Posted: 16 Sep 2020 03:16 AM PDT

Coronavirus: What are the numbers out of Latin America?Some countries are beginning to see a drop in new daily cases, but the numbers are rising in others.


Catholic schools in Miami-Dade and Broward prepare to reopen for in-person learning

Posted: 16 Sep 2020 05:04 PM PDT

Catholic schools in Miami-Dade and Broward prepare to reopen for in-person learningCatholic schools in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, 49 elementary schools and eight high schools, will start to gradually reopen for in-person learning Sept. 23. The Archdiocese of Miami said it hopes to finish by Oct. 2.


The US just charged a group of Chinese hackers with orchestrating 'unprecedented' cyberattacks targeting over 100 companies, government agencies, and universities

Posted: 16 Sep 2020 02:41 PM PDT

The US just charged a group of Chinese hackers with orchestrating 'unprecedented' cyberattacks targeting over 100 companies, government agencies, and universitiesFederal prosecutors didn't say which organizations were targeted, but said Microsoft, Facebook, Apple, Google, and Verizon assisted the investigation.


‘Shocking and saddening’: Nearly two-thirds of millennial and Gen Z Americans unaware 6 million Jewish people murdered in Holocaust

Posted: 16 Sep 2020 11:34 AM PDT

'Shocking and saddening': Nearly two-thirds of millennial and Gen Z Americans unaware 6 million Jewish people murdered in HolocaustSurvey questioned 1,000 respondents nationwide and 200 interviews in each state


Biden campaign unveils high-powered legal war room

Posted: 15 Sep 2020 04:54 AM PDT

Biden campaign unveils high-powered legal war roomDemocratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's campaign has created what it calls the largest election protection program in U.S. presidential history, assembling a team of hundreds of lawyers to fend of expected legal challenges and work to ensure a fair election. The new legal operation will be headed by Dana Remus, the Biden campaign's general counsel, and former White House counsel Bob Bauer. Its "special litigation" unit includes two former U.S. solicitors general, Donald Verrilli Jr. and Walter Dellinger, and former Attorney General Eric Holder has signed on to act as liaison to allied independent voting rights organizations.The legal war room is girding itself for potentially decisive legal battles after the election, but it is also combating voter suppression efforts, teaching voters how to cast their ballots, guarding against foreign interference, and protecting access to mail-in voting in the face of issues at the U.S. Postal Service and voter fraud conspiracies touted by President Trump. With the COVID-19 pandemic still active, "some unique challenges this year," Bauer said."We can and will be able to hold a free and fair election this November," Remus said, "and we're putting in place an unprecedented voter protection effort with thousands of lawyers and volunteers around the country to ensure that voting goes smoothly."More stories from theweek.com 5 scathing cartoons about the politics of wildfires Biden narrowly leads Trump in Wisconsin, ties him on crime and safety Trump says he'll be on Fox & Friends every week — but host Steve Doocy doesn't agree to have him


Whales stranded in crocodile-infested river

Posted: 15 Sep 2020 05:14 AM PDT

Whales stranded in crocodile-infested river

A huge black creature has been spotted emerging from the murky rivers of remote northern Australia.

It's a humpback whale, a long way from home.

"It was like a Loch Ness monster kind of thing."

Marine ecologist Jason Fowler discovered three whales in the crocodile-infested rivers of Kakadua National Park on a fishing trip with friends two weeks ago.

"I knew they were humpbacks because I've done a lot of Humpback research in the past. But I could not convince myself I was actually looking at a whale so far up a muddy tropical river that was full of crocodiles. I was completely blown away."

Fowler said the whales like to be in open sea at least 10 feet deep, but they appeared stuck in a "hole" in the river.

He said it was the first known case of whales in the tropical inland habitat.

Parks Australia said in a Facebook post that it appeared some of the whales had since made their way out of the river and just one was left.

It had put an exclusion zone around the area as experts decided whether to intervene.

The post said that ''the last thing we want is a collision between a boat and whale in waters where crocodiles are prevalent and visibility underwater is zero.''

Fowler says he thinks it's unlikely the whales would be attacked by crocodiles due to their size, but the reptiles still pose a threat.

''The whales are so large, it would be a very very courageous crocodile to try and take a bite out of a whale. The big question in my mind is: what happens at night? What happens when they want to rest and sleep and take it easy knowing that they're flanked by these big crocodiles who are waiting for that moment to strike."


GOP-led Senate panel allows more subpoenas in inquiry into Russia investigation, 'unmasking'

Posted: 16 Sep 2020 09:55 AM PDT

GOP-led Senate panel allows more subpoenas in inquiry into Russia investigation, 'unmasking'Investigating the Russia probe, which cast a dark cloud over much of President Donald Trump's presidency, continues to be a dominant issue for Republicans.


Slow-moving hurricanes that deluge coasts may be latest hazard of climate change

Posted: 16 Sep 2020 11:41 AM PDT

Slow-moving hurricanes that deluge coasts may be latest hazard of climate changeFor Grant Saltz, who runs a barbecue restaurant in Mobile, Alabama, what struck him about Hurricane Sally was its steady, deliberate pace, after the storm rumbled into the U.S. Gulf Coast on Wednesday as a powerful Category 2 hurricane. "It's so slow, this one," said Saltz, 38, while clearing away tree branches during a pause in the rains. Sally is not the most powerful storm to batter the U.S. Gulf Coast in recent memory, but its glacial pace is becoming a regular feature of the deadly storms, which many scientists attribute to climate change.


0 条评论:

发表评论

订阅 博文评论 [Atom]

<< 主页

bnzv