| From both sides, thoughts and prayers for Trump, some more heartfelt than others Posted: 03 Oct 2020 01:34 PM PDT  Americans from across the political spectrum are offering prayers to the president as he battles COVID-19. Sadly, the virus hasn't shown itself to be particularly susceptible to prayer.
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| Thousands protest anti-coronavirus restrictions in Germany over weekend Posted: 04 Oct 2020 04:05 AM PDT  Thousands of demonstrators in southern Germany protested against coronavirus restrictions over the weekend, police said on Sunday, although organisers failed to mobilise enough people for a planned human chain around Lake Constance. Thousands of counter-demonstrators in Constance also turned out to show support for the government's measures to contain the coronavirus while also protesting against right-wing supporters in the other group, police said. Overall, police counted between 10,500 and 11,000 people taking part in the different demonstrations on Saturday and the two-day protests continued on Sunday with sunny weather likely to draw in further participants, a police spokesman said.
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| Judge halts new North Carolina absentee witness info rule Posted: 03 Oct 2020 07:43 AM PDT  A federal judge has halted new North Carolina absentee voting rules that gave voters more leeway to fix witness problems and extended the period when elections boards could accept mailed-in ballots. The rules, issued last week in a settlement with voting rights advocates, were blocked by a temporary restraining order issued Saturday by U.S. District Judge James Dever, who raised concerns about changing rules after numerous ballots have already been cast. Saturday's decision comes amid a tangle of litigation in state and federal court over absentee ballots in the key presidential battleground.
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| The Miami school district says all schools are ready to reopen this week. Some disagree Posted: 04 Oct 2020 03:00 AM PDT  Miami-Dade County Public Schools will begin its staggered reopening plan Monday with 22,000 students returning to the classroom for in-person instruction. Some parents and teachers share their concerns.
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| Margaret Ferrier faces being kicked out by her constituents if she refuses to resign, SNP warns her Posted: 04 Oct 2020 09:55 AM PDT  Margaret Ferrier faces being kicked out of her seat by her constituents, the SNP's Westminster leader has warned her as she continued to ignore Nicola Sturgeon's personal appeal to quit. Ian Blackford said the Rutherglen and Hamilton West MP, who travelled from Scotland to the Commons and back by train while suffering from coronavirus, should "do the honourable thing" and resign her seat. In a direct warning to Ms Ferrier, he told the Daily Telegraph that failing to resign "on her own terms" would mean she risks "having her fate taken out of her hands." SNP chiefs are understood to believe that she will be suspended from Parliament for at least 10 sitting days, or 14 consecutive days, the benchmark that could allow her constituents to recall her and force a by-election. But they are extremely worried that the longer Ms Ferrier clings on, the more damage will be inflicted to Ms Sturgeon's public health message to the Scottish people and her personal authority. The First Minister spoke on Friday morning to the MP, whom she described as a friend, urging her to resign but the 60-year-old defied her. She did not quit even when the Metropolitan Police launched an investigation on Friday evening.
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| Sellouts to the Black community. Traitors to fellow officers. Black police chiefs are caught between 2 worlds after George Floyd's killing. Posted: 04 Oct 2020 02:58 AM PDT  Black police chiefs are sometimes brought on to act as a bridge between the police and the Black community, but they face challenges from both sides.
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| Democratic Senate candidate Cal Cunningham admits he sent sexual messages to woman who is not his wife Posted: 03 Oct 2020 08:25 AM PDT  Cunningham admitted to sending sexual text messages to a woman who is not his wife but said he will not drop out of the race against Sen. Thom Tillis.
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| The best 20 airports in the world for 2020 according to expert reviewers Posted: 04 Oct 2020 05:03 AM PDT  Skytrax completed its annual ranking just before the pandemic upended global travel but these are the airports worth a visit once the world re-opens.
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| SARS: Nigeria 'rogue' police unit banned from stop and search Posted: 04 Oct 2020 08:30 AM PDT  Videos allegedly showing SARS officers extorting money and shooting people cause public outrage.
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| Kellyanne Conway tests positive for COVID, with ‘mild’ symptoms, as epidemic spreads through Trump circle Posted: 02 Oct 2020 08:38 PM PDT  President Trump tested positive for COVID-19 earlier int he day. "As always, my heart is with everyone affected by this global pandemic," Kellyanne Conway tweeted.
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| US push for Arab-Israel ties divides Sudanese leaders Posted: 03 Oct 2020 10:40 PM PDT  Sudan's fragile interim government is sharply divided over normalizing relations with Israel, as it finds itself under intense pressure from the Trump administration to become the third Arab country to do so in short order — after the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Sudan seemed like a natural target for the pressure campaign because of U.S. leverage — Khartoum's desperate efforts to be removed from a U.S. list of states sponsoring terrorism. Sudan can only get the international loans and aid that are essential for reviving its battered economy once that stain is removed.
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| Search underway for murder hornet nest in Washington state Posted: 04 Oct 2020 11:57 AM PDT  Agricultural officials in Washington state said Friday they're trying to find and destroy a nest of Asian giant hornets — also known as murder hornets.
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| Boris Johnson insists he is not helping the SNP break up the Union Posted: 04 Oct 2020 09:45 AM PDT  Boris Johnson has insisted he was not helping the SNP break up the Union as the Scottish Tory leader challenged his English colleagues to "look in the mirror" and prove they are doing enough to bolster it. The Prime Minister said that Douglas Ross was "talking about those who don't value the Union in the way I do" when he criticised some English Tories and Cabinet ministers over their "defeatism and disinterest." Speaking as the Conservatives held their virtual party conference, he denied his style of leadership combined with his Brexit policy was driving Scotland and England apart. Mr Johnson also echoed his predecessor, Theresa May, by stating that "this is not the time" for another independence referendum, even if the SNP wins a majority in next year's Holyrood election. The Prime Minister argued that the country should instead focus on recovering from the coronavirus pandemic and reiterated that Nicola Sturgeon had promised the 2014 vote was a once-in-a-generation event.
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| India's federal police to probe alleged gang rape of woman who died of injuries: statement Posted: 03 Oct 2020 11:05 AM PDT  India's federal police will investigate the alleged gang rape of a young woman in northern Uttar Pradesh state whose death sparked nationwide protests, the local government said in a statement on Saturday. The 19-year-old Dalit woman died of her injuries earlier this week, triggering protests by both opposition political parties and the public in New Delhi and elsewhere against atrocities against a community often ostracized under India's centuries-old caste system. India is one of the world's most dangerous places for women, with a rape occurring on average every 15 minutes based on federal data.
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| Mom outwits stranger who offers $1,500 for her 2-year-old child, Washington cops say Posted: 04 Oct 2020 08:02 AM PDT  The mother got his email and phone number "in case she changed her mind."
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| Latino Voters May Defy the GOP’s Conventional Wisdom Posted: 03 Oct 2020 03:30 AM PDT  For Latino voters across the country, the issue of lax border policy versus Trump's hawkish stance on illegal immigration isn't settled. Rather, it is possible that the rise of the Latino Republican will defy the conventional wisdom of many GOP strategists and pundits: that restrictionist border policy, or anything deviating from the status quo before Trump — what amounts to de facto open borders — could alienate Latino voters. It is possible that Latinos in border states such as California and Texas are getting behind Trump because of his hardline stance on this issue, which is directly related to GOP's messaging on law and order.Historically, there has never been any consensus among Latinos on the issue of illegal immigration. In fact, for many Latinos, especially workers in the agricultural industry, hardline stances were quite common. Caesar Chavez is one of the most admired populist figures in American history, and he had no tolerance for illegal immigration. The leader of the United Farm Workers union, Chavez described illegal immigrants as "wetbacks" who threatened unionized workers. "As long as we have a poor country bordering California," he said in 1972, "it's going to be very difficult to win strikes." Chavez believed that illegal immigrants would drive down wages and weaken union negotiating power. How did Chavez respond when U.S. government failed to secure the border in the late '70s? Armed with bats, chains, and barbed wire, Chavez and his fellow union members (all of whom were Latino) set up tents along the border of California and Mexico and proceeded to attack Mexican nationals who tried to make a run for it. The line was a hundred miles long. The effort was a success, according to Chavez. He didn't hesitate in declaring it so.In 1994, 30 percent of California Latinos voted in favor of Proposition 187, also known as the "Save Our State" Initiative. Prop 187 was ultimately ruled unconstitutional. Its provisions would have banned illegal immigrants from California's public-school system and required providers of non-emergency health care to verify the legal status of a person seeking assistance. There was backlash against the proposition, especially among Latinos. Over 70,000 Latino immigrants protested in Los Angeles. But that 30 percent was not at all insignificant. Several academic studies, which investigated why Latinos would vote for the proposition, were published years later.Even today, there is still no consensus among Latinos. In 2018, for example, 58.5 percent of Latino voters said they supported Trump's immigration policies even though they disliked the president. Over 50 percent of respondents want stronger immigration laws, while only 18.3 percent said that current immigration law was too strict. Furthermore, in a recent Washington Post survey, 69 percent of Latinos favored shutting down almost all immigration amid the coronavirus pandemic. There is also the issue of law and order, which is high among Latinos' concerns in the aftermath of this summer's riots. In an early-June poll conducted by ABC News/Ipsos, 54 percent of Latino Democrats supported sending in the military to restore order in cities, and 60 percent of all Latino voters were amenable to military presence. What do these figures have to do with Trump's immigration policies? Upholding law and order in cities is not entirely different from upholding law and order on the border, and Latinos who support law-enforcement agencies and the military intervening in cities might prefer that the border be secured and that immigrants enter the country legally. As stated earlier, historically, this was the case in California.The idea that all immigrants, Latinos, and blacks are guaranteed to vote for Democrats in the long term is a delusion, as is the idea that all Latino voters are driven away from the GOP because of Trump's immigration policy and his "xenophobic" rhetoric. Now more than ever, citizens are privy to the media's hysteria about white supremacy, and Trump's past comments about illegal immigrants seem completely irrelevant during a pandemic, recession, and season of rioting. If Republicans want to be the party of law and order that broadly appeals to all demographics, then perhaps they shouldn't be equivocal on the issue of illegal immigration.
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| Suspected Russian hitman on trial over Berlin killing Posted: 03 Oct 2020 08:33 PM PDT  A Russian man goes on trial Wednesday accused of assassinating a former Chechen commander in a Berlin park on Moscow's orders, a case that has cast a pall over ties between Russia and Germany.
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| Azerbaijan says Armenia targets cities outside conflict zone Posted: 04 Oct 2020 06:03 AM PDT  The fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces continued on Sunday over the separatist territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, with Azerbaijan accusing Armenia of targeting the country's cities that are far beyond the conflict zone. Hikmet Hajiyev, aide to the Azerbaijani president, said Sunday that Armenia targeted large cities Ganja and Mingachevir with missile strikes.
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| Chilling details revealed in JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan deaths Posted: 03 Oct 2020 08:09 PM PDT  The discovery of the Idaho siblings in backyard graves was the result of a complicated six-month investigation that unraveled a sordid tale of murder, greed and religious fanaticism
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| Fears for foreign exchange trips as peers urge Government to scrap plans to force all children from Europe to carry passports Posted: 04 Oct 2020 01:39 PM PDT  Fears have been expressed for foreign exchange trips as peers urge the Government to scrap plans that would force all children from Europe to carry passports after Brexit is completed. The Government plans to end the use of European ID cards as proof of identity for travel when the transition period ends on December 31. Promised by the Conservative Party in December last year before Boris Johnson's landslide general election win, the plan is now set to be codified as part of the Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination Bill. The restriction on ID cards was first floated by Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, with the intention of improving border security of the UK after it leaves the European Union. Monday (October 5) will see the Bill debated in the House of Lords at its report stage amid warnings from peers that it could "devastate" the UK's English language schooling sector. Writing in Monday's Telegraph, peers including Lord Blunkett, the former Home Secretary, and the crossbench peer Lord Alton warn that the industry "may not survive" the double blow of Brexit and Covid-19.
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| At 68, this Mexican immigrant is still fighting fires and picking fruit Posted: 03 Oct 2020 03:00 AM PDT  "I thank God I still have the energy," Heriberto Carrillo Sr. said. "I like working outside in the mountains and using a chainsaw."
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| Father-son duo charged for chasing, shooting at Black teens riding ATVs in Mississippi Posted: 04 Oct 2020 08:00 AM PDT  Two white males in rural Mississippi have been arrested and charged with assault after chasing and shooting at two Black teenagers who were riding ATVs on their property, according to local news reports. Forty-eight-year-old Wade Oscar Twiner and his 22-year-old son Lane Twiner were arrested in late September and each charged with three counts of aggravated assault. Deputies from the Yazoo County Sheriff's Office responded to calls of the father and son chasing the teens in a white Chevrolet pickup truck and shooting at them as they were riding ATVs near their home.
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| Here are the people in President Trump’s circle who have tested positive for COVID-19 Posted: 03 Oct 2020 12:28 PM PDT  Since Thursday, several people who have been around new coronavirus patient President Donald Trump also have said they've tested positive for COVID-19.
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| Klobuchar denies claims that Democrats are 'using' Senate coronavirus outbreak to delay SCOTUS confirmation hearing Posted: 04 Oct 2020 01:25 PM PDT  "It's not a matter of using it," Klobuchar said of the COVID outbreak among key Republicans in an interview Sunday. "It happened."
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| India's new paper Covid-19 test could be a ‘game changer’ Posted: 04 Oct 2020 04:01 PM PDT  The test, named after a famous Indian fictional detective, is based on gene-editing technology called Crispr.
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| Police searching for suspect after deadly stabbing on subway platform Posted: 04 Oct 2020 05:31 AM PDT  Police are searching for a suspect after a deadly stabbing at a subway station in Lower Manhattan.
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| Armenia says facing 'decisive moment' as Karabakh fighting intensifies Posted: 03 Oct 2020 08:22 PM PDT  Armenian and Azerbaijani forces were engaged in fierce clashes Saturday as fighting over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region intensified, with Armenia reporting heavy losses and its leader saying it was facing a historic threat.
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| Missouri governor returns to office after battling COVID-19 Posted: 04 Oct 2020 02:18 PM PDT  Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said Sunday he has been cleared to return to the office after battling the coronavirus. Parson said on his Facebook page Sunday that he and his wife, Teresa Paulson, had both been cleared by doctors to return to work from their home in Bolivar in southwestern Missouri. Missouri continues to have one of the highest rates of positive cases of the virus in the nation.
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| Investigators probe 'possible ecological catastrophe' in Russia's far east Posted: 04 Oct 2020 09:04 AM PDT  "We need to understand what will happen to our health, to the health of animals," said surfer Anton Morozov.
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| Mike Huckabee on impact of Trump’s diagnosis on 2020 campaign Posted: 04 Oct 2020 05:53 AM PDT  Former Arkansas governor and Fox News contributor Mike Huckabee joins 'Fox & Friends Weekend.'
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| As another migrant caravan heads toward the United States, skeptics ask: Why now? Posted: 02 Oct 2020 06:39 PM PDT  There is no evidence of political meddling behind a caravan of two thousand migrants that left Honduras this week, although figures as prominent as Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador have expressed their doubts.
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| ‘Camel’s nose under the tent’: Activists fear Homestead Base deal could lead to new airport Posted: 04 Oct 2020 05:00 AM PDT  Could a new county plan for Homestead Air Base become an airport?
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| Gamma lashes Mexico with damaging winds, flooding rain Posted: 03 Oct 2020 01:41 PM PDT  The record-breaking nature of the 2020 Atlantic Tropical Season continues as Tropical Storm Gamma strikes the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. Gamma became a tropical storm, and thus gained its name, on Friday evening as it strengthened in the northwestern Caribbean Sea. In doing so, Tropical Storm Gamma became only the second of its name to exist in Atlantic Basin history, and the earliest ever, beating out the Gamma of 2005. At 12:45 p.m. EDT on Saturday, Gamma made landfall near Tulum, Mexico, as a strong tropical storm. Strong winds batter palm trees in Cancun, Mexico, on Oct. 3, 2020, as Tropical Storm Gamma lashes the coast. (Instagram/@prokitemx) The U.S. National Hurricane Center said that a weather station at Xel-Ha Park, along the Yucatan coast just north of Tulum, reported sustained winds of 55 mph (89 km/h) and wind gusts up to 68 mph (109 km/h). On the island of Cozumel, just offshore from the Yucatan Peninsula, wind gusts of 40 mph (64 km/h) were reported early Saturday afternoon. Early on Sunday morning, wind gusts of 35 mph (56 km/h) were reported in Cancun. Gamma is expected to continue to batter the Yucatan Peninsula through into Monday with heavy rain and gusty winds before shifting into the Gulf of Mexico. Winds are blowing 65+mph now! #Cancun #Gamma pic.twitter.com/66mHtqbS1G— LD (@LDSiempreTravel) October 3, 2020 On Friday, tropical storm watches and warnings were issued for parts of the Yucatan Peninsula. The Governor of the state of Quinatana Roo, which contains cities like Tulum, Playa del Carmen, and Cancun, advised on Twitter that residents shelter at home and report emergencies to the appropriate authorities. CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP According to Noticaribe, one of the hardest-hit areas thus far is Playa del Carmen, where the State Coordination of Civil Protection issued a red alert on Saturday morning, due to Gamma's impacts. Reports of fallen trees, blackouts and flooding in main streets were noted by several emergency agencies in the city. Heavy winds and downpours ripped through Cancun, Mexico on Oct. 3, 2020, as Tropical Storm Gamma strikes the coast. (Instagram/@t__a__r__a) Just to the north, in Puerto Morelos, the local government set up two temporary shelters. Fire fighters, public services and civil protection crews were out removing tree branches and assisting drivers, municipal president Laura Fernandez told CancunMio. Gamma is expected to continue to meander off the northern coast Yucatan Peninsula into Monday, with additional rounds of heavy rain and gusty winds. Before Gamma pushed into the Yucatan Peninsula, much of southeastern Mexico was deluged by heavy rainfall at the end of September and start of October. As such, agencies like the National Water Commission and National Civil Protection Coordination warned the southeast region of Mexico to take additional flooding precautions with Gamma, according to News Report Mx. Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
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| ICE put up billboards with the mugshots of immigrants who were released from police custody Posted: 03 Oct 2020 09:02 AM PDT  The immigrants featured on the billboards in Pennsylvania had been released from jails either by serving their sentences or paying their bond.
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| Karabakh cathedral repurposed as bomb shelter Posted: 04 Oct 2020 01:00 PM PDT  A candle lights the strained faces of civilians huddled in the basement of Holy Mother of God cathedral in Nagorno-Karabakh's main city Stepanakert, where they have sought refuge from fighting that erupted a week ago over the disputed region.
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| Tens of thousands rally in Minsk, police use water cannon Posted: 04 Oct 2020 04:57 AM PDT  Tens of thousands of people marched through the centre of the Belarusian capital Minsk on Sunday to demand that authorities free political prisoners, prompting police to turn water cannon on them. The march is the latest in a series of rallies in Belarus since an Aug. 9 election in which President Alexander Lukashenko claimed a landslide victory. More than 100,000 people rallied in Minsk, the opposition news channel Nexta said on the messaging app Telegram.
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| AT&T shelving DSL may leave hundreds of thousands hanging by a phone line Posted: 03 Oct 2020 08:53 AM PDT  AT&T; stopped selling DSL Oct. 1, stranding many existing subscribers on low-speed links and residents of DSL-only areas without any wired broadband.
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| Police officer in Chile accused of throwing teen from bridge Posted: 04 Oct 2020 10:08 AM PDT  Authorities in Chile have arrested a police officer who allegedly threw a teen-ager from a bridge into a river bed during a protest. The 16-year-old boy was in stable condition with head trauma and a wrist fracture following the incident in Santiago, Chile's capital, on Friday. The incident raised more concerns about police conduct since protests about a wide range of social and economic problems erupted in Chile a year ago.
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| A student says test proctoring AI flagged her as cheating when she read a question out loud. Others say the software could have more dire consequences. Posted: 04 Oct 2020 06:30 AM PDT  The distraught college student said that her scholarships could have been affected by the software's determination.
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| Panic and confusion permeate White House after Trump's Covid diagnosis Posted: 04 Oct 2020 08:07 AM PDT  Concerns mount over spread of the virus within the building, and whether it could disrupt the functioning of governmentGolden autumn sunshine shone down on Washington on Saturday to illuminate a US capital upended as Donald Trump began his first full day in hospital battling coronavirus amid a presidential election thrown into chaos.Just hours earlier, on Friday evening after an excruciating wait for news, the president had emerged from the White House with a lacklustre wave and thumbs up, but ignoring reporters' shouted questions about the state of his health.Trump stalked slowly across the south lawn and boarded the US presidential helicopter. The only visual clue that something profound had changed was Trump's face: he was wearing a mask.As Marine One lifted into the sky just before sunset, the president left behind a White House staff suddenly rudderless, fearful and unsure how the story will end. The reality TV star turned president has delivered his greatest moment of suspense and the presidential election with its first "October surprise" but maybe not its last.Trump, 74, is spending the weekend at a military hospital near Washington after discovering that not even the commander in chief of the world's most powerful country is immune to the coronavirus. Said to be feverish and fatigued, there is huge uncertainty over his condition, its potential to deteriorate and whether he might become incapacitated.In his absence, the mood in the White House was said to be one of panic, with growing concern over the extent of the spread of the virus within the building and whether it could disrupt the functioning of government.Staff have taken their lead from Trump's bubble of denial for months, eschewing face masks and congregating in the west wing's cramped spaces and narrow hallways. The president's positive test was chilling proof of what the rest of the country has long known: no one is safe."People are losing their minds," one source told the Washington Post newspaper.As Friday wore on and Trump's condition worsened, staff were also forced to confront the possibility that his health could be at serious risk. An information vacuum filled with rumour and speculation and did little to calm nerves, with media outlets forced to depend on leaks from anonymous officials or presidential tweets such as: "Going welI, I think! Thank you to all. LOVE!!!"The heavily guarded White House is one of the world's most secure properties with a new 13ft tall fence to keep out intruders, protesters and terrorists. Yet it too was breached by the invisible pathogen that has killed more than 205,000 Americans. Commentators said there could be no greater proof of the administration's failure to combat the pandemic.How, when or from whom Trump became infected remains a mystery. But the myth of invulnerability may have been finally shattered by an event in the White House Rose Garden last Saturday in which he nominated judge Amy Coney Barrett to the supreme court. More than 150 guests sat close together without face masks, apparently lulled into thinking it was safe to do so in the open air.But at least seven attendees – Trump, the first lady Melania Trump, former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, ex-New Jersey governor Chris Christie, Senators Mike Lee and Thom Tillis and the University of Notre Dame president, John Jenkins – have all since tested positive for the virus.On Saturday morning it emerged that the Trump re-election campaign manager, Bill Stepien, had also tested positive, fueling more chaos into the election. Deputy campaign manager Justin Clark is set to run the Trump campaign headquarters in Stepien's absence.embedAfter last Saturday's Rose Garden celebration, an event which continued with receptions indoors at the White House, Trump spent a whirlwind week campaigning for the 3 November presidential election.On Tuesday there was a chaotic and dismal debate with rival Joe Biden in Cleveland, Ohio, where many of his entourage sat unmasked in contrast to the Democrat's team, who strictly followed the protocols.On Thursday, Trump attended a political fundraiser at his golf club in Bedminister, New Jersey, even though he was aware he had been exposed to the infected Hicks. That night, sounding unconcerned, he gave an interview to Sean Hannity of Fox News, apparently blaming the military or law enforcement for violating physical distancing: "They want to hug you and kiss you because we really have done a good job for them. You get close, and things happen."Trump's revelation that he was positive came in perhaps the most momentous tweet of his entire presidency just before 1am on Friday. At last, critics said, a man notorious for dealing in disinformation and fantasies had to face a cold scientific truth he could not wish, insult or tweet away.He also referred to it in the tweet correctly as Covid-19, having previously referred to the disease in public remarks variously as "the China virus", the plague and "kung flu".Later that morning, the White House tried to project an air of business-as-usual. Officials Mark Meadows, Larry Kudlow and Kayleigh McEnany all sought to assure reporters that Trump was in good spirits and had only mild symptoms.Yet by the afternoon, there was evidence of growing gap between spin and reality. It was announced that Trump had been injected with an experimental drug combination and, "out of an abundance of caution", would be flown to hospital. The otherwise routine Marine One journey gave many in Washington a sense of witnessing history unfold before their eyes.Howard Fineman, a journalist, tweeted: "I've seen and heard many indelible moments here in DC over the years, but nothing like Marine One flying over our neighborhood bound for Walter Reed, bearing a president struck, like millions of others, by global pandemic. Unsettling, scary. Politics is stilled for just a moment."Officials said Trump's stay of a few days at Walter Reed national military medical center is precautionary and that he will continue to work from the hospital's presidential suite, which is equipped to allow him to keep up his official duties.But a series of conflicting and contradictory messages sowed doubts in the public mind. A press conference by the medical team on Saturday painted a rosy picture but dodged key questions about whether Trump had received supplementary oxygen and gave a confusing timeline that later had to be corrected.The president released a video on Saturday night, looking worn but insisting: "I feel much better." Later his chief of staff, Mark Meadows, told Fox News: "He's made unbelievable improvements from yesterday morning, when I know a number of us, the doctor and I, were very concerned … He had a fever and a blood oxygen level that dropped rapidly."Yet on the morning he referred to, Meadows had told reporters that Trump had "mild symptoms" and was "very energetic".His hospitalisation represents the gravest threat to an incumbent US president's health since 1981 when Ronald Reagan survived a would-be assassin's bullet outside a Washington hotel and received emergency medical attention.Trump's age, sex, obesity and elevated cholesterol put him at greater risk of becoming seriously ill from a virus that has infected more than 7 million people nationwide. If he declines sharply and is unable to carry out his responsibilities, he could transfer power to the vice-president, Mike Pence, under the 25th amendment to the constitution. Pence tested negative for the virus on Friday.Bill Whalen, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution thinktank at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, said: "The dominoes are multiple. There's the question of his ability to campaign in person moving ahead. There's the question of his ability to have the office right now: the 25th amendment. I've talked to some of my conservative friends who think he should be invoking this right now."I hate to speculate like this, but what if his health did deteriorate rather fast to the point where either he was unconscious or just delirious? Then the vice-president, the cabinet, would have to step in and do this, so there's actually a school of thought that he should invoke it proactively."The US government has a long history of opacity when it comes to presidents' health and the Trump White House, in particular, suffers from a trust deficit.Kurt Bardella, a senior adviser to the anti-Trump group the Lincoln Project, said: "What we're seeing is a very healthy scepticism about anything that comes from the White House. These are the same people who have been lying about everybody else's health terms of the impact of Covid-19, so why would we expect any differently when they're talking about themselves?"Dan Rather, a veteran journalist who reported on Richard Nixon's downfall in 1974, added on Twitter: "What we don't know is a lot more than what we do know. And we have an administration that long ago squandered its credibility. All coverage of this crisis should keep these truths in mind for context."His next debate with Biden, scheduled for 15 October, is in doubt. As well as Stepien testing positive for Covid-19, so has key ally Ronna McDaniel, the head of the Republican National Committee, and former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, who helped coach Trump for the first debate with Biden. Despite Trump's attempts to change the conversation, for example with Barrett's court nomination, the pandemic remains the defining issue at the ballot box.Glen Bolger, a Republican pollster, told the Associated Press: "It's challenging. It would be better if the discussion was about jobs and the economy, or even Joe Biden is going to 'be held captive to the left'. But the election is going to be about coronavirus, and that's not favourable terrain for Republicans."
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| Coronavirus: What's driving India's 100,000 Covid-19 deaths? Posted: 03 Oct 2020 01:55 AM PDT  India has the third highest Covid death toll in the world, and numbers are still rising.
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| Powerful Hurricane Marie continues to churn in East Pacific Posted: 03 Oct 2020 03:12 AM PDT  While Hurricane Marie remains no threat to land as it swirls in the open eastern Pacific Ocean, forecasters say it could have indirect impacts to portions of Hawaii, Mexico and the West coast of the United States. Marie became a tropical storm shortly after organizing into a tropical depression on Tuesday, Sept. 29. Marie strengthened into a hurricane the following day, making it the fourth hurricane of the East Pacific's season. On Thursday evening, Marie had rapidly strengthened to a Category 3 major hurricane. A major hurricane has maximum sustained winds of 111 mph or greater. Powerful Hurricane Marie can be seen in this nighttime satellite imagery from early Sunday morning, Oct. 4, 2020. (CIRA/RAMMB) Further strengthening occurred on Friday morning as Marie reached Category 4 hurricane status with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph. As of 8 a.m. PDT Sunday, Marie had lost wind intensity and is now a Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 90 mph. Marie joined just two other storms in the basin that have achieved Category 4 strength thus far -- Douglas and Genevieve. Douglas tracked just north of the Hawaiian Islands in late July as a Category 1 hurricane by that point in its life cycle. Genevieve generally paralleled the western coast of Mexico during the latter half of August and tracked close enough to Baja California Sur to bring rain and gusty winds. Marie poses no direct threat to Hawaii, Mexico or the United States, according to forecasters. CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP "However, large swells generated by the hurricane will propagate outward from the tropical cyclone, reaching the western coast of Mexico and along the coast of California, mostly from Point Conception northward," AccuWeather Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski said. Rough and dangerous surf could also reach the east- and northeast-facing shores of the Hawaiian Islands this week. Shipping interests are encouraged to monitor the progress of Marie and steer clear of the path of the storm to avoid dangerously high seas. Forecasters say the hurricane has reached its peak intensity, with weakening likely to continue through early week as it moves on a northwesterly course into cooler waters. Marie will transition to a non-tropical low by the latter half of the week. "AccuWeather meteorologists are pondering the possibility that some moisture from Marie might circulate toward the California coast from late this week to the second weekend of October," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said. In order for this to occur, a non-tropical storm over the northeastern Pacific Ocean would need to dive far enough south to capture what's left of Marie and fling its moisture northeastward. Conversely, should this non-tropical storm stay farther north, Marie may continue to wander west-northwestward over the East Pacific in its weakened state. Regardless of which scenario pans out, a pattern change is likely to bring much needed relief from heat and dryness across portions of the West Coast heading into mid-October. Elsewhere in the East Pacific, a broad area of disorganized thunderstorm clusters to the west of Central America and south of southwestern Mexico is being monitored for possible tropical development this week, according to Kottlowski. "There is a low to medium chance for tropical development in this area," Kottlowski said. Including Marie, there have been 13 tropical storms with four hurricanes and three major hurricanes so far this season, which is on par with average. During a typical season, there are an average of 15.4 tropical storms with 7.6 hurricanes and 3.2 major hurricanes in the basin. Meanwhile, the Atlantic basin has churned out yet another record-setting storm in its historic season -- Gamma. Tropical Storm Gamma will bring flooding rainfall and gusty winds to portions of Mexico into midweek. Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
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| By mail or in person: Nevada's Latino voters are conflicted about how to cast ballots Posted: 04 Oct 2020 01:30 AM PDT  Nevada's expansion of mail-in voting reassured some who are worried about Covid-19 — but raised fears for others that their ballots could be disqualified.
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