| California wildfire burns at least two dozen homes in small mountain town Posted: 07 Sep 2020 04:18 PM PDT  "Words cannot even begin to describe the devastation of this community," a resident said.
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| India sends 'hotline' message to Chinese over alleged kidnapping Posted: 07 Sep 2020 06:48 AM PDT  Reports say Chinese troops abducted five Indian civilians in a disputed border area.
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| Hong Kong police criticised over rough arrest of 12-year-old girl during protests Posted: 07 Sep 2020 02:20 AM PDT  Hong Kong police tackled a 12-year old girl to the ground and arrested her on Sunday amid a protests against delayed parliamentary elections. A video widely shared online shows riot police pushing the youngster to the ground as she tried to dash away. She was later charged for allegedly violating coronavirus social distancing rules, police said. But her mother told local media: "She was just trying to buy art supplies with her brother." The video has sparked outrage online, gathering over a million views on Twitter. On the local Reddit-like forum LIHKG, one commenter criticised the police for being "loud and impolite" as if a "mad dog chasing after people who run." In a statement on Facebook, the police said the girl was running in a "suspicious manner" that required officers to chase and subdue her with the use of "minimum force".
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| Majority of Young Adults in the U.S. Now Live With Their Parents: Report Posted: 06 Sep 2020 02:01 PM PDT  The number of 18 to 29 year olds living at home hit a low of 29% in 1960 and it has risen over the decades
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| Tahlequah, 'Tour of Grief' killer whale, gives birth Posted: 06 Sep 2020 02:54 PM PDT |
| A French man chased a fly around with an electric swatter and accidentally blew up his own house Posted: 07 Sep 2020 08:16 AM PDT  The man, in his 80s, was slightly burned and his home is uninhabitable. The fate of the fly is unknown.
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| ‘Reckless & selfish.’ Huge Burning Man bash leads mayor to close San Francisco beach Posted: 06 Sep 2020 01:53 PM PDT  "You are not celebrating. You are putting people's lives at risk," Mayor London Breed wrote on Twitter.
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| Trump reboots his campaign pitch, but struggles to stick to it Posted: 07 Sep 2020 12:59 PM PDT  Trump launched an aggressive push to win back voters by asserting — dubiously — that a vaccine is weeks away, but even he got distracted from the message.
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| How we're developing a COVID-19 vaccine at 'Warp Speed': Alex Azar Posted: 07 Sep 2020 10:54 AM PDT  COVID-19 vaccines are in development and trials with Operation Warp Speed. Hopefully, in the months to come, there will be success.
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| California wildfire traps campers in national forest Posted: 05 Sep 2020 09:23 PM PDT  The Creek Fire jumped a river and compromised the only road into the Mammoth Pool Campground, where they were forced to shelter in place.
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| Philippine leader pardons US Marine in transgender killing Posted: 07 Sep 2020 04:18 AM PDT  The Philippine president pardoned a U.S. Marine on Monday in a surprise move that will free him from imprisonment in the 2014 killing of a transgender Filipino woman that sparked anger in the former American colony. President Rodrigo Duterte said he decided to pardon Lance Cpl. Joseph Scott Pemberton because the Marine was not treated fairly after opponents blocked his early release for good conduct in detention.
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| South Africa's Clicks beauty stores raided after 'racist' hair advert Posted: 07 Sep 2020 06:48 AM PDT  The advert showed African hair labelled dry and dull while white hair was described as fine and flat.
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| Three Somali special forces killed, U.S. officer wounded in car bomb, Somali official says Posted: 07 Sep 2020 03:56 AM PDT |
| US surgeon general tells states to prepare to distribute a coronavirus vaccine by November 1 Posted: 06 Sep 2020 01:10 PM PDT  Three US coronavirus vaccine candidates are in the third and final phase of human testing, which is ongoing.
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| Oregon rejects GOP voter statement, says it was submitted 29 seconds late Posted: 06 Sep 2020 10:15 AM PDT  The Oregon Republican Party's statement for the state voters' pamphlet arrived 29 seconds too late and will not appear in the guide mailed to voters for the November election, according to officials.
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| One depression is now Tropical Storm Paulette. The other became Tropical Storm Rene Posted: 07 Sep 2020 06:30 AM PDT  The National Hurricane Center says Tropical Depression No. 17 is now Tropical Storm Paulette and Tropical Depression No. 18 is Tropical Storm Rene.
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| Almost 300 Rohingya found on beach in Indonesia’s Aceh Posted: 06 Sep 2020 09:39 PM PDT  Almost 300 Rohingya Muslims were found on a beach in Indonesia's Aceh province on Monday after months at sea, officials said. Officials arrived and found that the Rohingya had dispersed into three groups after landing, Banda Sakti Subdistrict Military Commander Roni Mahendra said. Indrika Ratwatte, the director for Asia and the Pacific for UNHCR, the U.N. refugee agency, said the Rohingya had survived about seven months at sea in desperate conditions, with some needing medical treatment.
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| China's first reusable spacecraft lands after 2-days in orbit Posted: 06 Sep 2020 05:49 AM PDT |
| Nigerian men arrested over German PPE 'scam' Posted: 07 Sep 2020 02:04 PM PDT  The men are accused of cloning the website of a Dutch company to obtain an order from a German state.
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| Deal likely to fund U.S. government to early December, Mnuchin says Posted: 06 Sep 2020 06:35 AM PDT  U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Sunday said a deal between the White House and Congress would fund the federal government through the beginning of December and that details of the spending bill should be finalized by week's end. Mnuchin and U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had agreed to extend funding, according to a Democratic aide, but details on the bill have yet to emerge. "We're going to move forward with a clean CR (continuing resolution), hopefully through the beginning of December," Mnuchin told reporters at the White House, adding: "I hope by the end of the week we'll have something firmed up."
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| Search Underway After Sailor Goes Missing from Carrier Nimitz Posted: 06 Sep 2020 01:27 PM PDT  Search-and-rescue efforts are underway in the North Arabian Sea,
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| Living Vehicle unveiled its luxury new travel trailer RV with a convertible home office starting at almost $229,300 — take a look inside Posted: 06 Sep 2020 05:12 AM PDT  The trailer comes in three models ranging from $229,995 to $369,995, but the only difference is its power system.
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| 150 campers trapped in a California national forest by raging wildfires as Blackhawk helicopters fly to the rescue Posted: 06 Sep 2020 02:51 AM PDT  The campers took shelter from the inferno at the Mammoth Pool Reservoir in Sierra National Park. Many have been reported injured.
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| Mike Pence tells Wisconsin voters 'Trump is your best friend' as candidates descend on swing state Posted: 07 Sep 2020 10:20 AM PDT  Mike Pence, the US vice president, appealed to voters in Wisconsin to back "the best friend American workers have ever had" in Donald Trump, as he went head-to-head with rival Kamala Harris in the battle to win over the key swing state. Mr Pence spoke on Monday to employees at an energy plant in La Crosse, a heavily white Mississippi River city at the western edge of the state. The Trump campaign is keen to win back some of the blue collar workers who have abandoned the president since helping him to victory in 2016.
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| COVID-19 Update: Positivity rate drops, East Bay mall reopens, some indoor services resume in Alameda County Posted: 06 Sep 2020 10:20 AM PDT  California has a total of 727,239 cases of COVID-19, according to latest data released Saturday morning.
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| Evicted state Senate hopeful charged with breaking into her old home, Georgia cops say Posted: 07 Sep 2020 10:20 AM PDT  Linda Pritchett told police her eviction was "improper."
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| Priest tapped as Duluth, Minnesota bishop resigns amid probe Posted: 07 Sep 2020 07:40 AM PDT |
| Rival militias descend on Louisville at 'No justice, no Derby' Breonna Taylor protest Posted: 05 Sep 2020 08:08 PM PDT  Protesters march peacefully around Churchill Downs for Breonna Taylor, insisting "No justice, no Derby." Armed militias on both sides are also present.
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| China says can cooperate with U.S. journalists if Chinese media treated fairly in U.S. Posted: 07 Sep 2020 12:07 AM PDT |
| India recorded 90,000 coronavirus infections in one day, overtaking Brazil as 2nd-most-infected nation after US Posted: 07 Sep 2020 02:49 AM PDT  As of Monday morning local time, the country had recorded 4.2 million coronavirus cases and 71,000 deaths.
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| California hiker dies as record heat wave and wildfires scorch state Posted: 06 Sep 2020 05:08 PM PDT  Temperatures reached 121 degrees in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Woodland Hills.
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| Bernie Sanders is convinced Trump won’t concede if he loses November election Posted: 06 Sep 2020 09:54 AM PDT  Former presidential hopeful and Sen. Bernie Sanders is convinced, however, that President Donald Trump is set to dishonor that tradition, should he lose his bid for re-election in November. In an interview with Politico, the Vermont independent stated that he believes there is a good chance that Trump will refuse to concede defeat if his opponent, Democratic nominee Joe Biden, is elected this fall. Sanders said this isn't "just idle speculation," being that Trump said it himself.
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| Last two journalists working for Australian media leave China Posted: 07 Sep 2020 05:36 PM PDT  The last two journalists working for Australian media in China have left the country after police demanded interviews with them, the Australian government and Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported on Tuesday. ABC's Bill Birtles and The Australian Financial Review's Michael Smith landed in Sydney after flying from Shanghai on Monday night, ABC reported. Both had sheltered in Australian diplomatic compounds in recent days. Chinese police arrived at Birtles' doorstep last week, demanded he submit to questioning and told him he was banned from leaving the country, the ABC reported. Australian and Chinese officials negotiated for the travel ban to be lifted if Birtles spoke to police. The journalists left after Australia revealed last week that Australian citizen Cheng Lei, business news anchor for CGTN, China's English-language state media channel, had been detained. Foreign Minister Marise Payne confirmed that her government had provided consular support to the two journalists to assist their return to Australia. "Our embassy in Beijing and Consulate-General in Shanghai engaged with Chinese government authorities to ensure their wellbeing and return to Australia," she said in a statement. Australia's travel warning of the risk of arbitrary detention in China "remains appropriate and unchanged," she added. Birtles told reporters at Sydney airport that his departure was a "whirlwind and ... not a particularly good experience". "It's very disappointing to have to leave under those circumstances and it's a relief to be back in a country with genuine rule of law," Birtles said.
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| Cyclist flashed his butt and assaulted pedestrians on Virginia trails, police say Posted: 07 Sep 2020 12:12 PM PDT  David Marlowe, 55, faces multiple charges.
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| Costa Rica is Open to (Some) Americans. Here's What You Need to Know Posted: 07 Sep 2020 02:02 AM PDT  Shutdowns. Border closings. Fourteen-day quarantines. From the start of the pandemic, restrictions threw travel plans, lives, and industries into chaos. The world then tried to reopen as the COVID-19 numbers dropped. Hoping to salvage some of the tourist season, Europe, for instance, reopened to Europeans and those from select countries. Citizens in the "land of the free," however, have largely found themselves ironically locked in U.S. borders, due to a continuing high number of cases and inconsistent state approaches. With the exceptions of Mexico, Croatia, and Turkey, U.S. travelers have been essentially persona non grata to major tourist destinations. Costa Rica, however, is changing this with a new, finely nuanced travel policy that aims to recover their tourism economy and welcome Americans back—just not all of them. Costa Rican tourism offices revealed last month that it was opening its borders to select U.S. states. As of Sept. 1, the first eight states (and Washington, D.C.) were Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, Maryland, and Virginia. On Sept. 15, Colorado, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania will join the list.The move to carefully re-open was with the hope of incrementally restoring Costa Rica's tourism economy, which accounts for 8.2 percent of the country's GDP, generating 211,000 jobs that make up 8.8 percent of employment, according to Tourism Minister Gustavo Segura."Costa Rica's tourism industry is essential to the country's economic growth and development," Segura tells The Daily Beast. "In 2019, more than 3.14 million international travelers visited the country, of which more than 1.3 million were U.S. travelers."The country's best known as a place for ecotourism, providing opportunities to see one of the most biologically diverse places on the planet. Preserved land offers the possibility for tours through pristine dense jungles and to visit amazing geological features, like the popular Arenal Volcano, or kayak through their mangroves. The natural world is the country's best economic asset, and Costa Ricans knows it, which has incentivized their efforts in sustainability and renewable energy. In other words, Costa Rica needs a sustainable and environmentally sound approach to its resources to not only protect its greatest assets, but also to bring in tourists. It also needs tourists to bring in the money to make this happen—pandemics tend to complicate a climate friendly economic ecosystem.By letting some states in, the Costa Ricans are hoping to find some balance during what everyone can't help but now call "these unprecedented times." Peninsula Papagayo in Costa Rica, for example, is a heavily forested, emerald-colored isthmus, outlined by sandy beaches and blue water. It is the location of one of the last tropical dry forests protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is also home to 7,000 plant species, 900 vertebrate species, 500 types of birds, and 8,000 species of butterflies and moths.A popular getaway on a private peninsula, Papagayo draws in tourists seeking sustainable luxury travel. "We are so fortunate to be located in one of the most beautiful places on earth," Michael Mestraud, general manager for Four Seasons Resort Peninsula Papagayo and vice-president for their Regional Residential Operations-Americas, told The Daily Beast. The operation is described by Mestraud as "part sophisticated resort, part primitive playground," a "heaven on earth for surfers, divers, hikers, bikers, nature lovers, and anyone who feels happiest in the outdoors."Due to the pandemic, the resort has been closed, but they are projecting reopening on Nov. 12, to take advantage of Thanksgiving and Festive events. Mestraud sees the reopening of Costa Rica as a welcome change, especially since Americans are an important source for business. They are working with experts on COVID-19 for their Leading with Care program, focused on creating enhanced safety for employees, guests, and residents. "The Four Seasons experience may look different in this new environment," insists Mestraud, "but it will feel the same; ultimately, it will still be our people delivering the same attention to detail, intuitive service, and personalized care."The universal message of Costa Rica's tourism appears to be one of nuanced caution and vigilance. The list of U.S. states, for example, is not set in stone and it can grow or shrink, depending on the numbers. The current list of states have "an epidemiological condition with similar or lower levels of contagion than those of Costa Rica," said Tourism Minister Segura. Americans have to supply proof of residency for their state, which can be done by a driver's licence or state ID. Children are exempt. Other requirements are the same for all international travelers. Every traveler must complete the digital epidemiological Health Pass form, and have a negative COVID-19 PCR test done within 72 hours before leaving (12 years old and up). They will not accept rapid, serological, or immunity tests. Travel insurance that covers medical expenses and a potentially longer stay due to quarantine is also required. If your travel insurance is international, they require a certification (in English or Spanish) to verify coverage: for example, does it cover Costa Rica travel, will it cover COVID-19 for upwards of $50,000 for medical, and $2000 for lodging?It is also important to remember that with constantly changing coronavirus numbers, anyone returning home to the U.S. after traveling abroad should check on current re-entry requirements. You may be given a quarantine order upon arrival, and that may mean extending your time off from work.Traveling globally has never been a simple process, and having a potentially shifting list of states for Americans may complicate things for long-term vacation planning. And yet, Costa Rica's move seems to be working. "Yes, we've had many requests from people in the 12 states wanting to travel to Costa Rica," Eric Hubrant, CEO and founder of CIRE Travel in New York told The Daily Beast. He notes that vacation requests are currently ranging from five to 12 days. "People are itching to get away and Costa Rica is a destination that has it all—beaches, mountains, spiritual getaways.""It's been a challenging year, but overall business is strong," said Hubrant, noting the impact of the pandemic. "March and April had zero new bookings (only changes to existing bookings), but in May things started to pick up for both business and vacation travel. July and August were good months, all things considered."CIRE Travel's digital marketing team will be pushing Costa Rica trips this week, hoping to help make stranded Americans aware of their options. The total impact of Costa Rica's new move, of course, is yet to be known. "We anticipate seeing a slow recovery for the tourism sector and local economies in Costa Rica," said Tourism Minister Segura, "however, we are hopeful that due to the careful health and safety measures we have taken, Costa Rica will bounce back." Last month, the country did a "staggered reopening of tourism businesses," with new restrictions and health protocols related to COVID-19 in place and focused on domestic travel. Closed from March 18 to August 1, it began welcoming visitors from the "United Kingdom, the Schengen Area, and Canada, and select countries within the European Union." If all goes well, it is possible for Costa Rica to not only model environmentally sustainable policies, but also to provide a delicate roadmap for tourism in other countries wanting American travelers. It will still be awhile before that outcome is known. "This type of reopening could serve as a model for other countries," Segura agrees cautiously, "however, we have not yet seen and evaluated the results of our efforts...All of the health and safety decisions that the Costa Rican government has made throughout the pandemic have been backed by experts at the Ministry of Health and have considered guidelines issued by the World Health Organization (WHO). We are hopeful that these careful measures will aid Costa Rica's recovery."But for now, U.S. governors have another incentive to get their COVID-19 numbers under control—a chance for their citizens to see the world again.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. 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| Seeking unity, NKorea's Kim vows to overcome typhoon damage Posted: 05 Sep 2020 08:13 PM PDT  North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has visited typhoon-stricken areas in the northeast, fired a top official there and promised to send 12,000 workers from Pyongyang for recovery efforts, state media reported Sunday. The Korean Central News Agency said that Kim on Saturday visited South Hamgyong province, which was hit by Typhoon Maysak last week. It said Kim was briefed that the typhoon destroyed more than 1,000 houses and inundated public buildings and farmland in the coastal areas of South Hamgyong as well as nearby North Hamgyong province.
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| Coronavirus rising in 22 U.S. states Posted: 06 Sep 2020 11:21 AM PDT  As little as three weeks ago, cases were increasing in only three states, Hawaii, Illinois and South Dakota, according to an analysis comparing cases for the two-week period of Aug. 8-22 with the past two weeks. On a percentage basis, South Dakota had the biggest increase over the past two weeks at 126%, reporting over 3,700 new cases. Health officials have linked some of the rise to hundreds of thousands of motorcyclists who descended on Sturgis, South Dakota, for an annual rally in August.
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| Letter from Africa: Why journalists in Nigeria feel under attack Posted: 06 Sep 2020 04:01 PM PDT  A video of a tongue-lashing one reporter recently received comes as no surprise, writes Mannir Dan Ali.
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| 13,000 chairs outside German parliament in Greek migrant camps protest Posted: 07 Sep 2020 01:47 PM PDT  Campaigners placed 13,000 chairs outside the German parliament building in Berlin on Monday, in a symbolic protest calling for the overcrowded migrants camps in Greek islands to be shut down.
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| Los Angeles County hits 121 degrees as California wildfires set records Posted: 07 Sep 2020 04:33 AM PDT  California wildfires have burned nearly 2.1 million acres so far in 2020, surpassing the record for the most land scorched in the state in a single year, CAL Fire Capt. Richard Cordova said Sunday. "This is crazy," Cordova said. "We haven't even got into the October and November fire season, and we've broken the all-time record."> Incredibly, this slipped in "under the radar" due to the more acute short-term wildfire crisis: 2020 has now eclipsed 2018 for the most acres burned in California in a single year during modern era (2,094,955 acres), & "offshore wind" season has not even arrived yet.CAwx CAfire pic.twitter.com/cP6cUYGHBq> > — Daniel Swain (@Weather_West) September 7, 2020The news came as a record-setting heat wave created new challenges for exhausted firefighters who had finally started making headway containing some of the biggest blazes. The temperature in Woodland Hills, California, reached 121 degrees on Sunday, the highest ever recorded in Los Angeles County. The new record was two degrees above the previous high set in 2006. The National Weather Service said the area could get even hotter as a dangerous heat wave continues in California, Nevada, and Arizona, and records could be broken in other parts of the region. San Luis Obispo recorded a temperature of 120 degrees at the Cal Poly weather station, shattering the previous record of 115 degrees, which was set during a 2017 heat wave. "This is unmatched, just unprecedented, unreal," said John Lindsey, a meteorologist with Pacific Gas and Electric. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) declared a state of emergency in five counties.More stories from theweek.com Former FDA commissioner predicts the pandemic will soon slow — but there will be 'a lot of death and disease along the way' 5 scathingly funny cartoons about Nancy Pelosi's salon visit White House reportedly eyeing Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie to replace Mark Esper as defense secretary
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| Trump says he's taking 'high road' by not meeting with Democrats on coronavirus relief Posted: 07 Sep 2020 01:21 PM PDT  Talks between the Trump administration and Congress on a new round of aid for those hit hard by the pandemic have been stalled since late July.
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| German foreign minister raises spectre of Nord Stream 2 sanctions over Navalny poisoning Posted: 05 Sep 2020 09:55 PM PDT  Germany could drop the Nord Stream 2 pipeline as punishment for the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Berlin said for the first time on Sunday as it threatened the Kremlin with sanctions. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that "I hope... that the Russians do not force us to change our position on Nord Stream," in comments made to Bild newspaper. Mr Maas said that Berlin "would be compelled" to raise the issue of sanctions with its allies if Russia did not take steps towards investigating Mr Navalny's poisoning in the coming days. " If the Russians don't take part in solving the case then it is a further indication that they were involved," Mr Maas said. "If they don't go beyond smoke and mirrors we'll have to assume that Russia has something to hide." British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said that "The use of chemical weapons in this kind of context is pure gangsterism and Russia does have responsibility never to use it as a government, and second of all to make sure no-one else can use it within its territory." Nord Stream 2 is a new pipeline that would allow more Russian gas to flow to Europe via Germany, and is of strategic importance to Russia. But cancelling the project would be an ultima ratio for Germany, given its own financial interest in seeing the project through. There is little over 100 kilometres of the multi-billion euro pipeline still to be laid, but nothing has happened on the project since the US - which is opposed to it - threatened the companies involved with severe sanctions last December. And since a German army laboratory confirmed on Wednesday that Mr Navalny had been the victim of an assassination attempt with the nerve gas Novichok, domestic pressure has grown on the German government to cancel the gas line. Even within the ruling Christian Democratic Union party, influential foreign policy expert Norbert Röttgen said that "if the project were to be completed that would give Putin the ultimate proof that he can carry on with his politics as normal. A European decision should be: stop Nord Stream 2." Mr Maas made clear though that he wanted to avoid hitting the gas line if at all possible. "Those calling for a stop need to know what the consequences are," he said. "There are more than 100 companies from 12 European countries involved, and roughly half of them are German." There are also indications that Chancellor Angela Merkel has shifted her stance after saying last week that the pipeline should remain "decoupled" from Navalny. The statement came in for criticism from sections of the media. Asked at Friday's press conference if she would repeat the statement, her spokesman, Stefan Seibert, declined to comment. Mr Navalny is currently lying in an artificially induced coma in Berlin's Charité hospital. Doctors say that his condition is improving but that he will have a long road to recovery.
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| Bond denied for Georgia trooper charged in fatal shooting of Black motorist Posted: 06 Sep 2020 08:30 AM PDT  A Georgia judge has denied bond for a former Georgia State Patrol trooper accused of murder in the August shooting death of a 60-year-old Black man who refused to stop for a broken tail light. Screven County Judge F. Gates Peed on Friday ruled that it "would be inappropriate" to grant bond at the moment for Jacob Gordon Thompson, given the facts of the case. Thompson, who is white, briefly chased Julian Lewis on Aug. 7 before forcing Lewis' car into a ditch and fatally shooting Lewis in the head.
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| In sign of COVID-19's impact on New York tourism, Hilton to close Times Square hotel Posted: 07 Sep 2020 09:09 AM PDT  Hilton is closing its 478-room hotel in Times Square on Oct. 1, according to a document it filed with state regulators this week, citing the pandemic.
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| Gowdy: We know dossier was used in Russia probe Posted: 06 Sep 2020 07:55 AM PDT  Trey Gowdy joins 'Sunday Morning Futures.'
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| Hamas leader says group has missiles that can hit Tel Aviv Posted: 06 Sep 2020 10:07 AM PDT |
