Wednesday,  Oct. 7th, 2020

Ex-police officer Derek Chauvin, who was charged in George Floyd’s death, is released on bail. (WCCO-TV)

A Greek court rules that far-right political party Golden Dawn operated as a criminal organization in connection with the murder of anti-fascist rapper Pavlos Fyssas in 2013 and other crimes. (CBS News)

A report from the United Nations recommends that war crimes committed by Saudi Arabia and the Houthi movement be referred to the International Criminal Court. (The Washington Post)

The regional government in Brussels declares that bars and cafes in the city will be forced to close for a month effective tomorrow, even if they only sell tea or coffee, after the Belgian capital overtook Paris in terms of infections per inhabitant. (Swiss Info)

Berlin’s nightlife is facing a closing time for the first time since 1950, effective October 10, as bars, restaurants, and off-licences will have to close between 11:00 pm and 6:00 am local time. Under new rules that have been announced, public gatherings of more than five people from more than two households, as well as private gatherings of more than ten people, will also be banned. (The Guardian)

Italy imposes a compulsory nationwide outdoor mask mandate, with fines ranging from 400 to 1,000 euros (AS$659 to AS$1,650; US$463 to US$1,163) for violators in a bid to curb the second wave of COVID-19. This decree passes at the same time the country reports 3,678 cases in the last 24 hours, the highest figure since the peak of the outbreak in April. Exceptions include outdoor sporting activities, children under six years of age, and people with health conditions that preclude wearing masks. (Sydney Morning Herald)

Governor Tony Evers announces that the state will open a field hospital at the state fairgrounds near Milwaukee. (The Hill)

Brazil surpasses five million COVID-19 cases, becoming the third country to reach that milestone after the United States and India. (Bloomberg)

Pence and Harris to face off in vice presidential debate

Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), the Democratic nominee for the vice presidency, are set to debate on Wednesday night in Salt Lake City, Utah. The face-off will be the first and only debate between the two candidates, and it is expected to be more closely-watched than previous vice presidential debates. President Trump’s campaign has lost steam in recent weeks, and the president was hospitalized with COVID-19, putting new pressures on Pence, meanwhile Harris will be scrutinized as Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s more progressive counterpart. Harris is a former prosecutor who is expected to deliver a strong performance against Pence. The two camps agreed to coronavirus protections like plexiglass between the two candidates. The debate begins at 9 p.m. ET. Source: CNN

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Tuesday,  Oct 6th, 2020

Azerbaijan accuses the Armenian Armed Forces of attacking the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline with banned cluster munitions, killing a civilian in Goranboy District. Armenia rejects the accusation. (RFE/RL)

White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller tests positive for COVID-19. (CNN)

New York state will reinstate restrictions on businesses, houses of worship and schools in and near areas where coronavirus cases are spiking, governor Andrew Cuomo said. The new rules will affect parts of Brooklyn, New York and Queens in New York City, sections of Orange and Rockland counties in the Hudson Valley, and an area within Binghamton in the Southern Tier. This restrictions will take effect no later than Friday.

White House blocking more stringent coronavirus vaccine guidelines

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, The New York Times and Politico report. The guidelines, intended to reassure the public that coronavirus vaccines are being held to a common standard, were submitted to the Office of Management and Budget for approval on Sept. 21, but White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has intervened, the Times reports. The chief reason given was resistance from drugmakers, Politico reports, though drugmakers have publicly and privately supported the new guidelines. Trump has been promising a vaccine before the Nov. 3 presidential election. Source: The New York Times, Politico

Joe Biden says wearing a mask should be ‘viewed as a patriotic duty’

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Monday said it’s never been clearer that “masks matter,” saying during an NBC News town hall in Miami that donning a face covering should be “viewed as a patriotic duty to protect those around you.” Biden talked about President Trump becoming infected by the coronavirus, and said he “would hope that the president having gone through what he went through — and I’m glad he seems to be coming along pretty well — would communicate the right lesson to the American people. Masks matter.” Moderator Lester Holt brought up a new poll that found two in three people believe Trump is at least partially responsible for becoming infected with the virus, and Biden said that “anybody who contracts the virus by essentially saying masks don’t matter, social distancing doesn’t matter, I think is responsible for what happens to them.” Source: The Guardian

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Monday,  Oct. 5th, 2020

US president Donald Trump returns to White House to continue his treatment there after three-night stay in Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre. But he downplay the virus upon “controversial” return from the hospital. (BBC)

New York governor Andrew Cuomo orders schools to close starting tomorrow in several “hot spots” around the state, including parts of the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. This comes after COVID-19 test positivity rates rose above 3% in those areas for seven days in a row. Cuomo declined to close non-essential businesses and religious institutions. (CNN)

Iceland orders all bars, gyms and entertainment venues to close, and cuts the number of people allowed to gather in public from 200 to 20 amid a rising number of COVID-19 cases in the country. (Reuters)

Report: Trump kept quiet about 1st positive COVID-19 test When President Trump called into Fox News on Thursday night and confirmed that his close aide Hope Hicks tested positive for COVID-19, he didn’t share with viewers that he also had a positive result from a rapid test and was waiting for the results from a more thorough screening, several people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal on Sunday. Speaking to host Sean Hannity, Trump said he had been tested and would get the results back “either tonight or tomorrow morning.” Early Friday morning, Trump tweeted that both he and first lady Melania Trump had tested positive for coronavirus. When Hicks tested positive on Thursday morning, Trump’s top advisers wanted to make sure this was kept under wraps, people familiar with the matter told the Journal, and Trump told another unidentified adviser that they should keep their positive test results to themselves, saying, “Don’t tell anyone.” Source: The Wall Street Journal

Biden expands lead over Trump in post-debate poll Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden widened his national lead over President Trump after Tuesday’s debate, according to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Sunday. The poll was conducted two days after the acrimonious debate, and before Trump tested positive for COVID-19. Biden surged to a 14-point lead over Trump among registered voters, 53 percent to 39 percent. It is Biden’s largest lead of the campaign in this poll. Biden led by 8 points before the debate, the first of three scheduled before the Nov. 3 election, and his biggest previous edge was 11 points. Bill McInturff, a Republican pollster who directed the survey with Democrat Jeff Horwitt, said the chaotic debate might have delivered a “shock to the system,” but Trump has a history of bouncing back. Source: The Wall Street Journal

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