Saturday,  Aug 22nd, 2020

Postmaster general says USPS can handle universal mail-in voting  Postmaster General Louis DeJoy testified before Congress on Friday to face questions about controversial changes at the United States Postal Service ahead of the 2020 presidential election. DeJoy spoke with the Senate Homeland Security Committee after he vowed to suspend USPS operational changes until after the election. He said “there have been no changes in any policies in regards to election mail for the 2020 election.” He said USPS “is fully fully capable and committed to delivering the nation’s election mail securely and on time.” Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said DeJoy “frankly admitted” that some removed mail infrastructure will not be replaced. DeJoy says the idea that these changes are “designed to harm the ability of voters to use the mail to vote” is a “false narrative.” Source:  ABC News

At least 5 dead as California wildfires continue  The death toll from wildfires raging across California has risen to at least five after a flurry of lightning strikes ignited new fires in the northern part of the state. Tens of thousands of people had to evacuate their homes and go to shelters despite the risk of coronavirus infections after California recorded 600,000 confirmed infections. “Not only are we dealing with COVID, but with also the heat and now the fires,” said Cheryl Jarvis, who evacuated to a community center in Vacaville but refused to go inside, sleeping in her Toyota Prius instead. Statewide, there have been more than 360 fires, with 22 major blazes still burning. “We are experiencing fires, the likes of which we haven’t seen in many, many years,” Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said. Source: CNN

Students in Massachusetts will be required to take a flu vaccine in order to attend schools. (CBS News)

Friday,  Aug 21st, 2020

Vice Chancellor and Federal Finance Minister Olaf Scholz announces a plan to loan around €218 billion ($258bn) for a bailout to mitigate the impact of the country’s recession caused by the pandemic, thereby suspending the debt brake. (CGTN)

The UK’s national debt exceeds £2 trillion ($2.61tn) for the first time, according to data from the Office for National Statistics. (AFP via New Straits Times)

Chief Executive Carrie Lam announces mass COVID-19 testing for residents starting on September 1, with the assistance of a 60-person team from the mainland, which is the first time Chinese health officials have assisted the special administrative region in its battle to control the epidemic. (CNA)

Israel surpasses 100,000 cases as the government struggles with a resurgence of infections. The death tally stands at 809. (Al Arabiya)

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announces on state radio that he will tighten border crossing rules in Hungary on September 1 to prevent the spread of COVID-19 as the number of new infections rises in neighbouring countries. (Reuters)

‘Golden State Killer’ sentenced to life in prison  Joseph James DeAngelo, the former police officer known as the Golden State Killer, on Friday was sentenced to life without parole after pleading guilty to a series of murders and rapes in California during the 1970s and 1980s. He was arrested in 2018 thanks to the use of “innovative DNA technology.” Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton described DeAngelo as a “man whose horrific unspeakable crimes devastated the lives of so many people, lives that will never be the same, lives forever changed, moments, hours of terror that can never be erased or forgotten.” He spoke in the courtroom on Friday and said he is “truly sorry to everyone I’ve hurt.” DeAngelo pleaded guilty to 13 murders and more than 50 rapes. Source: Los Angeles Times

Russian anti-corruption activist and opposition leader Alexei Navalny falls ill on a flight from Tomsk to Moscow, and is rushed to a hospital in Omsk after an emergency landing. His spokesperson, Kira Yarmysh, says it was suspected that he was poisoned by something mixed into his tea, with Navalny’s team suspecting that it was in the airport café shortly before his flight. He is reported to be in a coma. French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have offered Navalny medical assistance and unspecified protection in their countries. (BBC)

Doctors treating Russian anti-corruption activist and opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Omsk refute claims that Navalny was poisoned before his flight from Tomsk to Moscow the previous day, citing that tests had shown no trace of any poison in his body. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has offered to transfer Navalny to Berlin for further treatment by sending an air ambulance to Omsk, but doctors have refused to discharge him, saying Navalny is in an “unstable” condition. Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh claim the refusal is a ploy to hide the poisoning and “put his life at risk”. (AFP via NDTV)

 

 

The End

Friday, Aug 21st, 2020

Airbnb bans house parties and limits almost all listed venues to 16 people as it tries to comply with gathering restrictions. (BBC)

American Airlines announces it will end service at 15 airports starting October 7. (CNN)

Weekly unemployment claims surpass 1 million again  The Labor Department on Thursday said that 1.1 million Americans filed new unemployment claims last week. There were 971,000 new claims a week prior, which was the first time since March the number of claims had been below one million. The rise in new claims came as a surprise after economists were expecting the number to decline to about 923,000 this week. CNN’s Christine Romans notes that according to this latest report, 28.5 million Americans are “receiving some sort of government unemployment assistance,” adding that the unemployment claims are “trending in the wrong direction,” while The Washington Post‘s Heather Long described the latest numbers as a “red flag that layoffs remain high.” Source:  CNBC

Uber and Lyft to continue California service after reprieve Uber and Lyft will no longer be immediately suspending service in California after being granted a temporary reprieve. The ride-hailing companies had threatened to shut down in the state this week after a judge recently ordered them to classify their drivers as employees rather than independent contractors by Friday, saying they were likely violating state law. But an appeals court on Thursday granted an eleventh-hour reprieve delaying the judge’s order. This came shortly after Lyft confirmed its suspension of rideshare operations in California was imminent, with the company arguing that classifying its drivers as employees would lead to “reduced service” and to 80 percent of its drivers losing work. Source: CNN

India reports the highest since day record of 69,672 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours with 977 new deaths. 2,096,664 people from the total 2,8 million people were recovered. (The Tribune)

The total number of COVID-19 infections in Vietnam surpass 1,000 with 25 deaths. More than half of them are linked to a new outbreak that began in late July in Da Nang. (Reuters)

Astronomers discover 95 brown dwarfs near the Sun through the Backyard Worlds project. (Space.com)

Russian anti-corruption activist and opposition leader Alexei Navalny falls ill on a flight from Tomsk to Moscow, and is rushed to a hospital in Omsk after an emergency landing. His spokesperson says he may have been poisoned in the airport café shortly before his flight. He is reported to be in a coma. (BBC)

Four defendants of the non-profit organization We Build The Wall, including former Trump advisor Steve Bannon and its founder Brian Kolfage, are arrested on charges of conspiring to commit wire fraud and money laundering. The charges were stated in an indictment announced by the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, which alleges that the four defendants defrauded the organization’s donors, using the funds intended for the construction of the wall along the Mexico–U.S. border for personal expenses instead. (Al Jazeera)

The South Korean National Intelligence Service reports that North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un has delegated some major responsibilities to his sister, Kim Yo-jong, that involves overseeing North Korea’s relations with South Korea and the United States. South Korean lawmakers describe her new role as a “de facto second-in-command” of North Korea who “steers overall state affairs.” (Fox News)

 

Thursday,  Aug 20th, 2020

Thousands in the San Francisco Bay Area flee their homes after several quick-moving wildfires, apparently sparked by lightning and the heatwave, sweep into the region. Around 50 structures have burned down with another 50 damaged in Vacaville. This group of fires, called the LNU Lightning Complex, has grown to 46,000 uncontained acres. (BBC)

Toulouse becomes the first major city in France to make face masks compulsory in all outdoor areas. The new rules will take effect on Friday and apply from 7:00 am to 3:00 am local time for all people ages 12 and up, including those on bikes and kick-scooters. (The Telegraph)

France registers 3,776 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, marking a new post-lockdown peak and bringing the total to 225,043. (France 24)

Italy reports 642 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, which is the highest number of reported cases since May 23, when the lockdown was eased. (ANSA)

Spain registered its highest number of new cases since the end of lockdown in June, with 3,715 new COVID-19 cases reported in the last 24 hours. (The Times)

The California Department of Public Health reports the state’s first case of plague in five years at South Lake Tahoe. The patient, believed to have been bitten by an infected flea, is under medical care recovering at home. The CDC says that America sees between one and 17 cases annually. (CBS News)

The End

Thursday,  Aug 20th, 2020

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon finds Salim Ayyash, a senior member of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, guilty of assassinating former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri in Beirut in 2005, following a five-year trial. (The Guardian)

The acting government reimposes a curfew for two weeks amid a spike in COVID-19 infections. (Al Arabiya)

Poll: Proportion of Americans who would get COVID-19 vaccine drops 10 percent Fewer Americans say they’d get a vaccine against COVID-19 than about three months ago. In a poll released by CNN on Wednesday, when respondents were asked if they would get a vaccine to prevent COVID-19 if one was made widely available at a low cost, 56 percent said they would, while 40 percent said they wouldn’t. The same poll in May found 66 percent would get the vaccine. CNN reports the decline “seems to be concentrated among Trump supporters, 51 percent of whom said they would seek out a vaccine in May compared with 38 percent who say the same now.” Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, previously warned that if too many Americans refuse to get a COVID-19 vaccine, it’s “unlikely” the U.S. will get to herd immunity. Source: CNN

Iran surpasses 20,000 deaths by COVID-19, the highest toll in the Middle East. (AP)

South Korea reports its highest daily rise in COVID-19 cases since early March, with 297 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours. Nearly 90% of the new cases appeared Seoul Capital Area, where 166 of them are linked to the Sarang Jeil Church. (Reuters)

Fiji declares an outbreak of dengue fever and leptospirosis amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Health minister Ifereimi Waqainabete says that between January and July, 3,300 cases of dengue fever and 1,000 of leptospirosis were reported. (RNZ)

Finland imposes “Europe’s tightest” border restrictions on several countries which it had considered safe destinations to stop the spread of COVID-19. Travel from most EU member states, as well as Japan and Iceland, will be limited to essential trips starting August 24, with people returning from those countries required to self-quarantine for two weeks.  (Reuters)

Postmaster general to suspend operational changes until after election Postmaster General Louis DeJoy on Tuesday announced he’s suspending operational changes he was instituting for the United States Postal Service. The decision comes after allegations that the Trump administration was attempting to slow mail deliveries ahead of widespread mail-in voting in November’s election. Changes to the agency’s operations included cutting post office hours and overtime, as well as the removal of mail processing and collection boxes. DeJoy said he now plans to push those alterations until after the election “to avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail.” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said DeJoy has already “lost the trust of the American people.” DeJoy has agreed to testify before the House next week. Source: MSNBC

 

 

Wednesday,  Aug. 19th, 2020

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announces that his country has signed a deal with the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to manufacture a vaccine against COVID-19 that the company is developing with the Oxford Vaccine Group. The vaccine is currently in Phase III efficacy trials and AstraZeneca says it is targeting a formulation of results by the end of the year. Morrison states that the deal also allows citizens to receive immediate and free access to the vaccines, if successful. (AFP via SCMP)

France is slated to make face masks mandatory for all shared spaces in offices and factories where there is more than one employee present. The measure is set to begin on September 1. (BBC)

Chancellor Angela Merkel rules out easing further COVID-19-related public health restrictions amidst a rise in new cases. (France 24)

Ireland “significantly” tightens restrictions after a rapid increase in the number of COVID-19 cases over the past two weeks. All businesses are told to let employees work from home, new limits are placed on outdoor gatherings, and the government warns people to avoid public transport. The new rules will be in place until at least September 13. (Sky News)

Lithuanian MPs approve economic sanctions against Belarus over the contested presidential elections. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius says Lithuania is “sending a strong message to the world” and refuses to recognize Alexander Lukashenko as President. (AP)

The Toronto Police Service agrees to pay compensation of C$16.5 million (US$12.5M) to about 1,100 protesters who were wrongfully arrested in the city during the 2010 G20 summit. (The Guardian)

U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, in response to politicians’ criticism that proposed changes to U.S. mail services could slow the handling of mail-in ballots, suspends all mail service changes until after the November election. He also said there will be no changes to retail hours at post offices, mail collection boxes will remain where they are, and no mail processing facilities will be closed. A number of states, including Washington and New York, said they are planning legal moves to block the Postal Service changes. (Reuters)

Two suspects charged with murder of Run-D.M.C’s Jam Master Jay Prosecutors on Monday announced two men have been indicted in connection with the 2002 killing of Run-D.M.C’s Jam Master Jay. Ronald Washington and Karl Jordan Jr. were charged with murder while engaged in drug trafficking, almost two decades after the late DJ was shot and killed in a recording studio in Queens. Questions surrounding Jam Master Jay’s killing have remained unanswered for years, but prosecutors alleged on Monday that Washington and Jordan broke into his studio and “murdered him in cold blood” after he threatened to cut them out of “a multi-kilogram, multistate narcotics transaction.” Washington was already in prison for robbery prior to the indictment, while Jordan was arrested on Sunday. Source:  CNN

A Russian major general is killed and two others are injured by a roadside bomb in Syria while en route to Hmeimim Air Base from Deir ez-Zor. (Andolu Agency)

California Governor Gavin Newsom declares a state of emergency to ensure the state receives vital resources as at least 27 wildfires are raging across the state, exacerbating a stifling heat wave. (NBC News via msn.com)

The End

Again and again I get up and say
I only want to get it right.
I only want to do the right thing,
But are these demons, I ask myself.

I wonder today, I’m alone, but then
No one can make their own life.
No one can say that they’re an island
When all this freedom that you get is a lie.