| 'She will shake the table': Black lawmakers explain what Kamala Harris means to them Posted: 02 Nov 2020 02:00 AM PST  For the first time, as the country is rife with racial turmoil, a vice presidential nominee on a major party ticket is a woman of color.
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| Headstones in Jewish cemetery spray-painted with ‘Trump’ graffiti, Michigan photos show Posted: 03 Nov 2020 06:36 AM PST  "We are appalled."
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| Early vote totals in Texas, Hawaii, Montana, and Washington state have already surpassed entire voter turnout in the 2016 election Posted: 03 Nov 2020 08:42 AM PST  The largest increase occurred in Hawaii, where approximately 484,000 people voted early — a 10% increase from turnout during the entire 2016 election.
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| A WNBA star bailed a Florida woman out of jail after she was arrested for destroying Trump campaign signs Posted: 03 Nov 2020 09:41 AM PST  Tonya McRae — a 42-year-old self-proclaimed "anarchist" — was arrested and held on $500 bond for damaging a roadside "Women for Trump" campaign sign.
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| Huge whale's tail sculpture saves Dutch metro train from plummeting into water below Posted: 02 Nov 2020 04:20 AM PST  This really was a fluke. The driver of a metro train escaped injury when the front carriage rammed through the end of an elevated section of rails and was caught by a sculpture of a whale's tail near the Dutch port city of Rotterdam. The train was left perched upon one of two tail fins known as "flukes" several meters (yards) above the ground. It created such a stir locally that authorities urged sightseers to stay away, adding that coronavirus restrictions were in force.
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| Grizzly bear killed after "surprise" attack on father and son Posted: 02 Nov 2020 08:40 AM PST  The hunters "sustained significant injuries" before they shot and killed the bear, officials said.
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| Mexico tried, failed to get warrant for ex-cabinet secretary Posted: 03 Nov 2020 07:53 AM PST  Mexico's president confirmed Tuesday that federal prosecutors had tried to get an arrest warrant for former Treasury and Foreign Relations Secretary Luis Videgaray, but said a judge rejected the request. Videgaray, currently a faculty member at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management, is considered the political figure closest to former President Enrique Peña Nieto, in whose 2012-2018 administration he served. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Tuesday he did not know what the charges were because he maintains an arms-length relationship with the independent attorney general's office, though he said he had read they included a charge of treason.
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| Supreme Court throws out First Amendment ruling against Black Lives Matter activist DeRay Mckesson Posted: 02 Nov 2020 07:21 AM PST |
| Why Beijing Hopes for a Biden Win Posted: 02 Nov 2020 03:30 AM PST  Elections have consequences, both domestic and foreign. There is a consensus among China observers that Beijing hopes for a Joe Biden win this November, because the last time Biden was in charge, as vice president of the United States, China completed its control of the South China Sea.The South China Sea is one of the most important bodies of water on the planet. Besides China, multiple nations including Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines have their own, sometimes overlapping, claims to portions of the South China Sea. In addition to historic claims, according to the United Nations Convention for the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), a nation has sovereignty over waters extending twelve nautical miles from its land and exclusive control over economic activities 200 nautical miles out into the ocean.However, using its own map with a "nine-dash line," China claims that it has historic rights to about 90 percent of the South China Sea, including those areas that run as far as 1,200 miles from mainland China and which fall within 100 miles of the coasts of the Philippines, Malaysia, and Vietnam. No other country in the world either recognizes the legitimacy of China's nine-dash–line map or its historic claim.The disputes between China and its neighboring Asian countries are not simply about who has the rightful claim historically but are predominantly about economic rights. The South China Sea is rich with natural resources such as oil and gas. It accounts for 10 percent of the world's fisheries and has provided food and a way of living for millions of people in the region for centuries. The region is also one of the busiest trading routes, with about one-third of global shipping and more than $3 trillion worth of global trade passing through this area annually.When Xi Jinping became Communist China's supreme leader in 2013, he regarded transforming China into a maritime power, including the expansion in the South China Sea, as a key component to his great Chinese rejuvenation. According to the Chinese Communist Party's own publication, "On the South China Sea issue, [Xi] personally made decisions on building islands and consolidating the reefs, and setting up the city of Sansha. [These decisions] fundamentally changed the strategic situation of the South China Sea."China started land-reclamation efforts in the South China Sea in 2013. Beijing initially proceeded slowly and cautiously while evaluating the Obama-Biden administration's reaction. It sent a dredger to Johnson South Reef in the Spratly archipelago. The dredger was so powerful that it was able to create eleven hectares of a new island in less than four months with the protection of a Chinese warship.When it became clear that the Obama-Biden administration wouldn't do anything serious to push back, China ramped up its island-building activities. China insisted that its land-reclamation efforts were for peaceful purposes, such as fishing and energy exploration. However, satellite images show there are runways, ports, aircraft hangars, radar and sensor equipment, and military buildings on these manmade islands.Noticing the Obama-Biden administration's unwillingness to push back on China's island-building activities, China's smaller neighbors decided to find other means of addressing the crisis at hand. In 2013, the Philippines filed an arbitration case under the UNCLOS over China's claims of sovereignty over the Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal.In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague rejected the majority of China's claim of the South China Sea. It also ruled that China's island build-up was not only unlawful but also a blatant violation of the Philippines' economic rights and that it "had caused severe environmental harm to reefs in the chain." Beijing chose to ignore the ruling and press ahead with more island construction and militarization.Without U.S. intervention, small countries such as the Philippines have little means to enforce the ruling and halt China's maritime expansion in the South China Sea. Former U.S. defense secretary Ash Carter criticized the Obama-Biden administration for giving Beijing a rare strategic opening for its island-building. As the Obama administration stood by, China was able to reclaim an estimated 3,200 acres of land on seven features in the South China Sea.The Obama-Biden administration bore the prime responsibility for not forcefully stopping China's South China Sea expansion early on. The administration's soft approach and wishful thinking gave China a four-year strategic window to turn the South China Sea into China's backyard pond and the most dangerous water on this planet, a reality the rest of the world now has to live with.It was reported that between 2010 and 2016, 32 out of the 45 major incidents reported in the South China Sea involved at least one Chinese ship. Fishermen from the Philippines and Vietnam can't even fish in their own nations' water safely without being harassed by Chinese coastal guards and militarized Chinese fishing boats. The Chinese Navy also has responded to the U.S. Navy's "freedom of navigation" operations in an increasingly defiant and aggressive manner. Some national-security experts predict that the first real Sino–U.S. war could be fought in the South China Sea.The Trump administration ended China's unchallenged expansion in the South China Sea by announcing in July that the United States supports the 2016 Hague ruling and opposes several of Beijing's claims in the South China Sea. In the same month, the U.S. Navy also sent two aircraft carriers to waters near the South China Sea when China held a large military exercise. Following the U.S. lead, Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, who had appeased Beijing since he came to office in 2016, recently told Beijing to follow international law, including The Hague ruling to resolve any dispute in the South China Sea.Biden might have adopted harsh rhetoric against China, but his past actions — and inactions — speak louder than his words. The last time when Biden was in charge, China completed its expansion in the South China Sea. Should Biden get elected this November, Beijing believes that Biden is someone it could do business with and expects him to revise the Trump administration's hard line policies toward China. The recent revelation of Hunter Biden's questionable dealings in China shows that Beijing has invested heavily to cultivate a good relationship with the Biden family for decades. A four-year Biden presidency will likely give China's Xi ample time to fulfill his ambition: putting the final building blocks of a Sino-centric world order, turning China into a technology powerhouse through the completion of the "Made in China 2025" initiative, and possibly taking Taiwan by force.
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| 'Trump trains' and 'MAGA drags' snarl traffic and raise tensions in multiple states Posted: 02 Nov 2020 02:23 PM PST  Caravans of Trump-supporting motorists in 'Trump trains' caused chaos in multiple states over the weekend.
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| Another four lots of a diabetes drug recalled for having too much of a carcinogen Posted: 03 Nov 2020 03:27 AM PST  Nostrum Laboratories announced Monday evening and Tuesday morning that four lots of its version of Type 2 diabetes drug metformin have too much of the carcinogen NDMA.
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| Many convicted felons in Florida are voting in a presidential election for the first time in decades. We went with one to the polls as he voted for the first time in 25 years. Posted: 03 Nov 2020 10:18 AM PST  In 2018, Florida restored voting rights to felons, but only if they first paid off all court fees and restitution owed.
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| Disney World restaurants appeared to suddenly increase their indoor dining capacity, but representatives say it was just a technical issue with online reservations Posted: 03 Nov 2020 01:48 PM PST  Disney-goers noticed an increase in reservation availability at restaurants across the Florida parks this morning, but Disney said it was a glitch.
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| Teen babysitter killed while trying to stop man from stealing truck, Colorado family says Posted: 02 Nov 2020 01:21 PM PST  The man has been accused of strangling and almost killing a young girl.
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| Asylum Seekers With Disabilities Challenge Trump Admin's 'Remain in Mexico' Policy in New Lawsuit Posted: 02 Nov 2020 05:20 PM PST  A class action lawsuit filed Monday by asylum seekers with physical disabilities or mental health conditions challenges the Trump Administration's "Remain in Mexico" policy.
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| Southwest empties flight at Nashville airport after passenger refuses to wear a mask Posted: 03 Nov 2020 04:14 PM PST  Nashville airport authorities said a female passenger refused to wear a face mask or exit a Southwest flight when it returned to the gate.
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| Obama says if a Democrat behaved like Trump, 'I couldn't support him' Posted: 02 Nov 2020 04:58 PM PST  Former President Barack Obama told a crowd in Miami on Monday that he puts country over party, and if there was a Democrat behaving "the way our current president does, I couldn't support him."Obama has spent the last several days on the campaign trail for the Democratic presidential nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, visiting battleground states like Florida and Georgia. In Miami, Obama railed against President Trump, and said that if he "saw a Democrat who was lying every single day — the fact checkers can't keep up, it's like, just over and over again — I would say that's not the example I want, I don't trust that person to manage the country's affairs because it's violating the values that we try to live by. And those are values we try to teach our kids."Since Trump entered office, The Washington Post has been tracking how many false and misleading claims he has made, and in July, he hit 20,000.Obama also brought up the GOP talking point that Biden is a socialist in disguise, an accusation that is being pushed hard in Florida, which has a high Cuban American population. "Here in south Florida you see these ads, 'Joe palling with Communists, palling with socialists,'" Obama said. "You'd think he was having coffee with Castro every morning. Don't fall for that. Joe Biden served as a senator from Delaware, he was my vice president. I think we'd all know if he was a secret socialist by now."More stories from theweek.com COVID-19 keeps proving everyone wrong Is this the year the New South turns blue? Democrats' first priority
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| Lung damage found in COVID dead may shed light on 'long COVID': study Posted: 03 Nov 2020 04:02 PM PST  A study of the lungs of people who have died from COVID-19 has found persistent and extensive lung damage in most cases and may help doctors understand what is behind a syndrome known as 'long COVID', in which patients suffer ongoing symptoms for months. Scientists leading the research said they also found some unique characteristics of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, which may explain why it is able to inflict such harm. "The findings indicate that COVID-19 is not simply a disease caused by the death of virus-infected cells, but is likely the consequence of these abnormal cells persisting for long periods inside the lungs," said Mauro Giacca, a professor at King's College London who co-led the work.
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| Hurricane Eta could be near Florida this weekend as a tropical storm, hurricane center says Posted: 03 Nov 2020 04:37 PM PST |
| I moved from the US to Canada — here's why I'll never go back Posted: 03 Nov 2020 11:11 AM PST  From legalized marijuana to great healthcare, here are some of the reasons this writer thinks Canada is better than the US and why she plans to stay.
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| Letters to the Editor: Liberals are buying firearms. Will they admit they were wrong about 'gun nuts'? Posted: 03 Nov 2020 03:00 AM PST  It takes a lot of cognitive dissonace for people who voted against gun rights to now arm up because they want to defend themselves.
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| "Even Kavanaugh gets this": Elections experts debate whether GOP can hijack the electoral process Posted: 03 Nov 2020 03:52 PM PST  "The risk of a disputed election is a phenomenon that the Electoral College creates," Michael Geruso tells Salon
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| Azerbaijan claims to have retaken enough land in Nagorno Karabakh war to resettle 500,000 Azeris Posted: 03 Nov 2020 07:51 AM PST  Azerbaijan has recaptured enough land in its war with Armenia over Nagorno Karabakh to rehouse up to half a million displaced Azeris, a senior government advisor has said. Hikmet Hajiyev, the chief foreign policy aide to Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliev, told the Daily Telegraph that Azeri forces had now retaken four key territories during the five-week long war. It means that up to 500,000 Azeri citizens would eventually be able to return to the area, which was seized by Armenian forces in the early 1990s when Nagorno Karabakh broke away from Azerbaijani control. "We are talking about a substantial region that has been retaken, and a potentially substantial number of people being able to return to their homes once the conflict is finally over," Mr Hajiyev said. "For nearly 30 years we have been waiting for the return of these territories. There is a lot of building and de-mining work that will have to be done, but every village that is retaken is a success for the Azeri people."
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| Dow soars by 600 points as investors bet on clear election winner and swift passing of stimulus bill Posted: 03 Nov 2020 07:09 AM PST  "Ultimately, the markets want clarity, and the main threat this week is the emergence of a contested election," one analyst said.
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| Typhoon Goni: Fears after Philippine town said to be 90% damaged Posted: 02 Nov 2020 12:00 AM PST  The Red Cross says initial assessments of Philippines municipality suggests widespread destruction.
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| Judge orders Election Day sweep for missing mail ballots, including in South Florida Posted: 03 Nov 2020 11:32 AM PST  A federal judge ordered the U.S. Postal Service to sweep mail facilities for undelivered ballots on Election Day in areas nationwide, including South Florida.
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| Cyprus leaders, in first encounter, back five-way U.N. meeting Posted: 03 Nov 2020 11:54 AM PST  The leaders of Cyprus's estranged Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities on Tuesday agreed to support the possibility of a five-party meeting under the auspices of the United Nations to resolve the island's decades-old division. Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades, who is the Greek Cypriot leader, met with newly-elected Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar late Tuesday at a United Nations compound in the capital Nicosia. It was their first encounter since Tatar was elected head of breakaway northern Cyprus in October.
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| The Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse could be released from custody on $2 million bail Posted: 03 Nov 2020 08:52 AM PST  Kyle Rittenhouse, who has been hailed as a hero to some conservatives, is accused of killing two men at a Wisconsin protest opposing police brutality.
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| McConnell fends off McGrath as Democrats set their eyes on taking back the Senate Posted: 03 Nov 2020 05:20 PM PST  It might not be clear Tuesday which party won a Senate majority because vote tallies could take days to finalize because of mail-in ballots volume.
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| Results of South Dakota amendment to legalize marijuana for people over 21 Posted: 02 Nov 2020 08:14 AM PST  The amendment would legalize the "possession, use, transport, and distribution of marijuana and marijuana paraphernalia by people age 21 and older."
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| Police unable to quiz Nice terrorist after he tests positive for Covid-19, as four more detained Posted: 03 Nov 2020 03:51 AM PST  The Tunisian who knifed three people to death in a church in Nice, southern France, last week has tested positive for Covid-19, which could further delay him being questioned, according to judicial sources. Ibrahim Issaoui, 21, remains in hospital after being shot 14 times by police following the knife rampage at Nice's Notre-Dame basilica on Thursday. He is reportedly no longer in a critical condition but police have not been able to question him to date. Shouting "Allahu Akbar", he beheaded a woman and killed two other people in Nice's Notre-Dame Basilica last Thursday, in France's second deadly knife attack in two weeks with a suspected Islamist motive. Known to Tunisian police for violence and drug offences, he arrived in France only last month, having first crossed the Mediterranean to the Italian island of Lampedusa. Four more people were detained for questioning on Tuesday morning, including a 29-year-old man suspected of being in contact with Issaoui, say judicial sources. They were taken into custody in the Val-d'Oise department just north of Paris.
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| Biden tops 50 percent in the key battleground states in final 2020 Morning Consult polls Posted: 02 Nov 2020 02:48 AM PST  Morning Consult released its final pre–Election Day tracking polls early Monday, and they had mostly good news for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. According to the polls, Biden is above 50 percent in Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, and is narrowly ahead of President Trump — but within the margin of error — in North Carolina, Georgia, and Arizona, plus tied in Texas. If — and this is a big if — Biden wins just the states where he is outside the margin of error, he will almost certainly be the next president.> Final Morning Consult state polls.https://t.co/GeM5vHtrTs pic.twitter.com/zJlFfLcxrA> > — Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) November 2, 2020Nationally, Biden leads Trump by 8 percentage points, 51.9 percent to 43.9 percent, and Democrats have a 7-point edge in the generic congressional ballot, Morning Consult found. The pollster also found the Democratic Senate candidates leading in Colorado, Michigan, and North Carolina, the GOP candidate leading in Alabama, Kentucky, and Texas, and the races in Arizona, Georgia, and South Carolina within the margin of error.Morning Consult's national results are from surveys conducted among 14,663 likely voters Oct. 29- 31, and the margin of error is ± 1 percentage points. The state-level polling was conducted Oct. 22-31 between 727 to 4,451 likely voters in each state, and the margin of error is between ± 2 points to ± 4 points.More stories from theweek.com COVID-19 keeps proving everyone wrong Is this the year the New South turns blue? Democrats' first priority
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| 'Extremely dangerous' Hurricane Eta threatens Central America Posted: 03 Nov 2020 04:23 AM PST  Hurricane Eta was hours from making landfall in Central America on Tuesday after gaining strength in the Caribbean Sea, threatening Nicaragua and Honduras with catastrophic winds and floods.
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| No trace of 19-year-old woman two weeks after she disappeared from Home Depot in Sacramento Posted: 02 Nov 2020 04:37 PM PST  Veta Belford, 19, was last seen leaving her shift at Home Depot in Sacramento, California, October 17, 2020, after being laid off from her job. She did not have a car and left on foot. Her family says security video outside the store captured Veta walking out of the parking lot toward Applebee's around 3:45 p.m. Her phone has been turned off since that day. The Sacramento Police Department is investigating.
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| Hot New Electric Cars Are Coming Soon Posted: 02 Nov 2020 02:46 PM PST  The coronavirus pandemic has slowed auto production this year, but manufacturers' plans to introduce electric vehicles (EVs) continue unabated. A record number of almost 100 pure electric EV mode...
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| Trump signs executive order for ‘1776 Commission’ in response to ‘1619 Project’ Posted: 03 Nov 2020 10:15 AM PST  President Donald Trump signed an executive order to establish a 1776 Commission on the eve of the election that will create a curriculum that teaches "patriotic education" in schools. Trump has been vocal about his objection to the 1619 Project which detailed the history of the nation's first African slaves brought to Virginia and the legacy of slavery. Nikole Hannah-Jones launched the project and won a 2020 Pulitzer Prize for her work.
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| Here's why Republicans are 'red' and Democrats are 'blue': USA TODAY may have contributed to it Posted: 03 Nov 2020 12:23 PM PST  Prior to 2000, red and blue did not always respectively denote Republicans and Democrats.
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| Harris County closes 9 of 10 drive-thru polling sites amid Republican attempts to invalidate votes Posted: 03 Nov 2020 10:19 AM PST  Republicans are still trying to throw out valid votes despite rejections from state, federal and appellate courts
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