Biden looks to restore, expand Obama administration policies

Joe Biden is promising to take the country on a very different path from what it has seen over the past four years under President Donald Trump, on issues ranging from the coronavirus and health care to the environment, education and more. The Democratic presidential nominee is promising to reverse Trump policy moves on things such as withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement and weakening protections against environmental pollution. While Trump wants to kill the Affordable Care Act, Biden is proposing to expand “Obamacare” by adding a public option to cover more Americans.

source https://news.yahoo.com/biden-looks-restore-expand-obama-105837619.html

Armenia asks Moscow for help amid Nagorno-Karabakh fighting

Armenia’s leader urged Russia Saturday to consider providing security assistance to end the fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh, the biggest escalation in the decades-long conflict between his country and Azerbaijan. Following more than a month of intense fighting in which Azerbaijani troops forged into the separatist territory, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian asked Russia’s President Vladimir Putin to quickly discuss possible security aid to his country.

source https://news.yahoo.com/armenia-asks-moscow-help-amid-104757085.html

Sudan deal plunges migrants in Israel into new uncertainty

Usumain Baraka speaks impeccable Hebrew, considers Israelis among his best friends and can quote passages from the Old Testament. Now, after Israel and Sudan agreed to normalize ties, Baraka is among 6,000 Sudanese in Israel once again fearing for their fate. Israel already has indicated it will seek to settle the migrant issue in upcoming talks with Sudan, whipping up trepidation in the community that Israel might forcibly return them to Sudan, a place they say they fled because of conflict or persecution.

source https://news.yahoo.com/sudan-deal-plunges-migrants-israel-101917615.html

Canada border officer says giving police Meng Wanzhou's device passwords was 'embarrassing, heart-wrenching' blunder

A Canadian border officer who dealt with Meng Wanzhou at Vancouver's airport in the hours before her arrest said he made an "embarrassing" and "heart-wrenching" mistake, when his handwritten note with the passwords of Meng's electronic devices ended up in police hands, breaching privacy laws.Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officer Scott Kirkland denied that he deliberately obtained the passwords on behalf of police, depicting the handover instead as a blunder he only realised he had made a few days later.But Meng's lawyers say it was part of a covert plot by the CBSA and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), to gather evidence for the American FBI.Get the latest insights and analysis from our Global Impact newsletter on the big stories originating in China.Kirkland came under intense cross-examination on Friday from the Huawei executive's lawyer Mona Duckett, as she attempted to prove Meng's rights were violated in the border process.Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies, leaves her home to attend court on Thursday. Photo: Bloomberg alt=Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies, leaves her home to attend court on Thursday. Photo: BloombergThey want Meng's extradition case in the Supreme Court of British Columbia thrown out as a result. The US wants Meng sent to New York to face trial on fraud charges, which are denied by Meng, the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies.Meng, 48, was arrested at Vancouver's airport on December 1, 2018, more than three hours after arriving on a flight from Hong Kong.Kirkland had previously testified that he worried that delaying Meng's arrest would be challenged in court, and he suggested that she be arrested by the RCMP immediately after she got off the plane.Instead, he and colleagues conducted a border examination during which they questioned her about Huawei's activities in Iran and seized her devices and passwords.Duckett called Kirkland's note with the passcodes, provided by Meng, the keys to "a private box with a wealth of personal information" on her."This piece of paper is instructions for police, isn't it?" said Duckett.Canada Border Services Agency officer Scott Kirkland questions Meng Wanzhou at Vancouver's airport on December 1, 2018. Photo: Supreme Court of British Columbia exhibit alt=Canada Border Services Agency officer Scott Kirkland questions Meng Wanzhou at Vancouver's airport on December 1, 2018. Photo: Supreme Court of British Columbia exhibitKirkland denied this, maintaining that the passwords were only obtained for the purposes of his immigration exam. But the note was placed on a stack with Meng's devices, which were handed over to the RCMP when they arrested her.Providing the passwords to police was a breach of the Privacy Act, Kirkland previously agreed.He described a postmortem of the border inspection, conducted with CBSA colleagues the next week, when he said he realised he had made a mistake."It was an embarrassing moment for me, in that meeting. I, as I am right now, was embarrassed ... it was heart-wrenching to realise I had made that mistake," said Kirkland.Meng's treatment has infuriated Beijing, sending China's relations with Canada and the US into a downward spiral.Beijing subsequently arrested Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, accusing them of spying. In Canada, their situation is widely seen as hostage-taking.Meng is under partial house arrest in Vancouver, living in one of her two homes in the city. Her extradition proceedings are expected to last well into next year, but appeals could drag out the process much longer.This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2020 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2020. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

source https://news.yahoo.com/canada-border-officer-says-giving-093000399.html

Billionaire casino boss Sheldon Adelson splashes the cash in bid to help Trump

The magnate, 87, is expected to have spent $250m this election cycle to support conservative causes, fundraisers sayThe casino billionaire and ardent Israel backer Sheldon Adelson is expected to have written about $250m in checks to back Donald Trump, Republican Senate and House members and conservative causes, say two GOP fundraising sources familiar with the mega-donor’s spending plans.Adelson and his wife Miriam, an Israeli-born physician, have already spent a single election record sum of $183m through 14 October, according to the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics.Since late summer, when Adelson began bankrolling a new pro-Trump Super Pac, dubbed Preserve America, the 87-year-old Adelson and his wife have poured $75m into its coffers, making them its leading financiers.To date, Preserve America, has raised $83.8m, and has been running ads attacking Democrat Joe Biden as “too weak to lead America”.Adelson – who sources say talks to Trump periodically – and his wife have developed close ties with Trump largely based on their similar views on pro-Israel and hawkish Middle East policies.The Trump administration pleased Adelson and other conservatives by moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and Trump officials adopted a hardline stance against Iran by scrapping the Obama administration’s nuclear accord with Tehran, and recently wooed the UAE and other nations to recognize Israel.Sheldon and Miriam Adelson have also donated $50m to a Super Pac called the Senate Leadership Fund, which is run by close allies of Mitch McConnell and to date has raised over $308m to keep the Chamber in GOP hands.Adelson, whose net worth is pegged at almost $32bn by Forbes, has long been the top bankroller of the Republican Jewish Coalition, a conservative pro-Israel lobbying group whose board he sits on.The RJC is on track to spend a record $10m to help woo Jewish voters in several battleground states including Florida and Pennsylvania, where the group hopes its ads and get-out-the-vote work can help Trump pull off wins again, as he did in 2016.Further, Adelson has written big checks for some Super Pacs backing Senate allies facing tough races, including South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham, a staunch Israel backer. The couple have donated $1m to the pro-Graham pac Security is Strength.The Adelsons have also kicked in $40m to the Congressional Leadership Fund, a Super Pac that backs House GOP candidates; the Pac’s fundraising depends heavily on ex-senator Norm Coleman, who is known for his close Adelson ties.In 2018, the Adelsons spent $124m overall to Super Pacs, campaign committees and candidates, according to the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP).The Adelsons typically donate much of their money late in election cycles, and historically give a mix of publicly disclosed checks, and others to dark money outfits which remain secret.The two sources who indicated Adelson’s total spending would reach $250m didn’t identify where the additional tens of millions of dollars were going, or if these funds have already been donated to non-profit dark money groups which don’t require public disclosure.Adelson’s late donation spree this year has come as Trump continues to lag behind Biden in national and most battleground state polls, and as Biden’s campaign fundraising has outpaced Trump’s in recent months.This election cycle, the second biggest donor behind the Adelsons has been New York billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who has spent $107m, much of it on ads in Florida to help Biden, CRP data shows.Adelson’s huge donations have occurred even as his casino empire, which stretches from Las Vegas to Asia, has seen its revenues drop significantly this year because of the pandemic. As Bloomberg first reported, Adelson has recently begun exploring the sale of his two Vegas casinos and an expo center – which could fetch $6bn – to focus on his Macau and Singapore casinos, which in recent years have yielded higher revenues.Trump has diligently courted both Adelson and his wife’s support since he took office. Early in 2020, Trump tapped Adelson to serve on a business council that is supposed to offer guidance on how to reopen the country, and in 2018 Trump gave Miriam the Presidential Medal of Freedom.In January, the Adelsons came to Washington for the White House’s formal announcement of Trump’s much-touted Middle East peace plan, which Trump called the “deal of the century” but which Palestinian leaders and most Arab countries dismissed as too favorable to Israel.Trump’s cultivation of the casino billionaire has also occurred in private get-togethers in Washington and in Las Vegas, where the Adelsons live.In May 2018, the day before Trump announced the US was going to pull out of Obama’s nuclear accord with Iran, Adelson came to Washington for a private meeting with Trump and top officials including Mike Pence and then national security adviser John Bolton, who had good ties with Adelson.But Trump’s drive to woo Adelson conflicts with his multiple campaign pledges to “drain the swamp” in Washington to curb big donor and lobbyist influence.“Somehow, promises to change the culture in Washington or ‘drain the swamp’ fade away when the usual mega-donors line up to throw millions at the election,” said Sheila Krumholz, who heads CRP. “It’s a seasonal amnesia.”

source https://news.yahoo.com/billionaire-casino-boss-sheldon-adelson-090048624.html

Italian nurse on coronavirus duty sees the nightmare return

A 54-year-old nurse became convinced the coronavirus “hated” her during the first seven months of Italy’s outbreaks. Settembrese, who specializes in treating patients with infectious diseases, faced huge risks during the long hours she spent in close contact with sick and dying COVID-19 patients. The nurse's encounters with the coronavirus started Feb. 21, the day Italy’s first domestic cases were confirmed in the country's north.

source https://news.yahoo.com/italian-nurse-coronavirus-duty-sees-081841261.html

Nearly 3 months after vote, Belarus protests still go strong

Nearly three months after Belarus' authoritarian president's re-election to a sixth term in a vote widely seen as rigged, demonstrators keep swarming the streets of Belarusian cities to demand his resignation in the most massive and sustained wave of protests the ex-Soviet nation has ever seen. While President Alexander Lukashenko has relied on massive arrests and intimidation tactics to hold on to power, the continuing rallies have cast an unprecedented challenge to his 26-year rule. Authorities have responded to protests triggered by Aug. 9 election that gave Lukashenko a landslide victory over Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya by unleashing a violent post-election crackdown.

source https://news.yahoo.com/nearly-3-months-vote-belarus-081527037.html

Tanzania, once envy of the region, watches democracy slide

Vote-counting was far from over when Tanzanian opposition leader Seif Sharif Hamad was frustrated enough to call people onto the streets. As thwarted observers alleged the most blatant election fraud in the country’s history, and with no way to challenge the results in court, there was little to do but protest. As they walked toward a roundabout in the semi-autonomous region of Zanzibar on Thursday, police fired tear gas, then arrested them — Hamad's second arrest in a week.

source https://news.yahoo.com/tanzania-once-envy-region-watches-071447955.html

Armenia PM asks Putin to start talks on providing security amid Karabakh war

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Saturday asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to begin "urgent" consultations on providing security amid a conflict with Azerbaijan after fresh talks failed to agree a ceasefire.

source https://news.yahoo.com/armenia-pm-asks-putin-start-082620936.html

Unrest erupts over police killing of Black man near Portland

Tensions boiled over into unrest late Friday following a vigil for a Black man shot and killed by law enforcement in a city near Portland, Oregon, in southwestern Washington state. Mourners gathered in Hazel Dell, an unincorporated area of Vancouver, Washington, where family and friends say Kevin E. Peterson Jr., 21, was shot Thursday night. The city is about 12 miles (19 kilometers) north of Portland.

source https://news.yahoo.com/unrest-erupts-police-shooting-black-071750330.html

Analysis: 2020, and the American chorus' newly loud voices

An election is approaching unlike any in recent memory, guaranteed to be a signpost in the long tale of what America is becoming and how it gets there. This notion, emerging as 2020 unfolds in its own weird way, has one particularly notable trait: It accepts that while your United States and your neighbor's may in some ways overlap, and in other ways not at all, they're equally American nonetheless.

source https://news.yahoo.com/analysis-2020-american-chorus-newly-070009137.html

Death toll reaches 27 in quake that hit Turkey, Greek island

Rescue teams on Saturday plowed through concrete blocks and the debris of eight collapsed buildings in search of survivors of a powerful earthquake that struck Turkey’s Aegean coast and north of the Greek island of Samos, killing at least 27 people. The quake hit Friday afternoon, toppling buildings in Izmir, Turkey’s third largest city, and triggering a small tsunami in the district of Seferihisar and on Samos. At least 25 people were killed in Izmir, including an elderly woman who drowned, according to Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency, or AFAD.

source https://news.yahoo.com/death-toll-reaches-26-quake-054139302.html

Ivory Coast elections: Voters go to the polls amid opposition boycott

President Alassane Ouattara is running for a third term which his opponents say is illegal.

source https://news.yahoo.com/ivory-coast-elections-voters-polls-050649766.html

Show your work: AP plans to explain vote calling to public

The Associated Press, one of several news organizations whose declarations of winners drive election coverage, is pulling back the curtain this year to explain how it is reaching those conclusions. If necessary, top news executives will speak publicly in interviews about the process, said Sally Buzbee, senior vice president and executive editor. Given high interest in the presidential race, the complicating factor of strong early voting and President Donald Trump's warnings about potential fraud, television executives are making similar promises of transparency.

source https://news.yahoo.com/show-ap-plans-explain-vote-042748644.html

Who is voting? Who is winning? Early vote only offers clues

As early voting breaks records across the U.S., political analysts and campaigns are reviewing reams of data on the voters, looking for clues to key questions: Who is voting? Registered Democrats are outpacing registered Republicans significantly — by 14 percentage points — in states that are reporting voters' party affiliation, according to an Associated Press analysis of the early vote. Meanwhile, polls show Republicans have heeded President Donald Trump's baseless warnings about mail voting, and large numbers intend to vote on Election Day.

source https://news.yahoo.com/voting-winning-early-vote-only-041908154.html

Biden, Obama make a final appeal to Michigan's Black voters

Joe Biden enters the final weekend of the presidential campaign with an intense focus on appealing to Black voters whose support will be critical in his bid to defeat President Donald Trump. The Democratic presidential nominee is teaming up with his former boss, Barack Obama, for a swing through Michigan on Saturday. The memories of Trump's upset win in Michigan and the rest of the upper Midwest are still searing in the minds of many Democrats during this closing stretch.

source https://news.yahoo.com/biden-obama-final-appeal-michigans-040758123.html

Saudi man crashes car into gates of Mecca's Grand Mosque

source https://news.yahoo.com/saudi-man-crashes-car-gates-023159836.html

Iran spreading election propaganda and targeting U.S. state voter rolls, officials say

The FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency both issued advisories Friday warning that Iran is spreading propaganda and targeting U.S. state websites, including election sites, in “an intentional effort to influence and interfere with the 2020 U.S. presidential election.” The FBI sent a FLASH bulletin to various states, saying an Iranian group is “creating fictitious media sites and spoofing legitimate media sites to spread anti-American propaganda and misinformation about voter suppression.”

source https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/iran-targeting-u-s-state-voter-rolls-spreading-election-propaganda-n1245577

Malaysia Is Divided by Failures That Go Beyond Any One Man

source https://news.yahoo.com/malaysia-divided-failures-beyond-one-000020765.html

Trump’s Inner Circle Braces for Disaster

With just a few days left before Election Night and the president trailing in numerous state and national polls, Donald Trump’s inner circle is increasingly whispering the same thought: Our guy blew it.A forecast of a Biden White House is not one they welcome. But it’s one many of them have come to finally accept after a year of coronavirus deaths, economic devastation, and racial and civil unrest have throttled an administration run by a man they believe has failed to rise to the occasion, even on just a purely messaging front.“I believe the betting markets, which say there's a 60 percent chance that Biden wins, and a 40 percent chance that Trump does,” Stephen Moore, a conservative economist who advises President Trump on economic and COVID-19-related matters, said in an interview Thursday.Explaining his pessimism, Moore cited several factors, including the still-rising cases of the virus in certain parts of the United States.Moore said he had hoped that the Gross Domestic Product report that came out on Thursday would have given the president’s campaign a boost. He even recalled visiting the White House last month, during which he told the president that the report was “going to be a real ‘October surprise,’” that he could “really play… up for the voters,” and that the two of them then brainstormed ways to aggressively promote the coming numbers.But shortly after the positive-looking report came out on Thursday—showing that the economy grew at a 33.1 percent annual rate last quarter—Moore found it hard to muster optimism about the political benefits of it. “I really don’t have a good feeling about this,” he conceded.Trump Said He’d Ban Foreign Lobbyist Fundraising. Now They’re Bankrolling His Campaign.Were Moore alone in his skepticism, it could be written off as the superstitious, cup-half-empty musings of an adviser who abjectly is terrified of a Biden presidency. But he’s not alone. Out of the sixteen knowledgeable and well-positioned sources across Trumpworld—campaign aides, Republican donors, senior administration officials, and close associates of the president and his family—who The Daily Beast interviewed for this story in the week leading up to Election Day 2020, only five gave Trump comfortable odds at winning. Doug Deason, a high-dollar Trump donor from Dallas, pegged Trump’s odds at “75 percent or better,” for instance.Six others were confident, to varying degrees, that President Trump would be relegated to one-termer status. The remaining five gave him roughly 50/50 odds. Of those five, two of them—a White House official and a friend of the president’s—started sounding increasingly pessimistic as the conversation went on.Dan Eberhart, chief executive at Canary and another major Trump donor who contributed $100,000 to Trump Victory this cycle, told The Daily Beast on Thursday evening that if he could go back in time, he wouldn’t have given a dime of that to the joint fundraising committee for the president’s re-election.“I think Trump has a 25 percent chance of winning the election. His campaign focused on exciting his base not on pursuing people in the center. COVID was a massive headwind that minimized the roaring Trump economy,” Eberhart said. “The president has struggled to maintain message discipline. And the left is highly motivated to vote, as seen by the record turnout so far. That’s not to say there’s not a window for the president to win. It’s just being realistic that he’s the underdog in this contest.”The businessman continued. “If I could redo my donations this cycle, I would put it all on red again,” he said. “Honestly, I would have put all my donations towards holding the Senate. I never thought the Senate would be in play.”Trump Taps Rudy Giuliani and Jay Sekulow to Oversee Post-Election Legal BattlesEberhart doesn’t appear to be the only Trump donor with a bit of buyer’s remorse. According to data provided by the Center for Responsive Politics, of the more than 1,100 individuals who gave the $5,400 legal maximum to Trump’s 2016 campaign (or who exceeded the maximum and had to be issued refunds), about 450 of them have not donated a penny to the president’s re-election campaign this cycle.The president has far more donors this cycle of every donation range, including those who’ve given the legal maximum, than he did during the 2016 campaign. But if each of those 450 donors had also maxed out to Trump’s 2020 campaign, they would have provided a substantial $2.5 million in additional funding.And some high-dollar donors to Trump’s 2017 inauguration festivities haven’t just stopped giving to the president altogether; they’re actively bankrolling the Democratic opposition.Reached for comment on Friday afternoon, Jason Miller, a top Trump adviser on the campaign replied, “Mood is great. President Trump will be re-elected. I don’t worry about the bedwetters too much.”But other senior aides to Trump are also girding themselves for the president’s fury over the election results. Three sources familiar with the matter said Trump has repeatedly stressed how low of an opinion he has of Biden as a candidate, and has said how deeply embarrassing it would be for him if he managed to lose to him this year.Aides and close associates who’ve spoken to the president in recent days say that he has consistently argued behind closed doors that he is going to emerge victorious, ignoring much of the available polling data and declining to talk much, if at all, about what would happen if he didn’t. Trump will regularly argue that it doesn’t even make sense that Biden could win, when you look at his crowd sizes in the campaign’s closing weeks versus Biden’s.“If it were anyone else, I’d call it denial,” said one such associate.Two Trump administration officials working on foreign policy told The Daily Beast in the past week that they’re convinced the president will lose and have instead prioritized making it harder for a President Biden to reverse their policy advancements—including with regards to reentering the Iran nuclear deal.Still, there are those close to President Trump and in prominent GOP circles who say they remain convinced that Trump will win in a walk, pollsters and naysayers be damned.“I say there’s a 70 percent he’s re-elected, and a 30 percent chance that Biden wins,” said Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker and an outside adviser to Trump. “I think most of the establishment polls are just plain crazy. I think they’re done badly. I think they’re missing what’s actually going on…[Trump] is clearly going to win the electoral college, but lose the popular vote…[due to] Illinois, California, and New York.”Describing his private conversations with Trump during the 2020 election cycle, Gingrich added, “Every time I talk to the president, I say very simply what I said to him in October of 2016: ‘You’re gonna win.’”Blame Game Begins After Trump’s Nebraska Rally Sh*tshowRead 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.

source https://news.yahoo.com/trump-inner-circle-braces-disaster-001404992.html

UN defeats Russia resolution promoting women at peace tables

source https://news.yahoo.com/un-defeats-russia-resolution-promoting-233841206.html

‘Where are the women?’ At the UN, now there’s an answer.

source https://news.yahoo.com/where-women-un-now-answer-165245361.html

Police shooting of Black man near Portland raises tension

The shooting of a Black man by law enforcement in Washington state sent shockwaves through the Pacific Northwest on Friday and threatened to increase tensions in the region around Portland, Oregon, where protesters against racial injustice have clashed repeatedly with right-wing groups. Friends and family identified the dead man as Kevin E. Peterson Jr., 21, and said he was a former high school football player and the proud father of an infant daughter. The shooting happened in Hazel Dell, an unincorporated area of Vancouver, Washington, about 12 miles north of Portland.

source https://news.yahoo.com/father-21-old-black-man-154208451.html

Africa's week in pictures: 23 - 29 October 2020

A selection of the week's best photos from across the continent and beyond.

source https://news.yahoo.com/africas-week-pictures-23-29-014849612.html

Police who shot Wallace were improperly trained, family says

The footage from body-worn cameras that was taken as police responded to a call about Walter Wallace Jr. shows him emerging from a house with a knife as relatives shout at officers about his mental health condition, a lawyer for the man's family said Thursday. The video also shows Wallace became incapacitated after the first shot of 14 that two officers fired at him, said lawyer Shaka Johnson, describing footage he said police showed him and other members of Wallace's family before a plan to release it and 911 calls publicly. “I understand he had a knife, but that does not give you carte blanche to execute a man, quite frankly," Johnson told reporters at a news conference outside Philadelphia City Hall.

source https://news.yahoo.com/philadelphia-council-votes-limit-police-200154823.html

Comparing sensitivity of all genes to chemical exposure

An environmental health scientist has used an unprecedented objective approach to identify which molecular mechanisms in mammals are the most sensitive to chemical exposures.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201029171649.htm

Tuning biomolecular receptors for affinity and cooperativity

Our biological processes rely on a system of communications -- cellular signals -- that set off chain reactions in and between target cells to produce a response. The first step in these often complex communications is the moment a molecule binds to a receptor on or in a cell, prompting changes that can trigger further signals that propagate across systems. From food tasting and blood oxygenation during breathing to drug therapy, receptor binding is the fundamental mechanism that unlocks a multitude of biological functions and responses.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201029171646.htm

World's first agreed guidance for people with diabetes to exercise safely

An academic has helped draw up a landmark agreement amongst international experts, setting out the world's first standard guidance on how people with diabetes can use modern glucose monitoring devices to help them exercise safely. The guidance will be a crucial resource for healthcare professionals around the world, so they can help people with type 1 diabetes.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201029171642.htm

Landscape to atomic scales: Researchers apply new approach to pyrite oxidation

Pyrite, or fool's gold, is a common mineral that reacts quickly with oxygen when exposed to water or air, such as during mining operations, and can lead to acid mine drainage. Little is known, however, about the oxidation of pyrite in unmined rock deep underground.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201029171640.htm

Breakthrough quantum-dot transistors create a flexible alternative to conventional electronics

Researchers have created fundamental electronic building blocks out of tiny structures known as quantum dots and used them to assemble functional logic circuits.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201029142040.htm

Muscle pain and energy-rich blood: Cholesterol medicine affects the organs differently

Contrary to expectation, treatment with statins has a different effect on blood cells than on muscle cells, a new study reveals. Today, statins are mainly used in the treatment of elevated cholesterol, but the new results may help design drugs for a number of conditions.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201029141943.htm

Streetlights contribute less to nighttime light emissions in cities than expected

When satellites take pictures of Earth at night, how much of the light that they see comes from streetlights? A team of scientists have answered this question for the first time using the example of the U.S. city of Tucson, thanks to 'smart city' lighting technology that allows dimming. The result: only around 20 percent of the light in the Tucson satellite images comes from streetlights.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201029135503.htm

Corporations directing our attention online more than we realize

It's still easy to think we're in control when browsing the internet, but a new study argues much of that is 'an illusion.' Corporations are 'nudging' us online more than we realize, and often in hidden ways. Researchers analyzed click-stream data on a million people over one month of internet use to find common browsing sequences, then connected that with site and platform ownership and partnerships, as well as site design and other factors.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201029135426.htm

Misleading mulch: Researchers find contents of mulch bags do not match claims

Your bag of mulch may not be what you think it is. In a new study, researchers found that some bags labeled as 'cypress' contain only 50% cypress, while other bags contained no cypress at all.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201029115836.htm

Genomic study reveals role for hypothalamus in inflammatory bowel disease

Using sophisticated 3D genomic mapping and integrating with public data resulting from genome-wide association studies (GWAS), researchers have found significant genetic correlations between inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and stress and depression.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201029115834.htm

Decades-long effort revives ancient oak woodland

Vestal Grove in Cook County, Illinois, looks nothing like the scrubby, buckthorn-choked tangle that first confronted restoration ecologists 37 years ago. Thanks to the efforts of a dedicated team that focused on rooting up invasive plants and periodically burning, seeding native plants and culling deer, the forest again resembles its ancient self, researchers report.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201029115824.htm

Identifying biomolecule fragments in ionizing radiation

Researchers define for the first time the precise exact ranges in which positively and negatively charged fragments can be produced when living cells are bombarded with fast, heavy ions.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201029115822.htm

Predictive model reveals function of promising energy harvester device

A small energy harvesting device that can transform subtle mechanical vibrations into electrical energy could be used to power wireless sensors and actuators for use in anything from temperature and occupancy monitoring in smart environments, to biosensing within the human body. Engineers have developed a predictive model for such a device, which will allow researchers to better understand and optimize its functionalities.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201029115820.htm

Copolymer helps remove pervasive PFAS toxins from environment

Researchers have demonstrated that they can attract, capture and destroy PFAS - a group of federally regulated substances found in everything from nonstick coatings to shampoo and nicknamed 'the forever chemicals' due to their persistence in the natural environment.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201029115816.htm

N.Korea says shooting death of S.Korean man was self-defensive measure

source https://news.yahoo.com/n-korea-says-shooting-death-234837340.html

UN: After 20 years, no equality for women in peace talks

The head of the U.N. agency promoting gender equality told the 20th anniversary commemoration of a resolution demanding equal participation for women in peace negotiations that its implementation has failed, declaring Thursday that women still remain “systematically excluded” from talks to end conflicts where men make decisions affecting their lives. Despite some good initiatives, UN Women's Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka told the Security Council that in peace negotiations from 1992 to 2019 only 13 percent of negotiators, 6 percent of mediators, and 6 percent of signatories to peace agreements were women. Germany’s Foreign Office Minister of State Michelle Muntefering called the U.N. resolution adopted on Oct. 31, 2000 “a little revolution” because a united Security Council made clear for the first time that women’s equal participation “is required to maintain world peace and security.”

source https://news.yahoo.com/un-20-years-no-equality-232832404.html

Stronger treatments could cure Chagas disease

Researchers have found that a more intensive, less frequent drug regimen with currently available therapeutics could cure the infection that causes Chagas disease.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201029171651.htm

Path to nanodiamond from graphene found

Researchers expand their theory on converting graphene into 2D diamond, or diamane.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201029171647.htm

Study identifies pitfall for correcting mutations in human embryos with CRISPR

The most detailed analysis to date of CRISPR genome editing in human embryos finds a significant risk of chromosomal abnormalities when using the technique at earliest stage of human development.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201029142001.htm

new gelatin microcarrier for cell production

Researchers developed a novel microcarrier for large-scale cell production and expansion that offers higher yield and cost-effectiveness compared to traditional methods, and reduces steps required in the cell retrieval process. The findings can help treat ailments such as bone and cartilage defects and graft vs. host disease.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201029105032.htm

Cancer-fighting gene restrains 'jumping genes'

About half of all tumors have mutations of the gene p53, normally responsible for warding off cancer. Now scientists have discovered a new role for p53 in its fight against tumors: preventing retrotransposons, or 'jumping genes,' from hopping around the human genome. In cells with missing or mutated p53, the team found, retrotransposons move and multiply more than usual. The finding could lead to new ways of detecting or treating cancers with p53 mutations.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201029105016.htm

Analysis: Iran frets over US vote it insists doesn't matter

Top officials in Iran say the upcoming U.S. election doesn't matter, but nearly everyone else there seems to be holding their breath. The race for the White House could mean another four years of President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign. Or it could bring Joe Biden, who has raised the possibility of the U.S. returning to Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

source https://news.yahoo.com/analysis-iran-frets-over-us-060806542.html

Trump let a far-right British gadfly speak longer at his Arizona rally than embattled GOP Sen. Martha McSally

President Trump briefly shared the spotlight with Sen. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) during a rally in Goodyear, Arizona, on Wednesday, telling her she had "one minute" to talk to the crowd, adding, "They don't want to hear this."McSally is trailing her Democratic opponent, Mark Kelly, in the polls, but at the rally, Trump gave more speaking time to Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), and controversial British politician and key Brexit leader Nigel Farage, who flew all the way to the desert to call Trump "the most resilient and brave person" he has ever met.When it was time for McSally to address the crowd, Trump said, "Martha, come up fast. Fast. Fast. Come on. Quick. You got one minute! One minute, Martha! They don't want to hear this, Martha. Come on. Let's go. Quick, quick, quick. Come on." It was, Arizona Republic columnist Laurie Roberts wrote, "how you might call your dog."Watching the scene unfold was "painful," Roberts said, as "the president who dodged the draft" was treating "the nation's first female combat pilot with such disrespect."This wasn't the first uncomfortable moment between Trump and McSally at a rally; earlier this month, Trump was in Tucson, where he heaped praised upon Kelli Ward, chair of the Arizona Republican Party. Ward, he said, was "a warrior" and "a fighter" who is "a friend that's so loyal, and strong and a good person." In 2018, Ward lost to McSally in a three-way GOP Senate primary, and Trump lamented that "she would have been, oh, if she didn't have three or four people running at the same time, she would have been your senator. Hate to say it, she would have been your senator." McSally was in attendance at the rally but never got a chance to speak, Roberts said, adding, "It's baffling that Trump would treat McSally almost as an annoyance in her own state, at a time when she is fighting for every vote." > pic.twitter.com/0SGhUZeSdY> > -- Acyn Torabi (@Acyn) October 28, 2020More stories from theweek.com How to make an election crisis 64 things President Trump has said about women Republicans are on the verge of a spectacular upside-down achievement

source https://news.yahoo.com/trump-let-far-british-gadfly-053018060.html

Philly shooting brings policing, racism back into campaign

The fatal shooting of another Black man on America's streets by police — with subsequent unrest — has brought the fraught issues of policing and racism in the nation back to the fore of the presidential election in its closing days. Philadelphia police say Walter Wallace Jr., 27, was shot earlier this week in the throes of a mental health crisis after he ignored officers' repeated orders to drop a knife. The encounter, caught on video, spurred violent unrest in Philadelphia, and now has both President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden calibrating how to address some of the same questions that roiled American cities — and the presidential campaign — earlier this year as they negotiate the end game for a race in which Pennsylvania is a critical battleground.

source https://news.yahoo.com/philly-shooting-brings-policing-racism-050735590.html

Trump, Biden to appeal to last-minute voters in Florida

President Donald Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden are set to chase votes in Florida, a state all but essential to the Republican's pathway to another term as both nominees turn their focus to encouraging voters to turn out on Election Day. More than 73 million Americans have already voted, absentee or by mail, and Trump and Biden are trying to energize the millions more who will vote in person on Tuesday. While the Election Day vote traditionally favors Republicans and early votes tend toward Democrats, the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 227,000 Americans, has injected new uncertainty about the makeup of the electorate.

source https://news.yahoo.com/trump-biden-appeal-last-minute-044616542.html

Typhoon, landslides leave 19 dead, 64 missing in Vietnam

Typhoon Molave set off landslides that killed at least 15 people and left 38 missing in central Vietnam, where ferocious wind and rain blew away roofs and knocked out power in a region of 1.7 million residents, state media said Thursday. The casualties from the landslides bring the death toll to at least 19 with about 64 missing, including 26 crew members from two fishing boats that sank Wednesday as the typhoon approached with winds of up to 150 kilometers (93 miles) per hour. Vietnamese officials say it’s the worst typhoon to hit the country in 20 years.

source https://news.yahoo.com/8-killed-42-missing-landslides-030255922.html

Editorial Roundup: US

source https://news.yahoo.com/editorial-roundup-us-231526393.html

FBI warning played a role in Facebook downplaying NY Post report, Zuckerberg says

Facebook Inc Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said on Wednesday that a warning from the FBI on hack-and-leak operations before the Nov. 3 presidential election played a role in its decision to limit the reach of stories from the New York Post that made claims about Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden's son. Zuckerberg said it had seen attempts by Russia, Iran and China to run disinformation campaigns. "One of the threats that the FBI has alerted our companies ... to was the possibility of a hack and leak operation in the days or weeks leading up to this election," he said.

source https://news.yahoo.com/fbi-warning-played-role-facebook-180623922.html

Letters, texts, caravans, parades: Advocates mobilize voters

Gehman, who lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is one of 182,000 people who have participated in Vote Forward, a 50-state letter-writing campaign to more than 17.5 million homes. As early voting has surged dramatically, with more than 73 million people estimated to have cast ballots, advocates have been mobilizing in myriad ways, from neighborhood groups to national movements, from block associations to college marching bands to lone violinists. Voters have been ushered to the polls by fleets of minivans, with bicycle parades and on horseback in Indian Country.

source https://news.yahoo.com/letters-texts-caravans-parades-advocates-044159404.html

US focused on disrupting finances for Somalia's al-Shabab

The United States strongly backed efforts to disrupt the illegal financing methods used by Somalia’s al-Shabab extremist group, which according to U.N. experts raised more than the $21 million it spent last year on fighters, weapons and intelligence. U.S. Ambassador Kelly Craft told the Security Council on Wednesday the Trump administration is committed to partnering with other countries and using U.N. sanctions to counter al-Shabab's “financing of terrorism” and the threat from homemade bombs the group is making.

source https://news.yahoo.com/us-focused-disrupting-finances-somalias-043954264.html

Trump paints apocalyptic portrait of life in US under Biden

The suburbs wouldn't be the suburbs anymore, the economy would sink into its worst depression ever and police departments would cease to exist. This is the apocalyptic version of American life that President Donald Trump argues would be the dire consequence of turning over the White House to Democrat Joe Biden. "He’ll bury you in regulations, dismantle your police departments, dissolve our borders, confiscate your guns, terminate religious liberty, destroy your suburbs,” Trump said in one of many over-the-top pronouncements about Biden in the campaign's final weeks.

source https://news.yahoo.com/trump-paints-apocalyptic-portrait-life-043454097.html

Road trip: In Mississippi, love in the time of coronavirus

Bonnie Bishop had been in the hospital since early July. “You are coming home,” Mike Bishop, 63, said firmly. It’s a story about coronavirus, the people it strikes down, and a big quiet house outside of Jackson, Mississippi.

source https://news.yahoo.com/road-trip-mississippi-love-time-040646278.html

India's coronavirus cases cross 8 million, behind US

India’s confirmed coronavirus caseload surpassed 8 million on Thursday with daily infections dipping to the lowest level this week, as concerns grew over a major Hindu festival season and winter setting in. India’s trajectory is moving toward the worst-hit country, the United States, which has over 8.8 million cases. The Health Ministry reported another 49,881 infections and 517 fatalities in the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to 120,527.

source https://news.yahoo.com/indias-coronavirus-cases-cross-8-040327672.html

US official says UN has 'lack of curiosity' on Xinjiang

The United Nations is not doing enough to investigate reported abuses in China’s Xinjiang region against members of Muslim minority groups, the U.S. envoy for women’s issues said Thursday. Citing reports of forced birth control, home visits and sexual violence in detention centers, Ambassador-at-Large on Women’s Issues Kelley Currie said such practices show a “pervasive pattern of targeting women.” “It’s really remarkable to me as someone who used to work at the U.N. the complete lack of curiosity or concern we see from the U.N. on what are really grave allegations and very widespread and quite disturbing human rights abuses,” said Currie, who also serves as the U.S. representative at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.

source https://news.yahoo.com/us-official-says-un-lack-032150791.html

Report: DNI John Ratcliffe went rogue when he said emails from Iran were designed to hurt Trump

During a press conference last week, Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe strayed from his approved remarks when he claimed Iran was sending emails to American voters as a way to "damage President Trump," two senior administration officials with knowledge of the matter told Politico. This allegation was not in his prepared statement, which was shown to and signed off by FBI Director Christopher Wray and Chris Krebs, director of the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency, Politico reports. The press conference was held so the officials could explain to voters ways foreign actors were trying to influence the U.S. election.Democrats in several states reported receiving emails that claimed to be from the far-right Proud Boys group, threatening them and saying if they didn't vote for Trump, "we will come after you." Ratcliffe said those emails were sent by Iran, and then asserted that they were "designed to intimidate voters, incite social unrest, and damage President Trump." The officials told Politico that while the Proud Boys were named several times in his prepared remarks, Ratcliffe omitted those references.Ratcliffe made the decision to hold the briefing on his own, officials told Politico, and it was quickly put together and timed so it would not air on television at the same time as a Trump rally. Before becoming DNI, Ratcliffe was one of Trump's most vocal supporters.When asked for comment, Amanda Schoch, the assistant DNI for strategic communications, told Politico that "literally no one is disputing the 100 percent factual accuracy of the DNI's remarks. The rest of this is just pointless process noise, most of which is inaccurate or taken out of context."More stories from theweek.com How to make an election crisis 64 things President Trump has said about women Republicans are on the verge of a spectacular upside-down achievement

source https://news.yahoo.com/report-dni-john-ratcliffe-went-030200799.html

Secret surfing life of remoras hitchhiking on blue whales

A new study of blue whales off the coast of California has given researchers the first ocean recordings of their famous hitchhiking partner -- the remora -- revealing the suckerfish's secret whale-surfing skills as well as their knack for grabbing the most flow-optimal spots while riding aboard the world's largest vertebrate.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201028195617.htm

Average body temperature among healthy adults declined over the past two decades

In the nearly two centuries since German physician Carl Wunderlich established 98.6°F as the standard 'normal' body temperature, it has been used by parents and doctors alike as the measure by which fevers -- and often the severity of illness -- have been assessed.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201028171432.htm

Artificial intelligence-based algorithm for the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's

In a recent study, scientists employed machine-learning algorithms to classify fMRI data.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201028124520.htm

Old men, chocolate and Ivory Coast's bitter election

The president's U-turn over a third-term bid has opened up wounds in a country with a history of civil wars.

source https://news.yahoo.com/old-men-chocolate-ivory-coasts-004939663.html

Nigel Farage delivers surprise speech at Donald Trump rally in Goodyear, Arizona

Nigel Farage, the Brexit Party leader, has delivered a surprise speech at a Donald Trump rally where he called the US president the “most resilient and bravest person I have ever met in my life”. Standing next to Mr Trump in the blazing sun at Goodyear, Arizona, Mr Farage said that a vote for the president this election would be a vote for “decency”, “plain speaking” and a cut in taxes. The thousands of Trump supporters present responded with cheers and Mr Trump thanked Mr Farage for his speech afterwards, saying he was "glad" he called on the British politician. However critics will question Mr Farage’s decision to intervene so explicitly in the US election, less than a week away, given the convention of foreign politicians not getting involved in overseas campaigns. The three-minute address follows a similar speech Mr Farage, the former UK Independence Party leader, gave during Mr Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. He had given that address shortly after Britain voted to leave the European Union. It helped cement a newly forged friendship, with Mr Trump dubbing him “Mr Brexit”. During Wednesday afternoon’s rally Mr Trump went further, appearing to refer to Mr Farage as “King of Europe” as he discussed politicians present, though not mentioning him by name. Later Mr Trump ushered Mr Farage, who was watching the rally without a face mask from the front row of the crowd, onto the stage. "He’s a very non-controversial person too, right?” the president joked about Mr Farage. “Come on Nigel, he’s very shy”, he added. Once on stage Mr Farage said: “I’ve got to say four years ago I was honoured to come to America to bring the Brexit message, the message that you can beat the establishment. “And that is what Donald Trump did. He beat the pollsters, he beat the media, he beat all the predictions. “And here's the worst bit. They’ve never forgiven him for him. They’ve never, ever forgiven him. They have spent four years trying to delegitimise him. “Four years of the Russia hoax. Four years of a false impeachment. Most human beings under that barrage would have given up. “This is the single most resilient and bravest person I have ever met in my life.” Mr Farage could face questions about how he was allowed to enter America, given there is a ban on Britons flying into the United States unless they are granted an exemption. The Brexit Party leader had posted a number of photographs on his social media feeds before the rally with US politicians in Arizona, which is a battleground state in the election. Mr Farage’s speech saw him tell the crowd that they were voting not just for a US president on November 3 but also the “leader of the free world”. Mr Farage went on: “You are voting for the only current leader in the free world who has got the guts to stand up and fight for the nation state, to fight for patriotism, to fight against globalism. “You’ll be voting for the only leader in the Western world with the real courage to stand up to the Chinese Communist Party. “You’ll be voting for decency, plain speaking and a man who in four years hasn’t just cut your taxes, hasn’t just improved the economy, but a man who right now is bringing Israel together with Arab nations in a way that nobody ever believed was possible." Mr Farage finished with the words “and I wish you God speed, I really do”. The president seemed pleased. “Thank you Nigel, that’s something,” he said as Mr Farage left the stage to applause. “Well, I think I’m glad I called him up.”

source https://news.yahoo.com/nigel-farage-delivers-surprise-speech-004520397.html

Mali Radisson Blu attack: Two Islamists sentenced to death

Two Islamists are convicted of carrying out two attacks targeting foreigners, in which 25 people died.

source https://news.yahoo.com/mali-radisson-blu-attack-two-000533238.html

UK rejects 'Britain First' trade policy, taking swipes at US and EU

source https://news.yahoo.com/uk-rejects-britain-first-trade-000100744.html

Trump praises Brexit leader Farage as 'king of Europe'

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday greeted Britain's Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage at one of his final reelection rallies, bestowing on him the title "king of Europe."

source https://news.yahoo.com/trump-praises-brexit-leader-farage-232012119.html

Editorial Roundup: US

source https://news.yahoo.com/editorial-roundup-us-231526393.html

China’s Real Invasion of Taiwan Has Already Started

HONG KONG—When Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping visited a military base in Southeast China this month, he told members of the party’s Marine Corps to “focus your minds and energy on preparing to go to war.” His speech came shortly after the Trump administration said it would move forward with a $7 billion arms sale to Taiwan, which China has threatened to retaliate against if it goes through.Xi has long wanted to absorb Taiwan under the Communist Party’s rule—he’s openly stated his ambition to “reunify” the democratic island with mainland China while he is the party’s helmsman. And his strategy to dominate Taiwan includes more than gunboats, jets, and boots on the ground. For decades, party leadership in Beijing has leaned on what Xi calls his “magic weapon” to leverage trade relationships and shared ethnic roots to lay the groundwork for entrenched CCP influence in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the Chinese diaspora abroad: wielding soft power through China’s United Front Work Department.Taiwan Preps for an Invasion From China as Tensions Heat UpCompared to the CCP’s military jingoism and propaganda-spreading “wolf warrior” diplomats, the United Front works behind the scenes, often targeting wealthy individuals with transnational holdings to do the CCP’s bidding through persuasion, economic incentives, and blackmail, or by funneling money toward grassroots organizations that shape opinions about the party among Taiwanese, Hong Kong, and expat Chinese communities.Far more than an advocacy mechanism, United Front receives at least $1.4 billion each year from the CCP—the actual figure is likely much higher, as some budget details are classified. These funds may even outstrip the budgets for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Public Security, fueling the primary engine for the party’s gray-area influence efforts at home and abroad.But it is in Taiwan and among the broader Taiwanese community where the United Front’s influence is most evident. Fake News and Failed Election TheftThe United Front Work Department was first formed in 1942, during the Chinese Civil War, as an arm of the CCP that set out to instill Mao Zedong’s ideology in all social strata and establish party oversight over groups that weren’t part of the CCP’s hierarchy. Through the years, the United Front’s scope of work expanded based on the overall goals of party leadership, and came to include intelligence operations in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and overseas. And at home, United Front officials exert control even over some foreign enterprises; its officials routinely meet with heads of factories, including subsidiaries of overseas corporations.Since 2015, Xi has steered new and useful resources toward the United Front, adding new bureaus to give it the manpower and funds it needs to leave deeper imprints across the globe—and especially across the strait in Taiwan, where the United Front has been ramping up operations since the late 1980s to subvert Taiwanese democracy.Will China Invade Hong Kong? Or Taiwan Instead?China’s growth into the second largest economy over the past four decades meant Taiwan’s enterprises have had to rely on business ties with the mainland for their own economic survival. In June 2014, hundreds of Taiwanese business executives gathered in Shenzhen, a Chinese city that borders Hong Kong. Their guest of honor was the chief of the United Front’s Shenzhen section, who spoke to his audience about making Xi Jinping’s “Chinese dream” a reality in Taiwan as well as the prospect of reunification. When he finished, applause erupted in the hotel’s banquet hall, Reuters reported.Similar scenes have played out since then in other parts of China, according to Taiwanese and Chinese business people I spoke to between early 2015 and the end of 2019. Local branches of the United Front keep tabs on the number of Taiwanese citizens who are in China for education or work, and include details from background checks in their annual reports to CCP leadership. The organization is involved in shaping China’s commercial environment, offering favorable conditions to entice Taiwanese business executives into setting up shop across the strait—a carrot to complement the People’s Liberation Army’s explosive stick. This special attention gives the CCP an opening to call in debts.That happened ahead of last year’s presidential election in Taiwan, when the United Front put pressure on Taiwanese media executives and senior journalists after a series of sponsored “exchanges” with news organizations in China, deploying economic incentives and threats of barring them from the lucrative Chinese market.In the weeks leading up to Taiwan’s presidential election in January, disinformation and propaganda flooded the airwaves, TV programs, and online content, playing up the incumbent Tsai Ing-wen’s friendly ties with the United States and Japan to suggest she was selling out Taiwan. On Facebook, there was a barrage of posts that claimed votes for the opposition’s candidate, who was seen to have China-friendly leanings, would not be counted.While it is difficult to separate disinformation originating from domestic Taiwanese rivalries from interference directed by Beijing, the United Front did organize a conference on how to mobilize on the internet in November 2019—two months before Taiwan voted—covering subjects like “guiding political thought” in cyberspace.One example is the United Front’s partnership with the Cyberspace Administration of China to hire social media influencers and livestreamers who can amplify the party’s message online. In the weeks leading up to Taiwan’s presidential election this year, clusters of Taiwanese models uploaded photos of themselves striking the same pose onto Facebook and Instagram, with similarly worded posts including complaints about social and economic conditions under Tsai’s administration.Despite the disinformation campaigns, Tsai was the eventual winner.In Taiwan Elections, President Tsai Ing-wen Triumphed, and China’s Fake News Failed Get Them When They’re YoungLong before Taiwanese nationals seek employment or reach the age to vote, the United Front already has their eyes on them. Sung Wen-Ti, a visiting fellow at the Australian Center on China in the World, a research institute that is part of the Australian National University, said the United Front operates at all levels of society to “win hearts and minds.” Sung hails from Taiwan, and his research focus covers Taiwanese politics, Chinese elite politics, and U.S.-China-Taiwan relations.Sung pointed to the United Front’s engagements to “court Taiwanese youth,” offering “hospitality, experience, and opportunity” to students of all ages. One example is the Straits Peace Angels initiative, which is co-sponsored by the CCP’s Young Pioneers division and has organizational input from the All-China Federation of Taiwan Compatriots. The program focuses on children aged 7 to 14 who are from Taiwan, and brings them to mainland China for visits where they are paired with children of their own age, in a bid to establish long-term relationships. Its mandate says, “cross-strait friendship ought to start from the babies.”This echoes a statement by Xi in August 2019, when he referenced suggestions made by the CCP’s historians: “Our youngsters should be branded with red since their childhood.”Once programs like the Peace Angels lock in on young children in Taiwan, the United Front is in it for the long haul to shape pro-CCP opinions, forming a pipeline “from school students, grassroots-level community association heads, media and scholars, all the way to senior politicians,” Sung said. Stealing FriendsIn recent years, Taiwan has been losing foreign allies, with nations dialing back diplomatic relations with the island nation to only recognize the People’s Republic of China. Now, only 15 states—dotting Central America, the Caribbean, Polynesia, Micronesia, plus the Holy See—have formal diplomatic ties with Taipei.Even so, the United States remains Taiwan’s most significant backer. Facing an existential crisis in early October because of increasing military aggression from China, the island nation’s legislators urged their Ministry of Foreign Affairs to seek formal recognition from Washington—and gain a real ally that might make Beijing back off. However, knowing that this outcome is virtually impossible, the Kuomintang—which was the CCP’s rival during the Chinese Civil War but has in recent years adopted a Beijing-friendly stance—may be trying to “out-hawk the hawks and do the foreign policy equivalent of virtue signaling” in an attempt to repair its reputation in Taiwan, according to Sung Wen-Ti. By putting forth the proposal to approach Washington, the KMT casts the image that it may now be keeping the CCP at arm’s length.Responding to The Daily Beast’s inquiry about the bipartisan resolution on reaching out to Washington, Taiwanese foreign minister Joseph Wu said his ministry will “seek every opportunity to further enhance bilateral ties with the United States one step at a time.” In September, Wu told France 24 that his island nation is “on the front line defending democracies from being taken over by communist China.”Yet Taiwan’s economy remains intimately intertwined with mainland China’s—and it’s precisely this enmeshment that the United Front relies on to force its way into Taiwanese circles, building upon a presence that was first established decades ago.While a full-on military invasion of Taiwan is a concern, the United Front also occupies significant real estate in the minds of Taiwanese officials. In conversations with me in the past two years, the island nation’s officials and diplomats have stopped short of saying that they seek to decouple Taiwan’s economy from mainland China’s, but the overarching idea is to persuade Taiwanese enterprises to rethink their links with Chinese labor and investment, as well as related business ties, and encourage them to move their operations back to Taiwan. The goal is to limit channels that the United Front can exploit in its long game to lure Taiwanese elites into its spheres of influence. Ethnic BlowbackTo understand the scale and intensity of the United Front’s operations in Taiwan and further afield, and how much leverage it can have over individuals who depend on China’s market forces, an examination of the United Front’s activities within China’s borders—such as its role in the Chinese government’s treatment of Uyghurs—provides a sense of just how far the Front can go and how its every move intertwines with the party leadership’s rosy proclamations.In October, China was elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council, and will maintain its seat from 2021 to 2023. In early October, 39 countries, led by Germany, condemned the Chinese government’s treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, where more than 1 million people are kept in detention camps, which Chinese officials say are vocational training centers. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) also estimates that at least 80,000 Uyghurs from Xinjiang have been subjected to forced labor transfers organized by the Chinese government from 2017 to 2019.ASPI specifically pointed out that a United Front official based in Qingdao, 3,500 km east of Xinjiang, told Uyghur workers at a Korean-owned shoe factory’s night school that they must “strengthen their identification with the state and the nation. The school’s name, the Pomegranate Seed Night School, references a precept from Xi Jinping: “Every ethnic group must tightly bind together like the seeds of a pomegranate.”China has 56 ethnic groups, including the dominant Han-Chinese who make up more than 90 percent of the population. The CCP implements policies to tweak or even erase elements of the cultures of non-Han groups, with the most brutal measures leveled at Tibetans and Uyghurs. Meanwhile, the party’s propagandists paint a picture of harmony and unity—like the many seeds in Xi’s pomegranate. Without the party, the implication runs, how can you thrive and bear fruit?The United Front’s proven track record of incubating influence and managing progress toward the CCP’s long-term objectives makes it the perfect vessel for the party to extend its ideological reach across the globe—close to home in Taiwan and Hong Kong, and crossing into the Chinese diaspora in western Europe and North America. Overseas Chinese include people who fled China during the Cultural Revolution between 1966 and 1976, and Hongkongers who left the city before it was handed back to China in 1997, as well as their offspring. The United Front wants to bring them back into the fold by playing up shared cultural roots, creating one identity, all loyal to the CCP.During a tour of Southeast China last week, the CCP leader said, “An important quality of overseas Chinese is that they love their country, love their roots, love their families... China’s reform and opening up, its development, cannot be separated from the many overseas Chinese whose hearts are tied to their motherland.” Beyond Guns and DiplomacyFor all of Xi and the United Front’s soft-power operations, and their push to get Taiwan to self-identify with China and the CCP as one people, their moves may be backfiring, at least in the short term. Since Taiwan’s election, unfavorable views towards the CCP in Taiwan have been at a peak—and are shifting into new territory with Taipei’s courting of WashingtonWith the U.S. selling more arms to Taiwan than ever before, experts expect to see more incursions by Chinese jets and bombers into Taiwanese airspace, as well as more PLA Navy gunboats hugging the median line in the Taiwan Strait—in what CCP-backed outlet Global Times called “a rehearsal for a Taiwan takeover.” For years, PLA troops have been training in Inner Mongolia to storm the presidential office in Taipei.War would surely be fraught for both sides—which is why Xi might be hoping the United Front’s longstanding influence operations could ultimately persuade Taiwan’s elite to step back from a full-on conflict and move towards China on their own.“Most of the United Front’s work is generally more geared towards indirectly and slowly shifting the general atmosphere,” Sung Wen-Ti said. “To put this in another way, methodologically, the United Front provides conducive conditions to changes, rather than sufficient conditions. Tracing a clear causal channel is often challenging, because for clear causal claims you need both conducive and sufficient conditions to be present, and United Front is only part of the picture.”Despite the recent saber-rattling from both sides, the United Front’s decades-long campaign for the fate of Taiwan may be yielding results. Sung explained, “What we can say is that the United Front has likely created a constituency in Taiwan that is socially embedded in China, economically dependent on stable cross-strait relations, and politically more sympathetic towards placating Beijing’s preferences.”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.

source https://news.yahoo.com/china-real-invasion-taiwan-already-085732432.html

Merkel seeks limited lockdown as German virus cases surge

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is pressing for a partial lockdown as the number of newly recorded infections in the country hit another record high Wednesday. The Robert Koch Institute, Germany's disease control agency, said 14,964 new cases were recorded across the country in the past days, taking the total since the start of the outbreak to 449,275. Germany also saw a further 27 COVID-related deaths, raising its overall death toll to 10,098.

source https://news.yahoo.com/merkel-seeks-limited-lockdown-german-082717047.html

Poles join nationwide strike in revolt over abortion ruling

People across Poland are vowing to stay off their jobs on Wednesday as part of a nationwide strike to protest a top court ruling that bans abortions in cases of congenitally damaged fetuses. The nationwide strike comes amid a deepening standoff between angry crowds who have been taking to the streets over the ruling and Poland's deeply conservative government, which has vowed not to back down. The constitutional court ruling last Thursday has triggered daily mass protests across this central European nation of 38 million that are exposing deep divisions in a country long a bastion of conservative Catholicism that is now undergoing rapid social transformation.

source https://news.yahoo.com/poles-join-nationwide-strike-revolt-081805546.html

Australia's second-largest city ends 111-day virus lockdown

Coffee business owner Darren Silverman pulled his van over and wept when he heard on the radio that Melbourne’s pandemic lockdown would be largely lifted on Wednesday after 111 days. Silverman was making a home delivery Monday when the announcement was made that restrictions in Australia’s second-largest city would be relaxed. According to the Victoria state government the lockdown changes will allow 6,200 retail stores, 5,800 cafés and restaurants, 1,000 beauty salons and 800 pubs to reopen, impacting 180,000 jobs.

source https://news.yahoo.com/australias-second-largest-city-ends-071517917.html

Middle East and Africa Terahertz Body Scanning Market Forecast to 2027 - COVID-19 Impact and Regional Analysis by Technology Type, Scanner Type, and Application

The terahertz body scanning market in the Middle East & Africa is expected to grow from US$ 2. 31 million in 2019 to US$ 12. 49 million by 2027; it is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 24. 1% from 2020 to 2027.New York, Oct. 28, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Middle East and Africa Terahertz Body Scanning Market Forecast to 2027 - COVID-19 Impact and Regional Analysis by Technology Type, Scanner Type, and Application" - https://ift.tt/3e1fZcV Increasing terrorist activities and rising threats to major economies have forced the government and other governing bodies to increase security scanning systems across all entry and exit points of countries.The deployment of full-body scanners at airports has facilitated the reduction of fraudulent activities, such as diamond smuggling, narcotics, weapons, and other expensive materials. Increased security screening systems that include a full-body scanner as one of the major components have successfully deteriorated the impact of terrorist activities on board.Also, with the rising level of terrorism and violence worldwide, various companies, such as TeraSense, are receiving inquiries on security screening systems, similar to those used at airports. The TeraSense team has taken the terrorism challenge seriously and is ready to offer an active, terahertz-based stand-off security screening (body scanner) system.Such initiatives by market players are driving the demand for the terahertz body scanning. The proliferation in the implementation of terahertz body scanning at public places, train stations, and subways is among the other factors expected to positively influence the demand for terahertz body scanning . Based on technology type, the standalone segment led the Middle East & Africa terahertz body scanning market in 2019.Terahertz imaging systems and techniques have been developed recently and are widely used owing to the advantages of low radiation and clothing-penetrable for detecting concealed weapons or other contraband at airports, customs, retail, and other secure locations. If mounted in a proper enclosure, the body scanner allows the operator to screen people with no knowledge of stealth.This ensures that various person-borne threats are detected effectively without creating chaos. It helps the operator to effectively counter urban violence and prevent street crimes by discovering hidden knives, brass knuckles, and handguns when installed in public places, event arenas, and high profile venues. The enclosed body scanners can be installed at building entrances, secure areas, and other sites with a high throughput capacity. Besides, the sufficient imaging distance of up to 3 meters ensures remote detection of suspicious objects hidden beneath clothes.The mere presence of such hidden items can help law enforcement and security personnel mark a suspect and isolate him/her from police/security/customs officers for subsequent physical inspection (body search), depending on the scene. Thus, covert and overt surveillance is one of the major factors likely to drive market growth during the forecast period. The outbreak of COVID-19 has impacted various countries in Middle East & Africa, Iran is severely hit by the outbreak, followed by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, Morocco, and Kuwait.The Middle East & Africa region comprises many growing economies, such as the UAE, which are prospective markets for terahertz body scanning providers, owing to the huge scope in customs, public spaces, and retail. The demand for terahertz body scanning is positive, however, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the companies are experiencing interruption in production.The global COVID-19 pandemic would have significant effects on global economies; however, the Middle East region is anticipated to take a major hit as the economies of various oil-producing countries are already impacted due to falling oil prices. Furthermore, in order to contain the outbreak of virus, the governments across the MEA have imposed travel bans, factory shutdowns, and lockdowns, which would further aggravate the economic problems. Hence, the estimated decline in the economic condition of the MEA and impact of COVID-19 on growth of various industries in the region are expected to negatively impact the terahertz body scanning market in 2020 and 2021. The overall Middle East & Africa terahertz body scanning market size has been derived using both primary and secondary sources.To begin the research process, exhaustive secondary research has been conducted using internal and external sources to obtain qualitative and quantitative information related to the market. The process also serves the purpose of obtaining overview and forecast for the MEA terahertz body scanning market with respect to all the segments pertaining to the region.Also, multiple primary interviews have been conducted with industry participants and commentators to validate the data, as well as to gain more analytical insights into the topic. The participants who typically take part in such a process include industry experts, such as VPs, business development managers, market intelligence managers, and national sales managers, along with external consultants, such as valuation experts, research analysts, and key opinion leaders specializing in the Middle East and Africa terahertz body scanning market. Major players operating in market include Thruvision Group plc; Terasense Group Inc.; Shanghai Eastimage Equipment Co., Ltd.; Nuctech Company Limited; unival group GmbH; and Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co. KG. Read the full report: https://ift.tt/3e1fZcV About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. __________________________ CONTACT: Clare: clare@reportlinker.com US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001

source https://news.yahoo.com/middle-east-africa-terahertz-body-071000180.html