| How the 'QAnon factor' is playing out in Florida's GOP primaries Posted: 18 Aug 2020 08:12 AM PDT  "I would say I'm not a QAnon because I'm not anonymous," she said. "I'm a conspiracy realist." Sherrill isn't the only candidate in Trump's home district who appears to be courting the QAnon vote.
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| Former CIA officer charged with spying for China, conspiring with relative who was also ex-CIA Posted: 17 Aug 2020 02:46 PM PDT  Former CIA officer Alexander Yuk Ching Ma is accused providing U.S. secrets to China in exchange for thousands of dollars in cash and gifts.
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| Swarm of earthquakes in Mexico shakes parts of Southern California, Arizona, USGS says Posted: 17 Aug 2020 10:54 AM PDT  At least seven earthquakes have hit Baja California in 24 hours.
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| 'Unprecedented': Los Angeles schools to test all 600,000 students for Covid-19 Posted: 17 Aug 2020 05:12 PM PDT  Nation's second-largest school district says it will provide regular Covid-19 testing and contact tracing for students, staff and familiesIn the most ambitious plan of its kind, Los Angeles Unified has announced plans to test its roughly 600,000 students and 75,000 employees as the nation's second-largest school district prepares for the eventual return to in-person instruction.The superintendent of Los Angeles Unified, Austin Beutner, said in a statement the program will provide regular Covid testing and contact tracing for school staff, students and families."Extraordinary circumstances call for extraordinary actions, and while this testing and contact tracing effort is unprecedented, it is necessary and appropriate," Beutner said.The testing program is set to kick off Monday, with additional services to roll out as the school year continues. Over time, testing will be available to all children and staff members in the sprawling school district that has more than 600,000 students. The district said services will also be offered to family members of students and staff who test positive for Covid-19.Los Angeles Unified, which has been closed for in-person instruction since March, last month announced plans to begin the new school year online as case numbers surged. The school district must wait for the state to greenlight plans to reopen schools for in-person instruction, though that may not happen in the near future.Beutner said case numbers in Los Angeles still far exceed state guidelines for a safe return to school and said that in-person instruction for all students is "some time away"."The level of new cases in Los Angeles are still two and a half times the state guidelines, and while the portion of those testing positive is below state thresholds, it's still considerably higher than the World Health Organization standards and those in place for New York," Beutner told Los Angeles Times.Testing will be prioritized for employees already working at schools, which include staff members assigned to the childcare centers that have remained open for children of teachers and other staff. Eventually, testing will be opened to all of the district's students. The frequency of testing will be based on health metrics as the pandemic evolves.Beutner said in an op-ed that published over weekend that the testing effort will cost the school district an additional $300 per student over the course of a school year. While he didn't include a total costs, figures based just on the district's student enrollment raises the price tag to at least $1.8m.Joining the effort will be scientists from UCLA, Stanford University, Johns Hopkins and the former education secretary Arne Duncan, who will oversee a task force alongside Beutner.Beutner said he hopes the findings from the effort will inform other school districts' efforts to track and control the disease. So far New York City remains the only major US school district with plans to open classrooms for part-time, in-person instruction at the start of the fall semester.For the moment, testing plans in New York City schools remain less defined. The city has asked all staff members to get tested before instruction resumes on 10 September and said they should be tested regularly throughout the school year – but hasn't yet clarified how students will be tested, the New York Times reported.Los Angeles' sweeping plans to test students and staff comes as new data shows an exponential rise in Covid-19 cases among children in the US. States across the country reported 97,000 cases among children in just the last two weeks of July.The surge has experts worried that school districts could fuel an additional spike in case numbers if they move too soon to reopen.Data from the Center on Reinventing Public Education, which has been compiling school districts' plan for instruction, shows that most school districts are planning for a return to in-person instruction this fall, if only partially, and that most will offer remote learning for families who choose.But tensions have flared between school officials and parents in states such as Georgia and Florida, where state officials moved to reopen schools for in-person learning amid surging coronavirus cases."Putting people together – whether they're children or older adults – is the worst thing you can do in the face of the pandemic," said John Swartzberg, a clinical professor emeritus of infectious diseases and vaccinology at UC Berkeley's school of public health.
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| Kamala Harris' Secret Service code name reportedly reflects her groundbreaking nomination Posted: 17 Aug 2020 06:05 PM PDT  Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) is well aware of her groundbreaking status.The new Democratic vice presidential pick has selected "Pioneer" as her Secret Service code name, CNN first reported Monday ahead of the first night of the Democratic National Convention. A source confirmed the report to ABC News.Harris was quickly put under Secret Service protection last week after former Vice President Joe Biden chose her as his presidential running mate, CNN reports. She picked her new code name off a list the White House Communications Agency had approved. Biden, meanwhile, will keep his code name from the Obama administration, which was "Celtic," and Jill Biden will keep hers, which was "Capri."CNN's law enforcement analyst Jonathan Wackrow, a former Secret Service agent, said protectees have often "taken on the persona of the call sign that they had selected." Former President Barack Obama's "'Renegade' is a great example: how he went against the establishment in some of the things that he had done," Wackrow said.Harris has already started fulfilling her name: She's the first Black woman nominated to be the vice president. And if elected, she'll be the first woman, Indian American, and Black vice president in U.S. history.More stories from theweek.com John Boehner would 'rather set himself on fire' than get involved in the 2020 election Bill Clinton is getting sidelined at the DNC Trump says he's pardoning Susan B. Anthony, who was arrested for illegally voting in 1872
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| Lebanon tribunal judge: No evidence of involvement by Hezbollah leadership in Hariri's killing Posted: 18 Aug 2020 03:22 AM PDT  There is no evidence that the leadership of the Iran-backed Shi'ite Muslim group Hezbollah, or the Syrian government, were involved in the 2005 bombing that killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, a judge said on Tuesday. The Special Tribunal for Lebanon is reading the verdict in the trial of four Hezbollah members charged with conspiracy to kill Hariri and 21 others. "The trial chamber is of the view that Syria and Hezbollah may have had motives to eliminate Mr Hariri and his political allies, however there is no evidence that the Hezbollah leadership had any involvement in Mr. Hariri's murder and there is no direct evidence of Syrian involvement," said Judge David Re, reading a summary of the court's 2,600 page decision.
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| A 47-year-old man kept getting drunk from alcohol produced in his own gut. Doctors cured him with a poop transplant. Posted: 17 Aug 2020 02:00 PM PDT  Auto-brewery syndrome is an illness where a person's body produces alcohol inside their gut, which can lead to drunkenness without consuming alcohol.
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| Restaurant chain in China apologizes for suggesting menu items based on customer weight Posted: 17 Aug 2020 11:25 AM PDT  Customers stepped on a scale to weigh themselves to get recommendations for food before ordering their food.
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| 'Never seen anything like it': Postal workers raise alarm on mail delays Posted: 17 Aug 2020 04:27 PM PDT  "Everybody is fundamentally watching the beginning of the dismantling of the Postal Service," one 22-year USPS veteran said.
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| Roger Stone drops appeals of felony convictions Posted: 17 Aug 2020 10:53 PM PDT  President Donald Trump had already commuted Stone's sentence.
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| Mike Bloomberg gives $60m to help Democrats in November as former campaign aides turn against him Posted: 18 Aug 2020 07:49 AM PDT  Former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg is planning to spend around $60m (£45.5m) to help strengthen the Democratic House Majority in November, as his former aides have called for him to be pulled from speaking at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) this week.The investment, that was announced on Monday, will match the amount Bloomberg spent in midterm elections in 2018, that helped the Democrats flip control of the House away from Republicans, according to the Washington Post.
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| He calls himself a ‘witch.’ Feds are calling him a kidnapper in the missing mother case Posted: 16 Aug 2020 02:53 PM PDT  An Alabama man who claims to be a witch, a god and the last person to see missing mother Leila Cavett alive now has been charged in federal court with kidnapping.
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| China defends detention of Uighur model in Xinjiang Posted: 18 Aug 2020 12:13 AM PDT  Merdan Ghappar sent video and texts about life in Xinjiang's secretive detention system to his family.
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| Virginia state senator, NAACP leaders charged with felony 'injury' to Confederate statue Posted: 17 Aug 2020 04:47 PM PDT  The arrest of Virginia's Senate president pro tempore is raising suspicions from the state's top Democrats.Louise Lucas, the legislature's top ranking Democrat, who represents Portsmouth, was charged with felony "injury to a monument" and conspiracy Monday, as were the city's NAACP president and vice president, a school board member, and four others. The charges stemmed from a June protest where protesters tore down a statue of a Confederate soldier, though it's unclear if Lucas played a role in taking it down, per local station WAVY.The timing of the arrest raised questions from Virginia House Rep. Lee Carter (D), given that the state legislature was set to reconvene this week for a special session on criminal justice reform. Virginia's constitution bars the arrest of General Assembly members during or 15 days before their sessions, except for "treason, felony, or breach of the peace."> If you're wondering why they dug up an obscure crime like "conspiracy to commit injury to a monument," it's because they need a felony to arrest a Senator within 15 days of a session.> > It's not supposed to stick. The purpose is to prevent her from voting to rein in the cops. https://t.co/RRNHq4EDIo> > — Lee J. Carter (@carterforva) August 17, 2020Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) echoed Carter's suspicion.> It's deeply troubling that on the verge of Virginia passing long-overdue police reform, the first Black woman to serve as our Senate Pro Tempore is suddenly facing highly unusual charges.@SenLouiseLucas, I look forward to seeing you in Richmond tomorrow—so we can get to work. https://t.co/flI9W5HnYH> > — Ralph Northam (@GovernorVA) August 17, 2020Virginia lawmakers this week will consider a change to "a law that allows police to charge people with felony assault even if the arresting officers are not seriously hurt," The Virginian-Pilot reports. Bills to bar police from using chokeholds and no-knock warrants, to make it easier to expunge criminal records, and to eliminate jury sentencing are also on the docket this week.More stories from theweek.com John Boehner would 'rather set himself on fire' than get involved in the 2020 election Bill Clinton is getting sidelined at the DNC Trump says he's pardoning Susan B. Anthony, who was arrested for illegally voting in 1872
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| Hot, dry and dangerous: Firefighters are battling 29 wildfires across California amid triple-digit temperatures Posted: 17 Aug 2020 07:49 PM PDT  There are 29 active fires across the state as of Monday night, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
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| Kasich makes the Republican case for voting for Biden Posted: 17 Aug 2020 07:59 PM PDT  Former Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich delivered an endorsement of Democrat Joe Biden for president during the first night of the Democratic National Convention on Monday.
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| Tokyo installed see-through public toilets in a park to let people inspect their cleanliness before using them, at which point the glass turns opaque Posted: 18 Aug 2020 03:14 AM PDT  People can see through the colored "smart glass" when it's not in use. The glass then turns opaque when the door is locked.
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| Jared Kushner says 'yes,' the US coronavirus death toll of 170,000 is a 'success story,' doubling down on comments from April Posted: 17 Aug 2020 04:25 PM PDT  When asked by CNN's Wolf Blitzer if 170,000 coronavirus deaths in the US are a "success story," Jared Kushner immediately responded "Yes."
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| 'High visibility arrests attract a crowd': Anger as police defend arresting BLM protester in unmarked van Posted: 17 Aug 2020 10:11 AM PDT  Protesters in Pittsburgh are demanding answers from the city's mayor after an activist was abducted by plainclothes officers into an unmarked van on Saturday.A video captured the moments after the protester, Matthew Cartier, 25, was pulled into an unmarked van by the city's police.
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| Couple assaulted by Black Lives Matter protesters in Portland Posted: 18 Aug 2020 04:53 AM PDT  Portland police investigating video; Jorge Ventura, reporter for The Daily Caller, speaks out.
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| China launches anti-dumping investigation into Australian wine Posted: 18 Aug 2020 03:28 AM PDT  China on Tuesday ramped up tensions with Australia as it launched a probe into wine imports from the country, the latest salvo in an increasingly bitter row between the trade partners.
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| House Democrats consider new push on coronavirus relief Posted: 18 Aug 2020 07:14 AM PDT  With the House returning to deal with Postal Service funding, some Democrats are concerned about the stalemate over a bigger pandemic package.
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| Rapper who filmed girlfriend dying after taking drugs at Bestival has manslaughter conviction overturned Posted: 18 Aug 2020 03:18 AM PDT  Rapper Ceon Broughton, who gave his girlfriend drugs at a music festival and then filmed her as she lay dying rather than getting help, has had his conviction for manslaughter quashed by the Court of Appeal. Louella Fletcher-Michie, the daughter of Holby City actor John Michie, died after taking the hallucinogenic class A drug 2-CP at the Bestival music festival in September 2017. Her 31-year-old boyfriend was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison after he was found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter in February last year. But the Court of Appeal overturned the conviction after his lawyers argued that the jury could not be sure Miss Fletcher-Michie would have survived if she had received medical attention.
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| Prominent Latinos criticize Democrats for lack of representation at DNC Posted: 17 Aug 2020 08:13 PM PDT  Only three Latino speakers that will have their own slot as part of the DNC's primetime lineup this week.
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| Right-wing militia pulls out of event with New Mexico Republicans, citing 'blatantly racist' remarks from some speakers Posted: 17 Aug 2020 08:42 PM PDT  The New Mexico Civil Guard, whose founder is a neo-Confederate with a swastika tattoo, said it does not want to
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| Putin tells Merkel external intervention in Belarus would be unacceptable Posted: 18 Aug 2020 03:26 AM PDT  Russian President Vladimir Putin told German Chancellor Angela Merkel that any attempts to interfere in the domestic affairs of Belarus would be unacceptable, the Kremlin said on Tuesday. Any such attempts would lead to an escalation of the political crisis in Belarus, Putin told Merkel in a phone call, the Kremlin said in a statement. Alexander Lukashenko, the leader of Belarus, on Tuesday awarded medals "for impeccable service" to law enforcement officials who have helped him crack down on protesters who have been demanding he step down for the last 10 days.
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| Millions of Californians brace for blackouts as governor calls severe power shortages 'unacceptable' Posted: 17 Aug 2020 04:33 PM PDT  California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) warned on Monday that millions of Californians could lose their power amid rolling blackouts.A heat wave is putting stress on the state's electric grid, as sweltering Californians rely on their air conditioners and fans to stay cool. The California Independent System Operator runs the grid for most of the state, and Steve Berberich, its president and CEO, said on Monday California is short about 4,400 megawatts. The body issued a statewide flex alert through Wednesday, asking all residents to conserve energy from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. each day.Rolling blackouts were last used in the state two decades ago, and Berberich said about 3.3 million homes might briefly lose their power on Monday to ease pressure on the grid. This is "unacceptable," Newsom said, and the next several days will be "very challenging." He promised to free up additional energy and also investigate why there is such a massive shortage.The heat wave gripping California is bringing with it extreme temperatures, with Los Angeles International Airport, Oxnard, and Palmdale all reporting record highs on Sunday. A strong high-pressure system centered over Arizona is causing the heat, the Los Angeles Times reports, with relief only found within a few miles of the coast.More stories from theweek.com John Boehner would 'rather set himself on fire' than get involved in the 2020 election Bill Clinton is getting sidelined at the DNC Trump says he's pardoning Susan B. Anthony, who was arrested for illegally voting in 1872
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| The Trump-Administration Reforms Obama’s Misguided Methane-Emissions Rule Posted: 18 Aug 2020 03:30 AM PDT  Let the hysteria begin. The Trump administration has finalized a reform of the federal rules on emissions of methane, the major component of natural gas, from oil and gas production. The existing rules were implemented by the Obama administration in 2016, justified largely as a means of addressing anthropogenic climate change. That justification is deeply dubious, but any relaxation of such regulations is unacceptable to an environmental Left ideologically opposed to fossil fuels. And so an inexorable avalanche of criticism and litigation from the usual suspects is upon us, all of which will ignore several central truths.First: Neither the Obama rule nor the proposed reform would have any detectable effect on temperatures or climate phenomena over the remainder of this century. (Climate projections beyond 2100 are not to be taken seriously.) Total U.S. methane emissions in 2018 (635 million metric tons in CO2 equivalents) were 9.5 percent of all U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions, and about 1.2 percent of global greenhouse-gas emissions. Suppose that U.S. methane emissions were to be eliminated completely. If we apply the EPA climate model, which is based on assumptions that exaggerate the effects of reduced emissions, global temperatures would be about 0.012° Celsius lower than otherwise would be the case by the year 2100. If we apply assumptions more consistent with the modern peer-reviewed literature, that predicted effect becomes even smaller — about 0.005° Celsius. If a complete elimination of methane emissions would have a such a trivial effect, the effect of the Obama rule would be even less significant.The rule's effect on sea levels and other climate parameters similarly would be undetectable. As temperatures rise, driven by some combination of natural and anthropogenic causes, most climate models predict ancillary effects on sea levels, cyclones, and other phenomena; the commonly asserted seriousness of those effects ("existential threat!") is not supported by the evidence. The Obama administration claimed that the rule would reduce annual methane emissions by 11 million metric tons, or about 1.7 percent of annual U.S. methane emissions, by 2025 — again, a number too small to have an effect on climate phenomena. In short, the rule cannot satisfy any plausible cost/benefit analysis; the justification used by its backers — that it would be an effective way of addressing anthropogenic climate change — is inconsistent with basic climate science.Second: The Obama rule and the Trump reform apply only to U.S. oil and gas production and transport systems, which account for about 28 percent of U.S. methane emissions and about 2.6 percent of U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions. They do not apply to U.S. agriculture, which account for 40 percent of U.S. methane emissions and 3.8 percent of U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions.Agricultural methane emissions stem from enteric fermentation by livestock, manure management, rice production, composting, field burning of field residues, and other processes. The Trump reform recognizes the obvious: Even apart from the near-zero effect on the climate of methane emissions whatever their source, agricultural emissions are larger than those from fossil-fuel operations. But it would be much more difficult to reduce agricultural emissions; doing so would drive up the industry's costs significantly, and thus the prices that Americans pay for food. The costs to fossil-fuel operations of the Obama methane rule by contrast are hidden in a long supply chain comprising exploration, production, gathering and transport (including transport of crude oil and refined products from overseas), refining, distribution, imports, and so on, while the adverse price effects can be blamed on the evil oil companies.All this helps to explain the refusal of one Congress after another to target methane emissions — or greenhouse-gas emissions more generally — through legislation. Political support for such policies is nonexistent outside the environmental Left, which is why the Obama administration resorted to executive-branch regulation to enact them.Third: The Obama rule largely overlapped with the existing regulation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted as a result of fossil-fuel companies' operations. VOCs contribute to the formation of ground-level ozone, a problem very different from the climate-change rationale used to justify the methane rule. Regulations directed at the reduction of VOC emissions have the natural ancillary effect of reducing methane emissions as well, a reality recognized by the Obama administration itself. For the reasons already discussed, these ancillary effects are so small as to be irrelevant in terms of climate phenomena, and the Trump administration is not proposing a relaxation of the regulations reducing VOC emissions in any event.Note that only about a quarter of U.S. VOC emissions result from industrial and other economic activities; about 70 percent are from biological ("biogenic") sources. Most of the emissions from economic activities result from "other industrial processes," defined by the EPA as "chemical production, petroleum refining, metals production, and processes other than fuel combustion." Between 1990 and 2014, the most recent period for which the EPA has reported data, non-biological VOC emissions have declined 47 percent, and VOC emissions from "other industrial processes" have declined about 26 percent. This is largely consistent with the 18 percent decline in U.S. methane emissions from 1990 to 2018. The correlation means that the Obama methane rule was redundant, imposing costs on fossil-fuel production without providing any benefits.Why is it that methane emissions from fossil-fuel operations have declined about 23 percent since 1990, despite an increase in oil production of 49 percent, and an increase in gas production of 72 percent? Notwithstanding the assertions of the environmental Left, a reduction in methane emissions furthers the industry's interests, because methane is valuable; from the viewpoint of a profit-seeking fossil-fuel producer, sales are vastly preferable to losses through emissions. The interests of the private sector and environmental protection are far more consistent than commonly asserted, a reality that no one should be allowed to obscure.
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| Democratic convention: Republicans join Left-wingers on stage to back Joe Biden Posted: 17 Aug 2020 10:04 AM PDT  The Democrats are using the first day of their convention to showcase the breadth of support they believe Joe Biden can win at the US election by giving both Republicans and left-wingers speaking slots. Under a banner of "we the people", Monday evening's two-hour programme includes politicians who challenged Mr Biden for the party's presidential nomination in an attempt to project a message of unity. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont senator and self-proclaimed democratic socialist who was the last man standing against Mr Biden in the primaries earlier this year, has been given one of the most prominent speaking slots on Monday. Mr Sanders had fiercely pushed against Mr Biden's centrist message when the pair squared off at the start of 2020 but, since his defeat became inevitable, he has been attempting to make sure progressives get behind Mr Biden to beat Donald Trump. Meanwhile, at the other end of the political spectrum, John Kasich, the Republican who came third in the 2016 presidential primaries in which Mr Trump won, has been given time for a speech where he was expected to heap praise on Mr Biden.
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| Ruling barring death penalty against immigrant reversed Posted: 17 Aug 2020 03:36 PM PDT  The Arizona Supreme Court has reversed a lower-court ruling that barred prosecutors from seeking the death penalty against a Mexican immigrant charged with murder in a 2015 killing in metro Phoenix because he was intellectually disabled. The state's highest court ruled Monday that a judge in the lower court had correctly considered the strengths and weaknesses of Apolinar Altamirano's life skills, but failed to assess his ability to meet society's expectations of him. The case will be back to the judge to make another determination on Altamirano's disability.
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| Americans are drinking more amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but experts warn any relief is temporary Posted: 17 Aug 2020 02:04 AM PDT  Experts caution against drinking to cope with stress amid the coronavirus pandemic. The relief is temporary and the damage can be lasting.
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| As Democrats celebrate at convention, they're losing the money race in key state contests Posted: 17 Aug 2020 12:15 AM PDT  Democrats' future for the next decade hinges on whether they invest aggressively in state legislative races in Texas, Florida and North Carolina.
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| Colleges' best-laid coronavirus plans quickly come undone Posted: 17 Aug 2020 01:55 PM PDT  Schools are scrambling after experiencing an uptick in infections within days of students returning to campus.
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| Diamond and Silk suggest Fox News is racist for dumping them over COVID-19 conspiracies that were also embraced by white hosts like Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity Posted: 17 Aug 2020 07:42 AM PDT  Lynette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson were hired by the network in late 2018 to make videos for Fox Nation. Their contract was ended in April 2020.
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| Nigeria to reopen airports for international flights from Aug. 29 Posted: 17 Aug 2020 10:35 AM PDT  Nigeria will reopen its airports for international flights from Aug. 29, its aviation minister said on Monday. The airports have been closed since March 23 to all but essential international flights as part of the country's efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika said four flights would begin landing daily in Lagos, and four in Abuja, with strict protocols.
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| New models suggest COVID-19 herd immunity might be achieved with far fewer people infected Posted: 18 Aug 2020 06:01 AM PDT  COVID-19 researchers and modelers have assumed that at least 60 percent of a population, perhaps 70 percent, would need to be infected with the new coronavirus or vaccinated against it before reaching herd immunity, the point at which the virus can no longer spread widely among a community. Some infectious disease experts are now examining the "hopeful possibility" that far fewer people have to get infected or immunized to achieve herd immunity, The New York Times reports, citing interviews with more than a dozen scientists.If their new, complicated statistical models are correct, and communities can reach herd immunity with 50 percent or less of people gaining immunity to COVID-19, "it may be possible to turn back the coronavirus more quickly than once thought," the Times reports. A clear minority of researchers predict as few as 10 or 20 percent of a population developing antibodies to the disease would be sufficient for herd immunity; Stockholm University mathematician Tom Britton calculated the threshold at 43 percent.It's not clear any city or pocket of a city has sufficient immune people to thwart a second wave of COVID-19, but there may be parts of Mumbai, London, and New York that are close or have developed at least significant collective resistance. In hard-hit New York City, for example, fewer than 1 percent of people being tested in some neighborhood clinics over the past eight weeks have tested positive, the Times notes. Even a lower threshold "means many residents of the community will have been sickened or have died, a high price to pay for herd immunity."And right now, the models are untested. "Mathematically, it's certainly possible to have herd immunity at these very, very low levels," Carl Bergstrom, an infectious disease expert at the University of Washington, tells the Times. "Those are just our best guesses for what the numbers should look like," but "they're just exactly that, guesses."More stories from theweek.com John Boehner would 'rather set himself on fire' than get involved in the 2020 election Bill Clinton is getting sidelined at the DNC Trump says he's pardoning Susan B. Anthony, who was arrested for illegally voting in 1872
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| Falklands or Malvinas? Posted: 18 Aug 2020 03:30 AM PDT  On August 4, Argentina, the world's biggest deadbeat, announced that it had reached a deal with its creditors on its $65 billion worth of defaulted debt. The next day, the United Nations Decolonization Committee — the C24 — unanimously passed a resolution urging the United Kingdom and Argentina to resolve their differences over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands. Or, are they the Malvinas?For 187 years, the United Kingdom has controlled the Falkland Islands, a small archipelago off the coast of Argentina populated by 3,480 Falklanders. Argentina claims that the Falklands are part of Argentina and, in fact, are not even the Falklands, but the Malvinas. These claims have resulted in the U.K. and Argentina coming to blows. In 1982, the Argentines met their match in the person of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The Iron Lady was in no mood to be pushed around by Argentina. After being challenged by Argentina, she sent part of the British fleet down to the Falklands for a ten-week undeclared war that resulted in 900 casualties. In the end, the Falklands remained the Falklands.With the swearing in of President Alberto Fernandez on December 10, 2019, it became clear that Argentina would once again attempt to seize control of the territory. Indeed, Fernandez formally established the National Council of Affairs Relating to the Malvinas, South Georgia, South Sandwich Islands and the surrounding maritime spaces on July 28. Its goal: to establish territorial control of the Falkland Islands for Argentina, once and for all.Just what advantages do the Falkland Islands provide Argentina? Admittedly, since the "war," the Islands' small population diversified its economy away from its traditional (and unsatisfactory) dependence on sheep farming and British subsidies into fishing, thanks to a massive expansion in the Islands' fishing rights in 1986. Fishing now makes up between 50-60 percent of total GDP, and a tourism industry has developed. Nevertheless, the Falklands still rely on communications and supplies from neighboring nations to survive, and its annual GDP is only about $370 million. That said, Britain maintains a strong military presence on the archipelago and has recently declared that its new "multi-role combat aircraft," the Typhoon, will be employed there for defensive purposes in the near future.So, it seems that Argentina is entangling itself in a fight against a superior military power over a territory that provides little economic value. This, however, is a superficial reading of reality. While patriotic, populist sentiments in Buenos Aires flare up from time to time as a distraction from Argentina's domestic economic problems, that is only part of the current story. The crux of the recent Argentine challenge is found beneath the surface of the sea.Oil exploration and the discovery of hydrocarbon reserves around the Falkland Islands have accelerated considerably since 2012. Oil companies from Britain and Argentina are now vying intensely for hydrocarbon control. In 2015, an Argentine judge ordered the seizure of goods and assets worth $156,432,000 belonging to British multinationals drilling in the Falkland Islands, claiming it an "unlawful assertion of jurisdiction over the Falkland Islands' continental shelf." In 2019, the Argentine government issued a stern warning to British drilling companies Rockhopper PLC and Premier Oil over drilling on the shelf, claiming that they were violating international law. The formation of the National Council of Affairs Relating to the Malvinas, South Georgia, South Sandwich Islands and the surrounding maritime spaces is a clear reassertion by Argentina that the hydrocarbons and minerals of the Falkland Islands belong to Argentina in its own right.How should the conflicting claims over sovereignty and property rights be settled? Years ago, after the U.K–Argentina dust-up, Sir Alan Walters — Mrs. Thatcher's economic guru — and I developed a transparent market solution that bestowed voting rights upon the settlers of the Falkland Islands. This plan was delivered to Mrs. Thatcher by Sir Alan. We advocated a binding referendum in which qualified Falklanders would vote on whether to uphold the status quo (British rule) or to agree to an Argentine take-over. If the required super-majority of Falklanders (say, 80 percent) voted in favor of Argentine rule, the United Kingdom would peacefully transfer administration of the islands to the Argentine government. It's time for our proposal to be resurrected.In the Walters-Hanke referendum, the Falklanders, who are English speakers and British by custom, institutions, and loyalties, would need to be compensated by Argentina if they decided to transfer sovereignty over their lands and resources to Argentina. The referendum would be designed so that Argentina would offer a cash incentive if the islanders voted in favor of Argentina's rule. Prior to the referendum, Argentina would deposit an amount (say, $20,000,000) in escrow in Swiss accounts for every person who can prove their Falkland Islands citizenship.If 80 percent of the Falklanders agreed to Argentine citizenship, Argentine sovereignty, and a name change from the Falklands to the Malvinas, the funds in escrow would be transferred directly to each Falklander. Since the archipelago has a population of roughly 3,480, the total escrowed amount would be $69.6 billion.The best way for the United Kingdom and Argentina to bury the hatchet about the Falklands is to embrace a market-based referendum in which the Falklanders themselves decide their own destiny.
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| How a Broward County teen organized hundreds of young DNC delegates during a pandemic Posted: 17 Aug 2020 03:41 PM PDT  Like most high school seniors, Joseph Mullen had a lot of time on his hands this spring.
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| FBI agents arrest Puerto Rican representative for alleged involvement in conspiracy to defraud to government Posted: 17 Aug 2020 01:17 PM PDT  FBI agents have arrested Puerto Rico Representative María Milagros Charbonier over her alleged connection with a long-term conspiracy theory to defraud the government through means of bribery, theft, kickbacks and money laundering.A federal grand jury of the District of Puerto Rico returned a 13-count indictment against Ms Charbonier, as well as her husband Orland Montes-Rivera, their son Orland Gabriel Montes-Charbonier, and her assistant Frances Acevedo-Ceballos for their alleged participation in the conspiracy.
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| Belarus President Sends SOS to Putin, Tells Protesters: You’ll Have to Kill Me to Get New Elections Posted: 17 Aug 2020 03:45 AM PDT  This doesn't sound like a man who's going to go quietly. Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko warned protesters Monday that he will not give in to their demands for a new presidential election—unless they assassinate him.Tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered in the capital city of Minsk over the weekend to protest against the disputed elections held earlier this month. Protesters have been infuriated by alleged poll-rigging and police violence at the ensuing protests, but Lukashenko has defied any suggestion that the vote could be re-run."We held elections already. Until you kill me, there will be no other elections," he was quoted by Belarusian media as saying during a visit to a tractor plant Monday morning. "You should never expect me to do something under pressure... They [new elections] won't happen."Lukashenko did appear to suggest that he would consider some kind of constitutional reform or even power-sharing but insisted his hand would not be forced by the protests. The man known as Europe's last dictator also reportedly told the workers that protesters had been tortured over the past week because they had attacked police. As the president spoke to what he must have thought would be a friendly audience, the workers chanted "Leave," and heckled him. Lukashenko, in the midst of an unprecedented public humiliation, eventually told the crowd he had finished and they could now shout, as he turned and stormed off stage.Lukashenko, Putin's Dictatorship Mentor, Moves to Crush the OppositionLukashenko's incendiary comments came after reports over the weekend that he had appealed to Vladimir Putin for help in saving his 26-year presidency. In calls to the Kremlin on Saturday and Sunday, he reportedly begged for assurance that Russia would help out with military assistance against unspecified external threats.The Kremlin later confirmed that Moscow would help in line with its collective military pact. However, Putin has not yet publicly backed Lukashenko, as the Russian president apparently waits to see how the protests and labor strikes play out this week and whether Lukashenko's position becomes completely untenable.Kremlin-watchers believe Lukashenko remaining in power but in a diminished capacity is Putin's favored outcome.The protests are showing no signs of slowing down. On Monday, state television staff walked out in protest against censorship and the election results. A bizarre state TV broadcast that went out early Monday morning showed nothing but empty news desks.The main challenger in the disputed presidential election released a new video Monday morning to say that she was prepared to take over the country's leadership after the wave of protests.Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who left for Lithuania after she publicly denounced the contested election results, only stood for election after other candidates, including her husband, were jailed.She reportedly said, "I did not want to be a politician. But fate decreed that I'd find myself on the frontline of a confrontation against arbitrary rule and injustice... I am ready to take responsibility and act as a national leader during this period."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.
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| Three producers fired from Ellen DeGeneres show over 'toxic workplace' allegations Posted: 18 Aug 2020 05:38 AM PDT  Three producers of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" have exited amid allegations of a dysfunctional workplace that harbored misbehavior including sexual misconduct and racially insensitive remarks. Executive producers Ed Glavin and Kevin Leman and co-executive producer Jonathan Norman have "parted ways" with the long-running daytime series, a spokesperson for producer Warner Bros. said in a statement Monday. An internal company investigation of claims about the show was prompted by a BuzzFeed News report in July based on 36 interviews with ex-staffers, who complained about or said they witnessed improper and unfair treatment. Most of the allegations were tied to executive producers and senior managers, including Mr Glavin, Mr Leman and Mr Norman, BuzzFeed News said. The people making the claims against them were not identified. A representative for Leman didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. Representatives for Mr Glavin and Mr Norman couldn't immediately be found. In statements to BuzzFeed News after the July 30 story was published online, Mr Leman denied "any kind of sexual impropriety" and Norman said he categorically denied the accusations.
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| Carter Page: Clinesmith guilty plea is 'tip of the iceberg' in FBI wrongdoing Posted: 18 Aug 2020 05:53 AM PDT  Former foreign policy adviser to President Trump Carter Page reviews what happened to him and talks about other FBI wrongdoing during his tenure with the administration. He says ex-FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith's hearing is a 'turning point for justice in our country.'
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| Andrew Cuomo takes on Trump over the coronavirus in Democratic convention speech Posted: 17 Aug 2020 08:09 PM PDT  Andrew Cuomo hammers President Trump's "dysfunctional and incompetent" response to the coronavirus crisis.
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| North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reportedly condemns pet ownership as a 'decadence' and orders dogs be confiscated Posted: 18 Aug 2020 08:51 AM PDT  The dogs are being put down, sent to zoos or sold to restaurants where dog meat is eaten, an unnamed source told South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo.
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| New coronavirus cases are emerging at schools. How much you know depends on where you live Posted: 18 Aug 2020 08:13 AM PDT  New COVID cases are emerging at reopened schools, but there's no protocol for informing parents, even when federal law encourages that transparency.
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| Reopen schools and let parents decide how to educate their children in the COVID pandemic Posted: 17 Aug 2020 08:55 AM PDT  Children can be harmed by lack of education, nutrition and mental health care. We cannot ignore the casualties of all other conditions to contain COVID.
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| 'You can't fix stupid' — Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro rips Kodak executives Posted: 17 Aug 2020 08:00 AM PDT  "What happened at Kodak was probably the dumbest decisions made by executives in corporate history," Navarro said.
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