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Fresh news

Nigeria unrest: Protesters 'shot dead' in Lagos
A witness tells the BBC he counted about 20 dead bodies after soldiers opened fire in Lagos.

Wed, 21 Oct 2020 06:33:12 GMT

Many thorny global situations hinge on US election outcome
Four years after Donald Trump’s election reframed how many nations interacted with the United States, the way that the world’s foremost superpower moves forward after its presidential election stands to impact many geopolitical pressure points — whether the victor turns out to be Trump or his Democratic challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden. From Iran to Cuba, from China to Israel, American involvement and influence on the international stage has evolved sharply since Trump took office in 2017.

Wed, 21 Oct 2020 06:04:10 GMT

With cakes, solitary Sabbaths sweetened for older Israelis
For thousands of older Israelis like Sara Weinsten, being housebound alone during the country's second nationwide lockdown is difficult and depressing. “Loneliness brings back the past, and it's hard,” said Weinsten, an 85-year-old Holocaust survivor who lives in the central Israeli town of Yavne. Israel imposed its second nationwide lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic on Sept. 18, to rein in one of the highest infection rates per capita in the world.

Wed, 21 Oct 2020 05:55:27 GMT

World trade rebounding slowly, outlook uncertain: U.N. report
The value of global trade is set to fall by 7% to 9% in 2020 from the previous year, despite signs of a fragile rebound led by China in the third quarter, a United Nations report said on Wednesday. No region was spared by an estimated 19% year-on-year plunge in world trade in the second quarter, as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted economies, the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said. Global trade recovered somewhat in the third quarter, when it was estimated at about 4.5% less than in the same period a year ago, the agency said in its latest update.

Wed, 21 Oct 2020 05:06:35 GMT

Many thorny global situations hinge on US election outcome
Four years after Donald Trump's election reframed how many nations interacted with the United States, the way that the world's foremost superpower moves forward after its presidential election stands to impact many geopolitical pressure points — whether the victor turns out to be Trump or his Democratic challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden. From Iran to Cuba, from China to Israel, American involvement and influence on the international stage has evolved sharply since Trump took office in 2017.

Wed, 21 Oct 2020 05:02:11 GMT

Trump Is Making Sudan’s Comeback Harder

Wed, 21 Oct 2020 05:00:07 GMT

World trade rebounding slowly, outlook uncertain - UN report

Wed, 21 Oct 2020 05:00:01 GMT

Barrett was trustee at private school with anti-gay policies
Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett served for nearly three years on the board of private Christian schools that effectively barred admission to children of same-sex parents and made it plain that openly gay and lesbian teachers weren’t welcome in the classroom. The policies that discriminated against LGBTQ people and their children were in place for years at Trinity Schools Inc., both before Barrett joined the board in 2015 and during the time she served. The three schools, in Indiana, Minnesota and Virginia, are affiliated with People of Praise, an insular community rooted in its own interpretation of the Bible, of which Barrett and her husband have been longtime members.

Wed, 21 Oct 2020 04:19:33 GMT

Growing NKorean nuclear threat awaits US election winner
WASHINGTON (AP) — “Where’s the war?” That’s how President Donald Trump defends his North Korea policy at campaign rallies even though he’s joined the list of U.S. presidents unable to stop the ever-growing nuclear threat from Kim Jong Un. Despite Trump’s three meetings with Kim, the North Korean leader is expanding his arsenal. Arms experts said the missile could possibly fire multiple nuclear warheads at the United States.

Wed, 21 Oct 2020 04:13:19 GMT

Trump tends to his electoral map, Biden prepping for debate
President Donald Trump is hopping from one must-win stop on the electoral map to the next in the leadup to a final presidential debate that may be his last, best chance to alter the trajectory of the 2020 campaign. Democrat Joe Biden has been taking the opposite approach, holing up for debate prep in advance of Thursday's faceoff in Nashville. Trump, trailing in polls in most battleground states, stopped in Pennsylvania on Tuesday and was bound for North Carolina on Wednesday as he delivers what his campaign sees as his closing message.

Wed, 21 Oct 2020 04:09:37 GMT

UNDP Hydrogen Industry Conference 2020 Kicks off in Foshan, China
On the morning of October 19, the four-day UNDP Hydrogen Industry Conference 2020 opened in Foshan, China. This conference is under the guidance of the United Nations Development Program and the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China, co-sponsored by UNDP China and China Automotive Technology and Research Center Co., Ltd., and fully supported by the People's Governments of Foshan Municipality and Nanhai District of Foshan.

Wed, 21 Oct 2020 04:06:00 GMT

Think tank urges China to release Canadian employee

Wed, 21 Oct 2020 04:05:15 GMT

India releases Chinese soldier who crossed border 'while looking for lost yak'
India has released a Chinese soldier its military had detained near the remote, mountainous border it shares with China, a sign that tensions are subsiding after deadly skirmishes over the summer threatened to tip into a bigger conflict. The soldier, identified by the Indian army as Corporal Wang Ya Long, was returned to China on Wednesday morning, according to Chinese state media. He had inadvertently crossed over the border to India on Sunday while helping local herdsmen search for lost yak, according to China’s foreign ministry. China has not provided further details on the incident or clarified how the soldier was separated from other troops. India and China have stationed tens of thousands of soldiers and sent hoards of equipment including tanks, artillery and fighter jets, hunkering down for difficult winter conditions along the high-altitude disputed border region. Tensions have simmered for decades over the frontier, peaking in June when Chinese and Indian soldiers engaged in hand-to-hand combat with clubs and stones. India reported 20 casualties; China is also believed to have lost soldiers, but has not disclosed details. Following the bloody brawls, China detained at least 10 Indian soldiers who were returned three days later after intense military and diplomatic negotiations. Then, in early September, Indian and Chinese officials accused each other of firing warning shots, breaking a longstanding agreement not to use firearms along the disputed border. Both Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping also used the border conflicts to stir up nationalist fervour, making it difficult for either side to back down. But in efforts to deescalate tensions, officials from both sides began meeting for talks that for now seem to have put a pin in further violence. Chinese state media on Wednesday said India’s return of the Chinese soldier was “a positive sign” ahead of an eighth round of talks scheduled for this week. Before returning the Chinese soldier, the Indian army said he had “been provided medical assistance including oxygen, food and warm clothes to protect him from the vagaries of extreme altitude and harsh climatic conditions.”

Wed, 21 Oct 2020 04:00:43 GMT

Russia calls for collective security in Gulf, US blames Iran
Russia’s foreign minister called for collective efforts Tuesday to prevent a large-scale war in the Persian Gulf and got strong support from all Security Council members except the United States, which called Iran the major culprit and urged that it be held accountable for supporting terrorists and destabilizing the region. Sergey Lavrov told a high-level virtual council meeting that a worst case scenario was avoided earlier this year following the U.S. killing of Iran’s top general, Qassem Soleimani, and warned that “the situation remains fragile and could become dangerous and unpredictable again.”

Wed, 21 Oct 2020 02:47:04 GMT

Trump and the strongmen: how US leader fell for autocrats
He "fell in love" with Kim Jong Un, praises Vladimir Putin and calls Recep Tayyip Erdogan "a friend": President Donald Trump's flattery of autocrats has confounded US allies and raised questions about his regard for democratic norms.

Wed, 21 Oct 2020 02:45:40 GMT

.7 bln pledged in aid to save Sahel from 'breaking point'
International donors agreed Tuesday to give .7 billion in humanitarian aid to the central Sahel, after the United Nations said the northern African region plagued by violence and climate change was at "breaking point".

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 23:08:13 GMT

Passion Fruit Concentrate Market Forecast to 2027 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis by Source and End Use
The global passion fruit concentrate market was valued at US$ 464. 57 million in 2019 and is projected to reach US$ 668. 83 million by 2027; it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4. 7% from 2020 to 2027.New York, Oct. 20, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Passion Fruit Concentrate Market Forecast to 2027 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis by Source and End Use" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p05978098/?utm_source=GNW Passion fruit is a tropical nutritious fruit that grows in warm climates.It is majorly cultivated in South America, Africa, and other regions. Passion fruit concentrate is processed from ripe passion fruit to retain the characteristic flavor and color of the whole fruit.Passion fruit concentrate is an affordable alternative to fresh passion fruits. Passion fruit concentrates have more shelf life and are convenient for consumers who do not have access to fresh passion fruits.Passion fruit concentrate offer nutrients that reduce inflammation and promote healthy skin. Moreover it is affordable than packaged passion fruit juice and doesn’t spoil easily. As passion fruit concentrate is rich in antioxidants, which helps mop up harmful free radicals from the human body, it is gaining momentum among health conscious consumers. Additionally, growing urbanization, changing lifestyles, hectic schedules, busy and fast life as well as rising disposable income are fueling the demand for convenience foods. Passion fruit concentrate is convenient and easy to consume as it does not require laborious peeling and cutting, thereby saving the time of consumers. Hence, the advantages offered by passion fruit concentrate coupled with its health benefits is improving its momentum among consumers, thereby amplifying the market growth. Based on source, the passion fruit concentrate market is segmented into organic and conventional.The conventional segment accounted for the largest share of the global passion fruit concentrate market in 2019; whereas, the organic segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. Conventional methods of growing passion fruit include the use of a variety of chemical pesticides, fertilizers, and weed killers that can harm human health.Conventional passion fruits concentrates are derived from the conventionally grown passion fruits. It contains high amount of potassium and other elements.The plant should be sprayed with dimphite, a type of liquid potassium phosphate fertilizer which promotes the good fruit set; increased fruit size, and prevents the hollowness by filling flesh in the fruits. Biodistinction Xtra is a premium high concentrated liquid chelated suspension concentrate copper fertilizer that is required to meet the copper deficiency in passion fruits. Passion fruits require fertilizing twice a year after pruning and fruiting. The conventional passion fruit concentrate is rich in vitamin A, C, and minerals such as potassium and iron and contains various cancer-fighting agents such as carotenoids and polyphenols. Geographically, the global passion fruit concentrate market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, South America, and Middle East and Africa.In 2019, Europe held the largest share in the global passion fruit concentrate market, followed by South America and North America. Rest of Europe is dominating the passion fruit concentrate market in Europe region, followed by the UK and Germany.The increasing consumption of passion fruit concentrate is fueled by several factors including the growing baby food segment, fruit beverage applications, and the consumer desire for convenient and faster-to-prepare foods, such as breakfast smoothies. Germany, the Netherlands, France, and the UK offer lucrative opportunities for developing country suppliers.Europe is a base for the leading players who deal with the production and consumption of passion fruit concentrate such as BRITVIC PLC, CO-RO (SUNQUICK CONCENTRATE), and KIRIL MISCHEFF. The increasing competition among the key players has further driven the growth of the passion fruit concentrate market. Supportive and favorable government regulations are stimulating the growth of the market. Moreover, the rising demand for organic passion fruit concentrate is also augmenting the growth of the market. COVID-19 outbreak first began in Wuhan (China) during December 2019, and since then, it has spread at a fast pace across the world.As of August 2020, India, China, Brazil, Italy, Iran, Spain, Republic of Korea, France, Germany, and the US are some of the worst affected countries in terms of confirmed cases and reported deaths. According to the latest WHO figures, there are ~25,118,689 confirmed cases and ~844,312 total deaths globally.The COVID-19 outbreak has been affecting economies and industries in various countries due to lockdowns, travel bans, and business shutdowns. The global food & beverage industry is one of the major industries that are suffering serious disruptions such as supply chain breaks, technology events cancellations, office shutdowns, etc. as a result of this outbreak. Due to the global pandemic crisis and the indefinite lockdown across nations, the food & beverage industry witnessed high demand for household staples, healthy food items, and food products with longer shelf lives. Owing to the fear of scarcity, the populace started to buy huge amounts of shelf?stable and processed food. This panic buying has positively affected the demand for fruit concentrates. However, supply chains are facing severe challenges. Lack of enough workers to harvest crops and international logistics has become expensive and inefficient. The logistics sector encountered problems in finding enough truck drivers, the restrictions on sea transporters, and a lack of air freight, which is a major problem for exporters from developing countries. The changes in consumer buying behavior, food habits, and the significant shifts towards online distribution channels are expected to have serious implications on the growth of the passion fruit concentrate market during the forecast period. Britvic plc, Ceres Fruit Juices Pty Ltd, CO-RO A/S (Sunquick Concentrate), Dafruta, Ingredion Incorporated, Kiril Mischeff Group Ltd, Passi AG, Planters Treasure Enterprises Private Limited, Quicornac S.A., and The Perfect Purée of Napa Valley are among the players present in the global passion fruit concentrate market. Overall size of the global passion fruit concentrate market has been derived using primary and secondary sources.The research process begins with exhaustive secondary research using internal and external sources to obtain qualitative and quantitative information related to the global passion fruit concentrate market. Also, multiple primary interviews were conducted with industry participants and commentators in order to validate and analyze the data. The participants who take part in such a process include industry experts such as VPs, business development managers, market intelligence managers, national sales managers, and external consultants such as valuation experts, research analysts, and key opinion leaders specializing in the global passion fruit concentrate market. Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05978098/?utm_source=GNW About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. __________________________ CONTACT: Clare: clare@reportlinker.com US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 23:01:00 GMT

Intel Officers 'Terrified' Of Briefing Trump On Russia Because He Would 'Explode': Report
"He'll explode and the whole thing will get derailed, because he has this weird affinity for Putin," a former national security officer said.

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 22:07:46 GMT

Nigeria protests: Millions placed under curfew as violence spreads
Curfews are extended beyond the city of Lagos as anti-riot officers struggle to control protests.

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 20:36:37 GMT

Beheading in France could bolster president's claim that Islam is in 'crisis' – but so is French secularism
A French high school teacher who had shown caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad to his class was beheaded on Oct. 16 by an 18-year-old Muslim refugee in what France’s President Emmanuel Macron characterized as an “Islamist terrorist attack.”The killing is the latest high-profile attack by a Muslim extremist in France, coming after the 2015 massacre at Charlie Hebdo magazine and the 2016 truck attack in Nice. It also occurred two weeks after Macron gave a controversial speech defining Islam as “a religion that is in crisis today all over the world.”France, which colonized many Muslim-majority territories in Africa and the Levant in the 19th and 20th centuries, such as Algeria and Mali, has Western Europe’s largest Muslim minority – 6 million people, or 9% of its population. Macron’s Oct. 2 speech outlined a legislative proposal to fight “Islamist separatism.” If passed in Parliament, it would essentially ban home-schooling of all children aged 3 and up and prevent foreign-trained imams from leading French mosques. The goal, said the president, is “to build an Islam in France that can be compatible with the Enlightenment.” Macron’s analysis concludes, simply, that Islam is somehow at odds with modern Western society. But my research on state secularism and religion shows that the reality is much more complicated. French versus American secularismFrench secularism, which is embraced by both the progressive left and the Islamophobic right, goes well beyond the American democratic concept of separating religion and state. Called “laïcité,” it essentially excludes religious symbols from public institutions. France has banned Muslim women’s headscarves in schools and outlawed religious face coverings everywhere. There are no such bans in the United States.While both America and France have ongoing debates about “Islamic fundamentalism” and “Muslim terrorists” and views that can be defined as Islamophobic and have some popular support, American democracy generally provides better opportunities for the integration of various religious groups. In France, the Constitution defines the state only as secular, without delineating the boundaries of that secularism. In the United States, the First Amendment restricts the secular state’s engagement with religion, saying the government can neither establish a religion nor prohibit a religion’s free exercise. It would be difficult for the U.S. to announce, as Macron did, a state-sponsored project to “forge a type of Enlightenment Islam.”Indeed, 11 years before Macron voiced his provocative view, U.S. President Barack Obama gave a famous speech on Islam in Egypt in 2009, attempting to reset the relationship between America and the Muslim world.Emphasizing Muslims’ contributions to American society, Obama said, “It is important for Western countries to avoid impeding Muslim citizens from practicing religion as they see fit – for instance, by dictating what clothes a Muslim woman should wear.”Obama’s speech reflected an idealized American melting pot, a place where hyphenated identities like Muslim-American are common. French secularism sees no hyphenated identities – only French or Not French. Islam and the secular stateSome in France also see this rigid secularism as unequal to the challenges of multiculturalism and migration. The eminent scholar Jean Bauberot, for example, defends a more “pluralistic secularism” – one that tolerates certain religious symbols in public institutions. France has in fact made many exceptions for Catholics. The government provides substantial public funding to private Catholic schools, which educate about a quarter of all K-12 students, and six of 11 official holidays in France are Catholic holidays. Too often, laïcité translates into an unwillingness to accommodate the religiously based demands of Muslims. In 2015, a Muslim advocacy organization sued a municipal authority in France’s Burgundy region for refusing to offer an alternative to pork in public school cafeterias. The court compelled the town to reverse its policy, but not because it violated religious freedom. The court found the menu violated the children’s rights.France’s founding commitment to equality under the law likewise forestalls meaningful social debate on racial discrimination; its census does not even collect information on race. Although France’s biggest minority is mostly composed of nonwhite Muslim immigrants from its former colonies in Africa and their descendents, Macron’s speech referenced only in passing to French colonialism.[Expertise in your inbox. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter and get expert takes on today’s news, every day.] BlasphemyThat said, I find some truth in Macron’s speech. But the “crisis” facing Islam lies in the historical and political failings of the Muslim world, not in the religion itself.As my 2019 book, “Islam, Authoritarianism, and Underdevelopment,” documents, many Muslim countries like Egypt, Iran and Saudi Arabia have long-lasting authoritarian regimes and chronic underdevelopment. In 32 of the world’s 49 Muslim-majority countries, blasphemy laws punish people who speak sacrilegiously about sacred things; in six countries, blasphemy is a capital offense. These laws, which block freedom of expression, are more rooted in the interests of the conservative clergy and authoritarian rulers than in the Islamic faith, my research shows. They actually contradict several Quranic verses that urge Muslims not to coerce or retaliate against people of other faiths. Still, in Western countries where Muslims are a minority, extremists occasionally take it upon themselves to punish those who, in their view, mock the Prophet Muhammad. That has caused global controversies over cartoons and movies. At times, in France and beyond, it has led to an unacceptable outcome: murder.Such killings, whether perpetrated by the state or by individuals, are tragedies. But to frame them as a purely religious problem ignores the socioeconomic and political origins of Islamic blasphemy laws, and the anti-democratic cultural consequences of authoritarianism in many Muslim countries. It also overlooks the difficult reality that social alienation is an underlying factor in the radicalization of some young Muslims in the West. Multiple secularisms, multiple IslamsMacron’s speech made some gestures toward greater inclusion. “I want France to become a country where we can teach the thoughts of Averreos and Ibn Khaldun,” he said, referencing two eminent Muslim thinkers of the 12th and 14th centuries, and envisioned “a country that excels in the study of Muslim civilizations.” That plural in “civilizations” is meaningful. It acknowledges that Islam is not monolithic. Neither is French secularism. Both are complex systems with varied interpretations. In truth, Macron doesn’t need to “build an Islam in France that can be compatible with the Enlightenment,” because that already exists. Whether French secularism can adapt to Islam is another question.This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Ahmet T. Kuru, San Diego State University.Read more: * Teachers in France, on the front line of defending the values of the Republic * Execution for a Facebook post? Why blasphemy is a capital offense in some Muslim countriesAhmet T. Kuru does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 19:40:32 GMT

Trump ups pressure on Barr to probe Bidens as election nears
President Donald Trump on Tuesday called on Attorney General William Barr to immediately launch an investigation into unverified claims about Democrat Joe Biden and his son Hunter, effectively demanding that the Justice Department muddy his political opponent and abandon its historic resistance to getting involved in elections. With just two weeks to go before Election Day, Trump for the first time explicitly called on Barr to investigate the Bidens and even pointed to the nearing Nov. 3 election as reason that Barr should not delay taking action. Trump has been leveling accusations of corruption against Biden without verified evidence for months, but is stepping up the pressure in the final days of the campaign.

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 19:39:20 GMT

politics latest news lockdown Brexit tier manchester PMQs Boris Johnson sheffield
North East will tell No 10 to 'sod off' if they try to impose Tier 3 Northern cities told they could be next after Manchester Coronavirus latest news: follow updates in our live blog 'Brexit is like moving house' Gove tells business in 'disastrous' call Subscribe to The Telegraph The Government should have imposed Tier 3 restrictions on Greater Manchester "a few days ago" but were unable to because of the stand-off with local leaders, a Cabinet minister has said. Robert Jenrick insisted the situation in the area was "serious and deteriorating", although conceded there was "evidence of [coronavirus] plateauing in the centre of Manchester". Talks took 11 days because the mayor Andy Burnham had been "adamant he had to have a better deal than his neighbours". "We probably in honesty should have acted a few days ago but we hadn't been able to reach an agreement with the mayor of Greater Manchester," he added. Asked why Mr Burnham found out about the £20m deal live on air, the Communities Secretary said "he didn't". Mr Jenrick claimed he had told Andy Burnham at 2pm what Manchester would be receiving, adding: "I am not in the slightest bit interested in point scoring," he added. "I am not interested in showboating or personalities - I am interested in public health....regardless of personalities we will provide [Manchester] the support they deserve." Mr Jenrick said "very productive" conversations have taken place with the mayor of Sheffield Dan Jarvis. "Those discussions are coming to a conclusion this morning, I hope," he said. Follow the latest updates below.

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 19:22:46 GMT

Leaders in US, Europe divided on response to surging virus
Virus cases are surging across Europe and many U.S. states, but responses by leaders are miles apart, with officials in Ireland, France and elsewhere imposing curfews and restricting gatherings even as some U.S. governors resist mask mandates or more aggressive measures. The stark contrasts in efforts to contain infections come as outbreaks on both sides of the Atlantic raise similar alarms, including shrinking availability of hospital beds and rising deaths. Governors of states including Tennessee, Oklahoma, Nebraska and North Dakota are all facing calls from doctors and public health officials to require masks.

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 19:05:47 GMT

Melania Trump nixes campaign trip due to cough from COVID
Melania Trump’s return to the campaign trail will have to wait. The first lady has decided against accompanying President Donald Trump to a campaign rally Tuesday in Erie, Pennsylvania, because of a lingering cough after her bout with COVID-19, said Stephanie Grisham, her chief of staff. It was to be Mrs. Trump's first public appearance since recovering from the coronavirus, as well as her first time out on the campaign trail in more than a year.

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 18:57:36 GMT

Grand juror speaks after judge ruling in Breonna Taylor case
A grand juror in the Breonna Taylor case is speaking out after a Louisville judge cleared the way for the the panel's members to talk publicly about the secretive proceedings. An anonymous grand juror filed suit to speak publicly after Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced last month that no officers would be directly charged in the March shooting death of Taylor during a botched narcotics raid. The grand jury charged one officer with endangering her neighbors.

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 18:56:50 GMT

US spacecraft touches asteroid surface for rare rubble grab
A NASA spacecraft descended to an asteroid Tuesday and, dodging boulders the size of buildings, momentarily touched the surface to collect a handful of cosmic rubble for return to Earth. Confirmation came from the Osiris-Rex spacecraft as it made contact with the surface of the asteroid Bennu more than 200 million miles away. If successful, Osiris-Rex will return the samples in 2023.

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 18:19:31 GMT

British shipbuilding gets boost as new support ships to be built by UK-led teams
UK shipbuilding has been boosted after the Defence Secretary announced that the three new support ships for Royal Navy aircraft carriers will be made by British-led teams. A competition to build the new £1.5 billion Fleet Solid Support vessels to support HMS Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales as part of the Carrier Strike Group, which will undertake its first operational deployment next year, will launch in spring 2021. While it will invite international companies to collaborate with UK firms, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) stressed that the successful manufacturing team must be led by a British company. Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, said: "Shipbuilding has historically been a British success story, and I am determined to revitalise this amazing industry as part of this Government's commitment to build back better. "The Fleet Solid Support warships competition will be the genesis of a great UK shipbuilding industry and allow us to develop the skills and expertise for the shipyards of tomorrow." Lord Admiral Alan West, a former First Sea Lord, said: "I am delighted that the Treasury has at last seen sense and realised that ordering ships offshore is not the best thing either financially or in maintaining skills. This is very good news for British shipbuilding." The announcement comes after The Telegraph revealed that British shipbuilding companies would be favoured for Government contracts under plans being considered by Boris Johnson's defence review. The Integrated Review is understood to be considering changes to EU-derived rules that prevent the UK from prioritising domestic firms as part of a push to boost the UK shipbuilding industry at the end of the post-Brexit transition period.

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 18:07:50 GMT

Aid charities admit they are not doing enough to stop volunteers sexually exploiting vulnerable people
Aid charities have admitted they are not doing enough to prevent their volunteers from assaulting vulnerable people abroad. Representatives from the United Nations children’s fund Unicef and refugee agency UNHCR told Parliament’s international development committee that the organisations must do “much more” to combat sexual abuse attributed to their organisations and partners. More than 50 Congolese women last month alleged that they have been sexually abused or exploited by Ebola aid workers from some of the world’s top humanitarian organisations, including Unicef. Diana Goodman, a senior consultant on protection from sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment at the UNHCR, said the Congo allegations acted as “a stark reminder to all of us of just how much more we need to do.” “We’ve made some progress but still have a way to go in is really promoting a victim-centred approach, putting victims at the centre of what we do,” she said. Unicef has terminated the contracts of six personnel since 2017, but has 30 alleged abuse investigations “ongoing”, said Hannan Sulieman, deputy director of Unicef. “We do not go to seek out individuals because we fear it may expose them,” she said in response to a question on the approach taken by her agency to stop exploitation. Ms Suleiman said Unicef terminates the contracts of its employees and those of partner workers in cases where allegations of sexual assault are verified. The committee also heard from the Charity Commission, which has identified Myanmar and DR Congo as “areas of concern” regarding abuse.

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 17:39:16 GMT

Why Iran is poised to make a comeback ... as a US priority

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 17:23:00 GMT

Israel says it uncovers deep militant tunnel dug from Gaza

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 16:44:51 GMT

The Latest: Trump abruptly ends '60 Minutes' interview
President Donald Trump on Tuesday abruptly ended an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” that is set to air this Sunday. Trump’s interview with Leslie Stahl ended acrimoniously, according to one person familiar with the exchange who was not authorized to discuss it publicly. In a subsequent Twitter message, the president declared his interview with Lesley Stahl to be “FAKE and BIASED” and threatened to release a White House account of the interview before its Sunday airtime.

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 16:27:33 GMT

How Google evolved from 'cuddly' startup to antitrust target
In Google's infancy, co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin reviled Microsoft as a technological bully that ruthlessly abused its dominance of the personal computer software market to choke off competition that could spawn better products. Like Microsoft was 22 years ago, Google is in the crosshairs of a Justice Department lawsuit accusing it of wielding the immense power of its internet search engine as a weapon that has bludgeoned competition and thwarted innovation to the detriment of the billions of people using a stable of market-leading services that includes Gmail, Chrome browser, Android-powered smartphones, YouTube videos and digital maps.

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 16:21:40 GMT

UN urges India government to better protect rights defenders
The U.N. human rights chief on Tuesday urged India’s government to do more to protect human rights defenders, who have come under mounting pressure in recent months in the world’s largest democracy. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet's office pointed to three “problematic” laws in India that have variously tightened restrictions on non-governmental organizations and led to a crackdown on dissent. The comments marked a potent new expression of concern about recent actions from the administration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which views most foreign-funded non-profit organizations and rights groups with suspicion.

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 16:11:55 GMT

Germany to spend €500m upgrading ventilation systems against virus
Germany is to spend €500m (£450m) on upgrading ventilation systems in public buildings to combat the spread of the coronavirus. Schools, universities, public offices and museums will be able to apply for grants of up to €100,000 (£91,000) to retrofit their existing air conditioning or ventilation systems with filters. The coronavirus is chiefly spread by aerosols exhaled by the infected when they sneeze or cough, and a number of new filtration systems have been developed which can stop most of the microscopic droplets. The money is only available for public buildings in which large numbers of people gather, such as school auditoriums and theatres. Germany has something of a national obsession with ventilating rooms and Angela Merkel’s government is promoting the practice as part of the fight against the coronavirus.

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 15:47:16 GMT

UK's Lords condemns Brexit bill as UK-EU talks stay stalled
Britain’s upper house of Parliament delivered a resounding condemnation of the government’s contentious new Brexit legislation on Tuesday, as a standoff continued between the U.K. and the European Union over future trade relations. The House of Lords voted 395-169 to add words to the Internal Market Bill expressing “regret” for the legislation and saying it “would undermine the rule of law and damage the reputation of the United Kingdom.” The bill breaches part of the legally binding Brexit withdrawal agreement by allowing Britain to override key provisions on Northern Ireland, the only part of the U.K. that shares a land border with the EU.

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 15:45:52 GMT

Michel Barnier 'could be in London on Thursday' for Brexit talks
Michel Barnier could be in London for rebooted Brexit negotiations on Thursday, sources in Brussels and the UK suggested amid cautious optimism a free trade agreement can still be struck. The EU’s chief negotiator today tried to convince David Frost to return to the negotiating table, after Boris Johnson declared negotiations “over” last week. Meanwhile the Prime Minister suffered a heavy defeat and Tory peer rebellion in the House of Lords over controversial Brexit legislation that breaks international law. If Mr Barnier was to visit London it would be the most tangible signal since last week that there could still be a deal between the UK and EU. One senior UK Government source said ministers were "hoping to hear more from the EU" before the end of this week. A second source said Mr Barnier could be in London on Thursday. A Brussels source added that Mr Barnier could come on Thursday but "it is not confirmed". After video conference talks with Lord Frost, Mr Barnier tweeted, “We should be making the most out of the little time left. Our door remains open." A Number 10 spokesman said that the two men had a “constructive discussion” and would stay in touch. The trade talks, which stalled on fishing, the level playing field guarantees and the deal’s enforcement, were still on ice, he said. UK sources described the state of talks as “fragile”. “We’re not there yet,” one source said. The Prime Minister declared he was ready to “embrace” no deal on Friday, unless there was a “fundamental change” of approach from the EU. Mr Barnier agreed to UK demands for intensified trade negotiations across all subjects and on the basis of common legal texts on Monday. A Downing St spokesman said that negotiations would only resume if the EU accepted that “movement” in the talks needs to come from the bloc, as well as the UK. The European Commission’s chief spokesman said yesterday (TUES) that both sides would have to compromise to get a deal. “This is a question 101 [a basic question] for students in international negotiations,” he said in Brussels. “I think it’s pretty obvious in order to come to an agreement both sides need to meet. And this is also obviously the case in this negotiation.” The EU has set an end of October deadline for the deal to be finished so there is enough time to ratify it before the end of the transition period on December 31. Brussels has made clear it will never sign a trade deal, if the UK pushes ahead with the Internal Market Bill. Peers yesterday (TUES) fired the opening salvo in a looming battle with the Government over the legislation, which disapplies parts of the Withdrawal Agreement. Members backed a "regret" amendment in the House of Lords by 395 votes to 169, a majority of 226, in a heavy defeat for the Government. The amendment warned contentious clauses involving Northern Ireland "would undermine the rule of law and damage the reputation of the United Kingdom". 39 Conservative peers defied the Government, including Lord Howard, former chancellors Lord Lamont of Lerwick and Lord Clarke of Nottingham, and Theresa May's former chief of staff Lord Barwell. The defeat sets the scene for the likelihood of protracted parliamentary "ping pong", where legislation is passed between the two Houses. The Prime Minister and Michael Gove, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, held a conference call with business chiefs on Tuesday to urge them to prepare for leaving the single market and customs union at the end of the year. With just 10 weeks until the transition finishes, Mr Johnson and Mr Gove told bosses they should be ready for major change regardless of whether there is a deal with Brussels. The bosses told the BBC that it was a "terrible call" and accused the Prime Minister of "being disrespectful" after he told them coronavirus had led to apathy about preparing for the end of the transition period

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 15:41:36 GMT

Bolivia appears to shift back left as Morales party claims victory after election
Arce’s victory is bound to reenergize Latin America’s left, whose economic justice message has appeal as poverty is expected to surge to 37% this year, according to the U.N.

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 15:22:05 GMT

DR Congo jail break: 'Islamist ADF rebels' free 1,300 inmates
The attackers came in large numbers and broke the jail's door, officials say.

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 15:15:20 GMT

Turkey evacuates large military post in northwest Syria

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 14:21:07 GMT

Wisconsin voters line up to cast early in-person ballots
Voters across Wisconsin lined up Tuesday to cast their ballots on the first day of early in-person voting in the presidential battleground state, marking the beginning of the final push to Election Day in two weeks. The campaigns of President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, were encouraging their supporters to vote early in Wisconsin, which Trump won by fewer than 23,000 votes four years ago. Trump held a rally in the southern Wisconsin community of Janesville on Saturday.

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 14:01:55 GMT

Berkshire Hathaway to pay .14 million to settle Iran sanctions violations claims
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc agreed to pay .14 million to settle civil allegations that a Turkish subsidiary committed "egregious" violations of U.S. sanctions against Iran, the U.S. Treasury Department said on Tuesday. The department's Office of Foreign Assets Control said Iscar Turkey sold 144 shipments of cutting tools and related inserts worth 3,443 to two Turkish distributors from December 2012 to January 2016, knowing they would be shipped to a distributor in Iran for resale, including to Iran's government. OFAC said the sales occurred under the direction of some senior managers, after Iscar Turkey's general manager concluded it was "inevitable" that U.S. and European Union sanctions against Iran would be lifted and sought to be "well positioned" to capitalize.

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 13:58:45 GMT

Local Young Leader Selected as a Youth Delegate for the 2020 YOUNGA Forum--Global Takeover of the United Nations
This fall, Jessie Chung from Hong Kong has been selected to represent Family Mask for the inaugural YOUNGA™ Forum. Organized by BridgingTheGap Ventures, this first-of-its-kind virtual global youth takeover of the United Nations is focused on a central theme for 2020—the future youth want, the action we need.

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 13:54:00 GMT

US, Russia appear set to extend last remaining nuclear pact
The United States and Russia inched closer Tuesday to a deal to extend their last remaining arms control pact, after U.S. threats to allow the deal to expire early next year. The two sides signaled they are ready to accept compromises to salvage the New START treaty just two weeks ahead of the U.S. presidential election in which President Donald Trump faces a strong challenge from former Vice President Joe Biden, whose campaign has accused Trump of being soft on Russia.

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 13:44:39 GMT

ING says Brexit deal will be done but no deal risk uncomfortably high

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 12:52:30 GMT

Russian media may be joining China and Iran in turning on Trump
It can be easy to overlook how the rest of the world is making sense of America’s chaotic campaign season. But in many cases, they’re paying attention just as closely as U.S. voters are. After all, who wins the U.S. presidency has implications for countries around the world. Since Sept. 22, we’ve been using machine-learning algorithms to identify the predominant themes in foreign media coverage.How different countries cover the race between Donald Trump and Joe Biden can shed some light on how foreign citizens discern the candidates and the American political process, especially in places that have strict state control of media like China, Russia and Iran. Unlike in the U.S., where there is a cacophony of perspectives, by and large the media in these three countries follow very similar narratives.In 2016, we did the same exercise. Back then, one of the main themes that emerged was the decline of U.S. democracy. With scandal and the disillusionment of voters dominating the headlines, America’s global competitors used the 2016 election to advance their own political narratives about U.S. decline. Some of these themes have emerged in the coverage of the current race. But the biggest difference is their portrayal of Trump. The last election cycle, candidate Trump was an unknown. Although foreign nations acknowledged his political inexperience, they were cautiously optimistic about Trump’s deal-making ability. Russian media outlets were particularly bullish on Trump’s potential. Now, however, the feelings appear to have changed. China, Iran and even Russia seem to crave a return to normalcy – and, to some extent, American leadership in the world. Dissecting the debateTo assess how America’s competitors make sense of the 2020 campaign, we tracked over 20 prominent news outlets from Chinese, Russian and Iranian native language media. We used automatic clustering algorithms to identify key narrative themes in the coverage and sentiment analysis to track how each country viewed the candidates. We then reviewed this AI-extracted information to validate our findings. While our results are still preliminary, they shed light on how these countries’ media outlets are portraying the two candidates. Two key moments from the 2020 campaign – the first debate and Trump’s coronavirus diagnosis – are particularly illustrative. After the first debate, the Chinese media questioned its usefulness to voters and generally portrayed Trump’s performance in a negative light. To them, the “chaotic” back-and-forth was a sobering reflection of America’s political turbulence. They described Trump as purposely sabotaging the debate by interrupting his opponent and, in the days after the debate, noted that his performance failed to improve his lagging poll numbers. Biden was criticized for being unable to articulate concrete policies, but was nonetheless praised for being able to avoid any major gaffes and – as an article from the Xinhua News Agency put it – responding to Trump with “fierce words.”Unlike in 2016, where Clinton was portrayed as anti-Russian, corrupt and elitist, Russian media appeared more willing to characterize the Democratic Party nominee in a positive light. In fact, Russian coverage expressed surprise over Biden’s debate performance. He didn’t come across as feeble; instead, he was, as the daily newspaper Kommersant wrote, a lively opponent who appeared to be “criticizing, irritating and humiliating” Trump by calling him a “liar, racist and the worst president.” They did praise Trump’s especially aggressive rhetoric. However, our analysis found that Russian media also repeatedly claimed that, unlike 2016, voters today were tiring of his bombast.While Trump’s post-debate posturing received some positive coverage, Russian media largely lamented his administration’s failure to deliver substantive progress toward normalizing relations between the two countries. They noted the debate neither clarified policies for voters nor for international observers. Iranian media took the strongest anti-Trump stance. Reports routinely pointed out that Trump has had no foreign policy successes, and has only exacerbated relations with the country’s major rivals. According to Iranian media outlets, Trump’s lack of accomplishments has left him with no choice but to rely on insults and personal attacks.Biden, however, was said to have kept his calm. As Al Alam News wrote, he used “more credible responses and attacks than Trump.”The former vice president, in their view, promised some semblance of normalized diplomatic relations. ‘Intransigence’ and ‘ignorance’The final month of the U.S. presidential race is known for last-minute surprises that can upend the race. This year was no exception, with Trump’s Oct. 2 announcement of his COVID-19 diagnosis quickly shifting media coverage from the debate to Trump’s health.He received little sympathy from foreign outlets. Across the board, they were quick to note how his personal disregard for public health safety measures symbolized his administration’s failed response to the pandemic.For example, one Chinese media outlet, The Beijing News, characterized the diagnosis as “hitting” the president “in the face,” given his previous downplaying of the epidemic. Other reports claimed Trump lacked “care about the epidemic,” including disregard for “protective measures such as wearing a mask.” Chinese outlets suggested Trump would use the diagnosis to win sympathy from voters, but also noted by being sidelined from holding campaign rallies, he could lose his “self-confessed” ability to attract voters. Russian media, on the other hand, remained confident that Trump would recover and repeated the White House line of Trump’s good health.At the same time, Russian outlets tended to chastise Trump’s unwillingness to avoid large gatherings, practice social distancing or wear a mask, all of which violated his administration’s basic health guidelines. Likewise, Russian reports criticized Trump’s post-diagnosis behavior – like tweeting video messages while at the hospital and violating quarantine with his public appearances – as “publicity stunts” that jeopardized the safety of his Secret Service detail and supporters. Again, Iranian media most directly criticized Trump. Reports characterized Trump as “determined to continue the same approach,” despite his diagnosis, and remain “without a muzzle,” “irresponsibly” continuing to tweet misinformation falsely comparing COVID-19 to the flu.Coverage centered on Trump’s inability to, as Al Alam put it, show “any sympathy” for the over 200,000 dead Americans. This death toll, the same article noted, was attributed to Trump’s “mismanagement, intransigence, ignorance and stupidity,” highlighted by his cavalier disregard for safety guidelines such as wearing a mask. In the bag for Biden?Many of the criticisms of the U.S. found in foreign media outlets in our 2016 study appear in this year’s coverage. But since the 2016 election, geopolitics have changed quite a bit – and, for many of these countries, not necessarily for the better. That might best explain their collective ire toward Trump.During Trump’s first term, Iranians absorbed the U.S.‘s unilateral withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, the reimposition of sanctions and the assassination of one of its top generals. The Chinese entered into a trade war with the U.S., while the U.S. government leveled accusations of intellectual property theft, mass murder and blame for the spread of what Trump has called the “China Virus.” Russians, meanwhile, have seen themselves – fairly or not – bound to Trump’s 2016 election victory and outed as an international provocateur. That Trump has not been able to deliver on normalizing U.S. Russian relations despite four years of posturing and political rhetoric has perhaps made Trump more of a political liability than worthwhile ally. Not only has the COVID-19 pandemic sparked unrest in Russia’s backyard, but mounting regional instability is also undermining Putin’s image as a master tactician. [Get our best science, health and technology stories. Sign up for The Conversation’s science newsletter.]As a result, these countries’ outlets appear to have shifted attention away from a broad critique of U.S. democracy toward exasperation with Trump’s leadership. The two, of course, aren’t mutually exclusive. And these countries’ relatively positive characterizations of a potential Biden administration likely won’t last. But even the country’s supposed adversaries seem to be craving a return to stability and predictability from the Oval Office.This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Robert Hinck, Monmouth College; Robert Utterback, Monmouth College, and Skye Cooley, Oklahoma State University.Read more: * For the ‘political-infotainment-media complex,’ the Mueller investigation was a gold mine * How the media encourages – and sustains – political warfareRobert Hinck receives funding from the US Department of Homeland Security and US Department of Defense. Robert Utterback receives funding from the US Department of Homeland Security and US Department of Defense.Skye Cooley receives funding from the US Department of Homeland Security and the US Department of Defense.

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 12:23:42 GMT

Restoring seagrasses can bring coastal bays back to life
A century ago Virginia’s coastal lagoons were a natural paradise. Fishing boats bobbed on the waves as geese flocked overhead. Beneath the surface, miles of seagrass gently swayed in the surf, making the seabed look like a vast underwater prairie. More than 70 species of seagrasses grow in shallow waters around the world, on every continent except Antarctica. In Virginia, beds of eelgrass (Zostera marina) provided habitat for bay scallops and food for birds, and kept barrier islands from washing away. Eelgrass was so common that people who lived near the shore packed and baled it to use as insulation for homes, schools and hospitals. In the 1930s, however, pandemic plant disease and repeated hurricanes eliminated the eelgrass along Virginia’s eastern shore. The once-vibrant seafloor became barren mud, leading to a loss of “wildfowl, the cream of salt-water fishing, most of the clams and crabs, and all of the bay scallops,” sportsman and publisher Eugene V. Connett wrote in 1947. We are marine scientists who study seagrasses, marine biodiversity and coastal ecosystems. In a newly published study, we describe the results of a 20-year mission to reintroduce eelgrass into Virginia coastal bays using a novel seed-based approach. This project has now restored 9,600 acres of seagrasses across four bays – one of the most successful marine restoration efforts anywhere in the world. It has triggered large increases in fishes and invertebrates, made the water clearer and trapped large quantities of carbon in seafloor sediments, helping to slow climate change. We see this work as a blueprint for restoring and maintaining healthy ecosystems along coastlines around the world. Why didn’t seagrasses recover naturally?Development, nutrient runoff and other human impacts have damaged marshes, mangroves, coral reefs and seagrasses in many bays and estuaries worldwide. Loss or shrinkage of these key habitats has reduced commercial fisheries, increased erosion, made coastlines more vulnerable to floods and storms and harmed many types of aquatic life. Rapid climate change has compounded these effects through rising global temperatures, more frequent and severe storms and ocean acidification.In the late 1990s, local residents told two of us who are longtime students of seagrasses (Robert “JJ” Orth and Karen McGlathery) that they had spotted small patches of eelgrass in shallow waters off Virginia’s eastern shore. For years the conventional view had been that seagrasses in this area had not recovered from the events of the 1930s because human activities had made the area inhospitable for them.But studies showed that water quality in these coastal bays was comparatively good. This led us to explore a different explanation: Seeds from healthy seagrass populations elsewhere along the Atlantic coast simply weren’t reaching these isolated bays. Seagrasses are underwater flowering plants, so seeds are among the main ways they reproduce and spread to new environments. Sowing a new cropFrom our earlier research, we knew that when eelgrass seeds fall from the parent plant, they sink to the sea bottom quickly and don’t move far from where they land. We also knew that these seeds don’t germinate until late fall or early winter. This meant that if we collected the seeds in spring, when eelgrass flowers, we could hold them until the fall, helping them survive over the months in between.We decided to try reseeding eelgrass in the areas where they were missing. Starting in 1999, we collected seeds by hand from underwater meadows in nearby Chesapeake Bay – plucking the long reproductive shoots, bringing them back to our laboratory and holding them in large outdoor seawater tanks until they released their seeds naturally. After about 10 years we started gathering the grasses using a custom-built underwater “lawn mower” to collect many more of the reproductive shoots than we could by hand. In 2001 we sowed our first round by simply tossing seeds from a boat. Our first test plots covered 28 acres of mud flats in waters 2 to 3 feet deep. Returning the following year, we saw new seedlings sprouting up. Each year since then, the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and the Nature Conservancy’s Virginia Coast Reserve, along with staff and students from the University of Virginia, have led a team of scientists and citizens to collect and seed a combined 536 acres of bare bottom in several coastal bays.These initial plots took off and rapidly expanded. By 2020 they covered 9,600 acres across four bays. Several factors helped them flourish. These bays are naturally flushed with cool, clean water from the Atlantic Ocean. And they lie off the tip of Virginia’s eastern shore, where there is little coastal development. Sheltering marine life and storing carbonSince eelgrass disappeared from these bays in the 1930s, human understanding of seagrass ecosystems has evolved. Today people don’t pack their walls full of seagrass insulation but instead value different services they provide, such as habitat for fish and shellfish – including many commercially and recreationally important species.Scientists and government agencies also have recognized the importance of coastal systems in capturing and storing so-called “blue carbon.” In fact, we now know that seagrasses constitute a globally significant carbon sink. They are a key tool for reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and slowing climate change[Deep knowledge, daily. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter.]We are working to understand the valuable services that our restored seagrass beds provide. To our surprise, fish and invertebrates returned within only a few years as the meadows expanded. These organisms have established extensive food webs that include species ranging from tiny seahorses to 6-foot-long sandbar sharks.Other benefits were equally dramatic. Water in the bays become clearer as the seagrass canopy trapped floating particles and deposited them onto the bottom, burying significant stocks of carbon and nitrogen in sediments bound by the grasses’ roots. Our research is the first to verify the overall net carbon captured by seagrass, and is now being used to issue carbon offset credits that in turn create more funds for restoration. One big question was whether restoring seagrasses could make it possible to bring back bay scallops, which once generated millions of dollars for the local economy. Since bay scallops no longer existed in Virginia, we obtained broodstock from North Carolina, which we have reared and released annually since 2013. Regular surveys now reveal a growing population of bay scallops in the restored eelgrass, although there is still some way to go before they reach levels seen in the 1930s. A model for coastal restorationRepairing damaged ecosystems is such an urgent mission worldwide that the United Nations has designated 2021-2030 as the U.N. Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. We see the success we have achieved with eelgrass restoration as a prime model for similar efforts in coastal areas around the world. Our project focused not only on reviving this essential habitat, but also on charting how restoring seagrasses affected the ecosystem and on the co-restoration of bay scallops. It provides a road map for involving scholars, nonprofits organizations, citizens and government agencies in an ecological mission where they can see the results of their work.Recent assessments show that the restored zone only covers about 30% of the total habitable bottom in our project area. With continued support, eelgrass – and the many benefits it provides – may continue to thrive and expand well into the 21st century.This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Robert J. Orth, Virginia Institute of Marine Science; Jonathan Lefcheck, Smithsonian Institution, and Karen McGlathery, University of Virginia.Read more: * Mapping the world’s ‘blue carbon’ hot spots in coastal mangrove forests * Mauritius oil spill: how coral reefs, mangroves and seagrass could be affectedRobert J. Orth receives funding from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Coastal Zone Management, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Virginia Recreational Fishing License Fund, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Maryland Department of the Environment, Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment, Virginia Sea Grant . He is an elected official on the Gloucester County Board of Supervisors as an independent. Jonathan Lefcheck is supported by the Michael E. Tennenbaum Secretarial Scholar gift to the Smithsonian Institution.Karen McGlathery receives funding from the National Science Foundation, the National Fisheries and Wildlife Foundation, and Virginia Sea Grant.

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 12:19:26 GMT

U.S. Diplomats and Spies Battle Trump Administration Over Suspected Attacks
WASHINGTON -- The strange sound came at night: a crack like a marble striking the floor of the apartment above them.Mark Lenzi and his wife had lightheadedness, sleep issues and headaches, and their children were waking up with bloody noses -- symptoms they thought might be from the smog in Guangzhou, China, where Lenzi worked for the State Department. But air pollution could not explain his sudden memory loss, including forgetting names of work tools.What began as strange sounds and symptoms among more than a dozen U.S. officials and their family members in China in 2018 has turned into a diplomatic mystery spanning multiple countries and involving speculation about secret high-tech weapons and foreign attacks.One of the biggest questions centers on whether Trump administration officials believe that Lenzi and other diplomats in China experienced the same mysterious affliction as dozens of diplomats and spies at the U.S. Embassy in Cuba in 2016 and 2017, which came to be known as Havana Syndrome. American employees in the two countries reported hearing strange sounds, followed by headaches, dizziness, blurred vision and memory loss.But the government's treatment of the episodes has been radically different. The State Department, which oversaw the cases, has produced inconsistent assessments of patients and events, ignored outside medical diagnoses and withheld basic information from Congress, a New York Times investigation found.In Cuba, the Trump administration withdrew most of its staff members from the embassy and issued a travel warning, saying U.S. diplomats had experienced "targeted attacks." President Donald Trump expelled 15 Cuban diplomats from Washington and started an independent review, though Cuba denied any involvement.The administration took a softer approach with China. In May 2018, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who was the CIA director during the Cuba events, told lawmakers that the medical details of one U.S. official who had fallen ill in China were "very similar and entirely consistent" with the syndrome in Cuba. The administration evacuated more than a dozen federal employees and some of their family members.The State Department soon retreated, labeling what happened in China as "health incidents." While the officers in Cuba were placed on administrative leave for rehabilitation, those in China initially had to use sick days and unpaid leave, some officers and their lawyers say. And the State Department did not open an investigation into what happened in China.The administration has said little about the events in China and played down the idea that a hostile power could be responsible. But similar episodes have been reported by senior CIA officers who visited the agency's stations overseas, according to three current and former officials and others familiar with the events.That includes Moscow, where Marc Polymeropoulos, a CIA officer who helped run clandestine operations in Russia and Europe, experienced what he believes was an attack in December 2017. Polymeropoulos, who was 48 at the time, suffered severe vertigo in his hotel room in Moscow and later developed debilitating migraine headaches that forced him to retire.The cases involving CIA officers, none of which have been publicly reported, are adding to suspicions that Russia carried out the attacks worldwide. Some senior Russia analysts in the CIA, officials at the State Department and outside scientists, as well as several of the victims, see Russia as the most likely culprit given its history with weapons that cause brain injuries and its interest in fracturing Washington's relations with Beijing and Havana.The CIA director remains unconvinced, and State Department leaders say they have not settled on a cause.Critics say disparities in how the officers were treated stemmed from diplomatic and political considerations, including the president's desire to strengthen relations with Russia and win a trade deal with China.China diplomats began reporting strange symptoms in spring 2018, as U.S. officials stationed there were trying to coax their Chinese counterparts into a trade deal that Trump had promised to deliver. The president was also looking to Beijing for help in clinching nuclear talks with North Korea and consistently lavished praise on Xi Jinping, China's authoritarian leader.According to half a dozen U.S. officials, State Department leaders realized that pursuing a similar course of action as they had in Cuba -- including evacuating missions in China -- could cripple diplomatic and economic relationships.With Cuba, Trump sought to reverse President Barack Obama's detente. Jeffrey DeLaurentis, the chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Havana during the events, said the Trump administration's move to withdraw staff members "dovetailed fortuitously with their objective on Cuba."Those who fled China have spent more than two years fighting to obtain the same benefits given to the victims in Cuba and others attacked by foreign powers. The battles have complicated their recovery and prompted government retaliation that might have permanently damaged their careers, according to interviews with more than 30 government officials, lawyers and doctors.U.S. lawmakers have criticized what they call secrecy and inaction from the State Department and are pressing the agency to release a study it received in August from the National Academies of Sciences, which examined potential causes of the episodes."These injuries, and subsequent treatment by the U.S. government, have been a living nightmare for these dedicated public servants and their families," said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H. "It's obvious how a U.S. adversary would have much to gain from the disorder, distress and division that has followed."Dr. David A. Relman, a Stanford University professor who is chair of the National Academies of Sciences committee that examined the cases, said it was "disheartening and immensely frustrating" that the State Department had refused to share the report with the public or Congress "for reasons that elude us."In a statement, the department said: "The safety and security of U.S. personnel, their families and U.S. citizens is our top priority. The U.S. government has not yet determined a cause or an actor."Lenzi said he had sued the department for disability discrimination, and the U.S. Office of Special Counsel is pursuing two investigations into the State Department's conduct.The Office of Special Counsel declined to comment. But in an April 23 letter viewed by the Times, special counsel officials said investigators had "found a substantial likelihood of wrongdoing" by the State Department, though the inquiry continues."This is a deliberate, high-level cover-up," Lenzi said. "They have hung us out to dry."The situation has been complicated by the fact that U.S. officials and scientists still debate whether the symptoms resulted from an attack.Many diplomats, CIA officers and scientists suspect a weapon producing microwave radiation damaged the victims' brains. But some scientists and government officials argue it was a psychological illness that spread in the stressful environment of foreign missions. Some point to chemical agents, like pesticides.The Trump administration has not clarified its view or said exactly how many people were affected.At least 44 people in Cuba and 15 in China were evaluated or treated at the Center for Brain Injury and Repair at the University of Pennsylvania. Others went elsewhere. At least 14 Canadian citizens in Havana say they have suffered similar symptoms.Doctors at the University of Pennsylvania declined to discuss details but dismissed the idea of a psychological illness, saying the patients they treated had sustained a brain injury from an external source.Some senior officials at the State Department and former intelligence officers said they believed Russia played a role. The country's intelligence operatives have seeded violence around the world, poisoning enemies in Britain and fueling assaults on U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan.During the Cold War, the Soviet Union bombarded the U.S. Embassy in Moscow with microwaves. In a 2014 document, the National Security Agency said it had intelligence on a hostile country using a high-powered microwave weapon to "bathe a target's living quarters in microwaves," causing nervous system damage. The name of the country was classified, but people familiar with the document said it referred to Russia.Several of the cases against the CIA affected senior officers who were traveling overseas to discuss plans to counter Russian covert operations with partner intelligence agencies, according to two people familiar with the matter. Some CIA analysts believe Moscow was trying to derail that work.Polymeropoulos declined to discuss his experiences in Moscow, but he criticized how the U.S. government had handled its injured personnel. He is pushing the agency to allow him to go to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, the hospital that has treated some of those who were affected in Cuba.Some top U.S. officials insist on seeing more evidence before accusing Russia. Gina Haspel, the CIA director, has acknowledged that Moscow had the intent to harm operatives, but she is not convinced it was responsible or that attacks occurred, two U.S. officials said.Nicole de Haay, a CIA spokesperson, said the "CIA's first priority has been and continues to be the welfare of all of our officers."Maria Zakharova, a Russian foreign ministry spokesperson, has called any insinuation of Moscow's involvement "absolutely absurd and bizarre." A spokesperson for the Russian Embassy in Washington said the purported attacks were most likely a case of "mass hysteria."Lenzi, who has an extensive background working in the former Soviet Union, said classified material pointed to the country that had carried out the attacks, but the State Department denied him access to the documents.Top officials "know exactly which country" was responsible, Lenzi said, adding that it was not Cuba or China but another country "which the secretary of state and president do not want to confront."The first person to fall ill in China, a Commerce Department officer named Catherine Werner, who lived next door to Lenzi, experienced vomiting, nausea, headaches and dizziness for months before she was flown to the United States in April 2018.According to a whistleblower complaint filed by Lenzi, the State Department took action only after Werner's visiting mother, an Air Force veteran, used a device to record high levels of microwave radiation in her daughter's apartment. The mother also fell ill.That May, U.S. officials held a meeting to reassure U.S. officers in Guangzhou that Werner's sickness appeared to be an isolated case. But Lenzi, a diplomatic security officer, wrote in a memo to the White House that his supervisor insisted on using inferior equipment to measure microwaves in Werner's apartment, calling it a "check-the-box exercise.""They didn't find anything, because they didn't want to find anything," Lenzi said.He sent an email warning U.S. diplomats in China that they might be in danger. His superiors sent a psychiatrist to evaluate him and gave him an official "letter of admonishment," Lenzi said.Months after he began reporting symptoms of brain injury, he and his family were medically evacuated to the University of Pennsylvania.Other officers in China were experiencing similar symptoms. Robyn Garfield, a Commerce Department officer, was evacuated from Shanghai with his wife and two children in June 2018.Doctors at the University of Pennsylvania told Garfield that his injuries were similar to those of Americans in Cuba, but the State Department's medical bureau said they stemmed from a 17-year-old baseball injury, he wrote in a Facebook group for U.S. diplomats in March 2019.The State Department labeled only one China officer as having the "full constellation" of symptoms consistent with the Cuba cases: Werner, the first evacuee. In an internal letter, the department said 15 others in Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing had some symptoms and clinical findings "similar to those" in Cuba, but it had not determined they were suffering from "Havana syndrome."Doctors at the University of Pennsylvania said they did not share individual brain scans with the State Department, so the government lacked necessary information to rule out brain injuries in China."It seems to me and my doctors that State does not want any additional cases from China," Garfield wrote, "regardless of the medical findings."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 12:15:06 GMT

Election 2020 Today: Trump burns funds, GOP gets out vote
ON THE TRAIL: President Donald Trump will be in Pennsylvania. TRUMP SPENDING: Trump’s sprawling political operation raised well over billion since he took the White House in 2017 — and set a lot of it on fire. Now, with two weeks until the election, his campaign acknowledges it is facing difficult spending decisions at a time when Democratic nominee Joe Biden has flooded the airwaves with advertising. That has put Trump in the position of needing to do more of his signature rallies during the coronavirus pandemic while relying on an unproven theory that he can turn out infrequent voters who nonetheless support him at historic levels.

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 11:47:49 GMT

Coronavirus: What's happening to the numbers in Africa?
There's been a rise recently in cases and deaths in some areas, but is this a longer-term trend?

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 11:43:46 GMT

Iran breaks its record for most new virus cases in one day
Iran on Tuesday reported its highest single-day toll of new coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic with more than 5,000 new infections, as the country struggles to cope with a surge in transmission. Iran’s health ministry also reported that 322 people had died from the virus, pushing the death toll over 31,000. Health minister Saeed Namaki made a dramatic appeal for people to follow health guidance measures, saying that without public help, “the pandemic in this country will not get better and we'll have to collect the bodies," the semi-official ISNA news agency reported.

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 11:25:23 GMT

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