| As smoke lifts on California's coast, it lingers in Central Valley, where farmworkers have no refuge Posted: 17 Sep 2020 12:49 PM PDT  Hazardous smoke from wildfires across the West is presenting the latest danger for the men and women who pick America's fruit and vegetable crops.
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| 'What a despicable man': Schumer rips into Trump for saying the coronavirus death toll would be lower if the US ignored Democratic states Posted: 17 Sep 2020 01:22 PM PDT  Sen. Chuck Schumer took to the floor to denounce the president's comments on taking out the "blue states" because they had "tremendous death rates."
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| Poll shows major decline in support for BLM movement across US over last three months Posted: 17 Sep 2020 11:33 AM PDT  Pew Research Centre survey compared results from June and September
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| White House staffer tests positive for COVID-19: report Posted: 16 Sep 2020 06:32 PM PDT  Coronavirus is still showing up at the White House. A journalist reportedly heard "a couple of positives today," while at the White House and rumors quickly swirled there were more than one. At a recent briefing, journalists asked press secretary Kayleigh McEnany who on the staff has been infected but she would not reveal the person's name.
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| Mysterious brain found wrapped in foil on Lake Michigan beach, police say Posted: 17 Sep 2020 06:40 AM PDT  "I popped it open and it looked like a chicken breast — kind of."
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| Giuliani associates face new federal fraud charges Posted: 17 Sep 2020 02:39 PM PDT  Federal prosecutors brought new wire fraud charges Thursday against an associate of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani who was involved in attempts to get Ukrainian officials to investigate the son of U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. Lev Parnas and his business partner, David Correia, were charged with defrauding investors in a business called Fraud Guarantee. A superseding indictment also charged them with additional campaign finance violations.
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| Emirates airline to produce kosher meals as Israel beckons Posted: 17 Sep 2020 04:16 AM PDT  The Emirates airline group unveiled plans Thursday to produce kosher meals in keeping with Jewish dietary rules, two days after the UAE and Israel signed a deal to normalise ties.
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| University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate student apologizes for falsely claiming to be Black Posted: 17 Sep 2020 04:23 PM PDT  The student has stepped down as a co-president of the school's graduate student union and a job as a teaching assistant.
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| Russia's space agency chief declares Venus a "Russian planet" Posted: 17 Sep 2020 11:43 AM PDT  With scientific evidence of possible life on the 2nd planet from the sun renewing public interest, the Roscosmos chief would like to remind everyone who got there first.
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| UK hands over to India statues stolen from Hindu temple in 1978 Posted: 16 Sep 2020 10:38 AM PDT  Britain has returned three antique bronze sculptures to Indian authorities more than 40 years after they were stolen from a Hindu temple in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The thieves were convicted in India at the time but it was only in 2019 that three of the statues were found, when the Indian High Commission in London discovered that one of them was being offered for sale by a UK-based dealer. The Indian High Commission tweeted photographs of the statues, taken during a formal handover to the government of Tamil Nadu, describing the event as an "auspicious moment".
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| A Chinese virologist claimed the coronavirus was 'intentionally' released. Turns out, she works for a group led by Steve Bannon. Posted: 17 Sep 2020 08:02 AM PDT  A strange paper claims China engineered and released the coronavirus. Its authors work for a group once led by the former Trump strategist Steve Bannon.
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| Trump pushes ‘antifa’ wildfire conspiracy despite plea from local sheriff that rumour is misdirecting resources Posted: 16 Sep 2020 08:37 AM PDT  President endorses QAnon fire conspiracies as police warn against sharing 'rumours'
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| Hurricane Sally: Deadly storm leaves 550,000 without power in US Posted: 17 Sep 2020 05:03 AM PDT  The slow-moving storm has hovered over the US Gulf coast, dumping "four months of rain in four hours".
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| These 18 hand sanitizers have been added to FDA’s Do Not Use List in the past 19 days Posted: 16 Sep 2020 05:21 AM PDT  As the FDA's Do Not Use List of hand sanitizers grew by 18 to 183 over the last 19 days, it conjured the scent of South Florida summer as much as aloe or alcohol.
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| Deputy fired over Florida school massacre to get job back Posted: 16 Sep 2020 08:09 AM PDT  A Florida sheriff's deputy who was fired for his inaction during a school shooting that left 17 dead has been reinstated with back pay by an arbitrator who ruled that the sheriff missed a deadline for dismissing the deputy. An arbitrator ruled this week that Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony acted 13 days too late when he fired deputy Josh Stambaugh last year for his conduct during the February 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported. It is unknown exactly how much Stambaugh will receive in back pay, but he earned more than $150,000 in 2018, including overtime.
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| Pelosi says House will stay in session until coronavirus stimulus deal is reached, moderate lawmakers push for compromise Posted: 16 Sep 2020 07:44 AM PDT  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the House will stay in D.C. until a deal is made on COVID-19 relief as moderate lawmakers mount a pressure campaign
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| Hawaii to allow pre-travel testing program to travelers to avoid 14-day quarantine period Posted: 17 Sep 2020 07:33 AM PDT  Hawaii Gov. David Ige said on Wednesday the state's pre-travel testing program would give travelers the option of potentially avoiding a 14-day quarantine period on arrival to the state.
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| Mexico asks U.S. for answers about alleged migrant detention abuse Posted: 16 Sep 2020 08:10 PM PDT  Mexico said on Wednesday said it had formally requested a report from U.S. authorities regarding alleged negligent practices in U.S. immigration detention centers, citing accusations of sexual abuse and unauthorized hysterectomies. The request come after a complaint by a whistleblower nurse alleging that detainees in a Georgia immigration detention facility had improperly received hysterectomies and other gynecological procedures. The complaint did not specify the nationality of the affected detainees.
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| Newt Gingrich asks Fox News host if it's now 'verboten' to criticize George Soros, earns long stare Posted: 16 Sep 2020 08:55 PM PDT  Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), an ally of President Trump, blamed George Soros on Fox News Wednesday for indirectly causing a recent rise in violence and property damage in some Democratic-run cities, claiming a slate of "progressive" district attorneys "overwhelmingly elected with George Soros' money" were letting criminals run wild. (Soros funds a political action committee that has backed reformist DA candidates since 2016, with some success, but he is hardly the only financial backer, as Fox News reports.)Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner told Gingrich it wasn't necessary to bring Soros into the discussion. Gingrich asked if mentioning Soros, a Jewish billionaire who survived Nazi occupation in his native Hungary, is now "verboten," the German word for "forbidden." Harris stared in silence for a long moment and changed the subject.> Newt Gingrich: "The number one problem in almost all the cities is George Soros-elected, left-wing, antipolice pro-criminal district attorneys..."> > Fox hos: "I'm not sure we need to bring George Soros into this."> > Newt: "Okay... So, it's verboten?"> > Long awkward silence. pic.twitter.com/tl4CgGcrzI> > — Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) September 16, 2020The FBI reported Tuesday that violent and property crime both dropped sharply in the first six months of 2020, with murders down 15 percent, rapes down 18 percent, and violent robbery down 7 percent versus a year earlier. Arson rose sharply, according to preliminary data, but violent crime overall dropped 5 percent in the Northeast, and by lesser amounts in the West and Midwest, AFP reports. Violent crime rose 2.5 percent in the South.More stories from theweek.com How a productivity phenomenon explains the unraveling of America How the Trump-Russia story was buried The conservatives who want to undo the Enlightenment
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| Isis leader gave intelligence to the US leading to deaths of al Qaeda fighters, new documents show Posted: 17 Sep 2020 05:01 AM PDT  The current Isis leader gave intelligence to US forces leading to strikes on al-Qaeda, newly released files show. Documents released on Thursday suggest Muhammad Sa'id Abdal-Rahman al-Mawla gave information after his arrest in 2008 on dozens of fellow jihadists as well as the structure of al Qaeda in Mosul. He allegedly provided names for 68 al-Qaeda fighters including 19 from photographs. Three Tactical Interrogation Reports released by the Combating Terrorism Centre (CTC) allege al-Mawla, who at the time was an al-Qaeda judge, identified leading figures behind assassinations, kidnappings and the production of improved explosive devices, used to kill coalition forces. One jihadist was a Moroccan national called Abu Jasim Abu Qaswarah. Thought to be the second-in-command of al-Qaeda in Iraq at the time, he was killed by US forces eight months after al-Mawla named him as a member of the terrorist group.
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| Letters to the Editor: If the L.A. County Sheriff's Department won't clean up its act, disband its union Posted: 17 Sep 2020 10:52 AM PDT  Angering the people the department serves while stoking the pain fellow deputies is escalation, pure and simple. It has to end.
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| Transgender activist wins Delaware state senate primary Posted: 15 Sep 2020 06:59 PM PDT  Transgender activist Sarah McBride won a Democratic state Senate primary in Delaware on Tuesday and is poised to make history as the first transgender person elected to the state's General Assembly. McBride, who interned at the White House during President Barack Obama's administration, made history at the 2016 Democratic National Convention by becoming the first transgender person to speak at a major party convention.
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| Wilfred might form in the Gulf of Mexico on Friday. It’s the last name on the list. Posted: 17 Sep 2020 04:24 AM PDT  If the system turns into Wilfred, it would be the 21st named storm.
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| Texas deputies, including those who killed Javier Ambler, reportedly got steakhouse gift cards for using force Posted: 17 Sep 2020 02:10 PM PDT  Sheriff's office leaders rewarded deputies who used force with steakhouse gift cards, according to two former employees.
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| Without Details, Congress Looks to Punt on Spending Plan Posted: 16 Sep 2020 10:20 AM PDT  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer speak to the media after a meeting with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows on Capitol Hill in Washington on Aug. 5, 2020. With lawmakers yet again scheming how to keep the lights on, there's a lot of wiggle room in what is considered a "clean" extension these days in Washington. Negotiations between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin are focused on a so-called "clean" spending bill.
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| U.S. Senate panel delays vote on aircraft certification reforms Posted: 16 Sep 2020 06:47 AM PDT  The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday postponed consideration of a bill to overhaul how the Federal Aviation Administration certifies new airplanes in the wake of two fatal Boeing 737 MAX crashes. The decision to delay the vote on the bill followed the release earlier on Wednesday of a U.S. House report that found the crashes were the "horrific culmination" of failures by Boeing Co and the FAA. Boeing's 737 MAX has been grounded since March 2019 following crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia that together killed 346 people and prompted investigations into the plane's design, development and certification.
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| Portland protesters burn Maga hats and guillotine giant teddy bear on eve of Trump convention Posted: 17 Sep 2020 01:46 AM PDT  More than 12 weeks on, and Portland's protests are only becoming more rancorous
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| Meghan McCain fact-checked on "The View" over false claim that doctors lied to public about COVID-19 Posted: 17 Sep 2020 10:59 AM PDT  The Republican claims that doctors "lied" to her about the importance of wearing a mask early on in the pandemic
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| Hizbollah 'smuggling ammonium nitrate to Europe for attacks' says US counterterrorism official Posted: 17 Sep 2020 11:41 AM PDT  Hizbollah has smuggled caches of ammonium nitrate to Europe to use in attacks, a top US counterterrorism official has said. The Iran-backed Lebanese Shia group had moved ammonium nitrate through Belgium to France, Greece, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland, Ambassador Nathan Sales, Coordinator for Counterterrorism within the US Department of State, told reporters in a briefing on Thursday. Ammonium nitrate, a chemical compound often used for explosives which is also sold commercially for use as a fertiliser, caused the August explosion at a Beirut port which killed 190 people and wounded over 6,500. Some 2,750 tonnes exploded when a warehouse caught on fire. Hizbollah, which has a political and a militant wing, is in control of parts of the eastern Mediterranean port. "Today the US government is unveiling new information about Hezbollah's presence in Europe," Mr Sales said. "Since 2012, Hezbollah has established caches of ammonium nitrate throughout Europe by transporting first aid kits that contain the substance. I can reveal that such caches have been moved through Belgium to France, Greece, Italy, Spain and Switzerland."
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| University of Michigan student decries quarantine dorms: roaches, cold food, and dirty clothes Posted: 16 Sep 2020 07:57 AM PDT  University junior Sam Burnstein went viral after claiming that the school provided virtually "no supplies" to quarantining students.
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| Asia travellers snap up 'flights to nowhere' Posted: 17 Sep 2020 07:31 AM PDT 
Air travel numbers are at a historic low this year, and it's forced carriers to get creative to bring in revenue. One big idea that's caught on in Asia and Australia is a so-called 'journey to nowhere'. These sightseeing trips allow travellers on a plane, fly them over landmarks, and then return to the airport they started out at. This week, Australia's Qantas announced its offer of a seven-hour scenic flight over the Australian Outback and Great Barrier Reef sold out in just 10 minutes. The journey - with 134 seats available - takes place in a plane normally reserved for long-haul international trips - the 787 - and goes low over iconic Australian locations like Sydney Harbor and Uluru, before landing back in Sydney. It's not cheap, though. Tickets cost between 575 to 2,765 U.S. dollars - depending on seating class. It's not just Qantas offering these journeys. Taiwan's EVA used one of its Hello Kitty planes for a father's day flight last month. While a TigerAir Taiwan flight from Taipei that's due to circle over South Korea's Jeju Island sold out in five minutes, with tickets costing $236. The flights have been criticised, however, by environmentalists. Awareness group SG Climate Rally said the journeys encouraged carbon-intensive travel and distracted from the policy shifts needed to stop the climate crisis. The concept of scenic flights might be unusual, but it is not new. Antarctica Flights has chartered Qantas jets for scenic flights over Antarctica for 26 years.
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| Fact check: 2011 photo shows Harris visiting border but online post misleads on border wall views Posted: 17 Sep 2020 03:25 PM PDT  A post online claims Sen. Kamala Harris once supported a border wall. While the post uses a genuine photo from 2011, we rate this claim false.
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| Divers in SE Asia may have found US submarine lost in WWII Posted: 15 Sep 2020 10:02 PM PDT  Divers have found what they believe is the wreck of a U.S. Navy submarine lost 77 years ago in Southeast Asia, providing a coda to a stirring but little-known tale from World War II. The divers have sent photos and other evidence from six dives they made from October 2019 to March this year to the United States Naval History and Heritage Command for verification that they have found the USS Grenadier, one of 52 American submarines lost during the conflict. The 1,475-ton, 307-foot long Grenadier was scuttled by its crew after bombs from a Japanese plane almost sent them to a watery grave.
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| Exclusive: Trump plans executive order to punish arms trade with Iran - sources Posted: 17 Sep 2020 11:14 AM PDT  U.S. President Donald Trump plans to issue an executive order allowing him to impose U.S. sanctions on anyone who violates a conventional arms embargo against Iran, four sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the executive order was expected to be issued in the coming days and would allow the president to punish violators with secondary sanctions, depriving them of access to the U.S. market. Neither the White House nor the Iranian mission to the United Nations immediately responded to requests for comment.
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| 400 Years After the Mayflower Set Sail, a New Exhibit Acknowledges the U.K.'s Impact on Native American Communities Posted: 16 Sep 2020 06:00 AM PDT  Historians are now working to make sure the impact on the Wampanoag isn't written out of the story of the Mayflower's journey
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| The CDC director said most Americans wouldn't get a coronavirus vaccine until summer or fall 2021. Trump says Redfield was 'confused.' Posted: 16 Sep 2020 04:02 PM PDT  Even if some vaccine doses are ready by November or December of this year, Dr. Robert Redfield said, they'll be prioritized for the most vulnerable.
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| Frosty air to visit portions of Midwest, Northeast Posted: 16 Sep 2020 07:52 AM PDT  Forecasters say the autumn weather preview earlier this week was just that, a glimpse into what's to come. A burst of chilly air will sweep from northern Canada through the north-central United States late this week and into the Northeast this weekend, bringing not only a dose of sweater and flannel weather but also some frosty consequences.Those hoping for fall weather like that which has been sampled in recent days are in luck, but temperatures are likely to trend even lower than those felt so far this season in many areas. The chill and accompanying frost and freeze could mark the end of the growing season in parts of the Upper Midwest and the interior Northeast.Even though the chilly air will pale in comparison to the blast that left people shivering in the Rockies and High Plains along with a snowfall early in September, some of the chilliest air of the season is forecast from the Upper Midwest to the Northeast in the coming days and can bring temperatures as low as 20 degrees below average. Frost on grass. (Jill Wellington/Pixabay) Low temperatures this time of year typically range from the lower to middle 40s F across the northern tier to the lower 60s over the central Plains and the mid-Atlantic coast to the middle 60s over the interior South.Temperatures could challenge record lows for the date in northern portions of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan prior to the end of the week and in portions of Pennsylvania and New York state this weekend. A freeze is forecast for International Falls, Minnesota; Ironwood, Wisconsin; and Houghton Lake, Michigan; with low temperatures ranging from the middle 20s to the lower 30s F. The low temperatures are 10-20 degrees below average for the middle of September.In Rochester, New York, daily low temperature records set from the early 1970s to the early 1990s will be challenged with readings forecast to dip into the lower to middle 30s on multiple nights.CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APPThe crisp, cool air will be felt farther to the south as well with low temperatures forecast to be in the 50s during the latter part of this week in St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri, and Omaha, Nebraska. Low temperatures in the 40s will be common in Detroit, around the Chicago suburbs, much of the Ohio Valley and the northern and western suburbs of the major Interstate-95 cities from Richmond, Virginia, to Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York City. Boston will slip into the 40s during some nights this weekend while temperatures stop in the lower 50s farther southwest along the I-95 zone through eastern Virginia. Frost is not expected in the large cities and metro areas that surround them in the Midwest and Northeast. However, in portions of the central Appalachians and interior New England, there will be the risk of a killing frost in the rural areas during Friday night and Saturday night with low temperatures forecast to be near the 32-degree mark and even a tad lower in some cases.The upcoming heavy frost follows a touch of light frost from early in the week in parts of the central Appalachians. The frosts are occurring one to three weeks ahead of average.Summer harvesting may need to be accelerated to avoid losses, and gardeners may want to protect sensitive flowers or bring them indoors to preserve their longevity. Patchy cloud cover may be enough to prevent a frost on one or more nights over the interior Northeast, but there is no guarantee the clouds will hold through the night.The frosty conditions could also accelerate the process of leaves changing colors in some areas.As temperatures sink to chilly levels at night, fog is likely to develop in the river valleys and limit visibility enough to slow travel for a few hours during the late-night and early-morning hours.And it won't be crisp just during the night. Daytime highs have already been suppressed in recent days due to high-level smoke from Western U.S. wildfires dimming the sun's intensity. As steering winds cause the smoky air aloft to drop southward, the origins of the air alone will create cool conditions during the daytime, even where the sun shines brightly overhead.At the peak of the cool air, highs will be in the 50s across the northern tier to end this week and could be held to the upper 40s over the higher elevations of the Northeast this weekend.Highs are forecast to be in the lower to middle 60s around Chicago and New York City. The temperature could struggle to top 70 in Atlanta late this weekend to early next week as the cool air settles into much of the Southeastern states.The push of chilly air will follow rain from Sally in the Southeast and along the mid-Atlantic coast to end this week. There are indications that the cool weather pattern will hold in much of the Eastern states into next week with the potential for Hurricane Teddy to continue to drift northwest of Bermuda and possibly approach northern New England or Atlantic Canada at some point.The circulation around Teddy, which is a large hurricane and a non-tropical storm that develops offshore will work to keep cool air into the Northeast. Conditions are likely to get rather windy along the coast, but well inland, especially over the central Appalachians, there may continue to be fog and frost events where winds remain light.Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
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| Man protects wife from suspected carjacker at gas station Posted: 17 Sep 2020 06:10 AM PDT  Police believe after an accident, the suspect pulled into the Valero and jumped into the driver's seat of the victim's SUV while he pumped gas.
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| Eyeing China, Pentagon plans larger, 'more lethal' navy Posted: 16 Sep 2020 02:36 PM PDT  Secretary of Defense Mark Esper announced Wednesday an ambitious plan to expand the US Navy with a range of unmanned and autonomous ships, submarines and aircraft to confront the growing maritime challenge from China.
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| Driver launches car across drawbridge as it starts to rise, Michigan police say Posted: 17 Sep 2020 07:39 AM PDT  A witness said the driver blew out all four of his tires.
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| Fact check: If the vice president becomes president, House speaker doesn't become new VP Posted: 17 Sep 2020 03:19 PM PDT  If Joe Biden is elected but unable to serve a full term, Kamala Harris would become president. Nancy Pelosi, as speaker, wouldn't automatically be VP.
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| Futuristic V-280 Not Advanced Enough to Replace the Osprey: AFSOC Commander Posted: 17 Sep 2020 03:28 AM PDT  Army modernization officials are evaluating two experimental aircraft under FVL for the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft.
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| Jailed American accused by Venezuela of spying was not sent by U.S.: official Posted: 16 Sep 2020 12:09 PM PDT |
| U.S. Intel Repeatedly Warned About Rudy’s ‘Russian Agent’ Pal Posted: 17 Sep 2020 01:30 AM PDT  At the end of an elegant dinner in May 2019 in downtown Kyiv, Ukrainian parliamentarian Andriy Derkach handed a thick packet of papers to a former senior U.S. official he'd known for years. The packet was unremarkable in its presentation, the papers clipped on the top and crunched in the corners. The packet bore no insignia, title, or index page, and did little in the way of intriguing the former U.S. official. It wasn't until months later that the official read through the pages. What was more remarkable was that U.S. intelligence had, for over a month, warned that Derkach was a stalking horse for the Russian security services and their attempts to interfere in American politics. It was the first in a series of reports, beginning in the spring of 2019, naming Derkach as part of a broader push to upend the U.S. election once again. Despite the odd nature of the handoff, the dinner was one of the earliest known attempts by Derkach, current and former officials say, to pass materials to Americans in an attempt to push the debunked conspiracy theories that the former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter were complicit in the siphoning of millions of dollars from the Ukrainian people and that Ukraine, rather than Russia, interfered in the 2016 election. (The latter is "a fictional narrative that has been perpetrated and propagated by the Russian security services," according to President Donald Trump's former point person for the region, Fiona Hill.) Derkach's dossier was not flagged for officials inside the State Department until months later, when Derkach began holding press conferences and Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, reiterated the same talking points as Derkach on a range of issues. But officials inside the U.S. intelligence and national security apparatus, with the help of officials on the ground in Kyiv, had drafted reports warning that Russian proxies, including Derkach, were attempting to undermine the 2020 election process in America.Seven current and former U.S. officials spoke with The Daily Beast about Derkach, his relationship to Trump loyalists, and the escalating warnings about Derkach's activities. Those warnings extended to leaders on Capitol Hill who learned that Ukrainians with ties to Russia were inserting themselves in the U.S. election. Last week, the Treasury Department blacklisted Derkach as an "active Russian agent." The blacklisting has caused problems for one legislator in particular: Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), who is nearing the end of a probe into Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's activities in Ukraine—specifically, the discredited notion that the then-vice president halted a corruption probe that might have interfered with his son Hunter's business interests there. It's a would-be controversy that's been fueled by a nexus of Trump allies and pro-Russian Ukrainians. During Trump's impeachment, the story was publicly discredited, but Johnson has said the imminent result of his probe will be damning for Biden. "What our investigations are uncovering, I think, will reveal this is not somebody we should be electing president of the United States," Johnson told a local Wisconsin TV station on Tuesday.Those kinds of comments have prompted sharp rebukes, even from Republicans, about the use of a Senate committee as a vehicle for an explicitly political venture—and for Russia's election-meddling hopes. In December 2019, as Politico first reported, then-Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-NC) warned Johnson about his investigation into the Bidens and Ukraine. Burr told Johnson that the probe may only further Russia's ambitions to undermine the 2020 election, according to two individuals familiar with the matter. It is unclear whether Johnson received any intelligence briefing or other warning that specifically mentioned Derkach. According to a source familiar with the GOP probe, Derkach did not arrive on the Democratic side's radar until late 2019. Asked by The Daily Beast if Johnson had been warned, or specifically briefed, about the threat posed by pro-Russian Ukrainian figures, a spokesperson for Johnson did not provide comment as of press time.But by the early months of 2020, those observing the course of the Johnson investigation up close clearly saw Derkach's links to a Ukrainian self-described source of the investigation, the Giuliani associate and former Ukrainian diplomat Andrii Telizhenko. At that point, said the source, it should have been clear to all involved that Russian disinformation underpinned the Johnson inquiry. Derkach told Politico in July that he'd sent materials related to Biden to members of Congress, including to Johnson and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), his partner in the probe. But despite this information, and despite Burr's overture, Johnson pushed forward. "Johnson is just a contrarian in nature. If you come to him and say that the Ukraine stuff seems fishy, he will very likely just tell you it's his investigation and to get lost," said a Republican close to the administration. That raised concerns among intelligence officials and fellow lawmakers that the Wisconsin Republican was promoting claims that U.S. intelligence has already debunked—and that the boosting of such material would sow further distrust in the election. On Wednesday, with the conclusion of Johnson's probe nearing, those tensions spilled onto the floor of the Senate. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the Senate Democratic leader, introduced a resolution "calling for an end to the use of congressional resources to launder Russian disinformation through Congress." Schumer said the allegations that Johnson has aired are the same ones pushed by Derkach and argued that Johnson has "wittingly or unwittingly" promoted Russian disinformation. "Members of the Senate," followed Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, "have been presented with specific warnings about these Kremlin-backed conspiracies and lies, again and again, including in classified settings."Johnson indignantly responded that it was Democrats who had enabled Russian meddling attempts. He strenuously denied dealing with Derkach at all—and even professed not to know the Ukrainian. "We did not accept any information from Mr. Derkach whatsoever," said Johnson. "I don't know who Derkach is… Yet Democrats persist in pushing this false allegation. As a matter of fact, I'm not sure our committee has alleged anything yet."* * *NAMING NAMES* * *Suspicions about Derkach reached senior levels of the Trump administration by the early spring of 2019, after pro-Russian Ukrainians, aligned with Trump aides like Giuliani, ramped up a smear campaign against the then-U.S. ambassador in Kyiv, Marie Yovanovitch. One former senior administration official recalled contacting a colleague in the intelligence community to find out where the false narrative was coming from. That was when the official remembered first learning about Andriy Derkach."I was aware by the end of that conversation that he was more than a Ukrainian parliamentarian," the senior official told The Daily Beast. The U.S. intelligence official left no doubt that Derkach was a Russian intelligence asset. One other individual who spoke to The Daily Beast said it was "somewhat unclear" in the spring of 2019 how close Derkach's ties to Russia ran—if he was being paid, for example—and if the Ukrainian politician was merely passing on Russian disinformation or if he had been directed to promote it.By early April 2019, at least two intelligence reports circulated to the administration about individuals suspected of involvement in foreign initiatives to interfere in the upcoming election. Each report contained about five names, the ex-senior official said. Derkach's name was among them. It is unclear, however, if those spring 2019 reports specified that Derkach was an "active Russian agent," as the Treasury Department put it.The Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined comment for this report. Despite U.S. intelligence warnings that Derkach was involved in foreign subversion of the 2020 election and the Yovanovitch smear, the State Department famously took no action to protect her. Foggy Bottom recalled Yovanovitch in May 2019, about a month after those warnings. By July, President Trump asked his Ukrainian counterpart for "a favor, though": a public announcement of a corruption investigation into Joe Biden.In May, Derkach ramped up his attempts to pass on his disinformation about the Bidens and Ukraine's alleged election interference. He contacted Americans he'd formerly worked with or knew from their time working in the country for the U.S. government. Giuliani flew to Kyiv that month to meet with Ukrainian politicos and businessmen in an effort to pressure the government to open an investigation into whether Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election and into the Bidens' dealings in Ukraine.On Wednesday afternoon, Giuliani told The Daily Beast he handed over documents to the State Department that he'd gathered from individuals in Kyiv willing to aid his work. Giuliani planned to meet Telizhenko, a former Ukrainian diplomat, on his initial trip to Ukraine in May 2019 before he canceled. The Washington Post and BuzzFeed reported that Telizhenko met Giuliani in New York that same month. The former New York City mayor declined to answer whether he ever briefed Trump on Derkach's findings, saying, "I can't tell you what I discussed with my client."* * *'SOMETIMES RUMORS ARE TRUE' * * *But even if Giuliani was explicitly warned about Derkach, such warnings might have backfired. "The nature of the Trump inner circle—whether that's the president himself, people in or out of the administration, on Capitol Hill, or Rudy Giuliani—is that because of their views towards the intelligence community, if you come to them and say this guy might be an asset of so and so, it just makes it more likely that they double down on the relationship. That's how toxic things are now," said the Republican close to the administration. By the time Giuliani traveled to Ukraine in May, he was in contact with Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, two operators born in the former Soviet Union who helped set up meetings for the former mayor in Ukraine. Parnas and Fruman became major characters in the impeachment trial of Trump as several witnesses described their backdoor attempts to work with Giuliani to pressure Ukraine to open investigations into the 2016 election and the Bidens. Both men were indicted last fall for allegedly violating campaign finance laws, activities first exposed by The Daily Beast. As Derkach circulated disinformation packets and Fruman, Parnas, and Telizhenko coalesced around the Giuliani endeavor, former U.S. officials say other Ukrainian politicos attempted to get in on the action. One former senior U.S. official said a current adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky, before joining his team, reached out to Telizhenko and Giuliani in an effort to draw closer to the Trump administration. Source for 'Ukraine Collusion' Allegations Met Devin NunesRudy Giuliani and His Ukraine Ally Sprint Away from Their 'Russian Agent' PalIn the summer of 2019, as the Trump administration took steps to withhold military aid to Ukraine to force the Zelensky administration to announce a Biden investigation, additional, updated reports were drafted and circulated inside intelligence circles outlining the ways in which Russia was relying on proxies, including Ukrainian individuals, to spread disinformation relevant to the 2020 presidential election. Derkach was listed in at least one of those reports as a part of the Russian campaign, two former senior U.S. officials said. Derkach kicked his messaging campaign into high gear that fall. He held several press conferences, sometimes with other parliamentarians with close ties to Russia. And in December, during the height of the impeachment process, Giuliani appeared again in Kyiv, this time to meet with Derkach. Derkach posted a photo of the two holding documents and smiling. (Despite meeting Derkach in person in December, Giuliani said he'd first connected with him in November.)By then, Derkach and Giuliani were using strikingly similar language. Derkach blasted the so-called black ledger that purported to show millions in illicit payments to former Trump campaign boss Paul Manafort; Giuliani called the ledger a "stinko document." Derkach claimed in a dossier he attempted to circulate around Washington that "officials of the embassy of Ukraine in the United States" "distor[ed] the public image of the US presidential candidate D. Trump by disseminating inaccurate information." Giuliani accused "Hillary Clinton, the Democratic National Committee, members of it, the [Ukrainian] ambassador, the embassy in collecting specifically dirt, described as dirt" on Trump. That claim was first championed by Telizhenko, who worked in the Ukrainian embassy in Washington and became a partner of Giuliani over time. (Derkach, Telizhenko, and Giuliani all appeared in an anti-Biden television series produced by the Trumpist network OAN, and Giuliani has interviewed both Derkach and Telizhenko on his YouTube video series Common Sense about the Bidens.) But Telizhenko said he soured on Derkach over time. He told The Daily Beast that he warned Giuliani about working with the Ukrainian parliamentarian. "There were a lot of rumors going on about his background—that he might be working for the Russian government or the Kremlin. I didn't know a lot about his background, but I had heard these things," Telizhenko said in an interview Wednesday. "The rumors were also about… that he was working for someone—Russian or American, I don't know. Sometimes rumors are true. Sometimes they are not. I knew he was doing something but I didn't pay attention."Two sources, a current senior administration official and an ex-official, said that in the closing months of last year, word had whipped around the upper echelons of the Trump White House about a roster—a "no-fly list," as the current official described—of names of individuals suspected of involvement in U.S. election interference, a key topic of scandal during the Trump-Ukraine saga and the resulting impeachment drive on Capitol Hill. Derkach's name was on it."There were several people for, if you were smart, you would avoid them and the information they were peddling, and just say, 'Well, Rudy's just doing his own thing, I guess,'" said the former senior official, who said high-level aides, including former National Security Adviser John Bolton, were aware of the list. (Bolton did not respond to requests for comment for this story.)This official also said they weren't aware of any serious effort to persuade Trump to rein in Giuliani, nor were they aware of anyone reaching out to Giuliani to tell him to stop. Neither source knew of any time when Trump was verbally briefed on the list."What good would that have done?" the current official remarked.* * *PARALLEL TRACKS * * *Johnson launched in earnest the probe into Burisma, the energy company that Hunter Biden consulted for, immediately after Joe Biden had won the South Carolina primary and cemented his status as the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination. But the narrative of Ukraine and supposed Democratic corruption has drawn in the Wisconsin senator for years, and during Trump's impeachment, Johnson often teased a fuller investigation into Biden's ties to Ukraine, which by then had become central to the GOP's impeachment counter-programming.Johnson, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's panel for Europe and has frequently traveled to the region, was among the first prominent U.S. politicians to amplify claims and theories known to have been fueled by pro-Russia actors like Derkach. Johnson has endorsed the narrative that the government of Ukraine tried to undermine Trump during the last election—a story that Derkach has also been pushing since 2017. In an Aug. 10 letter describing his current investigation, Johnson explained that its origins date to 2017, when his committee focused on Ukraine as the alleged source of the real foreign collusion in the prior year's presidential race. He lamented that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) tasked the Intelligence Committee with the interference probe, "sidelining" his own investigation. Though Derkach has claimed to have sent material to GOP committees on Capitol Hill, Johnson strenuously denied speaking with him, dealing with him, or even knowing who he is. Johnson claims Democrats are the ones relying on Derkach's supposed disinformation. "Our investigation relies on U.S. documents from U.S. agencies and U.S. persons—there is no Russian disinformation in our record," said Johnson during a meeting of his committee on Wednesday morning. But to Democrats who have been skeptical of Johnson's probe, the question of whether he has taken information directly from Derkach is beside the point—thanks to the frequency with which Derkach and Johnson have made similar claims. In press conferences and conversations with Giuliani on his video show Common Sense, Derkach has alleged that Hunter Biden "stole" more than $16 million from the Ukrainian people when he accepted a payment from the energy firm Burisma. "The funds were obtained by criminal means," Derkach claimed in a November 2019 press conference. In his Aug. 10 letter, Johnson said he had not targeted the Bidens for investigation but, rather, "their previous actions" had put them in the crosshairs—and said he could "not disagree more" with the idea that there was no evidence of wrongdoing or criminal activity by the Bidens in Ukraine. Derkach has also claimed that Joe Biden blocked Ukraine from investigating corruption allegations regarding Burisma. Johnson has made similar assertions, claiming that Biden had conditioned a $1 billion loan to Ukraine on the firing of a prosecutor who was probing Burisma. (This narrative is complicated by the fact that many in the U.S. and the international community had called for the firing of that prosecutor, Viktor Shokin; Johnson himself signed a 2016 letter recommending "urgent reforms" at the office.)To Democrats, the parallel arguments made the connection clear. "The Russian government is again interfering in our election," Wyden said from the Senate floor on Wednesday. "This has been confirmed by our intelligence community. Its interference campaign includes disinformation about Vice President Biden and the work he was doing to fight corruption in Ukraine. To spread this information, Russia enlists the help of characters like Andriy Derkach and Andrii Telizhenko." Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet 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.
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| Comey to testify before Senate panel weeks before election Posted: 17 Sep 2020 10:54 AM PDT  Former FBI Director James Comey will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Sept. 30, appearing just a month before the presidential election as Republicans have tried to make the case that he and his agency conspired against Donald Trump in 2016. Comey, whom Trump fired in May 2017, will be a featured witness in Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham's investigation into the origins of the Justice Department's Russia probe.
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| Future teachers often think memorization is the best way to teach math and science – until they learn a different way Posted: 17 Sep 2020 04:24 AM PDT  The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. The big ideaI found that college students who are taking courses to become teachers can change their beliefs of how science and mathematics should be taught to and learned by K-12 students.Most of these future teachers tell me when they start my course, they believe that K-12 students must memorize science and mathematics knowledge to learn it. They also believe that students cannot acquire knowledge through a process used by scientists and mathematicians called problem-solving. Problem-solving asks students to solve engaging and challenging problems that are provided without a strategy or solution. It also involves group work and a time to present and justify their strategies and solutions to the class. To challenge my students' beliefs, I ask future teachers to teach science and mathematics to students with problem-solving. At first they often resist because they believe that their students can only memorize science and mathematics knowledge. However, after they have asked the students to use problem-solving and find it successful, they discover that students can learn like scientists and mathematicians The evidence and experiences start to change their beliefs.The way I reached these conclusions was by studying future teachers over the course of four years. I studied 113 future teachers' beliefs in 10 sections of a course that I taught on how to teach science and mathematics. Throughout the course, I asked the future teachers to discover science and mathematics knowledge with problem-solving. I also had the future teachers teach students at a local school by asking them to learn with problem-solving.To measure changes in future teachers' beliefs following completion of the class, I asked them to complete a survey at the start and end of the course. At the end, the findings showed that the future teachers were significantly more likely to teach in a way that reflected how scientists and mathematicians solve problems.It also appeared that their teaching of science with problem-solving encouraged their use of the method when they taught mathematics. Conversely, their teaching of mathematics with problem-solving encouraged their use of the method when they taught science. Why it mattersThis study matters because a teacher's beliefs – their personal philosophy about teaching and learning – often determine how they will teach and what students will learn. And because problem-solving is necessary for scientific and mathematical literacy, students need teachers who will expose them to problem-solving. This study also matters because college professors who work with future teachers can employ similar strategies. They can place future educators in situations in which they must confront their beliefs about teaching and learning with evidence and experiences that contradict their beliefs. What other research is being done?Those who do similar research are trying to figure out how to assure future teachers use problem-solving in their future classrooms. I have taught many education students who did quite well in my course, and successfully used science and mathematics problem-solving with their students. However, former students that I ran into years later often told me that they do not use problem-solving as teachers. Instead, they reverted to simply asking students to memorize science and mathematics information. They told me the reason for this is that teachers in their present schools do not use problem-solving. I find this troubling. What's nextIt may be that one way to solidify beliefs about teaching through problem-solving instead of memorization would be for science and mathematics faculty to use problem-solving in their college classrooms. Research shows that similarities and coherence between college courses may increase the likelihood that future teachers will believe in the value of problem-solving. If so, then my students may become less likely to abandon the methods learned in their courses. In turn, they may be more likely to help make their future students more adept at mathematics and science.[Deep knowledge, daily. Sign up for The Conversation's newsletter.]This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.Read more: * I prepare aspiring teachers to educate kids of color – here's how I help them root out their own biases * The hidden threat of teacher stressPeter C. Cormas does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
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