BBC NEWS: October 2020

Saturday 31 October 2020

US election 2020: 'It just makes me feel like a nobody'

Former prisoner Davion Hampton from Florida wants to vote in this US election. But he can't.

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US election: 'All Republicans should marry Democrats'

Chenren and Cathy Shao haven't let political differences get in the way of their eight-year marriage.

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US election 2020: The great dividing line of this campaign

For some Americans, civil unrest after police shootings is driving their support for Donald Trump.

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Fact check: There is no Sen. Rob Donaldson, so posts of his speech about Barrett are fake

A post on new Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett originated as a hypothetical. It took off, with many people assuming it was from a real senator.

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2020 election results: Why Americans probably won’t find out who won on 3 November

'There is no chance that we will know on election night the full vote total in Michigan'

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Daylight-saving time ends on Sunday, November 1 — here's why we have it and why some countries and states have gotten rid of it

At 2 a.m. ET on November 1, Americans will "fall back" by moving their clocks an hour earlier to end seven months of daylight-saving time.

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'They give me the willies': scientist who vacuumed murder hornets braces for fight

Chris Looney helped dismantle the first nest of Asian giant hornets in the US. Now he’s preparing for the next stepThe eradication of the first nest of Asian giant hornets on US soil somewhat resembled a science fiction depiction of an alien landing site. A crew of government specialists in white, astronaut-like protective suits descended upon the hornet nexus to vanquish it with a futuristic-looking vacuum cleaner, to the relief of onlookers.The nest of the fearsome invasive insects, notoriously known as “murder hornets”, was found in a tree crevice near Blaine, in Washington state, via a tracking device attached to a previously captured worker hornet. The Washington state department of agriculture (WSDA) confirmed the nest had been successfully removed, with dozens of live captives taken back for inspection.“It was cold so they were docile, so between their slowness and the protective gear no one was hurt,” said Chris Looney, a WSDA entomologist who was tasked with vacuuming up the hornets.Wielding a lengthy, toxic stinger, the hornets can cause renal failure and death in people, as dozens of people in Japan have found out to their cost. One entomologist in Canada described the feeling of being stung as like “having hot tacks pushed into my flesh”.They can also squirt venom, as Looney saw first-hand when his lab workbench was sprayed by hornets as they roused themselves following capture. “I was more worried about getting permanent nerve damage in the eye from the squirted venom than being stung,” said Looney, who wore goggles for the capture. “They are pretty intimidating, even for an inch-and-a-half insect. They are big and loud and I know it would hurt very badly if I get stung. They give me the willies.”Murder hornets do not earn their moniker from killing people, however, with honeybees far more likely to be targeted. A honeybee colony can be decimated within a few hours, with the hornets decapitating their victims and feeding severed body parts to their young. This poses a gnawing concern for hobbyist beekeepers and even farmers in the US north-west, where managed honeybees are crucial for the pollination of crops such as blueberries and raspberries.Asian giant hornets were first discovered in North America last year, popping up in British Columbia, Canada, before a handful of specimens made it south of the border to Washington state. The hornets, native to east Asia, most likely arrived on the continent clinging to imported goods sent via sea or air. A close relative of the hornet has already made separate inroads into France and the UK.A key, and unnerving, question is how far they will manage to spread across America. Looney said the removal of the first nest found in the US was just a “small victory” in a battle likely to rage for several years to contain the insects. Thousands of sightings have been reported in Washington, and while many are false or mistaken, Looney said it was likely the hornets had spread, potentially establishing dozens more nests.“It’s hard to say how they will behave here compared to their native range, but the fear is that there are large apiaries of bees that could be sitting ducks, while as the hornets move south to warmer weather their colonies could grow larger,” he said. “The object of our work is to avoid finding this out.”Scientists who have modeled the potential spread of the hornets predict they will be able to extend down the west coast into California. The Rocky Mountains and drier interior of the US pose major barriers to an eastward push but environs on the east coast such as New York would be ideal homes for the murder hornets should they inadvertently be transported there.Looney said he was “troubled” by evidence that overwintering hornet queens like to bury themselves in straw and hay, commodities that are regularly shifted around the US by train or truck. A hornet queen that hitched a ride would still face challenges establishing a nest even if moved to the east coast – it could immediately be crushed underfoot, after all – but the potential pathway is there.“I’m more worried about human transportation of these hornets than I initially was,” Looney conceded.The Asian giant hornet is just the latest invasive species to make its mark on North America. Burmese pythons are now legion in southern Florida, while Asian carp are common in the Mississippi river system. In the insect world, the spotted lanternfly is a growing agricultural pest and emerald ash borers have arrived to lay waste to stands of trees.These arrivals are symptoms of the growth in international trade and tourism, while climate change is making many parts of the US more hospitable for certain invasive species. The Asian giant hornet, for example, is thought to favor the sort of elevated temperatures that the US is experiencing as the planet heats up. This could help it spread at the rate of its cousin species in France, which has been able to advance up to 78km a year. If it is not controlled, the murder hornet could fundamentally change ecosystems across the US.Still, even in a fraught year racked by a pandemic, social unrest and economic disaster, Looney said any fears of being assailed by a murder hornet should be “low on the anxiety meter”.He added: “We should be concerned about it but we will do our best until the money runs out or the battle is won or lost. If we fail, it will be unpleasant. But there are other things to be much more worried about right now.”

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Typhoon Goni: Philippines hit by year's most powerful storm

Torrential rain and "catastrophic violent winds" are expected on the main island of Luzon on Sunday.

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US salutes Greece, Turkey earthquake diplomacy

The United States on Friday hailed diplomacy between uneasy neighbors Greece and Turkey following a major earthquake and said it was ready to assist the NATO allies.

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Kyle Rittenhouse extradited to Wisconsin following terse ruling from Illinois judge accusing him of asking the court to 'ignore binding Illinois law'

Rittenhouse, charged in Wisconsin with first-degree homicide over the shooting of three people at Kenosha protests, had been fighting his extradition.

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They protested to oust their scandalous governor. Tuesday they'll vote to usher in a new era.

The election on the island follows the historic protests following the scandal that led to Gov. Ricardo Rosselló's resignation.

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Body-camera footage released of Wallace killing; family says officers were improperly trained

The footage from body-worn cameras that was taken as police responded to a call about Walter Wallace Jr. shows him emerging from a house with a knife as relatives shout at officers about his mental health condition, a lawyer for the man's family said Thursday.

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Zeta's toll on a Louisiana island: 'Like a bomb was dropped'

Mark Andollina remembers stinging rain and a howling wind that peeled the roof off part of his Cajun Tide Beach Resort on Grand Isle, the Louisiana barrier island town where residents were among the first to feel the ferocity of Hurricane Zeta. “Because we got the most damage on the island right here, basically in the middle of the island.” “The middle of the island looks like a bomb was dropped,” said Dodie Vegas, who with her husband owns Bridge Side Marina on the west side of the island.

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David Perdue: Georgia senator pulls out of final debate after 'brutal' takedown by Democrat goes viral

Video of debate where Democrat Jon Ossoff calls Republican incumbent a ‘crook’ has been viewed more than 11m times on Twitter

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The battle for Senate control looks more volatile than the presidential race

First Read is your briefing from "Meet the Press" and the NBC Political Unit on the day's most important political stories and why they matter.

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A high school newspaper has exposed how state police quoted Adolf Hitler and advocated violence in a training manual

The training manual quotes from Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf, calling for the "perpetually constant and regular employment of violence."

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Turkey farmers in limbo as people scale back Thanksgiving plans

Millions of Americans are expected to have scaled-down Thanksgiving celebrations amid the pandemic, heeding official warnings against travel and large indoor gatherings.

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Biden Team Cancels Texas Event After Highway ‘Ambush’ by MAGA Cavalry

Joe Biden’s presidential campaign canceled a Friday event in Austin, Texas, after harassment from a pro-Trump contingent.Texas has emerged as a battleground state in Tuesday’s presidential election, with polls showing the typically Republican stronghold now only marginally favoring President Donald Trump. The Biden campaign scheduled a Friday event in the state, in a bid to drum up last-minute support. But when the Biden campaign bus drove to Austin, it was greeted by a blockade of pro-Trump demonstrators, leading to what one Texas House representative described as an escalation “well beyond safe limits.”The cancelation comes amid national anxiety about voter intimidation, a tactic the Trump campaign has implicitly endorsed.Historian Dr. Eric Cervini was driving to help with the Biden campaign stop when he filmed a line of pickup trucks along the highway, many of them flying Trump flags. The drivers were “waiting to ambush the Biden/Harris campaign bus as it traveled from San Antonio to Austin,” Cervini tweeted.“These Trump supporters, many of whom were armed, surrounded the bus on the interstate and attempted to drive it off the road,” he alleged. “They outnumbered police 50-1, and they ended up hitting a staffer’s car.”A Biden campaign staffer told The Daily Beast that Trump supporters surrounded the bus on the highway and slowed down in front of it, attempting to stop it or run it off the road. The official sent a picture taken on the bus, showing Trump trucks surrounding the front of the vehicle. Staffers on the bus called police, who helped the bus reach its destination.Video from the highway shows trucks surrounding the bus, at one point colliding with an SUV.> This is a traffic violation and attempted homicide. Why hasn’t anyone been arrested? pic.twitter.com/QnfF4vXMQn> > — haunting student debt owners (@mcbyrne) October 31, 2020> I flew down to Texas to help with the Biden/Harris bus tour, intended to drum up enthusiasm at polling locations. Instead, I ended up spending the afternoon calling 911. 1/ pic.twitter.com/gKAjv7gv85> > — Dr. Eric Cervini (@ericcervini) October 31, 2020Footage from a CBS affiliate in Austin shows Trump supporters with signs and bullhorns surrounding the bus when it parked, with one person screaming that Biden was a communist.Rep. Sheryl Cole, a Democrat representing nearby Pflugerville in Texas’s House, announced that a Biden event in her city had been canceled due to the harassment.“This is a 1st for me - but we just cancelled a joint event in Pflugerville w/ @JoeBiden campaign,@AustinYoungDems, & more, due to security reasons,” she tweeted. “Unfortunately, Pro-Trump Protestors have escalated well beyond safe limits. Sorry to all who looked forward to this fun event.”The Biden campaign’s Texas communications director, Tariq Thowfeek, said holding the event would have placed Biden staffers and supporters at risk. “Rather than engage in productive conversation about the drastically different visions that Joe Biden and Donald Trump have for our country, Trump supporters in Texas today instead decided to put our staff, surrogates, supporters, and others in harm’s way,” Thowfeek told The Daily Beat.“Our supporters will continue to organize their communities for Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and Democrats up and down the ballot, and to the Texans who disrupted our events today: We’ll see you on November 3rd.”The Trump campaign—and often Trump himself—has encouraged in-person conflict around the polls. Trump used the first presidential debate to urge supporters to act as “poll watchers,” a call that sparked concerns of voter intimidation. His son, Donald Trump Jr., made an explicit call-out regarding the Biden campaign’s Texas outreach efforts.In a video ahead of a Friday event by Biden’s running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, Trump Jr. encouraged his father’s supporters to show up at Harris’s event.Trump’s Crew of Far-Right Vigilante Poll Watchers Is Coming“Hey Laredo, Don Jr. here,” he said. “I heard you had an awesome turnout for the Trump Train. It’d be great if you guys would all get together, head down to McAllen and give Kamala Harris a nice Trump Train welcome. Get out there, have some fun, enjoy it. Don’t forget to vote and bring all of your friends. Let’s show them how strong Texas still is as Trump country. Get out there, guys.”Some Trump supporters appeared to heed the call. At least one Facebook event with more than 700 responses, viewed by The Daily Beast, encouraged Trump fans to attend a Harris event in Fort Worth, Texas on Friday and “give Kamala Harris a big Texas welcome..... TRUMP STYLE!” The event was listed as canceled ahead of time, although its organizers acknowledged that some people might still try to attend, “and that's your right.”Trump supporters have previously been accused of intimidation this election. In Beverly Hills, California this week, an Australian television personality filmed participants at a pro-Trump rally shouting at her and threatening her in her car. A man brandishing a Trump flag at her appeared to photograph her and take down her license plate number.“We’ve got you now,” the man shouted. “You’re going to vote for Trump whether you like it or not, you’ve got no choice.”When Biden spoke at a Minnesota event on Friday, the same day as his campaign was ambushed in Austin, Trump supporters in a caravan of vehicles reportedly surrounded the venue honking their horns and chanting.During early voting in the swing state of Virginia late last month, a caravan of Trump supporters drove to the Democratic-leaning Fairfax County and surrounded people in an early voting line, shouting at them on loudspeakers“We had a couple poll observers there that had to actually escort voters in because we saw people that would get to the edge of the parking lot, and see this giant group of Trumpers yelling and screaming,” the executive director of the Fairfax County Democratic Committee told The Daily Beast at the time.‘Daily Show’s’ Jordan Klepper Hits One Last ‘Eerily Quiet’ Trump RallyRead 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.

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Orthodox priest in 'critical condition' after shooting in Lyon, France

French police locked down parts of Lyon on Saturday as they searched for gunmen who shot an Orthadox priest with a sorn-off shotgun before fleeing. The priest, who has Greek nationality, was closing his church when the attack happened and is now in a serious condition. The interior ministry warned people to "avoid the area" where the attack took place. A police source said the priest was of Greek nationality, and had been able to tell emergency services as they arrived that he had not recognised his assailant. The motivation for the attack was not known last night, but the shooting came in the wake of several grisly Islamist attacks on French soil and a growing tension between France and the Muslim world. Emmanuel Macron, the French president, lashed out at Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, slamming Turkey's "bellicose" stance towards Nato allies. Mr Macron said that France's wish was now that things "calm down" but for this to happen, it is essential that the "Turkish president respects France, respects the European Union, respects its values, does not tell lies and does not utter insults," Macron said.

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New top story on Hacker News: China's Draft 'Personal Information Protection Law' (Full Translation)

China's Draft 'Personal Information Protection Law' (Full Translation)
13 by detaro | 1 comments on Hacker News.

New top story on Hacker News: Nat Slipstreaming

Nat Slipstreaming
30 by todsacerdoti | 5 comments on Hacker News.

New top story on Hacker News: Ropes, an Alternative to Strings [pdf]

Ropes, an Alternative to Strings [pdf]
23 by pmoriarty | 3 comments on Hacker News.

New top story on Hacker News: Goodbye, Native Apps

Goodbye, Native Apps
37 by delvin0 | 29 comments on Hacker News.

Friday 30 October 2020

Nursing Homes, Racked by the Virus, Face a New Crisis: Isolation

By BY JACK HEALY, DANIELLE IVORY AND SERGE F. KOVALESKI from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2TCEnIb

Voters suing Minnesota over a mask mandate are asking the Supreme Court to intervene.

By BY JACEY FORTIN from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2JeAC9Y

Time Running Short, Trump and Biden Return to Northern Battlegrounds

By BY THOMAS KAPLAN AND ANNIE KARNI from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3eeng93

Woman Who Mailed Threat to Susan Collins Gets 30 Months in Prison

By BY JOHN ISMAY from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/31XgW0Z

Kyle Rittenhouse extradited to Wisconsin following terse ruling from Illinois judge accusing him of asking the court to 'ignore binding Illinois law'

Rittenhouse, charged in Wisconsin with first-degree homicide over the shooting of three people at Kenosha protests, had been fighting his extradition.

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President Erdogan accused of fuelling the anger that led to French terror attacks

The Turkish president’s bellicose rhetoric towards France over the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed may have contributed to a climate of anger that led to the deadly terror attack in the city of Nice on Thursday, terrorism experts and EU politicians have said. A woman was decapitated, and two more people killed, in an attack in a church in Nice on Thursday that the city’s mayor described as terrorism after the alleged perpetrator reportedly chanted “Alllahu akbar” as he was arrested. Terrorism experts believe the attack – alongside a stabbing at the French consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and an incident in Avignon where police killed a man brandishing a gun – were retaliation by extremists for France’s hardening attitudes towards Muslims. French President Emmanuel Macron ordered a crackdown on Islamists this month, following the beheading of a teacher who showed his class caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed, something many Muslims consider blasphemous and offensive. Turkish President Recep Tayipp Erdogan has led criticism in the Muslim world of Mr Macron, repeatedly saying he needed mental evaluation over his stance towards Islam.

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Australia's extreme lockdown brought coronavirus cases in its epicenter to zero. It may also have prevented a third wave.

For 111 days, Melbourne residents were only allowed to leave their homes for essential purposes like exercising or grocery shopping.

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Rudy Giuliani wants Twitter CEO jailed over limitations on unverified Hunter Biden story

'Maybe he’s working for the Chinese,' former mayor baselessly claims

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Las Vegas police charge driver after man pushed a cyclist to her death, fell out a minivan window, hit his head on a lamppost, and died at the scene

Rodrigo Cruz, 22, was the driver of the minivan involved in the two deaths, the Las Vegas police said.

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The Electoral College can pick a president who got fewer votes. Here's why and how.

The 2020 presidential election again highlights one of the most confusing and controversial parts of the U.S. elections: The Electoral College.

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Teenager shot and killed after attacking police station in Russia in apparent echo of France attacks

A 16-year-old has been shot and killed after trying to set fire to a police station and stabbing an officer in an attack that appeared to echo those recently carried out in France. The teenage boy threw a Molotov cocktail at the police station in the town of Kukmor in the predominantly Muslim region of Tatarstan late on Thursday and stabbed a police officer who tried to detain him, Russian investigators said on Friday. Another police officer later shot the 16-year-old, who died on spot. Authorities are treating the incident as an attempted terrorist attack but would not immediately give the teenager’s motives. Tatarstan’s Interior Ministry confirmed media reports that the teenager shouted “Allahu akbar!” and threatened to kill “enemies of Allah.” Local media identified the 16-year-old as Vitaly Antipov, who was reportedly unemployed and did not attend school. The Business Online website said Mr Antipov was a stepson of a convicted terrorist who was found guilty of blowing up a section of a gas pipeline and sentenced to 14 years in prison in 2001. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, on Friday refused to link the attack to the ongoing Islamist violence in France and called it an isolated criminal incident. Many in Russia’s Muslim community were irked by French President Emmanuel Macron’s reaction to the murder of a school teacher two weeks ago. His defence of freedom of expression including mocking religion sparked protests outside the French embassy in Moscow and triggered angry comments from Ramzan Kadyrov, leader of Russia’s Chechnya. Mr Kadyrov earlier this week claimed that Mr Macron was “100 times worse than a terrorist” for “enticing provocations. After he was dressed down by the Kremlin for meddling in Russia’s foreign policy, Mr Kadyrov insisted that he spoke in personal capacity as a Muslim who feels compelled to defend his religion.

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Facebook admits it 'improperly' blocked some political ads due to 'technical issues' as Joe Biden's campaign slams it for being 'wholly unprepared'

Facebook said no ads were blocked "because of any partisan consideration," as Biden's camp accused the company of offering "no clarity" on the issue.

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“Over 1,000 people died today”: Don Jr. falsely claims that COVID-19 deaths are “almost nothing”

Deaths rose to 1,040 on Thursday as the number of new COVID-19 cases hit the highest number on record

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Death toll rises in Vietnam after Typhoon Molave triggers widespread flooding, landslides

After forging a path of destruction over the northern and central Philippines and strengthening over the South China Sea, Typhoon Molave brought its deadly impacts to Vietnam from Wednesday into Thursday, inflicting more damage in a country that has been battered by numerous landfalling tropical systems since the beginning of the month. As of Thursday evening, local time, the death toll has risen to 35 and at least 50 people are still missing, according to state media. The death toll is expected to rise in the coming days as search and rescue missions continue and communications with more remote villages are restored. Soldiers and villagers dig through mud after a landslide swamps a village in Phuoc Loc district, Quang Nam province, Vietnam, on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020. Three separated landslides triggered by Typhoon Molave killed over a dozen villagers and left dozens more missing in the province as rescuers scramble to recover more victims. (Lai Minh Dong/VNA via AP) A dozen of those killed by the typhoon were sailors of two fishing vessels that sank while trying to seek shelter from the powerful typhoon. According to VnExpress International, the vessels sank near the province of Binh Dinh on Tuesday night. While strong winds from Molave created treacherous conditions across the western South China Sea, heavy rainfall caused deadly landslides across central provinces. CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP Military officers, who were put on standby by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc ahead of Molave's arrival, scrambled to three villages where three separate landslides were responsible for killing at least 19 people and are suspected of burying more than 40 others in thick mud and debris, The Associated Press reported. Homes and roadways in parts of Tra Van village, Tra Leng village and Phuoc Loc district were buried under the landslides. Officers used bulldozers and excavators to help clear gain access to the affected areas and begin rescuing victims, The AP said. Four more residents were killed in Quang Nam province, a tourist draw for an ancient town and Hindu temples, by falling trees and collapsed houses, The AP reported. More than 130 people have been killed in the central Vietnam province since the beginning of October following the tumultuous weather pattern that has brought a relentless series of tropical storms and typhoons. Typhoon Molave is the fourth named tropical system to make landfall over Vietnam this month, and officials are calling this the strongest storm to hit the country in the last 20 years, The Associated Press reported. Molave made landfall just prior to midday Wednesday, local time, according to VnExpress International, unloading torrential rain and damaging winds across the typhoon-weary nation. At landfall, the typhoon had the equivalent strength of a Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale in the Atlantic and East Pacific basins. Molave lost some wind intensity just prior to landfall after spending some time with the equivalent strength of a Category 3 major hurricane. Ahead of the storm, officials were preparing to evacuate 1.3 million residents along the coast of central Vietnam, according to Reuters. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc also urged provinces in the typhoon's path to prepare by bringing boats ashore. This satellite image shows Typhoon Molave closing in on the Vietnam coast on Wednesday morning, local time. (CIRA/RAMMB) Molave is the fourth named tropical system to make landfall over Vietnam since Oct. 11, according to AccuWeather Lead International Meteorologist Jason Nicholls. It is also the country's sixth landfalling storm this year. Fierce winds were already beginning to whip ahead of Molave's landfall, with a local news agency reporting nearly 82,000 customers had lost power in the province of Phú Yên by Wednesday morning, local time. As of Wednesday evening, local time, Molave had lost enough wind intensity that it was designated a tropical storm over western Vietnam. Molave first developed into a tropical depression to the east of the Philippines late last week and was given the name Quinta by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration. Molave is the name used by the Japanese Meteorological Agency for the part of the basin that falls under the agency's purview. Residents wearing masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus wade through a flooded road from Typhoon Molave in Pampanga province, northern Philippines, on Monday, Oct. 26, 2020. The fast-moving typhoon has forced thousands of villagers to flee to safety in provinces. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) The storm quickly strengthened into a typhoon with sustained winds of 120 km/h (75 mph) before making its first landfall over San Miguel, Philippines, on Sunday evening, local time. This is equivalent to a Category 1 hurricane in the Atlantic and East Pacific tropical basins. Widespread rainfall totals of 100-200 mm (4-8 inches) were reported in the northern and central Philippines. More than 120,000 people have been displaced by the storm, and at least eight are missing. As of Friday morning, local time, the typhoon is being blamed for at least 22 deaths in the Philippines. As recovery efforts continue, all eyes will be on the strengthening Typhoon Goni, also known as Rolly in the Philippines. Residents impacted by Molave in the Philippines are likely to face impacts from Goni this weekend. Goni could go on to bring more tropical downpours and gusty winds to Vietnam next week. Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.

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2020 polls: Can Trump pull another 2016 upset? The data says no chance

The blue wave is coming - if you believe the polls

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Popular Thai pro-democracy figure charged over flash mob rally

One of Thailand’s most popular anti-establishment politicians has been charged for his role in an illegal flash mob protest last year, in a move that is likely to fuel the current wave of pro-democracy protests. Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, 41, a charismatic billionaire and founder of the dissolved Future Forward party, is accused of five public assembly violations linked to the rally in Bangkok's central shopping district last December, Krisadung Nutcharat, his lawyer, said on Thursday. The charges include failing to notify police of a public gathering, blocking a sky train station, using a megaphone without permission and holding a rally close to a royal residence. Four other people from his Progressive Movement Group and Move Forward Party face similar charges. All five deny any wrongdoing. Mr Thanathorn has been an outspoken advocate of the protest movement that has gripped the Thai capital, Bangkok, since June, and he recently condemned a short-lived emergency order aimed at keeping demonstrators off the streets. During last year’s elections, he and his pro-democracy Future Forward Party, proved to be enormously popular with young, first-time voters, and garnered the third-largest share of seats.

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Official: Rifle shell casings found at Breonna Taylor scene

Two long-rifle shell casings were found in and near Breonna Taylor's Louisville apartment after a botched police drug raid that ended in Taylor's death, Kentucky's attorney general said. It's the first time these specific shell casings have been mentioned by authorities investigating Taylor's death. One of the casings was found by Taylor's sister in her bedroom and the other was found in the parking lot outside the apartment, according to a court filing this week in a criminal case against the sole Louisville police officer charged in connection with the raid.

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Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman got served a lawsuit via WhatsApp. Court documents show that he received and read the message.

The case, filed by former top security advisor Dr. Saad Al-Jabri alleges that bin Salman set a hit squad to assassinate him in Canada.

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Pro-Choicers, Not Christians, Are Today’s Abortion Fundamentalists

The New York Times columnist Nick Kristof begs a number of questions in his new pro-abortion column, “Er, Can I Ask a Few Questions about Abortion?” I’ll leave Christians to debunk his more tendentious theological assertions. It is quite odd, however, to read enlightened secular pundits attempting to appropriate biblical text to argue that Jesus would have been completely cool with ending life for the sake of convenience.What would Jesus do? Avoid injecting potassium chloride into the beating heart of the unborn child, I suspect.Again, I’m no theologian, but I also strongly suspect that the “Jesus says nothing about abortion!” argument isn’t dispositive of anything. The Sermon on the Mount wasn’t about nationalized health-insurance schemes, after all. Yet progressives demand that Christians adopt a narrow, hyperliteral interpretation of the Bible on abortion while also demanding that they take a broad, malleably metaphoric approach to the text when it comes to things like socializing medicine or open immigration.These are often the same people who sincerely believe that the Constitution was written to protect the deliberate termination of a pregnancy but not the principled right to self-defense or free expression — because, well, those old white guys and their parchment paper and muskets.Kristof points to the views of Baptists in the 1970s as proof of the Christian regression on abortion rights. Many secularists have convinced themselves that actual Christians are just as incurious and stultified as the Christians of their imagination. The Christians I know, and I happen to know many, often grapple with how scientific advances affect faith. When it comes to abortion, it’s the progressives who act like fundamentalists.Just today, I ran across a story about a boy named Logan Ray — born at 23 weeks, weighing just 1.5 pounds and measuring twelve inches long — celebrating his first birthday. One day soon, there will be babies celebrating birthdays who were born at 21 weeks. And then 20. And those who treat abortion as both rite and right will continue to make arbitrary distinctions between “fetal life” and life itself, just as Kristof does. For those who believe in actual science, the concept of life isn’t contingent on a mother’s decision, the public’s perception, or a pundit’s policy arguments.On that note, Kristof makes this assertion:> Partly because Obamacare covers contraception, the number of abortions in the United States has plunged to its lowest level since Roe v. Wade, including in states that support a woman’s right to an abortion. If you’re troubled by abortions, shouldn’t you thank President Barack Obama for reducing them?First of all, had it not been for a few now-extinct Blue Dog Democrats, Barack Obama’s signature legislation would already be forcing taxpayers to fund not merely abortifacient drugs but in-person late-term abortions. More than any president in history, Obama helped radicalize Democrats on the issue. They’ve been transformed from the party that advocated for “safe, legal, and rare” to one that filibusters bills that would protect babies who survive abortion attempts from negligent homicide.Moreover, there is no evidence that Obamacare did anything to lower abortion rates, which, for a host of reasons, had been dropping steadily for decades before the ACA was passed. Contrary to Kristof’s claim, the trajectory shows no perceptible impact from passage of the law. Why would it? The notion that birth control was unavailable to women before 2010 is simply a myth.One could just as easily argue, in fact, that restrictions pushed by state-level Republicans, many of whom came into office beginning in 2010, helped decrease overall abortions. After all, I am constantly told there is an unprecedented and dangerous attack on “reproductive rights” — for progressives, that euphemism never gets old — as we speak.What isn’t mentioned in Kristof’s column — or in most of the pieces attempting to convince social conservatives that abortion is a nonissue in 2020 — is that the Democratic Party nominee supports overturning the Hyde Amendment, which bans the use of federal funds to pay for abortion except to save the life of the mother. Which is to say, Democrats want to compel taxpayers to participate in funding abortion up through the ninth month of pregnancy.Now, again, I don’t claim to speak for Christians or anyone other than myself. But perhaps Kristof should ask one of the nuns Biden says he plans to sue if he wins the presidency about the theological implications of compelling the faithful (or anyone else) to support abortion — since he’s curious.

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Petition demanding return of ‘Peanuts’ holiday specials to TV nears 200,000 signatures

“We cannot let Apple take the football away from us like Lucy always does to Charlie Brown!” the petition reads.

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New top story on Hacker News: New nuclear plant at Sizewell set for green light

New nuclear plant at Sizewell set for green light
31 by Reedx | 5 comments on Hacker News.

New top story on Hacker News: How to Deal with Extreme Physical Pain

How to Deal with Extreme Physical Pain
59 by LyalinDotCom | 12 comments on Hacker News.

New top story on Hacker News: Generating bingo cards with clojure.spec, Clojure/test.check, RDD and TDD

Generating bingo cards with clojure.spec, Clojure/test.check, RDD and TDD
8 by diggan | 0 comments on Hacker News.

Thursday 29 October 2020

'We asked Trump to stop playing YMCA' - Village People singer Victor Willis

Village People's lead singer says he doesn't endorse the US president, who regularly plays the classic at rallies.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/2TDO09O

Trump’s Hard-Line Immigration Policies Go Before Voters

By BY ZOLAN KANNO-YOUNGS from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/34COUcW

Trump and Biden Converge in Florida, an Elusive Prize Still Up for Grabs

By BY KATIE GLUECK AND PATRICIA MAZZEI from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3jOnh57

A Californian is battling both influenza and Covid-19 in an early case of ‘co-infection.’

By BY JOHN ISMAY from NYT World https://ift.tt/3e7alFW

Appeals court rules Minnesota cannot count ballots received after 8 p.m. on Election Day.

By BY NICK CORASANITI from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/35KvzFX

Jimmy Orr, a Favorite Target of the Colts’ Unitas, Dies at 85

By BY RICHARD GOLDSTEIN from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/3kTRvoF

Dems Mess With Texas

By BY LISA LERER from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/37TXZQo

Kavanaugh corrects controversial opinion after Vermont fact-checks false claim about mail-in voting

Vermont Secretary of State Jim Condos called out Kavanaugh's "erroneous claim" and called for a public correction

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Mexican president slams European coronavirus lockdown measures

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Wednesday blasted European countries for adopting strict lockdowns to stem the spread of coronavirus, suggesting they smacked of authoritarianism. Germany and France were on Wednesday preparing to announce restrictions approaching the level of spring's blanket lockdowns as COVID deaths across Europe surged. National or local authorities have already imposed nighttime curfews in several European countries, including France, Spain, Italy and the Czech Republic.

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Trump and Biden to both campaign in battleground state Florida

President Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden will both rally supporters on Thursday in the critical battleground state of Florida.

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Charlie Hebdo, whose cartoons sparked terror attacks in France, published a cutting caricature of Turkish President Erdogan amid his feud with Macron

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said French President Emmanuel Macron needed mental treatment after criticizing Islam and proposing regulations on it.

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Searchers find 59 bodies in Mexico mass graves, dig for more

Search teams dug for more remains Thursday at a site in central Mexico where 59 bodies have already been found in clandestine graves over the past week in an area known as a cartel battleground. It was the largest such burial site found to date in Guanajuato, the state with the largest number of homicides in Mexico, though bigger clandestine burial sites have been excavated in other parts of the country. Especially striking about this discovery, but also a testament to the prevailing level of fear, is that the site is in the town of Salvatierra, not a desolate area out in the countryside.

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