| DNI Releases CIA Documents on Clinton’s ‘Plan’ to Tie Trump Campaign to Russia Posted: 06 Oct 2020 01:43 PM PDT  Former CIA Director John Brennan briefed former President Obama on Hillary Clinton's "plan" to tie the Trump campaign to Russia as a means of distracting the public from her private email server scandal before the 2016 election, according to newly declassified documents.Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe on Tuesday declassified Brennan's handwritten notes along with a CIA memo showing that officials referred the alleged scheme to the FBI for potential investigation."Today, at the direction of President Trump, I declassified additional documents relevant to ongoing Congressional oversight and investigative activities," Ratcliffe said in a statement.Brennan's notes, which were taken after he briefed Obama on the intelligence, cite "a proposal from one of her foreign policy advisers to vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by the Russian security service," which was "alleged approved by Hillary Clinton."The heavily-redacted CIA memo references "an exchange discussing U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's approval of a plan concerning U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump and Russian hackers hampering U.S. elections as a means of distracting the public from her use of a private email server."In 2016, the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee contracted Fusion GPS and former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele to compile the controversial Russian dossier, which purported to draw a connection between the Trump campaign and Russia and contained salacious allegations about Trump, then the Republican nominee.The dossier was later used in applications to surveil Trump associate Carter Page. The Justice Department's inspector general has since concluded that the FBI did not inform the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that the dossier was unreliable."The following information is provided for the exclusive use of your bureau for background investigative action or lead purposes as appropriate," states the CIA memo, which was sent to then-FBI Director James Comey and Peter Strzok, then the deputy assistant director of counterintelligence.Last week, Comey told the Senate Judiciary Committee that he did not remember whether he received an investigative referral on Clinton in September 2016."That doesn't ring any bells with me," Comey said."That's a pretty stunning thing that it doesn't ring a bell," Republican Chairman Lindsey Graham responded. "You get this inquiry from the intelligence community to look at the Clinton campaign trying to create a distraction, accusing Trump of being a Russian agent or a Russian stooge."The newly declassified documents have been forwarded to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
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| ISIS terrorists known as the 'Beatles' likely to be brought to U.S. in coming days Posted: 06 Oct 2020 02:03 AM PDT  Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, who are in U.S. military custody in Iraq, are accused of taking part in kidnappings of U.S. aid workers and reporters.
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| Democrat's personal scandal roils N. Carolina Senate race Posted: 06 Oct 2020 02:24 PM PDT  A race in North Carolina critical to control of the U.S. Senate has been thrown into turmoil over allegations of personal misconduct by Democrat Cal Cunningham, a married man who had an extramarital relationship this summer with a consultant. Previously undisclosed text messages obtained by The Associated Press and additional interviews show that the relationship extended beyond suggestive texts, as was previously reported, to an intimate encounter as recent as July. Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate, and the contest between Cunningham and Republican Sen. Thom Tillis has been among the most watched in the country, with polls showing a tight race and both parties investing heavily in the outcome.
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| Plexiglass barrier at VP debate won’t stop spread of COVID-19 aerosols, experts say Posted: 06 Oct 2020 09:02 AM PDT  "Those barriers really don't do anything."
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| Susan Collins trails Democratic challenger by just 1 point, new Maine poll shows Posted: 06 Oct 2020 11:07 AM PDT  Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) just had one of her best external polls in a while, as she finds herself mired in a tight re-election race against her Democratic challenger, Maine's House Speaker Sarah Gideon. The poll, conducted by the Portland, Maine-based Digital Research Insights for The Bangor Daily News, found Collins trailing Gideon by just one point, a boost following a series of polls in which Gideon led by several points. The previous BDN poll in August, for example, showed Collins trailing by five points.> BDN: Gideon 44, Collins 43https://t.co/KQfXQbaucr> > Internals aside, this is the best poll for Collins in awhilehttps://t.co/eWDey88UHn> > — Burgess Everett (@burgessev) October 6, 2020Collins' race is crucial for Republicans, who are looking to hold on to the majority in the upper chamber. The poll surveyed 500 registered voters between Sep. 25 and Oct. 4. The margin of error was 4.4 percentage points. Read more at The Bangor Daily News.More stories from theweek.com President Superspreader Trump is finally doubling down on COVID skepticism 5 worrying red flags from Trump's doctor
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| California wildfires spawn first ‘gigafire’ in modern history Posted: 06 Oct 2020 09:11 AM PDT  August complex fire expanded beyond 1m acres, elevating it from a mere 'megafire' to a new classification: 'gigafire'California's extraordinary year of wildfires has spawned another new milestone – the first "gigafire", a blaze spanning 1m acres, in modern history.On Monday, the August complex fire in northern California expanded beyond 1m acres, elevating it from a mere "megafire" to a new classification, "gigafire", never used before in a contemporary setting in the state.At 1.03m acres, the fire is larger than the state of Rhode Island and is raging across seven counties, according to fire agency Cal Fire. An amalgamation of several fires caused when lightning struck dry forests in August, the vast conflagration has been burning for 50 days and is only half-contained.The August complex fire heads a list of huge fires that have chewed through 4m acres of California this year, a figure called "mind-boggling" by Cal Fire and double the previous annual record. Five of the six largest fires ever recorded in the state have occurred in 2020, resulting in several dozen deaths and thousands of lost buildings.There is little sign of California's biggest ever fire season receding. The state endured a heatwave this summer, aiding the formation of enormous wildfires even without the seasonal winds that usually fan the blazes that have historically dotted the west coast.Vast, out-of-control fires are increasingly a feature in the US west due to the climate crisis, scientists say, with rising temperatures and prolonged drought causing vegetation and soils to lose moisture.This parched landscape makes larger fires far more likely. Big wildfires are three times more common across the west than in the 1970s, while the wildfire season is three months longer, according to an analysis by Climate Central."We predicted last year that we were living with the chance of such an extreme event under our current climate," said Jennifer Balch, a fire ecologist at the University of Colorado Boulder. "Don't need a crystal ball."The 2020 fire season has caused choking smoke to blanket the west coast and at times blot out the sun. But experts warn this year may soon seem mild by comparison as the world continues to heat up due to the release of greenhouse gases from human activity."If you don't like all of the climate disasters happening in 2020, I have some bad news for you about the rest of your life," said Andrew Dessler, a climate scientist at Texas A&M University.Parts of California are expected to receive some relief this week, with temperatures in northern California dropping up to 15F by Friday, according to the National Weather Service. Meteorologists are forecasting some light to moderate showers that could aid in firefighting efforts in the north, but climate scientists warn that it likely won't be a season-ending storm."The temperatures will start dropping closer to seasonal normals, the relative humidity will slowly start climbing up and we'll start to see lighter winds," said Tom Bird, incident meteorologist on the Glass fire, which has devastated parts of wine country and continues to burn. Rain forecasted for this weekend would be a "temporary dip" in the fire weather, but, come next week, "we will warm up, dry up again", Bird said. "By no means are we looking to end the fire season with this event."> CA fire weather update: pattern change still looks likely for Fri-Sat, but models trending drier (as ensembles had suggested was possible). Still a good chance of light-mod showers from Bay Area northward. Will help w/fires & smoke, but will not be season-ending. CAwx CAfire pic.twitter.com/TAASIhj5OQ> > — Daniel Swain (@Weather_West) October 6, 2020Much of the Central Valley is still under an air quality alert because of wildfire smoke from the Creek fire, which has burned more than 326,000 acres, and the SQF Complex fire, which has burned nearly 159,000 acres in the Sierra National Forest.Northwest California, where the August Complex fire rages, had air quality "in the unhealthy to locally hazardous category" as well. Meanwhile, coastal swathes of the state woke up to dense fog on Tuesday, a confusing contrast to the smoke-filled haze that many got used to seeing during the peak of the wildfires.
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| North Cyprus to reopen beach abandoned in no-man's land since 1974 conflict Posted: 06 Oct 2020 07:27 AM PDT  Northern Cyprus said on Tuesday it will reopen the beach area of an abandoned resort in no-man's land, a move condemned by Greek Cypriots and likely to conjure up memories of the 1974 Turkish invasion that partitioned the island. Ersin Tatar, premier of the breakaway state of Northern Cyprus, made the announcement in Ankara alongside Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who said he backed the decision on Varosha, sealed off within barbed wire for decades. The move could weigh on Turkey's dispute with European Union members Cyprus and Greece over territorial rights in the Eastern Mediterranean.
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| US court orders Iran to pay $1.4 bn damages to missing intelligence agent Robert Levinson's family Posted: 06 Oct 2020 05:03 AM PDT  A US court has ordered Iran to pay $1.45 billion to the family of a former FBI agent who is believed to have been detained by the Iranian government while on a secret CIA mission to an Iranian island. Robert Levinson, who disappeared aged 58 on Kish island in March 2007, is believed by his family and the US government to have died in Iranian custody aged 71 or 72 after becoming the longest-held hostage in US history. US District Judge Timothy Kelly signed an order last Thursday awarding his family $107 million in compensation and punitive damages of $1.3 billion. Iranian state media and officials have not acknowledged the ruling in the case, which Iran did not defend. The order is unlikely to be paid in full, with damages coming from a US government fund for victims of state-sponsored terrorism, but Mr Levinson's family welcomed the judgement. "This judgment is the first step in the pursuit of justice for Robert Levinson, an American patriot who was kidnapped and subjected to unimaginable suffering for more than 13 years," his family said. "Until now, Iran has faced no consequences for its actions. Judge Kelly's decision won't bring Bob home, but we hope that it will serve as a warning against further hostage taking by Iran," the family said, adding: "We intend to find any and every avenue, and pursue all options, to seek justice for Robert Levinson." In March, Mr Levinson's family said information they received from US officials suggested he had died in Iranian custody. Iran denied this, saying he had left the country "years ago". Mr Levinson disappeared on Kish island after meeting an American Islamic militant who fled to Iran while facing charges over the murder of an Iranian embassy official in Washington. Months later, US government sources acknowledged that Mr Levinson had an informal contractual relationship with the Central Intelligence Agency. Shortly after he went missing, Iran said its security forces had detained Mr Levinson. That statement was later retracted and nothing was heard of him until 2010, when a video was released showing him looking haggard and thin. "I am not in very good health," he said in the footage in which he appealed to the US government to "answer the requests of the group" holding him. "I am running very quickly out of diabetes medicine," he said.
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| Scientists win Nobel physics prize for black hole research Posted: 06 Oct 2020 08:30 AM PDT  Three scientists won this year's Nobel Prize in physics Tuesday for advancing our understanding of black holes, the all-consuming monsters that lurk in the darkest parts of the universe and still confound astronomers.
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| Ilhan Omar hits back at suggestion Biden should suspend campaign following Trump coronavirus diagnosis Posted: 05 Oct 2020 04:03 PM PDT  'We know Trump would've had ads up by noon today ridiculing Biden', she tweeted
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| Shaun Lucas: Texas officer charged over killing of Jonathan Price Posted: 06 Oct 2020 07:03 AM PDT  Jonathan Price was killed on Saturday while reportedly trying to break up a fight.
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| Venice successfully stopped a flood for the first time by raising a mile-long network of barriers to hold back the sea Posted: 06 Oct 2020 09:37 AM PDT  The mile-long network of barriers, named MOSE in a nod to the the Biblical figure Moses, blocked high water from entering Venice's lagoon.
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| Supreme Court: Could COVID-19 infections and Democratic delays torpedo Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation? Posted: 05 Oct 2020 02:05 PM PDT  Many GOP senators on the Judiciary Committee, which will question Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, have probably been exposed to the coronavirus.
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| Report: White House chief of staff blocking new coronavirus vaccine guidelines Posted: 05 Oct 2020 08:13 PM PDT  The White House is blocking strict new coronavirus vaccine guidelines proposed by the Food and Drug Administration due to a provision that would likely prevent any vaccine from being authorized before the November election, several people familiar with the matter told The New York Times. The guidelines are intended to reassure the public that coronavirus vaccines are being held to a common standard, the Times reports. They were submitted to the Office of Management and Budget for approval on Sept. 21, but White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has intervened, questioning the need for researchers to follow vaccine trial volunteers for two months after they receive their final dose. Per the guidelines, this would have to happen before authorization is granted for a vaccine, with FDA officials saying it's necessary to determine if there are side effects and to make sure the vaccine protects people for longer than a few weeks.Trump has been promising a vaccine and pushing for one to be released before the Nov. 3 presidential election, and under the guidelines it is highly unlikely a vaccine would be authorized before then. The FDA is now going around the White House, the Times reports, and will share the guidelines with an outside advisory committee with the hope that they will enforce the standards. Read more at The New York Times.More stories from theweek.com President Superspreader Trump is finally doubling down on COVID skepticism 5 worrying red flags from Trump's doctor
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| White Male Prof Allegedly Posed as Woman of Color to Bully Women Posted: 06 Oct 2020 01:45 AM PDT  "The Science Femme" claimed to be a female academic. She claimed to have upended efforts by her social justice-obsessed department to draft a statement condemning racism.And when Twitter users accused her of racism, she claimed to be a woman of color herself—and an immigrant to boot.But The Science Femme, who tweeted from the handle @piney_the, wasn't any of those things, digital sleuths began alleging late last month. Instead, they claimed, "she" was Craig Chapman, a white male assistant professor of chemistry at the University of New Hampshire. The allegations, bolstered by an internal chemistry department email, would make Chapman at least the fourth white academic revealed to have posed as a person of color in recent weeks.In three of those cases, academics are accused of shamelessly trying to further their own careers. But in Chapman's case, Twitter users who came into contact with @piney_the say the account harassed real women working in science.The University of New Hampshire said the incident was under investigation."UNH was recently made aware of allegations on social media about a member of its faculty," a spokesperson told The Daily Beast. "We are deeply troubled by what we've learned so far and immediately launched an investigation. The employee at the center of allegations on social media is on leave and not in the classroom. In order to protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation the university is unable to comment further."Chapman did not return repeated requests for comment for this story. Both his account and @piney_the were deleted last week.Susanna Harris, a microbiology Ph.D. holder who currently works in science communications, first noticed the @piney_the Twitter account in July."They put out this huge long thread about how they, as a woman of color in science, a professor, made a big change in their university by shutting down diversity, equity, and inclusion work," Harris, who is white, told The Daily Beast.Harris wasn't the only person to make note of the thread, in which @piney_the claimed to have been "successful in killing my dept's woke statement on recent social unrest." The viral thread earned write-ups in conservative publications like RedState, which lauded the efforts to derail an anti-racism statement. Some academics were suspicious of the claims, coming from an anonymous professor at an unnamed university."I did a little bit of poking around to see if there was any chance this was a real person," Harris recalled. "I've been on Twitter for a while and nothing about their account said anything to make me think this is a genuine account."Other Twitter users had raised similar concerns earlier this year. @piney_the was an especially combative Twitter personality, who frequently tangled with the left online. The account described a female opponent in explicit anatomical terms on at least one occasion, repeatedly railed against transgender people, and posted censored nude pictures of former Rep. Katie Hill. Hill, a former California politician, resigned last year after those pictures were made public in an alleged revenge-pornography campaign.When users accused the account of "attacking POC [people of color]," as one did in September, @piney_the frequently claimed to be one. "You know I'm a woman of color, right? Racist," the account responded.But some of @piney_the's tweets teased highly specific personal details, like that their brother owned a brewery. Later, the account tweeted a recommendation for a small New Jersey brewery, owned by Craig Chapman's brother, as Twitter sleuths like the account @drama_science noted. (His brother could not immediately be reached for comment.) Other similarities between @piney_the and Chapman, like fandom for Chicago sports teams, New Jersey origins, and knowledge of niche chemistry fields, abounded.Some of the similarities were more glaring than others.In April, both @piney_the and Chapman tweeted the same picture of a coffee homebrewing setup, within minutes of each other, with similar captions. The picture does not appear to have been uploaded anywhere else on the internet. And both accounts tweeted about marinating meat, with both appearing to tweet pictures of the same baking tray on the same marble countertop.Although a few Twitter users had noted their suspicions about the account for nearly a year, those whispers grew louder in late September, after @piney_the came into conflict with several female academics, Harris included. She was among those who had previously tweeted in opposition to Mike Adams, a University of North Carolina professor, who was famous for his anti-feminist stances. Adams and UNC arrived at an agreement by which he would retire in August and receive a half million-dollar settlement upon leaving. He died by suicide in July.@piney_the, which had more than 13,000 followers at the time of its deletion last week, was one of the key actors stoking what Harris said was a subsequent harassment campaign against her."They were were literally saying that I had killed [Adams], that I had blood on my hands, that I had pushed him into suicide," she said. "That was when the tide changed, and when I started getting emails from anonymous people saying that they hope I die, that they will dox me."The bile renewed some of Harris's previous suspicions about @piney_the's authenticity. If she was right that this was a bogus twitter personality claiming to speak for the marginalized, it wouldn't be the first time.White academics faking their racial or ethnic identity has emerged as a troubling trope in a year of racial justice protests. In September, white George Washington University professor Jessica Krug resigned after she was revealed to have faked a series of Black and Hispanic identities in order to further her career as an Africana academic. Later that month, University of Madison-Wisconsin graduate student CV Vitolo-Haddad resigned from a teaching position after it was revealed that they had also falsely claimed to be Black.Those scandals came a month after former Vanderbilt University assistant professor BethAnn McLaughlin was revealed to have been behind a long-running Twitter account that claimed to be a Native American science professor at Arizona State University. McLaughlin had previously used the fake professor's popular Twitter account to promote a petition to give McLaughlin a tenure position at Vanderbilt. The ruse was only exposed when McLaughlin claimed the non-existent professor died of COVID-19.Ironically, @piney_the made fun of race-faking when it came from liberals, sharing a meme of Sen. Elizabeth Warren with the caption "growing up Chinese in South Detroit I struggled as an African American Jewish Boy." (Warren has dubiously claimed Native American ancestry, and subsequently apologized.)Harris was thinking about McLaughlin's case in late September when she decided to tweet her doubts about @piney_the. She asked the anonymous account to provide evidence that they were a woman of color, and offered to delete her own account if proven wrong. Other academics soon seized on the similarities between @piney_the's account and Craig Chapman's, shortly before both accounts were deleted last week.An internal email (shared by department members and previously reported by local media) from UNH chemistry chair Glen Miller suggests those fears were well-founded."The fake twitter account was in fact set up and run by Craig," read the email, obtained by The Daily Beast. "There were a large number of things written by Craig that ranged from unfortunate to hurtful to deeply offensive. These statements do not represent me, nor the collegial, collaborative, accepting department in which I have had the privilege to work for the past 25 years. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, of course, but when those opinions are dismissive or hurtful or harmful to others, it is not ok with me. I reject those statements and their intent, wholeheartedly. But even so, I do not reject Craig. I am not giving up on Craig."The letter went on to describe Chapman as "embarrassed and overwhelmed and shell shocked. He fears that this could be the end of his academic career. I hope it is not and I told him so." Chapman would "come clean" and express remorse to colleagues soon, Miller wrote.Miller, who did not return requests for comment, also accused Chapman's accusers of being "highly motivated to reveal Craig as the person responsible for the fake twitter account, and to inflict damage on him." He urged readers not to speak to the media about the incident.Some UNH graduate students protested what they believed to be the rogue professor's Twitter activities last week, marching with signs on campus. "Craig Chapman does not speak for us," one sign read."Miller said sorry, we say get out," read another.Harris argued the incident—and other recent cases of academics feigning their identities—sap resources from some of the very people Chapman posed as."It's sort of the extreme version of cultural appropriation," she said. "They take the small protections or the scraps of support that women of color and other people have, and they use them as leverage against that exact population."Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Trump administration will cease federal funding to hospitals that do not report COVID-19 data Posted: 06 Oct 2020 03:10 PM PDT  Starting Wednesday, hospitals will be given 14 weeks to provide daily reporting to HHS on COVID-19 cases and deaths, as well as other information such as influenza cases and use of personal protective equipment, the officials said. Hospitals that fail to comply will lose access to reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid, federal insurance programs for seniors, the disabled, and people with low incomes, they said. The data will help coordinate the federal government's response to COVID-19, including helping allocate supplies of antiviral drug remdesivir, and distribute its stockpile of personal protective equipment, such as surgical masks, said Deborah Birx, the White House Coronavirus Task Force coordinator.
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| As Bangladesh hosts over a million Rohingya refugees, a scholar explains what motivated the country to open up its borders Posted: 06 Oct 2020 05:17 AM PDT  Over 1.1 million Rohingyas continue to remain stranded in crowded camps in Bangladesh while the international community fails to provide a resolution to the crisis. When in 2017 this lower-middle-income, majority Muslim country opened its borders to the Rohingya fleeing ethnic cleansing in Myanmar, they were largely welcomed. Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina stated back then: "We have the ability to feed 160 million people of Bangladesh and we have enough food security to feed the 700,000 refugees." It wasn't just the government. Many private citizens came forward to offer assistance. Existing data indicates that 86% of residents in Teknaf, which is the closest administrative region to the Rakhine state from which most Rohingya originate, were involved in providing emergency relief and housing to the new arrivals. In an era when many rich nations have tried to stop the entry of refugees, Bangladesh's decision to accept refugees in the early days of the crisis could seem puzzling. A scholar of refugees and forced migration, I spent the summer of 2019 in Bangladesh to understand the forces that shaped this initial humanitarian response. Faith and moralityMy ongoing research indicates that many factors played a critical role in Bangladesh's political decision to host the Rohingya, including the country's cultural and religious identity, which centers around ideas of community and responding to those in need.Interviews conducted with political leaders, NGOs and local volunteers revealed that the shared Islamic faith and the Muslim identity of many of the Bangladeshis and the vast majority of the Rohingya galvanized humanitarian assistance in two specific ways. First, the Islamic concepts of "zakat," obligatory charity, which is one of the five pillars of Islam, and that of "sadaqa," or voluntary charity, played crucial roles in motivating private citizens to offer emergency assistance. Both these concepts emphasize the imperative to give to those in need. Religious leaders also used these concepts to encourage donations. In her 2019 address to the United Nations, Prime Minister Hasina referred to humanitarianism in Islam to explain her border policy. Second, the fact that the Muslim Rohingya in particular were being persecuted because of their faith compounded the sense of urgency among those who identified as Muslim to assist the Rohingya. While the vast majority of the Rohingya who fled to Bangladesh were Muslim, smaller numbers of Hindu and Christian Rohingya who arrived with the influx also received emergency assistance and shelter.However, not all those who were interviewed invoked religion to explain their actions. A medical volunteer interviewed for the research said, "Why did we respond? Because it was … the moral thing to do, the humanitarian thing to do. Why shouldn't we? The crisis had literally arrived at our house. How could we even think of turning them away?" Role of culture and historyA recurrent theme in my research was the emphasis around Bangladeshi culture with its focus on sharing one's resources with others in need. Furthermore, like many other countries in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Oceania, which are commonly referred to as the global south, Bangladesh has historically had a fluid border – with Myanmar and India. People move across these borders for agricultural purposes. Marriages between Rohingya and Bangladeshis have been common, and the local population and the Rohingya are able to understand one another's languages.According to a 2018 survey, 81% of respondents believed that the local integration of the Rohingya is possible given that the vast majority of the local population and the Rohingya share many religious, cultural and linguistic practices. Memories of past traumaThe legacy of a painful past also played a role for many Bangladeshis. In 1971, during Bangladesh's war of independence from then West Pakistan (now Pakistan) 10 million Bengalis sought refuge in India to escape a campaign of genocide by the then West Pakistan military. A number of those interviewed for my research underscored the historical memory of this event as being a catalyst for explaining Bangladesh's decision to open its borders. Prime Minister Hasina invoked this history in her 2017 address at the United Nations. She talked about her own experience as a refugee following the 1975 assassination of her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Known as the "Father of the Nation," Mujibur Rahman played a key role in Bangladeshi's independence movement.A researcher of Bangladesh's independence struggle stated, "The loss she suffered with the assassination of her whole family except her one sister who was abroad at the time, and the inability to return to her country following the tragedy has had a lasting impact on her life … something about the desperation of those people connected with her on a very personal level and she wanted to do something to help." Leadership in uncertain timesIn recent years, Bangladesh has demonstrated a growing interest in matters of international peace and security. It has received awards from the United Nations for fighting climate change and meeting goals of its immunization program, and it remains the largest contributor to U.N. peacekeeping operations. Since 2017, Bangladesh has submitted three proposals at the United Nations General Assembly to address the Rohingya crisis, including in 2019, drawing support from Rohingya activists. Bangladesh, however, is not a state party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, the post-World War II legal document that defines the term "refugee," the obligations of states to protect them, including not returning any individual to a country where they would face torture, or degrading treatment. Instead, Bangladesh refers to the Rohingya as Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals (FDMNs). This means that, officially, the Rohingya do not have a legally protected status in Bangladesh. Nevertheless, low-and middle-income countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh, which are not state parties to the convention, are among the largest refugee-hosting countries in the world. Disproportionate burdenHowever, in recent times, as the Rohingya situation becomes more protracted, Bangladesh is starting to face internal tensions as prospects for repatriation become less likely.The large refugee population has imposed significant infrastructural, social, financial and environmental pressures and has raised concerns about land insecurity – a serious issue in an overpopulated country. My research further indicated that the significant presence of international NGOs in the Cox's Bazar area, home to the world's largest refugee camp, is impacting the local economy by driving up prices. Local tensions have emerged over government and international aid that has been largely geared toward the Rohingya. In a change of tone, at a three-day Dhaka Global Dialogue in 2019, Prime Minister Hasina referred to the Rohingya as a "threat to the security" of the region. In 2020, Bangladesh began building barbed-wire fencing and installing watchtowers around the camps, citing security concerns. A restriction on access to high-speed internet in the camps was imposed but recently lifted. With the emergence of COVID-19 in the camps, additional challenges have emerged. These have included the spread of infection in cramped camps that lack access to water and testing as well as limited understanding about the virus. [Deep knowledge, daily. Sign up for The Conversation's newsletter.]Meanwhile, Myanmar's reluctance to ensure a safe return for the Rohingya, and the realities of COVID-19, have made the prospects of repatriation increasingly dim. As Bangladesh grapples with the pandemic while serving as one of the world's largest refugee host countries, it serves as a reminder of the disproportionate responsibility carried by low-income countries of hosting refugees and the challenges therein.This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.Read more: * I visited the Rohingya camps in Myanmar and here is what I saw * Myanmar charged with genocide of Rohingya Muslims: 5 essential readsTazreena Sajjad does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
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| Delta went from tropical storm to Cat 4 hurricane in 24 hours. How did that happen? Posted: 06 Oct 2020 01:53 PM PDT  Meteorologists are comparing it to Wilma, the most intense Atlantic hurricane on record. Here's what you need to know.
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| A new Electoral College nightmare: We may face a constitutional crisis if either candidate dies Posted: 06 Oct 2020 01:46 PM PDT  A deadly virus, two high-risk candidates: legal scholars warn we need to consider the unthinkable
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| Man faces charges after 80-year-old dies following mask dispute Posted: 06 Oct 2020 09:05 AM PDT  "We see it everywhere, where people are confronting one another and having arguments about not wearing masks," the district attorney said." It's unfortunate "this escalated" into a man's dying.
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| ‘Queen of the Ocean’: 50-year-old great white shark seen off Canada coast Posted: 06 Oct 2020 10:10 AM PDT  Huge predator may be mother to 100 offspring
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| Japan’s feared ‘yakuza’ gangsters banned from Halloween festivities Posted: 06 Oct 2020 06:37 AM PDT  One of the most fearsome "yakuza" underworld groups in Japan has been told it cannot hand out sweets to trick-or-treating children at Halloween. The local government of Hyogo Prefecture, in central Japan, on Monday unanimously approved a new provision to existing anti-gangster legislation that makes it illegal for members of the Yamaguchi-gumi to hand out treats at its headquarters in the city of Kobe on Halloween. The local authority was acting on a proposal from the prefectural police, which has been waging a war of attrition against the largest "yakuza" group in Japan. The gang operates across Japan, earning millions every year from extortion, underground gambling, the sex industry, weapons trafficking, drug sales and kickbacks in the property and construction sectors. Despite their reputation as violent criminals, members of the gang have been enthusiastic participants in Kobe's Halloween festivities for many years, with gangsters in costumes handing out sweets outside their offices. The new ordinance makes that illegal, with children also banned from entering the gang's offices. Members are also banned from giving money or gifts to children, and contacting minors by phone or email with the intention of encouraging them to join the group. Any gangster found guilty of violating the ordinance faces a sentence of up to six months in prison and fines of as much as £3,640. "The authorities are acting to deprive the Yamaguchi-gumi of any good public relations that might make them appealing to young people", said Jake Adelstein, author of 'Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan' and an authority on the nation's underworld groups. "They have been trying to ostracise this gang from society for some years and this is just the latest measure to do that." "By clamping down like this, they are hoping to deprive them of new blood because the average age of a 'yakuza' is now 50 and they're struggling to attract new members", he said. Authorities are also attempting to keep people away from the gang's facilities out of concern that passers-by might be injured or killed in the Yamaguchi-gumi's ongoing feud with a rival group. In October last year, two members of an affiliated group were shot dead on a street in Kobe, while a senior member of the splinter group, the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, was killed in November 2019 in the nearby city of Amagasaki. In the last five years, police say there have been 127 incidents of violence involving gangs in and around Kobe.
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| In California: Newsom’s nominee for state Supreme Court would make history Posted: 05 Oct 2020 06:11 PM PDT  If confirmed, Martin Jenkins would be the court's first gay Black member. Plus, California is the 6th happiest state and Uber and Lyft spend nearly $100M to overturn a state law that would make them classify drivers as employees.
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| CDC says COVID-19 can spread indoors in its updated guidance Posted: 06 Oct 2020 01:13 PM PDT  The CDC said on Monday that COVID-19 can spread more than 6 feet through the air, especially in poorly ventilated and enclosed spaces. Agency officials maintained that this type of spread is uncommon and current social-distancing guidelines still make sense.
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| Arkansas Republican County Chair Dies of COVID-19 Weeks After His Committee Hosted Maskless Gathering Posted: 06 Oct 2020 10:28 AM PDT  The chairman of an Arkansas county Republican committee died from complications associated with COVID-19 on Tuesday—less than one month after his organization hosted a maskless gathering with other elected leaders. Steven Farmer, who served as the chairman of the Craighead County Republican Committee, died on Tuesday after a weeks-long battle with the coronavirus that resulted in a stay at the ICU and a ventilator, his daughter and the organization announced. The news comes just three weeks after his committee hosted an event with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Rep. Louis Gohmert (R-TX), who contracted COVID-19 in July, for Reagan Day. Photos of the event show few attendees wearing masks and minimal social distancing. Arkansas state Rep. Dan Sullivan, who is currently spearheading a lawsuit to overturn the mask mandate and other health directives in his state, also appears to have spoken at the event.A committee spokesperson told The Daily Beast that Farmer, who also served as the superintendent of the Jonesboro Human Development Center, did not attend the Sept. 14 event. Now Kayleigh McEnany Has COVID, Making a Dozen From Rose Garden Ceremony"Dad's soul is singing today even though ours aren't. But grief is the price you pay for being blessed enough to experience the kind of love that dad gave and lived through his actions every day," Audrey Haynie, Farmer's daughter, said in a Tuesday Facebook post. "I'm sorry we couldn't save you....but I know that you're even more perfect now than when you were here. We will see your face and hear your voice in everyone and everything you left here.....in your legacy. Thank you for that. For the gift of you. We'll be seeing you."Haynie has chronicled her father's illness since Sept. 18, posting on Facebook that he was admitted to the ICU the same week as the Reagan Day event. Over several posts, Farmer's daughter described how the GOP county chair had been showing some signs of recovery until Sept. 25—when his condition took a turn for the worse. "We got a horrible report this morning. The doctor called me and said he was very worried that dad was not going to make it through this," Haynie wrote, adding that her father was beginning to show signs of shock. On Monday, Haynie posted, "Breathe easy, dad. Just breathe," while sharing that his EEG showed that Farmer had minimal brain activity.Following Haynie's announcement about her father's passing, the Craighead County Republican Committee released a statement, calling Farmer a "great caring friend to all and a dedicated leader." In addition to his duties as chairman of the GOP committee, Farmer has also served as coordinator for the Craighead County Crisis Response Team. According to KAIT, Farmer was a former board member of the Arkansas Crisis Response Team, and served as a chaplain for the Jonesboro Fire Department.Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Malaysian PM quarantines after minister tests positive for COVID-19 Posted: 05 Oct 2020 02:18 AM PDT  Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said on Monday he would go into quarantine for 14 days after coming into contact with a minister who had tested positive for COVID-19. The 73-year-old premier said he had been at a meeting on Saturday with religious affairs minister Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri to discuss the country's rising number of coronavirus infections. Zulkifli tested positive two days later on Monday, the prime minister said.
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| College student: I was in quarantine on campus. They gave me a bag lunch and little help. Posted: 06 Oct 2020 04:00 AM PDT  I thought the end of my senior year of high school was disappointing. But then I noticed coronavirus symptoms on my first day of college classes.
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| Trump coronavirus: Morning Joe host says president could be guilty of ‘manslaughter’ if he infects Secret Service and White House staff Posted: 06 Oct 2020 11:26 AM PDT  'At some point isn't this manslaughter?' Ms Brzezinski said
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| India police book hundreds over 'foreign involvement' in gang-rape protests Posted: 06 Oct 2020 07:58 AM PDT  Indian police on Tuesday accused foreign human rights groups and Muslim organisations of inciting caste tensions after widespread protests against their handling of a gang-rape and murder of a young Dalit woman.
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| UK looks to expand Five Eyes alliance to 'send message to China' Posted: 06 Oct 2020 02:26 AM PDT  Ben Wallace has warned that the UK is looking at "deepening our Five Eyes" by recruiting more countries in order to "send a message to China". The Defence Secretary told a ConservativeHome event at the Tory Party Conference that the UK would look to partner with other countries as part of the intelligence alliance which consists of the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. He said: "We would absolutely continue to explore new working with new partners in Asia and deepening our Five Eyes. "New Zealand and Australia are obviously over there. Mutual help and mutual signalling about standing by each other is really important for us sending a message to China. "I would absolutely consider doing more with it and in fact we are already working around some of those Asia groupings that allow international observers or indeed partner status. So we will be doing more of that, that's really the best way we can do it." Relations have been strained between Beijing and the UK after Boris Johnson bowed to the demands of backbench MPs in July and banned Huawei from the 5G network, with the agreement to strip out all of its existing infrastructure over the next few years. Huawei is viewed as a security threat because of laws in China that oblige private companies to hand over data to the government if required. Earlier this year Mr Wallace wrote in this newspaper that the UK will bolster its ability to fend off threats from China in space, as he warned "China too are developing offensive space weapons". Mr Wallace has previously said that the UK needs to be able to fight wars without leaning on the US. Earlier this year he said that rather than always expecting to go into conflicts in coalition with the US, "we are going to have to make decisions that allow us to stand with a range of allies, the Five Eyes and our European allies where our interests converge".
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| Surgeon general reportedly cited for violating Hawaii's coronavirus policies Posted: 06 Oct 2020 11:54 AM PDT  Surgeon General Jerome Adams went to Hawaii to aid in its coronavirus response — and reportedly ended up violating the state's coronavirus policies himself.According to a police citation dated Aug. 23, Adams was spotted in Kualoa Regional Park, which was closed amid the pandemic, Axios reports. Adams told the officer he was there to work with the governor, but was still issued a citation and has a court date set for Oct. 21.Adams was seen "with two other males standing, looking at the view taking pictures," the citation said. He put on his mask once he started to walk back to his car. When the officer confronted Adams, he said he didn't know the park was closed, per the citation. But Adams joined Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell just two days later when he announced Honolulu's parks, beaches, and trails had been and would remain closed.Adams is among tens of thousands of Honolulu residents who have recently faced citations for violating pandemic rules, Honolulu Civil Beat reports. Violators face up to a year in jail and a $5,000 fine. Hundreds of cases have been dismissed, but Adams' is still listed as active on the court system's website, Axios reports.Axios also notes Adams' violation "is very minor," even in comparison to instances where Trump administration officials have violated coronavirus safety protocols.More stories from theweek.com President Superspreader Trump is finally doubling down on COVID skepticism 5 worrying red flags from Trump's doctor
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| Food companies urge Britain to adopt tougher rules to protect tropical forests Posted: 04 Oct 2020 07:21 PM PDT  Supermarkets, food manufacturers and restaurant chains under pressure from campaigners over their environmental impact urged Britain on Monday to strengthen a plan to stop tropical forests from being cut down to grow cocoa, palm oil and soy. With the food industry under growing scrutiny for its role in driving deforestation in countries such as Brazil and Indonesia, Britain is drawing up legislation to force the sector to tighten oversight of its supply chains. In an open letter, some 20 large companies welcomed the plans as a "step forward" but said "it's not currently envisioned to be enough to halt deforestation and we encourage the government to go further to ... address this issue."
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| ‘There are going to be deaths no matter what’: Outrage follows Chris Christie’s ‘hypocrisy’ on coronavirus Posted: 05 Oct 2020 09:00 AM PDT  Republican criticised for self-admission to hospital despite saying public 'were gonna have to' accept high death toll
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| Michigan Dems Brace for Disaster After Court Blocks Guv’s COVID Restrictions Posted: 06 Oct 2020 01:50 AM PDT  Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is still reeling from the state's highest court dismantling the authority she has used to fight the public health pandemic as the future of the state's coronavirus response spirals into confusion.In a 4-3 decision released Friday, the Michigan Supreme Court found that a key law relied on by the governor during the pandemic "is in violation of the Constitution," according to the ruling, because it allowed the governor undue legislative power.The move was a devastating political and policy setback for one of the leading Democratic voices during the coronavirus pandemic as the partisan fight over state restrictions continues to play out across the country."This is in my opinion a disaster that the Supreme Court ruled in this way," said Rep. Yousef Rabhi, the House Democratic floor leader. "I would say that this is comparable to a dog chasing a car, and now that the Republicans have caught the car, they don't know what to do it with it because this creates a ripple effect throughout both public health and economic issues."But it was welcome news for Republicans who have long been critical of Whitmer's approach as the months passed by during the pandemic. GOP leaders who control the state House and Senate had also earlier sued Whitmer over her use of emergency executive authority in a separate case from the state Supreme Court decision, according to a May press release from the Senate majority leader's office.In an interview with The Daily Beast, House Majority floor leader Triston Cole said his "constituents have felt that their voice was shut out from the process because of the governor using exclusively executive orders.""At this point in time it's important that we try our best to get Michigan back to normal economically and get our businesses functioning that have been forcibly put out of business by now what is deemed an unconstitutional action by the governor," Cole said.As of Monday, Michigan has more than 128,900 confirmed cases during the pandemic, according to state health data, with 6,816 deaths as a result. In another portion of the decision, the high court was unanimous that Whitmer lacked the authority to continue the state of emergency after April 30 on her own by using a different emergency act, according to the ruling.The ruling will create a "significant change" on the state's coronavirus response, said Meryl Chertoff, executive director of the Georgetown Project on State and Local Government Policy and Law."It's going to impede (Whitmer's) ability to efficiently manage the crisis because it's going to eliminate the flexibility inherent in executive management," Chertoff said.The emergency authority used by governors in an effort to keep the public safe has been a fraught political issue during the pandemic. Democratic governors across the country have faced criticism and legislative and legal challenges from Republicans in their states to the moves as the attempts have tried to undercut the elected leaders stricter responses and public health measures.But the implications in Michigan are especially intense, given its standing as a critical swing state that has been fertile ground for political fights as the pandemic has raged on and anti-restriction protests have provided troubling scenes on the statehouse grounds.And with roughly a month to go before election day, the dynamics have only grown more complicated with the decision from the state's high court."Accordingly, the executive orders issued by the Governor in response to the COVID-19 pandemic now lack any basis under Michigan law," the majority opinion issued Friday said.Michigan Gov. Whitmer Extends State of Emergency Another MonthThe governor slammed the ruling following its release Friday, saying in a statement the decision from "a narrow majority of Republican justices, is deeply disappointing, and I vehemently disagree with the court's interpretation of the Michigan Constitution."While the setback for Whitmer is among the more notable examples of authority being rolled back during the pandemic, she hasn't been alone.Other prominent examples include the legislative effort already underway in Louisiana by Republicans to cut into the Democratic governor's emergency powers. And in Wisconsin, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers' administration response to the pandemic was struck a major blow back in May when the state supreme court tore down the state's safer at home order.Like many Democratic governors, Whitmer has embraced statewide restrictions during the pandemic including a mask mandate. But in the aftermath of Friday's ruling, Whitmer said in the statement she believed she had "at least 21 days," before the ruling formally gutted the authority she's been relying on as the pandemic has played out.By Sunday, the office of the state's Democratic attorney general announced in a statement that she "will no longer enforce the Governor's Executive Orders through criminal prosecution.""However, her decision is not binding on other law enforcement agencies or state departments with independent enforcement authority," a spokesperson for the attorney general said in the statement. "It's her fervent hope that people continue to abide by the measures that Governor Whitmer put in place - like wearing face masks, adhering to social distancing requirements and staying home when sick - since they've proven effective at saving lives."Whitmer's administration filed court papers Monday in an attempt to make clear that the earlier opinion wouldn't take effect "until 28 days after its issuance."But the leading Republican in the House made clear hours soon after that he disagreed. According to The Detroit Free Press, GOP House Speaker Lee Chatfield told reporters the "opinion takes immediate effect," and also made clear lawmakers will return to the legislature because of the situation.The uncertainty Monday only further added to the alarm in the state, with Whitmer's office warning in a press release "if the ruling went into effect immediately, up to 830,000 Michigan workers and their families could lose crucial unemployment benefits.""The Supreme Court has spoken, and while I vehemently disagree with their ruling, I'm ready to work across the aisle with Republicans in the legislature where we can find common ground to slow the spread of the virus and rebuild our economy," Whitmer said in a Monday statement.As a result of the ruling last Friday, Peter D. Jacobson, professor emeritus of health law and policy at the University of Michigan, said Monday morning he expected some of the governor's orders to be transferred to the state's public health code instead. But that isn't without drawbacks and could lead to a "wave of litigation," Jacobson said.By Monday afternoon, the director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced that he had formally put in place gathering restrictions and detailed mask requirements, according to the order.And Jacobson remains concerned that the ruling "reduces the accountability, responsibility and flexibility of the governor to take action to protect the public." Though he had no illusions that the courts would allow the governor's orders to extend on "in perpetuity," the latest major action from the state's high court still worried him"Instead of being able to rely on the governor's executive authority, the state will need to rely on the governmental public health system to address the ravages of the pandemic," Jacobson said.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Kyrgyzstan annuls parliamentary election results amid unrest Posted: 06 Oct 2020 01:11 AM PDT  Officials in Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday nullified the results of a weekend parliamentary election after mass protests erupted in the capital of Bishkek and other cities, with opposition supporters seizing government buildings overnight and demanding a new vote. Members of several opposition parties announced plans to oust the president and form a new government in the Central Asian country. The decision to cancel the results of Sunday's vote was made to "prevent tension," Central Election Commission head Nurzhan Shaildabekova told the Interfax news agency.
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| Case of biracial woman saying she was set on fire by white men closed for lack of evidence Posted: 06 Oct 2020 03:19 PM PDT  The U.S. attorney's office in Madison, Wisconsin, said that "authorities could not establish that the attack, as alleged by the complainant, had occurred."
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| Cardinal sent Vatican money to intelligence expert who 'spent it on handbags and shoes' Posted: 06 Oct 2020 08:22 AM PDT  A cardinal sacked by the Pope for alleged embezzlement has been accused of funneling €500,000 to an Italian woman who spent some of the cash on luxury shoes, handbags and accessories. Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, who was stripped of his rights as a cardinal by Pope Francis last month, allegedly paid the money from Vatican funds to Cecilia Marogna, who claims to be an intelligence operative with links to the Italian secret services. She reportedly spent it on buying shoes, clothes and luxury items from brands such as Prada, Tod's, Moncler and Mont Blanc, according to Corriere della Sera, an Italian daily, basing its report on leaked Vatican documents. Ms Marogna admitted to receiving the €500,000 in Vatican funds through a company she runs that is based in Slovenia. But she said she had spent it on "diplomatic trips, paying sources for information, mediation and donations to humanitarian organisations." It was the latest tangled web of claims and counter-claims to involve Cardinal Becciu, 72, a once powerful Vatican figure who is being investigated for his role in the buying of a £400 million pound property in London. Cardinal Becciu has denied any wrongdoing in the London sale.
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| Russian surfers say mystery pollution poisoning them, killing animals Posted: 05 Oct 2020 08:49 AM PDT  Images on social media show masses of sea life washed up on the beaches of Kamchatka, and water tests found high levels of oil products and other compounds.
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| Channeling 'anger into art', artists in Beirut process blast Posted: 06 Oct 2020 04:41 AM PDT  On the day of the Beirut explosion two months ago, 54-year-old Nabil Debs was busy planning the opening of his boutique hotel which had been in the works for the past decade. Instead, the day after escaping death in the massive blast that killed nearly 200 people, Debs was clearing rubble from the collapsed facade, roof and balconies of the heritage building that was his family home for decades and now a business. With the debris cleared, the halls of the building are now open to visitors to view more than 100 works of art by mostly Lebanese and Arab artists, reflecting on the explosion itself and also the turmoil and wars of past decade.
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| Boris Johnson says rumors he has long-term coronavirus health problems are 'seditious propaganda' Posted: 06 Oct 2020 04:49 AM PDT  The UK prime minister said reports that he had lingering health problems since contracting COVID-19 were "self-evident drivel."
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| Latest Trump photos say Mark Meadows in room - despite president not wearing mask Posted: 05 Oct 2020 04:41 AM PDT  Two new photos also appeared to be same shot with one providing close-up of president
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| China leads UN call for US to end 'coercive' sanctions Posted: 05 Oct 2020 12:40 PM PDT  China, Russia and two dozen other countries called on the United States and Western countries to end the use of unilateral sanctions, which they said make it harder to deal with Covid-19.
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| US trade deficit up to $67.1 billion in August, 14-year high Posted: 06 Oct 2020 05:43 AM PDT  The U.S. trade deficit rose in August to the highest level in 14 years. The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that the gap between the goods and services the United States sells and what it buys abroad climbed 5.9% in August to $67.1 billion, highest since August 2006. The U.S. deficit with the rest of the world in the trade of goods such as airplanes and appliances set a record $83.9 billion in August.
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| Bernie Sanders interrupted at Biden rally after Trump supporter waves flag in his face Posted: 05 Oct 2020 06:52 PM PDT  The senator's mic is temporarily cut off after a maskless MAGA supporter interrupted his speech
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| 'We have lost a family member': Arkansas police officer killed, another hurt in shooting at motel Posted: 05 Oct 2020 05:33 PM PDT  One Arkansas police officer was killed and another suffered non-life-threatening injuries during a shooting at a motel in Pine Bluff, police say.
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