(11-23-2020, 09:14 AM)kyonides Wrote:

California's Covid curfew to begin

US cases hit 12-million mark

Forbes Wrote:The Newsom family’s quarantining comes less than a week after the governor publicly apologized for a controversial lavish dinner at the French Laundry restaurant which appeared to violate the state’s Covid-19 restrictions.

Forbes Wrote:After Newsom previously described the event as an “outside” dinner between friends, photos and details that emerged after-the-fact showed 10 people from five different households in a room with three enclosed walls and one sliding glass door open to the outside.

13 agencies that refuse to enforce California's Curfew
El Paso Police to enforce County Judge Orders to limit businesses
Some New York Sheriffs refuse the order

Washington Post Wrote:The AstraZeneca candidate was 70 percent effective on average, with up to 90 percent efficacy in a smaller group that got a lower dosage. Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech and Moderna have each reported vaccines that were 95 percent effective in clinical trials. Different trial designs make direct comparison complicated, but even with somewhat lower protection, the AstraZeneca vaccine may be a more realistic option for much of the world, as it is likely to be less expensive and does not need to be stored at subzero temperatures.

Stay away from Russia then

BBC Wrote:Russian police have raided the Jehovah's Witnesses nationwide and made arrests in a new criminal case against the banned Christian-based group.
The Investigative Committee (SK) posted a video on YouTube showing SK men in balaclavas breaking into a flat and seizing piles of foreign currency.
The SK - which operates like the FBI - said "conspiratorial meetings" had been held at a Moscow flat since June 2019.
In 2017 Russia's Supreme Court banned the Jehovah's Witnesses as "extremist".

BBC Wrote:Russia says one of its warships caught and chased off a US Navy destroyer after it entered territorial waters in the Sea of Japan on Tuesday.
Moscow accused the USS John S McCain of travelling 2km (1.2 miles) across its maritime border in Peter The Great Gulf and says it threatened to ram the ship.
The US warship then left the area, according to Russia.
However, the US Navy denied any wrongdoing and said its ship had not been "expelled".
The incident took place on Tuesday in the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea, a body of water bordered by Japan, Russia and the Koreas.

Spokesman for the US Navy\s 7th Fleet Lt Joe Keiley Wrote:USS John S McCain was not 'expelled' from any nation's territory.
The US would never bow in intimidation or be coerced into accepting illegitimate maritime claims, such as those made by the Russian Federation.

BBC Wrote:Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has joined a growing list of public figures targeted by pranksters posing as climate activist Greta Thunberg.
Audio of Mr Trudeau speaking to an accomplice of pranksters Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexey Stolyarov in January has been released by the pair.
The prime minister apparently fielded questions from the fake Ms Thunberg, on Nato, world peace and Donald Trump.
"This is not the first prank call of a world leader," his office said.
"The Prime Minister determined the call was fake and promptly ended it," Mr Trudeau's office said in a statement.
Taking the increasingly strange comments in stride, Mr Trudeau applauded the fake Ms Thunberg for her "perspective" and "passionate words".

BBC Wrote:On a busy Monday afternoon in late October, a line of people in reflective vests stood on Happiness Avenue, in downtown Beijing.
Moving slowly and carefully along the pavement, some crouched, others tilted their heads towards the ground, as curious onlookers snapped photos.
It was a performance staged by the artist Deng Yufeng, who was trying to demonstrate how difficult it was to dodge CCTV cameras in the Chinese capital.
By 2018, there were already about 200 million surveillance cameras in China.
And by 2021 this number is expected to reach 560 million, according to the Wall Street Journal, roughly one for every 2.4 citizens.

BBC Wrote:It came after the head of the Roman Catholic Church joined a growing group of international voices, describing the Uighurs as "persecuted" in a new book.
It is believed that the Chinese government has detained up to a million Uighurs in what the state defines as "re-education camps".
In his book Let Us Dream: The Path to A Better Future, Pope Francis writes that "I think often of persecuted peoples: the Rohingya, the poor Uighurs, the Yazidi".

BBC Wrote:The US will slap tariffs on Chinese twist ties, which are commonly used to seal bread bags and tie up cables.
The US said that China has been unfairly subsidising twist ties to the disadvantage of American producers.
This is the first time the US Commerce Department will impose tariffs to reduce the impact of China's currency.
The department said China's undervalued currency makes Chinese twist ties cheaper to US consumers, at the expense of its own producers.

BBC Wrote:A woman has been arrested in the southern Swiss city of Lugano after allegedly injuring two other women in a suspected terror attack at a store.
She attempted to choke one and stabbed another in the neck with a knife before being stopped by shoppers, police say.
One victim is believed to have serious but not life-threatening injuries, while the other was lightly wounded.
The suspect, 28, was known to federal police from an investigation into "jihadist terrorism" back in 2017.

BBC Wrote:US President Donald Trump has pardoned his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.
The president said the widely expected act of clemency was his "Great Honor".
He admitted in 2017 to lying to the FBI about contacts with Russia's envoy, then tried to withdraw his plea.
The White House said on Wednesday that the pardon would finally end "the relentless, partisan pursuit of an innocent man".
Its statement described Mr Flynn as "the victim of partisan government officials engaged in a co-ordinated attempt to subvert the election of 2016".

BBC Wrote:Authorities in Mexico have arrested a key suspect in the killing of nine members of a Mormon community.
Three women and six children, all dual US-Mexican citizens, were driving through the Sonoran desert when they were killed in an ambush last year.
Roberto N is believed to have been the "intellectual architect" of the attack, Mexico's federal attorney-general's office said on Wednesday.
Known as The Mute and The 32, he is a suspected leader of La Línea cartel.
Two other suspects, thought to be members of the same cartel, were also arrested.

New York Post Wrote:California prosecutors say they’ve uncovered a massive scam that allowed convicted killer Scott Peterson and other death row inmates to receive coronavirus unemployment benefits administered by the state, a report said Tuesday.
Investigators found that more than $400,000 in state benefits were paid to death row inmates, including Peterson, who is behind bars at San Quentin State Prison.
More than $140 million was sent to other inmates in California’s 38 prisons, said Sacramento County DA Anne Marie Schubert, who helped lead a task force that discovered the alleged racket.

(11-24-2020, 06:07 AM)DerVVulfman Wrote:

3rd Major Covid-19 Vaccine by AstraZenica!

Washington Post Wrote:The AstraZeneca candidate was 70 percent effective on average, with up to 90 percent efficacy in a smaller group that got a lower dosage. Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech and Moderna have each reported vaccines that were 95 percent effective in clinical trials. Different trial designs make direct comparison complicated, but even with somewhat lower protection, the AstraZeneca vaccine may be a more realistic option for much of the world, as it is likely to be less expensive and does not need to be stored at subzero temperatures.

NY Post Wrote:The UK drugmaker and its partner, Oxford University, admitted — after reporting its vaccine tested up to 90 percent effective — that the promising results came after a batch of volunteers were accidentally given half doses. The efficacy of the vaccine was significantly lower at 62 percent for those who received the correctly administered two full doses.

Justice Neil Gorsuch Wrote:It is time — past time — to make plain that, while the pandemic poses many grave challenges, there is no world in which the Constitution tolerates color-coded executive edicts that reopen liquor stores and bike shops but shutter churches, synagogues and mosques.

BBC Wrote:Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed says government forces are now "fully in control" of Mekelle, the capital of the northern Tigray region.
He said the army had entered the city in the "last phase" of the conflict with the Tigray People's Liberation Front - but details are hard to confirm as there is a communications blackout.
The TPLF leader vowed to "fight... to the last" in a statement to Reuters.
Hundreds have reportedly been killed in the conflict and thousands displaced.

The Guardian Wrote:Ethiopian officials say police and soldiers have launched a manhunt for the leaders of the ruling party in Tigray, a day after announcing federal troops had taken over the capital of the restive northern region and military operations were complete.
Humanitarian workers said the city of Mekelle, which fell to federal forces with almost no resistance on Saturday, was quiet but that hospitals were struggling to treat hundreds of injured.

Rebel Leader Debretsion Gebremichael Wrote:Their brutality can only add [to] our resolve to fight these invaders to the last.
Certainly. This is about defending our right to self-determination.

BBC Wrote:A mysterious metal monolith discovered last week in the desert in the US state of Utah has disappeared, officials say.
Utah's Bureau of Land Management said it had seen credible reports the object had been removed "by an unknown party".
Social media images apparently from the site show a pile of rocks and a small piece of metal left behind.
The discovery of the 12ft (3.7m) high object sparked a national guessing game as to how it got there, and saw dozens of people pay a visit in recent days.
The strange metal object was first spotted on 18 November by a helicopter crew counting big horn sheep from the air, in a remote south-eastern area of Utah.

BBC Wrote:Argentine prosecutors are investigating Diego Maradona's doctor for possible manslaughter following the footballing legend's death four days ago.
Police in Buenos Aires have searched the house and private clinic of Leopoldo Luque as they try to establish if there was negligence in Maradona's treatment following surgery.
Dr Luque has not been charged. He denies any wrongdoing.

BBC Wrote:Japan's Crown Prince Fumihito said he "approves" of his daughter's long-postponed plans to marry her university boyfriend, media reports say.
Princess Mako was originally set to wed non-royal Kei Komuro in 2018, a year after they announced their engagement.
The palace later denied the delay was linked to his mother's rumoured financial problems.
However, the prince reiterated the money issues must be dealt with first, according to Kyodo news agency.

BBC Wrote:Australia has demanded China apologise for posting a fake picture on a government Twitter account that depicted an Australian soldier murdering an Afghan child.
In a televised address, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Beijing should be "utterly ashamed" for sharing the "repugnant" image.
It comes amid escalating political tensions between the two countries.
The image referred to alleged war crimes by some Australian soldiers.
On Monday, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Lijian Zhao posted a doctored image which portrayed an Australian soldier with a bloody knife next to a child. The child is seen holding a lamb.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported the image appeared to be a reference to unsubstantiated rumours that elite Australian soldiers used knives to murder two Afghan teenagers. However, the inquiry found no evidence to support the rumours.

BBC Wrote:China has introduced tough new laws which restrict the export of "controlled items".
The rules primarily focus on the export of military technologies and other products that might harm China's national security.
The export controls are widely believed to be in response to similar actions by the US.
TikTok, Huawei and Tencent are among the casualties of Washington's Chinese technology crackdown.

National University of Singapore Visiting Professor Alex Capri Wrote:The other thing I find really interesting is China has placed AI and algorithms under these export controls.
This was prompted by the US ban on TikTok. The Chinese government does not want to share this AI.

BBC Wrote:Exporters must apply for a license in order to export any item listed on a control list or subject to temporary controls.
Data associated with the controlled items is also covered by the law.
The law imposes penalties of ten times the value of the offending transaction up to $760,000 (£569,000).
It also allows for the punishment of overseas organisations or individuals, suggesting Beijing might attempt to use it to restrict the sale of sensitive technology globally.
Rare earth
Prices for rare earth minerals have increased in anticipation that the law could affect their export.

The Guardian Wrote:Agriculture ministry drawn in to row after state media prompts backlash with claims that China leads global kimchi industry
Social media users in China and South Korea are embroiled in another row, this time over the provenance of kimchi, the fermented cabbage dish that most people recognise as an essential part of the Korean diet.
Not, though, in China, where state media have sparked an online backlash after one of the country’s fermented dishes received certification from the International Organisation for Standardisation [ISO].
ISO status, the Global Times newspaper reported, was an “international standard for the kimchi industry led by China”.

South Korean Agriculture Minister Wrote:It is inappropriate to report (pao cai winning the ISO) without differentiating between kimchi from pao cai from Sichuan.

AP Wrote:The five Olympic rings are back in Tokyo Bay.
They were removed for maintenance four months ago shortly after the Tokyo Olympics were postponed until next year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The rings arrived on Tuesday after a short cruise from nearby Yokohama and are positioned on a barge in the shadow on Tokyo’s Rainbow Bridge.
The rings will be lighted at night and herald the coming of the Tokyo Olympics, which are to open on July 23, 2021, followed by the Paralympics on Aug. 24.

BBC Wrote:Iran believes Israel and an exiled opposition group used a remote-control weapon to shoot dead top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh on Friday.
Security chief Ali Shamkhani said the attackers had "used electronic equipment" when Fakhrizadeh's car was fired on east of the capital Tehran.
He was speaking at the funeral of the scientist Israel accused of secretly helping to develop nuclear weapons.
Israel has not publicly commented on the allegations of its involvement.
In the early 2000s, Fakhrizadeh played a crucial role in Iran's nuclear programme but the government insists its nuclear activities are entirely peaceful.

BBC Wrote:French politicians say they will totally rewrite part of a controversial security bill amid national outrage over a police assault on a black man.
There were huge protests across France on Saturday against Article 24 of the bill, which aims to regulate how people share film or photos of police.
There are fears the new law could stop people exposing police brutality.
Four policemen are now under criminal investigation over the beating of black music producer Michel Zecler in Paris.
The assault happened at his studio earlier this month and the video surfaced last week.

BBC Wrote:France's Muslim Council is due to meet President Emmanuel Macron this week, to confirm the text of a new "charter of Republican values" for imams in the country to sign.
The Council (CFCM), which represents nine separate Muslim associations, has reportedly been asked to include in the text recognition of France's Republican values, rejection of Islam as a political movement and a ban on foreign influence.
The plan is for the CFCM to create a register of imams in France, each of whom would sign up to the Charter, in return for accreditation.

BBC Wrote:Facebook and Google have aided the Vietnamese government in censoring criticism and repressing dissent, says rights group Amnesty.
In a new report, the group accuses the tech giants of "far-reaching complicity" by blocking content deemed critical of authorities.
Vietnam has a reputation for restricting freedom of speech.
In recent years several bloggers have been jailed for publishing articles critical of the Communist state.

BBC Wrote:The city, often claimed as Germany's oldest, is the now latest to experience a horrific and fatal incident involving a vehicle and pedestrians so close to Christmas.
A car has ploughed through a pedestrian area in the western German city of Trier, killing four people including a nine-month-old baby, police say.
The driver, a 51-year-old local man, has been arrested. The prosecutor said the suspect had drunk a significant amount of alcohol.
Authorities said they were not working on the assumption that the incident was politically or religiously motivated.
The city's mayor described the scene as "horrible".
Witnesses said people screamed in panic and some were thrown in the air by an SUV travelling at high speed in Trier's Brotstrasse and Simeonstrasse streets towards the city's famous Roman gate, the Porta Nigra.
Initial indications "suggest that psychiatric problems possibly played a role", prosecutor Peter Fritzen told reporters.

BBC Wrote:China has accused Australia of trying to "deflect public attention" from alleged war crimes by its soldiers in Afghanistan after Canberra expressed outrage over a "repugnant" tweet.
Beijing has now said that Australia was trying to "blame China for the worsening of bilateral ties".

Chinese Embassy in Australia Wrote:The accusations made are simply to serve two purposes. One is to deflect public attention from the horrible atrocities by certain Australian soldiers. The other is to blame China for the worsening of bilateral ties. There may be another attempt to stoke domestic nationalism.
It's our advice that the Australian side face up to the crimes committed by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan, hold those perpetrators accountable and bring justice to the victims

BBC Wrote:Mr Trudeau and Conservative opposition leader Erin O'Toole both made comments this week expressing concern over India's response to the demonstrations.
"Canada will always be there to defend the right of peaceful protest," Mr Trudeau said on Monday.
Thousands of farmers have travelled to Delhi to protest agricultural reforms.
Protesters were met last week with barricades at Delhi's border and clashes erupted between farmers and police.
Photos and video of the encounters show scenes of authorities deploying tear gas and water cannons to stop the farmers from entering the city.
Farmers are now being escorted by police to a protest site where they are expected to continue demonstrating against the reforms, which will open the farming sector to private players.

Canadian PM Trudeau Wrote:We're all very worried about family and friends. We believe in the importance of dialogue and that's why we've reached out through multiple means directly to the Indian authorities to highlight our concerns.

Indian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava Wrote:Such comments are unwarranted, especially when pertaining to the internal affairs of a democratic country. It is also best that diplomatic conversations are not misrepresented for political purposes.

Really?  Big freakin whoop. Inspectors were Denied Access to Iran Scientists in 2015, and Iran Denied Access to Missile Sites in 2017 before Trump cancelled the deal. Iran broke it first. This, especially since2018 Documents Stolen from Tehran likely prompted why Trump exited the deal.

Dr Anthony Fauci Wrote:Our process is one that takes more time than it takes in the UK. And that's just the reality.  I did not mean to imply any sloppiness even though it came out that way.

BBC Wrote:Mystery illness suffered by US diplomats in Cuba was most likely caused by directed microwave radiation, a US government report has found.
The report by the National Academies of Sciences does not attribute blame for the directed energy waves.
But it said research into the effects of pulsed radio frequency energy was carried out by the Soviet Union more than 50 years ago.
The illnesses first affected people at the US embassy in Havana in 2016-17.
Staff and some of their relatives complained of symptoms ranging from dizziness, loss of balance, hearing loss, anxiety and something they described as "cognitive fog". It became known as "Havana syndrome".
The US accused Cuba of carrying out "sonic attacks", which it strongly denied, and the incident led to increased tension between the two nations.
A 2019 US academic study found "brain abnormalities" in the diplomats who had fallen ill, but Cuba dismissed the report.
Canada also cut its embassy staff in Cuba after at least 14 of its citizens reported similar symptoms.

BBC Wrote:Officials in India are investigating the cause of an unidentified illness which led to more than 140 people being admitted to hospital over the weekend.
The patients, from Eluru in Andhra Pradesh, had a wide range of symptoms from nausea to fits and falling unconscious, doctors said.
Local media said the patients had taken coronavirus tests, all of which were negative.
A medical officer at Eluru Government Hospital told The Indian Express: "The people who fell sick, especially the children, suddenly started vomiting after complaining of burning eyes. Some of them fainted or suffered bouts of seizures".
Many of those taken to hospital recovered and were quickly discharged.
Andhra Pradesh Health Minister Alla Kali Krishna Srinivas said that blood samples did not find any evidence of a viral infection.

BBC Wrote:Venezuelans have been voting in legislative elections that are set to hand socialist President Nicolás Maduro control of the only official body still controlled by the opposition.
Most opposition parties are boycotting the polls for the National Assembly.
The boycott is being led by opposition leader Juan Guaidó who has been in a two-year power struggle with Mr Maduro.
The Organization of American States (OAS) has also said it will not recognise the result.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has described Sunday's poll as "a fraud and a sham".

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Wrote:The results announced by the illegitimate Maduro regime will not reflect the will of the Venezuelan people.

BBC Wrote:Large parts of the US state of California are facing a strict new lockdown, as Covid-19 cases surge across the state and the country.
More than half of the state's 40 million people will be subject to a stay-at-home order, as announced by Governor Gavin Newsom on Thursday.
Many businesses will be closed, and people will be banned from meeting anyone outside their household.
The order was triggered by intensive care capacity in hospitals shrinking.
The southern part of the state and its central valley will be the first areas to come under the new restrictions, at 23:59 local time on Sunday (07:59 GMT on Monday).
Other areas could follow within days. San Francisco will have its own local lockdown also starting on Sunday.

BBC Wrote:President Donald Trump says his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani has tested positive for Covid-19.
The president wrote in a tweet: "Get better soon Rudy, we will carry on!"
Mr Giuliani, who has been leading the Trump campaign's legal challenges to the 2020 election results, is the latest person in the president's inner circle to be infected.
Mr Giuliani, 76, has been taken to the Medstar Georgetown University Hospital in Washington DC, according to US media reports.