Sunday,  Sept. 20th, 2020

Police arrest 86 people at a protest against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Times Square. The rally called for the abolition of ICE in the wake of allegations of a high rate of hysterectomies and alleged medical neglect. (CNN)

Chuck Schumer: Mitch McConnell is displaying ‘blatant, nasty hypocrisy’ Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Sunday night vowed to fight against Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who said he will push to have the Senate vote on President Trump’s nominee to replace Ginsburg on the Supreme Court. McConnell blocked former President Barack Obama from being able to select a replacement for Justice Antonin Scalia in February 2016, claiming it was too soon before the November election. By calling for a quick vote now, when the presidential election is just 44 days away, McConnell is displaying “blatant, nasty hypocrisy,” Schumer said. He urged voters to call their senators and tell them “not to be afraid of Mitch McConnell.” Ocasio-Cortez said it is “extraordinarily important that we understand the stakes of this vacancy,” as reproductive, labor, and health-care rights “are on the line.” A Trump appointment, she added, puts “all of our rights, the rights that so many people died for … at risk.” Source: The Week

London’s Metropolitan Police reports that around 200 books worth £2.5 million were recovered from a house in Neamț County, Romania. The books, believed to have been stolen by Romanian gangs from a London warehouse in January 2017, include first editions by Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei and English scientist Isaac Newton, and sketches by Spanish painter Francisco Goya. (DW)

The United States Department of Commerce says it will ban U.S. citizens from downloading the Chinese apps TikTok and WeChat effective September 20, unless a partnership between Oracle Corporation and TikTok owner ByteDance is agreed to and approved by President Donald Trump. (BBC)

Chinese technology company ByteDance announces a proposed joint deal with American corporations Oracle and Walmart to continue the operation of its video-sharing social networking service TikTok in the United States. U.S. President Donald Trump recognizes the proposal, having threatened to ban the service in suspicion of Chinese espionage should ByteDance have failed to reach a deal with an American firm. (AFP via The Hindu)

The United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declares the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran as no longer in force. He also warns that the United States “is prepared to use our domestic authorities to impose consequences” for other countries that do not enforce the sanctions. Britain, France, Germany, China, and Russia oppose the snapback sanctions.  (Al Jazeera)

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) releases a statement that a screening facility for White House mail intercepted a package containing ricin poison that was addressed to Donald Trump earlier this week. The FBI and the Secret Service are investigating where the package came from and whether others have been sent through the postal service. (BBC)

Hundreds of Romanian families protest at the University Square in Bucharest against the government’s new mandate on social distancing and the wearing of face masks in schools. Many compare the measures to the country’s communist regime. (AP via ABC News)

The End