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Trump team making false argument about his 2016 transition

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-22/trump-team-making-false-argument-about-his-2016-transition

It’s not just President-elect Joe Biden’s transition that’s under a microscope. President Trump and his allies are harking back to his own transition four years ago to make a false argument that Trump’s presidency was denied a fair chance for a clean launch. Press secretary Kayleigh McEnany laid out the case from the White House podium last week, and the same idea has been floated by Trump’s personal lawyer and his former director of national intelligence. The comparisons are part of a broader attempt by Trump and his team to undermine the legitimacy of Biden’s election and his right to an orderly transition by unspooling mistruths about both this election season and Trump’s treatment four years ago. “It’s worth remembering that this president was never given an orderly transition of power. His presidency was never accepted,” McEnany told reporters who questioned the Trump administration’s refusal to cooperate with the Biden transition. But the situations are far different. Politics Joe Biden busily prepares to be president, projecting the normalcy he promised, while President Trump fights to keep the job even as he has stopped doing the work. Nov. 22, 2020 The day after her defeat in 2016, Democrat Hillary Clinton conceded. “Donald Trump is going to be our president,” she said. “We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead.” The next day, President Obama, who had portrayed Trump as an existential threat to the nation, invited the president-elect to the White House and visited with him in the Oval Office. Obama’s aides offered help to Trump’s incoming staffers. “My No.1 priority in the coming two months,” Obama said, “is to try to facilitate a transition that ensures our president-elect is successful.” During his inaugural address, Trump thanked Obama and his wife, Michelle, “for their gracious aid throughout this transition” and called them “magnificent.” Trump’s team is not wrong that his own transition was chaotic, but the disarray in many ways was of his own doing. Trump fired the head of his transition, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and abandoned months of planning in favor of a Cabinet hiring process that at times resembled a reality show. His team ignored offers of help from the outgoing Obama administration. That’s a far cry from the description that’s been issued by McEnany as pressure mounts for Trump to concede and for his administration to begin cooperating with Biden’s transition team. Among other things, Biden is being denied access to the presidential daily intelligence briefing and to detailed briefings on the vaccine distribution plan as COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. eclipse 255,000. Trump has refused to concede, instead making baseless claims of electoral fraud and trying long-shot legal challenges that risk undermining the nation’s democratic traditions. In 2016, despite his claims, Trump did receive standard cooperation during the transition. But Trump’s team largely ignored advice from Obama staffers, leaving briefing books unopened and ignoring special iPads loaded with materials. The lack of preparation left aides clueless even about how to work the overhead intercom in the West Wing. A potential transition plan worked on for months by Christie was cast aside. He was dismissed from his post as part of a long-running feud with the president’s son-in-law and future senior White House advisor, Jared Kushner. Some of Trump’s hires were done on whim, as Cabinet candidates visited him in Trump Tower. The president-elect chose Michael Flynn for national security advisor after a recommendation from Trump’s children and despite Obama’s warnings. Flynn was out after less than a month in office. Christie, in his recent autobiography, wrote that 30 binders were discarded and that members of Trump’s team “got rid of guidance that would have made their candidate an immensely more effective president” and “stole from the man they’d just helped elect the launch he so richly deserved.” McEnany and others have claimed that Trump was undermined by an FBI investigation that was opened in the summer of 2016 into possible election interference, a probe that was taken over by special counsel Robert S. Mueller the following May after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey. Trump lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani, in a news conference last week, claimed the FBI “made up the Russia collusion plot” that damaged Trump and “cost our country $40 million.” Ric Grenell, Trump’s former ambassador to Germany and acting director of national intelligence, has said that what Obama offered “was not a peaceful transition” because the FBI was already working to undermine Trump. After nearly two years, Mueller found insufficient evidence to charge anyone in the Trump campaign with conspiring with Russia to sway the election. Throughout his term, Trump has framed the investigation as part of a “witch hunt” meant to destroy his presidency, and said it showed the federal bureaucracy was working against him. Obama had no role in directing the FBI’s investigation into ties between Russia and the Trump campaign. Though Obama was aware that his intelligence officials were investigating Russian interference, and had concerns about Trump and his background, the investigative decisions were made not by him but by his law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Since his loss to Biden, Trump has repeatedly challenged the fairness of the election with false claims about voting and has looked for ways to block certification of the vote. The Trump administration has yet to formally acknowledge Biden’s victory, slowing the transition at a time when the nation is facing a confluence of economic and health crises. “The lack of the transition and cooperation is the most reckless and irresponsible thing he has ever done,” David Plouffe, a former senior Obama advisor, said in a recent interview. “We have an election in early November, the new president takes over in the third week of January. It’s no time at all, it’s over in the blink of an eye. The damage is severe.”

Trump slams global climate agreement Biden intends to rejoin

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-22/trump-slams-paris-climate-agreement-biden-intends-to-rejoin

President Trump railed against the Paris climate accord on Sunday, telling world leaders at a virtual summit that the agreement was designed to cripple the U.S. economy, not save the planet. “To protect American workers, I withdrew the United States from the unfair and one-sided Paris climate accord, a very unfair act for the United States,” Trump said in a video statement from the White House to the Group of 20 summit hosted by Saudi Arabia. His comments came during a discussion among the world’s largest economies on safeguarding the Earth. President-elect Joe Biden, who takes office in January, has said he will rejoin the global pact that the U.S. helped forge five years ago. Trump contended the international accord was “not designed to save the environment. It was designed to kill the American economy.” Business Joe Biden’s election points to historic gains in the fight against climate change. Nov. 19, 2020 Trump, who has worked to undo most of President Obama’s efforts to fight climate change, said that since withdrawing from the climate agreement, the U.S. had reduced carbon emissions more than any nation. That is true but not that remarkable. With its giant economy, the U.S. has far more raw emissions of climate-damaging carbon dioxide to cut than any other country except China. A more telling measure of progress in various countries is to look at what percentage of emissions a country has cut. Since 2005, the United States hasn’t been even in the top 10 in percentage of greenhouse gas emission reductions. More than 180 nations have ratified the accord, which aims to keep the increase in average temperatures worldwide “well below” 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, and ideally no more than 2.7 F, compared with pre-industrial levels. Scientists say that any rise beyond 3.6 degrees could have a devastating effect on large parts of the world, raising sea levels, stoking tropical storms and worsening droughts and floods. The U.S. formally exited the Paris pact on Nov. 4. On Saturday, the U.S. formally left the Open Skies Treaty, which permits 30-plus nations to conduct unarmed observation flights over one another’s territory. Those overflights were set up decades ago to promote trust and avert conflict. The administration said it wanted out of the treaty because Russia was violating the pact, and imagery collected during the flights can be obtained quickly at less cost from U.S. or commercial satellites. During the discussions at the climate session, President Xi Jinping of China, the world’s largest emitter, said the G-20 should continue to take the lead in tackling climate change and push for the full implementation of the Paris accord. “Not long ago, I announced China’s initiative to scale up its nationally determined contributions and strive to peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060,” he said. “China will honor its commitment and see the implementation through.” India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, said “climate change must be fought not in silos, but in an integrated, comprehensive and holistic way.”

Trump election challenges sound alarm among voters of color

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-22/trump-election-challenges-sound-alarm-among-voters-of-color

When longtime Detroit community advocate Frank McGhee watched two Republican canvassers vote against certifying election results in the majority Black city, he was furious. McGhee, 58, has spent more than two decades working with Detroit youth and educating them on the electoral process. He said it was “outrageous” to see hard-fought Black voter-mobilization efforts threatened. “I thought, these are the ultimate executioners, if you will, put in place so that quietly they could take what belongs to us,” he said. President-elect Joe Biden was in part powered to victory in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Georgia by Black voters, many of them concentrated in cities such as Detroit, Philadelphia and Atlanta where he received a significant share of their support. Since election day, President Trump and his allies have sought to expose voter fraud that simply does not exist in these and other overwhelmingly Black population centers. Such a plainly racist strategy to contest the election could erode Black voters’ trust in elections. Voting-rights advocates say they stand ready to beat back any efforts to water down the Black vote. But fears persist that Trump’s allies will undermine democracy and disenfranchise Black Americans and other voters of color. Politics Joe Biden busily prepares to be president, projecting the normalcy he promised, while President Trump fights to keep the job even as he has stopped doing the work. Nov. 22, 2020 Trump renewed his attack on Motown voters Thursday, tweeting without evidence, “Voter Fraud in Detroit is rampant, and has been for many years.” The GOP effort in Michigan came to a head Tuesday, when the Wayne County Board of Canvassers initially deadlocked on a vote to certify election results that included ballots from Detroit, the nation’s largest Black-majority city. Two Republican canvassers tried to block the routine certification, which provoked an outcry from people attending the meeting and civil rights leaders, who questioned whether race was a factor. The two GOP board members eventually reversed their votes and certified the results. They later tried to revert to their original position and were rebuffed by state officials who said the certification could not be rescinded. “I think it’s a dose of reality of the times that we are living in,” said Nicole Small, vice chair of the Detroit Charter Revision Commission, who said the vote was a “blatant attempt at voter suppression.” “I do not believe that Trump has created racism amongst people, but I do think he was the safety net and the vehicle for people to be more active in practicing their racism and their prejudiced beliefs publicly,” Small said. Michigan Atty. Gen. Dana Nessel blasted the Trump campaign and other groups for filing election-related lawsuits that were frivolous and lacked evidence. “The themes we see that persist here are this: ‘Black people are corrupt. Black people are incompetent, and Black people can’t be trusted,’” she said on a call with the nonpartisan Voter Protection Program. Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said the Republican canvassers’ conduct was part of the ongoing effort “to disenfranchise voters on a scale that is simply unprecedented in modern times.” Beyond Michigan, the Trump campaign sought a partial recount in Wisconsin — in Milwaukee and Dane counties, which include the majority of the state’s Black population. On Thursday, Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani renewed unproven claims of voter fraud and impropriety during mail-in vote counting in Pennsylvania, naming Philadelphia and nearby Camden, N.J., which is also predominantly Black. In Philadelphia, state Sen. Sharif Street said Trump’s attacks on the city were neither new nor surprising, given his “abject failure” around COVID-19 and the resulting economic fallout. “This is an attempt to delegitimize our voters, but it only served to delegitimize himself.” During a news conference Thursday in Wilmington, Del., Biden said Americans were “witnessing incredible irresponsibility. Incredibly damaging messages are being sent to the rest of the world about how democracy functions.” Black voters are not the only targets. A Trump-allied group behind challenges in four states, True the Vote, filed a lawsuit alleging officials relaxed voter ID requirements for absentee voters in Menominee County, Wisconsin, which is essentially the Menominee Nation Indian reservation. Most of the group’s lawsuits have been tossed out or withdrawn. Another lawsuit seeks nullification of votes in Nevada over fraud and irregularities. The Trump campaign and Nevada Republicans alleged the Nevada Native Voter Project illegally enticed Native American voters with gift cards, gas cards, raffle tickets and T-shirts if they voted early or on election day. That lawsuit has been dismissed. And in Arizona, the Trump campaign and the state Republican Party jointly asked courts to halt certification of votes in Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix and a significant portion of the state’s Latino population. The lawsuit sought a hand count of a sampling of ballots from the county. A judge dismissed that lawsuit on Thursday. The rate of dismissal proves “there’s really no there there to the challenges,” said Anne Houghtaling, deputy director of the Thurgood Marshall Institute, which houses the NAACP Legal Defense Fund’s voting rights projects. “It’s all sort of tilting at windmills,” Houghtaling said. Black voters and other voters of color were guaranteed free and fair access to the polls through the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965. Prior to its passage, Black voters, primarily in the South, were routinely subjected to intimidation and deadly violence for simply registering to vote. In places where they could register, some voters faced literacy tests and poll taxes that effectively left them disenfranchised. In some states, voter discrimination complaints worsened after a 2013 Supreme Court ruling gutted a section of the voting rights law requiring states with a history of discrimination to get federal approval before changing voter regulations. States have passed strict voter ID requirements and carried out voter roll purges, and limited early voting in places where minority voters were disproportionately affected. Election officials from both political parties have stated publicly that the 2020 election went well, and international observers confirmed there were no serious irregularities. “It’s not the use of the word ‘legal’ vote, it’s the constant insinuation that there are so many illegal or fraudulent votes out there,” said Rick Hasen, a professor of law and political science at UC Irvine and author of the Election Law blog. “There’s no evidence produced by the campaign to support there has been a lot of fraud.”

Thousands march in Taiwan streets against U.S. pork imports

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-22/thousands-march-in-taiwan-streets-against-us-pork-imports

Thousands of people marched in Taipei’s streets on Sunday demanding the reversal of a decision to allow U.S. pork imports into Taiwan, alleging food safety issues. President Tsai Ing-wen’s administration lifted a long-standing ban on U.S. pork and beef imports in August, in a move seen as one of the first steps toward possibly negotiating a bilateral trade agreement with the U.S. The ban is due to be lifted in January. That decision has met with fierce opposition, both by the opposition Kuomintang party and individual citizens. The new policy allows imports of pork with acceptable residues of ractopamine, a drug added into animal feed that promotes the growth of lean meat that some farmers use in pigs. The drug is banned by the European Union but is legal in the United States. Demonstrators marched in front of the Presidential Office Building as part of an annual labor march. “I came here today to oppose the import of ractopamine,” said Kelvin Chen, a 54-year-old computer engineer who was marching. “I feel these days many who do business are not ethical. If they mix the U.S. pork with Taiwan pork and then sell it to us average consumers, we as individuals have no way to know the source of the pork.” “I have a child and when we eat things with ractopamine, it’s not good for our bodies,” said Jacky Tsui, a 37-year-old factory worker. “I hope the government can see that we citizens oppose this.”

Russia's health system under strain as the coronavirus surges back

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-22/russias-health-system-under-strain-as-the-virus-surges-back

When Yekaterina Kobzeva, a nurse at a preschool in Russia’s Ural Mountains, began having trouble breathing, she called an ambulance. It was four days before she managed to find a free hospital bed. The ambulance first took her to get a scan — which showed damage from pneumonia to 50% of her lungs, an indication she had the coronavirus. The paramedics then drove her around the city of Perm and its surroundings for hours as seven hospitals, one by one, turned her down, saying they didn’t have any beds available. At dawn, she went home. The journey took her through “circles of hell,” Kobzeva, 60, recalled in an interview with the Associated Press by phone from a hospital, where doctors confirmed she had the virus. She was only admitted there days after her first attempt — and after her story made local headlines. Russia’s healthcare system, vast yet underfunded, has been under significant strains in recent weeks, as the pandemic surges again and daily infections and virus death regularly break records. Across the country, 81% of hospital beds that have been set aside for coronavirus patients were full as of Wednesday. Three times last week, the Russian government reported a record number of daily deaths, and the number of daily new infections per 100,000 people has more than doubled since Oct. 1, from 6 to more than 15. Overall, Russia has recorded more than 2 million cases and more than 35,000 deaths, but experts say all numbers worldwide understate the true toll of the pandemic. World & Nation Developers of Sputnik V, Russia’s experimental COVID-19 vaccine, say early data suggest that it is 92% effective, but skeptics raise questions. Reports in Russian media have painted a bleak picture in recent weeks. Hospital corridors are filled with patients on gurneys and even the floor. Bodies in black plastic bags were seen piling up on the floors of a morgue. Long lines of ambulances wait at hospitals while pharmacies put up signs listing the drugs they no longer have in stock. Russian authorities have acknowledged problems in the health system. President Vladimir Putin even urged regional officials not to paper over the situation, saying that “feigning the impression that everything is perfectly normal is absolutely unacceptable.” Yet Russian authorities continue to insist there’s no need for a nationwide lockdown or widespread closures of businesses, instead urging people to observe the measures ordered by regional governments. But in most regions, those measures don’t go beyond mask mandates, limiting the hours of bars and restaurants, ordering older people to self-isolate, forbidding mass public events and requiring employers to have some staff work from home. Health experts say the moves are clearly not enough. Paramedic Dmitry Seryogin says Kobzeva’s experience is not unusual. In the southwestern Oryol region where he works, patients can wait for up to 12 hours for an ambulance and then might spend five more in it, looking for a hospital bed. Those who happen to arrive when others are being discharged get lucky, he told the AP, but the rest are sent home. While the Perm region, where Kobzeva sought treatment, was among the top 20 of more than 80 Russian regions in terms of daily new infections last week, Oryol ranked somewhere in the middle. Still, 95% of hospital beds slated for coronavirus patients there were full last week, reflecting the pressure on a system crippled by widely criticized reforms that sought to cut state spending. “We’re witnessing simply a collapse of the healthcare system in the region,” Seryogin said. “It is absolutely not coping.” A partial six-week coronavirus lockdown in March only added to long-brewing public frustrations over Russia’s already weakened economy. Soon after that, Putin delegated the powers to impose virus-related restrictions to regional governors. Critics saw the move as an effort to protect himself from any more fallout over the pandemic. World & Nation U.S. health officials have allowed emergency use of a Regeneron antibody drug to help the immune system fight COVID-19. During the fall resurgence of the virus, the Kremlin has consistently pointed fingers at regional governors. “Colleagues, you have received broad powers for implementing anti-pandemic measures. And nobody has relieved you of personal responsibility for the adopted measures — I really do hope that they were adopted on time,” Putin reminded the governors last week. But just like the Kremlin, governments in the vast majority of Russian regions have been loath to shut businesses or impose lockdowns. The only exception has been the Siberian republic of Buryatia, where last week the region’s governor ordered cafes, restaurants, bars, malls, cinemas, beauty parlors and saunas to shut down for two weeks. Regional governors find themselves in an impossible position, explained political analyst Abbas Gallyamov. They face public frustration if they don’t impose tough restrictions and the outbreak continues to rage, and they face it if they do because they don’t have the funds to ease the pain of closures. “All the finances have been long centralized, and the regions don’t have spare money,” Gallyamov said. “So de jure, a governor’s hands are untied, but de facto they’re still tied because they don’t have the money to impose a lockdown and compensate people for their financial losses.” In addition, Putin has so thoroughly centralized power that regional governors are not used to acting independently, noted Judy Twigg, a professor of political science at Virginia Commonwealth University, specializing in global health. In the meantime, many Russian regions are buckling under the growing tide of patients. In Buryatia, the Siberian republic that has imposed the country’s strictest measures, Dr. Tatyana Symbelova told the AP that as the number of patients rose, her hospital kept adding beds — “in the corridor, in the outpatient ward next door” — but “the situation, still, grew worse and worse.” Symbelova, the chief doctor at Republican Infectious Disease Hospital in Ulan-Ude, and her colleagues are now taking patients whose condition was “severe or of moderate severity” and turning down those with milder cases. A new coronavirus ward with 180 beds opened last week in the city, and she hopes that and the shutdown will help. But in the meantime, she is worried. “Such risks we’re taking! Telling patients [with milder cases] they can go and treat themselves at home, when they may come in three days later with their lips blue,” Symbelova said. “We’re very seriously choking.”

FDA allows emergency use of antibody drug Trump received

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-21/fda-allows-emergency-use-of-antibody-drug-trump-received

U.S. health officials Saturday agreed to allow emergency use of a second antibody drug to help the immune system fight COVID-19, an experimental medicine that President Trump was given when he was sickened last month. The Food and Drug Administration authorized use of the Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. drug to try to prevent hospitalization and worsening disease from developing in patients with mild to moderate symptoms. The drug is given as a one-time treatment through an IV. The FDA allowed its use in adults and children 12 and over who weigh at least 88 pounds and who are at high risk of severe illness from COVID-19 because of age or certain other medical conditions. World & Nation Mexico last week passed two somber coronavirus markers, exceeding 100,000 deaths and 1 million infections. The grim statistics brought renewed political wrangling about how the country’s leadership has handled the pandemic. Nov. 21, 2020 Emergency authorization allows use of the drug to start while studies are continuing to establish safety and effectiveness. Early results suggest the drug may reduce COVID-19-related hospitalization or emergency room visits in patients at high risk for disease progression, the FDA said. Regeneron said that initial doses will be made available to roughly 300,000 patients through a federal government allocation program. Patients will not be charged for the drug but may have to pay part of the cost of giving the IV. Initial supplies are likely to be vastly outstripped by demand as the U.S. has surged past 10 million reported cases, with the country facing what health experts say will be a dark winter because of uncontrolled spread of the virus. Antibodies are proteins the body makes to target and help eliminate viruses, but it can take weeks for the best ones to form after an infection occurs. The drugs are concentrated versions of ones that proved best able to do this in lab and animal tests, and in theory help the body start to fight the virus right away. The Regeneron drug is a combo of two antibodies to enhance the chances it will prove effective. Earlier this month, the FDA gave emergency authorization to a single-antibody drug from Eli Lilly that also is still being studied. There’s no way to know whether the Regeneron drug helped Trump recover; he received a host of treatments, and most COVID-19 patients recover on their own. FDA regulators authorized the Regeneron drug using their emergency powers to quickly speed the availability of experimental drugs and other medical products during public health crises. In normal times the FDA requires “substantial evidence” to show that a drug is safe and effective, usually through one or more large, rigorously controlled patient studies. But during public health emergencies the agency can lower those standards and require only that an experimental treatment’s potential benefits outweigh its risks. The emergency authorization functions like a temporary approval for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic. To win full approval, Regeneron will have to submit additional research to fully define the drug’s safety and benefit for patients.

Protesters torch Guatemala's Congress building amid unrest

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-21/protesters-burn-part-of-guatemalas-congress-building

Hundreds of protesters broke into Guatemala’s Congress and burned part of the building Saturday amid growing demonstrations against President Alejandro Giammattei and the legislature for approving a budget that cut educational and health spending. The protest came as about 7,000 people were demonstrating in front of the National Palace in Guatemala City against the budget, which protesters say was negotiated and passed by legislators in secret while the Central American country was distracted by the fallout of back-to-back hurricanes and the COVID-19 pandemic. Video on social media showed flames shooting out a window of the legislative building. According to news reports, security agents fired tear gas at protesters, and several people were injured. Giammattei condemned the fires on Twitter on Saturday. World & Nation A migrant caravan from Central America that has drawn the ire of the Trump administration moved slowly north Thursday, advancing beyond the Mexican town of Mapastepec in southeastern Chiapas state. Oct. 25, 2018 “Anyone who is proven to have participated in the criminal acts will be punished with the full force of the law,” he tweeted. He added that he defended people’s right to protest, “but neither can we allow people to vandalize public or private property.” The president said he had been meeting with various groups to present changes to the budget. Discontent had been building over the 2021 budget on social media, and clashes erupted during demonstrations Friday. Guatemalans were angered because lawmakers approved $65,000 to pay for meals for themselves, but cut funding for coronavirus patients and human rights agencies. Vice President Guillermo Castillo has offered to resign, telling Giammattei that both men should resign their positions “for the good of the country.” He also suggested vetoing the approved budget, firing government officials and attempting more outreach to various sectors of the country. Giammattei had not responded publicly to that proposal, and Castillo did not share the president’s private reaction. Castillo said he would not resign alone. The spending plan was negotiated in secret and approved by Congress before dawn Wednesday. It also passed while the country was distracted in the aftermath of Hurricanes Eta and Iota, which brought torrential rains to much of Central America. The Roman Catholic Church leadership in Guatemala also called on Giammattei to veto the budget Friday. “It was a devious blow to the people because Guatemala was between natural disasters; there are signs of government corruption, clientelism in the humanitarian aid,” said Jordán Rodas, the country’s human rights prosecutor. He said the budget appeared to favor ministries that have historically been hot spots of corruption.

Many GOP lawmakers shrug off statehouse mask-wearing rules

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-21/many-gop-lawmakers-shrug-off-statehouse-mask-wearing-rules

Many Republican lawmakers in states where coronavirus cases and hospitalizations have surged are not only rejecting statewide mask mandates. They’re also resisting rules requiring them in their own capitols. Efforts to require lawmakers and staff to wear masks have received a cool reception even in statehouses that have seen outbreaks or where Republican governors have issued statewide mandates. It’s echoing a partisan divide nationwide over a simple step that health experts say is proven to help keep others safe. “We’re supposed to be modeling for our constituents and for our residents in our state,” said Arkansas state Sen. Stephanie Flowers, a Democrat in the majority-Republican Legislature who proposed a rule requiring senators to wear a mask or risk losing their per diem payments. “You’ve got the governor asking everyone to wear a mask and socially-distance. It’s not like I’m asking for something nobody has heard of.” Many legislatures are still planning and drafting rules for their 2021 legislative sessions, and four chambers adopted rules requiring masks for sessions this year, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Nearly 200 legislators nationwide have tested positive for the virus, and four have died from COVID-19 since the pandemic began, according to figures compiled by the Associated Press. At least four dozen Mississippi lawmakers tested positive in the largest outbreak in a legislature, where masks were encouraged but not required. The Missouri Legislature postponed a special session focused on virus relief after a coronavirus outbreak among lawmakers, and a Tennessee lawmaker said she won’t be able to spend Thanksgiving with her mother after attending a hearing where legislators weren’t wearing masks. Health experts warn that the public is taking its cue from elected officials at a time those officials are trying to restrict or discourage indoor gatherings that are fueling a rapid rise in cases. “We know it works, but if political leaders don’t stand behind their public health officials and say we need to do this, a significant portion of the public may not follow,” said Dr. Jeffrey Levi, professor of health policy at George Washington University. Legislatures have taken steps to try to limit the virus, with some allowing remote voting and others meeting in larger venues to allow more spacing. Arkansas’ House, for example, met in a basketball arena for two sessions last spring but will return to the Capitol next year. Twelve Arkansas lawmakers have tested positive for the virus over the last month, the second-largest known outbreak in a state legislature. The latest outbreak began after lawmakers convened at the Capitol for budget hearings last month. The budget panel had adopted a mask rule that didn’t require lawmakers to wear them when speaking into a microphone, drinking or if they were at least six feet away from other people. Flowers has diabetes, which puts her at a higher risk of complications from the virus. She pulled down her proposal for a stricter rule in the Senate to make changes based on concerns raised about the measure and plans to bring a reworked version back when lawmakers convene in January. House Speaker Matthew Shepherd said he expected that chamber to take up a version similar to the Joint Budget Committee’s rule. Republican Sen. Trent Garner called Flowers’ proposal and its penalties “draconian” and said the Legislature should be held to the same standard as the statewide mask mandate GOP Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed earlier this year. “We don’t need to create a ‘tell on each other’ rule when it comes to public safety,” Garner said. Tennessee Democratic state Rep. Gloria Johnson tweeted Tuesday that she would forgo having Thanksgiving dinner with her mother after attending a legislative meeting with Republican members who weren’t wearing masks. “We aren’t having a big family Thanksgiving dinner [with] mom due to COVID, but I was going to eat with her at a distance,” Johnson wrote, adding that being around her legislative colleague for the last two days will now mean she’ll “leave her food on the steps.” House and Senate leaders in Oklahoma announced plans to impose a mask mandate for employees who work inside the Capitol after two lawmakers recently tested positive. But legislative leaders acknowledged that individual legislators couldn’t be forced to wear masks. An outbreak among Missouri state senators that postponed a special session focused on federal coronavirus aid hasn’t spurred a requirement for lawmakers there to wear masks either. Republican senators were photographed not wearing masks during a caucus retreat with GOP Gov. Mike Parson. “Senators have been encouraged to wear masks, and many have done so as they move around through public spaces,” Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz said. “It is, however, ultimately up to each individual to make that decision.” The fight among lawmakers in some states goes beyond mask rules to whether information is being withheld about outbreaks in their capitols. This month in Minnesota, Democrats in the state Senate demanded that the chamber’s majority leader resign from his leadership post after he and other Senate Republicans failed to notify their Democratic colleagues and others of a potential COVID-19 outbreak among the GOP ranks. Pennsylvania’s House has had a mask rule in place for its members since June, but a couple of dozen of the chamber’s most conservative Republicans have routinely ignored the mandate, and their party’s leaders have not enforced it. A Democratic lawmaker on Friday tweeted that she had filed a complaint with the state Health Department for unsafe working conditions over the issue. House Republicans in Ohio have also rejected efforts to require that lawmakers wear masks at the Statehouse, and a statewide mask mandate issued by GOP Gov. Mike DeWine hasn’t been enforced with them either. The debate in state capitols is mirroring that among lawmakers in Washington. Masks are required in the U.S. House but not in the Senate. Senators of both parties regularly take off their masks to speak on the Senate floor, a practice that’s received some criticism from Democrats. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) interrupted a floor speech Monday afternoon to ask Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) to put on his mask as he presided over the Senate, noting that he could be exposing staff nearby. “I don’t wear a mask when I am speaking, like most senators,” Sullivan said, adding that he would put the mask on, but “I don’t need your instruction.”

Wisconsin officials say Trump observers are obstructing recount

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-21/wisconsin-officials-trump-observers-obstructing-recount

Election officials in Wisconsin’s largest county accused observers for President Trump’s campaign Saturday of seeking to obstruct a recount of the presidential results, in some instances by objecting to every ballot tabulators pulled to count. Trump requested the recount in Milwaukee and Dane counties, both heavily liberal, in hopes of undoing Democrat Joe Biden’s victory by about 20,600 votes in Wisconsin. With no precedent for a recount reversing such a large margin, Trump’s strategy is widely seen as aimed at an eventual court challenge, part of a push in key states to undo his election loss while making baseless assertions of fraud. A steady stream of Republican complaints in Milwaukee was putting the recount far behind schedule, County Clerk George Christenson said. He said many Trump observers were breaking rules by constantly interrupting vote counters with questions and comments. “That’s unacceptable,” he said. He said some of the Trump observers “clearly don’t know what they are doing.” Politics President Trump again pushed false election fraud claims Friday while President-elect Joe Biden met with Democratic leaders in Congress. Nov. 20, 2020 Tim Posnanski, a county election commissioner, told his fellow commissioners there appeared to be two Trump representatives at some tables where tabulators were counting ballots, violating rules that call for one observer from each campaign per table. Posnanski said some Trump representatives seemed to be posing as independents. At one recount table, a Trump observer objected to every ballot that tabulators pulled from a bag simply because they were folded, election officials told the panel. Posnanski called it “prima facie evidence of bad faith by the Trump campaign.” He added later: “I want to know what is going on and why there continues to be obstruction.” Joe Voiland, a lawyer speaking to commission members on behalf of the Trump campaign, denied his side was acting in bad faith. “I want to get to the point of dialing everything down … and not yelling at each other,” Voiland said. At least one Trump observer was escorted out of the building by sheriff’s deputies Saturday after pushing an election official who had lifted her coat from an observer chair. Another Trump observer was removed Friday for not wearing a face mask properly as required. Trump paid $3 million, as required by state law, for the partial recount that began Friday and must conclude by Dec. 1. His team is seeking to disqualify ballots where election clerks filled in missing address information on the certification envelope where the ballot is inserted, even though the practice has long been accepted in Wisconsin. The campaign also alleges that thousands of absentee ballots didn’t have proper written paperwork, and that some absentee voters improperly declared themselves “indefinitely confined,” a status that allows them to receive a ballot without providing photo identification. Those challenges were being rejected. There have been at least 31 recounts in statewide elections in the U.S. since the most famous one in Florida’s presidential election in 2000. The recounts changed the outcome of three races. All three were decided by hundreds of votes, not thousands.

'My Missing Valentine' wins big at Golden Horse Awards

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/awards/story/2020-11-22/my-missing-valentine-wins-big-at-golden-horse-awards

The Taiwanese film “My Missing Valentine” won big Saturday night at the annual Golden Horse Awards, taking five honors, including best feature film. The romantic comedy, which tells the love story of a bus driver and a post office worker, also won for best director, best visual effects, best film editing and best original screenplay. Overall, Taiwanese talent enjoyed a big night at the Golden Horse Awards, considered Asia’s equivalent of the Academy Awards for Chinese-language films. Taiwanese performers took home honors for best actor and best actress. Mo Tzu-yi won best actor for his role in “Dear Tenant,” while Chen Shu-fang won best actress for “Little Big Women.” Malaysia’s Chong Keat-aun won the award for best new director for “The Story of Southern Islet.” Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien won the lifetime achievement award. Even as the coronavirus pandemic has shut cinemas around the globe, actors, directors and others managed to walk the red carpet ahead of the ceremony in Taipei, Taiwan’s capital. Taiwan has recorded only 611 cases of the coronavirus and just seven deaths. “It is not easy. Look at what is happened around the world,” said director Ang Lee, the chairman of the competition. “I have just come back from New York. Theaters are closed over there. I am deeply touched that Taiwan’s box office revenue still keeps growing.” For the second straight year, mainland Chinese talent did not participate in the competition, with Beijing banning its artists from participating amid tensions between China and Taiwan. Taiwan split off from the mainland after the 1949 civil war, but China still claims the island as part of its territory. Those tensions have played out at the Golden Horse Awards. In 2018, documentary director Fu Yue called on the world to recognize Taiwan as an independent country in an acceptance speech at the awards ceremony, something only a handful of nations currently do. In response, Chinese participants refused to appear onstage, made pointed remarks about Taiwan and China being members of the same family, and then declined to attend the banquet reception following the show. China holds its own film awards, called the Golden Rooster, which are subject to government ideological constraints and censorship.

Tens of thousands mourn radical cleric's death in Pakistan

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-21/tens-of-thousands-mourn-radical-clerics-death-in-pakistan

Tens of thousands of mourners Saturday attended the funeral of a radical cleric whose Islamist party has defended Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy law that calls for the death penalty for insulting Islam. The mourners gathered in the eastern city of Lahore, where the Islamist scholar and leader, Khadim Hussein Rizvi, died two days ago at the age of 54. Rizvi’s party, Tehreek-e-Labiak, holds only two seats in parliament, but his movement has repeatedly pressed its cause by staging large-scale demonstrations. Last Sunday, Rizvi led thousands of his supporters at a sit-in in the capital of Islamabad protesting the republishing in France of caricatures of the prophet Muhammad, which they deemed blasphemous. Demonstrators briefly clashed with security forces at the rally, which was one in a wave of protests across the country expressing outrage over the caricatures. Pakistan’s government promised Tuesday that the protesters’ demands for cutting diplomatic ties with France and expelling the French ambassador would be discussed in parliament soon. A spokesman for the Tehreek-e-Labiak said the government had also agreed to release any party members detained at the recent protests. The radical Islamist party gained prominence in Pakistan’s 2018 elections, campaigning on a single-point agenda of defending the country’s blasphemy law. In November 2017, its followers staged a 21-day protest and sit-in after a reference to the sanctity of the prophet Muhammad was removed from the text of a government form. Rizvi led the protests last year, after Pakistani authorities freed Aasia Bibi, a Christian Pakistani woman held on death row for eight years on charges of committing blasphemy. A court acquitted her but she had to flee to Canada after threats to her life. The prophet caricatures published in France sparked protests across Asia and the Middle East, with calls for the boycott of French products. They were also seen as the trigger for several deadly attacks against French nationals and interests in recent weeks.

Daily COVID-19 deaths in U.S. reach highest level since May

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-20/daily-covid-19-deaths-in-u-s-reach-highest-level-since-may

The coronavirus is taking an increasingly dire toll across the U.S. just as a vaccine appears close at hand, with the country now averaging more than 1,300 COVID-19 deaths per day — the highest level since the calamitous spring in and around New York City. The U.S. death toll is nearly 254,000, by far the most in the world. Confirmed infections exceed 11.8 million, after the biggest one-day gain on record Thursday — almost 188,000. And the number of people in the hospital with COVID-19 hit another all-time high, at more than 80,000. With health experts fearing that Thanksgiving travel and holiday gatherings will fuel the spread of the virus, many states and cities are imposing near-lockdowns or other restrictions. California ordered a curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. starting Saturday, covering 94% of the state’s 40 million residents. Opinion President Trump appears not to be learning enough about what he needs to do to fight a pandemic, plus more from the week in Opinion. April 4, 2020 The Texas border county of El Paso, where more than 300 people have died from COVID-19 since October, is advertising jobs for morgue workers capable of lifting bodies weighing 175 pounds or more. Officials are offering more than $27 an hour for work described as not only physically arduous but “emotionally taxing as well.” The county had already begun paying jail inmates $2 an hour to help move corpses and has ordered at least 10 refrigerated trucks as morgues run out of room. COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. are at their highest level since late May, when the Northeast was emerging from the first wave of the crisis. They peaked at about 2,200 a day in late April, when New York City was the epicenter, and bodies were being loaded onto refrigerated trucks by forklift. Amid the bleak new statistics, Pfizer said Friday it is asking U.S. regulators to allow emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine, setting in motion a process that could make the first, limited shots available as early as next month, with healthcare workers and other high-risk groups likely to get priority. But it could take months before the vaccine becomes widely available. Pfizer has said the vaccine appears 95% effective at preventing the disease. In Texas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has ruled out another shutdown and singled out El Paso County leaders for not enforcing restrictions already in place. The state’s attorney general, Ken Paxton, likened the county’s chief administrator to a “tyrant” after Paxton won an appeals court ruling blocking local leaders from shutting down gyms and other nonessential businesses. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, also a Republican, failed to persuade leaders of the GOP-controlled legislature to reject a bill that would limit his administration’s power to deal with the crisis. At issue is a Senate bill that would ban the state health department from issuing mandatory quarantine orders enforced against people who are not sick or exposed to the disease — such as the governor’s order, announced Tuesday, setting a 10 p.m. curfew. DeWine said he will veto the bill when it reaches his desk; Republicans in both the House and Senate have enough votes to override the veto if they choose. “This bill is a disaster,” DeWine said Thursday. “This is not a bill that can become law.” In California, the curfew will be in place in 41 of 58 counties. Its impact will depend heavily on voluntary compliance. Sheriffs of some counties said they won’t enforce it. Under the rules, people who are not on essential errands must stay home after 10 p.m. The curfew is less strict than the near-total ban on nonessential business and travel that Gov. Gavin Newsom imposed in March, which he credited with flattening the rate of COVID-19 cases. In Kansas, new cases have risen to an average of more than 2,700 per day, nearly four times higher than a month ago. “Our hospitals are overwhelmed with coronavirus patients. Healthcare workers are burned out,” Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly said Friday. In rural western Kansas, the number of people seeking testing at a Kearny County clinic doubled over the past week to about 80 per day, said Dr. Lane Olson, a family practice doctor. He said nurses had to make multiple calls this week before the University of Kansas Hospital, about 360 miles away in Kansas City, agreed to take one of his coronavirus patients whose oxygen levels were falling. Then several more calls were needed to find an air transport company that could fly her there. In Topeka, the emergency department at Stormont Vail Hospital has taken over a back hallway and a waiting room, with some patients waiting hours to be moved to a regular room. The crunch has area officials considering opening a field hospital. Among other developments: • The mayor of Newark, N.J., said residents should stay home for 10 days starting next week because of the rise in cases. • In Arizona, four Democratic mayors urged Republican Gov. Doug Ducey to impose a statewide requirement for people to wear masks in public. The move came as health officials reported more than 4,000 additional COVID-19 cases for the second consecutive day. Ducey’s chief of staff, Daniel Scarpinato, pushed back on the request, saying the mayors are doing little to enforce their own mask ordinances or ensure that existing safety measures put in place by the governor are being enforced. • In New Mexico, where hospitals are facing a crunch, the state reopened a vacated former hospital in Albuquerque for use by COVID-19 patients.

Jan Morris, author and transgender pioneer, dies at 94

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-20/jan-morris-author-and-transgender-pioneer-dies-at-94

Jan Morris, the celebrated journalist, historian, world traveler and fiction writer who in middle age became a pioneer of the transgender movement, has died at 94. Morris died in Wales on Friday morning, according to her literary representative, United Agents. Her agent Sophie Scard confirmed her death. Morris had been in failing health. Additional details were not immediately available. The British author lived as James Morris until the early 1970s, when she underwent surgery at a clinic in Casablanca and renamed herself Jan Morris. Her bestselling memoir “Conundrum,” which came out in 1974, continued the path of such earlier works as Christine Jorgensen’s “A Personal Autobiography” in presenting her decision as natural and liberating. “I no longer feel isolated and unreal,” she wrote. “Not only can I imagine more vividly how other people feel: released at last from those old bridles and blinkers, I am beginning to know how I feel myself.” Morris was a prolific and accomplished author and journalist who wrote dozens of books in a variety of genres and was a first-hand witness to history. As a young reporter for the London Times, she accompanied a 1953 expedition to Asia led by Edmund Hillary and, on the day of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation, broke the news that Hillary and Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay had become the first climbers to scale Mt. Everest. She was so concerned that rival reporters would steal her scoop she used coded language for the dispatch back home, relayed through an Indian military radio outpost: “Snow conditions bad stop advanced base abandoned yesterday stop awaiting improvement.” Books Daniel M. Lavery documents a life in flux in his new collection, “Something That May Shock and Discredit You” (written under his old name of Daniel Mallory Ortberg). Feb. 12, 2020 In 1956, for the Manchester Guardian, she helped break the news that French forces were secretly attacking Egypt during the so-called Suez Canal crisis that threatened to start a world war. The French and British, who also were allied against Egypt, both withdrew in embarrassment after denying the initial reports and British Prime Minister Anthony Eden resigned within months. In the early 1960s, she covered Adolf Eichmann’s trial in Jerusalem. Morris went on to receive praise for her immersive travel writing, with Venice and Trieste in Italy among the favored locations, and for her “Pax Britannica” histories about the British empire, a trilogy begun as James Morris and concluded as Jan Morris. In 1985, she was a Booker Prize finalist for an imagined travelogue and political thriller, “Last Letters from Hav,” about a Mediterranean city-state that was a stopping point for the author’s globe-spanning knowledge and adventures, where visitors ranged from St. Paul and Marco Polo to Ernest Hemingway and Sigmund Freud. The book was reissued 21 years later as part of “Hav,” which included a sequel by Morris and an introduction from the science fiction-fantasy author Ursula K. Le Guin. “I read it (‘Hav’) as a brilliant description of the crossroads of the West and East ... viewed by a woman who has truly seen the world, and who lives in it with twice the intensity of most of us,” Le Guin wrote. Morris’ other works included the memoirs “Herstory” and “Pleasures of a Tangled Life,” the essay collections “Cities” and “Locations” and the anthology “The World: Life and Travel 1950-2000.” A collection of diary entries, “In My Mind’s Eye,” came out in 2019. Television ‘Veneno,’ about rise and fall of ‘90s sex symbol Cristina Ortiz, was a massive hit in Spain. Now, it’s poised to “stir consciences” around the globe. Nov. 19, 2020 Born James Humphrey Morris in Somerset, with a Welsh father and English mother, Morris remembered questioning her gender by age 4. She had an epiphany as she sat under her mother’s piano and thought that she had “been born into the wrong body, and should really be a girl.” For some 20 years she kept her feelings secret, a “cherished” secret that became a prayer when at Oxford University she and fellow students would observe a moment of silence while worshipping at the school cathedral. “Into that hiatus, while my betters I suppose were asking for forgiveness or enlightenment, I inserted silently every night, year after year throughout my boyhood, an appeal less graceful but no less heartfelt: ‘And please, God, let me be a girl. Amen,‘” Morris wrote in her memoir. “I felt that in wishing so fervently, and so ceaselessly, to be translated into a girl’s body, I was aiming only at a more divine condition, an inner reconciliation.” To the outside world, James Morris seemed to enjoy an exemplary male life. She was 17 when she joined the British army during World War II, served as an intelligence officer in Palestine and mastered the “military virtues of “courage, dash, loyalty, self-discipline.” In 1949, Morris married Elizabeth Tuckniss, with whom she had five children. (One died in infancy). But privately she felt “dark with indecision and anxiety” and even considered suicide. She had traveled the “long, well-beaten, expensive, and fruitless path” of psychiatrists and sexologists. She had concluded that no one in her situation had ever, “in the whole history of psychiatry, been ‘cured’ by the science.” Life as a woman changed how Morris saw the world and how the world saw Morris. She would internalize perceptions that she couldn’t fix a car or lift a heavy suitcase, found herself treated as an inferior by men and a confidante by women. She learned that there is “no aspect of existence, no moment of the day, no contact, no arrangement, no response, which is not different for men and women.” Morris and her wife were divorced, but they remained close, and in 2008 formalized a new bond in a civil union. They also promised to be buried together, under a stone inscribed in both Welsh and English: “Here lie two friends, at the end of one life.” Books Zapata, who died this month, wrote 1979’s “The Vampire of Colonia Roma,” a turning point for LGBTQ culture at the height of Mexico’s authoritarian regime. Nov. 18, 2020

Biden adds Obama administration veterans to top staff

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-20/biden-adds-obama-administration-veterans-to-top-staff

President-elect Joe Biden is adding four Obama-Biden administration veterans to his top ranks as he continues to build out his White House team. Cathy Russell, who was Jill Biden’s chief of staff during the Obama administration, will serve as director of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, evaluating applicants for administration roles. Louisa Terrell, who served as a legislative adviser to the president in the Obama administration and worked as deputy chief of staff for Biden in the Senate, will be director of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs. Terrell has already been engaged in Capitol Hill outreach as part of Biden’s transition team. Carlos Elizondo, who was social secretary for Jill Biden during the Obama administration, will reprise his role and serve as social secretary for the incoming first lady. And Mala Adaga will serve as her policy director. Her role hints at what Biden may focus on as first lady — Adaga previously worked as a director for higher education and military families at the Biden Foundation, and also advised Jill Biden on policy during the Obama administration. The announcements come just a few days after Biden unveiled his first major round of top White House staff, including the appointment of his current campaign manager, Jen O’Malley Dillon, to serve as deputy chief of staff, and campaign co-chair Rep. Cedric Richmond as director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. Late last week, he announced that longtime aide Ron Klain will serve as his chief of staff. While the new hires give a sense of the White House that Biden is beginning to build, he has yet to appoint someone to fill the role of COVID coordinator, which Klain announced this week, or name individuals for key communications roles. His team has thousands more staff-level roles to fill when it takes over the administration in January, and they’re currently reviewing applications and reaching out to potential candidates for key roles. Biden has indicated he plans to make and announce some of his Cabinet picks around Thanksgiving, and he said Thursday he’s already made his decision for Treasury secretary.

What does emergency use for a COVID-19 vaccine mean?

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-20/what-does-emergency-use-for-a-covid-19-vaccine-mean

What does emergency use of a COVID-19 vaccine mean? It’s when regulators allow shots to be given to certain people while studies of safety and effectiveness are ongoing. Before any vaccine is permitted in the U.S., it must be reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration, which requires study in thousands of people. Normally, the process to approve a new vaccine can take about a decade. But the federal government is using various methods to dramatically speed up the process for COVID-19 vaccines. World & Nation Pfizer has asked the FDA to allow emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine, which could the bring the first shots as early as next month. Nov. 20, 2020 During a health crisis, the FDA can loosen its normal scientific standards to allow emergency use of experimental drugs, devices, vaccines and other medical products. The first vaccines to get the provisional green light in the U.S. are almost certain to be made available under this process, known as emergency use authorization. Instead of the usual requirement of “substantial evidence” of safety and effectiveness for approval, the FDA can allow products onto the market as long as their benefits are likely to outweigh their risks. It has already used its emergency powers to authorize hundreds of coronavirus tests and a handful of treatments during the pandemic. But the agency has almost no experience granting emergency use for vaccines and has laid out extra standards it will use to make decisions on upcoming COVID-19 shots. In October, FDA officials told vaccine makers they should have two months of safety follow-up from half of the people enrolled in their studies before requesting emergency authorization. Those data are expected to be enough for FDA to allow vaccinations of certain high-risk groups, such as front-line health workers and nursing home residents. Full approval of a vaccine will likely require six months of safety follow-up as well as extensive inspections of company manufacturing sites. The leading vaccine makers are not expected to complete that process until next spring or summer. Only then is the FDA expected to grant full approval, which would allow vaccinations of the general population.

37 dead in Uganda as protests over arrest of politician continue

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-20/death-toll-at-37-in-uganda-unrest-after-bobi-wines-arrest

The death toll from protests over the arrest of Ugandan opposition presidential hopeful and musician Bobi Wine has risen to 37, police said Friday. This is the country’s worst unrest in a decade, and more is expected ahead of the election early next year. The Uganda police pathologist and the head of police health services told journalists in the capital, Kampala, that they had counted 37 bodies by Thursday morning. The protests broke out on Wednesday after police arrested Wine, who was expected to appear in court on Thursday in the eastern town of Iganga. Police accuse him of flouting COVID-19 guidelines that require presidential candidates to address fewer than 200 people. Police have said 350 people were arrested and detained throughout Kampala. Tension remained in the capital Thursday, with a heavy military and police presence. Wine, who has been arrested many times in recent years, has captured the imagination of many Ugandans with his persistent calls for President Yoweri Museveni to retire after 36 years in power. Speaking to reporters, Security Minister Gen. Elly Tumwine warned the protesters that they will be dealt with if they continue. ”This was a deliberate and pre-planned move to cause chaos because we have evidence,” Tumwine asserted. “But I want to warn those inciting violence that they will reap what they sow.”

Health experts clash over use of certain drugs to treat COVID-19

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-20/health-experts-clash-over-use-of-certain-drugs-for-covid-19

Health officials around the world are clashing over the use of certain drugs for COVID-19, leading to different treatment options for patients depending on where they live. On Friday, a World Health Organization guidelines panel advised against using the antiviral remdesivir for hospitalized patients, saying there’s no evidence it improves survival or avoids the need for breathing machines. But in the U.S. and many other countries, the drug has been the standard of care since a major, government-led study found other benefits — it shortened recovery time for hospitalized patients by five days on average, from 15 days to 10. Within the U.S., a federal guidelines panel and some leading medical groups have not endorsed two other therapies the Food and Drug Administration authorized for emergency use — Eli Lilly’s experimental antibody drug and convalescent plasma, which is derived from the blood of COVID-19 survivors. The groups say there isn’t enough evidence to recommend for or against them. Doctors also remain uncertain about when and when not to use the only drugs known to improve survival for the sickest COVID-19 patients: dexamethasone or similar steroids. And things got murkier with Thursday’s news that the anti-inflammatory drug tocilizumab may help. Like the key WHO study on remdesivir, the preliminary results on tocilizumab have not yet been published or fully reviewed by independent scientists, leaving doctors unclear about what to do. “It’s a genuine quandary,” said the University of Pittsburgh’s Dr. Derek Angus, who is involved in a study testing many of these treatments. “We need to see the details.” Dr. Rochelle Walensky, infectious-disease chief at Massachusetts General Hospital, agreed. “It’s really hard to practice medicine by press release,” she said on a podcast Thursday with a medical journal editor. Until the National Institutes of Health’s guidelines endorse a treatment, “I’m really reluctant … to call that ‘standard of care.’” Angus said there are legitimate questions about all of the drug studies. “It’s not unusual for professional guidelines to disagree with each other, it’s just that it’s all under the microscope with COVID-19,” he said. The rift over remdesivir, sold as Veklury by Gilead Sciences Inc., is the most serious. The WHO guidelines emphasize that the drug does not save lives, based heavily on a WHO-sponsored study that was larger but much less rigorous than the U.S.-led one that found it had other benefits. The drug is administered intravenously for around five days, and its high cost and lack of “meaningful effect” on mortality make it a poor choice, the WHO panel concluded. Gilead charges $3,120 for a typical treatment course for patients with private insurance and $2,340 for people covered by government health programs in the U.S. and other developed countries. In poor or middle-income countries, much cheaper versions are sold by generic makers. Price may be keeping demand for remdesivir low. In October, U.S. health officials said that hospitals had bought only about one-third of the doses that they were offered over the previous few months, when the drug was in short supply. Between July and September, 500,000 treatment courses were made available to state and local health departments, but only about 161,000 were bought. In a separate development, the FDA gave emergency authorization Thursday to use of another anti-inflammatory drug, baricitinib, to be used with remdesivir. Adding baricitinib shaved an additional day off the average recovery time for severely ill hospitalized patients in one study. Lilly sells baricitinib now as Olumiant to treat rheumatoid arthritis, which occurs when a patient’s mistaken or overreacting immune system attacks joints, causing inflammation. An overactive immune system also can lead to serious problems in coronavirus patients.

Mnuchin rejects renewal of some Fed emergency loan programs

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-19/mnuchin-rejects-renewal-of-some-fed-emergency-loan-programs

Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin said Thursday he will not to extend several emergency loan programs set up with the Federal Reserve to support the economy in the midst of the coronavirus crisis. The decision drew a terse rebuke from the Fed. The central bank said it “would prefer that the full suite of emergency facilities established during the coronavirus pandemic continue to serve their important role as a backstop for our still-strained and vulnerable economy.” But in a letter to Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, Mnuchin said that the Fed’s corporate credit, municipal lending and Main Street Lending programs would not be renewed when they expire on Dec. 31. Under law, the loan facilities required the support of the Treasury Department, which serves as a backstop for the initial losses the programs might incur. Mnuchin said that he is requesting that the Fed return to Treasury the unused funds appropriated by Congress for operation of the programs. Politics California and other states are racing to finalize plans for who will get the first doses of COVID-19 vaccines and how they will be delivered. Nov. 19, 2020 He said this would allow Congress to reappropriate $455 billion to other coronavirus programs. Republicans and Democrats have been deadlocked for months on approval of another round of coronavirus relief measures. In public remarks Tuesday, Powell made clear that he hoped that the loan programs would remain in effect for the foreseeable future. “When the right time comes, and I don’t think that time is yet, or very soon, we’ll put those tools away,” he said in an online discussion with a San Francisco-based business group. The future of the Main Street Lending and Municipal Lending programs has taken on greater importance with President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. Many progressive economists have argued that a Democratic-led Treasury could support the Fed taking on more risk and making more loans to small and mid-sized businesses and cash-strapped cities under these programs. That would provide at least one avenue for the Biden administration to provide stimulus without going through Congress. Neither program has lived up to its potential so far, with the Municipal Lending program making just one loan, while the Main Street Lending program has made loans totaling around $4 billion to about 400 companies. Mnuchin’s move comes as the resurgent virus and slowing consumer spending, as well as colder weather that will shut down outdoor dining, will cause more small and mid-sized businesses to struggle with lower revenue and potentially close. Politics The new statewide policy by Cal/OSHA aims to protect workers as the pandemic surges, but concerns over enforcement remain. Nov. 19, 2020 Republican Sen. Patrick J. Toomey of Pennsylvania said in a statement that he approved of Mnuchin’s decision. “Congress’ intent was clear: These facilities were to be temporary, to provide liquidity and to cease operations by the end of 2020,” said Toomey, a member of the Senate Finance Committee. ”With liquidity restored, they should expire, as Congress intended and the law requires, by Dec. 31, 2020.”

Mossimo Giannulli follows wife Lori Loughlin to prison in college admissions scandal

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-19/mossimo-giannulli-reports-to-prison-in-college-bribery-case

Fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli reported to prison on Thursday to begin serving his five-month sentence for bribing his daughters’ way into college, officials said. Giannulli’s wife, actress Lori Loughlin, is already behind bars for her role in the college admissions bribery scheme involving prominent parents and elite schools across the country. She began her two-month prison term late last month. Giannulli, 57, whose Mossimo clothing had long been a Target brand until recently, is in custody at a federal prison in Lompoc, a Bureau of Prisons representative said. Loughlin, 56, is at the federal lockup in Dublin. The couple are among the most high-profile parents charged in the scheme, which involved the payment of hefty bribes to get undeserving teens into schools with rigged test scores or bogus athletic credentials, authorities say. Giannulli and Loughlin admitted in May to paying $500,000 to get their two daughters into USC as crew recruits even though neither girl was a rower. Their guilty pleas were a stunning reversal for the couple, whose lawyers had insisted for a year that they were innocent and accused investigators of fabricating evidence against them. California Loughlin was sentenced to two months behind bars — after her husband was handed a five-month term — for paying $500,000 in bribes to get their daughters admitted to USC. Sept. 17, 2020 Loughlin and Giannulli were initially both ordered to report to prison Thursday, but prosecutors and the defense agreed Loughlin could begin her sentence on Oct. 30. Loughlin agreed that she would not seek early release from prison on grounds related to the coronavirus pandemic. Loughlin was also ordered to pay a $150,000 fine and perform 100 hours of community service, and Giannulli has to pay a $250,000 fine and perform 250 hours of community service. Prosecutors introduced evidence including recorded phone calls and emails showing the couple worked with the mastermind of the scheme, admissions consultant Rick Singer, to get their daughters into USC with fake athletic profiles. Nearly 60 people have been charged in the scheme led by Singer, who secretly worked with investigators and recorded his conversations with parents and coaches to help build the case against them. Singer, who is expected to testify against any defendants who go to trial, has not yet been sentenced. More than 40 people have already pleaded guilty. Prison terms for the parents involved in the scheme have ranged from a couple of weeks to nine months. Other parents who’ve served time behind bars in the case include actress Felicity Huffman, who was sentenced to 14 days for paying $15,000 to rig her daughter’s SAT score.

In a first for a secretary of State, Pompeo visits Israeli settlement in the West Bank

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-19/pompeo-visits-israeli-settlement-west-bank

U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo on Thursday became the first top American diplomat to visit an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank as the State Department announced a major policy shift that will allow products from the settlements to be labeled “made in Israel.” The two moves reflected the Trump administration’s acceptance of Israeli settlements, which the Palestinians and most of the international community view as a violation of international law and a major obstacle to peace. Pompeo also announced that the U.S. would brand the Palestinian-led international boycott movement against Israel as “anti-Semitic” and would bar any groups that participate in it from receiving government funding. It was not immediately clear which groups would be affected by the move. In a Twitter post, Pompeo confirmed his visit to the Psagot winery, located in a settlement near Jerusalem. Reporters were not allowed to accompany him. “Enjoyed lunch at the scenic Psagot Winery today,” he tweeted. “Unfortunately, Psagot and other businesses have been targeted by pernicious EU labeling efforts that facilitate the boycott of Israeli companies. The U.S. stands with Israel and will not tolerate any form of delegitimization.” The European Union, like most of the world, opposes Israeli settlements and requires imports from the occupied territory to be labeled as such. Pompeo had earlier said he would visit the Golan Heights. Israel seized the West Bank and the Golan Heights in the 1967 Mideast War and later annexed the Golan in a move that is not recognized internationally. Referring to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, Pompeo said : “We will regard the global, anti-Israel BDS campaign as anti-Semitic.” He added that “we will immediately take steps to identify organizations that engage in hateful BDS conduct and withdraw U.S. government support for such groups,” and called on other nations to “recognize the BDS movement for the cancer that it is.” Politics Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo, serving in what has long been a nonpartisan office, speaks to the RNC in the middle of an official visit to Israel. Aug. 25, 2020 BDS organizers cast their movement as a nonviolent way of protesting Israel’s policies toward the Palestinians, following the model of the campaign that helped end apartheid in South Africa. The movement has had some limited success over the years, particularly on college campuses and with artists and entertainers, but no impact on the Israeli economy. Israel views BDS as an assault on its existence and has seized on statements by some supporters to accuse it of anti-Semitism, allegations denied by organizers. In a statement, the BDS movement reiterated its rejection of “all forms of racism, including anti-Jewish racism,” and accused the U.S. and Israel of trying to silence advocacy for Palestinian rights. “The BDS movement for Palestinian freedom, justice and equality stands with all those struggling for a more dignified, just and beautiful world,” it said. “With our many partners, we shall resist these McCarthyite attempts to intimidate and bully Palestinian, Israeli and international human rights defenders into accepting Israeli apartheid and settler-colonialism as fate.” Pompeo did not provide additional details about the initiative, and it was unclear what organizations would be at risk of losing funding. Israelis have accused international groups such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International of supporting BDS, which the organizations deny. Opinion Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may have to pay a price for embracing Trump and meddling in American politics on the Republican side. Nov. 19, 2020 Human Rights Watch, whose researcher was deported from Israel last year for past statements allegedly in support of BDS, does not call for boycotting Israel but urges companies to avoid doing business in West Bank settlements, saying it makes them complicit in human rights abuses. Amnesty does not take a position on the boycott movement. “The Trump administration is undermining the common fight against the scourge of anti-Semitism by equating it with peaceful advocacy of boycotts,” said Eric Goldstein, acting Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. Israel passed a 2017 law that bars entry to foreigners who have called for economic boycotts of Israel or its settlements. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution opposing the boycott movement last year, and several U.S. states have enacted anti-BDS laws. The European Union’s former foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said she opposed BDS but backed the movement’s right to call for boycotts as freedom of speech. Virtually all Palestinian advocacy groups support the boycott movement. Under President Trump, the U.S. has already cut off nearly all forms of aid to the Palestinians. President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to restore the aid as part of efforts to revive the Mideast peace process. Politics Besides UAE, no other Arab nation has said it is willing to take the long-shunned leap to accept and recognize Israel as a legitimate Mideast neighbor. Sept. 3, 2020 Pompeo spoke at a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said the Israel-U.S. alliance had reached “unprecedented heights” under the Trump administration. Netanyahu thanked the administration for moving its embassy to contested Jerusalem, abandoning the U.S. position that Israeli settlements are contrary to international law, recognizing Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights and taking a hard line against Iran. Israel captured East Jerusalem and the West Bank in the 1967 war. The Palestinians want both territories to be part of a future state and view the settlements as a violation of international law and an obstacle to peace — a position endorsed by most of the international community. Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, condemned Pompeo’s visit to Psagot and embrace of settlement products, calling it a “flagrant challenge to international legitimacy decisions.” He accused the Trump administration of “active participation in the occupation of Palestinian lands.” Trump’s Mideast plan, which overwhelmingly favored Israel and was rejected by the Palestinians, would allow Israel to annex up to a third of the West Bank, including all of its settlements there, which are home to nearly 500,000 Israelis. “For a long time, the State Department took the wrong view of settlements,” Pompeo said, but it now recognizes that “settlements can be done in a way that [is] lawful, appropriate and proper.” Neither Netanyahu nor Pompeo said anything about the U.S. election. Pompeo, like Trump, has yet to acknowledge Biden’s victory. Netanyahu congratulated Biden and referred to him as the president-elect in an official statement earlier this week.

Worker finds tiny owl in Rockefeller Center Christmas tree

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-19/hoot-hoot-hoot-owl-in-rockefeller-center-christmas-tree

It wasn’t quite a partridge in a pear tree, but a worker helping set up the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree found a holiday surprise — a tiny owl among the massive branches. The little bird, now named what else but Rockefeller, was discovered on Monday, dehydrated and hungry, but otherwise unharmed, said Ellen Kalish, director and founder of the Ravensbeard Wildlife Center in Saugerties, N.Y., where the bird was taken. Kalish said the bird is an adult male saw-whet owl, one of the tiniest owls. It was taken to a veterinarian on Wednesday and got a clean bill of health. “He’s had a buffet of all-you-can-eat mice, so he’s ready to go,” she said. She said the plan was to release the owl back to the wild this weekend. The tree, a 75-foot Norway spruce, had been brought to Manhattan on Saturday from Oneonta, N.Y., in the central part of the state. The tree is put in place and then decorated over some weeks before being lit for the public in early December.

Australian troops unlawfully killed 39 Afghans, report finds

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-18/report-finds-australian-troops-unlawfully-killed-39-afghans

A shocking Australian military report into suspected war crimes has found evidence that elite Australian troops unlawfully killed 39 Afghan prisoners, farmers and civilians. Gen. Angus Campbell, chief of the Australian Defense Force Chief, said Thursday the shameful record included alleged instances in which new patrol members would shoot a prisoner in order to achieve their first kill in a practice known as “blooding.” He said the soldiers would then plant weapons and radios to support false claims the prisoners were enemies killed in action. Campbell told reporters in Canberra, the Australian capital, that the illegal killings began in 2009, with the majority occurring in 2012 and 2013. He said some members of the elite Special Air Service encouraged “a self-centered, warrior culture.” The chief was announcing the findings of a four-year investigation by Maj. Gen. Paul Brereton, a judge and Army reservist who was asked to look into the allegations and interviewed more than 400 witnesses and reviewed thousands of pages of documents. Brereton recommended 19 soldiers be investigated by police for possible charges, including murder. “To the people of Afghanistan, on behalf of the Australian Defense Force, I sincerely and unreservedly apologize for any wrongdoing by Australian soldiers,” Campbell said. World & Nation Appeals judges gave the green light for prosecutors to open an investigation targeting the Taliban, Afghan forces and U.S. military and CIA personnel for war crimes and crimes against humanity. He said he’d spoken directly to his Afghan military counterpart to express his remorse. “Such alleged behavior profoundly disrespected the trust placed in us by the Afghan people who had asked us to their country to help them,” Campbell said. “It would have devastated the lives of Afghan families and communities, causing immeasurable pain and suffering. And it would have put in jeopardy our mission and the safety of our Afghan and coalition partners.” In addition to the 39 killings, the report outlines two allegations of cruel treatment. It says that none of the alleged crimes were committed during the heat of battle. Only parts of the report have been made public. Many details, including the names of alleged killers, remain redacted. The report said a total of 25 current or former troops were involved as perpetrators or accessories in 23 separate incidents, with some involved just once and a few multiple times. It said some Australian troops would regularly carry “throw-downs” — things like foreign pistols, radios and grenades that they could plant on those they killed so the Afghan civilians would appear like combatants in photographs. The report said that most of the alleged crimes were committed and concealed at a patrol commander level by corporals and sergeants, and that while higher-level troop and squadron commanders had to take some responsibility for the events that happened on their watch, they weren’t primarily to blame. The report recommended 19 soldiers be referred to federal police for criminal investigation. Campbell said he’s accepting all the report’s recommendations. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has already announced a special investigator will help pursue possible prosecutions because the workload would overwhelm existing police resources. Many troops are also likely to be stripped of their medals, and the defense force will undergo significant structural changes. The report says that where there is credible evidence of unlawful killings, Afghan families should be compensated immediately by Australia without waiting for the criminal cases to proceed. “This will be an important step in rehabilitating Australia’s international reputation, in particular with Afghanistan, and it is simply the right thing to do,” the report states.

Biden approaches 80 million votes in historic victory

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-18/biden-approaches-80-million-votes-in-historic-victory

President-elect Joe Biden’s winning tally is approaching a record 80 million votes as Democratic bastions continue to count ballots and the 2020 election cracks turnout records. Biden has already set a record for the highest number of votes for a winning presidential candidate, and President Trump has also notched a high-water mark of the most votes for a losing candidate. With more than 155 million votes counted and California and New York still counting, turnout stands at 65% of all eligible voters, the highest since 1908, according to data from the Associated Press and the U.S. Elections Project. The rising Biden tally and his popular vote lead — nearly 6 million votes — come as Trump has escalated his false insistence that he actually won the election, and his campaign and supporters intensify their uphill legal fight to stop or delay results from being certified, potentially nullifying the votes of Americans. “It’s just a lot of noise going on, because Donald Trump is a bull who carries his own china shop with him,” said Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian at Rice University. “Once the noise recedes, it’s going to be clear that Biden won a very convincing victory.” Biden currently has an electoral college lead of 290 to 232. But that does not include electors from Georgia, where Biden leads Trump by 0.3 percentage points as officials conduct a hand tally. The AP has not called the race, but if Biden’s lead holds he will win the electoral college on 306-232 vote — the identical margin Trump won on election day in 2016. Back then Trump described it as a “landslide.” Trump sealed that victory with 77,000 votes across three battleground states, while Biden’s margin would be slightly narrower — about 45,000 votes across Arizona, Georgia and Wisconsin. That slimmer win, however, is still decisive by election law standards, notes Rick Hasen, a professor at UC Irvine and an expert on voting. While Biden’s margins in states such as Arizona and Wisconsin seem small — between 12,000 and 20,000 votes — those races aren’t nearly narrow enough to be considered likely to flip through a recount or lawsuits. Recounts typically shift total votes by only a few hundred votes. In 2000, the Florida recount and legal battle for the White House was prompted by a 537-vote margin. “If you’re talking about it being close enough to be within what those of us in the field call the margin of litigation, this is not within the margin of litigation,” Hasen said. Timothy Naftali, a presidential historian at New York University, has compared Biden’s still-growing popular vote and electoral college margins to those of every winner of a presidential election since 1960. His finding: Biden’s win was right in the middle — tighter than landslides like Barack Obama’s 2008 win or Ronald Reagan’s 1984 wipeout reelection, but broader than Trump’s 2016 victory or either of George W. Bush’s two wins. The closest analogy was Obama’s reelection, which he won by virtually the same margin as Biden has now. “Did anyone think 2012 was a narrow victory? No,” Naftali said. Despite that, Trump and his allies are continuing to try to stop certification of the election, in a long-shot attempt to deny states the ability to seat electors supporting Biden. These efforts are very unlikely to succeed, but they reached a new pitch this week when two Republican members of the board of canvassers in Michigan’s largest county Tuesday night initially voted to block certification of the tally there. They allowed certification to proceed after an outcry, but it was a sign of how deeply Trump’s baseless claims of mass fraud have permeated. In fact, argued Michael McDonald, a University of Florida professor who tracks vote counts for the U.S. Elections Project, the relatively narrow Biden wins in battleground states tell a different story than the one the president is pushing. Democrats have worried that the gap between the popular vote and the electoral college tallies is growing as Democratic voters cluster on the coasts and outside of battleground states. That dynamic could make it difficult for Democrats to win congressional races, creating a lasting disadvantage when it comes to advancing policies. “If there’s anything in the data here, it reveals how the system is stacked against the Democrats, not stacked against Trump,” McDonald said.

Man convicted of 9 'NorCal Rapist' attacks from 1991 to 2006

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-18/man-convicted-of-9-norcal-rapist-attacks-from-1991-to-2006

A man dubbed the “NorCal Rapist” was convicted Wednesday of raping nine women in their homes between 1991 and 2006 after investigators used DNA technology to identify him. A jury in Sacramento found Roy Charles Waller, 60, guilty on all 46 counts after 2½ hours of deliberations a day earlier. Waller showed no emotion and looked down at the defendant’s table when the jury’s decision was read, the Sacramento Bee reported. He faces life in prison when sentenced Dec. 18. Waller raped women in six Northern California counties, from Sacramento to Chico. Sometimes he would kidnap the women and force them to withdraw money from ATMs and steal their personal items. Sacramento Police Chief Daniel Hahn called the crimes “horrific,” saying the victims were terrorized for hours at a time. Prosecutors said they used the same DNA and genealogy websites to zero in on Waller that they used to arrest former police officer Joseph DeAngelo in the Golden State Killer case. DeAngelo pleaded guilty in June to 13 murders and 13 rape-related charges stemming from crimes spanning the 1970s and 1980s. He was sentenced in August to multiple life terms. Prosecutors credited the DNA evidence with ensuring Waller’s conviction. “DNA technology is the greatest tool given to the justice system to exonerate the innocent and convict the guilty,” Sacramento County Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Steve Grippi said in a statement. “Law enforcement officers and detectives involved in the investigation never stopped searching for the truth.” Waller was arrested in September 2018 at UC Berkeley, where he worked for 25 years as a safety specialist in the office of environment, health and safety. During the trial, defense attorney Joseph Farina accused authorities of overreach by taking a straw and half-eaten pear from garbage outside Waller’s home to get his DNA, and he questioned whether DNA found at the crime scenes had been preserved properly over the years. Farina declined to comment as he left the courthouse Wednesday. Prosecutors portrayed Waller as an organized and cunning criminal who stalked potential victims and collected information about their appearance, movements and vehicles and kept it in computer databases that he still had when he was arrested. Investigators also found zippered bags filled with duct tape, zip ties, handcuffs and other items used in the attacks in Waller’s two storage lockers. Prosecutors said he sought out women of Asian descent, grading them on their appearance and build and studying their daily routines until he could slip into their homes and attack them.

Judge orders U.S. to stop expelling children who cross border

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-18/judge-orders-us-to-stop-expelling-children-who-cross-border

A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the Trump administration to stop expelling immigrant children who cross the southern border alone, halting a policy that has resulted in thousands of rapid deportations of minors during the coronavirus pandemic. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan issued a preliminary injunction sought by legal groups suing on behalf of children whom the government sought to expel before they could request asylum or other protections under federal law. The Trump administration has expelled at least 8,800 unaccompanied children since March, when it issued an emergency declaration citing the coronavirus as grounds for barring most people crossing the border from remaining in the United States. Border agents have forced many people to return to Mexico right away, while detaining others in holding facilities or hotels, sometimes for days or weeks. Meanwhile, government-funded facilities meant to hold children while they are placed with sponsors have thousands of unused beds. Sullivan’s order bars only the expulsion of children who cross the border unaccompanied by a parent. The government has expelled more than 147,000 people since March, including adults, and parents and children traveling together. “This policy was sending thousands of young children back to danger without any hearing,” said Lee Gelernt, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union. “Like so many other Trump administration policies, it was gratuitously cruel and unlawful.” The Justice Department did not immediately say whether it would appeal. It has appealed another federal judge’s order barring the use of hotels to detain children. The incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden has not directly said whether it will keep trying to expel immigrants under public-health authority. Biden is expected to roll back several Trump administration policies restricting asylum as part of a broader shift on immigration. The Trump administration has argued in court that it must expel children who have recently crossed the border — whether they had authorization or not — to prevent the infection of border agents and others in immigration custody. The emergency declaration was made by Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Justice Department on Oct. 2 cited the judgment of “the nation’s top public health official” in urging Sullivan not to stop the expulsion of children. The Associated Press reported on Oct. 3 that top CDC officials resisted issuing the declaration because it lacked a public health basis, but that Vice President Mike Pence ordered Redfield to move forward anyway. Opponents of the policy accuse the administration of using the pandemic as a pretext to restrict immigration and say agents can safely screen minors for COVID-19 without denying protections under federal anti-trafficking law and a court settlement that governs the treatment of children. U.S. Magistrate Judge G. Michael Harvey recommended on Sept. 25 that Sullivan grant an injunction barring expulsions of children, saying the government was claiming power that was “breathtakingly broad.” Children and parents who have been expelled have reported believing they would be allowed to reunite with family in the U.S., only to instead be deported to their countries of origin. One mother of 12- and 9-year-olds found out her children had been expelled when she received a call from an official in Honduras asking her to send a relative to collect them. The father of a 1-year-old girl alleged that agents told him and his wife to feed the girl ice in case their temperatures were checked before boarding a flight. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has denied using ice as an artificial cooling measure.

FDA allows first rapid virus test that gives results at home

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-17/fda-allows-1st-rapid-virus-test-that-gives-results-at-home

U.S. regulators on Tuesday allowed emergency use of the first rapid coronavirus test that can be performed and developed entirely at home. The announcement by the Food and Drug Administration represents an important step in U.S. efforts to expand testing options for COVID-19 beyond healthcare facilities and testing sites. However, the test will require a prescription, likely limiting its initial use. The FDA granted emergency authorization to the 30-minute test kit from Lucira Health, a California manufacturer. The company’s test allows users to swab themselves to collect a nasal sample. The sample is then swirled in a vial that plugs into a portable device that interprets the results and displays whether the person tested positive or negative for the coronavirus. To date, the agency has authorized nearly 300 tests for the coronavirus. The vast majority require a nasal swab performed by a health professional and must be processed at laboratories using high-tech testing equipment. A handful allow people to collect their own sample at home — a nasal swab or saliva — that’s then shipped to a lab, which usually means waiting days for results. Health experts have for months called for options to allow people to test themselves at home, reducing turnaround times and the potential spread of the virus to healthcare workers. Lucira did not immediately respond to request for additional details.

Detroit-area county certifies vote after first blocking it

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-17/detroit-area-county-certifies-vote-after-first-blocking-it

Michigan’s largest county reversed course and unanimously certified its presidential election results Tuesday night after Republicans first blocked the move in a party-line vote that threatened to temporarily stall official approval of Democrat Joe Biden’s win in the state. The Wayne County Board of Canvassers acted after the 2-2 tie was condemned by Democrats and election experts as a dangerous attempt to overthrow the will of voters. The board met after days of unsuccessful litigation filed by Republican poll challengers and President Trump’s allies. They alleged fraud during absentee ballot counting at a Detroit convention center, but two judges found no evidence and refused to stop the canvassing process. Biden crushed Trump in Wayne County, a Democratic stronghold, by more than a 2-1 margin and won the state by 146,000 votes, according to unofficial results. The canvassers first rejected certification of the Detroit-area vote with a tie. Monica Palmer, a Republican on the board, said poll books in certain Detroit precincts were out of balance. In response, Jonathan Kinloch, a Democrat, said it was “reckless and irresponsible” to not certify the results. “It’s not based upon fraud. It’s absolutely human error,” Kinloch said of any discrepancies. “Votes that are cast are tabulated.” Politics The president fired Christopher Krebs in a tweet, saying his recent statement defending the security of the election was “highly inaccurate.” Nov. 17, 2020 The board then listened to a parade of spectators blasting Palmer and fellow Republican William Hartmann during the meeting’s public comment period over Zoom. The Rev. Wendell Anthony, a well-known pastor and head of the Detroit branch of the NAACP, called the Republican county canvassers a “disgrace.” “You have extracted a Black city out of a county and said the only ones that are at fault is the city of Detroit, where 80% of the people who reside here are African Americans. Shame on you!” Anthony said on Zoom, his voice rising during a public comment period. Certification of the Nov. 3 election results in each of Michigan’s 83 counties is a step toward statewide certification by the Michigan Board of State Canvassers.

Trump fires agency head who vouched for 2020 vote security

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-17/trump-fires-agency-head-who-vouched-for-2020-vote-security

President Trump on Tuesday fired the director of the federal agency that vouched for the reliability of the 2020 election. Trump fired Christopher Krebs in a tweet, saying his recent statement defending the security of the election was “highly inaccurate.” The firing of Krebs, a Trump appointee and director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, comes as Trump is refusing to recognize the victory of Democratic President-elect Joe Biden and removing high-level officials seen as insufficiently loyal. He fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Nov. 9, part of a broader shake-up that put Trump loyalists in senior Pentagon positions. Krebs, a former Microsoft executive, ran the agency, known as CISA, from its creation in the wake of Russian interference with the 2016 election through the November election. He won bipartisan praise as CISA coordinated federal state and local efforts to defend electoral systems from foreign and domestic interference. In recent days, Krebs has repeatedly pushed back against false claims that the election was tainted. Earlier Tuesday, he tweeted out a report citing 59 election security experts saying there is no credible evidence of computer fraud in the 2020 election outcome. Trump fired back on Twitter later in the day. He repeated unsubstantiated claims about the vote and wrote, “effective immediately, Chris Krebs has been terminated as Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.” Officials with CISA and its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, had no immediate comment. Politics Rudy Giuliani offered baseless claims of fraud at a federal court hearing in Pennsylvania as President Trump’s bid to reverse the election result sputtered. Nov. 17, 2020 Krebs kept a low profile even as he voiced confidence ahead of the November vote and, afterward, knocked down allegations that the count was tainted by fraud. At times, he seemed to be directly repudiating Trump, a surprising move from a component of DHS, an agency that has drawn criticism for seeming to be too closely allied with the president’s political goals. CISA issued statements dismissing claims that large numbers of dead people could vote or that someone could change results without detection. It also distributed a statement from a coalition of federal and state officials concluding there was no evidence that votes were compromised or altered in the Nov. 3 election and that the vote was the most secure in American history. Krebs avoided ever directly criticizing the president and tried to stay above the political fray, even as he worked to contradict misinformation coming from the president and his supporters. “It’s not our job to fact-check the president,” he said at a briefing with reporters on the eve of the election. CISA works with the state and local officials who run U.S. elections as well as private companies that supply voting equipment to address cybersecurity and other threats while monitoring balloting and tabulation from a control room at its headquarters near Washington. It also works with industry and utilities to protect the nation’s industrial base and power grid from threats. World & Nation Georgia’s top elections official is engaged in a verbal tussle with fellow Republicans, including President Trump, in the aftermath of the election. Nov. 17, 2020 The agency enjoys a good reputation among its core constituency — the state and local election officials who rely on its advice and services at a time of near-constant cyberattack — as well as on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers recently proposed an increase of its annual budget of around $2 billion. Amid recent reports that Krebs feared he might be fired, Rep. Bennie Thompson, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, had said he was concerned and sent a text to the director to ask him if he was OK. The response was, in effect, “for now,” the Mississippi Democrat said. “It’s a shame if someone with his talent is all of a sudden muzzled,” Thompson said. “I have not seen a partisan bone in his body. He’s been a consummate professional.” Rep. Jim Langevin, a Rhode Island Democrat who focuses on cybersecurity issues, had called on his Republican colleagues to stand up for him before he could be removed from his post. “Chris Krebs and CISA have done so well under his leadership because he and his team have kept their heads down and done the job they were tasked with doing and not gotten caught up in partisan politics,” Langevin said. The agency emerged from rocky beginnings. Just before President Obama left office, the U.S. designated election systems as critical national security infrastructure, like dams or power plants, as a result of the interference by Russia, which included the penetration of state elections systems as well as widespread disinformation. Some state election officials and Republicans, suspicious of federal intrusion on their turf, were opposed to the designation. The National Assn. of Secretaries of State adopted a resolution in opposition to the move in February 2017. But the Trump administration supported the designation, and, eventually, skeptical state officials welcomed the assistance.

Klamath River deal revives plan for major dam demolition to save salmon

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-17/apnewsbreak-deal-revives-plan-for-largest-us-dam-demolition

An agreement announced Tuesday paves the way for the largest dam demolition in U.S. history, a project that promises to reopen hundreds of miles of waterway along the Oregon-California border to salmon that are critical to tribes but have dwindled to almost nothing in recent years. If it goes forward, the deal would revive plans to remove four massive hydroelectric dams on the lower Klamath River, emptying giant reservoirs and reopening potential fish habitat that’s been blocked for more than a century. The massive project would be at the vanguard of a trend toward dam demolitions in the U.S. as the structures age and become less economically viable amid growing environmental concerns about the health of native fish. Previous efforts to address problems in the Klamath Basin have fallen apart amid years of legal sparring that generated distrust among tribes, fishing groups, farmers and environmentalists. Opponents of dam removal worry about their property values and the loss of a water source for fighting wildfires. “It is bleak, but I want to have hope that with dam removal and with all the prayers that we’ve been sending up all these years, salmon could come back. If we just give them a chance, they will,” said Chook Chook Hillman, a Karuk tribal member who’s been fighting for the dam removal for years. “If you provide a good place for salmon, they’ll always come home.” A half-dozen tribes spread across Oregon and California, fishing groups and environmentalists had hoped to see demolition work begin as soon as 2022. But in July, U.S. regulators stalled those plans when they questioned whether the nonprofit entity formed to oversee the project could adequately respond if there were cost overruns or accidents. The new plan makes Oregon and California equal partners in the demolition with the nonprofit entity, called the Klamath River Renewal Corporation, and adds $45 million to the project’s $450-million budget to ease those concerns. Oregon, California and the utility PacifiCorp, which operates the hydroelectric dams and is owned by billionaire Warren Buffett’s company Berkshire Hathaway, will each provide one-third of the additional funds. Parties to the new agreement shared details with the Associated Press in documents and interviews ahead of a news conference scheduled Tuesday. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission must approve the deal. If accepted, it would allow PacifiCorp and Berkshire Hathaway to walk away from aging dams that are more of an albatross than a profit-generator, while addressing regulators’ concerns. Oregon, California and the nonprofit would jointly take over the hydroelectric license from PacifiCorp until the dams are decommissioned, while the nonprofit will oversee the work. Buffett called the reworked deal a solution to a “very complex challenge.” “I recognize the importance of Klamath dam removal and river restoration for tribal people in the Klamath Basin,” Buffett said in a statement. “We appreciate and respect our tribal partners for their collaboration in forging an agreement that delivers an exceptional outcome for the river, as well as future generations.” Removed would be the four southernmost dams in a string of six constructed in southern Oregon and far Northern California beginning in 1918. They were built solely for power generation. They are not used for irrigation, not managed for flood control and have no “fish ladders,” or concrete chutes that fish can pass through. They have blocked hundreds of miles of potential fish habitat and spawning grounds, and fish populations have dropped precipitously in recent years. Salmon are at the heart of the culture, beliefs and diet of a half-dozen regional tribes, including the Yurok and Karuk — both parties to the agreement — and they have suffered deeply from that loss. Coho salmon from the Klamath River are listed as threatened under federal and California law, and their population in the river has fallen anywhere from 52% to 95%. Spring chinook salmon, once the Klamath Basin’s largest run, has dwindled by 98%. Fall chinook, the last to persist in any significant numbers, have been so meager in the past few years that the Yurok canceled fishing for the first time in the tribe’s memory. In 2017, they bought fish at a grocery store for their annual salmon festival. “At its heart, dam removal is about healing and restoration for the river, for the salmon, and for our people,” Yurok Tribe chairman Joseph James said. “We have never wavered from this obligation, and we are pleased to see dam removal come closer to reality through this agreement.” Opinion The removal of four dams along the California-Oregon border is crucial to the Yurok and Karuk tribes, the Klamath’s salmon runs and the river itself. Aug. 19, 2020 PacifiCorp has been operating the dams under an extension of its expired hydroelectric license for years. The license was originally granted before modern environmental laws and renewing it would mean costly renovations to install fish ladders. The utility has said energy generated by the dams no longer makes up a significant part of its portfolio. In the original deal, PacifiCorp was to transfer its license and contribute $200 million to bow out of the removal project and avoid further costs and liability. An additional $250 million comes from a voter-approved California water bond. U.S. regulators, however, agreed only on the condition that PacifiCorp remain a co-licensee along with the Klamath River Renewal Corporation — a nonstarter for the utility. Residents have been caught in the middle. As tribes watched salmon dwindle, some homeowners around a huge reservoir created by Copco Dam, one of those slated for removal, have sued to stop the demolition. They say their waterfront property values are already declining because of news coverage associated with demolition and they worry about losing a water source for fighting wildfires in an increasingly fire-prone landscape. Many also oppose the use of ratepayer funds for the project. On Tuesday, some Oregon lawmakers issued statements saying Gov. Kate Brown had violated her authority by authorizing the deal without legislative approval. Further upstream, farmers who rely on two other dams are watching carefully. The removal of the lower four dams won’t affect them directly, but they worry it could set a precedent for dam removal on the Klamath. More than 1,720 dams have been dismantled around the U.S. since 2012, according to American Rivers, and 26 states undertook dam removal projects in 2019 alone. The Klamath River project would be the largest such project by far if it proceeds.

Despite COVID-19 vaccine successes, volunteers still needed for testing

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-17/volunteers-still-needed-to-test-variety-of-covid-19-vaccines

Two COVID-19 vaccines might be nearing the finish line, but scientists caution it’s critical that enough people volunteer to help finish studying other vaccine candidates in the U.S. and around the world. Moderna Inc. and competitor Pfizer Inc. recently announced preliminary results showing their vaccines appeared to be 95% and 90% effective, at least for short-term protection against COVID-19. If those early results hold up — and U.S. regulators agree the shots are safe — emergency use of small, rationed supplies could start in late December. Other countries with contracts for early doses would undertake their own reviews. But multiple vaccines will be needed to meet global demand and help end the pandemic. And that’s raising concern that the clinical trials that still need to sign up thousands of volunteers could run short if people decide to wait for an already OK’d option instead. California Father and daughter partook in a vaccine trial at Kaiser hospital. On Monday, Pfizer announced its success Nov. 10, 2020 “We don’t want to see that happen,” said Dr. James Cutrell, an infectious disease expert at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. Supplies aside, other COVID-19 vaccines under development may work differently in different populations, Cutrell said, and “we likely will benefit from having a menu of vaccine options.” “We still need volunteers,” stressed Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health. He urged Americans to sign up for clinical trials. Additionally, participants in the Moderna and Pfizer studies who originally received dummy shots will almost certainly be offered the real vaccine if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration allows emergency use. But no one knows how long protection will last, meaning those studies also must continue to track recipients somehow. “It’s one thing to be effective two months after your last vaccination and another thing to be effective a year” later, said Dr. Jesse Goodman of Georgetown University, a former director of the FDA’s vaccine division. “It’s going to be really important to complete these clinical trials and the trials of the other vaccines so we can make comparisons.” California Coronavirus vaccines developed by Moderna and Pfizer show highly promising preliminary results in large-scale clinical testing. But key questions remain. Nov. 17, 2020 The promising Moderna and Pfizer news bodes well for some of their competitors, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s top infectious disease expert whose team at NIH helped develop the Moderna candidate. Those shots target the “spike” protein that studs the surface of the coronavirus, and the early results prove that’s enough to generate “a protective response,” Fauci said. “Conceptually this looks good” for other spike-focused vaccines made in different ways. Here’s a scorecard of the front-runners in the global vaccine race: The Moderna-NIH vaccine and the candidate developed by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech aren’t made with the coronavirus itself, so there’s no chance anyone could catch it from the shots. Instead, the vaccines are made with a brand-new technology that injects a piece of genetic code for the coronavirus’ spike protein. That messenger RNA, or mRNA, instructs the body to make some harmless spike protein — enough to prime the immune system to react if it later encounters the real virus. California The global race for a coronavirus vaccine involves a few basic approaches. Some have been around for decades, others are being tried for the first time. June 12, 2020 Currently, there are no licensed mRNA vaccines for people, so scientists had no idea whether or how well the COVID-19 candidates might work. Both manufacturers are working to scale up production in factories in the U.S. and Europe. They can’t simply partner with other vaccine companies to take on some of the work because the technology is so different than the way most of today’s shots are made. “It is not a very easy or quick swap,” said Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel. These target the coronavirus spike protein in another way: They use a different, harmless virus to carry the spike gene into the body. Once again, the body produces some spike protein and primes the immune system to recognize it. Britain’s Oxford University and AstraZeneca are making their version of this “viral vector” vaccine with a cold virus, or adenovirus, that normally infects chimpanzees. Studies of tens of thousands of people are underway in the U.K., U.S. and several other countries. Johnson & Johnson is using a human adenovirus for its vaccine candidate. It’s the only option in advanced U.S. testing aiming to show whether a single dose, rather than two, would be enough. China’s government authorized emergency use of CanSino Biologics’ adenovirus shots in the military ahead of any final testing. Russia likewise began offering an adenovirus vaccine ahead of late-stage tests. Novavax makes its vaccine candidate by growing harmless copies of the coronavirus spike protein in the laboratory and packaging them into virus-sized nanoparticles. There are protein-based vaccines against other diseases, so the technology is not as novel as that of some of its competitors. Novavax has begun a large final-stage study in Britain, and is set soon to begin another in the U.S. Spike-focused vaccines aren’t the only option. Making vaccines by growing a disease-causing virus and then killing it is a tried-and-true approach — it’s the way Jonas Salk’s famed polio shots were made. China has three so-called “inactivated” COVID-19 vaccine candidates in final testing in several countries, and has allowed emergency use in some people ahead of the results. An Indian company is testing its own inactivated candidate. Safely brewing and then killing the virus takes longer than newer technologies. But inactivated vaccines give the body a sneak peek at the coronavirus itself rather than just that single spike protein.

Biden fills top White House team with campaign veterans

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-17/biden-filling-top-white-house-team-with-campaign-veterans

President-elect Joe Biden announced a raft of top White House staff positions on Tuesday, drawing from the senior ranks of his campaign and some of his closest confidants to fill out an increasingly diverse White House leadership team. Biden confirmed that former campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon would serve as a deputy chief of staff, while campaign co-chair Louisiana Rep. Cedric Richmond and campaign advisor Steve Ricchetti will play senior roles in the new administration. Richmond will leave his Louisiana congressional seat to fill the White House job. The president-elect also announced that Mike Donilon, a longtime Biden confidant, will serve as a senior advisor; Dana Remus, the campaign’s current general counsel, will be counselor to the president; Julie Chavez Rodriguez, who was one of Biden’s deputy campaign managers, will serve as director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs; and Annie Tomasini, who is currently Biden’s traveling chief of staff, will serve as the director of Oval Office operations. Anthony Bernal will serve as a senior advisor to Jill Biden, after he was her chief of staff on the campaign, and Julissa Reynoso Pantaleon, a former Obama ambassador to Uruguay, will be her chief of staff. The new hires represent an initial wave of what will ultimately be hundreds of new White House aides hired in the coming weeks as Biden builds out an administration to execute his governing vision. The Democrat will be inaugurated Jan. 20. Late last week, Biden tapped former senior campaign advisor Ron Klain to serve as his chief of staff. The latest round reflects Biden’s stated commitment to diversity in his staff — the team includes four people of color and five women. “America faces great challenges, and they bring diverse perspectives and a shared commitment to tackling these challenges and emerging on the other side a stronger, more united nation,” Biden said in a statement. O’Malley Dillon, 44, was the first woman to manage a successful Democratic presidential campaign. She is a veteran political operative who worked on both of Barack Obama’s White House bids. Rodriguez, granddaughter of the late farmworker union leader César Chávez, was national political director on Sen. Kamala Harris’ 2016 presidential team before coming to the Biden campaign, and served in the Obama administration. Richmond, a 47-year-old African American, will be a senior advisor to the president and director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, the role Valerie Jarrett filled in the Obama administration. He’s expected to engage with Congress and focus on the Black community and other minority groups. A former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Richmond was among Biden’s earliest high-profile supporters and served as his campaign co-chair. Richmond has scheduled a Tuesday news conference in which he’s expected to announce that he’s leaving his congressional seat. Richetti, Donilon, Tomasini and Bernal all have longstanding relationships with the Biden family. Ricchetti was Biden’s chief of staff during Obama’s second term, while Donilon has advised him in various roles since 1981, and Tomasini served in communications roles for Biden when he was still a senator. Bernal worked for Jill Biden during the 2008 Obama-Biden campaign and in various roles for her during both terms of the Obama administration. Less clear is the shape of Biden’s Cabinet, which will be subject to Senate confirmation. Since winning the election earlier this month, the president-elect has been hunkered down with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris near his home in Delaware preparing for the business of governing. Biden will begin rolling out his higher-profile Cabinet picks in the coming weeks.

Poll workers contract coronavirus, but election day link is unclear

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-15/poll-workers-contract-virus-but-election-day-link-unclear

Despite painstaking efforts to keep election sites safe, some poll workers who came in contact with voters on election day have tested positive for the coronavirus, including more than two dozen in Missouri and cases in New York, Iowa, Indiana and Virginia. The infections cannot be tied definitively to polling places. Because COVID-19 is spreading rapidly in the U.S., there is no way to determine yet whether in-person voting on election day contributed to the surge, public health experts said. Still, the infections among poll workers raise concerns because of how many people passed through voting sites, which implemented social-distancing rules, erected protective barriers and stocked sanitizer, masks, gloves and other safety gear. In most places, poll workers were required to wear masks. The cases emerged while election workers continued counting thousands of ballots. As a hand tally of the presidential race began in Georgia, the state’s top election official placed himself under quarantine after his wife tested positive for the coronavirus. In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, which is in a county considered a national virus hot spot, an election official who worked an early-voting site later tested positive. “I’m actually surprised that we don’t have more cases,” said Linn County Election Commissioner Joel Miller, who noted that several county workers in his building had tested positive in the last week. “It actually seems kind of far-fetched that we didn’t have more, but they might not be reporting it to us.” World & Nation As Texas surpasses 1 million coronavirus cases, the state, like much of the nation, is overwhelmed by a virus that is more stubborn than the will of many quarantine-fatigued Americans who want to wish it away. Nov. 14, 2020 Election workers in Jackson County, Missouri, in the Kansas City suburbs, seem to be the hardest hit so far, with about 28 staffers testing positive in the past couple of weeks. Tammy Brown, head of the Jackson County Election Board, said her staffers urged voters who felt ill to avoid coming inside, though she suspects not everyone listened. The board dealt with nearly 200,000 voters, including more than 60,000 who cast early ballots. “We, as election officials, all knew we were at risk,” Brown said. “I don’t think this was shocking to any of us.” With transmission rates high in Missouri, health officials are not ready to link the cases to polling places. They say the workers could have become infected anywhere. The county offered drive-through voting for people with COVID-19 or who were quarantining because of contact with someone who was infected. When part-time workers became ill, full-time election board staff worked the drive-through line. It’s difficult to trace cases back to polling places because the virus manifests in different ways, and some people never get symptoms. Infections also are spiking as people gather with extended family or friends and return to more crowded public settings. The U.S. has recorded more than 10.9-million confirmed COVID-19 cases and over 245,000 deaths. Although that spread increases the likelihood poll workers may have contracted the disease elsewhere, there have been calls for their co-workers to quarantine and voters to be tested as a precaution. In New York, more than 1,600 people who voted at a site in the Hudson Valley on election day have been advised to get tested after a poll worker tested positive. Officials said colleagues who had sustained contact with the worker would be tested, but they described the risk to voters as minimal because the person wore a mask, was distanced from voters, and followed other safety measures. World & Nation The seven-day rolling average for coronavirus-related deaths reported daily in the U.S. rose from about 828 on Oct. 30 to 1,047 on Friday, data show. Nov. 14, 2020 Similarly, officials in Virginia’s Carroll County said two poll workers in different precincts had tested positive. A health official said that because both were in their infectious periods on election day, testing has been offered to workers and voters. Virginia officials statewide had masks, face shields, gloves, hand sanitizer and other supplies for polling places, and they trained people in safety practices, said Jessica Bowman, deputy commissioner of the Virginia Department of Elections. It could be several weeks before the effect of in-person voting nationwide is known. Polling places that used safety measures could have greatly minimized transmission rates, perhaps making them less risky than going to a restaurant with friends, said M. Kumi Smith, an assistant professor with the epidemiology division at the University of Minnesota. “A super-spreader event is a lot easier to identify when you’re still at an early stage of an epidemic or when there’s a really discrete event that’s really unlike anything else that anyone else is doing,” she said. “But given the real range of activities that are going on here, I would probably be a little bit more skeptical of someone who declares that this is definitively a super-spreading event.” No major reports of safety lapses or risky voting conditions have emerged. States had varying rules for masks. But even in places with mandates, officials balked at requiring face coverings while voting. Instead, they opted for a strong recommendation or offered options such as curbside voting or booths away from others. In Indiana, a poll worker who later tested positive did not show symptoms, practiced social distancing and “wore a mask at all times” on election day, said Bartholomew County Clerk Jay Phelps. As a precaution, seven colleagues are quarantining for two weeks. He said election officials spent a lot of time and money making polling places as safe as possible. Poll workers wore masks, and machines, tables and doorknobs were continually sanitized. “We worked really hard,” Phelps said, “to make sure that every polling location had protocols in place.”

Belgian racing pigeon fetches record price of $1.9 million

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-15/belgian-racing-pigeon-fetches-record-price-of-1-9-million

New Kim is worth her weight in gold and then some — actually much, much more. A wealthy Chinese pigeon-racing fan put down a world-record price of $1.9 million for the Belgian-bred bird, saying a lot more than merely what kind of money can be made in the once-quaint sport, which seemed destined to decline only a few years back. During a frantic last half-hour Sunday at the end of a two-week auction, two Chinese bidders operating under the pseudonyms of Super Duper and Hitman drove up the price by $325,000, leaving the previous record that Belgian-bred Armando fetched last year well behind by $406,000. Super Duper got the 3-year-old hen. It is proof again that an age-old hobby in Western Europe identified with working-class men now has a new, elitist foreign lease on life. Top breeders relying on generations of family experience can now sell their birds for prices unheard of merely a decade ago, and often China is their destination. On this occasion, successful breeder Gaston Van de Wouwer retired at 76 and his son had too busy a professional life to continue the famed pigeon coop. All 445 birds were put on auction, and the overall sale was closing in on $5.8 million. A second part of the auction is ending on Monday but does not include any bird that could match New Kim. Belgians have long stood out as the best breeders, both because of their generations-long experience and the density of a network where many breeders can organize races close together. It’s not a short-term endeavor, however, since becoming expert at genetic breeding with the constant mixing and mating of birds takes years, if not decades. Birds can live up to 15 years. “Everybody is interested in our pigeons,” Pascal Bodengien, head of the Belgian pigeon federation, told the Associated Press. Only a decade ago, the record price for a pigeon stood at one-tenth of New Kim’s price. And the current price of gold stands at about $30,350 per pound. As often happens, globalization has made the difference. With the rise of business wealth in China came also conspicuous consumption and a new venue for gambling. Somehow, pigeons fit the bill. China often features one-loft racing, where pigeons all get used to one coop for months and then are released many hundreds of miles away to make their way back with their unique sense of orientation and special speed training. Prize pots can reach into the tens of millions of euros. For breeding, though, there is no place like Belgium. This is where, little more than a generation ago, the national weekend radio news was followed by announcements on whether pigeons were released in faraway places in France or even Spain and what weather conditions the birds were facing. After World War II, Belgium had over 250,000 members in the pigeon fancier federation. Now there are 18,000, Bodengien says. Pigeon breeding demands constant attention, every single day of the year. Those demands had turned away many modern folk, once sending the sport into a decline. “To be the best, it has to be your life’s work,” he said. “For some, it may seem boring. Day in, day out. Winter and summer, always those pigeons.” Once bitten, though, many remain committed for life. And the news that a pigeon can sell for $1.9 million could prompt new challengers to enter the sport. Bodengien welcomed that development but urged patience and a reality check. “Anybody thinking about getting into our sport to get money out of it,” he said, “had better think again and move to another sport.”

Hiker 'died' in the ER after rescue from Mt. Rainier. Now he's recovering

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-15/hiker-whose-heart-stopped-after-mt-rainier-rescue-recovers

A hiker who was rescued after being lost overnight in a whiteout in Mt. Rainier National Park has been brought back to life after what his medical team is calling an amazing recovery. The Seattle Times reports that 45-year-old Michael Knapinski, of Woodinville, died in the emergency room at Harborview Medical Center after being airlifted off the mountain Nov. 8. He had a pulse when he arrived at the hospital but soon his heart stopped, said Dr. Jenelle Badulak, one of the first people to start treating him. “He died while he was in the ER, which gave us the unique opportunity to try and save his life by basically bypassing his heart and lungs, which is the most advanced form of artificial life support that we have in the world,” Badulak said. The medical team repeatedly performed CPR and hooked him up to an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine, which pumped blood out of his body into a heart-lung machine that removes carbon dioxide, and then back into the body. His heart remained stopped for 45 minutes. After the doctors restarted it, the medical team spent the night beside him to make sure he continued to stabilize. Two days later, Knapinski woke up. Trauma nurse Whitney Holen was there and said the first thing he wanted was to call his family. “He was crying and they were crying and I’m fairly sure I cried a little bit,” Holen said. “It was just really special to see someone that we had worked so hard on from start to finish to then wake up that dramatically and that impressively.” She added, “It reminded me of this is why we do this. This is why we are doing the long hours, this is why we’re away from our families, this is why we’re here.” He continued to have some trouble with his heart, kidneys and frostbite, but doctors said they believed he’d be OK. He remained in the hospital Saturday. Knapinski had left for a snowy hike with a friend on the morning of Nov. 7. His friend planned to ski down the mountain to Camp Muir, while Knapinski was going to snowshoe to Paradise. “I was pretty close to the end [of the trail]. … Then it turned to whiteout conditions, and I couldn’t see anything,” Knapinski told the Seattle Times in a phone interview Friday. The last thing he remembers is taking baby steps down the mountain, surrounded by white. “I’m not sure what happened. I think I fell,” he said, noting bruises and scrapes all over his body. His friend reported Knapinski missing when he failed to arrive at the Paradise parking lot that evening. Three National Park Service teams searched for Knapinski until early the next morning, when winter conditions minimized visibility and temperatures dropped to 16 degrees Fahrenheit, the park said. Later that morning, teams returned to their search. A Navy helicopter team from Whidbey Island began searching in the afternoon when the weather cleared and spotted him in the Nisqually River drainage. Knapinski said he was still having some cognitive delays, but is generally in good spirits and making improvements. He said he spent a lot of time doing volunteer work at the Salvation Army Food Bank in Seattle and building houses for foster children through Overlake Christian Church in Redmond. “And as soon as I get physically able, that’s going to be my calling in life,” he said. “Just helping people. … I’m still just shocked and amazed.” He added that the hospital staff “just didn’t give up on me. … They did one heck of a job at keeping me alive.” “I’ve got a million people to thank,” he said.

Ethiopia’s Tigray leader confirms firing missiles at Eritrea

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-15/ethiopias-tigray-leader-confirms-firing-missiles-at-eritrea

The leader of Ethiopia’s rebellious Tigray region has confirmed firing missiles at neighboring Eritrea’s capital and is threatening more, marking a huge escalation as the deadly fighting in northern Ethiopia between Tigray forces and the federal government spills across an international border. Tigray regional President Debretsion Gebremichael, in a phone interview Sunday with the Associated Press, would not say how many missiles were fired at the city of Asmara on Saturday but said it was the only city in Eritrea that was targeted. “As long as troops are here fighting, we will take any legitimate military target and we will fire,” he said, accusing Eritrea of sending troops into the Tigray region and denying reports that Tigray regional forces have entered Eritrea. “We will fight them on all fronts with whatever means we have,” he said. He asserted that around 16 Eritrean divisions are fighting in what he called a “full-scale war.” The brewing civil war in Ethiopia between a regional government that once dominated the country’s ruling coalition, and a Nobel Peace Prize-winning prime minister whose sweeping reforms marginalized the Tigray region’s power, could fracture a key U.S. security ally and destabilize the strategic Horn of Africa, with the potential to send scores of thousands of refugees into Sudan. World & Nation Ethiopia nears civil war, threatening the stability of one of the world’s most strategic regions. Here are key reasons for the international alarm. At least three rockets appeared to be aimed at the airport in Eritrea’s capital, Asmara, hours after the Tigray regional government on Saturday warned it might attack. It has accused Eritrea of attacking it at the invitation of Ethiopia’s government after the conflict erupted Nov. 4 with an attack by regional forces on a federal military base in the Tigray region. In a security alert, the U.S. Embassy in Eritrea said “a series of loud noises were heard in Asmara” on Saturday night, and “unconfirmed reports indicate they may have been explosive devices believed to be in the vicinity of the Asmara International Airport. There are no indications the airport was struck.” The Tigray regional leader would not say how many missiles remain at his troops’ disposal but said, “We have several. We can use it selectively, anywhere.” When asked about possibly targeting Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, he replied: “I don’t want to tell you, but the missiles are long-range as well.” Eritrean officials have not responded to requests for comment, and there was no immediate comment on the missile attack from Ethiopia’s federal government. The Tigray leader said he had no communication with Ethiopia’s federal government. The African Union is pushing for a cease-fire, he said, “but the prime minister is not ready to listen. He believes in the might he has.” He called this a “really messy situation which requires international intervention.” Tigray’s heavily armed regional government broke away from Ethiopia’s ruling coalition last year, and it objects to the postponement of national elections until next year, which extends Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s rule. In September it held a regional election in defiance of Abiy. Each side regards the other as illegal, and the federal government now says members of the Tigray region’s ruling “clique” now must be arrested and their well-stocked arsenal destroyed. Abiy calls it a “law enforcement action” while his military officials call it war. The Tigray leader told the AP he didn’t have an exact number of people killed in the fighting but said “a very massive displacement is happening. The fighting is happening on all fronts, in addition to airstrikes.” He added, “we have to defend ourselves, you know?” The Tigray region is boxed in among Ethiopian forces, Eritrea and Sudan, which has closed its border but allows in refugees. The Tigray leader said his government, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, has had no communications channel with Eritrea, even before the conflict. The two sides are at bitter odds after a long and deadly border war that ended after Abiy took office in 2018. Abiy has rejected pleas by the international community for an immediate deescalation as his government refuses to regard the TPLF as an entity to negotiate with. Another senior TPLF official, Getachew Reda, in a statement posted on social media asserted that Ethiopia’s prime minister “is now enlisting the support of UAE drones based in [the Eritrean city of] Assab in his devastating war against the people of Tigray.” He offered no evidence to back the claim. The United Nations and others have warned of a looming humanitarian disaster as some 25,000 Ethiopian refugees, hungry and scared, have fled the Tigray region into Sudan. Communications and transport links with the Tigray region remain almost completely severed, and millions are at risk as food, fuel and other supplies run low.

Suspect arrested in attack on actor Rick Moranis in New York

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-14/suspect-arrested-in-attack-on-actor-rick-moranis

A New York man was arrested Saturday in connection with an unprovoked assault against Rick Moranis that occurred as the 67-year-old actor was walking near Central Park in October. New York City police said 35-year-old Marquis Ventura, whom authorities listed as homeless, was arrested Saturday afternoon. It wasn’t known if Ventura had retained an attorney who could comment. Moranis, known for his work in the 1980s sketch comedy series “Second City Television” and roles in movies such as “Ghostbusters,” “Spaceballs” and “Honey I Shrunk the Kids,” was walking on a sidewalk near Central Park on the morning of Oct. 1 when he was attacked. Video released by police showed a man wearing a black “I (heart) NY” sweatshirt hit Moranis with a sucker punch and knock him to the ground. Police didn’t identify Moranis at the time, but Moranis’ representative, Troy Bailey, confirmed the actor had been attacked. Police characterized it as a “random, unprovoked assault.” Thanks to an eagle-eyed sergeant from @NYPDTransit, this suspect has been apprehended and charged. https://t.co/cKtkgzc3vU

Department of Homeland Security head didn't have authority to suspend DACA, judge says

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-14/judge-dhs-head-didnt-have-authority-to-suspend-daca

A federal judge in New York ruled Saturday that Chad Wolf, the acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, assumed his position unlawfully, a determination that invalidated Wolf’s suspension of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which shields young people from deportation. “DHS failed to follow the order of succession as it was lawfully designated,” U.S. District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis wrote. “Therefore, the actions taken by purported Acting Secretaries, who were not properly in their roles according to the lawful order of succession, were taken without legal authority.” Wolf issued a memorandum in July effectively suspending DACA, pending review by DHS. A month earlier, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that President Trump failed to follow rule-making procedures when he tried to end the program, but the justices kept a window open for him to try again. About 650,000 people are part of DACA, which allows immigrants who were brought to the country as children and grew up without legal status to legally work and shields them from deportation. Karen Tumlin, an attorney who represented a plaintiff in one of the lawsuits that challenged Wolf’s authority, called the ruling “another win for DACA recipients and those who have been waiting years to apply for the program for the first time.” In August, the Government Accountability Office, a bipartisan congressional watchdog, said Wolf and his acting deputy, Ken Cuccinelli, were improperly serving and ineligible to run the agency under the Vacancies Reform Act. The two have been at the forefront of administration initiatives on immigration and law enforcement. World & Nation A federal judge has struck down a Trump administration rule that allows denial of green cards to immigrants who use food stamps or other benefits. Nov. 3, 2020 In his ruling Saturday, Garaufis wrote that Homeland Security didn’t follow an order of succession established when then-Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen resigned in April 2019. Kevin McAleenan, who succeeded Nielsen until he resigned in October 2019, also didn’t have statutory authority to hold the position, the judge wrote. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling. The department has maintained that Wolf’s appointment was legal even without Senate confirmation, which is still pending in the final weeks of the Trump administration. President-elect Joe Biden plans to reinstate DACA and is expected to use executive orders to reverse some of Trump’s other immigration actions.

Biden expected to select Michele Flournoy to become first woman to lead the Pentagon

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-14/biden-likely-to-break-barriers-pick-woman-to-lead-pentagon

President-elect Joe Biden is expected to take a historic step and select a woman to head the Pentagon for the first time, shattering one of the few remaining barriers to women in the department and the presidential Cabinet. Michele Flournoy, a politically moderate Pentagon veteran, is regarded by U.S. officials and political insiders as a top choice for the position. Her selection would come on the heels of a tumultuous Pentagon period that has seen five men hold the top job under President Trump. The most recent Defense secretary to go was Mark Esper, who was fired by Trump on Monday after pushing back on issues including troop withdrawals and the use of the military to quell civilian unrest. If confirmed, Flournoy would face a future that is expected to involve shrinking Pentagon budgets and potential military involvement in the distribution of a coronavirus vaccine. Democrats have long sought to name a woman to the top post in a department that didn’t open all combat jobs to female service members until about five years ago. Flournoy had been the expected choice of Hillary Clinton if she had won the 2016 election. Her name surfaced early as a front-runner for Biden’s Cabinet, said officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters. Seen as a steady hand who favors strong military cooperation abroad, Flournoy, 59, has served multiple times in the Pentagon, starting in the 1990s and most recently as the undersecretary of Defense for policy from 2009 to 2012. She serves on the board of Booz Allen Hamilton, a defense contractor, which could raise concerns from some lawmakers. But her moderate views would probably ensure wide bipartisan support in a position that requires Senate confirmation. Politics If former Vice President Biden wins, here’s a look at who might be on his foreign policy team. Oct. 28, 2020 Few other names have been mentioned, though former Department of Homeland Security chief Jeh Johnson was listed as a possible choice at one point. Choosing a woman would be consistent with Biden’s pledge to have a diverse Cabinet. She has been outspoken on American foreign and defense policy, particularly over the last year. She favors closer international cooperation after four years of a Trump White House that touted an “America first” policy and was more distrustful and critical of allies. “Whoever the next president is,” she said in March, “whether it’s a second Trump term or Vice President Biden or whoever it is, one of the top agenda items is going to try to, I think, repair some of that perception” that the U.S. may no longer be a reliable partner. “But I don’t think it’s going to be easy or happen overnight. I think it’s going to take a lot of work over a number of years to recover that trust and that standing.” She has also cautioned against drastic, immediate changes. “One of the most dangerous tendencies is for — after a change of administration, particularly when there’s a change of party — for the new team to come in and use the term ‘repudiation.’ But to come in and assume that everything their predecessors did was wrong, you know, they throw the baby out with the bathwater, basically, and they overcorrect in another direction,” she said in a Hudson Institute forum. Arnold Punaro, a retired Marine two-star general and former staff director of the Senate Armed Services Committee under then-Democratic Sen. Sam Nunn of Georgia, said recently that he regards Flournoy as “incredibly well-qualified” to lead the Pentagon. The Defense Department is one of three Cabinet agencies — the others being Treasury and Veterans Affairs — that have never been led by a woman. Some of the 28 men who have held the top Defense job since it was created in 1947, including three who served in Trump’s administration — James N. Mattis, Esper and current acting Secretary Christopher Miller — have been military veterans. Flournoy did not serve in the military. Like Mattis and Esper, Flournoy views China as the most significant long-term challenge to U.S. predominance on the world stage. In July, she said the United States is losing its military technological advantage over key competitors like China and that reversing this trend must be the Pentagon’s top priority. She has, however, also warned against abandoning the Middle East and instead advocates “more modest levels of continuous presence” there. As an example, she has backed a limited role in Afghanistan that focuses more on countering the terror threat and less on rebuilding the country. “We want to reduce our commitment, but we want to do it in a way that’s smart and that safeguards our interests in the process,” she said in March about Afghanistan, adding that she hopes “we don’t just cut and run.” Trump has pushed for a full troop withdrawal from Afghanistan by the end of the year, but so far the Pentagon has no orders to do that. On North Korea, she said in an October online forum that while nuclear disarmament should remain the ultimate goal, she finds it “hard to see” Kim Jong Un agreeing to give up all his nuclear weapons, which she said he sees as his regime’s “survival card.” On Iran, Flournoy has argued for a revised approach of deterring the Islamic Republic by breaking the familiar pattern of sending more American forces to the Persian Gulf in response to Iranian provocations, as the Trump administration did in May 2019 after what it called credible threats to U.S. interests in the region. Flournoy is a co-founder of Westexec Advisors, a consulting firm that provides advice and geopolitical risk analysis to corporate clients. She works with a mixture of former senior government officials — including Antony Blinken, a former deputy secretary of State and currently Biden’s top foreign policy advisor — and military experts such as retired Army Gen. Vincent Brooks, who led U.S. forces in Korea until 2019. In 2007, Flournoy helped create a think tank, the Center for a New American Security.

Armenians torch their homes as they flee land ceded to Azerbaijan

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-14/armenians-torch-their-homes-on-land-ceded-to-azerbaijan

In a bitter farewell to his home of 21 years, Garo Dadevusyan wrenched off its metal roof and prepared to set the stone house on fire. Thick smoke poured from houses that his neighbors had already torched before fleeing this ethnic Armenian village about to come under Azerbaijani control. The village is to be turned over to Azerbaijan on Sunday as part of territorial concessions in an agreement to end six weeks of intense fighting with Armenian forces. The move gripped its 600 people with fear and anger so deep that they destroyed the homes they loved. The settlement — called Karvachar in Armenian — is legally part of Azerbaijan, but it has been under the control of ethnic Armenians since the 1994 end of a war over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. That war left not only Nagorno-Karabakh — which Armenians call Artsakh — but substantial surrounding territory in Armenian hands. After years in which sporadic clashes broke out between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces, full-scale fighting began in late September this year. Azerbaijan made relentless military advances, culminating in the seizure of the city of Shusha, a strategically key city and one of strong emotional significance as a longtime center of Azeri culture. Two days after Azerbaijan announced it had taken Shusha — known to Armenians and Shushi — Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a Russia-brokered cease-fire under which territory that Armenia occupies outside the formal borders of Nagorno-Karabakh will be gradually ceded. World & Nation Deadly fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh has caused grief and anger. But for many Azerbaijanis displaced by the conflict, it’s also brought hope. Muslim Azeris and Christian Armenians once lived together in these regions, however uneasily. Although the cease-fire ends the fighting, it aggravates ethnic animosity. “In the end, we will blow it up or set it on fire, in order not to leave anything to Muslims,” Dadevusyan said of his house. He spoke while taking a rest from salvaging what he could from the home, including metal roof panels, and piling it onto an aged flatbed truck. The truck’s final destination is unclear. “We are homeless now, do not know where to go and where to live. Do not know where to live. It is very hard,” said his wife, Lusine, choked by tears, as they gave the interior of the house a last look. Dadevusyan’s dismay extended to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Armenia and Russia keep close relations and Russia has a sizeable military base in Armenia, so many Armenians had hoped for support from Moscow. Instead, Russia facilitated the cease-fire and territorial concessions and is sending in nearly 2,000 peacekeepers to enforce it. “Why has Putin abandoned us?” Dadevusyan said. Hundreds of thousands of Azeris were displaced by the war that ended in 1994. It is unclear when any civilians might try to settle in Karvachar — which will now be known by its Azeri name, Kalbajar — or elsewhere. World & Nation Their decades-old battle over the mountainous territory of Nagorno-Karabakh has come to define how Armenians and Azerbaijanis view themselves. Any returns could be wrenching. Settlers will confront the burned, empty shells of houses — or worse. Agdam, which is to be turned over next week, once was a city of about 40,000, but now is an empty sprawl of buildings that were destroyed in the first war or later ruined by pillagers grabbing building materials. For the Dadevusyans, their sudden relocation is overwhelming beyond words. “When you spent 21 years here and now need to leave it...” Garo Dadevusyan said, trailing off, as smoke from nearby burning houses choked the air. Soon, he knew, his house would be one of them.

Egypt unveils ancient coffins and statues found in vast necropolis

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-14/egypt-unveils-ancient-coffins-statues-found-in-saqqara

Egyptian antiquities officials on Saturday announced the discovery of at least 100 ancient coffins, some with mummies inside, and around 40 gilded statues in a vast Pharaonic necropolis south of Cairo. Colorful, sealed sarcophagi and statues that were buried more than 2,500 years ago were displayed in a makeshift exhibit at the feet of the famed Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara. Archeologists opened a coffin with a well-preserved mummy wrapped in cloth inside. They also carried out X‐raying visualizing the structures of the ancient mummy, showing how the body had been preserved. Tourism and Antiquities Minister Khaled el-Anany told a news conference that the discovered items date back to the Ptolemaic dynasty that ruled Egypt for some 300 years — from around 320 BC to about 30 BC, and the Late Period (664-332 BC). He said they would move the artifacts to at least three Cairo museums including the Grand Egyptian Museum that Egypt is building near the famed Giza Pyramids. He said they would announce another discovery at the Saqqara necropolis later this year. The discovery at the famed necropolis is the latest in a series of archeological finds in Egypt. Since September, antiquities authorities revealed at least 140 sealed sarcophagi, with mummies inside most of them, in the same area of Saqqara. Egyptian archeologists found other “shafts full of coffins, well-gilded, well-painted, well-decorated,” Mostafa Waziri, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, told reporters on Saturday. The Saqqara site is part of the necropolis at Egypt’s ancient capital of Memphis that includes the famed Giza Pyramids, as well as smaller pyramids at Abu Sir, Dahshur and Abu Ruwaysh. The ruins of Memphis were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1970s. Egypt frequently touts its archeological discoveries in hopes of spurring a vital tourism industry that has been reeling from the political turmoil following the 2011 popular uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak. The sector was also dealt a further blow this year by the coronavirus pandemic.

Can Trump win with 'fantasy' electors bid? State GOP leaders say no

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-14/can-trump-win-with-fantasy-electors-bid-state-gop-says-no

Republican leaders in four critical states won by President-elect Joe Biden say they won’t participate in a legally dubious scheme to flip their state’s electors to vote for President Trump. Their comments effectively shut down a half-baked plot some Republicans floated as a last chance to keep Trump in the White House. State GOP lawmakers in Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have all said they would not intervene in the selection of electors, who ultimately cast the votes that secure a candidate’s victory. Such a move would violate state law and a vote of the people, several noted. “I do not see, short of finding some type of fraud — which I haven’t heard of anything — I don’t see us in any serious way addressing a change in electors,” said Rusty Bowers, Arizona’s Republican House speaker, who says he’s been inundated with emails pleading for the legislature to intervene. “They are mandated by statute to choose according to the vote of the people.” The idea loosely involves GOP-controlled legislatures dismissing Biden’s popular vote wins in their states and opting to select Trump electors. While the endgame was unclear, it appeared to hinge on the expectation that a conservative-leaning Supreme Court would settle any dispute over the move. Still, it has been promoted by Trump allies, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and is an example of misleading information and false claims fueling skepticism among Trump supporters about the integrity of the vote. Politics Under America’s complicated system for electing a president, the real presidential vote isn’t until mid-December, when the electoral college meets. The theory is rooted in the fact that the U.S. Constitution grants state legislatures the power to decide how electors are chosen. Each state already has passed laws that delegate this power to voters and appoint electors for whichever candidate wins the state on election day. The only opportunity for a state legislature to then get involved with electors is a provision in federal law allowing it if the actual election “fails.” If the result of the election was unclear in mid-December, at the deadline for naming electors, Republican-controlled legislatures in those states could declare that Trump won and appoint electors supporting him. Or so the theory goes. The problem, legal experts note, is that the result of the election is not in any way unclear. Biden won all the states at issue. It’s hard to argue the election “failed” when Trump’s own Department of Homeland Security reported it was not tampered with and was “the most secure in American history.” There has been no finding of widespread fraud or problems in the vote count, which shows Biden leading Trump by more than 5 million votes nationally. Trump’s campaign and its allies have filed lawsuits that aim to delay the certification and potentially provide evidence for a failed election. But so far, Trump and Republicans have had meager success — at least 10 of the lawsuits have been rejected by the courts in the 10 days since the election. The most significant that remain ask courts to prevent Michigan and Pennsylvania from certifying Biden as the winner of their elections. But legal experts say it’s impossible for courts to ultimately stop those states from appointing electors by the December deadline. “It would take the most unjustified and bizarre intervention by courts that this country has ever seen,” said Danielle Lang of the Campaign Legal Center. “I haven’t seen anything in any of those lawsuits that has any kind of merit — let alone enough to delay appointing electors.” Even if Trump won a single court fight, there’s another major roadblock: Congress would be the final arbiter of whether to accept electors submitted by Republican legislatures. If the Democratic-controlled House and GOP-controlled Senate could not agree on which electors to accept and who becomes president, the presidency would pass to the next person in line of succession at the end of Trump and Vice President Mike Pence’s term Jan. 20. That would be House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat. Politics After more than a week of speaking only in tweets, President Trump on Friday addressed the worsening pandemic amid calls for him to aid the transition to Joe Biden. “If this is a strategy, I don’t think it will be successful,” said Edward Foley, a constitutional law professor at Ohio State University. “I think we’re in the realm of fantasy here.” But unfounded claims about fraud and corruption have been circulating widely in conservative circles since Biden won the election. Asked this week if state lawmakers should invalidate the official results, GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said, “Everything should be on the table.” DeSantis urged Pennsylvania and Michigan residents to call state lawmakers and urge them to intervene. “Under Article 2 of the Constitution, presidential electors are done by the legislatures and the schemes they create and the framework. And if there’s departure from that, if they’re not following the law, if they’re ignoring law, then they can provide remedies as well,” he said. Republican lawmakers, however, appear to be holding steady. “The Pennsylvania General Assembly does not have and will not have a hand in choosing the state’s presidential electors or in deciding the outcome of the presidential election,” top Republican legislative leaders, state Sen. Jake Corman and Rep. Kerry Benninghoff, wrote in an October op-ed. Their offices said Friday they stand by the statement. The Republican leader of Wisconsin’s Assembly, Robin Vos, has long dismissed the idea, and his spokesperson, Kit Beyer, said he stood by that position Thursday. In Michigan, legislative leaders say any intervention would be against state law. Even though the GOP-controlled legislature is investigating the election, state Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey told radio station WJR on Friday, “It is not the expectation that our analysis will result in any change in the outcome.”

Iota poses another tropical storm threat for Nicaragua and Honduras

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-13/tropical-storm-iota-forms-could-follow-etas-deadly-path

Tropical Storm Iota was brewing in the Caribbean Sea early Saturday, threatening another strike for Nicaragua and Honduras, countries recently hammered by Category 4 Hurricane Eta. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Iota could bring dangerous wind, storm surge and as much as 30 inches of rainfall to the two Central American countries, approaching their coasts as early as Monday. The system formed Friday afternoon. The storm was located early Saturday about 340 miles south-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, and had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph. There were no coastal warnings or watches in effect as of Saturday morning. Iota was moving to the west-southwest at 5 mph. Iota could wreak more havoc in a region where people are still grappling with the aftermath of Eta. That system hit Nicaragua last week as a Category 4 hurricane, killing at least 120 people as torrential rains brought flash floods and landslides to parts of Central America and Mexico. Then it meandered across Cuba, the Florida Keys and around the Gulf of Mexico before slogging ashore again near Cedar Key, Fla., and dashing across Florida and the Carolinas. The Tampa Bay area was buffeted with gusty winds and rain, and there was one U.S. death linked to Eta: In Bradenton Beach, Mark Mixon stepped into his flooded garage as he was laying sandbags around his home Wednesday evening and was electrocuted, said Jacob Saur, director of public safety for Manatee County. Iota is already a record-setting system, being the 30th named storm of this year’s busy Atlantic hurricane season. Such activity focused attention on climate change, which scientists say is causing wetter, stronger and more destructive storms. Eta was the 28th named storm of this year’s hurricane season, tying the 2005 record for named storms. Theta, the 29th, was weakening over the far eastern Atlantic Ocean. It was expected to become a remnant low later Saturday, forecasters said.

CDC says wearing a mask could keep you from catching coronavirus

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-13/cdc-wearing-a-mask-could-keep-you-from-catching-virus

U.S. health officials are taking a new tack to encourage Americans to wear masks: They’re emphasizing recent research showing that a mask protects the person who wears it. Previously, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised people to wear masks because of evidence that it stops people who are infected with coronavirus — whether they know it or not — from spreading it to others. But this week, the CDC posted a new scientific brief discussing recent studies that conclude a mask wearer gets some protection as well. The agency’s guidance didn’t change. It continues to advise Americans to wear masks to stop the virus from spreading. Science & Medicine If nearly all Americans would wear face masks when they leave their homes, they could save over 100,000 lives by the end of February, a study says. Oct. 23, 2020 “But now we’re saying here’s another reason” to do it, said Dr. John Brooks, chief medical officer for the CDC’s COVID-19 emergency response. Agency officials were influenced by a recent study led by Japanese researchers who used mannequin heads and artificial respirators to simulate the spread of coronavirus particles through the air, and assess how well masks blocked transmission. It confirmed earlier research that masks work best when worn by an infected person who might spread it by coughing, sneezing or talking. Masks block about 60% of the amount of virus that comes out of an infected person, the study found. But the researchers also found there was benefit when an uninfected person wearing a mask was unlucky enough to be near an infected person who wasn’t wearing one. In that scenario, the amount of virus the uninfected person inhaled fell by 37% — to 50% — if they wore a mask. Science & Medicine The more people see wearing face masks and practicing social distancing as ways to protect the health of others, the more likely they are to comply, research shows. Aug. 13, 2020 When both people were wearing masks, the decline in virus particles reaching the second person was largest — close to 70%. The study didn’t perfectly mimic most real-world situations. For example, the heads were closer together than six feet, and the “exhaling” mannequin head was doing more of a constant cough than regular breathing. But Brooks said the value of everyone wearing masks is suggested by several other studies of real-world situations — including one of customers in a Missouri hair salon, another on a U.S. aircraft carrier, and several others that tracked infections and deaths in places that adopted mask mandates.

GM recalls nearly 69,000 Chevy Bolt electric cars because of fire risk

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-13/gm-recalling-nearly-69k-bolt-electric-cars-due-to-fire-risk

General Motors is recalling nearly 69,000 Chevrolet Bolt electric cars worldwide because the batteries have caught fire in five of them. The company said Friday that engineers are working to figure out what’s causing the fires. Two people have suffered smoke inhalation due to the fires, and a house was set ablaze. U.S. safety regulators said the cars should be parked outdoors until the recall repairs have been made. Until a permanent fix is developed, dealers will install software that limits charging to 90% of the battery’s capacity, Bolt Executive Chief Engineer Jesse Ortega said. The recall covers Bolts from the 2017 through 2019 model years, including nearly 51,000 in the U.S. Last month, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that it was investigating the fires. The agency said in documents that the fires began under the rear seat while the cars were parked and unattended. Ortega said engineers have traced the fires to Bolts with battery cells made at an LG Chem factory in Ochang, South Korea, from May 2016 to May 2019. The fires have happened when the batteries were close to being fully charged, he said. “We have no confirmed incidents from vehicles with cells not produced at this factory or a lower state of charge,” Ortega said. Some 2019 Bolts and all 2020 and 2021 versions have cells made at an LG Chem plant in Michigan and are not included in the recall, he said. GM hopes to find the cause and have a permanent repair in early 2021, Ortega said. Engineers are looking at several potential causes, he told reporters Friday. Until the software updates can be done, GM is asking owners to manually change adjustable settings to keep the batteries from being charged fully. Owners who aren’t able to do this should park their Bolts outdoors and contact a dealer, Ortega said. NHTSA, the government safety agency, said in a statement that until the recall repairs are made, the safest place to park the Bolts is outside and away from homes. “These vehicles can catch fire even if they are turned off, parked and disconnected from a charging unit,” NHTSA said. At least one of the five fires spread from a Bolt to a home, the agency said. GM said it would start notifying dealers and customers of the interim recall immediately. Ortega said that GM noticed the fires and began investigating in July, and that the automaker is cooperating with NHTSA. The software change will cut about 10% from the Bolt’s range on a single charge. GM said it understands owners could be upset about their cars not being fully functional, and it will address complaints on a case-by-case basis. Older Bolts can go about 238 miles per charge. The National Transportation Safety Board, a federal agency that investigates transportation-related problems, is investigating electric-vehicle fires, and a report is expected soon.

Big study supports cheap combo pill to lower heart risks

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-13/big-study-supports-cheap-combo-pill-to-lower-heart-risks

A daily pill combining a cholesterol drug and three blood pressure medicines, taken with low-dose aspirin, cut the risk of heart attacks, strokes and heart-related deaths by nearly one third in a large international study that’s expected to lead to wider use of this “polypill” approach. For more than a decade, doctors have been testing whether the cheap, all-in-one combo pills could make it easier to prevent heart disease, the top killer worldwide. Friday’s results show their value — and not just for poor nations. “It’s for all sensible countries,” said Dr. Salim Yusuf of McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada. “If the rich countries don’t want the benefit, that’s their prerogative.” He helped lead the study and gave results at an American Heart Assn. conference. Results also were published by the New England Journal of Medicine. At least half a dozen companies sell polypills outside the United States, including several in Europe, but they’re not widely used or marketed. Doctors have been reluctant to prescribe them partly because no big, international studies have shown they can lower heart attacks and deaths — not just risk factors such as high blood pressure. “I think this will change with our results,” Yusuf said. One independent expert agreed. The study is very important and “the best data we have so far” on polypills, said Dr. Eugene Yang, a University of Washington heart specialist who leads a heart disease prevention panel for the American College of Cardiology. In the United States, “I could definitely see” using a polypill in places with big health disparities and access to care problems, he said. One small study last year in Alabama suggested benefit. Science & Medicine A study suggests a potentially effective way to improve the cardiovascular health of poor and minority Americans: Give them a daily pill with low doses of several heart medicines. Sept. 18, 2019 The new study tested Polycap, a pill from India-based Cadila Pharmaceuticals Ltd. that contains three blood pressure medicines (atenolol, ramipril and the diuretic hydrochlorothiazide) plus a cholesterol-lowering statin. It sells in India for about 33 cents a pill. Researchers enrolled more than 5,700 people, primarily in India and the Philippines plus Colombia, Canada, Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Tanzania and Tunisia. Men had to be at least 50 years old and women at least 55. All were at moderate risk of heart problems due to high blood pressure, diabetes or other conditions. They were divided into groups and given either low-dose aspirin (75 milligrams), the polypill alone, the polypill plus aspirin or placebo pills. One group was assigned to get vitamin D, but those results are not available yet. Neither the participants nor their doctors knew who was taking what until the study ended. The study was to have run for five years and to have included 7,000 people, but drug delivery problems and the COVID-19 pandemic forced researchers to cut it short. After just over four years on average, aspirin alone did not make a significant difference, and the polypill alone showed a trend toward modest benefit. However, the polypill plus aspirin showed clear value, reducing the heart-related problems and deaths by 31%. About 4% of people in this group died or suffered one of the heart problems being tracked versus nearly 6% of those on placebo pills. The side effects were minimal. About 1.5% more of the polypill users had dizziness or low blood pressure, but they could be switched to a lower dose if that happened, Yusuf said. Opinion During a recent and engaging presentation for patients on Medicare, I received a pamphlet listing crucial tests for people of a certain age. May 23, 2019 “We now have direct evidence” from several studies with clearly consistent results and no safety concerns about the value of polypills, said Anushka Patel, a cardiologist at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney, Australia, who was not involved in the study. “The public health impact ... could be enormous,” she said. The study was funded by the Wellcome Trust, a British charity that supports research; Cadila Pharmaceuticals; and other public and private research organizations. Yusuf said polypill companies would need to seek regulators’ approval to sell the pills in various countries and that generic drug makers might team with large insurers to offer the therapy. He is hoping that guidelines committees and groups such as the Wellcome Trust, the World Health Federation and the World Health Organization will advocate for this approach. Many have already promoted the concept in medical journals.

White supremacists killed a man — but his son is thriving thanks to this San Diego attorney

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-13/white-supremacists-killed-ethiopian-man-but-his-son-thrives

The California lawyer who for years made sure white supremacist Tom Metzger made payments on a judgment for his role in the killing of an Ethiopian man studying in the U.S. took no money for himself from the case but ended up with something priceless: a son. Attorney James McElroy became close with the victim’s family and eventually adopted the man’s son, who was 7 at the time of the killing and grew up to be an airline pilot. McElroy calls the bond with his son “the best fee that I ever got out of a pro bono case.” McElroy has been largely quiet about the adoption. But he feels more comfortable speaking publicly since Metzger, 82, died last week in Hemet, from complications of Parkinson’s disease. McElroy, 69, worked with the Southern Poverty Law Center to get a $12.5-million award against Metzger, a onetime leader of the Ku Klux Klan who was linked to the 1988 murder of Mulugeta Seraw, a 28-year-old college student who was clubbed over the head with a baseball bat in Portland, Ore. Three members of the skinhead group East Side White Pride were convicted and sentenced to long prison terms. One of the men communicated with Metzger before the attack. The judgment against Metzger came after a 1990 trial during which a recording was played of Metzger praising the killers for performing what he called their “civic duty.” Metzger was living in San Diego County, where McElroy is a civil rights lawyer. McElroy volunteered to collect from Metzger over the next 20 years and deliver the money to the slain man’s family. He flew to Ethiopia to meet Seraw’s family and took a liking to the man’s son. The mother worked for a bus company, earning the equivalent of about $20 a month. McElroy asked permission to bring the boy to San Diego for a summer. “I already had a son, and they just clicked,” McElroy said. “They learned how to surf and be a typical Southern California kid.” He got the boy into a private school in Ethiopia. Then he asked to adopt the boy, and the mother agreed, grateful for the opportunities her son would have in the United States. “We really bonded, and I wanted him to stay,” McElroy said. McElroy and his son’s mother now communicate online and McElroy says they are “dear friends.” The boy graduated from Torrey Pines High School in San Diego and UC Santa Barbara. Now in his mid-30s, he is married and is a pilot for a major commercial airline. His son “actually pursued the dream of his father” by getting a U.S. education, McElroy said. “[He] was actually able to do it out of this great and horrible tragedy.” McElroy believes Metzger died not knowing about the relationship. The Associated Press is not identifying his adopted son at the request of McElroy, who says he guards his privacy. McElroy, a former board chairman of the Southern Poverty Law Center, may be best known for his decades-long challenge to the presence of a 43-foot Latin cross atop Mt. Soledad in San Diego, claiming the war memorial violated the U.S. Constitution’s ban on government favoring a religion. The legal battle began in 1989 and ended after the Mt. Soledad Cross Assn. bought the land in 2015 from its then-owner, the U.S. Defense Department. Seraw’s murder forced Portland, Ore., to reckon with white supremacy. It also brought McElroy face-to-face with Metzger, who lived nearby in Fallbrook and was near the height of his notoriety. Metzger ran for Congress from northern San Diego County in the early 1980s, winning the Democratic primary. But he lost by a landslide in the general election after Democrats and Republicans united against him. He became a prominent media figure during those years, appearing on TV talk shows, organizing white supremacist demonstrations and cross burnings and promising a white civil war that would result in “blood in the streets.” Metzger couldn’t afford the damages against him. But he paid several hundred thousand dollars, and McElroy achieved his objective: to deprive Metzger and his organization, the White Aryan Resistance, of money to spread influence. McElroy took special satisfaction selling Metzger’s Fallbrook home to a Latino family as partial payment — “poetic justice,” he called it. The two men met occasionally at a Fallbrook restaurant to discuss issues that popped up. The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department was keeping a close eye on Metzger and insisted on being notified before each meeting to observe from another table. The men had “civil conversations,” but McElroy said he kept Metzger’s racist words and actions in mind. They joked about their Midwestern roots. McElroy was born in Illinois and Metzger in Indiana. “Metzger was a hateful man in many respects. But, like all people, he was multidimensional. He could be humorous at times,” McElroy said. McElroy recalls Metzger’s children putting their hands in wet concrete outside their home and their father using a nail to mark their palms with swastikas. McElroy’s hopes that the children would rebel against their father’s views went mostly unfulfilled. One son, John, closely aligned with his father’s activities. He considers Metzger an early proponent of the “lone wolf” theory that white supremacists are more effective acting alone than through marches and rallies favored by the KKK. Richard Cohen, who met McElroy when he came to San Diego to depose Metzger, said the attorney has “an enormous heart.” McElroy shed tears showing photos of his son at a Southern Poverty Law Center gathering in 2015. The son “is a beautiful man — and, of course, Jim takes all the credit,” Cohen deadpanned.

Zimbabweans mend shabby dollar notes amid economic crisis

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-13/zimbabweans-mend-shabby-dollar-notes-amid-economic-crisis

Albert Marombe takes a grimy, tattered $1 note and delicately, expertly glues it back into one piece, holding it up for inspection. “I don’t care how torn it is. All I want to see is the serial number being visible on both sides,” said Marombe. He’ll sell that shabby American dollar note for 80 cents and it will get back into circulation. Many shops will reject it but market traders will take it, although at a reduced value. Worn out or shredded by rats, $1 notes are king in Zimbabwe, beset by a continuing economic crisis. One dollar bills are used by many people to buy their food necessities and other small purchases. Crisp new notes are not coming into Zimbabwe, so enterprising traders are repairing old ones for desperate customers. Formal businesses reject such notes, forcing people to sell them to traders such as Marombe for a fraction of their original value. Informal street markets will usually — with some negotiation — accept the glue-patched notes that Marombe sells for transactions. Zimbabwe’s booming informal economy employs about two-thirds of the population, according to the International Monetary Fund, so there are lots of such dirty dollars in circulation. The U.S. dollar has dominated transactions in Zimbabwe since the country’s hyperinflation soared to more than 5 billion percent and forced the government to abandon the local currency in 2009. Last year, the government reintroduced a Zimbabwe currency and banned foreign currencies for local transactions. Few took heed, though, and the black market thrived, while the local currency quickly devalued. In March of this year, the government relented and lifted the ban on the dollar. Now shortages of small denominations of the dollar are a nightmare. The once-prosperous southern African country’s economy is so weak from deindustrialization, low investment, low exports and high debt that it does not generate an adequate inflow of fresh greenbacks needed for its largely dollar-centric local economy, said Harare-based economist John Robertson. “If people do have a small denomination in U.S. dollars, they don’t want to put those in the bank. They want to keep it to themselves,” said Robertson, explaining that banks generally do not pay account holders in cash. Larger denominations are too big for many purchases. Traders such as Marombe fill the gap by repairing torn dollar bills of many denominations, but the $1 note is their main business. “I am here by 6 a.m. daily and leave late … business is good. I am surviving,” said Marombe, popularly called “the money sanitizer” by other market traders. He said he buys the $1 notes for 40 cents to 60 cents each, depending on their condition, and sells them at a profit. Marombe, 38, sold secondhand clothes until six months ago when he saw the opportunity to make money by patching up old dollar bills and selling them at a profit. He’s making enough to support his pregnant wife and two children, including one who is a teenager and writing final year secondary examinations this year. In cities across the country, currency traders line the streets holding wads of both local currency and U.S dollars. The $1 notes that are in good condition go for a 10% premium. Traders said they buy the better-looking notes from retail shop owners and workers, and from street vendors who hoard $1 notes paid by purchasers of small items. The street traders also take larger bills and provide the equivalent amount in smaller denominations for a 10% fee. The government says the practice is illegal and the police sometimes raid the currency traders, seizing their precious dollar notes and issuing fines. But there aren’t many choices for shoppers. If they buy goods at a supermarket that cannot provide change for their purchase, they are given paper coupons to be used at the same supermarket at a later date. “At times they run out of these coupons so I am forced to take candy,” said Innocent Chirume, outside a supermarket in Harare. “It is very inconveniencing. I can’t take a bus into town using a coupon,” he said. Banks are encouraging electronic payments for transactions to resolve the problem of small change, “given that U.S. dollars are not produced in Zimbabwe and are imported at high cost,” said Bankers Assn. of Zimbabwe President Ralph Watungwa. Bank customers can exchange soiled notes for “usable” ones, although “the process of exporting the soiled notes and importing fresh ones is a long and costly process” for banks, he said. The shortage of dollar notes and people’s lack of trust in banks means that many stash their cash at home. This is a boon to Marombe and other currency traders. “One customer came with $100 dollar notes worth $1,000. He was saving for a car but the rats got to the money first,” chuckled Marombe, who said he charged to repair the gnawed notes. “It was a big payday for me!”

U.K. serial killer Peter Sutcliffe, known as 'Yorkshire Ripper,' dies at 74

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-13/uks-yorkshire-ripper-serial-killer-peter-sutcliffe-dies

Britain’s Prison Service says that serial killer Peter Sutcliffe, who was widely known as the “Yorkshire Ripper,” has died in the hospital. The 74-year-old had tested positive for COVID-19 and was suffering from underlying health conditions. His cause of death will be investigated by the coroner. Sutcliffe was serving a life sentence after being convicted of murdering 13 women in northern England between 1975 and 1980. Sutcliffe was convicted in 1981. He spent some time in Broadmoor Hospital in Berkshire before being transferred to Frankland prison in 2016 after being deemed stable enough to serve time in prison. “HMP Frankland prisoner Peter Coonan (born Sutcliffe) died in hospital on November 13. The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman has been informed,” the service said in a statement.

U.S. military flew terminally ill Bahrain premier to Mayo Clinic in Minnesota

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-12/us-military-flew-terminally-ill-bahrain-premier-to-america

The U.S. military flew Bahrain’s terminally ill prime minister to America for hospital care two months before his death, the State Department acknowledged Friday, underlining the importance of the island kingdom. The care offered to Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa came just after the U.S. military similarly flew Kuwait’s late ruling emir to the same Mayo Clinic hospital in Minnesota. Both countries host major U.S. military bases in the region and are considered major non-NATO allies, granting them military and economic privileges with America. On Sept. 18, a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III “flying hospital” took off from Germany and landed in Rochester, Minn., the home of the flagship campus of the Mayo Clinic. It was followed to Rochester by a Boeing 767 owned by Bahrain’s royal family. The Mayo Clinic at the time and since has declined to comment on the care it provided to Prince Khalifa, who died Wednesday at age 84. The Air Force uses such C-17s for medical evacuations, triaging critically wounded soldiers while rapidly flying them onto major bases. The aircraft include onboard oxygen and the same lifesaving equipment found in hospital emergency rooms. The flights often include critical care air transport teams composed of a specialized doctor, a nurse and a respiratory therapist. The State Department acknowledged the C-17 flight carried Prince Khalifa in a statement Friday to the Associated Press. Politics President Trump hosts signing of agreements under which Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates recognize Israel, only the third and fourth Arab countries to do so. “In September, the United States provided medical transportation assistance to Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, a U.S. friend and ally,” it said. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo earlier offered condolences to Bahrain over Prince Khalifa’s death. “As the prime minister of Bahrain since its independence, Prince Khalifa was a statesman of the highest order and will always be known as a close friend and partner of the United States,” Pompeo said. A Bahrain royal family Boeing 747 brought Prince Khalifa’s body home from Minnesota on Thursday. The kingdom off Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf planned a burial for him limited to family because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Bahrain is home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, which patrols the waterways of the Mideast.

Angels select Perry Minasian as their next general manager

https://www.latimes.com/sports/angels/story/2020-11-12/angels-select-perry-minasian-as-their-next-general-manager

The Angels on Thursday chose Perry Minasian, a baseball executive with more than 30 years in the sport, as their new general manager. It is the first time Minasian, who accepted a four-year deal, will lead a team’s baseball operations. He replaces Billy Eppler, who was fired Sept. 27 after five losing seasons. The Angels plan to introduce Minasian on Tuesday. Minasian, 40, spent the last three seasons as an assistant general manager to Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopolous. Minasian was named senior vice president of baseball operations last November. His path to Anaheim was unconventional. He started as a pro scout in 2003 after first serving as a batboy and clubhouse attendant in his youth with the Texas Rangers, for whom his dad, Zack, was a longtime clubhouse and equipment manager. He joined the Toronto Blue Jays scouting department in 2009, led the team’s pro scouting department from 2011-16 and was named special assistant to the general manager in 2017. During his tenure in Toronto, the Blue Jays advanced to the postseason in 2015, their first playoff appearance in 21 years. Since his first full season in Atlanta, the Braves have won three consecutive National League East titles. Minasian was chosen from a field of more than 16 candidates, including four who previously served as a general manager. The other five finalists who joined Minasian in a second round of interviews were Jeff Kingston of the Dodgers, Justin Hollander of the Seattle Mariners, Jason McLeod of the Chicago Cubs, and Jared Porter and Amiel Sawdaye of the Arizona Diamondbacks, said a person with knowledge of the search who was not authorized to publicly comment. The team had been expected to hire a candidate with experience running a team. But the Angels chose to put their faith in potential. It isn’t the first time. The Angels also did so with their three previous general manager hires under owner Arte Moreno. They named a first-timer two of the previous three occasions the job was open, and Jerry Dipoto briefly served as interim general manager before coming to Anaheim. Minasian’s task will not be easy. He will be expected to reverse the course of a team that has a 417-453 record since its last postseason appearance in 2014 and help guide perennial MVP candidate Mike Trout to the first playoff win of his career. It seems as though the Angels are willing to expedite the process. After they fired former general manager Billy Eppler at the end of the season, president John Carpino acknowledged the team’s decision-makers needed to reevaluate their approach. “We’re not doing it the right way,” Carpino said in late September, after the Angels finished 26-34 during the pandemic-shortened season. “We’re not winning games. So something is not right in our organization. We have to look at it. You have to look in the mirror to find out what’s happening here that’s causing us not to be playing this week or deep into October.” Jim Bowden, a former general manager of the Cincinnati Reds and Washington Nationals who now works as an analyst, praised Minasian and the Angels’ hiring of him in a series of tweets Thursday morning. “Scouting report on Minasian: ‘Outstanding w/people. Excellent communicator. Connects w/ Players, coaches, front office, old school scouts. Natural leader. Stud evaluator,” he wrote in one post. . #Angels name Perry Minasian as new GM 1st reported by @Ken_Rosenthal: "Scouting report on Minasian: “Outstanding w/people. Excellent communicator. Connects w/ Players,coaches,front office,old school scouts.Natural leader.Stud evaluator.(he’s done Amateur, International & Pro)” He added that Minasian “has real feel for analytics/data, blends well with old school evaluating.” Perry Minasian new GM of the #Angels was best known for having Noah Syndegaard 1st on his pref list when he was with #BlueJays after seeing all top players. Syndegaard was unknown at time. He has real feel for analytics/data blends well with old school evaluating. GREAT HIRE!!

Georgia secretary of state will quarantine after wife's positive coronavirus test

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-12/georgia-secretary-of-state-isolates-after-wifes-virus-test

After his wife tested positive for the coronavirus, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger plans to get tested and to quarantine just as the state is preparing for a hand tally of the presidential race, his office said. Tricia Raffensperger tested positive Thursday, Deputy Secretary of State Jordan Fuchs told the Associated Press. Brad Raffensperger was en route to get tested and plans to self-quarantine as a precaution even if his test is negative, Fuchs said. If the secretary of state tests positive, Fuchs said she and other members of his staff who have been in close contact with the secretary will get tested and quarantine. Raffensperger on Wednesday announced that he had chosen the presidential race for a mandatory audit of election results. Because the margin in that race is so tight, the audit is resulting in a full hand tally of the votes, he said. County election officials must begin the hand tally by 9 a.m. Friday and complete it by Wednesday night.

Biden moves forward without help from Trump's intel team

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-12/biden-moves-forward-without-help-from-trumps-intel-team

The presidential race was hovering in limbo in 2000 when outgoing President Clinton decided to let then-Gov. George W. Bush read the ultra-secret daily brief of the nation’s most sensitive intelligence. Clinton was a Democrat and his vice president, Al Gore, was running against Republican Bush. Gore had been reading the so-called President’s Daily Brief for eight years; Clinton decided to bring Bush into the fold in case he won — and he did. President Trump has not followed Clinton’s lead. As he contests this year’s election results, Trump has not authorized President-elect Joe Biden to see the brief. National security and intelligence experts hope Trump changes his mind, citing the need for an incoming president to be fully prepared to confront any national security issues on Day One. “Our adversaries aren’t waiting for the transition to take place,” says former Michigan Republican Rep. Mike Rogers, who was chairman of the House intelligence committee. “Joe Biden should receive the President’s Daily Brief starting today. He needs to know what the latest threats are and begin to plan accordingly. This isn’t about politics; this is about national security.” Politics Joe Biden called President Trump’s claims of victory “an embarrassment” that will tarnish his legacy, and said the work of the transition of power would go on. Nov. 10, 2020 U.S. adversaries can take advantage of the country during an American presidential transition, and key foreign issues will be bearing down on Biden the moment he steps into the Oval Office. Among them: Unless Trump extends or negotiates a new nuclear arms accord with Russia before Inauguration Day, Biden will have only 16 days to act before the expiration of the last remaining treaty reining in the world’s two largest nuclear arsenals. Perhaps U.S. spies have picked up tidbits about the Russians’ redlines in the negotiations, or about weapons it really wants to keep out of the treaty. That’s the type of information that might be in the PDB, a daily summary of high-level, classified information and analysis on national security issues that’s been offered to presidents since 1946. It is coordinated and delivered by the Office of the National Intelligence Director with input from the CIA and other agencies. It is tailored for each president, depending on whether they prefer oral or written briefs or both, short summaries or long reports on paper or electronically. Having access to the PDB also could help Biden craft a possible response to North Korea, which has a history of firing off missiles or conducting nuclear tests shortly before or after new presidents take office. Biden has decades of experience in foreign affairs and national security, but he likely has not been privy to the latest details about how Iran is back to enriching uranium, or the active cyber attack operations of Russia, China and Iran. China’s crackdown on Hong Kong is heating up. And the threat from Islamic extremists, although curbed, still remains. World & Nation Around the world, some leaders balk at congratulating Biden Nov. 10, 2020 Biden is trying to play down the significance of the delay in getting access to the PDB. “Obviously the PDB would be useful, but it’s not necessary. I’m not the sitting president now,” Biden said Tuesday. He didn’t answer a question about whether he’d tried to reach out to Trump himself on this or any other issue, saying only, “Mr. President, I look forward to speaking with you.” He was also asked about needing access to classified information as soon as possible if Trump doesn’t concede the race. “Look, access to classified information is useful. But I’m not in a position to make any decisions on those issues anyway,” Biden said. “As I said, one president at a time. He will be president until Jan. 20. It would be nice to have it, but it’s not critical.” Biden is familiar with the PDB, having read it during his eight years as vice president. But threats are ever-changing and as Inauguration Day nears, his need for Trump to let him get eyes on the intelligence brief will become more critical. Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) predicted that the issue of whether Biden will get access to the intelligence brief will be resolved soon. “I’ve already started engaging in this area. ... And if that’s not occurring by Friday, I will step in and push and say this needs to occur so that regardless of the outcome of the election, whichever way that it goes, people can be ready for that actual task,” Lankford told radio station KRMG in Tulsa on Wednesday. He said Vice President-elect Kamala Harris also should be getting the briefings, which should not be a problem because she already has security clearances as a member of the Senate intelligence committee. While the Bush team had access to the intelligence brief in 2000, an election recount delayed the Bush team’s access to government agencies and resources for more than five weeks. Biden is missing out on all counts: More than a week into his transition, Biden doesn’t have access to the PDB, the agencies or government resources to help him get ready to take charge. “President-elect Joe Biden and his transition team should not suffer a similar delay,” John Podesta, who served as White House chief of staff under Clinton, and Bush’s chief of staff Andrew Card wrote in a joint op-ed published this week in the Washington Post. “We have since learned the serious costs of a delayed transition,” they wrote. “Less than eight months after Bush’s inauguration, two planes flew into the World Trade Center, killing nearly 3,000 Americans.” The 9/11 Commission Report on the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks warns of the danger in slow-walking presidential transition work in general, not just the intelligence piece. The Bush administration didn’t have its deputy Cabinet officers in place until the spring of 2001 and critical subcabinet positions were not confirmed until that summer — if then, the report said. For now, the office of National Intelligence Director John Ratcliffe says it can’t begin talking with the Biden transition team until a federal agency starts the process of transition, which the Trump administration is delaying. The office, which oversees more than a dozen U.S. intelligence agencies, said it must follow the Presidential Transition Act, which requires the General Services Administration to first ascertain the winner of the election, which Trump is contesting. GSA administrator Emily Murphy, who was appointed by Trump, has not yet officially designated Biden as the president-elect. Intelligence agencies have given generalized intelligence briefings — minus information on covert operations and sources and methods — for presidential nominees since 1952. President Harry S. Truman authorized them for both parties’ candidates because he was upset about not learning about the U.S. effort to develop an atomic bomb until 12 days into his presidency. “It’s an important and meaningful tradition, and I’m concerned that it’s not being continued,” said Denis McDonough, a former White House chief of staff during the Obama administration who oversaw the 2017 transition. Biden started receiving these more general security briefings after he became the Democratic presidential nominee, but it’s unclear if he is still getting those. A spokesman for Biden’s transition team declined to comment.

709,000 seek U.S. jobless aid as pandemic escalates

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2020-11-12/709-000-seek-us-jobless-aid-as-pandemic-escalates

The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment benefits fell last week to 709,000, a still-high level but the lowest figure since March and a sign that the job market might be slowly healing. The figures coincide with a sharp resurgence in confirmed viral infections to an all-time high above 120,000 a day. Cases are rising in 49 states, and deaths are increasing in 39. The nation has now recorded 240,000 virus-related deaths and 10.3 million confirmed infections. As colder weather sets in and fear of the virus escalates, consumers may turn more cautious about traveling, shopping, dining out and visiting gyms, barber shops and retailers. Companies in many sectors could cut jobs or workers’ hours. In recent days, the virus’ resurgence has triggered tighter restrictions on businesses, mostly restaurants and bars, in a range of states, including Texas, New York, Maryland and Oregon. Last week’s new applications for unemployment benefits was down from 757,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said Thursday. The still-elevated figure shows that eight months after the pandemic flattened the economy, many employers are still slashing jobs. The number of people who are continuing to receive traditional unemployment benefits fell to 6.8 million, the government said, from 7.2 million. That suggests that more Americans are finding jobs and no longer receiving unemployment aid. But it also indicates that many jobless people have used up their state unemployment aid — which typically expires after six months — and have transitioned to a federal extended benefits program that lasts 13 more weeks. The viral outbreak threatens to upend the improvement in the job market in recent months. The unemployment rate plunged a full percentage point in October to 6.9% while employers added a solid 600,000 new jobs. Even so, weekly applications for jobless aid remain at historically high levels. The applications likely include some people who lost jobs weeks ago but who have had to wait for states to process their claims. Some of them might not have filed for benefits until last week even though they were laid off earlier. Workers can also seek aid if they’re still working but have had their hours cut. Still others might have lost jobs more than once; when they file for benefits again, it can count as a new claim. The job market remains severely damaged. The economy still has roughly 10 million fewer jobs than it had before the pandemic — a total that exceeds all the jobs that vanished in the 2008-2009 Great Recession. Government stimulus, in the form of federal unemployment benefits, aid for small businesses and checks to most individuals, has largely run out. Without further assistance, economists worry that more restaurants and other small businesses will close and the plight of the unemployed will worsen. And unless Congress extends their benefits, millions of jobless people will run out of aid entirely by year’s end. Among them is Victoria Perez, who was working two delivery jobs before the pandemic struck. Having lost both jobs in the spring, she is now living with her children in city-subsidized housing near Oakland and hoping to avoid homelessness. The city housing, provided to people at heightened risk of the coronavirus, lasts only through December. Perez, 38, is a cancer survivor. “The pandemic just ruined everything,” she said. “I was doing really good, and then nothing.” Before the pandemic, Perez had been delivering lunch from restaurants to office workers. She also had a job with a company called Replate, taking leftover food from tech firms in San Francisco to homeless shelters. Both jobs dried up once everyone began working from home. She did some grocery deliveries for DoorDash but stopped doing that out of fear of contracting the virus. Perez now receives just $91 in jobless aid every two weeks. She recently began working for Replate again for about 15 to 20 hours a week. “It is not much compared to what I had before, but it is better than nothing,” she said.

Journalist killed in bomb blast in Afghanistan, official says

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-12/official-journalist-killed-in-bomb-blast-in-afghanistan

A bomb attached to the vehicle of a radio journalist in southern Afghanistan exploded early Thursday, killing him, a provincial official said. Omer Zwak, spokesman for the provincial governor in southern Helmand province, said a sticky bomb attached to Elyas Dayee’s vehicle killed Dayee and wounded three others, including Dayee’s brother, a child and another man. Sami Mahdi, Radio Azadi bureau chief, tweeted: “My colleague and dear friend, Elyas Dayee, lost his life in a terrorist attack this morning.” The attack took place in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital. “He was a gentleman. Always had signature smile. This is terrible news. Elyas, you will be remembered dearly,” Mahdi said in his tweet. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. The attack comes days after another sticky bomb blast killed a former presenter on Afghanistan’s TOLO TV and two other civilians in the capital Kabul. Violence and chaos have increased in Afghanistan in recent months even as government negotiators and the Taliban are meeting in Qatar to find an end to decades of relentless war in Afghanistan. The two sides have made little progress. Washington’s peace envoy for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, has been pressing for an agreement on a reduction in violence or a cease-fire, which the Taliban have refused, saying a permanent truce would be part of the negotiations. The talks were part of a negotiated agreement between the United States and the Taliban to allow U.S. and NATO troops withdraw from Afghanistan, ending 19 years of military engagement.

Vatican’s report into former cardinal forces debate on power and abuse

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-13/vaticans-mccarrick-report-forces-debate-on-power-and-abuse

The Vatican’s report about former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick has raised uncomfortable questions the Holy See will have to confront going forward, chief among them what it’s going to do about current and future clergy who abuse their power to sexually abuse adults. Priests, lay experts and canon lawyers alike say the Vatican needs to revisit how the church protects its seminarians, nuns and even rank-and-file parishioners from problem bishops and cardinals, who for centuries have wielded power and authority with few — if any — checks or accountability. McCarrick was only investigated and defrocked by Pope Francis because a former altar boy came forward in 2017 to report the prelate had groped him when he was a teenager in the 1970s. It was the first time someone had claimed to be abused by McCarrick while a minor, a serious crime in the Vatican’s in-house legal system. And yet the bulk of the Vatican’s 449-page forensic study into the McCarrick scandal released Tuesday dealt with the cardinal’s behavior with young men: the seminarians whose priestly careers he controlled and who felt powerless to say no when he arranged for them to sleep in his bed. The report found that three decades of bishops, cardinals and popes dismissed or downplayed reports of McCarrick’s misconduct with the young men. Confidential correspondence showed they repeatedly rejected the information outright as rumor, excused it as an “imprudence” or explained it away as the result of McCarrick having no living relatives. McCarrick’s friends and superiors went to enormous lengths to find ways to claim his behavior wasn’t necessarily sexual, couldn’t be proven and would cause a scandal if it ever went public. Their decades-long reflex to turn a blind eye was evidence of the church’s old-boys culture of silence, clerical privilege and protection of reputations at all cost. No one ever thought about the effect of his behavior on the young men. The report faulted in particular Pope John Paul II, who appointed McCarrick archbishop of Washington and later made him a cardinal despite having commissioned an inquiry that confirmed he bedded his seminarians. The report recommended he not be promoted. But John Paul gave McCarrick the most influential position in the U.S. church, which, coupled with his role as a major U.S. fundraiser, meant the cardinal wielded enormous power as he hobnobbed with presidents, prime ministers and three popes. “The reason we had a McCarrick was because he pulled so much power to himself, relatively quickly,” said the Rev. Desmond Rossi, a former seminarian under McCarrick who was interviewed for the report. “I think the church has to look at the authority and power that people are given: How do we guarantee that it’s used in a healthy way?” The question for the church is also a legal one, just as it is in the secular sphere. Vatican and U.S. Catholic leaders had known since the 1990s that McCarrick slept with his seminarians. But that wasn’t a firing offense under the church’s canon law — then or now. Since McCarrick’s seminary victims weren’t minors, they weren’t considered victims at all, and in those years even priests who repeatedly raped children had their crimes covered up. McCarrick rose to the heights of the Catholic hierarchy merely bothered by occasional “rumors” that he had been “imprudent” with the young men. “It does get down to this idea that somehow when someone turns 18, A) they’re no longer vulnerable, and B) that they have the ability to protect themselves,” said David Pooler, a professor of social work at Baylor University and an expert in clergy sexual abuse of adults. “And what I have learned from my research is that that’s simply not true: that there’s nothing magical about becoming an adult and being able to then protect oneself in a vulnerable place,” he said. Pooler said a seminarian is really in no position to offer meaningful, free consent to any sexual activity with his bishop, since his bishop has the power in the relationship. A bishop or seminary rector determines whether the seminarian can continue in his studies, is ordained a priest or is assigned to a good parish. “Only when there is sort of equal freedom and kind of equal power in the relationship could there ever possibly be consent,” Pooler said. “And that’s just impossible between a priest and someone who’s in seminary, or a priest and someone who’s just in their congregation or parish.” The Vatican has long sought to portray any sexual relations between priests and adults as sinful but consensual, focusing in recent years only on protecting minors and “vulnerable adults” from predator priests. The Vatican’s legal norms have defined “vulnerable” people as those who are disabled or consistently lack the use of reason. Only in the past year or so, amid the #MeToo reckoning, has the Vatican even admitted publicly that religious sisters can be sexually abused by priests, bishops or even their own mother superiors. The McCarrick scandal now stands as a case study of how seminarians can be exploited and abused by the men who hold power over them. “People have the tendency to believe the one who is in power, and not the one who is powerless,” said Karlijn Demasure, director of the Center for Safeguarding Minors and Vulnerable Persons at Saint Paul University in Ottawa. “And that’s the whole change in culture that has to happen: that one has to listen to the vulnerable and not to the ones who are in power.” She welcomed the transparency in the document and particularly its descriptions of the textbook techniques McCarrick used to groom his victims young and old: ingratiating himself with their families, insisting they call him “uncle” to break down barriers, taking them on trips to meet famous people and impressing upon them how important he was. Demasure, the former executive director of the Center for Child Protection at the Jesuit-run Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, said she hoped the report would encourage other seminarians to come forward, since it is often even harder for adult men to see themselves as victims and report misconduct by their superiors. “If we look at religious sisters, it’s very difficult for them to come forward, because they are ... easily seen as the ones who have seduced, not as the ones who have been abused,” she said. “Even more difficult is it for men, because men are normally not considered to be victims.” But Kurt Martens, professor of canon law at Catholic University of America in Washington, said it is very difficult to prosecute cases of abuse of adults within the church’s existing canon law, regardless of whether the victims are male or female. At most, such misconduct is considered a “boundary violation” by the priest that would be dealt with via therapy or restrictions on ministry. Currently, the law would only allow such abuse to be punished if the Vatican could confirm the sexual acts were committed by force, threat or in public — or if there were other crimes committed alongside, such as those involving the sacrament of confession. As of last year, church personnel are required to report allegations of abuse of adults in-house, but there is still no law on the books on how such cases might be prosecuted. Martens noted that Vatican lawyers have been updating the penal code of the canon law for years and suggested the McCarrick expose might give them reason for an even more ambitious overhaul. “I think there needs to be a new discussion. It needs to go back to the drawing board,” Martens said. “Looking at what we have with McCarrick, do we have to fix our canon law?” Winfield writes for the Associated Press.

Singapore arrests 21 members of South Korean religious sect tied to virus outbreak

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-11/singapore-arrests-21-members-of-south-korean-religious-sect

Singaporean authorities have arrested 21 people who are thought to be connected to a secretive South Korean religious sect that was widely blamed for thousands of virus infections in that country. The 12 women and nine men were arrested for “allegedly being members of an unlawful society,” Singapore’s Home Affairs Ministry said. Its statement issued late Wednesday cited “activities connected to the unregistered local chapter of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus,” which is registered in South Korea. It did not release their nationalities but said the church had been ordered to cease operations last February and said five Korean members had been deported then. A church spokesperson in South Korea said it was trying to confirm details about the arrests. Kim Young-eun said the church doesn’t believe that its members in Singapore have participated in face-to-face worship services or other gatherings since the eruption of the COVID-19 crisis. World & Nation The surge in plastic waste caused by the COVID-19 pandemic may push over the edge an already fragile ecosystem of recycling plastic, already strained by falling oil prices and interruptions in the global trade in recyclables. “In spite of the actions taken, the local SCJ chapter has resumed its activities covertly, under the direction of its South Korean parent chapter,” the Home Affairs Ministry said, adding that the Singaporean government “will not allow members of unlawful societies or persons associated with them to threaten Singapore’s public safety, peace and good order.” If convicted, the 21 could face up to three years in prison and a fine. In August, South Korean prosecutors arrested the sect’s leader as part of an investigation into allegations that his church hampered the government’s antivirus response after thousands of worshipers were infected in February and March. But the 88-year-old Lee Man-hee on Thursday was granted bail by the Suwon District Court, which cited concerns over his health. The court required Lee to wear electronic tracking devices and not to leave his home. Lee and his church have steadfastly denied the accusations against them, saying they’re cooperating with health authorities. More than 5,200 of South Korea’s 27,942 coronavirus cases have been linked to the church. Its branch in the southern city of Daegu emerged as the biggest cluster after infections spiked in late February. Health authorities used an aggressive test-and-quarantine program to contain the outbreak in Daegu and nearby towns by April, but the country has since seen a resurgence of the virus in its capital, Seoul, and elsewhere.

Screening for fever and other COVID-19 symptoms misses many cases, study finds

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-11/fever-symptom-screening-misses-many-coronavirus-cases

Temperature and other COVID-19 symptom checks like those used at schools and doctors’ offices have again proved inadequate for spotting coronavirus infections and preventing outbreaks. A study of Marine recruits found that despite these measures and strict quarantines before they started training, the recruits spread the virus to others even though hardly any of them had symptoms. None of the infections were caught through symptom screening. The study, published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, has implications for colleges, prisons, meatpacking plants and other places that rely on this sort of screening to detect infections and prevent outbreaks. “We spent a lot of time putting measures like that in place, and they’re probably not worth the time as we had hoped,” said Jodie Guest, a public health researcher at Atlanta’s Emory University who had no role in the research. “Routine testing seems to be better in this age group” because younger adults often have no symptoms, she said. The study was led by researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York and the Naval Medical Research Center. It involved 1,848 Marine recruits, about 90% of them men, who were told to isolate themselves for two weeks at home. That was followed by a supervised military quarantine for two more weeks at a closed college campus — the Citadel in Charleston, S.C. — where the recruits had a single roommate, wore masks, kept at least six feet apart and conducted most of their training outdoors. They also had daily fever and symptom checks. Science & Medicine A winter surge of COVID-19 is now unavoidable, experts say, though its magnitude depends on what we do next. Hundreds of thousands of lives hang in the balance. Nov. 11, 2020 The recruits were tested for the coronavirus when they arrived for the military quarantine, and tested again seven and 14 days afterward. Sixteen, or about 1%, tested positive on arrival and only one had any symptoms. An additional 35 — or 2% — tested positive during the two-week military quarantine, and only four had symptoms. Only recruits who tested negative at the end of both quarantine periods were allowed to go on to Parris Island for basic training. Genetic testing revealed six separate clusters of cases among the recruits. “A lot of the infection that occurs, we don’t even realize it is occurring,” said one study leader, Navy Cmdr. Andrew Letizia, a doctor at the Naval Medical Research Center. The quarantine measures and adherence to them were far more strict than what would occur at a typical college campus, said another study leader, Dr. Stuart Sealfon of Mount Sinai. “This is a really infectious virus. You really need to use a combination of good public health measures, temperature checks, mask wearing, social distancing, hand washing ... and comprehensive testing” to prevent spread, he said. Science & Medicine Can you have Thanksgiving during the COVID-19 pandemic? Researchers have created an interactive map that estimates the risk you’ll face in any county. Nov. 11, 2020 Previously, federal officials said a screening project to check temperatures and symptoms at U.S. airports caught fewer than 15 cases out of 675,000 travelers. It’s not known how many cases were missed, just that very few were detected. A separate study published Wednesday in the New England Journal described an outbreak last spring on the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt. Among the crew of 4,779, 1,271 became infected; 77% did not show COVID-19 symptoms when their infections were confirmed, and 55% never developed any. The case shows that “young, healthy persons can contribute to community spread of infection, often silently,” Dr. Nelson Michael of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research wrote in a commentary.

President Trump emerges from White House to mark Veterans Day

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-11/trump-emerges-from-white-house-to-mark-veterans-day

President Trump visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday, emerging in public for the first time since his failed reelection bid to take part in the annual presidential rite. Trump, who honored veterans in a ceremony that was held during a steady rain, has spent the last several days holed up at the White House tweeting angry, baseless claims of voter fraud after his election loss. He has made no public comments since President-elect Joe Biden surpassed the 270 electoral votes on Saturday needed to win the presidency. Although his official schedule has been devoid of public events, Trump has made several personnel moves — firing Defense Secretary Mark Esper and installing three staunch loyalists in top Defense jobs. Trump’s pick to serve as acting Defense secretary, Christopher Miller, was among the Pentagon brass that joined the president for the solemn Veterans Day ceremony. Meanwhile, his legal team has filed a barrage of lawsuits alleging voting fraud in the battleground states that went for Biden. The president’s resistance to acknowledging the outcome of the race has stalled the transition process as the head of the General Services Administration, a Trump appointee, has held off on certifying Biden as the winner of the election. World & Nation Around the world, some leaders balk at congratulating Biden Nov. 10, 2020 The certification — known as ascertainment — frees up money for the transition and clears the way for Biden’s team to begin putting in place the transition process at agencies. “I just think it’s an embarrassment, quite frankly,” Biden said on Tuesday of Trump’s refusal to acknowledge the election results. The president-elect and his wife, Jill Biden, marked Veterans Day with a visit to the Korean War Memorial in Philadelphia. From his Twitter account on Tuesday, Trump again raised unsupported claims of “massive ballot counting abuse” and predicted he would ultimately win the race he has already lost. Trump’s tweets were swiftly flagged by the social media network as disputed claims about election fraud. Politics Massive vote fraud? No. Nevada is sending one possible case to investigators as Republicans come up mostly empty in attempt to undermine Biden’s win. Nov. 10, 2020 With the exception of weekend visits to his private golf club in northern Virginia, Trump has remained at the White House since election day and last appeared before cameras to deliver a statement six days ago. His allies on Capitol Hill, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), have encouraged the president’s baseless accusations. They signaled they are willing to let Trump spin out his election lawsuits and unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud for the next several weeks, until the states certify the election by early December and the electoral college meets Dec. 14. Trump was also joined at Arlington National Cemetery by First Lady Melania Trump as well as Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen Pence. Pence had been scheduled to travel to Sanibel, Fla., Tuesday through Saturday, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, but will instead be in Washington on Wednesday. Pence’s office didn’t immediately comment on the status of his trip. Pence has vacationed on the island along Florida’s Gulf Coast several times previously.

Stock rally fades, but investors’ hopes for the economy remain

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-10/global-rally-fades-but-investors-hopes-remain-for-economy

Stocks downshifted Tuesday, the day after their powerful worldwide rally, but optimism remained high that the global economy may still be headed for a return to normal. It was the second day in a row that rising hopes for a COVID-19 vaccine pushed investors to rethink which stocks they see winning and losing, and that left the majority of U.S. stocks higher but indexes mixed. Treasury yields and oil, meanwhile, held on to their big gains from Monday or rose higher. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index slipped 4.97 points, or 0.1%, to 3,545.53. The relatively small movement, though, belied a lot of churning underneath. Nearly 2 in 3 stocks in the index climbed, but that was offset by losses for some of the largest and most influential technology stocks. The Dow Jones industrial average advanced 262.95 points, or 0.9%, to 29,420.92, and the Nasdaq composite dropped 159.93, or 1.4%, to 11,553.86. The flashpoint for all the moves was Monday’s announcement from Pfizer that a potential COVID-19 vaccine it’s developing with German partner BioNTech may be 90% effective, based on early but incomplete test results. California Father and daughter partook in a vaccine trial at Kaiser hospital. On Monday, Pfizer announced its success Nov. 10, 2020 “This was such an environment of exuberance, which makes sense given some pretty compelling statistics” about immunity response for the vaccine candidate, said Kristina Hooper, chief global market strategist for Invesco. “But there are still a number of steps between now and distribution.” Stocks of smaller U.S. companies, which expectations for the economy tend to move more than their bigger-company counterparts, rallied again. The Russell 2000 index of small-cap stocks rose 31.97, or 1.9%, to 1,737.01, finally climbing back above where it was in January. It’s just 0.2% below its record high, set in 2018. Leading the way: several areas of the market that got beaten down through the pandemic and whose low prices make them look like potentially better values. Energy stocks in the S&P 500 rose 2.5%, the biggest gain among the 11 sectors that make up the index, though they’re still down nearly 44% for 2020. “We’re seeing a continuation of this value trade that really took off in earnest yesterday,” said Brian Price, head of investment management for Commonwealth Financial Network. “We’re seeing follow-through today, which is good news for those who have maintained a diversified portfolio.” But he said there needs to be more economic growth for a sustained recovery by many of the companies and sectors that the pandemic slammed. Big Tech stocks, meanwhile, are suddenly facing more scrutiny for their high prices. They soared through 2020 on expectations those companies will continue to thrive if the economy is in lockdown mode. But that has left their prices looking too expensive to critics, even after accounting for their huge profits. Amazon, which is one of those Big Tech stay-at-home winners, fell 3.5%. It also is facing antitrust charges filed Tuesday by European Union regulators that accuse it of using its access to data to gain an unfair advantage over merchants using its platform. Microsoft fell 3.4%, and Facebook lost 2.3%. Those drops have outsized effects on the S&P 500 because they’re some of the largest companies in the index by market value. The S&P 500 is up 8.4% in November so far. Markets are getting lifts not only from hopes for a coronavirus vaccine but also from clearing uncertainty about who will control the government next year. Democrat Joe Biden over the weekend clinched the last of the electoral votes needed to become the next president. Republicans, meanwhile, appear likely to keep control of the Senate. That’s a “Goldilocks” scenario for many investors because it could mean low tax rates and other pro-business policies remain, while a more stable and predictable set of policies comes out of the White House. More than anything, though, a Biden win would wipe out the uncertainty that dogged the market through the long, vicious fight for the White House. Analysts warn that many risks still hang over the market, which could upend all the gains made in the last couple of weeks. A big one is whether investors have become too excited about a potential COVID-19 vaccine. While early results are encouraging, no vaccine is about to go on the market, and there’s no guarantee that a specific one will reach that stage or the timing of it. Coronavirus case counts, meanwhile, continue to surge at worrying rates across Europe and the United States. It’s troubling enough in Europe that several governments have brought back restrictions on businesses. And uncertainty could easily swamp Washington again. President Trump has refused to concede and is blocking government officials from cooperating with Biden’s team. Some Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, are rallying behind Trump’s efforts to fight the election results. The Republican control of the Senate that markets seem to be so heavily banking on also depends on the outcome of a pair of runoff elections in Georgia in January. Still, optimism remains across markets. The yield on the 10-year Treasury held steady at 0.95% and remains near its highest level since March. Benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 2.7% to $41.36 a barrel. European markets rose. Asian markets ended modestly higher.

Cunningham concedes to U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis in North Carolina

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-10/cunningham-concedes-to-us-sen-tillis-in-north-carolina

Democrat Cal Cunningham conceded to incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis in North Carolina on Tuesday, saying “the voters have spoken” and it was clear Tillis had won. With Cunningham’s concession, all eyes turned to Georgia, where two U.S. Senate runoff races in January are likely to determine the balance of the upper chamber. With votes still uncounted and the races in North Carolina and Alaska still too early to call Tuesday, the Senate remained tied 48-48. Alaska GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan is favored for another term against Al Gross, an independent running as a Democrat. If the Senate ended up tied 50-50, Democratic Vice President-elect Kamala Harris would wield the tie-breaking vote. Georgia is closely divided, with Democrats making gains on Republicans, fueled by a surge of new voters. But no Democrat has been elected senator in 20 years. In North Carolina, Tillis led Cunningham by more than 95,000 votes, or 1.76 percentage points. “I just called Sen. Tillis to congratulate him on winning reelection to a second term in the U.S. Senate and wished him and his family the best in their continued service in the months and years ahead,” Cunningham said. “The voters have spoken, and I respect their decision.” Politics Massive vote fraud? No. Nevada is sending one possible case to investigators as Republicans come up mostly empty in attempt to undermine Biden’s win. Nov. 10, 2020 Cunningham lost despite outraising Tillis during what became the most expensive U.S. Senate race in U.S. history. All together, the two campaigns and outside groups spent $282 million on the general election, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Tillis benefited from fallout over a Cunningham sex scandal in the campaign’s final month. Cunningham admitted to a recent extramarital relationship with a public relations consultant. Tillis said Cunningham’s emphasis on his personal story in the campaign made the misconduct a defining issue. Tillis was one of President Trump’s strongest defenders during impeachment but was criticized by the GOP base last year when he initially took a stance opposite the president on how to fund the border wall. Tillis later changed his mind. “This was a hard-fought campaign, and I wish nothing but the best to Cal and his family going forward,” Tillis said in a statement. “I am incredibly humbled by the chance to serve the people of North Carolina in the United States Senate for six more years, and I pledge to continue keeping my promises and delivering results.” Politics As Biden leads Trump in Georgia, Republicans in the secretary of state’s office rebut accusations of fraud from their political bedfellows. Nov. 9, 2020

EU files antitrust charges against Amazon over use of data

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2020-11-10/eu-antitrust-charges-amazon-use-of-data

European Union regulators have filed antitrust charges against Amazon, accusing the e-commerce giant of using data to gain an unfair advantage over merchants using its platform. The EU’s executive commission, the bloc’s top antitrust enforcer, said Tuesday that the charges have been sent to the company. The commission said it takes issue with Amazon’s systematic use of nonpublic business data to avoid “the normal risks of competition and to leverage its dominance” for e-commerce services in France and Germany, the company’s two biggest markets in the EU. The EU started looking into Amazon in 2018 and has been focusing on its dual role as a marketplace and retailer. In addition to selling its own products, the U.S. company allows third-party retailers to sell their own goods through its site. Last year, more than half of the items sold on Amazon worldwide were from these outside merchants. Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager, the EU commissioner in charge of competition, said it’s not a problem that Amazon is a successful business, but “our concern is very specific business conduct which appears to distort genuine competition.” Business Amazon.com has to pay $295 million in back taxes to Luxembourg, the European Union ordered Wednesday, in its latest attempt to tighten the screws on multinational corporations it says are avoiding taxes through sweetheart deals with individual EU states. Oct. 4, 2017 Amazon faces a possible fine of up to 10% of its annual worldwide revenue, which could amount to billions of dollars. The company rejects the accusations. “We disagree with the preliminary assertions of the European Commission and will continue to make every effort to ensure it has an accurate understanding of the facts,” the company said in a statement. The company can, under EU rules, reply to the charges in writing and present its case in an oral hearing. Vestager also opened a second investigation into Amazon over whether it favors its own products and those from third-party merchants that use its logistics and delivery services. Tuesday’s charges are the EU’s latest effort to curb the power of big technology companies after a series of multibillion-dollar antitrust fines against Google in previous years.

Trump election party draws scrutiny as guests test positive

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-08/trumps-election-night-party-adds-to-virus-scrutiny

It was supposed to be a scene of celebration. Instead, the Trump campaign’s election night watch party in the White House East Room has become another symbol of President Trump’s cavalier attitude toward a virus that is ripping across the nation and infecting more than 100,000 people a day. Polls suggest that attitude was a serious drag on the president’s reelection bid as voters chose to deny Trump a second term in favor of his Democratic rival, now President-elect Joe Biden. And the party — with few masks and no social distancing — is now under additional scrutiny after the president’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, became the latest top White House official to contract the virus, which has now killed more than 237,000 people in the U.S. alone. The White House has repeatedly refused to say who else has tested positive, even as the virus continues to spread. The latest White House cluster, coming just a month after Trump’s own diagnosis and hospitalization, includes a top Trump campaign official as well as a handful of undisclosed White House staff, officials said. Politics President Trump is not conceding the presidential election to Joe Biden and is expected to fire foes and pardon friends. Nov. 7, 2020 The White House has been increasingly secretive about outbreaks. Many White House and campaign officials, as well as those who attended the election watch party, were kept in the dark about the diagnoses, unaware until they were disclosed by the media. That the virus would continue to spread in the White House — even though senior staff and those who come into close contact with the president and vice president are frequently tested — has come as no surprise to public health officials who have balked at the White House’s lax approach. “The administration was cavalier about the risks of the virus for themselves and for the country. And that’s one reason why we have so many cases,” said Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, a public health professor at Johns Hopkins University’s school of public health. Even Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has said he has been avoiding the White House since August “because my impression was their approach to how to handle this was different from mine and what I insisted that we do in the Senate, which is to wear a mask and practice social distancing,” Meadows in particular has long tried to play down the severity of the virus. He rarely wore a mask in public, except during the period immediately following Trump’s infection. At one point, he refused to speak to reporters on Capitol Hill after they requested he wear a mask. He was again without one during Tuesday evening’s East Room event, where more than 100 of Trump’s most loyal supporters gathered to watch the election results come in and see him deliver what they had hoped would be a victory speech. It was a festive atmosphere, with half-empty glasses of wine and other beverages strewn across cocktail tables in front of news cameras. Meadows, who spent time with Trump’s family beforehand, was seen working the room, including giving several fist bumps to those in attendance, before Trump took the stage early Wednesday morning. While everyone who attended the East Room event had been tested in advance for the virus, there was no social distancing and minimal mask-wearing. Earlier that day, Meadows had also accompanied the president to his campaign’s headquarters in Virginia, where Trump received rousing cheers from several dozen staff and volunteers. Meadows did not wear a mask, nor did other White House staffers. Campaign aides largely did. If Meadows tested positive Wednesday — as Bloomberg News reported — he would probably have been infectious during both events, said Saskia Popescu, an epidemiologist who teaches at George Mason University. Meadows had also traveled with Trump in the run-up to election day, attending dozens of rallies where he was frequently seen interacting with supporters without masks. Trump’s refusal to abide by his own government’s public health guidelines throughout the campaign was a major source of frustration for local governments as he scheduled rally after rally in defiance of local caps on crowd sizes, even in pandemic hot zones. While Trump had hoped his efforts to downplay the virus in a bid to revive a limping economy would help him with voters, many Republicans now believe that Trump might have won reelection had he handled things differently. Still, Trump’s approach reflected the priorities of his supporters. AP VoteCast, a national survey of the electorate, found that about half of Trump voters called the economy and jobs the top issue facing the nation, versus just 1 in 10 Biden voters. A majority of Biden voters, meanwhile — about 6 in 10 — said the pandemic was the most important issue facing the country. The White House did not respond to specific questions about the current outbreak, but said that contact tracing had been conducted by the White House Medical Unit, consistent with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. “Appropriate notifications and recommendations have been made,” the White House said. The CDC defines “close contact” as spending at least 15 minutes within 6 feet of an infected person beginning two days before they test positive or exhibit symptoms. But Popescu called the party, in particular, “a ripe environment for transmission to occur,” and said anyone in attendance should have been informed and asked to take precautions. “While they might not meet CDC guidelines for exposure, I think when we’re looking at an indoor event with a lot of people for a prolonged period who are unmasked, out of an abundance of caution, everyone should be notified and encouraged to stay home,” she said. “Now is not the time to be cavalier about the risks,” Sharfstein said. Ohio Pastor Darrell Scott, a close ally of the president who attended the party, said he was unaware any White House officials beyond Meadows had tested positive until informed by a reporter and had not been contacted by any tracer. Although Scott, like many in Trump’s orbit, continued to insist fraud was to blame for the president’s loss — despite no credible evidence supporting those claims — he also blamed Trump for several “unforced errors” during the campaign, including the way he talked about the virus. “I can’t be upset if we shoot ourselves in the foot,” he said. The latest outbreak came less than two weeks after several aides to Vice President Mike Pence, including his chief of staff, tested positive for the virus. And it came a month after Trump, First Lady Melania Trump and at least two dozen others tested positive after Trump held large gatherings of people not wearing face coverings, including the ceremony announcing the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.

FDA allows first emergency use of a COVID-19 antibody drug

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-09/us-allows-1st-emergency-use-of-a-covid-19-antibody-drug

U.S. health officials have allowed emergency use of the first antibody drug to help the immune system fight COVID-19, a disease that has killed more than 238,000 Americans. The Food and Drug Administration on Monday cleared the experimental drug from Eli Lilly for people 12 and older with mild or moderate COVID-19 who do not require hospitalization. The one-time treatment is given through an IV. The therapy is still undergoing additional testing to establish its safety and effectiveness. It is similar to a treatment President Trump received after contracting the virus last month. Lilly’s studies of the antibody drug are continuing. Early results suggest it may help patients clear the coronavirus sooner and possibly cut hospitalizations in people with mild to moderate COVID-19. A study of it in hospitalized patients was stopped when independent monitors saw that the drug did not seem to be helping in that situation. The government previously reached an agreement to buy and supply much of the early production of the Lilly drug, known as bamlanivimab. One other treatment has an emergency use designation now — convalescent plasma, which comes from the blood of COVID-19 survivors. No large studies have shown it to be more effective than usual care alone, however. Science & Medicine Scientists searching for a medicine to treat patients with COVID-19 are looking for it in the blood of people who have already survived the disease. Aug. 1, 2020 The new drug is part of an emerging family of biologic therapies that offer a promising new approach to preventing serious disease and death from COVID-19. Experts say the infused drugs could serve as a therapeutic bridge to help manage the virus until vaccines are widely available. The drugs are laboratory-made versions of antibodies, blood proteins that the body creates to help target and eliminate infections. The new therapies are concentrated versions of the antibodies that proved most effective against the virus in patient studies. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. also has asked for emergency authorization for the antibody drug it is testing, which Trump received and later touted. FDA regulators authorized the Lilly drug using their emergency powers to quickly speed the availability of experimental drugs and other medical products during public health crises. Science & Medicine Pfizer says early data on its coronavirus vaccine candidate suggest that the shots may be 90% effective at preventing COVID-19. Nov. 9, 2020 In normal times the FDA requires “substantial evidence” to show that a drug is safe and effective, usually through one or more large, rigorously controlled patient studies. But during public health emergencies, the agency can lower those standards and require only that an experimental treatment’s potential benefits outweigh its risks. The emergency authorization functions like a temporary approval for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic. To win full approval, Lilly will have to submit additional research to fully define the drug’s safety and benefit for patients. The government has signed an agreement with Lilly to spend $375 million to buy 300,000 vials of the drug. How many doses that would provide is unclear. Each vial contains 70 milligrams, and that dose proved ineffective in the early results. It took four times that amount — 2,800 milligrams — to show any effect.

Barr OKs election probes despite little evidence of fraud

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-09/barr-oks-election-probes-despite-little-evidence-of-fraud

Atty. Gen. William Barr has authorized federal prosecutors across the U.S. to pursue “substantial allegations” of voting irregularities before the 2020 presidential election is certified, despite little evidence of fraud. Barr’s action comes days after Democrat Joe Biden defeated President Donald Trump and raises the prospect that Trump will use the Justice Department to try to challenge the outcome. It gives prosecutors the ability to go around longstanding Justice Department policy that normally would prohibit such overt actions before the election is formally certified. Trump has not conceded the election and is instead claiming without evidence that there has been a widespread, multi-state conspiracy by Democrats to skew the vote tally in Biden’s favor. Politics While the country is going through the standard process of certifying election results — a process, McConnell pointed out, where it has not been uncommon for litigation and recounts — several Republicans have followed President Trump’s lead in not recognizing President-elect Joe Biden as the likely winner. Nov. 9, 2020 Biden holds a sizable lead in multiple battleground states and there has been no indication of enough improperly counted or illegally cast votes that would shift the outcome. In fact, election officials from both political parties have publicly stated the election went well, though there have been minor issues that are typical in elections, including voting machines breaking and ballots that were miscast and lost. In a memo to U.S. attorneys, obtained by The Associated Press, Barr wrote that investigations “may be conducted if there are clear and apparently-credible allegations of irregularities that, if true, could potentially impact the outcome of a federal election in an individual State.” States have until Dec. 8 to resolve election disputes, including recounts and court contests over the results. Members of the electoral college meet Dec. 14 to finalize the outcome.

Trump books are definitely not going away

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-09/trump-books-will-continue-after-trump-leaves-office

One of publishing’s most thriving genres of the last four years, books about President Donald Trump, is not going to end when he leaves office. In 2021 and beyond, look for waves of releases about the Trump administration and about the president’s loss to Democratic candidate Joe Biden. Works already planned include the anti-Trump “Preventable: The Inside Story of How Leadership Failures, Politics, and Selfishness Doomed the U.S. Coronavirus Response,” by former Obamacare head Andy Slavitt. There’s a campaign book from New York Times reporters Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns. And former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale is reportedly working on a memoir. Expect detailed condemnations of the 45th president’s actions and rhetoric, from journalists and former associates, and also flattering accounts from White House allies and pro-Trump pundits. And there might well be a book from Trump himself, who received more than 70 million votes even as he became the first president in nearly 30 years to be defeated after one term. “It was a very controversial presidency and the New York publishing world isn’t exactly packed with Trump fans,” says Matt Latimer of the Javelin literary agency, where clients have included former FBI Director James Comey, former National Security Advisor John Bolton and Fox host Tucker Carlson. “But there are tens of millions of Americans who look to the Trump presidency as an important time and are fans of his administration. At least some publishers will recognize that.” Publishers often speak proudly about their openness to diverse voices, while also acknowledging that they like to make money. Several houses have conservative imprints that over the last few years have acquired books by everyone from Sean Hannity to Corey Lewandowski. Books How Skyhorse Publishing became a house of last resort for Dershowtiz, Keillor, anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers — and a cancellation target itself. Oct. 8, 2020 Simon & Schuster is Hillary Clinton’s longtime publisher, but through its conservative Threshold Editions released Trump’s most recent work, “Crippled America,” which came out in 2015. Center Street, a Hachette Book Group imprint, has published Donald Trump Jr., Newt Gingrich and Judge Jeanine Pirro among others. “No matter their political beliefs, every American has personally experienced the seismic shift within Washington,” Center Street publisher Daisy Blackwell Hutton said in a statement. “Books will be published for years to come about his presidency and the conservative movement in general, and Center Street absolutely intends to be a leader in that space.” There are risks in publishing Trump, although even presidents who have left office highly unpopular, from Jimmy Carter to George W. Bush, managed to get book deals and release bestsellers. None were as polarizing as Trump or have so many upcoming legal battles, including a New York State investigation into his finances, and a defamation lawsuit from E. Jean Carroll, one of more than 20 women who have alleged sexual assault or misconduct by Trump. Several publishers told the AP that they don’t believe Trump will have the same global appeal as former President Barack Obama, whose “A Promised Land” comes out next week. Obama and his wife, former First Lady Michelle Obama, agreed to a reported $65-million deal with Crown in 2017. Any publisher signing with Trump or a top administration official might face the anger not just of Trump critics among the general public, but from within the industry. When Simon & Schuster signed up the far right journalist-commentator Milo Yiannopoulos in 2017, more than 100 authors publicly objected. (The publisher ended up dropping him amid allegations he approved of sex between men and young boys.) Hachette canceled a memoir by Woody Allen, whose daughter Dylan Farrow has alleged he sexually abused her, after employees staged a walkout in protest. (Skyhorse Publishing later released the book). Ellen Oh, an author of fantasy novels who co-founded the grassroots organization We Need Diverse Books, mentioned three of the most controversial Trump appointees: Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and senior advisor Stephen Miller. “I would campaign hard against these three officials who have done the most damage under Trump,” said Oh, who was among those who signed the Yiannapoulos letter. Books Carlos Lozada read 150 books on Donald Trump for his history, “What Were We Thinking.” He shares surprising insights and lets you know what’s fake news. Oct. 6, 2020 David Drake, executive vice president and publisher of Crown, which will release Obama’s memoir, declined comment on whether he would acquire a book by Trump or even meet with him. The executive vice president and publisher of Alfred A. Knopf, Reagan Arthur, doubted she would sign up Trump, but added that she would probably agree to meet with him, out of courtesy to a former president. Dana Canedy, senior vice president and publisher of Simon & Schuster’s namesake imprint, said any decision to work with Trump or those in his Cabinet would depend on what they were planning to say. “I would apply the same rigorous approach to any meeting, with anyone, Democratic or Republican,” she said. “I would have to see whether there’s an arc to the story, how deeply reported it would be, and that there would be fact-checking so we could be confident about it. And that’s whether Joe Biden was coming to me or Donald Trump was coming to me.” Canedy said she might be interested in a book from Trump about his influence on the Republican Party, which initially resisted his rise in 2016. She would want Trump, or any author, to be “fair, balanced and honest,” and have ”a level of insight and self-awareness.” Asked if she believed Trump could meet those standards, Canedy said: “I wouldn’t know how to answer that, quite honestly.” The switch from a Republican to a Democratic president also should result in a shift on bestseller lists. The last four years have seen a continuous run of anti-Trump blockbusters, including Michael Wolff’s “Fire and Fury,” Comey’s “A Higher Loyalty,” Mary Trump’s “Too Much and Never Enough,” and Bob Woodward’s “Fear” and “Rage.” The next four years should mark the dawn of books against Biden. Books Two Black women are taking top positions at Simon & Schuster and Knopf. They talk to Rebecca Carroll about language, action, the power of books and the pace of change. July 30, 2020 “It’s historically been our experience that books coming from the right are more available and more popular when there is a Democratic presidency,” says Adrian Zackheim, who runs the conservative Sentinel imprint at Penguin Random House and has published books by Mike Huckabee, Nikki Haley and Brian Kilmeade among others. “That is pretty much a scientific fact.”

HUD Secretary Ben Carson tests positive for coronavirus; aide says he's in 'good spirits'

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-09/hud-secretary-ben-carson-tests-positive-for-coronavirus-aide-says-hes-in-good-spirits

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson has tested positive for the coronavirus. Carson is the first member of President Trump’s Cabinet known to have tested positive. The department’s deputy chief of staff, Coalter Baker, said Monday that Carson was “in good spirits and feels fortunate to have access to effective therapeutics which aid and markedly speed his recovery.” The 69-year-old Carson was among several top Trump administration officials who attended last week’s election night party at the White House. Carson has been a steadfast surrogate for the Republican president, traveling to many of the swing states before election day to discuss the administration’s priorities and achievements. Carson attended several events Trump held to appeal to African American voters. Before joining the Trump administration, Carson had sought the GOP’s presidential nomination in 2016. He served for nearly 30 years as director of pediatric neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center.

Study finds long-acting shot helps women avoid HIV infection

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-09/study-finds-long-acting-shot-helps-women-avoid-hiv-infection

A shot every two months of the experimental medicine cabotegravir is more effective than daily Truvada pills at preventing women from acquiring HIV from an infected sex partner, a study finds. The regimen worked so well that researchers are stopping the study early. The news is a boon for AIDS prevention efforts, experts say. That’s especially true in Africa, where the study took place and where women have few discreet ways of protecting themselves from infection. Results so far suggest that the drug, cabotegravir, was 89% more effective at preventing HIV infection than Truvada pills, although both reduce that risk. The results mirror those announced earlier this year from a similar study testing the shots versus the daily pills in gay men. Science & Medicine A spate of large-scale clinical trials has scientists hopeful about a vaccine to prevent HIV. Sept. 6, 2019 Cabotegravir is being developed by ViiV Healthcare, which is mostly owned by GlaxoSmithKline, with Pfizer Inc. and Shionogi Limited. The study was sponsored by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and ViiV. The drugs were provided by ViiV and Truvada’s maker, Gilead Sciences. “This is a major, major advance,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease doctor at the NIH. “I don’t think we can overemphasize the importance of this study. It promises HIV prevention help to young women, “those who need it the most,” he said. Young women may be twice as likely as men to get HIV in some areas of the world, according to one study leader, Sinead Delany-Moretlwe of the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. “They need discreet options ... without having to negotiate with their partners” to use measures such as condoms, said Deborah Waterhouse, chief executive of ViiV. The study involved more than 3,200 participants in seven African countries who were randomly assigned to receive either the shots every two months or daily Truvada pills. Independent monitors advised stopping the study after seeing that only 0.21% of women receiving the shots caught the human immunodeficiency virus virus versus 1.79% of women on the pills. There were more side effects, mostly nausea, with the daily pills. Cabotegravir’s makers are seeking approval from regulators to sell it for this purpose, and Truvada already is widely used. Science & Medicine A Brazilian man infected with HIV has shown no sign of it for more than a year since he stopped HIV medicines after an experimental drug therapy. July 7, 2020 “The urgent work now” is to make all prevention medicines affordable and more widely available, said Mitchell Warren, who heads AVAC, formerly known as the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition, a nonprofit focused on prevention efforts that had no role in the study. Condoms remain widely recommended because they help prevent a host of sexually spread diseases, not just HIV. “People need choices for HIV prevention,” and this gives a new option, Warren said in a statement.

Voter fraud claims are aimed in part at keeping Trump base loyal

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-08/fraud-claims-aimed-in-part-at-keeping-trump-base-loyal

The Trump campaign’s strategy to file a barrage of lawsuits challenging Joe Biden’s election win is more about providing the president with an offramp for a loss he can’t quite grasp than about changing the outcome, according to senior officials, campaign aides and allies who spoke to the Associated Press. President Trump has promised legal action in the coming days as he refused to concede his loss to President-elect Biden, making an aggressive pitch for donors to help finance any court fight. Trump and his campaign have leveled accusations of large-scale voter fraud in Pennsylvania and other states that broke for Biden, so far without proof. But proof isn’t really the point, said the people. The AP spoke with 10 Trump senior officials, campaign aides and allies who were not authorized to discuss the subject publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. Some also acknowledged privately that the legal fights would — at best — forestall the inevitable, and some had deep reservations about the president’s attempts to undermine faith in the vote. But they said Trump and a core group of allies were aiming to keep his loyal base of supporters on his side even in defeat. There has not been a presidential election in memory in which widespread, conspiratorial fraud was alleged. Politics President Trump is not conceding the presidential election to Joe Biden and is expected to fire foes and pardon friends. Nov. 7, 2020 Moments after the AP called the race for Biden, Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani stood with a handful of poll watchers in front of campaign banners taped over the garage door of a landscaping company in Philadelphia — wedged near a cremation center and an adult bookstore, Fantasy Island — and declared that they’d been kept too far away to check for inaccuracies. Something fishy was going on, he said. “We have no way of knowing, because we’ve been deprived of the right to inspect ballots,” he said. Partisan poll watchers are designated by a political party or campaign to report any concerns they may have. They are not poll workers who actually tally ballots. Monitoring polling places and election offices is allowed in most states, but rules vary, and there are limits to avoid harassment or intimidation. Poll watchers are not allowed to interfere with the conduct of the election and are typically required to register in advance with the local election office. This year, because of the coronavirus that has killed more than 237,000 people across the country, there was litigation in a few states, including Pennsylvania, over where poll watchers could stand to ensure social distancing. Lawyers could potentially argue that the vote tally should be cast aside over fraud observed by poll watchers, but to win that argument, they’d need strong evidence, not just allegations that the monitors weren’t allowed to see clearly enough. Judges are loath to disenfranchise voters, and there would need to be substantial proof that fraud had so damaged the count that it must be set aside. And it would have to have happened in multiple states. Democratic poll watchers, who were given the same access, have not raised concerns. Giuliani called evidence of fraud circumstantial at the news conference. He said he’d be filing suit in federal court, but the issue has already been before judges. A federal judge in Philadelphia on Thursday night ordered the two sides to work out an agreement on the number of poll watchers and their proximity to the counting. The judge also voiced concerns about the safety of poll workers during the pandemic if watchers were allowed to peer over their shoulders. Speaking Sunday on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” Giuliani said two additional lawsuits were being drafted, in addition to existing litigation in Pennsylvania. Giuliani predicted that by the end of this week, the campaign will have filed “four or five” lawsuits, with a total of 10 possible. Republican lawyers planned a Monday news conference to announce additional litigation. Voter fraud is extremely rare; when it does happen, the perpetrators are generally caught and prosecuted, and it does not change the outcome of the election. Typically, it involves someone wanting to honor the wishes of a loved one who recently died and, knowingly or unknowingly, commits a crime by filling out the ballot. Trump campaign officials have alleged that more than 21,000 ballots had been cast in the name of the dead in Pennsylvania. The claims stem from a conservative legal group’s lawsuit against the secretary of state, accusing her of wrongly including some 21,000 supposedly dead residents on voter rolls. The federal judge who has the case, John Jones, has said he was doubtful of the claims. He said the Public Interest Legal Foundation, which brought the claims, was asking the court to accept that there were dead people on voter rolls, and he asked for proof and questioned why they had waited until the “11th hour” to file suit. “We cannot and will not take plaintiff’s word for it — in an election where every vote matters, we will not disenfranchise potentially eligible voters based solely upon the allegations of a private foundation,” he wrote in an Oct. 20 ruling. Even if those 21,000 votes were cast aside, Biden would lead the state by more than 20,000 votes, according to AP data. Trump’s own administration has pushed back at the claims of widespread voter fraud and illegal voting, though it didn’t mention that the president was the one making the allegations. The federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which oversees U.S. election security, noted that local election offices have detection measures that “make it highly difficult to commit fraud through counterfeit ballots.” Election officials — both Republican and Democrat — in the battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Nevada have said they see no widespread voting irregularities and no major instances of fraud or illegal activity. Meanwhile, on a call with supporters Saturday, Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien encouraged them to be ready to continue the fight for the president, including standing by for rallies and demonstrations. Other aides outlined what they argued were irregularities in the count. And Republicans were sticking to the idea that all “legal” votes must be counted — the language freighted with a clear implication that Democrats want illegal votes counted, a claim for which there is no evidence. It’s a precarious balance for Trump’s allies as they try to be supportive of the president — and avoid risking further fallout — but face the reality of the vote count. According to one Republican granted anonymity to discuss the private conversation, Republicans on Capitol Hill were giving Trump the space to consider all legal options and allowing the process to play out. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has not yet made public statements — neither congratulating Biden nor joining Trump’s complaints about the results. “I’m not sure his position would have changed from yesterday: Count all the votes, adjudicate all the claims,” said Scott Jennings, a Republican strategist in Kentucky allied with McConnell. “My sense is there won’t be any tolerance for beyond what the law allows. There will be tolerance for what the law allows.” It was a view being echoed by several other Republicans who are neither supporting nor rejecting the outcome. “Nothing that I’ve seen regarding the election raises a legal issue that could succeed. There is just nothing there,” said Barry Richard, who represented George W. Bush in the 2000 recount in Florida that ended up before the U.S. Supreme Court. “When these kind of lawsuits are filed, it just breeds contempt for the whole legal system.”

Tropical storm Eta makes landfall in Florida Keys

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-08/eta-makes-landfall-on-cuba-as-guatemala-searches-for-victims

A strengthening tropical storm Eta made landfall Sunday night on Florida’s Lower Matecumbe Key, days after after leaving scores of people dead and more than 100 missing in Mexico and Central America. The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami declared hurricane and storm surge warnings for the Keys from Ocean Reef to the Dry Tortugas, including Florida Bay, with the storm expected to reach that area by Sunday night or early Monday. Florida officials closed beaches, ports and COVID-19 testing sites, shut down public transportation and urged residents to stay off the street. Shelters opened in Miami and the Florida Keys for residents in mobile homes and low-lying areas. Broward County shut down in-person schooling Monday, and Miami appeared poised to do the same. On Sunday night, authorities in Lauderhill, Fla., responded to a report of a car that had driven into a canal. Photos taken by fire units on the scene, about 30 miles north of Miami, showed rescuers searching what appeared to be floodwaters near a parking lot. Firefighters pulled one person from a car and took the patient to a hospital in critical condition, according to a statement from the Lauderhill Fire Department’s public information officer. Responders were continuing to search for others. Eta had maximum sustained winds of 65 mph Sunday evening and was centered north of Cuba, about 65 miles east of Marathon, Fla., and about 90 miles south-southeast of Miami. It was moving northwest at 14 mph. The storm swelled rivers and flooded coastal zones in Cuba, where 25,000 people were evacuated. There were no reports of deaths. Eta hit Cuba as searchers in Guatemala were still digging for people believed buried by a massive, rain-fueled landslide. Authorities on Sunday raised the known death toll there to 27 from 15 and said more than 100 people were missing in Guatemala, many of them in the landslide in San Cristobal Verapaz. Some 60,000 people had been evacuated in Guatemala. At least 20 people were reported dead in southern Mexico. In Honduras, local officials reported 21 deaths, though the national disaster agency confirmed only eight. Pope Francis on Sunday spoke about the population of Central America, hit “by a violent hurricane, which has caused many victims and huge damage, worsened as well by the already difficult situation due to the pandemic.” Speaking to faithful gathered at St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City, the pope prayed that “the Lord welcome the deceased, comfort their families and sustain those most in need, as well as all those who are doing all they can to help them.” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency Saturday for eight counties as Eta approached, urging residents to stock up on supplies. Miami-Dade County declared a state of emergency Friday night and warned that a flood watch would be in effect through Tuesday night. Further south, in the Keys, officials were monitoring the storm closely but had no plans to evacuate tourists or residents. They urged residents to secure boats and encouraged visitors to consider altering their plans until Eta had passed. “Residents need to monitor this storm and be prepared for high tropical-storm-force sustained winds and hurricane-strength gusts,” said Shannon Weiner, director of emergency management for Monroe County. Eta was once a Category 4 hurricane, and authorities from Panama to Mexico were still surveying the damage following days of torrential rains during the week. In Guatemala, search teams had to overcome multiple landslides and deep mud just to reach the site where officials have estimated that some 150 homes were destroyed. In the worst-hit village, Queja, at least five bodies have been pulled from the mud. The Indigenous community of about 1,200 consisted of simple homes, wooden with tin roofs, clinging to the mountainside. Rescue workers used a helicopter to evacuate Emilio Caal, who said he lost as many as 40 family members. Caal, 65, suffered a dislocated shoulder when the landslide sent rocks, trees and earth hurtling onto the home where he was about to sit down to lunch with his wife and grandchildren. Caal said that he was blown several yards by the force of the slide and that none of the others got out. “My wife is dead; my grandchildren are dead,” said Caal from a nearby hospital. Ruben Tellez, a spokesman for firefighters in Guatemala, said at least one additional person died Sunday when a small plane went down while carrying emergency supplies to the stricken area. In neighboring Honduras, 68-year-old María Elena Mejía Guadron died when the brown waters of the Chamelecón River poured into San Pedro Sula’s Planeta neighborhood before dawn Thursday. In southern Mexico, across the border from Guatemala, 20 people died as heavy rains attributed to Eta caused mudslides and swelled streams and rivers, according to Chiapas state civil defense official Elías Morales Rodríguez. The worst incident in Mexico occurred in the mountain township of Chenalhó, where 10 people were swept away by a rain-swollen stream; their bodies were found downstream. Flooding in neighboring Tabasco was so bad that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador cut short a trip to western Mexico and was flying to Tabasco, his home state, to oversee relief efforts. Hurricane Eta’s arrival Tuesday in northeast Nicaragua followed days of drenching rain as it crawled toward shore. Its slow, meandering path north through Honduras pushed rivers over their banks.

Biden win may curb U.S. oil drilling, supercharge renewables

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2020-11-08/biden-energy-renewables

Joe Biden’s election victory could end up reshaping the U.S. energy sector in years to come, although the president-elect may have limited room to maneuver given that control of the Senate remains unclear. Biden has pledged to spend trillions of dollars to speed up the transition from fossil fuels, slash emissions and curb climate change. Biden has also promised to ban new fracking on federal lands, which he may try to achieve via an executive order. Such a move would limit shale companies’ operations in several states, including New Mexico. Biden’s win adds to the hurdles facing the oil and gas industry, already hammered by a crash in demand amid the pandemic. The Democrat is expected to block new drilling permits on federal lands, something he could do via an executive order. His move to clamp down on the industry’s emissions would reverse the Trump administration’s relaxation of environmental regulation, and probably increase the cost of producing, transporting and processing hydrocarbons. Biden’s target for a 100% clean electricity grid by 2035 could squeeze natural gas’ share of power generation, and his aim to boost electric vehicles sales would erode demand for gasoline and diesel. To be sure, Biden’s proposal to curb production on federal lands could have a positive effect on prices by trimming supply expansion. Stimulus spending to revive the economy could also boost demand for fossil fuels in the shorter term. Biden’s climate plan doesn’t mention liquefied natural gas. Still, the construction of new pipelines and LNG terminals in the U.S., which has emerged in the last few years as a major global exporter of LNG, could face higher scrutiny should Biden be able to form a Democratic majority on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which oversees the construction of energy infrastructure. U.S. LNG exporters could eventually benefit in one way under a Biden administration: If his administration succeeds in its efforts to reduce emissions from America’s shale fields, that may attract climate-conscious buyers in Europe. Similarly, a thaw in U.S.-China relations could give U.S. exporters greater access to a major world market. Biden’s presidency could supercharge growth of clean electricity in the U.S. During the campaign, he said he’s aiming to eliminate carbon emissions from the power sector by 2035. Investor interest in green stocks and technologies has surged recently. Among the things driving growth: mounting homeowner demand for rooftop solar and batteries amid blackouts from hurricanes and wildfire risk and a growing appetite for environmental, social and governance, or ESG, investments. Wind and solar power are already the cheapest electrical sources in many markets. Biden’s victory is likely to accelerate the decline of coal. Demand has slumped as utilities continue to shift to cheaper and cleaner natural gas and renewables, and Biden’s call for a carbon-free electricity grid within 15 years will leave little room for the dirtiest fossil fuel. Trump vowed during the 2016 campaign to revive the industry, and once in office he rolled back numerous environmental regulations to aid miners. But his efforts did little to counter a decline that’s been driven by inexorable market forces. Coal will account for about 19% of U.S. electricity this year, down from more than half as recently as 2006. A Biden victory may put pressure on Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to damp down his nationalist energy agenda. López Obrador has stoked tensions between the trade partners by halting foreign energy projects — including suspending competitive oil and electricity auctions, calling on regulators to stop issuing new permits, and announcing that he may change the constitution to reverse the energy privatizations of his predecessor. Last month, a group of U.S. senators wrote to Trump, an ally of López Obrador, saying that Mexico’s actions “undermine the spirit” of the USMCA trade agreement covering the U.S., Mexico and Canada. A Biden victory could mean a halt to the Environmental Protection Agency’s granting of refinery waivers for the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard, which in turn could help stabilize prices and demand for fuels made from corn and soybeans. The standard also will reset for biofuel use in 2023, meaning the EPA will help decide how much ethanol and biodiesel are mixed into petroleum-based fuels in the U.S. Biden could keep blending targets near current levels or raise them to prevent plants from shutting down, even as his administration looks to transition away from an oil-based vehicle fleet.

Nursing home COVID-19 cases rise four-fold in surge states

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-08/nursing-home-covid-19-cases-rise-four-fold-in-surge-states

Despite the Trump administration’s announcement of efforts to erect a protective shield around nursing homes, coronavirus cases are surging within facilities in states hard hit by the latest onslaught of COVID-19. The administration has allocated $5 billion to nursing homes, shipped nearly 14,000 fast-test machines with a goal of supplying every facility and tried to shore up stocks of protective equipment. But the data call into question the broader White House game plan, one that pushes states to reopen while maintaining that vulnerable people can be cocooned, even if the virus rebounds around them. “Trying to protect nursing home residents without controlling community spread is a losing battle,” said Tamara Konetzka, a nationally recognized expert on long-term care. “Someone has to care for vulnerable nursing home residents, and those caregivers move in and out of the nursing home daily, providing an easy pathway for the virus to enter.” World & Nation The global COVID-19 death toll surpassed 1 million, one measurement of a scourge that has ravaged lives and economies and evoked an era of plagues. Sept. 28, 2020 An analysis of federal data from 20 states for the Associated Press finds that new weekly cases among residents rose nearly four-fold from the end of May to late October, from 1,083 to 4,274. Resident deaths more than doubled, from 318 a week to 699, according to the study by University of Chicago health researchers Konetzka and Rebecca Gorges. Equally concerning is that weekly cases among nursing home staff in surge states more than quadrupled, from 855 the week ending May 31, to 4,050 the week ending Oct. 25. That rings alarms because infected staffers not yet showing symptoms are seen as the most likely way the virus gets into facilities. When those unwitting staffers test positive, they are sidelined from caring for residents, raising pressures on remaining staff. The nation is setting records for coronavirus cases heading into cold weather season when many experts expect the virus will be harder to contain. The seven-day rolling average for daily new cases stood at nearly 104,000 on Saturday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Nursing homes and other long-term care facilities account for about 1% of the U.S. population, but represent 40% of COVID-19 deaths, according to the COVID Tracking Project. In Fort Dodge, a manufacturing and transportation center in north-central Iowa, Julie Thorson said she knew she was in for a bad week when several employees at the Friendship Haven nursing home tested positive on Monday. As president of the senior living community, Thorson contacted the county health department. “They were basically not surprised because they’re seeing it all over the county,” she said. Residents also started testing positive. As of Friday, the facility had 11 new cases among residents. “I was thinking all night what’s worse: to have it hit and not know what you are getting into, or to prepare, prepare, and prepare, and then have it hit?” Thorson asked. Responding to the study findings, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued a statement saying that “the bottom line is that the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on nursing homes is complex and multifactorial.” The agency noted different ways the administration has worked to help nursing homes and said its focus now was on ensuring that residents and staff would “immediately” have access to a vaccine once approved. But it also added that facilities “bear the primary responsibility for keeping their residents safe.” “Many times, the likely causes of nursing home outbreaks are simply nursing homes failing to comply with basic infection control rules,” the statement said. But Konetzka said her research has shown that nursing home quality has no significant effect on cases and deaths once community spread is factored in. “It’s not like the high-quality facilities have figured out how to do things better,” she said. Other academic experts have reached similar conclusions. Highly rated by Medicare, St. Paul Elder Services in Kaukauna, Wis., has had 72 COVID-19 cases among residents and 74 among staff, according to its Facebook page. The first case among residents was Aug. 19, and 15 have died, said the facility’s president, Sondra Norder. “The outcomes are really not much different here than they were in New York back earlier in the pandemic,” Norder said. “It’s been called the perfect killing machine of the elderly, especially those who live in congregate settings.” Kaukauna is a small city about 100 miles north of Milwaukee. The study, based on data reported by nursing homes to the government, also raised other concerns: Most of the states in the study are in the middle and northern tiers of the country. The Commons, a senior living community in Enid, Okla., that includes a nursing home, is in a coronavirus hot spot. The oil and gas hub has a positive rate approaching 18%. A local mask mandate has twice been shot down, said Steven Walkingstick, chief executive of the Commons. “From my standpoint, a mandate unfortunately is needed,” said Walkingstick. “I don’t want the government involved, but evidence has shown we are not going to do this voluntarily.” Walkingstick said he believes the U.S. has gotten better at saving the lives of COVID-19 patients, but not at keeping the virus out of nursing homes. Thorson, head of the Fort Dodge facility, said it takes a lot of effort to try to keep the virus out, and it’s demoralizing to see it break through. “Don’t forget about us, because we are still here, doing the best we can in rural areas,” she said. The 20 states analyzed in the study were Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin, West Virginia and Wyoming. They were selected because they’re now seeing their highest hospitalization rates for COVID-19.

Boris Johnson denies his Trump ties weaken U.K.-U.S. bond under Biden

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-08/johnson-denies-his-trump-ties-weaken-uk-us-bond-under-biden

Britain and the United States will work together to support democracy and combat climate change, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Sunday, while denying that his close ties to President Trump would hurt U.K.-U.S. relations once President-elect Joe Biden takes office. Johnson congratulated Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on their victory and said the two countries’ “common global perspective” would be vital to shore up a rules-based global order that is under threat. “The United States is our closest and most important ally,” said Johnson, who has yet to speak to Biden. “And that’s been the case under president after president, prime minister after prime minister. It won’t change.” Johnson told the Associated Press during an interview Sunday at his offices in 10 Downing St. that he looked forward to “working with President Biden and his team on a lot of crucial stuff for us in the weeks and months ahead: tackling climate change, trade, international security, many, many, many, many, many other issues.” Conservative Party leader Johnson is widely seen as an ally — and to critics, a copy — of the populist, “America First” Trump, who has referred to Johnson approvingly as “Britain Trump.” Last year, Biden called the British leader a “clone” of Trump, and he has criticized Britain’s exit from the European Union, which Johnson has championed and led. World & Nation World reacts as Joe Biden becomes U.S. president-elect after several days of vote counting. But Johnson said “there is far more that unites the government of this country and government in Washington any time, any stage, than divides us.” “We have common values. We have common interests. We have a common global perspective,” said Johnson. “There’s a huge amount of work we need to do together to protect those values: a belief in democracy, in free speech around the world, in human rights, in free trade, in the rules-based international order.” He shrugged off suggestions that Biden’s victory would scupper chances of a U.K.-U.S. trade deal, and make it more urgent for Britain to secure a post-Brexit free trade deal with the 27-nation EU. Britain had been hoping to secure a quick trade agreement with the U.S. after its official departure from the EU in January. The change in administration in Washington leaves prospects of a deal uncertain and could raise pressure on Johnson to seal a deal with the EU before the U.K. makes an economic split from the bloc at the end of this year. Post-Brexit trade talks are due to resume Monday, with the deadline imposed by the two sides just days away. “I’ve always been a great enthusiast for a trade deal with our European friends and partners,” said Johnson, who has repeatedly said he is prepared to walk away from the Brexit trade talks without an agreement. “I think it’s there to be done. The broad outlines are pretty clear. We just need to get them to do it if we can.” Johnson said he still hoped to get a U.S. trade deal but knew the Americans would be “tough negotiators.” “I’ve never believed that this was going to be something that was going to be a complete pushover under any U.S. administration,” Johnson said, adding, “I think there’s a good chance we’ll do something.”

Iran's president calls on Biden to return to nuclear deal

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-08/irans-president-calls-on-biden-to-return-to-nuclear-deal

Iran’s president called on President-elect Joe Biden to “compensate for past mistakes” and return the U.S. to Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, a state-run news agency reported Sunday. Hassan Rouhani’s comments mark the highest-level response from Iran to Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’ clinching the Nov. 3 election. “Now, an opportunity has come up for the next U.S. administration to compensate for past mistakes and return to the path of complying with international agreements through respect of international norms,” the state-run IRNA news agency quoted him as saying. Under President Trump, tensions between the U.S. and Iran have escalated, reaching a fever pitch earlier this year. One of Trump’s signature foreign policy moves was unilaterally withdrawing the U.S. from Iran’s nuclear deal in 2018, which had seen Tehran limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. The U.S. has since reimposed punishing sanctions on Iran that have crippled its economy, which was further battered by the coronavirus outbreak. In an effort to pressure Europe to find a way around the sanctions, Iran has slowly abandoned the limits of the nuclear deal. “The people of Iran, though their heroic resistance against the imposed economic war, proved that the U.S. maximum pressure policy was doomed to fail,” Rouhani said. He added Iran “considers constructive engagement with the world as a strategy.” Also Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif tweeted that “the world is watching” to see if the new Biden administration will depart from Trump’s approach toward Iran and seek international cooperation. “Deeds matter most,” Zarif added. Meanwhile, Iran on Sunday reached its highest-ever single-day death toll from the coronavirus with 459 new deaths recorded. This brings Iran’s total recorded deaths from the virus to 38,291 nationwide. An additional 9,236 new confirmed cases of the virus were confirmed over the past 24 hours, bringing total confirmed cases to more than 682,000 nationwide since February. Iran has struggled to contain the virus and has seen daily surges and highs over the past month. The capital, Tehran, has been the hardest-hit and recently extended some lockdown measures across the city.

Azerbaijani forces seize key Nagorno-Karabakh city, leader says

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-08/azerbaijani-leader-forces-seize-key-nagorno-karabakh-city

Azerbaijani forces have taken control of the strategically key city of Shushi in Nagorno-Karabakh where fighting with Armenia has raged for more than a month, the country’s president said Sunday. In a televised address to the nation, President Ilham Aliyev said, “Shusha is ours — Karabakh is ours,” using the Azerbaijani version of the city’s name. However, Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman Artsrun Ovannisian said on Facebook after Aliyev’s claim that “fighting in Shushi is continuing; wait and believe in our troops.” Shushi is of significant military value because it sits on heights about 6 miles south of the region’s capital of Stepanakert and lies along the main road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia. Nagorno-Karabakh is within Azerbaijan, but has been under the control of local ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since 1994. The latest outbreak of fighting started on Sept. 27 and has left hundreds — if not thousands — dead. Aliyev vowed to continue the fighting until Armenia withdraws from the territory.

Bail set at $750,000 for 2 arrested on weapons counts

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-07/bail-set-at-750-000-for-2-arrested-on-weapons-counts

Bail has been set at $750,000 each for two Virginia men authorities said were armed with loaded handguns when they were arrested near the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, where votes were being counted. Joshua Macias, 42, and Antonio LaMotta, 61, traveled from the Virginia Beach area in a Hummer and did not have permits to carry the weapons in Pennsylvania, police said. They were each charged with carrying a concealed firearm without a license and carrying a firearm on a public street. The men were stopped Thursday about a block from the vehicle, Macias with a .40-caliber Beretta handgun inside his jacket and LaMotta with a 9-millimeter Beretta in a holster, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said. An AR-style rifle and ammunition were found inside the vehicle, Outlaw said. Philadelphia Dist. Atty. Larry Krasner said there was no indication anyone else was involved or that the men were connected with any extremist group. A woman with the men wasn’t arrested, he said. Prosecutors said earlier they would request that the men be held without bail pending a preliminary hearing, which was scheduled for Nov. 23. Prosecutors said both men were from Chesapeake, Va., but the court docket said Macias is from Virginia Beach. A message seeking comment was sent to the Defender Assn. of Philadelphia, listed in court papers as representing LaMotta; no attorney was listed for Macias.

1st woman free-climbs El Capitan's Golden Gate route in a day

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-09/1st-woman-free-climbs-el-capitans-golden-gate-route-in-day

Rock climber Emily Harrington has become the first woman, and fourth person, to free-climb the Golden Gate route on Yosemite National Park’s 3,000-foot granite wall in a single day. While most of the country was focused on the results of the U.S. presidential election early Wednesday, the 34-year-old began to scale El Capitan, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Friday. She reached the top 21 hours, 13 minutes and 51 seconds later. Only three people — all men — have made the free-climb on that route in a day. Free-climbers use ropes to catch them if they fall but not to help them ascend. El Capitan is one of the world’s most famous climbing spots. It has been a proving ground for the best climbers for decades in the national park, which many consider the birthplace of modern rock climbing. Harrington had climbed a particular route on the wall, called Golden Gate, many times but never in a single day. Nearly a year ago, she endured a scary fall and was taken to the hospital with injuries. She vowed to try again and spent months training in her home gym in Tahoe City, Calif. This time, she ascended with the assistance of her boyfriend, Adrian Ballinger, a renowned Mount Everest guide, and Alex Honnold, famous for his unprecedented free solo climb of El Capitan. They were tied to the same rope. Travel & Experiences Oahu is hanging loose and fighting the pandemic hard. Oct. 24, 2020 When Harrington reached one of the route’s most difficult sections, her foot slipped and she fell sideways, hitting her head on the granite wall. “Blood just started pouring down her face, dripping onto me at the belay,” Ballinger told the Chronicle. “We immediately thought her day was done. It was a wild, scary flashback to last year’s fall.” But after taking an hourlong rest and bandaging her wound, Harrington continued. “There was a part of me that wanted to give up and quit,” she said. “But this other part of me was like, this is why you’re here. It’s supposed to be hard. You owe it to yourself to try again.” Being the first woman to achieve the feat in the male-dominated sport mattered to her, she said. “I spent a lot of years feeling like I didn’t belong, like maybe I hadn’t earned my place to be a Yosemite climber,” she said. “But throughout this experience, I learned that there is no belonging or not belonging, no formula to achievement up there. I was creative and experimental and I found my own way.”

Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows diagnosed with COVID-19

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-06/trump-chief-of-staff-meadows-diagnosed-with-covid-19

President Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows was diagnosed with the coronavirus as the nation set daily records for confirmed cases for the pandemic. Two senior administration officials confirmed Friday that Meadows had tested positive for the virus, which has killed more than 236,000 Americans so far this year. They offered no details on when the chief of staff came down with the virus or his current condition. His diagnosis was first reported by Bloomberg News. One administration official said several other staffers had tested positive as well. Meadows traveled with Trump in the run-up to election day and last appeared in public early Wednesday morning without a mask as Trump falsely declared victory in the vote count. He had been one of the close aides around Trump when the president came down with the virus more than a month ago, but was tested daily and maintained his regular work schedule. It marked the latest case of the virus in the West Wing, coming not even two weeks after Marc Short, Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, and other aides tested positive for the virus. Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, and at least two dozen others tested positive for the virus in early October, after Trump held large gatherings of people not wearing masks, including the ceremony announcing the nomination of now-Justice Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. Trump has repeatedly said that the nation is “rounding the turn” on the pandemic, which was top of mind for voters in Tuesday’s election. COVID-19 cases in the U.S. have increased more than 50% in the last two weeks. According to an Associated Press analysis of data from John Hopkins University, the seven-day rolling average for daily new cases rose from 61,166 on Oct. 22 to 94,625 on Thursday.

Vatican to release report on sexual abuse by now-defrocked Cardinal

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-06/vatican-to-release-mccarrick-report-tuesday-spans-1930-2017

The Vatican on Tuesday will release its long-awaited report into what it knew about ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick’s sexual misconduct during his rise through the church hierarchy, setting up a remarkable moment in the Vatican’s long reckoning with clergy sexual abuse and cover-up. The Vatican said Friday the report would span McCarrick’s life, from his birth in 1930 to the 2017 allegations that triggered his downfall. The Vatican said the report would cover “the Holy See’s institutional knowledge and decision-making process” as the American prelate rose through the church’s ranks. Pope Francis defrocked McCarrick in February 2019 after a Vatican investigation determined he sexually abused minors as well as adults. The 90-year-old is believed to be living in a treatment center for priests as a layman. The McCarrick scandal erupted in June 2018 when the archdiocese of New York announced it had substantiated a claim of sexual abuse of a minor against McCarrick and two New Jersey dioceses revealed they had settled claims of sexual misconduct against him in the past involving adults. Coupled with the revelations of a Pennsylvania grand jury’s report on abuse by clergy, the scandal sparked a credibility crisis for the U.S. and Vatican hierarchies, since it was an open secret that McCarrick slept with adult seminarians. Yet McCarrick still rose to the heights of church power, even acting as the spokesman for U.S. bishops when they enacted a “zero tolerance” policy against sexually abusive priests in 2002. He retired as archbishop of Washington, D.C., one of the most politically powerful positions in the U.S. church, in 2006. Francis authorized a “thorough study” of the Vatican archives for information about McCarrick in October 2018, two months after the former Vatican ambassador to the United States, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, accused Francis of being the last in a long line of Vatican and U.S. churchmen who covered up McCarrick’s misconduct. The Vatican said at the time it was aware that such an investigation could produce evidence that mistakes were made, but that Francis would “follow the path of truth, wherever it may lead.” Even though Vigano demanded Francis’ resignation over the scandal, it was actually Francis who authorized a canonical investigation after a man came forward in 2017 and alleged McCarrick groped him when he was a young altar boy in New York. McCarrick denied the initial groping allegation and has accepted his punishment, but several other men subsequently came forward saying they were also victims. Former seminarians described how McCarrick, when he was bishop in the New Jersey dioceses of Metuchen and Newark, would pressure them to sleep in his bed during weekend outings at his beach house. “No one was protecting us from his behavior. It was known, and people were putting their careers before protecting us,” said the Rev. Desmond Rossi, who transferred out of the Newark archdiocese in 1989 because of what he said was its culture of harassment and abuse of power in the seminary under McCarrick. Rossi says the final straw was an uncomfortable private meeting when his then-archbishop moved inappropriately close and touched his knee. The Vatican report will come out just days before U.S. bishops gather for their regular fall meeting, held virtually this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The McCarrick scandal has been a cloud over the meetings for the past two years, with the American hierarchy under pressure from rank-and-file Catholics to come clean about who knew what about McCarrick’s misconduct. “The people in the American church, they need this,” said Rossi, who is now a parish priest in upstate New York. “They need some kind of resolution and answers about how this happened, and trust that it’s not going to happen again.” Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who is representing one of McCarrick’s key accusers, James Grein, in one of several lawsuits against him, said the question is whether the Vatican will take responsibility for knowingly allowing McCarrick to continue abusing. Grein’s testimony was crucial in the Vatican’s canonical case against McCarrick, since he said he was abused starting when he was 11, by the man who was a close family friend and even baptized him. “In order for the Vatican to regain its credibility, it must reveal the truth. It must disclose what Vatican officials knew about Cardinal McCarrick’s sexual abuse of victims, when they knew it, and why they covered it up,” Garabedian said. The Vatican hasn’t explained why it took more than two years to produce the report, but its scope has clearly expanded beyond the original mandate of looking through Vatican archives to include testimony from victims and information about McCarrick’s early life. The Vatican knew as early as 2000 that seminarians had complained that McCarrick pressured them to sleep with him. The Rev. Boniface Ramsay, a professor at a New Jersey seminary, wrote a letter to the Vatican in November 2000 relaying the seminarians’ concerns after McCarrick was named archbishop of Washington. St. John Paul II still went ahead with the nomination and made McCarrick a cardinal the following year. McCarrick resigned as Washington archbishop after he reached the retirement age of 75. McCarrick later denied having ever had sexual relations with anyone but acknowledged an “unfortunate lack of judgment” in sharing a bed with the men, according to a 2008 email to the Vatican. In his 11-page denunciation, Vigano said then-Pope Benedict XVI imposed “canonical sanctions” on McCarrick in 2009 or 2010 that prohibited him from traveling or lecturing for the church or celebrating Mass in public. Vigano said he told Francis on June 23, 2013, about the sanctions and that McCarrick had “corrupted a generation of seminarians and priests.” But he said Francis effectively rehabilitated McCarrick and made him a trusted counselor. The public record, however, is rife with evidence that McCarrick lived a life devoid of any sanction from 2009 onward, including evidence that he and Vigano attended events together, and Vigano later backtracked and said the sanctions were privately communicated. Francis initially vowed to remain silent about Vigano’s bombshell allegations. But in a 2019 interview with a Mexican broadcaster, Francis said he knew nothing about McCarrick’s past and had no memory of Vigano ever mentioning his sexual misdeeds. In a recent interview with the Associated Press, McCarrick’s successor as archbishop of Washington, D.C., Cardinal-designate Wilton Gregory, said he hoped the Vatican’s report would be “complete, fair and transparent.”

U.N. sets summit in December to push action on COVID-19 pandemic

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-05/un-summit-in-december-to-push-action-on-covid-19-pandemic

The United Nations voted Thursday to hold a summit on the COVID-19 pandemic in early December to press for action on the global spread of the coronavirus and its “unprecedented” effects on societies, economies, jobs, global trade and travel. The General Assembly voted 150-0 — with the United States, Israel and Armenia abstaining — on a resolution authorizing the meeting on Dec. 3-4 and spelling out the necessary arrangements. It will include prerecorded speeches by world leaders and a discussion led by World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. General Assembly President Volkan Bozkir called the high-level special session “a historic moment and a test for multilateralism” that “will be defined by our collective action on one of the most critical issues of our time.” “If anything, it is a belated first step,” he said. “This is a time for action — action in memory of the souls lost to COVID-19, action to protect the most vulnerable people who are depending upon us. And action to safeguard our futures. Let us not forget that none of us are safe until we are all safe.” World & Nation The global COVID-19 death toll surpassed 1 million, one measurement of a scourge that has ravaged lives and economies and evoked an era of plagues. Sept. 28, 2020 U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in late October that it is “very frustrating” that leaders of the 20 major industrialized nations known as the G-20 didn’t come together in March and establish a coordinated response to suppress the coronavirus in all countries. Instead, he said, they went their own ways as infections moved “every way, everywhere.” The U.N. chief recalled that at the March meeting, he urged adoption of a “wartime” plan including a stimulus package “in the trillions of dollars” for businesses, workers and households in developing countries trying to tackle the pandemic, as well as “a task force to have a combined effort to defeat the virus.” The G-20 is holding a virtual summit later this month, and Guterres said the United Nations will be “strongly advocating” for better coordination and seeking a “guarantee” that any coronavirus vaccine is treated as “a global public good” and be made “available and affordable for everyone, everywhere.” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the secretary-general “very much” hopes the U.N. summit soon after that will be an opportunity “for states to move forward together on facing the virus, both in the immediate-term and the longer term.” The General Assembly resolution, whose negotiations were led by Azerbaijan and Canada, was put to a vote after three proposed amendments were defeated. One by the United States would have eliminated a reference to the World Health Organization, from which the U.S. has withdrawn at President Trump’s order over the U.N. agency’s handling of the pandemic and his allegations that the WHO has been improperly influenced by China. An amendment proposed by Israel would have eliminated a reference to U.N. “observer states,” which include Palestinian territories. The proposed amendment by Armenia would have eliminated a reference to the 120-member Nonaligned Movement, which initiated the call for a special session. World & Nation A reporter who covered an Ebola outbreak in West Africa discovers troubling parallels in the U.S. over the coronavirus, including conspiracy theories and denial. Oct. 23, 2020 The resolution adopted Thursday recognizes the need for a global response to the pandemic “that is people-centered, gender-responsive, with full respect for human rights, multidimensional, coordinated, inclusive and innovative, based on unity, solidarity and multilateral cooperation.” It notes “the fundamental role of the United Nations system in the comprehensive global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the crucial role played by the World Health Organization.” The meeting is to include prerecorded speeches by leaders of the 193 U.N. member nations, a Palestinian observer and a representative of the Holy See, and, “time permitting,” a limited number of nongovernmental organizations. Diplomats said a proposal to have the WHO’s Ghebreyesus speak at the opening was dropped during negotiations, but he will make a presentation and lead a dialogue during the summit’s second day. There will not be a final joint statement. “The point of this special session is first of all to bring the membership together and to move forward collectively in fighting the pandemic,” General Assembly spokesman Brenden Varma said after the vote. “It’s also an opportunity to come and identify the gaps that exist right now in our response to the pandemic.”

Pope moves against secretariat of state amid finance scandal

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-05/pope-moves-against-secretariat-of-state-amid-finance-scandal

Pope Francis is giving the Vatican secretariat of state three months to transfer all of its financial holdings to another Vatican office following its bungled management of hundreds of millions of dollars in donations and investments that are now the subject of a corruption investigation. Francis summoned the secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, his deputy as well as the Vatican’s top finance officials for a meeting Wednesday and gave them a three-month deadline to complete the transfer, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said. The Vatican released the letter that Francis wrote to Parolin on Aug. 25 in which he announced he was stripping the secretariat of state of its ability to independently manage the money. Francis cited the “reputational risks” incurred by the department’s investments in a London real estate venture and other speculative operations that have lost the Holy See tens of millions of dollars, some of it money from the Peter’s Pence donations from the faithful. Francis’ decision was an embarrassing blow to the secretariat of state’s standing as the most powerful Holy See office, reducing it to essentially any other department that must propose a budget and have it approved and monitored by others. Its financial holdings are now to be held by the Vatican’s treasury office, known as APSA and incorporated into the Holy See’s consolidated budget, Francis wrote. The economy ministry will oversee spending. The outcome is essentially that which was sought years ago by Cardinal George Pell, Francis’ first economy minister who clashed with the secretariat of state over his financial reforms and efforts to wrest control of the department’s off-the-books funds. Pell famously boasted in 2014 that he had “discovered” hundreds of millions of dollars that were “tucked away in particular sectional accounts and did not appear on the balance sheet” — a reference to the secretariat of state’s in-house asset portfolio. Pell had to abandon those reform efforts in 2017 to face trial for sexual abuse in his native Australia, but he was acquitted and returned triumphantly last month to Rome, where he was granted a well-publicized audience with Francis. Francis moved against his own secretariat of state amid a year-long investigation by Vatican prosecutors into the office’s $414-million investment into a luxury residential building in London’s Chelsea neighborhood. Prosecutors have accused several officials in the department of abusing their authority for their involvement in the deal, as well as several Italian middlemen of allegedly fleecing the Vatican of tens of millions of dollars in fees. The scandal has exposed the incompetence of the Vatican’s monsignors in managing money, since they signed away voting shares in the deal and agreed to pay exorbitant fees needlessly to Italians who were known in business circles for their shady dealings. Just this week, a judge in Italy authorized financial police searches at the homes of one of the Vatican monsignors and two Italian businessmen implicated in the deal, as well as some of their relatives and three related businesses, according to a warrant seen by the Associated Press. In his letter to Parolin announcing his decision, Francis cited the London venture as well as the secretariat of state’s investment in a Malta-based investment vehicle, Centurion Global Fund, headed by the Vatican’s longtime external money manager. According to Italian daily Corriere della Sera, Centurion invested in such ventures as the “Rocketman” film on Elton John as well as a holding company headed by Lapo Elkann, one of the more flamboyant members of Italy’s Agnelli clan.

Election worker came to polls despite positive coronavirus test, then died

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-05/election-judge-worked-despite-covid-19-diagnosis-then-died

A suburban St. Louis election official who worked at a polling place on election day despite a positive test for the coronavirus has died, raising concerns for the nearly 2,000 people who voted there. A spokeswoman for St. Charles County, Mo., said Thursday that the person, whose cause of death is not yet known, was an election judge supervisor Tuesday at the Blanchette Park Memorial Hall polling site in St. Charles, about 25 miles northwest of St. Louis. The county’s health department and election authority recently learned that the poll worker tested positive Oct. 30 for the coronavirus and had been advised to quarantine for 14 days. “The election judge nevertheless failed to follow the advice” and worked throughout the day on Tuesday, spokeswoman Mary Enger said in a news release. “Authorities have informed the County that this individual has died, although a cause of death has not been given at this time.” No details about the worker, including his or her age or gender, were released. Science & Medicine COVID-19 deaths are draining political support for Republicans, from Trump to candidates for Congress, according to a new study. Oct. 30, 2020 Contact tracing has begun and county health officials have contacted the other nine election workers at the site, who were advised to be tested for the virus, Enger said. The infected poll worker’s duties did not “typically” include handling iPads or having close contact with the 1,858 voters, such as taking voter identification, Enger said. County officials urged anyone who was at the precinct on election day to watch closely for symptoms and call a hotline if they have questions. St. Charles County Director of Elections Kurt Bahr said election workers were required to wear masks or face shields. In addition, Plexiglas barriers separated workers from voters. It’s not clear when the county decided to require workers to wear masks. In September, the election authority drew criticism for an email urging poll workers who had signed up for the November election to “act surprised” if voters asked why they weren’t wearing masks. “You may act surprised that you don’t have a face mask on properly and then apologize as you put the mask on,” the email stated. “Wear your mask correctly until the voter leaves the polling place. Please do this every time a voter says something to you.” Science & Medicine If nearly all Americans would wear face masks when they leave their homes, they could save over 100,000 lives by the end of February, a study says. Oct. 23, 2020 Bahr said in an interview in September that the email was poorly worded but was meant to avoid a debate that would slow down the voting process. Phone calls to his office on Thursday went unanswered. Missouri is among several Midwestern states seeing a surge in coronavirus cases. The state reported 3,553 new cases and 18 deaths on Thursday. All told, Missouri has reported 196,576 confirmed cases and 3,106 deaths. The positivity rate of 15.2% is triple the benchmark recommended by the World Health Organization. The state also set a new record for hospitalizations, with a seven-day average of 1,721 — 49 more than the record set a day earlier.

Danish farmers lament decision to cull all Denmark's minks

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-05/danish-farmers-lament-decision-to-cull-all-denmarks-minks

Danish fur farmers say they’ve been dealt a major blow after the world’s largest mink fur exporter decided to cull all 15 million minks in Denmark’s farms, to minimize the risk of them re-transmitting the coronavirus to humans — a decision that has also raised eyebrows among health experts. “I do not think there is a mink profession in the future,” breeder Frank Andersen told Danish broadcaster DR on Thursday. “I hope that they have evidence behind [their claim] and that it is the right decision,” said Andersen, who has run a mink farm with his father for the last 15 years near Hjoerring in northern Denmark, and has about 15,000 animals. The government said Wednesday that a mutation in COVID-19 has been found in 12 people who were infected by minks in the northern part of the country, announced plans to cull all minks in the country and promised to compensate farmers. But Fur Europe, a Brussels-based umbrella organization representing national associations in 28 European countries, said there was no indication mink farming was an important factor in transmitting the virus. The group urged Denmark to release its research for scrutiny among international scientists. “Experts and public authorities agree that mink farming plays no significant role in the spreading of COVID-19,” the group said. Medical experts were also puzzled by the Danish claim of a mutated virus. James Wood, head of veterinary medicine at Cambridge University, said the true significance of the reported mutations in Denmark “[has] not yet been evaluated by the international scientific community and [is] thus unclear.” The coronavirus evolves constantly and, to date, there is no evidence that any of the mutations have affected COVID-19′s impact on people. Denmark, which produces an estimated 17 million furs per year, “is clearly taking a precautionary stance,” said Ian Jones, a professor of virology with the University of Reading. Last month, Denmark started culling millions of minks in the north of the country after COVID-19 infections were reported among the stock there. Nationwide, at least 207 out of the 1,139 fur farms in Denmark have now been infected. In the Netherlands, another mink fur producer, only minks on a farm found to be infected are culled. Infected minks have been found at a total of 69 Dutch farms and more than 1 million animals have been culled. In August, the Dutch government announced that it is bringing forward the mandatory end of mink farming in the country by three years amid a growing number of coronavirus infections at fur farms. The industry already was working toward a total ban on all Dutch mink farms by 2024. That has now been brought forward to the spring of 2021. In southern Sweden, the virus was found in a total of 10 mink farms and the Swedish news agency TT said there were no plans to cull the animals. Hakan Henrikson, chief veterinarian with the Swedish Board of Agriculture, said the mutation reported by Denmark has not been seen in Sweden. Kopenhagen Fur, a cooperative of 1,500 Danish breeders, accounts for 40% of the global mink production. Most of its exports go to China and Hong Kong. Breeder Jesper Christensen said farmers would have to wait and see what compensation the government offers them. “We also grow some plants and maybe we can make a living from that,” he told broadcaster DR. Christensen has about 15,000 minks on his farm near Esbjerg, in southwestern Denmark.

AstraZeneca aims to deliver vaccine trial data by year's end

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-05/astrazeneca-to-deliver-vaccine-trial-data-by-years-end

AstraZeneca hopes to show its COVID-19 vaccine is effective by the end of this year and is ramping up manufacturing so it can supply hundreds of millions of doses in January, Chief Executive Pascal Soriot said Thursday. The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker is working with the University of Oxford to develop one of the most closely watched COVID-19 vaccines, which is in late stage trials in the U.S., Britain and other countries to determine its safety and effectiveness. Once those results are reported, regulators will have to approve the vaccine for widespread use. “We have aligned the timing of delivery of vials to the timing of the clinical trial readout,” Soriot told analysts on a conference call. “On a global basis, we’ll be ready to supply hundreds of millions of doses of vaccine around the world by January.” Governments and public health authorities are anxiously awaiting the development of a vaccine as they look for a way to combat the COVID-19 pandemic without the restrictions on business and social life that are punishing the world economy. Infection rates are rising in many countries amid a second wave of the virus that has killed more than 1.2 million people worldwide. Science & Medicine The Trump administration seems to be going to great lengths to get a COVID-19 vaccine produced by election day. How much can they get away with? Oct. 9, 2020 Soriot’s comments came as AstraZeneca released results showing that third-quarter revenue rose 3% as the pandemic reduced new cancer diagnoses and elective procedures, cutting demand for its products. AstraZeneca and Oxford have pledged to provide their COVID-19 vaccine on a nonprofit basis during the pandemic. AstraZeneca will continue to supply the vaccine to developing countries without profit after the pandemic is brought under control, and wealthy countries will pay a “relatively low cost,” said Ruud Dobber, president of the company’s U.S. unit. “We are extremely committed to make sure that not only the rich countries but also, once again, the low- and middle-income countries can afford to have this vaccine in order to protect their people,” Dobber said in an interview. Kate Bingham, chair of Britain’s Vaccine Taskforce, said data on the two most advanced vaccine candidates — AstraZeneca-Oxford and Pfizer’s collaboration with BioNTech — should be available in early December. Regulators in the U.S. and Britain are conducting an accelerated review that could lead to approval. “If we get that, we have the possibility of deploying by year end,” Bingham told a parliamentary committee on Wednesday Bingham acknowledged that there will only be about 4 million doses available to the U.K. by the end of 2020, despite the government’s earlier estimate that 30 million doses would be ready by September. The shortfall is due to manufacturing “hiccups” that have since been resolved, she said. The delay in developing the vaccine is partly due to the drop in COVID-19 cases earlier this year, which slowed the progress of human trials that rely on subjects being exposed to the disease naturally, Soriot said Thursday. World & Nation It could be a while before U.S. efforts to develop coronavirus vaccines benefit the developing world. China and Russia are trying to fill the void. Oct. 28, 2020 Also, the company is holding off on producing doctor-ready vials of the vaccine to ensure it has the longest possible shelf-life after receiving regulatory approval. AstraZeneca is building frozen stockpiles of the vaccine’s active component, which will be turned into the injectable vaccine as soon as the clinical data comes through. Waiting until the last moment means that precious shelf life will be preserved, Soriot said. “As soon as you turn this vaccine into vials,” he said, “the shelf life starts ticking.”

Eta brings heavy rains and deadly mudslides to Honduras

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-04/eta-brings-heavy-rains-deadly-mudslides-to-honduras

Eta moved into Honduras on Wednesday afternoon as a weakened tropical depression but still bringing the heavy rains that have drenched and caused deadly landslides in the country’s east and in northern Nicaragua. The storm no longer carried the winds of the Category 4 hurricane that battered Nicaragua’s coast Tuesday, but it was moving so slowly and dumping so much rain that much of Central America was on high alert. Eta had sustained winds of 35 mph and was moving westward at 7 mph. It was 70 miles east of Tegucigalpa, the capital. The long-term forecast shows Eta taking a turn over Central America and then re-forming in the Caribbean — possibly reaching Cuba on Sunday and southern Florida on Monday. Heavy rain was forecast to continue across Honduras through at least Thursday as Eta moved northward through the country toward Tegucigalpa and northern city of San Pedro Sula. Before the center of Eta had even reached Honduras, hundreds of residents had been forced from their homes by floodwaters. Early Tuesday, a 12-year-old girl died in a mudslide in San Pedro Sula, said Marvin Aparicio of Honduras’ emergency management agency. On Wednesday afternoon, the agency confirmed the death of a 15-year-old boy in the central town of Sulaco, though details were not immediately available. That brought the storm’s death toll to at least four in Nicaragua and Honduras. Aparicio said Wednesday that about 379 homes had been destroyed, mostly by floodwaters. There were 38 communities cut off by washed-out roads and five bridges in the country were wiped out by swollen rivers. Among those rescued from their flooded homes were 40-year-old Oscar Armando Martínez Flores, his wife and seven children. Their home near the Lancetilla River in northeast Honduras flooded. They made it out only with the clothes they were wearing. “The rains began Monday and the river overflowed,” Martínez said Wednesday from a sports complex serving as a shelter in the city of Tela. “The firefighters and police arrived to take us out because the houses were flooded.” Martínez was already in dire straits before the storm. A construction worker, he hadn’t been able to find work in eight months since the COVID-19 pandemic began there. He has been selling tortillas to provide for his family. Francisco Argeñal, chief of meteorology at Honduras’ Center for Atmospheric, Oceanographic and Seismic Studies, said he expected more of the country’s rivers to jump their banks. The U.S. National Hurricane Center forecast that parts of Nicaragua and Honduras could receive 15 to 25 inches of rain, with 40 inches possible in some isolated parts. Eta left a path of destruction across northern Nicaragua starting with the coastal city of Bilwi. In Bilwi on Wednesday, civil defense brigades worked to clear streets of downed trees, power lines and sheets of metal roofing. Some neighborhoods were completely flooded. Vice President and First Lady Rosario Murillo said more than 51,000 families remained without power in some areas. “The debris teams are starting to work and we still can’t give a sense of what happened,” said Ivania Díaz, a government official in Bilwi. “We have seen very humble homes completely destroyed.” South of Bilwi, closer to where Eta came ashore Tuesday, the seaside indigenous Miskito community of Wawa Bar was devastated. The military had evacuated the community before Eta hit, but what residents found Wednesday was distressing. Wind-twisted trees, shredded roofs and some structures damaged beyond recognition sat within view of the sea. “There’s nothing standing here,” an unidentified resident told a local television station. “Wawa Bar is now a Miskito community where destruction reigns.”

San Francisco 49ers close facility after player's positive coronavirus test

https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2020-11-04/ap-source-49ers-close-facility-after-positive-covid-19-test

The San Francisco 49ers have shut down their facility following a positive test for the coronavirus but are still scheduled to play Green Bay on Thursday night. The team said a player tested positive on Wednesday and immediately went into self-quarantine after getting the result. “Our organization has entered the NFL’s intensive protocol and we are working with the league on contact tracing to identify high risk individuals,” the team said in a statement. “All team functions will be conducted virtually today. The health and safety of our players, staff and community are the organization’s highest priority. We will continue to work closely with the NFL and medical professionals and will follow their direction.” Chargers Justin Herbert could help the Chargers become SoFi Stadium’s main attraction. The team has nine weeks to decide if Anthony Lynn is the right coach for the job. Nov. 3, 2020 A person familiar with the plans says the Thursday night game is still set to be played as scheduled. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the league hasn’t made any announcement. The Packers are scheduled to leave Green Bay later Wednesday afternoon. This is the first positive coronavirus test for the 49ers since the start of the regular season. They had three players on the COVID-19 list in the preseason — receiver Richie James Jr., running back Jeff Wilson Jr. and linebacker Fred Warner. The Packers are dealing with their own issues with the coronavirus after running back AJ Dillon tested positive on Monday. Running back Jamaal Williams and linebacker Kamal Martin were placed on the COVID-19 list on Tuesday as “high-risk” contacts of Dillon.

Some California legislative incumbents fighting to survive

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-11-03/some-california-legislative-incumbents-fighting-to-survive

California Democrats are in no danger of losing control of the state Legislature and may well expand their supermajorities in the 80-member Assembly and 40-member Senate after votes are tallied. But incumbents aren’t invulnerable — particularly with California’s top-two balloting system. In some cases, it has set up contests within the same party by advancing the two highest vote-getters from the March primary election, regardless of their political affiliation. Among the races to watch: Republican Assemblyman Phil Chen of Yorba Linda is in a competitive race with Democratic challenger Andrew Rodriguez of Walnut in the district that includes parts of Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties. Democrats took a narrow lead in voter registration this year. It has drawn the fifth-highest spending by the state’s major political parties and 13th most in independent spending for and against legislative candidates, according to the California Target Book, which tracks races. The California Correctional Peace Officers Assn. literally put a target on Democratic Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer of Los Angeles in a campaign ad that the union quickly withdrew after criticism. As chairman of the Assembly Public Safety Committee, Jones-Sawyer has promoted policies to reduce mass incarceration. The union is pouring money into supporting his opponent, Efren Martinez, a fellow Democrat and executive director of the Florence-Firestone/Walnut Park Chamber of Commerce. Latinos hold a slight majority in the district, prompting influential Los Angeles City Councilman Gil Cedillo to back Martinez in a district that Cedillo calls “an integral microcosm of Latino communities in California.” The race has generated the third-highest level of independent spending. Politics It is all here. How to vote. Where to vote. Endorsements. What issues are on the ballot in California and Los Angeles County. Oct. 6, 2020 Democratic challenger Melissa Fox of Irvine has outraised and outspent Republican Assemblyman Steven Choi of Irvine in the Orange County district where Democrats have taken a narrow lead in voter registration. It has drawn the second-highest spending by the state’s major political parties. It’s Nguyen vs. Nguyen as Garden Grove Democratic Councilwoman Diedre Nguyen vies with former GOP state Sen. Janet Nguyen in the Orange County district where Republicans hold a slim majority. The pair bested incumbent Republican Assemblyman Tyler Diep of Westminster in the March primary. The contest has the fourth-highest contributions by state parties. Democratic Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris of Laguna Beach is challenged by Republican Newport Beach Mayor Diane Dixon in an Orange County district with a near tie in voter registration. Sen. Scott Wiener is widely viewed as one of the Legislature’s most liberal members. But in an only-in-San Francisco development, he’s being challenged from the left by fellow Democrat, Indigenous activist and San Francisco State University lecturer Jackie Fielder. Both are LGBTQ activists. Another Democrat-on-Democrat contest is for the open seat being vacated by termed-out Democratic Sen. Jim Beall of San Jose. Organized labor is generally backing Santa Clara County Supervisor Dave Cortese, while business is supporting Ann Ravel. Ravel once was chairwoman of California’s Fair Political Practices Commission and was appointed by then-President Obama to the Federal Elections Commission. More than $5.5 million in independent spending has poured into the race — the most in any legislative contest. California While the long wait for election results is unfamiliar in other parts of the country, it’s common practice in the Golden State. Nov. 2, 2020 Republican Sen. Scott Wilk of Santa Clarita is trying to hold his seat in a district in parts of Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties where Democrats have an 8-percentage-point advantage in voter registration. He’s challenged by Democratic labor attorney Kipp Mueller. It’s a rematch of a rematch as Democrat Josh Newman of Fullerton tries to unseat Republican Sen. Ling Ling Chang of Diamond Bar in the Orange County-centered district that spills into Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. Newman’s quirky campaign narrowly beat Chang in 2016, but he was recalled in 2018 and replaced by Chang after he voted for a state gas tax. Now he has significantly outraised and outspent Chang as he tries for a comeback. It’s the costliest contest for the state’s political parties and second-highest in independent spending. GOP Sen. John Moorlach of Costa Mesa is trying to hold his seat in traditionally Republican Orange County, but the district has shifted to a near-tie in party registration and he has been outspent by Democratic challenger Dave Min of Irvine. It’s the third-most expensive race in state party spending and fifth-highest in independent spending.

Louisiana man gets 25 years for torching three Black churches

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-02/louisiana-man-gets-25-years-for-torching-3-black-churches

A Louisiana man who admitted to burning down three predominantly African American churches to promote himself as a “black metal” musician was sentenced Monday to 25 years in prison and ordered to pay the churches $2.6 million. U.S. District Judge Robert Summerhays of Lafayette sentenced Holden Matthews, giving the 23-year-old man credit for 18 months he already spent in jail, U.S. Attorney Alexander Van Hook said in a news release. “Matthews admitted to setting the fires because of the religious character of these buildings, in an effort to raise his profile as a ‘Black Metal’ musician by copying similar crimes committed in Norway in the 1990s,” the statement said. Matthews had shown interest in “black metal,” an extreme subgenre of heavy metal, according to authorities. The music has been linked, in some instances, to fires at Christian churches in Norway. Matthews told the judge, pastors and congregations of the three Baptist churches that he was deeply sorry and wanted them to know he had recovered his faith in God, the Advocate reported. He had pleaded guilty to both state and federal charges. Summerhays said that when Matthews is sentenced in state court, that judge may order the sentence to be served at the same time as the federal one. Matthews pleaded guilty in federal court to three counts of violating the Church Arson Prevention Act and to one of using fire to commit a federal felony. Summerhays ordered him to pay $1.1 million in restitution to Mt. Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church and $970,213.30 to Greater Union Baptist Church, both in Opelousas, and $590,246 to St. Mary Missionary Baptist Church in Port Barre. All three were burned down over 10 days in March and April of 2019. The churches were empty at the time of the fires, and no one was injured. Although race was not considered a motive, Summerhays said, he had to consider that the crime brought the church communities back to a dark time of racial discrimination, the newspaper reported. “These churches trace their origins to the post-Civil War Reconstruction period and, for generations, were a place for predominantly African American Christians to gather, pray, worship, and celebrate their faith,” Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the Civil Rights Division, said in the news release. “The churches survived for nearly 150 years but did not survive this defendant’s warped act of hatred.” The judge asked the Bureau of Prisons to put Matthews in a prison near his family and to ensure that he gets substance abuse counseling and mental health treatment, KATC-TV reported. The hearing had begun Friday but was cut short after new evidence was introduced. On Friday, clinical psychologist and Louisiana State University professor Mary Lou Kelley — a defense witness — testified that Matthews struggles with anxiety, depression and arrested social development. Matthews pleaded guilty in state court to three state hate crime counts, two of simple arson of a religious building and one of aggravated arson of a religious building. That sentencing had been scheduled Monday but was postponed with no date set, the Advocate reported.

Bail set at $2M for Illinois teen accused in Wisconsin shootings

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-02/bail-set-at-2m-for-teen-accused-in-wisconsin-shootings

Bail was set at $2 million on Monday for a 17-year-old from Illinois accused of killing two men during an August protest in Kenosha, Wis., after the father of one victim told the court the teen “thinks he’s above the law” and would disappear if freed before the trial. Kyle Rittenhouse, of Antioch, Ill., is charged with fatally shooting Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber during a protest over a police shooting in August. He is also charged with wounding a third man, Gaige Grosskreutz. Rittenhouse turned himself in to police in Antioch the morning after the Aug. 25 shootings. He was extradited to Wisconsin on Friday and made his initial court appearance in Kenosha County on Monday afternoon. In addition to the homicide charges, Rittenhouse faces counts of attempted homicide, reckless endangerment and being a minor in possession of a firearm. His attorney, Mark Richards, asked Court Commissioner Loren Keating to set bail at $750,000 and place Rittenhouse on electronic monitoring, arguing that the protesters had attacked the teen that night and that Rittenhouse had fired in self-defense. Richards also argued that Rittenhouse tried to turn himself in seconds after the shootings but officers ignored him. Video showed Rittenhouse walk past police vehicles with an assault-style weapon slung over his shoulder and his hands in the air. No one stopped him even though protesters could be heard screaming that he had just shot people. Police later explained that they didn’t arrest him at the scene because it was chaotic. Asst. Dist. Atty. Thomas Binger asked for $2 million bond, noting that Rittenhouse faces life in prison if convicted of the homicide charges, which makes him a flight risk. “The defendant doesn’t want to be here and if released won’t come back,” Binger said. Keating allowed Huber’s father, John Huber, to speak during the video hearing. He asked the commissioner to set bail between $4 million and $10 million. He said that Rittenhouse has become a rallying symbol for conservatives upset by the destruction of property during protests this year over police brutality. People have been raising money for Rittenhouse and militia groups would gladly hide him from police, Huber alleged. A legal defense fund for Rittenhouse has attracted millions of dollars in donations. Rittenhouse’s mother got a standing ovation from women in the audience at a Waukesha County GOP function in September, according to a tweet from conservative commentator Michelle Malkin. “Kyle Rittenhouse thinks he’s above the law,” Huber said. “He’s been treated as much by law enforcement. For him to run wouldn’t surprise me.” Huber’s son hit Rittenhouse with a skateboard before Rittenhouse shot him, but was he only trying to stop Rittenhouse, the father said. “Self-defense, that’s impossible,” he said, growing more agitated as he spoke. “He had already killed a guy and tried to run. My son was a hero. He tried to stop him. He was a hero. Anyone who says otherwise is dead wrong, including the president. How dare he.” President Trump has said Rittenhouse’s actions might have been warranted, suggesting that the protesters might have killed him. Richards tried to object to Huber’s remarks, but Keating cut him off. Grosskreutz’s attorney, Kimberley Motley, asked for $4 million bail, calling Rittenhouse’s behavior “inexcusable.” Keating set bail at $2 million, saying Rittenhouse has no ties to Kenosha, he fled the state after the shootings and he faces life in prison if convicted. He ordered Rittenhouse not to have any contact with the victims’ families or to possess any weapons if he’s released. Rittenhouse attended the hearing via a video feed from jail and was wearing an orange mask and a dark blue jail jumpsuit. He spoke only to say that he understood the conditions of his release. The shootings happened two days after a white police officer trying to arrest Jacob Blake shot the 29-year-old Black man seven times in the back, paralyzing him from the waist down. Video of the shooting sparked several nights of protests in Kenosha, a city of about 100,000 on the Wisconsin-Illinois border.

Texas high court denies GOP effort to reject Houston votes

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-01/texas-high-court-denies-gop-effort-to-reject-houston-votes

The Texas Supreme Court on Sunday denied a Republican-led petition to toss nearly 127,000 ballots cast at drive-through voting places in the Houston area. The state’s all-Republican high court rejected the request from GOP activists and candidates without explaining its decision. The effort to have the Harris County ballots thrown out is still set to be taken up during an emergency hearing in federal court Monday. “We’re pleased that the Texas Supreme Court recognized that their arguments that drive-through voting is illegal are flat-out wrong,” said Susan Hays, an attorney for the Harris County Clerk’s Office. “Lawsuits that are filed in the middle of an election to disrupt the election should be promptly denied.” Conservative Texas activists have railed against expanded voting access in Harris County, where a record 1.4 million early votes have already been cast. The county is the nation’s third largest and a crucial battleground in Texas, where President Trump and Republicans are bracing for the closest election in decades Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen is expected to rule on the same issue Monday. Hanen’s decision to hear arguments on the brink of election day drew attention from voting rights activists. The Texas Supreme Court also rejected a nearly identical challenge last month. Politics President demands a winner be declared election night, which would mean not counting tens of millions of ballots. Democrats say it’s a sign of desperation. Nov. 1, 2020 Jared Woodfill, an attorney for the Republicans who brought the state and federal cases, said Sunday that his focus is on the hearing before Hanen. “We’re hopeful that he’ll stop this illegal form of voting from continuing to occur,” Woodfill said. Conservative GOP activists have filed a battery of court challenges over moves to expand voting options during the COVID-19 pandemic. The challenges have not involved Trump’s campaign. Trump won Texas by nine points in 2016 but polls have shown Democrat Joe Biden still within reach in America’s biggest red state. Democrats also need to flip only nine seats to reclaim a majority in the Texas House for the first time in 20 years, and have aggressively targeted several races in Harris County. Harris County has offered 10 drive-through locations where its nearly 5 million residents can cast ballots in their cars instead of going inside polling centers. The accommodation aims to prevent transmission of the coronavirus. Woodfill, a former chairman of the Harris County GOP, argued that Texas election law makes no explicit allowances for drive-through voting and that only voters who need assistance are eligible to cast a ballot curbside. Woodfill’s lawsuit also noted that all but one of the drive-through centers were set up “in Democrat areas of the county.” More than 40% of Harris County residents are Latino, and about 1 in 5 residents are Black. Counting the drive-through votes, Woodfill argued, would “call into question the integrity and legality of a federal election.” Politics Election 2020: These states will probably decide if Joe Biden or President Trump wins the race. And their absentee ballot laws could determine when we find out. Nov. 1, 2020 The Texas Supreme Court rejected an identical lawsuit last month. Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins, who runs the county’s elections, had asked Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to affirm that the drive-through locations are legal but received no response. Texas is one of just five states that did not allow for widespread mail-in voting this year during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed more than 18,000 people statewide. Abbott instead expanded early voting by one week, and that extra time helped Texas already surpass 2016’s total votes even before Tuesday’s election. More than 9.7 million people have cast early ballots in Texas, where turnout typically ranks among the lowest in the country. Some elections experts predict that total turnout in Texas could surpass 12 million, and Harris County officials have taken more steps than most to expand voting access. The county tripled the number of polling places and last week had eight locations that stayed open for 24 hours.

U.K. says 4-week coronavirus lockdown may have to last longer

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-01/uk-says-4-week-coronavirus-lockdown-may-have-to-last-longer

A new national lockdown in England may have to last longer than the planned four weeks if coronavirus infection rates don’t fall quickly enough, a senior government minister said Sunday. The lockdown announced Saturday by Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to run from Thursday until Dec. 2. Johnson says it’s needed to stop hospitals from becoming overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients within weeks. Cabinet minister Michael Gove said it was the government’s “fervent hope” that the lockdown would end on time, but that could not be guaranteed. “With a virus this malignant, and with its capacity to move so quickly, it would be foolish to predict with absolute certainty what will happen in four weeks’ time,” he told Sky News. Under the new restrictions, bars and restaurants can only offer take-out, non-essential shops must close and people will only be able to leave home for a short list of reasons including exercise. Hairdressers, gyms, golf courses, swimming pools and bowling alleys are among venues that must shut down, and foreign holidays are barred. Unlike during the U.K.’s first three-month lockdown earlier this year, schools, universities, construction sites and manufacturing businesses will stay open. Britain has the worst virus death toll in Europe, with over 46,500 dead, and it passed 1 million confirmed coronavirus cases on Saturday. Like other European countries, virus cases in the U.K. began to climb after lockdown measures were eased in the summer and people began to return to workplaces, schools, universities and social life. Johnson had hoped regional restrictions introduced in October would be enough to push the numbers of new infections down. But government scientific advisers predict that on the outbreak’s current trajectory, demand for hospital beds will exceed capacity by the first week of December, even if temporary hospitals set up during the first peak of the virus are reopened. “Unless we act, we could see deaths in this country running at several thousand a day,” Johnson said as he announced the lockdown during a televised news conference on Saturday evening. But owners of pubs, restaurants, theaters, nightclubs and gyms all say the measures will be devastating. Leaders of the Roman Catholic church joined the criticism. Under the new measures, places of worship can stay open for private prayer and funerals, but not for communal worship. England’s top two Catholic clergy, Cardinal Vincent Nichols and Archbishop Malcolm McMahon, said the suspension of services would cause “deep anguish” and the Conservative government should show the evidence supporting the decision. “Faith communities have played a vital role in sustaining personal, spiritual and mental health and encouraging vital charitable activities” during the pandemic, they said. “That critical service towards the common good of all is created and sustained by communal worship and prayer.”

Ruling due in Johnny Depp's high-stakes libel suit against tabloid

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-01/ruling-due-in-depps-high-stakes-libel-suit-against-tabloid

A British judge will decide Monday whether a tabloid newspaper defamed Johnny Depp by calling him a “wife beater,” a ruling with huge implications for the careers of both Depp and former spouse Amber Heard. Justice Andrew Nicol is due to deliver his judgement in writing, three months after the end of a trial that exposed stark details of the Hollywood couple’s tempestuous marriage. There will be no in-person hearing because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Depp sued News Group Newspapers, publisher of the Sun, and the newspaper’s executive editor, Dan Wootton, at London’s High Court over an April 2018 article that accused him of assaulting Heard, an actress whose films include “Justice League” and “Aquaman.” Both Depp and Heard spent several days in the witness box during the three-week trial in July, giving irreconcilable accounts of their volatile relationship. The pair met on the set of the 2011 comedy “The Rum Diary” and married in Los Angeles in 2015. They separated the following year and divorced in 2017. Heard, 34, testified as the main witness for the defense, saying Depp turned into a violent alter ego he dubbed the “Monster” when under the influence of alcohol and drugs. She alleged 14 separate incidents between 2013 and 2016 in which he hit, slapped and shoved her, pulled her hair and threw bottles at her. The alleged assaults took place in glamorous settings including the couple’s luxury penthouse, Depp’s private island in the Bahamas and an executive jet. Depp, 57, branded he allegations “sick” and a “hoax” and claimed Heard was the aggressor during their relationship. He claimed that Heard hit him, even severing the tip of his finger with a thrown vodka bottle during an altercation in Australia during filming of a “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie. Depp acknowledged heavy drug use, saying he took marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy and magic mushrooms, and became addicted to opioid painkillers. But he denied that drugs made him violent. “I am certainly not a violent person, especially with women,” he said. Sasha Wass, lawyer for News Group Newspapers, said there was “no doubt that Mr. Depp regularly and systematically abused his wife.” Heard insisted she was telling the truth and said she had spoken out reluctantly. “What woman has ever benefited from being a victim of domestic violence?” she asked in court. Depp’s lawyer, David Sherborne, accused Heard of wrongly donning the mantle of the #MeToo movement and called her “a wholly unreliable witness and frankly a compulsive liar.” Both sides offered testimony from friends and former employees to back their version of events, and the judge must decide which account is more credible. If Depp loses, his career may never recover. If he wins, he is likely to get only a modest sum in damages. But Sherborne told the court “this is not a case about money. It is about vindication.” Mark Stephens, a media lawyer at the law firm Howard Kennedy, said, in the end, “both parties are going to lose this case.” “The reputations of both Johnny Depp and Amber Heard are tarnished irrevocably,” Stephens said. “I think that it’s going to persist, because whoever wins in this case, the way in which this case was presented, the issues that came up, particularly around gendered presentation of the case, I think that’s going to be studied for years to come.” Depp is also suing Heard for $50 million in Virginia over a Washington Post story about domestic violence. The trial is due to be held next year.

Hong Kong lawmakers arrested over May disruption of legislature

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-10-31/hong-kong-lawmakers-arrested-over-disruption-of-legislature

Hong Kong police arrested seven people Sunday over scuffles that broke out in the city’s legislature during a face-off between pro-democracy and pro-Beijing lawmakers earlier this year. The arrested include current and former opposition lawmakers, according to their political parties and media reports. A police statement said that six men and one woman had been detained on suspicion of contempt and interfering with legislative members. It did not name them. The statement said the arrests are part of an investigation into a May 8 committee meeting in which pro-democracy lawmakers rushed toward the chairperson’s seat and security guards shoved back. The guards carried out several pro-democracy lawmakers, including Eddie Chu and Ray Chan, after they had been ordered to leave for disorderly conduct. Both stepped down on Sept. 30. Chan said on Twitter that he was arrested at 7 a.m. Sunday, and Hong Kong media said that Chu had also been arrested. The Democratic Party said on its Facebook page that three of its legislative members had been arrested, including party chairman Wu Chi-wai. The May incident was the first in a series of scuffles over a bill approved in June that made it illegal to insult the Chinese national anthem.

Gospel star Bishop Rance Allen dead at 71

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-01/gospel-star-bishop-rance-allen-dead-at-71

Gospel star Rance Allen, whose Rance Allen Group drew upon contemporary sounds for such 1970s hits as “Ain’t No Need of Crying” and “I Belong To You” and anticipated such crossover gospel artists as the Winans and Amy Grant, has died at age 71. Allen’s wife, Ellen Allen, and manager Toby Jackson announced in a joint statement that Allen died early Saturday while recovering from a “medical procedure” at Heartland ProMedica in Sylvania, Ohio. Allen was a longtime Toledo, Ohio, resident and most recently bishop for Church of God in Christ for the Michigan Northwestern Harvest Jurisdiction. “I am so sorry to hear of the passing of Gospel Great, Bishop Rance Allen,” singer Gloria Gaynor tweeted. “He will surely enrich the heavenly choir now.” A native of Monroe, Mich., Allen was a singer, songwriter and musician who formed his group with his brothers Tom and Steve. Another sibling, Esau, occasionally joined them. A promotion man for Stax Records heard them at a Detroit talent contest and they eventually signed with the label’s Gospel Truth imprint. Allen and his siblings were featured in the 1973 documentary “WattStax,” performing the funky “Lying On the Truth.” Like the Winans and others later on, the Allens inverted the formula of soul performers like Ray Charles who used gospel sounds for secular themes. On “Just My Salvation,” the Allen Group reworked the Temptations melancholy love song “Just My Imagination” into an uptempo hymn. The Allens were inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1998. On his own, Rance Allen was nominated for a Grammy in 2009 for best gospel performance for “I Understand,” which featured Mariah Carey and BeBe Winans among others. In 2015, he sang at the White House, with President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama among those in attendance.

England faces new lockdown as U.K. coronavirus case count passes 1 million

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-10-31/england-faces-new-lockdown-as-uk-virus-cases-pass-1-million

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday announced a new monthlong lockdown for England after being warned that without tough action a resurgent coronavirus outbreak will overwhelm hospitals in weeks. On the day the U.K. passed 1 million confirmed COVID-19 cases, Johnson made a sudden about-face and confirmed that stringent restrictions on business and daily life would begin Thursday and last until Dec. 2. He said at a televised news conference that “no responsible prime minister” could ignore the grim figures, including more than 46,000 deaths. “Unless we act, we could see deaths in this country running at several thousand a day,” said Johnson, who was hospitalized earlier this year for a serious case of COVID-19. The United States, in contrast, has a death toll of more than 230,000 people and a total caseload of more than 9 million — and no intention on the part of President Trump to even consider a new lockdown. Under England’s new restrictions, nonessential shops must close, bars and restaurants can only offer takeout service, and people may only leave home for a short list of reasons including exercise. Activities ranging from haircuts to foreign holidays must once again be put on hold. Unlike during the U.K.’s first three-month lockdown early in the pandemic, schools, universities, construction sites and manufacturing businesses will stay open. As in other European countries, virus cases in the U.K. began to climb after lockdown measures were eased in the summer and people began to return to workplaces, schools and social life. Johnson had hoped a set of regional restrictions introduced earlier in October would be enough to push numbers down. But government scientific advisors predict that on the outbreak’s current trajectory, demand for hospital beds will exceed capacity by the first week of December, even if temporary hospitals set up during the first peak of the virus are reopened. Johnson came under mounting pressure to act as scientists warned that COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths in the U.K. could soon surpass the levels seen at the outbreak’s spring peak, when daily deaths topped 1,000. With European countries such as France, Germany and Belgium imposing a second lockdown amid surging caseloads, it looked inevitable that Johnson would have to follow. London School of Hygiene epidemiologist John Edmunds, a member of the government’s scientific advisory group, said Saturday that cases were running “significantly above” a reasonable worst-case scenario drawn up by modelers. “It is really unthinkable now, unfortunately, that we don’t count our deaths in tens of thousands from this wave,” Edmunds told the BBC. “The issue is, is that going to be low tens of thousands if we take radical action now or is that going to be the high tens of thousands if we don’t?” Official figures announced Saturday recorded 21,915 new cases confirmed in the last 24 hours, bringing Britain’s total since the start of the pandemic to 1,011,660. Britain’s death toll from the coronavirus was reported to be 46,555, the highest in Europe, with 326 new deaths announced Saturday. The U.S., India, Brazil, Russia, France, Spain, Argentina and Colombia have each also recorded more than 1 million cases, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. Scientists say the true number of cases is much higher because not everyone with the virus is tested. The new measures announced by Johnson apply to England. Other parts of the United Kingdom set their own public health policies, with Wales and Northern Ireland already effectively in lockdown and Scotland under a set of tough regional restrictions. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Saturday that for now people in Scotland should not travel to or from England, “except for essential purposes.” Lucy Powell, business spokeswoman for the opposition Labor Party, accused Johnson’s government of “dithering” and said the country was now facing a longer lockdown than if the prime minister had acted sooner. But Johnson is also under pressure from some members of his Conservative Party, who oppose tighter restrictions because of the economic damage they cause. Any new lockdown would need Parliament’s approval in a vote scheduled for Wednesday. Owners of businesses that have struggled to get back on their feet since the first lockdown was eased said new closures would be devastating. “People have borrowed up to the hilt and spent money in order to get COVID-secure,” said Kate Nicholls of the pub and restaurant industry group UKHospitality. “There is no spare capacity in the tank to be able to fund a lockdown, even for three to four weeks.” A government program that has paid the wages of millions of furloughed employees during the pandemic was due to end Saturday, but will be extended during the new lockdown. Johnson had planned to announce the lockdown in Parliament on Monday, but was forced into early action after the Times of London reported the news. The government said there would be an investigation into the leak. The U.K. is recording more than 20,000 new coronavirus infections a day, and government statisticians say the true figure is far higher. The Office for National Statistics estimated Friday that 1 in 100 people in England, well over half a million in all, had the virus in the week to Oct. 23. Jeremy Farrar, director of the medical research charity Wellcome Trust and a government advisor, said swift action would avoid many more deaths. “The best time to act was a month ago but these are very tough decisions which we would all like to avoid,” he tweeted. “The second-best time is now.”

Tension runs high after fatal police shooting of Black man near Vancouver, Wash.

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-10-31/unrest-erupts-in-police-shooting-of-black-man-near-portland

Tensions boiled over into unrest late Friday following a vigil for a Black man shot and killed by law enforcement in a city near Portland, Ore., in southwestern Washington state. Mourners gathered in Hazel Dell, an unincorporated area near Vancouver, Wash., where family and friends say Kevin E. Peterson Jr., 21, was shot Thursday night. The city is about 12 miles north of Portland. Hundreds of people gathered for the vigil Friday evening, with some holding signs reading, “Honk for Black lives. White silence is violence” and “Scream his name.” Nearby, tensions flared between left- and right-wing protesters. Video recorded by journalists in a parking lot showed two groups of people shouting at each other. Also, some armed demonstrators gathered near a building they told reporters they were protecting. California Recent protests outside the South L.A. sheriff’s station have drawn longtime activists and others who have made attending rallies against police violence part of their weekly routine. Oct. 8, 2020 The crowds ultimately fizzled out near the vigil, but a group of hundreds of protesters later marched through downtown Vancouver. Windows were shattered, flags were burned, and federal agents clothed in riot gear surrounded a building — warning that people trespassing on federal property would be subject to arrest. Family and friends had described Peterson as a former high school football player and the proud father of an infant daughter. In a statement, Clark County Sheriff Chuck Atkins said a joint city-county narcotics task force was conducting an investigation just before 6 p.m. Thursday and chased a man into the parking lot of a bank, where he fired a gun at the officers. A firearm was recovered at the scene, Atkins said. Authorities have not named the person who was shot, but Kevin E. Peterson Sr. told the Oregonian/OregonLive the person was his son, Kevin E. Peterson Jr. Atkins referenced the Peterson family in his remarks but did not confirm Peterson was the person killed. “I can say that our agency is grieving as is the Peterson family and the community,” Atkins said. “As the community grieves, I call for there to be a respectful and dignified observance of the loss of life in this matter. There is always the potential for misinformation, doubt and confusion — and there may be those who wish to sow seeds of doubt.” The investigation has been referred to the Southwest Washington Independent Investigation Team, and the Camas Police Department is taking the lead, Atkins said. Investigators said Friday evening that the narcotics task force had contacted a man suspected of selling illegal drugs in a motel parking lot and that he ran off with officers following. The man produced a handgun and the officers backed off, investigators said. A short time later, the man encountered three Clark County deputies, all of whom fired their pistols at the man, the investigators said. They did not say the man fired a handgun found at the scene, making it unclear what happened just before the shooting. The community is a short drive north across the Columbia River from Portland, where racial-justice protests have played out nearly every night since George Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis police in May. Southwest Washington is also home to the right-wing group Patriot Prayer, which has held rallies for President Trump in Portland in recent months that ended in violence. Earlier Friday, several people paid their respects to Peterson at the site of the shooting. Mac Smiff, an organizer of Black Lives Matter protests in Portland, said he knows Peterson’s sister and spent more than five hours at the scene. “There was a ton of grief, a ton of grief. He’s 21 and has a baby, an infant,” Smiff said. “They’re not sure what happened, why the encounter took place. Everyone was extremely ... confused.” Jake Thompson, a high school acquaintance of Peterson, said he took photos at the wedding of Peterson’s parents in Portland in 2018. On Friday, he posted a black-and-white photo of Peterson in a suit and bow tie as he flashed a big grin. “I didn’t sleep much last night,” Thompson said Friday. Peterson played football at Union High School in Vancouver, loved sports of any kind and was a big personality who was known and liked by everyone at school, Thompson said.

Suspect in California hit-and-run is extradited from Australia to face charges

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-10-30/suspect-in-california-hit-and-run-returned-from-australia

A woman suspected in a hit-and-run crash that killed a bicyclist in Southern California three years ago has been returned to the U.S. to face trial after her arrest in Australia. Authorities say Andrea Dorothy Chan Reyes fled the country after hitting Agustin Rodriguez Jr. with her Lexus in 2017. The car dragged the 46-year-old bicyclist several hundred feet, according to investigators. He died at the scene in Whittier, east of Los Angeles. Chan Reyes arrived at Van Nuys Airport on Thursday and was booked into jail, Whittier Police Sgt. Sam Reed said. She faces charges including felony hit-and-run and vehicular manslaughter, the Whittier Daily News reported. She could get more than 11 years in state prison if convicted. It wasn’t known Friday whether she has an attorney who could speak on her behalf. An anonymous tipster told police that a co-worker, who drove a white Lexus, was late to work on the day of the collision, according to court records. Investigators eventually determined Chan Reyes owned the car, which was taken to a repair shop a day after the hit-and-run. She allegedly told the shop she hit a deer, the newspaper said. Chan Reyes spent time in Hong Kong and was arrested in Adelaide, Australia, in April 2018. She fought extradition to the U.S. but lost.

Actress Lori Loughlin reports to prison for her role in college admissions scandal

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-10-30/actress-lori-loughlin-reports-to-prison-in-college-scam

Authorities say “Full House” actress Lori Loughlin has reported to a federal prison in California to begin serving her two-month sentence for her role in the college admissions bribery scandal. The U.S. attorney’s office in Boston said Friday that Loughlin was being processed at the federal lockup in Dublin, Calif. “The parties recently agreed that the defendant can report to prison on Oct. 30, 2020, instead of on Nov. 19, 2020. The defendant has further agreed that, during her two-month sentence, she will not seek an early release from prison on COVID-related grounds,” prosecutors said in a statement. Under the Bureau of Prisons’ coronavirus protocols, Loughlin will be screened and tested for COVID-19 and will be placed in quarantine for 14 days. The low-security prison in Northern California houses 874 inmates and had two positive coronavirus cases among inmates as of Friday morning, federal statistics show. In August, Loughlin was sentenced to two months, and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, got five months for paying half a million dollars in bribes to get their two daughters into the University of Southern California as rowing recruits. Prosecutors said Giannulli didn’t report to prison with Loughlin on Friday. Plea deals worked out with the celebrity couple call for Loughlin to pay a $150,000 fine and perform 100 hours of community service, and Giannulli to pay a $250,000 fine and perform 250 hours of community service. The famous couple’s sentencing came three months after they reversed course and admitted to participating in the college admissions cheating scheme that has laid bare the lengths to which some wealthy parents will go to get their kids into elite universities. California Loughlin was sentenced to two months behind bars — after her husband was handed a five-month term — for paying $500,000 in bribes to get their daughters admitted to USC. Sept. 17, 2020 They are among nearly 30 prominent parents to plead guilty in the case, which federal prosecutors dubbed Operation Varsity Blues. It uncovered hefty bribes to get undeserving kids into college with rigged test scores or fake athletic credentials. Loughlin and Giannulli had insisted for more than a year that they believed their payments were “legitimate donations” and accused prosecutors of hiding crucial evidence that could prove the couple’s innocence because it would undermine their case. The case shattered the clean image of Loughlin, who gained fame for her role as the wholesome Aunt Becky in the sitcom “Full House” that ran from the late 1980s to mid-1990s, and later became queen of the Hallmark channel with her holiday movies and the series “When Calls the Heart.” Prosecutors said Giannulli deserved a tougher sentence because he was “the more active participant in the scheme,” while Loughlin “took a less active role, but was nonetheless fully complicit.” The couple funneled money through a sham charity operated by William “Rick” Singer — the admissions consultant at the center of the scheme — to get their two daughters into USC as crew recruits, even though neither was a rower, authorities said. Singer, who has also pleaded guilty, was expected to testify against them if they had gone to trial. Investigators had recorded phone calls and emails showing the couple worked with Singer to get their daughters into USC with fake athletic profiles depicting them as star rowers. In one email, Singer told Loughlin and Giannulli that he needed a picture of their older daughter on a rowing machine in workout clothes “like a real athlete.” Prosecutors said the couple allowed the girls “to become complicit in crime,” instructing them to pose on rowing machines for photos and warning their younger daughter not to say too much to her high school counselor to avoid getting caught. Among the other high-profile parents who have been sent to prison for participating in the scam is “Desperate Housewives” actress Felicity Huffman. She served nearly two weeks behind bars late last year in the same California prison after she admitted to paying $15,000 to have someone correct her daughter’s entrance exam answers.

More than 1 million tons a year of U.S. plastic trash goes astray, study says

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-10-30/study-1-to-2-million-tons-of-us-plastic-trash-goes-astray

More than a million tons a year of America’s plastic trash isn’t ending up where it should. The equivalent of as many as 1,300 plastic grocery bags per person is landing in places such as oceans and roadways, according to a new study of U.S. plastic trash. In 2016 — the last year enough data were available and before several countries cracked down on imports of American waste — the United States generated 46.3 million tons of plastic waste, by far the most in the world. Between 2.7% and 5.3% of that was mismanaged — not burned, placed in landfills or otherwise disposed of properly — according to a study in Friday’s journal Science Advances. Between 1.2 million and 2.5 million tons of plastic generated in the U.S. were dropped on land, rivers, lakes and oceans as litter, were illegally dumped or shipped abroad, then not properly disposed of, the study found. If you took nearly 2.5 million tons of mismanaged plastic waste — bottles, wrappers, grocery bags and the like — and dumped it in one place, “it would pile as high as the Empire State Building,” said co-author Jenna Jambeck, an environmental engineering professor at the University of Georgia. Previous studies hadn’t put the United States among the 10 worst offending nations for plastic waste in oceans. That’s because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency tracks only what goes into official parts of the waste stream such as landfills and recycling centers, and its data don’t capture the dirtier aspects of plastic trash disposal, the study’s authors said. So some researchers from previous studies decided to look deeper into what happens to U.S. trash and found so much is improperly handled that America ranks as high as the third-worst ocean plastic polluter. The study estimated that 560,000 to 1.6 million tons of U.S. plastic waste likely went into oceans. “We are facing a global crisis of far too much plastic waste,” said study lead author Kara Lavender Law, an oceanography professor at the Sea Education Assn. in Cape Cod, Mass. The new research “was motivated by the fact that we know the United States was leaking more plastic than estimated,” she said. The study’s estimates range so widely, Law said, because so much of what the researchers explored were waste disposal activities that don’t get meticulously measured. “This more detailed estimate provides a more realistic view of our mismanaged waste and leakage,” said University of Toronto ecology professor Chelsea Rochman, who wasn’t part of the study. “We consume a lot of plastic per capita, which then becomes plastic waste. We recycle very little of this material.” A large but difficult-to-quantify part of the problem involves the 51% of U.S. plastic waste shipped abroad for recycling to countries that routinely mismanage waste, Law said. “We’re putting this in the blue bin and then it’s getting trucked to Boston,” Law said. “And then it’s getting put on a ship that’s sailing most of the way around the world for somebody to unpack it and pick through it and cut labels off it in hopes that some portion of that material will be turned into [plastic] pellets and into a children’s toy or whatever.’’ The situation has been changing, she said. China and other countries have become more restrictive about taking U.S. trash imports, and more plastic is ending up in landfills here. “U.S. exports of plastic waste have declined dramatically — nearly 70% — since their peak in 2016,” Joshua Baca, vice president for plastics at the industry group American Chemistry Council, said in an email. Beginning next year, many countries won’t accept U.S. waste exports because of a new international agreement, he said. Baca said the industry is spending billions of dollars trying to fix the problem, with modernized recycling technology and new business models to reduce waste while urging mandatory recycled content standards for new products and packaging. The EPA last week launched a new strategy for combatting marine litter and next month will have a recycling summit, said agency spokesman James Hewitt. “The best thing you can do environmentally is to produce no waste at all,” Jambeck said.

Texas' early voting numbers exceed total of all ballots cast in 2016

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-10-30/texas-early-voting-exceeds-total-of-all-2016-ballots

Texans have already cast more ballots in the presidential election than they did during all of 2016, an unprecedented surge of early voting in a state that was once the country’s most reliably Republican, but may now be drifting toward battleground status. More than 9 million ballots had been cast as of Friday morning in the nation’s second most-populous state, exceeding the 8,969,226 cast in 2016, according to an Associated Press tally of early votes from data provided by Texas officials. Texas is the first state to hit the milestone of casting more votes than it did in all of 2016. This year’s numbers were aided by Democratic activists who challenged for in court — and won — a one-week extension of early voting amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Because Texas offers only limited vote-by-mail options compared with the rest of the country, casting an in-person ballot during the early voting period is the primary way to vote for people who don’t want to line up and do so on election day. Voters in Texas do not register by party affiliation, so no one can be sure until the ballots are counted whether one party or the other will benefit from the surge in turnout. Still, the fact that the state exceeded its entire vote total for the past presidential cycle with hours still to go in its early voting period, which ends at 7 p.m. Friday, and before millions more people are likely to vote on election day hints at a potential electoral sea change. For Democrats, anything different from past elections is likely positive. The party hasn’t won a state office in Texas since 1994 — the nation’s longest political losing streak — nor seen one of its presidential nominees carry the state since Jimmy Carter in 1976. The party now believes it has a chance to seize control of the state House, flip as many as six congressional seats and a Senate seat. President Trump carried Texas against Hillary Clinton in 2016 by a comfortable nine percentage points, even though that was the smallest margin since Republican Bob Dole beat Democratic President Bill Clinton by five points in 1996. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s campaign has for months insisted that Texas, with its 38 electoral votes, is among the traditionally conservative states it is looking to flip — though it has been more bullish on other states such as Arizona and North Carolina. Biden’s running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris, is visiting Fort Worth, Houston and the U.S.-Mexico border town of McAllen on Friday, just four days before election day, spending precious time in the state far later in the campaign cycle than any major national Democrat in decades. The news may not be all positive for Democrats, however. The spike in early voting is most apparent in suburban counties around Dallas and in areas outside Austin, especially those south toward San Antonio. One area that has not seen voting rise dramatically, however, is the Rio Grande Valley, where Harris will be. Its population is about 90% Mexican American, and it is among the state’s youngest and fastest-growing areas. In Hidalgo County, which includes McAllen, early voting has only increased by about 1% compared with 2016, despite the extra week to do so — far below the at least 15% increase in nearly every other large Texas county. Not turning out voters there — especially when the rest of the state is shattering records — could spell trouble for Biden as well as MJ Hegar, a Democrat trying to topple long-serving Republican Sen. John Cornyn. The area is solidly Democratic, even if many of its Latino voters tend to be slightly more conservative than many of their counterparts in other parts of Texas or the country. It’s also among the areas in the nation hit hardest by the coronavirus and has seen new cases soar in recent weeks as they have in many parts of the country.

Police who shot Walter Wallace were improperly trained, family says

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-10-30/police-who-shot-wallace-were-improperly-trained-family-says

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. The video also shows Wallace became incapacitated after the first shot of 14 that two officers fired at him, said lawyer Shaka Johnson, describing footage he said police showed him and other members of Wallace’s family before a plan to release it and 911 calls publicly. “I understand he had a knife, but that does not give you carte blanche to execute a man, quite frankly,” Johnson told reporters at a news conference outside Philadelphia City Hall. “What other than death did you intend when you shoot a man — each officer — seven times apiece?” The family does not want the officers, who have not yet been publicly identified, to be charged with murder, Johnson said, because they were improperly trained and didn’t have the right equipment to do their job. The video shows “instant panic” from officers whose training taught them only how to open fire, he said, noting he saw no viable attempt from officers to deescalate the situation. “What you will not see is a man with a knife lunging at anyone that would qualify as a reason to assassinate him,” Johnson said. The mayor’s office said in a news release late Thursday that the body cam footage and the 911 audio would be released publicly by the end of next week. Police also faced rebuke from Philadelphia leaders as the anguished city bemoaned the department’s response to a year of extraordinary, and sometimes violent, civil unrest. The City Council, joining leaders of other cities, voted to block police from using tear gas, rubber bullets or pepper spray on peaceful protesters after hearing hours of testimony from people injured or traumatized by them, including a group hit with tear gas as they were corralled near a highway overpass. “It was undisciplined, it was indiscriminate and it hurt a lot of people,” said Council Member Helen Gym, who introduced the bill. The moves follow days of protests, store break-ins and ATM thefts after the death of Wallace, a Black man, that led the mayor to lock down the city Wednesday night with an overnight curfew. The family had called Monday for both medical services and police, but only the latter arrived, lawyer Shaka Johnson said. Less than 30 seconds into the encounter, Wallace was dead, felled by a blast of 14 bullets, he said. Police have said the two officers fired after Wallace ignored orders to drop a knife. Wallace’s mother and wife were outside, shouting to police about his mental health problems, Johnson said. In a news conference Wednesday, Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw lamented the lack of a behavioral health unit in a department she joined only this year. She pledged to address that need and also told the council that she supports the goal of their bill, which she said aligns with current police policy. Mayor Jim Kenney also supports the ban in principle but wants to review it before signing it into law, a spokesman said. The city had a strong record of accommodating protesters in recent years, until the Black Lives Matter protests erupted in the city May 30, following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Chaos and violent clashes ensued and broke out anew this week after Wallace’s death in a predominantly Black section of west Philadelphia. “The unjustified shooting of Walter Wallace Jr. this week has our city both raging and grieving, but also extraordinarily purposeful about taking action,” Gym said. Several other cities across the U.S. have debated or enacted similar measures to limit the use of chemical sprays and rubber bullets against protesters. Meanwhile, U.S. Attorney William McSwain, who was appointed by President Trump, announced charges Thursday against a Philadelphia social studies teacher and three others for their alleged roles in the torching of two police cruisers during the May 30 protests. According to McSwain, 29-year-old teacher Anthony Smith and two others put “combustible materials” into a cruiser near City Hall that was already on fire. Another man was charged separately with setting fire to a second cruiser. Smith helped organize the Philadelphia Coalition for Racial and Economic Legal Justice, known locally as Philly for REAL Justice. Smith’s lawyer, Paul Hetznecker, noted the arrest came five months after the incident and five days before “the most important presidential election of our time.”