Youngstown

Sudanese split over normalising relations with Israel

Sudan's move to normalise relations with Israel has laid bare deep societal splits, with some bashing it as a betrayal and others viewing it as a way to save the sinking economy.

Singapore Airlines doesn't want to dethrone its original world's longest flight even though the new one is 3 miles longer – here's how the two will differ

The new Singapore-New York route is one of the few new international routes to launch during the pandemic, but the airline is keeping it low-key.

George Floyd protests: 'Boogaloo' member held in precinct attack

A member of an extremist group has been charged with rioting during the May George Floyd protests.

My kids want to trick-or-treat, but coronavirus rates are rising. Do I have to change plans and disappoint them?

Trick-or-treating can be moderately safe if you make significant tweaks to the tradition. Alternatives, like backyard scavenger hunts, are safer.

This Is Not a Moon Landing. It’s a Murder Hornet Operation.

A tweet from the Washington State Department of Agriculture said it all: “Got ’em.”After an operation that looked like a cross between a lunar landing and a low-budget sci-fi flick, entomologists on Saturday suctioned away the first “murder hornet” nest found in the United States.Garbed in bulky protective white suits from head to toe—meant to keep the insects’ long stingers away from their skin and their venom out of their eyes—they descended before dawn on a tree in Blaine.A few days earlier, entomologists had managed to trap several of the Asian giant hornets and affix tiny radio tracking devices to them with dental floss. One of the trio led the insect hunters right to the nest.While the fearsome bugs usually nest in the ground, dozens and dozens had made their home inside the cavity of the tree on some property that had been cleared for a new home.The goal was to capture as many of them as possible. So under the cover of darkness, with red lamps their only light, the moon-suited crew wrapped the trunk in plastic.Then the ambushed hornets were carefully vacuumed out of the tree and into a plastic cylinder that state officials proudly showed off on social media.> Got ‘em. Vacuumed out several AsianGiantHornets from a tree cavity near Blaine this morning. Further details will be provided at a press conference on Monday. Staff not available for interviews before then. pic.twitter.com/31kgAUuJd0> > — WA St Dept of Agr (@WSDAgov) October 24, 2020It’s not clear if the entomologists managed to remove all the baby hornets from the tree or if there could be other nests nearby. They are planning a press conference Monday to reveal more about the success of the operation.Asian giant hornets were first spotted in the United States in December and agriculture officials have been furiously trying to track and eradicate them because they are so destructive.> .@WSDAgov tied a radio tag to an Asian giant hornet, aka MurderHornet, using dental floss. They followed it into a forest near Blaine, WA before losing signal. But they are one step closer to finding the nest before the hornets enter their "slaughter phase" and kill native bees. pic.twitter.com/QJ6MprmG1s> > — Pattrn (@pattrn) October 12, 2020While humans can die from a large number of stings, they got their very-2020 nickname from their ability to decimate other insects—particularly honeybees. When they attack a hive, they rip the heads off the bees and pulverize their bodies in terrifyingly systematic fashion.In Asia, honeybees have learned how to fight back: they form a ball around the invaders and vibrate so hard they cook the hornets alive. But American honeybees don’t know that trick, and the fear is that they could be wiped out if the hornets get a foothold on U.S. soil.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.

Australia condemns intimate examination of female travellers over baby abandoned at Doha airport

Australia on Monday condemned Qatar authorities' treatment of women passengers on a flight to Sydney who were subjected to internal examinations after a newborn baby was found abandoned at a Doha airport. The women, including 13 Australians, were examined at Hamad International Airport on October 2 after Qatar Airways Flight 908 to Sydney was delayed. Australia's foreign affairs department described the treatment of the women as inappropriate and beyond circumstances in which they could give free and informed consent. "This is a grossly, grossly disturbing, offensive, concerning set of events," Foreign Minister Marise Payne said. "It's not something that I've ever heard of occurring in my life, in any context. We have made our views very clear to the Qatari authorities on this matter." Australia would await a report from the Qatari government before "we will determine the next steps", Ms Payne said. She said the incident had been reported to Australian Federal Police, but did not explain which action police might take.

Report: If re-elected, Trump will immediately fire FBI Director Christopher Wray

Should President Trump win a second term, he plans on immediately firing FBI Director Christopher Wray, two people who have discussed the matter with Trump told Axios. Trump is also expected to quickly replace CIA Director Gina Haspel and Defense Secretary Mark Esper. They aren't the only three people on the chopping block, the sources said, but they are at the top of the list. One official said Trump hasn't fired any of them because of the optics of doing so before the election.Haspel and Wray do not have any fans in Trump's inner circle, Axios reports, with one person saying the "view of Haspel in the West Wing is that she still sees her job as manipulating people and outcomes, the way she must have when she was working assets in the field. It bred a lot of suspicion of her motives." As for Wray, Trump became enraged in September when the FBI director testified that there are no signs of widespread election fraud, despite Trump claiming otherwise.Privately, Trump has complained about Attorney General William Barr, and he's never been too enamored with Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, but there are no formal plans to remove them, Axios reports. In a statement, White House spokesman Judd Deere said, "We have no personnel announcements at this time nor would it be appropriate to speculate about changes after the election or in a second term."More stories from theweek.com Trump loses on the merits Who won the final 2020 debate? Call it a draw. Get ready for Trump TV, America

Spain announces new state of emergency as COVID infections soar

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced a new state of emergency on Sunday in an effort to curb soaring coronavirus infections, imposing local nighttime curfews and banning travel between regions in some cases. The measures go into force from Sunday night and will require all regions except the Canary Islands to impose a nighttime curfew and limit the number of people allowed to meet to six. Catalonia was one of the first regions on Sunday to use the new legislation to impose a curfew, which will take effect at 10 p.m. Establishments open to the public will have to close at 9 p.m.

AOC backs Biden but takes aim at his fracking policy: 'It will be a privilege to lobby him'

Young progressives ‘want to vote for who they are going to lobby,’ New York congresswoman says

Ethiopia blasts Trump remark that Egypt will 'blow up' dam

Ethiopia on Saturday denounced “belligerent threats” by President Trump over the huge dam it has nearly completed on the Blue Nile River. This comes a day after Trump said downstream Egypt will “blow up” the project it has called an existential threat.

'Thailand doesn't need you': ultra-royalists push back against protesters

Pictures of coffins and guns, and threats of death and violence: protests targeting Thailand's government and monarchy have hardened feelings amongst ultra-royalists, who are pushing back with aggressive abuse online.

Cameroon: Children killed in attack on school in Kumba

Officials have blamed Anglophone secessionists for the attack on a private school in a restive region.

A white woman yelled 'f--- Black Lives Matter' at a Starbucks barista after she told her to wear a mask

An unnamed white woman yelled at barista Alex Beckom when she told her she had to put on a mask in Starbucks. A video of the encounter went viral.

Opposition leader flees Venezuela, heads towards Spain and the United States

Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López escaped from the South American country and was traveling on Saturday to Spain, where he will spend time with his family before eventually heading towards the United States to continue the efforts to outs the Nicolas Maduro regime, sources close to the former political prisoner told el Nuevo Herald.

Attack Drones Dominating Tanks as Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict Showcases the Future of War

STEPANAKERT, Nagorno-Karabakh—Stretched on a gurney, a soldier lies wrapped in gauze. Fifty percent of his body is burned, even inside his throat and lungs, says one of the paramedics in the back of the ambulance, which is making a seven-hour drive from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia’s capital Yerevan. War broke out almost one month ago between Azerbaijan and Armenia over a disputed border territory. The ambulance snuck out of Stepanakert in between air raid sirens, as Azerbaijani shelling of the city picked up again after a six-day break. Only the soldier’s burned lips, a small part of the nose and his burnt eyelashes are showing. His hopes of survival are tied to a beeping respirator and the two paramedics constantly injecting him with morphine and saline solutions.Reporters have been kept away from soldiers and the direct impact of the war in recent days, but plans scrambled by the reinvigorated shelling of Stepanakert lead to The Daily Beast suddenly finding ourselves in the back of this ambulance, being given an accidental glimpse at the human consequences of the war.Kamikaze drones purchased from Israel have been used to devastating effect by Azerbaijan. These small craft also known as loitering munitions are able to surveil targets including tanks, artillery installations or troops before blowing themselves up. Larger Turkish drones are also flying high above the disputed region and launching missile strikes.While the soldier in the ambulance has been unable to tell medics how he was so badly wounded, his head injuries and extensive burns are consistent with what they have seen with drone strikes, one doctor at the hospital in Stepanakert told The Daily Beast.“He was damaged on the front line,” says one of the paramedics in the ambulance, “We see many of these injuries. We need help here. We need to stop the war. It is terrible what is happening.”Before leaving the war zone and entering the relative safety of Armenia, there is a problem with the respirator. A female paramedic starts pumping air into the wounded soldiers’ lungs manually. As they are about to lose the soldier, the ambulance comes to a full stop, while the driver is trying to get the motorized system running again. Shelling can be heard in the distance.The mountains cause the sound to echo, making it hard to tell whether the shelling is close or far, but that does not hide the discomfort of the crew forced to pull over in the midst of another bombing. A Bloody War In the MakingThe war in Nagorno-Karabakh, which was almost entirely controlled by the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh, broke out on Sept. 27. Artsakh is a small mountainous pocket in the Caucasus which is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but has been claiming independence for almost 30 years. The population is almost entirely ethnic Armenian and the breakaway state is supported by Armenia. The republic declared independence after the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which lasted from the late 1980s to 1994, claiming 30,000 lives.Since then, the dispute over the region has continued. The two sides fought a four-day war in 2016, but the current battles are the worst fighting the region has seen since the devastating war in the ‘90s. Armenia says it has lost around 900 servicemen, while Azerbaijan does not declare its death toll. However, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin, nearly 5,000 people have already died, and there are several reports about the huge loss of military hardware such as tanks on both sides despite two ceasefires negotiated in Moscow with Russia as the main mediator.The ceasefires have already been broken and the crisis is of global significance. Nagorno-Karabakh is located next to regional superpowers such as Turkey, which support Azerbaijan militarily and politically in the conflict. At the same time, Russia has a defensive pact with Armenia, making the situation tense. The Republic of Artsakh is also located next to Iran, a major player in the region.“We must be attentive that the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan does not become a regional war,” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said, according to BBC.The war is also attracting increased attention in Washington, D.C. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had leaders from both Azerbaijan and Armenia over for seemingly fruitless talks, while Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), among others, has called for an immediate ceasefire.“Azerbaijan’s aggressive actions, fully supported by Turkey in Nagorno-Karabakh and against Armenia, must stop,” said Markey. “Since Azerbaijan continues its attempts to resolve this conflict through the illegal use of military force, the international community will be left with no choice but to move to recognize the independence of the Republic of Artsakh.” He Is About to DieBack in the ambulance, the soldier is fighting for his life. Occasionally he seems to regain consciousness for just long enough to gasp with pain. Before the ambulance took off towards the Armenian capital Yerevan, the stream of ambulances carrying wounded soldiers with empty stares and missing limbs from Stepanakert had been temporarily forced to stop. The air raid sirens started screaming over Stepanakert for the first time in several days, as Azerbaijani forces struck the city with what was reportedly both airplanes and artillery. Doctors, nurses and patients ran to the basement in one of the city’s hospitals while explosions were heard nearby, shaking the bunker.One doctor in the bunker, who did not want to give his name due to restrictions on speaking to the media, told The Daily Beast that around 1,000 soldiers and 300 to 400 civilians had been declared dead at three hospitals in Artsakh, to his knowledge. These numbers point to far more casualties than the 900 officially reported by the Ministry of Defense in Artsakh, especially as some soldiers’ bodies are never retrieved from the front line.“We see many soldiers with burn and head injuries,” says the doctor pointing to a room in the bunker where a soldier with severe brain injury is undergoing surgery. “The Turkish drones used by Azerbaijan are often giving the soldiers brain damage.”He is referring to the Azerbaijani use of Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drones, which are penetrating the Artsakh defenses, despite assistance from Armenia. “We Cannot Shoot it Down”Open source analysis gathered by Forbes magazine has tracked the destruction by drones of around 200 tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, and armored personnel carriers, plus 300 soft-skinned military vehicles as well as radars, short-range air defense systems, and missile launch vehicles.The Armenians have no such drone army with which to strike back at Azerbaijaini targets.In an interview with The Daily Beast, Suren Sarumyan, a spokesman for the Artsakh Defense Ministry, claimed that the Republic of Artsakh has been able to shoot down several drones but he accepted that the unmanned aerial assault vehicles were taking a toll.“Drones do make an impact on the front line, but our soldiers are among the strongest in the world because they stand firm and fight hard,” said Sarumyan, “The secret to that is that our soldiers defend their home, and it is very difficult to defeat them, even with all the world’s drones.”While the military claims they can shoot down drones such as the Bayraktar TB2, Vladimir Vartanyan, a military analyst who is part of the press department of the Republic of Artsakh, disagrees.“We can see them on our radar, but [the Turkish drones] fly too high for us to shoot them down,” he said. He explained that much of the Artsakh defenses are remnants from 1991 to 1994 and badly in need of an upgrade “We use everything that we have now because this is total war,” he said. “In my opinion, we need to buy some Russian systems, which have experience in shooting down these drones in Syria.”With Azerbaijan reported to be making large territorial gains in the southern part of Nagorno-Karabakh, Vartanyan said: “It is essential that we start to shoot them down very quickly.”Azerbaijan has previously confirmed that it is using Turkish drones in the war, according to Middle East Eye.Ian Williams, an expert in missile defense and missile proliferation at the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told The Daily Beast that what we see right now in Nagorno-Karabakh is the evolution of warfare.“We have for a long time declared tanks to be dead without it happening. However, the Armenian tanks have not done well in the current crisis,” said Williams. “Drones are relatively cheap for countries that would not normally be able to afford air support. The current crisis shows us what kind of damage they can do to an opponent without drones.” He Might Not Make itA paramedic holds the soldier’s head as the ambulance makes its way up and down through the mountains. The respirator is working again, and the sound of it pumping air into the soldier’s lungs resumes. On the way to Yerevan, one of the paramedics gets the news that a friend has died near the front line. An atmosphere of grief descends on the ambulance as reports continue to come in of air attacks in several cities in the Republic of Artsakh.As Yerevan approaches, the soldier starts to move his arms involuntarily while his chest spasms. The situation is eased by another morphine shot, but the paramedic shakes his head when asked whether the soldier will be safe once he reaches the hospital in Armenia’s capital.“The injuries might just be too much,” he says.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.

Hundreds of thousands lose power as Northern California braces for more wildfires

"This is the fire weather forecast I was hoping wouldn't come to pass," a climate scientist said.

Joe Biden is doubling down on raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour despite the economic downturn. It could bump paychecks for over 27 million workers.

Biden is pushing ahead with raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour even as the pandemic causes many small businesses to close their doors.

2 crew killed in U.S. Navy training plane crash in Alabama identified

The two crew killed in a Navy training plane crash Friday were identified Sunday as Navy Lt. Rhiannon Ross and Coast Guard Ensign Morgan Garrett.

Looters raid Nigeria food warehouse as unrest spreads

Several thousand people ransacked and looted a government food warehouse in central Nigeria on Saturday in the latest in two weeks of unrest sweeping over Africa's most populous country.

China Communist Party plenum kicks off in Beijing

The three-day meeting comes amid speculation that President Xi intends to be "president-for-life".

Protestors storm churches in Poland on the fourth day of unrest after a court ruling tightened the country's already-strict abortion laws

The court banned abortion in the case of fetal defects, making abortion legal only in cases of incest, rape, or danger to the mother's life.

Black contractor braves threats in removing Richmond statues

Devon Henry paced in nervous anticipation, because this was a project like nothing he’d ever done. An accomplished Black businessman, Henry took on a job the city says others were unwilling to do: lead contractor for the now-completed removal of 14 pieces of Confederate statuary that dotted Virginia’s capital city. “You did it, man,” said Rodney Henry.

British-Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert detained in Iran moved out of desert prison

Kylie Moore-Gilbert, the British-Australian academic who has been detained in Iran for the past two years, has been moved from the notorious desert prison of Qarchak to an unknown location. Her move was first reported by the Iranian Association of Human Rights Activists, who said that she was moved, along with all of her belongings, on Saturday. A source close to the case confirmed the move, but did not know any further details. There has been no official word from the Iranian government. Dr Moore-Gilbert, a lecturer in Islamic Studies, was arrested for espionage after attending a conference in Qom in 2018. She was charged in a secret trial and given 10 years imprisonment. Both Dr Moore-Gilbert and the Australian government reject the charges, which they say are politically motivated. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claim that someone she interviewed for a research project flagged her as suspicious so they stopped her from returning to Melbourne. Qarchak prison, in the desert on the eastern outskirts of Tehran, has a reputation for being the most dangerous of the country’s women’s prisons. Dr Moore-Gilbert had been moved from Evin prison in Tehran to Qarchak in August, which activists at the time believed to be a “punishment”. It was not immediately clear where Dr Moore-Gilbert has been taken. Just 11 days prior to her movement she had been transferred to Ward Eight (formerly known as the Mothers’ Ward) of Qarchak, alongside at least 15 other political prisoners. While those campaigning for her release see her move as a sign of hope, not knowing where the mystery location she has been sent to or the reason behind the move, gives little to base it on.

‘Urban Warfare’ as Europe’s Second Wave Spins Out of Control

ROME—A few hours after the regional governor of the Italian region of Campania where Naples is located announced he would be locking down the entire province to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, Neapolitans took to the streets Friday night to defy the order. The situation quickly turned into what one police official likened to urban warfare with protesters lighting dumpsters and ducking teargas being lobbed by police. All the while, the mostly maskless, yelling crowd undoubtedly spread coronavirus even more.Europe is very much out of control when it comes to its second wave, with every single nation in the 27-member zone struggling in a race against time as hospitals fill up and death tolls—which are substantially less than the first wave so far— continue to rise. Millions of people are facing harsh new restrictions as governments play what amounts to whack-a-mole to try to stop the spread of the virus they thought just a few months ago they had defeated. Improved testing in many countries has painted a clearer picture of just how widespread the pandemic is, but because of the number of new infections, systems to contact trace have been overwhelmed, making the spread impossible to control.The U.S. is in Denial Over the Coronavirus Pandemic as Europe Struggles With Second WaveFrance has expanded its Draconian curfew that has stifled Parisian nightlife and put a massive dent in the hospitality sector economy of one of the most vibrant cities in the world. Now 46 million French people will have to be home by 9 p.m. In Wales, a two-week “firebreak” started Friday, meaning everyone but essential workers has to be home by 6 p.m. The Czech Republic has just reached the dubious honor of having the most cases per capita in Europe with 1,148 cases per 100,000 residents, with Belgium and the Netherlands close behind. Ireland is under a six-week lockdown and Slovakia has vowed to test every single citizen to try to mitigate the spread. The Polish president has just tested positive and Germany reached 10,003 COVID-related deaths as the infection rate continues to rise. Filming of Mission Impossible 7 with Tom Cruise has been suspended in Venice as cases there reach record levels. And the Italian government is facing calls by 100 top scientists to mandate strict new measures in the next two or three days, or the outcome could be catastrophic.And it is still only October.Europe’s problems are dire, and citizens are angry that their governments have not been able to come up with any better plan than locking down, which puts already weak economies that were so badly hurt in the first wave of the pandemic at even greater risk of collapse. Ludovic Subran, the chief economist at Allianz warned last week of a high risk serious recession across Europe as new restrictions are put in place. “We see an elevated risk of a double dip recession in countries that are once again resorting to targeted and regional lockdowns,” he said, adding that the European Union’s first bailout $880 billion won’t likely go to growth but be used by many countries like Italy, Spain and Greece to just stay afloat.On Saturday, the group Save Our Rights U.K. is holding a massive demonstration in London to protest not only restrictions being enforced by the British government, but the overall handling of the pandemic, pointing to contact tracing and other means to track the spread of the coronavirus as an affront to privacy. “We believe that the coronavirus regulations that are in place are not proportionate and appropriate, and are causing more harm than good,” Louise Creffield, the group founder told the Guardian. “We are very concerned with protecting people’s human rights: right to privacy, family life, bodily autonomy, medical freedoms, and so on. We are not just concerned with lockdowns per se, we are concerned with the infringements with our privacy by having this track and trace everywhere.”Similar sentiments are now common across Europe, where pandemic fatigue is now evident. And with lack of a feasible containment plan anywhere, the people are angry, desperate and increasingly ambivalent about what is really at stake: thousands of lives.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.

Tropical Storm Zeta expected to strengthen into hurricane

The formation of Zeta puts the 2020 hurricane season one name storm away from tying the all-time record.

Harris appeals directly to Black men: ‘Honor the ancestors’

Democratic vice presidential hopeful Kamala Harris made a direct appeal to Black men Friday, defending her record as a prosecutor, blasting President Donald Trump as “racist” and vouching for Joe Biden as a man capable of addressing systemic racism and leading a diverse country. The California senator warned that Trump wants to “turn 20% of Black men in favor of him,” a mark that could tilt a range of battleground states in the South and Upper Midwest to the president.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is heavily favored to win her reelection race. Her challenger has still raised $10 million because Republicans are desperate to beat her.

"I guarantee you 75% of his contributors don't know anything about him," a Republican strategist told The New York Times.

'An incredibly tragic day for Ocala': Florida police chief Greg Graham killed in plane crash

The death of Greg Graham, who became Ocala's 30th police chief in January 2012, stunned the central Florida city northwest of Orlando.

More mass testing in China after 137 virus cases in Xinjiang

Chinese officials were racing Sunday to smother a fresh coronavirus outbreak in the country's far northwest after 137 new infections were discovered.

They're key allies of Benjamin Netanyahu. They're also fueling Israel's big COVID-19 spike

Israel's ultra-Orthodox are key to Benjamin Netanyahu's bid to stay in power, but their resistance to coronavirus restrictions is causing tensions.

Nigeria's police order massive mobilization after unrest

Nigeria’s top police official on Saturday ordered the immediate mobilization of all officers to “reclaim the public space from criminal elements masquerading as protesters” after days of unrest and demonstrations over police abuses that left at least 69 people dead. The police order could further heighten tensions in Africa’s most populous country after some of its worst turmoil in years. Nigeria’s inspector general of police, M.A. Adamu, ordered colleagues to “dominate the public space” while announcing that enough is enough, a statement said.

Ex-CIA Director Brennan: 'Outrageous' for Trump to talk of inviting Saudi crown prince to D.C.

On the Yahoo News “Skullduggery” podcast, former CIA Director John Brennan said it is “outrageous" for President Trump to talk about inviting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Washington.

Singapore halts use of flu vaccines after 48 die in South Korea

Singapore has temporarily halted the use of two influenza vaccines as a precaution after some people who received them in South Korea died, becoming among the first countries to publicly announce a halt of the vaccines' usage. South Korea reported that 48 have died as of Saturday after getting flu shots, but said it would carry on with the state-run vaccination programme as they found no direct link between the deaths and the shots. No deaths associated with influenza vaccination have been reported in Singapore to date, but the decision to halt the use of SKYCellflu Quadrivalent and VaxigripTetra was precautionary, the health ministry and the Health Sciences Authority (HAS) said in a statement late on Sunday. The HSA is in touch with the South Korean authorities for further information as they investigate to determine if the deaths are related to influenza vaccinations. SKYCellflu Quadrivalent is manufactured by South Korea's SK Bioscience and locally distributed by AJ Biologics, while VaxigripTetra is manufactured by Sanofi and locally distributed by Sanofi Aventis. Two other influenza vaccines that have been brought into Singapore for the Northern Hemisphere 2020/21 influenza season may continue to be used, Singapore health authorities said.

Americans Should Brace for 100,000 New COVID Cases a Day, Experts Say

“You should be prepared for how bad it’s going to get.”The words of Dr. William Haseltine, an internationally renowned infectious disease expert, summarized the resounding—and sobering—takeaway from several public health experts and epidemiologists who spoke to The Daily Beast on Saturday, hours after the U.S. smashed its previous record of new daily COVID-19 cases. The country hit 83,757 reported infections in one day on Friday, while hospitalizations rocketed across the nation by 40 percent.The problem, experts say, isn’t Friday’s number. It’s the upward trajectory.“It’s going to get a lot worse,” said Dr. Haseltine, who was at the heart of the U.S response to the HIV/AIDS and anthrax crises. “We’re looking at easily an excess of 100,000 infections a day and overwhelmed hospitals all over the country.”Haseltine said that prediction was supported by several factors: The weather will only get colder, forcing people indoors. Flu season is approaching. The holidays will tempt people to gather in groups. There are no silver bullets coming. The smaller—but still devastating—peaks in the spring and the summer were largely contained to specific regions of the United States.“Now it’s just about everywhere across the country,” said Haseltine, noting that cases are impacting more age groups, environments, and facilities. While many states saw clusters originating in meatpacking plants, prisons, and retirement facilities earlier in the year, they’re now being traced more often back to private family gatherings, religious services, bars, athletic events, colleges, high schools, and more.That news might be shocking to anyone who believed President Trump’s declaration this week that the country is “rounding the corner” on the pandemic and that the virus is “going away.”But Haseltine’s prediction that “we’re not even near the peak” of the latest surge was backed by other experts who spoke with The Daily Beast on Saturday.“What we can hope for,” said Haseltine, “is that this will plateau at 100,000 [new cases per day], and that enough people will get enough scared and that enough hospitals will get overwhelmed” that it convinces the American public to wear masks, social distance, and exercise caution.Dr. Jennifer Horney, founding director and professor in the University of Delaware’s epidemiology program, noted that Haseltine’s prediction was consistent with the latest published results from the forecasting team at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington in Seattle. Its report on Friday in Nature estimated a cumulative total of 511,373 deaths across the United States by Feb. 28, 2021. A Pervasive Myth To be clear, more Americans are, every day, gaining increased access to quicker and effective tests, raising a question that Horney called a “pervasive” myth: Are dramatic COVID-19 case increases just a reflection of the fact that we’re testing more people?In short: No.Experts surveyed by The Daily Beast on Saturday pointed out that hospitalization and fatality rates are also increasing—robust indications of trends—and that positivity rates in several states are too high to be accurately reflecting a full picture of the number of infections.“Hospitalizations don’t yet reflect what happened this week,” Haseltine said.Even still, hospitals all over the country—from Amarillo, Texas to Salt Lake City, Utah, and Kansas City, Missouri and Milwaukee, Wisconsin—reported this week that they were overwhelmed and approaching capacity.Dr. Irwin Redlener, founding director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness and a senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Earth Institute, agreed with Haseltine’s prediction, saying he would “also remind people” that the number of confirmed cases is only “a fraction of the total.”In June, Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the number of confirmed cases likely represented only 10 percent of true infections. That means on the days that the country saw 60,000 new cases, there were actually closer to 600,000. While Delaware’s Dr. Horney noted that such case representation has likely improved with access to testing, it hasn’t improved enough not to be reflecting a true rise in cases across the nation.And, worryingly, none of the experts interviewed by The Daily Beast said there was any evidence of change at the institutional, state, local, or individual level that would curb the deadly virus’s worrying trend. ‘Failure of Leadership’“There’s a failure of leadership, failure of governance and failure of social solidarity in the Western world,” said Haseltine. “The Chinese taught the world what to do. You can stop the infection without a vaccine, without a drug—and stop it forever. It’s not that they’re totalitarian, it’s that they did what public health officials told them to do. What is wrong with the rest of us?”On that point, both Redlener and Horney agreed.“The dearth of federal leadership has become so apparent and has had such a tragic impact,” said Horney. “The secret in all of these kinds of emergencies is to have strong guidance with enough flexibility to make it locally relevant.”The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation’s projection published on Friday in Nature also found “that achieving universal mask use—95 percent mask use in public—could be sufficient to ameliorate the worst effects of epidemic resurgences in many states” and that such compliance “could save an additional 129,574 lives” through the end of February 2021. Even 85 percent mask compliance, said the forecast, could save an additional 95,814 lives.“It’s not too late to talk about a national mask mandate, which is one of the few tools we have to deal with this since we don’t have a vaccine,” said Redlener, echoing a sentiment vocalized a day earlier by Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease official.But without a national mandate, state and local health departments are left to make their own ordinances, the result of which has been headline-grabbing in-fighting from Texas to Georgia.In Illinois, the state’s public health director broke down in tears on Friday, begging the public to follow health guidelines.“If you’re talking about COVID fatigue from having to keep wearing a mask, think about the COVID fatigue for health-care workers, respiratory therapists, who are going to have to go through this whole episode again of trying to fight for people’s lives, because we couldn’t figure out how to control this virus by doing some of the simple measures that have been prescribed,” Dr. Ngozi Ezike said.Without a federal strategy, said infectious disease experts, pandemic-weary Americans have been left to make their own decisions in the public interest, to decipher mixed messages from departments and politicians, to understand that eating indoors at restaurants may be technically allowed, but not responsible. There will always be people who trust a corporation’s analysis that its product is safe—or who believe their individual liberty is more important than the public good.“We are always emotional and sometimes rational, it’s just human nature,” said Haseltine. “Belief trumps facts every time.” ‘Be Prepared’Horney’s advice to the public is to “double down” and make plans now. Whether you live in New York or South Dakota, in a city or rural environment, on a college campus or in a retirement community: “Get your flu shot. Wear your mask.” The more lax people are, the worse cases will get, and the worse off every community will be, she said.“Be prepared—and not in this joking sort of way about running out of toilet paper—in the real way,” she continued. “If your kids are in school, be ready for them to pivot to remote learning.”As Redlener said, the nation is in a “battle” between pandemic fatigue and pandemic fatalities.“This virus is anything but slowing down,” Redlener warned, and if Americans don’t begin to take it much, much more seriously, he said, “We’re in trouble.”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.

A White House lawyer reportedly tried to get The Wall Street Journal to scoop Hunter Biden's emails

The Wall Street Journal published a short article Thursday night on Hunter Biden's business dealings that concluded: "Corporate records reviewed by The Wall Street Journal show no role for Joe Biden." The same night, the Journal published an opinion piece that asserted the Democratic presidential nominee had been aware of and/or involved in his son's business endeavors, about 24 hours after Breitbart News published a statement from a former Hunter Biden business partner, Tony Bobulinksi.That wasn't how President Trump's allies had wanted this to go, Ben Smith reports in The New York Times.In early October, three men allied with Trump — Arthur Schwartz, a public relations man close to Donald Trump Jr.; former deputy White House Counsel Stefan Passantino; and Eric Herschmann, a White House lawyer currently on the public payroll as "senior adviser to the president" — met in a McLean, Virginia, house and pitched the Hunter Biden story to Wall Street Journal reporter Michael Bender, Smith reports, citing two people familiar with the meeting. Bobulinksi called in and offered to go on the record.The trio gave Bender a cache of Hunter Biden emails and ended the meeting "believing that the Journal would blow the thing open, and their excitement was conveyed to the president," who said on an Oct. 19 conference call that an "important piece" was coming in the Journal, Smith reports. The Journal had assigned a group of reporters to dig in to the allegations, and Trump and his allies expected their article to appear in the Journal that day, former Trump campaign chairman Stephen Bannon told Smith."The editors didn't like Trump's insinuation that we were being teed up to do this hit job," a Journal reporter not directly involved in the story told Smith. But the Journal continued working on the report. But by that point, things had already gotten "messy," Smith reports. Rudy Giuliani, Trump's political operative, had "delivered a cache of documents of questionable provenance — but containing some of the same emails — to the New York Post, a sister publication to the Journal in Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.," casting "a pall over the story."Smith, a media reporter, splits his weekly column between a report on "the McLean group's failed attempt to sway the election" and an analysis of the media's gatekeeper role. Read the entire column at The New York Times.More stories from theweek.com Trump loses on the merits Who won the final 2020 debate? Call it a draw. Get ready for Trump TV, America

Supreme Court sides mostly with Republicans in last-minute voting cases

More rulings on election procedures with mail-in ballots in key battleground states are expected before Nov. 3

Border Patrol agents fatally shoot man in Texas after he backed vehicle into agent, official says

Authorities used lethal force after a man backed a vehicle into a Border Patrol agent and a suspect, pinning them against a parked car, an official said.

UK 'SBS' special forces storm tanker and detain stowaways in Channel

Troops from the Special Boat Service, a navy special forces unit whose headquarters in just a few miles away from where the vessel began showing signs of distress, boarded the Nave Andromeda near the Isle of Wight off southern England. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and Home Secretary Priti Patel authorised the armed forces to board the ship "to safeguard life and secure a ship that was subject to suspected hijacking", the defence ministry said. The defence ministry declined to confirm or deny the involvement of the SBS - in line with British government policy of not commenting on special forces operations.

'Not just numbers': The women disappearing in Peru

Thousands of women go missing in Peru every year and many are never found.

CNN's Jake Tapper presses White House chief of staff after new round of coronavirus cases among top officials

CNN’s Jake Tapper grilled White House chief of staff Mark Meadows after it was revealed that top aides to Vice President Pence tested positive for COVID-19. Under CDC guidelines, this development would call for Pence, who has been in close contact with them, to self-isolate. But Pence is still hitting the campaign trail.

The operator of this Boeing 767 private jet says the plane has an air system so advanced it kills pathogens so passengers don't need to wear a mask onboard – see inside

This luxury flying apartment costs an hour what a New York City studio costs for an entire year. The difference being this one kills COVID in the air.

Hotels are trying to attract families with gourmet cooking classes, cabana classrooms, and yoga breaks as kids continue with remote schooling across the US

Hotels are beckoning families with "schoolcation" packages that tap into their newfound flexibility to travel during the school year.

'We're not going to control pandemic': Trump aide

Donald Trump's chief of staff said Sunday that "we're not going to control the pandemic," drawing a rebuke from the Biden campaign that "they are admitting defeat."

Tanks sent to tourist island of Zanzibar as Tanzania's strongman leader eyes indefinite rule

Zanzibar is best known by holidaymakers for its sandy white beaches and winding medieval passageways. But where once there were tourists, tanks and soldiers now line the cobbled streets in the iconic district of Stone Town as the East African nation lurches towards a general election on Wednesday that could spell the end of what's left of democracy on the mainland of Tanzania. The archipelago has been a hotbed of government opposition ever since it joined the adjacent territory of Tanganyika in 1964, creating Tanzania. Tanzania’s strongman John Magufuli, who is running for national re-election on Wednesday, is the greatest barrier to free and fair elections that Zanzibar has ever faced, opposition leaders claim. According to his critics, he is leading Tanzania away from one of Africa’s most inclusive and peaceful democracies towards a totalitarian state. Opponents accuse him of shooting opposition figures, muzzling the independent press and replacing the judiciary with government stooges. His announcement in June that Tanzania is “Covid-19 free” and a goat, pawpaw and papaya had tested positive for the virus raised eyebrows around the world.

Hurricane force gusts prompt extremely critical fire risk in California

Meanwhile, record shattering cold brings heavy snow and wind chills below zero to Colorado.

South Korea pharma Celltrion's COVID test gets U.S. emergency use authorisation

South Korea's Celltrion Inc said on Monday it has received emergency use authorisation (EUA) from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) for its rapid COVID-19 testing kit Sampinute, which boosted shares of the company and its affiliates. Celltrion said Sampinute delivers coronavirus test results within 10 minutes, with a sensitivity of around 94%. The authorisation came three months after requesting approval in late July and the product has already been launched in the United States in August, according to the company statement.

‘Catastrophic’ shark attack critically injures Australian spearfisher, officials say

He had to be airlifted from the Great Barrier Reef to a hospital for emergency surgery.