TOP TECH NEWS: July 2020

Friday, July 31, 2020

Op-Ed: Trump can't postpone the election. But here's why we have to take his tweet seriously

President Trump's tweet today is unprecedented, and we have to consider whether the president truly intends to lead us down a dangerous path.

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Rodrigo Duterte: 'I'm not joking - clean masks with petrol'

The Philippines' leader doubled down on earlier claims - despite officials saying he was wrong.

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Dr. Anthony Fauci issues strong warnings to 4 states experiencing 'slight increase' in percentage of positive tests

Dr. Anthony Fauci warned the governors of four U.S. states that they need to get new infections under control. If they don't, they could experience a situation similar to what has happened to some states in the South that are battling a dramatic new surge in infections. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, spoke to "ABC News" during a 35-minute ...

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Staples customer who told woman to wear mask is thrown to ground, has broken leg

Margot Kagan, who recently had a liver transplant and was walking with a cane, was thrown to the ground by another customer she had told to wear a mask.

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Health of US Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg fuels anxiety, preparations

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a darling of the US left and an increasingly frail octogenarian, is taking center stage ahead of this year's presidential election, with the Supreme Court's balance hanging on her seemingly faltering health. Ginsburg's liver cancer -- and recent repeat trips to the hospital due to bile duct infection -- has Washington's political class on tenterhooks, with her every medical procedure causing major hand-wringing, not to mention a variety of contingency plans. Ginsburg was hospitalized yet again on Wednesday to "revise a bile duct stent," as her doctors assured the public that such things were "common occurrences."

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Herman Cain, former presidential candidate, dies from coronavirus

Cain was hospitalized with the virus last month after attending a Trump rally two weeks earlier.

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COVID-19 patient who had double transplant didn’t recognize body

A Chicago woman who became the nation's first COVID-19 patient to undergo a double lung transplant said, "I looked at myself and couldn’t recognize my body."

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A Louisiana woman who planted seeds from a mysterious package says she's not worried. But the USDA is, and it's asking people not to plant these unknown seeds.

"Then we saw the post saying don't plant them. I mean, I'm not scared about it, I'm not worried about it, but I guess people are," Aucoin told WAFB.

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43 million face eviction risk as relief programs and moratorium expire

All renters are now subject to state laws, and there's a patchwork of eviction policies that vary by state.

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Republican says he will take Trump-promoted Covid-19 treatment after implying he contracted coronavirus by wearing a mask

A Texas Republican who tested positive for Covid-19 wrongly suggested he may have contracted the novel coronavirus by wearing a face mask — and said he would be taking an unproven treatment touted by Donald Trump.Louie Gohmert (R—Tx) tested positive on Wednesday during a White House procedural screening just before he was set to fly with the president to Texas on Air Force One.

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Democrats reject $600 benefit extension from White House, push for more

Democrats rejected a short-term extension of a $600 weekly unemployment benefit proposed by the White House on Thursday.

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Gov. Hogan condemns Trump's 'outrageous' tweet calling for election delay

“I never cease to be amazed by things the president tweets, but even that one took me by surprise,” Hogan said. “He can’t postpone the election, he doesn’t have the power to do it, and that’s why it’s an outrageous statement.

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Ghislaine Maxwell-Jeffrey Epstein emails revealed in new court papers

In the papers, a key accuser also alleges the pair were equally involved in sex trafficking.

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Two pilots killed when air tankers collide

The planes had been dispatched to help battle the Bishop Fire, a 14,000-acre blaze burning on federal land.

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Jim Jordan tries and fails to get Fauci to say protesters should be arrested for gathering during pandemic

Dr. Anthony Fauci wants to make it clear he's got nothing to do with the justice system.Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, appeared before Congress on Friday for a hearing on the federal government's coronavirus response. That's where Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who's been skeptical of restrictions meant to stem the virus' spread, tried to get Fauci to distinguish between protests against racism in the U.S. and bans on businesses reopening amid the pandemic.Because science indicates crowds exacerbate the spread of coronavirus, Jordan asked Fauci on Friday if the government "should limit the protests." "I'm not in a position to determine what the government should do in a forceful way," Fauci responded. So Jordan kept pressing: "The government is stopping people from going to church," claiming that's something "the five liberals" on the Supreme Court had decided. But Fauci continued holding out, saying he does not "judge one crowd versus another crowd" and would not "opine on who should get arrested or not. That's not my position."Jordan then went so far as to claim Fauci had said "protests increase the spread" of coronavirus. "I said crowds, I didn't say specifically, I didn't say protests or anything, " Fauci firmly responded. "You're putting words in my mouth," Fauci continued before saying he had no data showing the nationwide protests had spread the virus. Watch the whole exchange below. > Rep. Jordan: So, you're allowed to protest, millions of people in crowds...but you try to run your business and you get arrested?> > Dr. Fauci: I don't understand what you're asking me, as a public health official, to opine on who should get arrested or not. That's not my position pic.twitter.com/fAZEqbLz5q> > -- CBS News (@CBSNews) July 31, 2020More stories from theweek.com The White House reportedly scrapped a national testing plan because the virus was mostly hitting blue states Josh Hawley's good idea to stop modern slavery New Lincoln Project video imagines what it's like to wake up from a coma in 2020

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Teachers fearing in-person schooling make wills, retire or plan strikes

Educators, worried about the potentially deadly risks they are being forced to take, say proper protections have not been implemented School districts around the US are set to begin reopening in August, many with in-person classes, five days a week, despite coronavirus cases rising in many parts of the country.But the school reopenings have teachers around the US fearful for the safety of themselves, students, staff and family members, with teachers and unions saying that proper protections and protocols have yet to be implemented.Some teachers have even drawn up wills ahead of classes beginning, others have retired from the profession and teachers unions have said they will sanction strike action for members who deem that they are being forced to take potentially deadly risks.“Educators are afraid because proper policies are not being put in place to protect them,” said Alicia Priest, president of the Oklahoma Education Association. The Oklahoma state board of education has only issued guidelines for school districts, and voted down a proposal on 23 July to issue a mask mandate in schools across the state.“The OEA offers members through our personal legal services program a free will. The requests for those free wills are up over 3,000% in the last few weeks,” Priest added.A report published by the Kaiser Family Foundation on 10 July found 1.47 million teachers in the US – some 24% of the profession – are at greater risk of serious illness if infected with coronavirus because they have conditions that make them vulnerable.Yet Florida has issued an order mandating all schools must open in August in-person, five days a week. The Florida teachers union responded to the order with a lawsuit.“We are letting the community down by pretending we can open safely. The districts cannot do what is necessary according to CDC guidelines,” said Stacy Rene Kennett, a kindergarten teacher in Immokalee, Florida, who is expected to begin attending in-person training for school reopenings on 4 August.Amy Scott, an IB language arts high school teacher in Miami, Florida for 44 years, decided to retire one year early due to the coronavirus pandemic and the instability of the upcoming school year.“I dreaded it. I wanted to extend it as long as possible because I love kids and teaching,” said Scott. “But then came coronavirus and I realized all the difficulties of holding brick-and-mortar classrooms and the danger involved to teachers, students and the community spread and I didn’t want to end my 45 years of teaching in such a frustrating environment.”In Arizona, which was designated a global pandemic hotspot in early July, reopening decisions have been left to individual school districts.“There is no consistency across the state,” said Marisol Garcia, a middle school teacher and parent in Phoenix who currently serves as vice-president of the Arizona Educators Association. “We are left to our own devices to figure out how to keep our families safe and ensure our students are safe”Garcia explained current class loads in Arizona make social distancing impossible in districts where in-person learning is permitted, as she had no less than 31 students in each class last school year, and it remains unclear if any schools will face repercussions for not following guidelines for coronavirus protections. She also warns many of her colleagues may retire early.In Georgia, state agencies have issued guidelines for school reopenings, deferring decisions to school districts on when and how schools reopen in the coming weeks.Several school districts outside of metro areas in Georgia are reopening in August with in-person classes, five days a week, leaving teachers there concerned over safety protections as coronavirus case rates have been rising around the state over the past several weeks.“We’re very concerned that when we’re once again in school buildings, children, educators, and their family members will become sick and perhaps die,” said Lisa Morgan, president of the Georgia Educators Association.According to Morgan, several school districts in Georgia that are reopening in person, five days a week, are not following CDC guidelines, with no mask mandates, large classroom sizes making social distancing impossible, and responsibility for extra cleaning measures placed on teachers to carry out.Even as schools are expected to reopen in the coming weeks around the US, school districts and teachers are scrambling to create plans for restarting schools, whether classes are conducted in person, virtually, or a hybrid of in-person and remote learning.“The country is asking teachers and children to lead the way, yet no one seems to know what direction we’re headed,” said Angela McKeen, a high school science teacher in Clarksburg, West Virginia. “My concerns at this point are for my students. Can we prevent huge outbreaks? Can students effectively learn in such fluid situations? Can teachers effectively reach their students at not just their places academically, but also emotionally during this time?”Teacher unions have raised the possibility of walking off the job unless comprehensive safety plans are implemented for schools to reopen.The head of the Colorado Education Association recently said teachers may refuse to report to work as schools are set to reopen in the state in August if teachers’ criteria for school reopenings aren’t met.The union cited a survey of nearly 10,000 members, where about eight out of 10 teachers asserted they would be willing to refuse to work if teachers aren’t provided a voice in how safety protocols are implemented, such as mask mandates and social distancing procedures.“We don’t want schools to be epicenters of outbreak in our community. It would crush any student or staff member if they brought coronavirus into school,” said Ernest Garibay, a high school math teacher in Jefferson county, Colorado, and local union representative.

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Killer of Rafiki, Uganda's rare silverback mountain gorilla, jailed

The Ugandan hunter said that he had killed the animal in self defence when he was attacked.

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Father, son with COVID-19 forced to quarantine in Hawaii

Hawaii's public health director said a rarely used special health order was used to force them into isolation.

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China uses Hong Kong security law against US and UK based activists

* Arrest warrant issued for campaigner and US citizen Samuel Chu * Four other exiles are in Britain wanted for ‘incitement to secession’Hong Kong police have issued arrest warrants for six pro-democracy activists living in exile, the first time the city’s authorities have used a sweeping new law to target campaigners living outside Hong Kong.They include Samuel Chu, an American citizen who lives in the US, Nathan Law, a prominent campaigner who recently relocated to the UK after fleeing Hong Kong, and Simon Cheng, a former British consular staffer who was granted asylum in the UK after alleging he was tortured in China.Chinese state media reported that the six men were wanted for “incitement to secession and collusion with foreign forces”.The move comes a month after China introduced a controversial national security law in Hong Kong. China said the legislation targets the crimes of “secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces” and carries penalties as severe as life in prison.Critics warned that it would be used to target legitimate opposition, and highlighted the unusual decision to make the law applicable to both Hong Kong residents and non-residents. That apparently gives China jurisdiction beyond its own borders.Chu, who runs the Hong Kong Democracy Council, a Washington DC-based advocacy organization dedicated to furthering Hong Kong’s freedom and democracy, is the first person targeted under this aspect of the law.He said China was sending a clear message to other activists by ordering his arrest.“I would really emphasize how outrageous this really is,” Chu told the Guardian. “I am the first non-Chinese citizen that essentially is being targeted. I think they do intend to try to make this an example.”Several countries have since suspended their extradition treaties with Hong Kong, including the UK, Australia and Germany, as a possible safeguard against attempts to use the national security laws to round up activists abroad. The US ordered an end to Hong Kong’s special economic status earlier in July.Chu, who has lived in the US as an American citizen since 1996, said the charges amounted to China “targeting a US citizen for lobbying my own government”.“We always knew that when the national security law went into effect there was a very troubling and illogical, irrational idea that they were claiming jurisdiction over anyone who is not even a Hong Kong resident, who is anywhere in the world, doing anything that they deemed threatening,” he said.> HK police is targeting a US citizen for lobbying my own gov't. I might be the 1st non-Chinese citizen to be targeted, but I will not be the last. If I am targeted, any American/any citizen of any nation who speaks out for HK can-and will be-too. > > We are all Hong Kongers now. pic.twitter.com/KQYGcStY1e> > — Samuel Chu 朱牧民 (@samuelmchu) July 31, 2020The other activists charged wereRay Wong, Wayne Chan and Honcques Laus.Wong, who is currently in the UK, told Reuters the charges showed that the Chinese government was afraid of the advocacy work of Hong Kong activists internationally.“I think they want to cut off our connection with people in Hong Kong … it will make people fear that they may violate the national security law by contacting us,” Wong said.

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Trump revisits his playbook for disastrous news: An explosive spectacle

Minutes after the government announced the worst economic contraction on record, the president upended a day in Washington with his suggestion of delaying the election.

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Russian jet fighter buzzes two U.S. spy planes over Black Sea

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Hong Kong bars 12 opposition candidates from election

Opposition candidates had hoped to capitalise on anger over a controversial security law.

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South Korean general sacked over defector's return

The man's departure only came to light when Pyongyang -- which insists it has not had any coronavirus cases -- announced at the weekend that a "runaway" who had returned across the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone was suspected of having the disease. Inter-Korean relations have been in a deep freeze following the collapse of a summit in Hanoi between Kim and US President Donald Trump early last year over what the nuclear-armed North would be willing to give up in exchange for a loosening of sanctions.

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Thursday, July 30, 2020

China and the U.S. Should Reset Their Relationship

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Republican says he will take Trump-promoted Covid-19 treatment after implying he contracted coronavirus by wearing a mask

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GM will unveil the revived, electric Hummer pickup this fall — and promises the world's first 'super truck'

The all-electric pickup will have 1,000 horsepower and be able to sprint from 0-60 mph in 3 seconds. GMC also teased the Hummer SUV.

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FBI says errors discovered in more than two-dozen wiretap applications were mostly minor

The agency said its review of 29 applications to obtain wiretaps on U.S. citizens had only minor, mostly typographical errors.

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Royal Meghan and UK tabloid trade blows in court dispute

A lawyer for Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, accused a British newspaper publisher in court on Wednesday of commercially exploiting its legal dispute with her by using court documents as the basis for "sensational" coverage. Meghan, wife of Queen Elizabeth's grandson Prince Harry, is suing Associated Newspapers over articles in the Mail on Sunday in February 2019 that included parts of a handwritten letter she sent to her estranged father, Thomas Markle, in August 2018. Increasingly hostile relations between the royal couple and some British newspapers they accused of intrusive, inaccurate and sometimes racist coverage was one of the reasons why Harry and Meghan left Britain for the United States.

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Spoiler alert? Kamala Harris outed as Biden's VP pick -- maybe

Joe Biden's vice presidential pick has been one of Washington's best kept secrets but a supposedly accidental news publication and Biden's own teasingly displayed notes are raising expectations that the winner is Kamala Harris. Speculation over the choice of VP is a parlor game played every four years in Washington, but this time the stakes are unusually high. Biden would be 78 on taking office -- the oldest US president ever -- and he has hinted that he might not seek a second term, making his deputy the prime candidate to take on the party's nomination.

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Kayleigh McEnany Struggles to Defend Trump’s Demon Sperm Doctor Retweets

Kayleigh McEnany had a difficult job even before her boss started retweeting conspiracy theories from a fringe doctor who blames demon sperm and alien DNA for America’s health problems. CBS This Morning co-host Anthony Mason wasted no time getting to that particular story when he invited the White House press secretary on his show Wednesday morning. “Why is the president pushing hydroxychloroquine again when his own health experts say it’s not effective in treating the virus?” he asked. McEnany began by explaining that, despite science to the contrary, Trump has a “positive outlook” on the drug’s potential as a “prophylaxis in the early stages.” The president famously told the press he was taking hydroxychloroquine two months into the pandemic because he had “heard a lot of good stories” about it. “He wants to save lives, that is his goal here,” she added. “That is why he’s promoting this drug as a prophylaxis but only in consultation with your doctor.” Kayleigh McEnany Urges Fox News Viewers to ‘Follow Trump’s Lead’ on MasksAfter pointing out that Dr. Anthony Fauci has contradicted the president’s “positive outlook” on the drug by citing medical evidence, Mason zeroed in on the video that Trump retweeted of Dr. Stella Immanuel in which she not only promoted hydroxychloroquine as a miracle “cure” for COVID-19 but also declared that people “do not need to wear masks” and that shutdowns are “unnecessary.” “This just comes a week after the president said masks are ‘patriotic,’” the host continued. “There’s a shift in tone here and what appear to be very mixed messages. Why?” McEnany’s defense? “That was a three-second remark in a more than five-minute video,” she said, arguing that Trump was simply using Dr. Immanuel’s video to push the unproven drug he likes. When she started praising Trump for finally wearing a mask in public months into the crisis, Mason pushed back. “But there’s a message in there that says it’s not necessary and it comes from the president who has 80 million followers!” he replied. “Did he not look at the whole video?” “The president did look at the whole video,” McEnany said, perhaps not helping her case. “And the overarching message of the video, more than five minutes from this doctor, was talking about hydroxychloroquine.” Trump himself seemed to predict this controversy during an interview last week when he said, “You know what I find? It’s not the tweets, it’s the retweets that get you in trouble.” The president then admitted that when he “sees something that looks good” on Twitter, he doesn’t always “investigate” it before hitting the retweet button. Trevor Noah Unloads on Trump for Trusting ‘Dr. Demon Sperm’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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Buddy, the first dog to test positive for COVID-19 in the US, has died

Buddy first showed symptoms in mid-April, right before his 7th birthday. He was struggling to breathe, lost weight and became increasingly lethargic.

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Chicago police chief dies in apparent suicide after promotion

A 30-year veteran of the Chicago police force is found dead two weeks after being promoted; Matt Finn reports from Chicago as the city marks another deadly night of violence.

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US hits Poland, others in Europe over Holocaust claims

The United States is criticizing a number of eastern and central European nations, including Poland, for failing to compensate Holocaust victims and their families and communities for property seized during Nazi occupation in World War II as the numbers of survivors dwindles due to age. In a report issued Wednesday, the State Department called out Bosnia, Belarus, Ukraine and particularly Poland for not having acted on restitution claims. Croatia, Latvia and Russia were also taken to task in the report, which is likely to draw angry responses from the governments identified.

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Trump attended a fundraiser in Texas without a mask on the day the US hit 150,000 coronavirus deaths

Trump was expected to attend the fundraiser with GOP Rep. Louie Gohmert, but the congressman tested positive for the coronavirus.

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Iran says fires missiles from underground in Gulf war games

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they launched ballistic missiles from "the depths of the Earth" on Wednesday during the last day of military exercises near sensitive Gulf waters. The launches came a day after the Guards struck a mock-up of a US aircraft carrier with volleys of missiles near the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane for a fifth of world oil output. The Iranian manoeuvres were staged amid heightened tensions between Iran and its decades-old arch enemy the United States.

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Why some Americans say they'll never wear a mask — and what that says about the U.S.

While the vast majority of public health experts now agree that wearing face masks could halt the worsening coronavirus pandemic in its tracks, some Americans continue to resist that guidance.

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Dahleen Glanton: When it comes to honoring John Lewis, Donald Trump was no hypocrite

We should thank Donald Trump for skipping Congressman John Lewis' farewell ceremony. While his absence from the memorial in the Capitol rotunda on Monday was glaring, Trump did us all a favor by leaving town. To pay respects to a man for whom he showed so little regard in life would be disingenuous. Trump might be a liar, but at least he is no hypocrite. Unlike Senate Majority Leader Mitch ...

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New research suggests COVID-19 can spread via aerosol transmission -- and might affect tall people more

A new survey has found more evidence to suggest that people can become infected with COVID-19 through aerosol transmission, which could be prevented by wearing a mask. Carried out by data scientists in the UK, Norway, and the US, the study is one of the first to investigate which personal and work-related factors can lead to COVID-19 transmission. After surveying 2,000 people in the UK and US, the researchers found that the data from both countries suggests that aerosol transmission of the virus -- via microdroplets which are so small that they remain suspended in the air for several hours -- is very likely.

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Google's Sundar Pichai was immediately pounced on in the first question of the antitrust hearing, asking the CEO why Google steals content

In his opening set of questions to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, David Cicilline revealed what the year-long investigation had found.

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Father, son with COVID-19 forced to quarantine in Hawaii

Hawaii's public health director said a rarely used special health order was used to force them into isolation.

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Hong Kong students arrested on suspicion of inciting secession

China's new "national security" legislation, which came into force in Hong Kong on July 1, outlaws a variety of vaguely defined offenses like "sedition" that can carry sentences of life in prison.

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Poll puts Biden over Trump in 6 swing states

Former Vice President Joe Biden is still looking good in key swing states across the country.In May, a poll from a British consulting firm Redfield & Wilton Strategies put Biden ahead of President Trump in six states Trump won in 2016: Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Redfield & Wilton Strategies' July poll shows Biden still has a lead in all of those states, and even widened it in three of them.While Biden had 4 percent lead over Trump in Arizona, a 2 point lead in Florida, and an 8 point lead in Michigan in May, he has an 8, 7, and 12 percent lead, respectively, in those states as of July. Biden maintained his 10-point lead in Wisconsin over the past two months. Meanwhile Biden lost traction in North Carolina, where he had a 45-43 lead over Trump in May but has a 43-42 lead as of July, and Pennsylvania, where his margin fell from 48-39 to 48-41.Redfield & Wilton surveyed anywhere from 742 to 1,121 registered voters in each of the states, with larger populations corresponding to larger sample sizes. The polls were conducted from July 19-24.More stories from theweek.com Conservative propaganda has crippled the U.S. coronavirus response Facebook beats 2nd quarter revenue expectations even as ad industry struggles Mike Pence and Kellyanne Conway give conflicting messages about Trump's RNC speech plans

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Police chief explains decision to back out of Democrat convention security

West Allis Police Department Chief Patrick Mitchell joins 'Fox & Friends' after backing out of a DNC security agreement over a ban on law enforcement's use of chemical irritants during protests.

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Chinese scientist arrested after seeking medical care

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Trump says coronavirus stimulus checks, direct payments may be more than $1,200

The amount the president put on the table is even higher than that proposed by Republicans and Democrats.

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FBI says errors uncovered in wiretap applications were mostly 'non-material'

The FBI said on Thursday that the errors and sloppy record-keeping identified in connection with 29 of its applications submitted to a federal court to obtain wiretaps to monitor U.S. citizens were "non-material" and did not undermine their legal validity. The FBI's statement on Thursday came several months after Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz released an audit faulting the FBI for failing to follow procedures designed to minimize factual inaccuracies in applications to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

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Wednesday, July 29, 2020

Postcard helps Van Gogh family reveal exact spot where artist painted hours before his death

An art expert has pinpointed the exact spot where Vincent van Gogh was painting just hours before he shot himself, museum officials announced on Tuesday at a ceremony commemorating the 130th anniversary of his suicide. The picture, Tree Roots, was identified as the Dutch post-impressionist painter’s last work a few years ago. Now, an early postcard has made it possible to locate the scene it depicts in Auvers-sur-Oise, a village north of Paris. Willem van Gogh, the great-grandson of the artist’s brother Theo, and Emilie Gordenker, director of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, unveiled a plaque at the spot, which will soon be opened to the public. It is a short walk from the Auberge Ravoux, the former inn where Van Gogh spent his last 70 days before dying in his garret room on 29 July 1890.

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Chicago police chief dies in apparent suicide after promotion

A 30-year veteran of the Chicago police force is found dead two weeks after being promoted; Matt Finn reports from Chicago as the city marks another deadly night of violence.

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Tennessee state senator charged with stealing federal funds

A Tennessee state senator has been charged with stealing more than $600,000 in federal funds received by a health care company she directed and using the money to pay for her wedding and other personal expenses, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. A criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday charges state Sen. Katrina Robinson with theft and embezzlement involving government programs and wire fraud, U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant said in a news release. Robinson, a Democrat elected to the General Assembly in 2018 from a Memphis district, is also the director of The Healthcare Institute, which provides training for jobs in the health care field, prosecutors said.

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