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Health experts question Pence campaigning as essential work
Health policy specialists questioned White House officials' claim that federal rules on essential workers allow Vice President Mike Pence to continue to campaign and not quarantine himself after being exposed to the coronavirus. Campaigning is not an official duty that might fall under the guidelines meant to ensure that police, first responders and key transportation and food workers can still perform jobs that cannot be done remotely, the health experts said. A Pence aide said Sunday that the vice president would continue to work and travel, including for campaigning, after his chief of staff and some other close contacts tested positive.

Sun, 25 Oct 2020 17:33:34 GMT

Sudan says it will discuss trade, migration with Israel

Sun, 25 Oct 2020 17:27:38 GMT

Black D.C. archbishop's rise marks a historic moment
Washington D.C. Archbishop Wilton Gregory is set to become the first Black U.S. prelate to assume the rank of cardinal in the Catholic Church, a historic appointment that comes months after nationwide demonstrations against racial injustice. Gregory’s ascension, announced on Sunday by Pope Francis alongside 12 other newly named cardinals, elevates a leader who has drawn praise for his handling of the sexual abuse scandal that has roiled the church. The Washington-area archbishop also has spoken out in recent days about the importance of Catholic leaders working to combat the sin of racial discrimination.

Sun, 25 Oct 2020 16:54:22 GMT

AP PHOTOS: New virus curfew brings silence to Milan streets
After 11 p.m., Milan is a ghost town. Milan, Italy's business hub and the capital of the wealthy Lombardy region, has seen the sharpest rise in infections as the coronavirus once again is spreading out of control. In its latest update, the Health Ministry reported Saturday that more than 1,127 COVID-19 patients were in ICUs across Italy, including 213 in Lombardy.

Sun, 25 Oct 2020 15:21:03 GMT

Foreign students show less zeal for US since Trump took over
On a recruiting trip to India’s tech hub of Bangalore, Alan Cramb, the president of a reputable Chicago university, answered questions not just about dorms or tuition but also American work visas. The session with parents fell in the chaotic first months of Donald Trump’s presidency. After an inaugural address proclaiming “America first,” two travel bans, a suspended refugee program and hints at restricting skilled worker visas widely used by Indians, parents doubted their children’s futures in the U.S.

Sun, 25 Oct 2020 15:13:16 GMT

For transgender activists, election stokes hopes and fears
“The stakes are extremely high,” said Shannon Minter, a transgender attorney with the National Center for Lesbian Rights. “It seems clear that President Trump intends to use the full power of the presidency and the executive branch to inflict maximum damage on the transgender community.”

Sun, 25 Oct 2020 14:02:09 GMT

Minority communities question election-year push by EPA
Theresa Landrum lives in southwest Detroit, where residents complain frequently about dirty air. Landrum, a Black retiree from General Motors and a longtime anti-pollution activist, wasn't impressed when Environmental Protection Agency chief Andrew Wheeler recently pledged 0,000 to promote “community health initiatives” in her section of the city during his blitz of visits to battleground states in the presidential election campaign. Under President Donald Trump, the EPA has slashed support for some some programs and regulatory protections benefiting disadvantaged communities.

Sun, 25 Oct 2020 13:59:34 GMT

British-Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert detained in Iran moved out of desert prison
Kylie Moore-Gilbert, the British-Australian academic who has been detained in Iran for the past two years, has been moved from the notorious desert prison of Qarchak to an unknown location. Her move was first reported by the Iranian Association of Human Rights Activists, who said that she was moved, along with all of her belongings, on Saturday. A source close to the case confirmed the move, but did not know any further details. There has been no official word from the Iranian government. Dr Moore-Gilbert, a lecturer in Islamic Studies, was arrested for espionage after attending a conference in Qom in 2018. She was charged in a secret trial and given 10 years imprisonment. Both Dr Moore-Gilbert and the Australian government reject the charges, which they say are politically motivated. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claim that someone she interviewed for a research project flagged her as suspicious so they stopped her from returning to Melbourne. Qarchak prison, in the desert on the eastern outskirts of Tehran, has a reputation for being the most dangerous of the country’s women’s prisons. Dr Moore-Gilbert had been moved from Evin prison in Tehran to Qarchak in August, which activists at the time believed to be a “punishment”. It was not immediately clear where Dr Moore-Gilbert has been taken. Just 11 days prior to her movement she had been transferred to Ward Eight (formerly known as the Mothers’ Ward) of Qarchak, alongside at least 15 other political prisoners. While those campaigning for her release see her move as a sign of hope, not knowing where the mystery location she has been sent to or the reason behind the move, gives little to base it on.

Sun, 25 Oct 2020 13:43:51 GMT

Nigeria protests: Police chief deploys 'all resources' amid street violence
The shooting of unarmed protesters this week sparked the worst street violence in two decades.

Sun, 25 Oct 2020 13:43:46 GMT

Black contractor braves threats in removing Richmond statues
Devon Henry paced in nervous anticipation, because this was a project like nothing he’d ever done. An accomplished Black businessman, Henry took on a job the city says others were unwilling to do: lead contractor for the now-completed removal of 14 pieces of Confederate statuary that dotted Virginia’s capital city. “You did it, man,” said Rodney Henry.

Sun, 25 Oct 2020 13:07:08 GMT

Tear gas fired as thousands mark one year of Iraq protests
Thousands of people took to Iraq’s streets on Sunday to mark one year since mass anti-government demonstrations swept the country, with police firing tear gas in central Baghdad to stop protesters from crossing strategic bridges and both sides reporting injuries. Protesters marched in the capital and several southern cities — including Najaf, Nasiriyah and Basra — to renew demands for an end to corruption by Iraq's political establishment. Despite reaching historic numbers in late 2019 and successfully mounting pressure on elites, the protests have been largely dormant in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Sun, 25 Oct 2020 12:21:42 GMT

Israeli government approves Bahrain normalization deal
The Israeli Cabinet approved the normalization deal with the Arab Gulf state of Bahrain on Sunday, a week after the two countries agreed to establish formal diplomatic ties. The deal next requires ratification by the Knesset, Israel’s 120-seat parliament. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the government ministers green-lit “preparation of peaceful, diplomatic and friendly relations between the state of Israel and the Kingdom of Bahrain.”

Sun, 25 Oct 2020 12:15:53 GMT

Despite Trump, Election-Security Effort Is Robust

Sun, 25 Oct 2020 12:00:16 GMT

Malaysia's king rejects PM's proposal to declare emergency
Malaysia's king on Sunday rejected a proposal by embattled Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to declare a state of emergency to fight a new outbreak of the coronavirus. The plan by Muhyiddin, which involves suspending Parliament, has sparked national outrage, with critics slamming the move as an undemocratic means for him to hang on to power amid challenges to his leadership. The palace said in a statement that Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah “is of the opinion that there is currently no need for His Majesty to declare a state of emergency in this country or any part of Malaysia."

Sun, 25 Oct 2020 11:54:50 GMT

Pope names 13 new cardinals, includes first Black US prelate
Pope Francis on Sunday named 13 new cardinals, including Washington D.C. Archbishop Wilton Gregory, who would become the first Black U.S. prelate to earn the coveted red hat. In a surprise announcement from his studio window to faithful standing below in St. Peter’s Square, Francis said the churchmen would be elevated to a cardinal’s rank in a ceremony on Nov. 28. Francis asked for prayers so the new cardinals “may help me in my ministry as bishop of Rome for the good of all God's faithful holy people.”

Sun, 25 Oct 2020 11:31:21 GMT

Iraqis rally to revive year-old revolt against the system
Thousands of Iraqis took to the streets Sunday on the first anniversary of a revolt against a political system failing to deliver basic services and against the growing influence of pro-Iran militias.

Sun, 25 Oct 2020 11:18:46 GMT

Seychelles election: Wavel Ramkalawan in landmark win
The opposition wins the presidency for the first time since independence from the UK.

Sun, 25 Oct 2020 11:12:12 GMT

At least 14 civilians killed by booby traps in Egypt’s Sinai

Sun, 25 Oct 2020 11:01:06 GMT

Thai protesters rally ahead of parliamentary debate
Thousands of pro-democracy protesters gathered in Thailand's capital again on Sunday, seeking to keep up pressure on the government a day before a special session of Parliament that was called to try to ease political tensions. The rally took place at the busy Rajprasong intersection, in the heart of Bangkok's shopping district. Few protesters turned out in the first hour of the rally, but their numbers later swelled to several thousand, who listened to rude denunciations of the government in chants, speeches and even songs.

Sun, 25 Oct 2020 10:23:35 GMT

Putin's troubles
Holed up in his mansion, Russia's authoritarian leader is facing serious challenges both at home and abroad. Here's everything you need to know: Why is Putin in trouble? Russian President Vladimir Putin seemed to have achieved his wildest dream in the 2016 U.S. election, when the Russia-friendly Donald Trump narrowly won the presidency while benefiting from a concerted Kremlin campaign to hack and release Democratic emails and sow disinformation. Similar Russian interference helped bolster nationalist parties in Europe, including those that supported Britain's exit from the EU. While the former KGB agent succeeded in weakening Western democracies and dividing NATO, Russia itself has not materially benefited from his interference in other countries' politics. U.S. sanctions damaged the Russian economy and badly hurt the oligarchs on whom Putin depends. Over the past six months, plunging oil prices and coronavirus shutdowns have deepened the damage, leaving the Russian economy crippled. At home, a botched attempt on dissident Alexei Navalny's life has galvanized the opposition, while abroad, unrest in former Soviet countries — which Moscow considers its sphere of influence — is mounting.What unrest? Moscow is worried about the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the ethnic-Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. Russia has sizable minorities of both Armenians and Azerbaijanis, as well as a mutual defense pact with Armenia, while Turkey is openly supporting Azerbaijan. Putin has called for a cease-fire but has refused to get involved. In Kyrgyzstan, anti-government protesters last week toppled the pro-Russian president, Sooronbai Jeenbekov, just two weeks after Putin, in a rare in-person meeting, promised to "do everything to support you as head of state." Most threatening is the uprising in Belarus, a country that Russia is bound to in a nominal federal union. Putin's support for longtime President Alexander Lukashenko, accused of rigging his re-election, has alienated many Belarusians. Huge weekly protests against Lukashenko show no sign of letting up, and Putin's nightmare is that the protests could embolden his own opponents.Who are Putin's opponents? In June, Russia changed its constitution to allow Putin, who has governed since 1999, the ability to run for two more terms — effectively making him a czar and abandoning all pretense of democracy. That amendment, Tatiana Stanovaya told Foreign Policy, signals a new era in Putin's rule that is "much more conservative, less tolerant, more repressive." The following month, Sergei Furgal, the popular governor of the far-eastern region of Khabarovsk, was arrested on politically motivated charges, and the region erupted in weeks of protest. Days later, Navalny released an investigative report on his blog detailing the corruption and vast wealth of Putin's envoy to the far-east regions, Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Trutnev, further inflaming anti-Kremlin sentiment there. That may have been the impetus for Putin to attempt to kill Navalny. On Aug. 20, the activist was poisoned with an even deadlier strain of the banned nerve agent Novichok that almost killed double agent Sergei Skripal in London in 2018.Why go after Navalny? Russia has long been "a country where members of the opposition die violently," says Sam Greene, the director of the Russia Institute at King's College London. Navalny has been a particularly irritating and dangerous opponent. His popular blog and YouTube videos, slickly produced and wryly comical, have exposed in startling detail how top Kremlin officials, including Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev, amassed vast wealth through corrupt dealings. Lately he has begun organizing strategies for "smart voting," helping the opposition solidify around whichever candidate has the best chance against the Kremlin. His poisoning brought more EU sanctions, further hurting the economy.How badly off is Russia's economy? Western sanctions have erased more than 6 percent of Russian GDP since the 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. This year alone, the ruble has lost 20 percent of its value. Russia is largely dependent on oil and gas sales, and the plunge in global oil prices — exacerbated by a price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia — has cost it tens of billions in revenue. The pandemic is delivering another major blow. Putin lifted the country's shutdown in May, and the virus has spread rapidly, giving Russia the fourth-highest total of infections in the world. Poverty and hunger are widespread. "There is mounting internal discontent, to say the least, over the economy," economist Igor Nikolayev told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. "I have the feeling that this is going to make authorities increasingly nervous, and the risk of a domestic crackdown is becoming greater."What about the U.S. election? U.S. intelligence warns that Putin is again interfering on the side of Trump, using "a range of measures" to spread disinformation about Joe Biden and his son Hunter and to undermine confidence in the validity of the vote. Yet given the Democrat's lead in the polls, Moscow is also preparing for a Biden win. State TV openly mocks Trump as Putin's poodle, while Putin himself has begun extending overtures to Biden, praising him for supporting an extension of the New START arms treaty. That is "a very serious element," said Putin, "of our potential collaboration in the future."The pandemic in Russia Infections are soaring in Russia, which now has more than 1.4 million cases and is adding some 15,000 a day. Officially, the death toll is 24,000 people, likely a severe undercount. Yet limits on gatherings are few, and schools have reopened. Masks and gloves are required on the Moscow subway, but shops and restaurants are open almost as usual, with workplaces instructed to require just 30 percent of employees to work remotely. Having failed to contain the virus, Russia is pinning its hopes on vaccines. It has already approved two different vaccines for large-scale trials and is using them before the trials have ended. Putin, meanwhile, is taking no chances. He has sequestered himself at his palatial mansion outside of Moscow and sees only visitors who have quarantined for at least two weeks. Even then, the Kremlin has said, everyone who is granted an audience with Putin must first pass through a "disinfection tunnel" that sprays visitors with a fine mist of chemicals.This article was first published in the latest issue of The Week magazine. If you want to read more like it, you can try six risk-free issues of the magazine here.More stories from theweek.com Trump loses on the merits Who won the final 2020 debate? Call it a draw. Get ready for Trump TV, America

Sun, 25 Oct 2020 09:55:02 GMT

Egyptians vote in second day of parliamentary elections
Egyptians on Sunday trickled into polling stations on the second day of voting for the country’s parliamentary election amid a slight uptick in daily recorded coronavirus cases. The vote is likely to produce a toothless House of Representatives packed with supporters of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi that further rubber-stamps his policies, leaving the former military general with almost unchecked powers. A trickle of voters wearing face masks were seen in five polling stations visited by The Associated Press in the city of Giza, part of the Greater Cairo area and home to the famed Great Pyramids, with turnout relatively higher than Saturday’s vote.

Sun, 25 Oct 2020 09:20:00 GMT

Lithuania holds parliamentary vote as pandemic hits jobs
Lithuanians voted Sunday in a parliamentary runoff where the winner will have to tackle a growing health crisis and high unemployment due to the coronavirus pandemic. In Sunday's second round, 68 of the 141 seats in Lithuania’s legislative assembly, the Seimas, are up for grabs. The other seats were allotted after the first round, which saw the conservative Homeland Union party winning 23 seats, or 24.8% of the vote, while the ruling Farmers and Greens party only grabbed 16 seats, or 17.5%.

Sun, 25 Oct 2020 08:56:58 GMT

Afghanistan claims killing an al-Qaida leader wanted by FBI
Afghanistan claimed Sunday it killed a top al-Qaida propagandist on an FBI most-wanted list during an operation in the country's east, showing the militant group's continued presence there as U.S. forces work to withdraw from America's longest-running war amid continued bloodshed. The reported death of Husam Abd al-Rauf, also known by the nom de guerre Abu Muhsin al-Masri, follows weeks of violence, including a suicide bombing by the Islamic State group Saturday at an education center near Kabul that killed 24 people. Meanwhile, the Afghan government continues to fight Taliban militants even as peace talks in Qatar between the two sides take place for the first time.

Sun, 25 Oct 2020 07:37:28 GMT

Ukraine's local elections test leader and his young party
Ukrainians were voting Sunday in local elections that are considered a test for President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a former comedian who took office last year vowing to bring peace, uproot endemic corruption and shore up a worsening economy. Zelenskiy was elected president by a landslide in April 2019 after campaigning on promises to end fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists in the country's east. Despite his lack of prior political experience, he quickly cemented his grip on power by calling a parliamentary election that resulted in his party winning a strong majority.

Sun, 25 Oct 2020 07:23:58 GMT

India's festive season spawns fears of renewed virus surge
Just weeks after India fully opened up from a harsh lockdown and began to modestly turn a corner by cutting new coronavirus infections by near half, a Hindu festival season is raising fears that a fresh surge could spoil the hard-won gains. “I’d be very worried about what we are going to see in India,” said Dr. Ashish Jha, the dean of Brown University’s School of Public Health and a leading infectious disease expert. The festivals draw tens and thousands of people, packed together shoulder-to-shoulder in temples, shopping districts and family gatherings, leading to concerns among health experts who warn of a whole new cascade of infections, further testing and straining India’s battered health care system.

Sun, 25 Oct 2020 07:19:25 GMT

The Glue of the United Kingdom Is Slowly Dissolving
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Six years ago Scotland voted by a 10-point margin to stay part of the U.K. Yet the last nine consecutive opinion polls show the backing for leave as high as 58 per cent, and averaging at 53 per cent. This sustained lead for independence spells trouble for Boris Johnson’s government, which fears demands for a second referendum will become overwhelming.The Scottish National Party is expected to sweep to victory in local elections in May 2021, giving it an outright majority in the Edinburgh Assembly. The SNP has already been trying in the Scottish courts to circumvent a Johnson veto on another referendum. Whatever happens, the nationalists will ramp up their provocations.Last week Bloomberg News revealed that Hanbury Strategy, a consultancy firm close to the Conservatives, had drawn up a detailed plan for ministers to defeat the nationalists. The main tidbit in the leaked memo was the advice that the government should “coopt the European Union” into arguing that an independent Scotland would struggle to rejoin the bloc. That would be an embarrassing last resort for an administration hellbent on Brexit, with or without a trade deal. The EU wouldn’t easily be coopted by Johnson.The last independence referendum was meant to settle the issue of the Union for a generation. Yet now it’s in peril again. The threat has international ramifications.The end of the United Kingdom would raise a question about Britain’s standing in the world, a deeper one than that posed by Brexit. If Northern Ireland were ever to vote to join the Irish republic, the damage could be limited: The status of the North has been unsettled since partition in 1921. But if Scotland were to secede that would be the end of the extraordinarily successful 307-year-old partnership that created the British Empire and fought two world wars.Post-independence, London would lose its Scottish nuclear submarine bases and its permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council might be challenged. The rump U.K. would be diminished, in self-confidence and size.Independence would impoverish the Scots, too. That argument clinched the vote last time and its force has redoubled since Covid-19. Sooner or later the Conservatives must make it again. But is Johnson the right man to do it?Before the pandemic, the Treasury in London already subsidized Edinburgh by up to 12 billion pounds ( billion) a year. Scotland’s implicit budget deficit pre-crisis was 8.6% of gross domestic product, about 6 percentage points higher than the U.K. as a whole, according to the Institute of Fiscal Studies. Post-Covid, the Office for Budget Responsibility estimates those numbers could balloon to a 19% implicit deficit. Total borrowing was already equivalent to £2,776 per person in Scotland as opposed to £855 for the U.K.Pre-Covid even the SNP’s own Sustainable Growth Commission proposed holding down growth in public spending to 0.5%, “implying cuts to areas other than health, social care and pensions.” Post-Covid that would mean sharp tax increases and spending cuts.As it stands, London’s subsidies play into the nationalists’ hands, allowing them to implement popular — and expensive — policies. They bankroll spending on services that are largely devolved to the Scottish government: the abolition of prescription charges, university tuition fees and free personal care for the elderly. Scotland spends 22% more per person on education than England, with no better results. Some 10 percent of Scottish pupils are thought not to have been in education regularly since the start of the Covid outbreak.Even if Scotland gained EU admission — a big if given Europe’s fear of encouraging separatists — the country would have a hard border with the rest of the U.K. over which 60% of its exports flow.Yet heart can overrule head when the self-determination of a proud people is the issue.There are three reasons for the recent pro-independence surge. Scots voted against Brexit by almost two to one and were dismayed by their vastly more populous southern neighbor’s decision to leave. That has pushed many pro-Europeans into the independence camp. Second, not since Margaret Thatcher has an English Conservative been so disliked north of the border as Johnson. His louche, blustering image doesn’t sit well with puritan Scots. Scottish Tories ask whether his heart is in Unionism or English nationalism.Lastly, Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish nationalist leader, has become a commanding figure during the crisis. Her administration’s many Covid failures replicate the blunderings of Westminster, but her reassuring language has boosted her standing. She has deployed Scotland’s devolved powers over health to eye-catching effect. London has discovered to its consternation that all the nations of the U.K., minus England, can go their own way in this epidemic. Historians see the glue of Union slowly dissolving. Linda Colley’s influential book “Britons,” published 30 years ago, observed that the causes that kept the two nations together — Protestantism, empire and fear of invasion from the continent — had vanished. But there are no inevitables in history. Unionists must put up a fight.The Conservatives have one important ally: The opposition Labour Party ’s leader, Keir Starmer, has so far ruled out a bargain with the SNP in return for their future support in forming a government. But Johnson isn’t the man to lead a crusade to preserve the U.K. Michael Gove, his Scottish-born cabinet minister, holds the brief. Although a talented administrator, Gove is too hot-blooded in his attachment to the Union and is burdened with other responsibilities, including Brexit.Ruth Davidson, a recent Scottish Conservative leader with a cult following, relished combat with Sturgeon and often bested her before giving up full-time politics after starting a family and falling out with Johnson over Brexit. She is amusing and punchy — the most convincing figure the Tories have to make the case that breaking up the Union would be bad for both sides of the border . Johnson needs to find the right woman or man fast. Otherwise Scottish independence might turn into a bad idea whose time has come.This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Martin Ivens was editor of the Sunday Times from 2013 to 2020 and was formerly its chief political commentator. He is a director of the Times Newspapers board. For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

Sun, 25 Oct 2020 06:00:12 GMT

Trump aide says 'we're not going to control the pandemic'
The coronavirus has reached into the heart of the White House once more, less than a week before Election Day, as it scorches the nation and the president's top aide says "we're not going to control the pandemic.” Officials on Sunday scoffed at the notion of dialing back in-person campaigning despite positive tests from several aides to Vice President Mike Pence, who leads the White House coronavirus task force. White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, pressed to explain why the pandemic cannot be reined in, said, “Because it is a contagious virus just like the flu.”

Sun, 25 Oct 2020 05:04:29 GMT

Kleptopia review: power, theft and Trump as leader in Putin’s own image
Tom Burgis’s study of dark global realities casts a wide net, from Washington to Moscow, Kazakhstan and the Congo * Opinion: tn in possible corrupt activity and KleptopiaIn a year dominated by a US presidential election between a kleptocrat and a democrat, a book about world-class thieves laundering trillions ought be the perfect bedtime reading for anyone curious about the unprecedented amounts of money that have been looted and hidden over the last 20 years.Tom Burgis, a reporter for the Financial Times, is certainly an impressive investigator. He works hard to explain how myriad financial institutions, from the Bank of New York to Merrill Lynch and HSBC, have tried to deceive regulators and wash the ill-gotten gains of countless dictators.The oligarchs of Putin’s Russia are big players in these pages. So are Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, British bankers turned regulators, a trio of Central Asian billionaires, and no fewer than 30 other major characters, all listed at the beginning.This results in so many competing storylines that it becomes almost impossible to keep track. We bounce back and forth, from the Russian and Italian gangsters of Brooklyn to the oil fields of the former Soviet Union, from the platinum mines of Zimbabwe to the copper and cobalt of the Congo.> Burgis draws useful parallels between Putin’s kleptocracy and Hitler’s GermanyThere are long sections about the wholesale theft of natural resources in post-Soviet Russia and the birth of the oligarchs, all of whom were forced to become Putin’s partners – or face imprisonment or death. For example, the purchase of a three-quarter stake in Yukos, for 0m, made Mikhail Khodorkovsky the richest man in Russia. Five years later, the vast oil company with 100,000 employees was worth bn. Khodorkovsky was arrested, jailed and eventually sent into exile.Burgis draws useful parallels between Putin’s kleptocracy and Hitler’s Germany, each home to both a “normative state” that generally respects its own laws and a “prerogative state” that violates most of them.According to the German-Jewish lawyer who was the author of the theory in the 1930s, “Nazi Germany was not a straightforward totalitarian system. It retained some vestiges of the rule of law, chiefly in matters of business, so that the capitalist economy had the basic rules it needed to keep going. But the prerogative state – Hitler’s political machinery – enjoyed … ‘jurisdiction over jurisdiction.”> Trump helped to construct a new 'global alliance of kleptocrats'. Their whole goal is the privatization of powerPutin has used his jurisdiction over everything to vanquish almost all of his enemies. And since Donald Trump has been collaborating with Russians in one way or another for almost 40 years, our kleptocrat-in-chief does finally make an appearance in Kleptopia, on page 250. After we’ve read a lot about Felix Sater, a second-generation Russian mobster connected to several schemes including the Trump Soho in lower Manhattan, Trump is identified as the “crucial ingredient” in Sater’s “magic potion for transforming dirty money”.Once the ratings of The Apprentice had washed away the public memory of multiple bankruptcies and “reinvented” his name as “a success”, Trump’s role in real estate deals became simply to “rent out his name”.“The projects could go bust,” Burgis writes, and “they usually did – but that wasn’t a problem.” The money had completed “its metamorphoses from plunder to clean capital”.Then there was the notorious sale of Trump’s Palm Beach mansion, to Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev for m, more than twice what Trump paid a few years before. According to Michael Cohen, Trump’s former fixer, Trump thought the real buyer was Putin – a story which hasn’t gotten nearly as much attention as it should.With his election as president, as Burgis puts it, Trump helped to construct a new “global alliance of kleptocrats”. Their whole goal is the privatization of power, and they control “the three great poles” – the US, China and Russia.In our new world of alternate facts, corruption is “no longer a sign of a failing state, but of a state succeeding in its new purpose”. The new kleptocrats have subverted their nations’ institutions, “to seize for themselves that which rightfully belonged to the commonwealth”.This is a ghastly and very important story. But the secret to great storytelling is knowing what to leave out. If Burgis had found a more focused way to tell this one, he would have written a much more powerful book.

Sun, 25 Oct 2020 05:00:44 GMT

Senate votes to advance Barrett; confirmation expected Mon
Senate Republicans voted overwhelmingly Sunday to advance Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett toward final confirmation despite Democratic objections, just over a week before the presidential election. Barrett's confirmation on Monday was hardly in doubt, with majority Republicans mostly united in support behind President Donald Trump's pick. Republicans are excited by the chance to install a third Trump justice on the court, locking in a conservative majority for years to come.

Sun, 25 Oct 2020 04:25:45 GMT

Eyes turn to Texas as early voting surge surpasses 2016
Texas has already cast nearly 7 million votes, more than anywhere in America, and Glen Murdoch couldn’t get his ballot in fast enough after becoming a U.S. citizen this summer. “I was champing at the bit,” said Murdoch, who moved to Austin from Australia shortly after President Donald Trump took office, and cast a ballot last week to vote him out. It’s a rush to the polls in Texas like seldom seen before.

Sun, 25 Oct 2020 04:16:44 GMT

Pence to keep up travel despite contact with infected aides
Vice President Mike Pence plans to maintain an aggressive campaign schedule this week despite an apparent outbreak of the coronavirus among his senior aides, the White House says. Pence's chief of staff, Marc Short, and “a couple of key staff surrounding the vice president” have tested positive for the virus, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said Sunday. The vice president, who along with his wife, Karen, tested negative on Sunday, according to his office, is considered a “close contact” of the aides under Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria but will not quarantine, his spokesman said.

Sun, 25 Oct 2020 03:50:16 GMT

UN: Nuclear weapons ban treaty to enter into force
The United Nations announced Saturday that 50 countries have ratified a U.N. treaty to ban nuclear weapons triggering its entry into force in 90 days, a move hailed by anti-nuclear activists but strongly opposed by the United States and the other major nuclear powers. As of Friday, the treaty had 49 signatories, and the United Nations said the 50th ratification from Honduras had been received. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres commended the 50 states and saluted “the instrumental work" of civil society in facilitating negotiations and pushing for ratification, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

Sat, 24 Oct 2020 23:47:08 GMT

Eyes turn to Texas as early voting surge surpasses 2016
Texas has already cast nearly 7 million votes, more than anywhere in America, and Glen Murdoch couldn’t get his ballot in fast enough after becoming a U.S. citizen this summer. “I was champing at the bit,” said Murdoch, who moved to Austin from Australia shortly after President Donald Trump took office, and cast a ballot last week to vote him out. It’s a rush to the polls in Texas like seldom seen before.

Sat, 24 Oct 2020 23:02:35 GMT

Cameroon school attack kills 8 students: UN
Attackers armed with guns and machetes killed at least eight children Saturday in a raid on a school in southwestern Cameroon, the United Nations said.

Sat, 24 Oct 2020 22:26:38 GMT

Crews vacuum 'murder hornets' out of Washington nest
Heavily protected crews in Washington state worked Saturday to destroy the first nest of so-called murder hornets discovered in the United States. The state Agriculture Department had spent weeks searching, trapping and using dental floss to tie tracking devices to Asian giant hornets, which can deliver painful stings to people and spit venom but are the biggest threat to honeybees that farmers depend on to pollinate crops. The nest found in the city of Blaine near the Canadian border is about the size of a basketball and contained an estimated 100 to 200 hornets, according to scientists who announced the find Friday.

Sat, 24 Oct 2020 20:24:29 GMT

What the US election means for the special relationship - would Trump or Biden be best for the UK?
Donald Trump and Joe Biden have radically different views on many subjects. Each could enhance, or weaken the special relationship, in a variety of areas. Here, we look at who would be best for Britain. Post-Brexit trade deal There is no dispute about where Donald Trump stands on Brexit. He has been an enthusiastic supporter from the start. A trade deal with the UK would be near the top of his in-tray in a second term. In recent weeks both the US and UK expressed optimism as talks entered a fifth round. US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said he was "very pleased" with progress and predicted a trade deal "reasonably soon".

Sat, 24 Oct 2020 20:18:49 GMT

Israeli leader confirms consent to US arms sales to UAE
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday appeared to confirm that Israel has given its consent for the United States to sell F35 fighter jets to the United Arab Emirates following a recent agreement establishing diplomatic relations between the Mideast countries. The expected sale would make the UAE the first Arab nation - and just the second country in the Middle East after Israel — — to possess the stealth warplanes. Netanyahu has repeatedly insisted the deal establishing ties with the UAE amounted to “peace for peace" and that arms deals were not part of the agreement.

Sat, 24 Oct 2020 20:02:23 GMT

Israelis press ahead with weekly anti-Netanyahu protests

Sat, 24 Oct 2020 19:56:31 GMT

France reacts after Erdogan questions Macron's mental health
France recalled its ambassador to Turkey for consultations after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said President Emmanuel Macron needed mental health treatment and made other comments that the French government described as unacceptably rude. Erdogan questioned his French counterpart's mental condition while criticizing Macron’s attitude toward Islam and Muslims. “What is the problem of this person called Macron with Islam and Muslims?” Erdogan asked rhetorically during his Justice and Development party meeting in the central Anatolian city of Kayseri.

Sat, 24 Oct 2020 19:31:54 GMT

Cameroon: Children killed in attack on school in Kumba
Officials have blamed Anglophone secessionists for the attack on a private school in a restive region.

Sat, 24 Oct 2020 19:13:07 GMT

Trump comment on 'blowing up' Nile Dam angers Ethiopia
Its PM condemns "aggressions" after Donald Trump says Egypt might destroy a controversial Nile dam.

Sat, 24 Oct 2020 18:33:27 GMT

The week of pantomime-like negotiations that brought Britain back to the Brexit negotiating table
It was only a week ago that Boris Johnson declared the Brexit trade talks over, and said the UK would “embrace” WTO terms. Just days later, both sides were back around the table. The resumption of talks followed a series of carefully choreographed moves which saw the European Union meet British conditions to restart the negotiations. Many in Brussels have suggested that they never believed Boris Johnson was serious when he threatened a no deal Brexit. The EU is, after all, used to fiery summit walkouts during tense negotiations, which traditionally happen just before a deal is done. It clears the atmosphere and rolls the pitch for concessions. Nevertheless, Mr Johnson had said that unless a trade deal was “in sight” by the October 15 EU summit, the UK should quit negotiations. Once it was clear his deadline would be missed, the Prime Minister called the presidents of the European Commission and Council. On the eve of the summit, he told them to agree to round the clock talks or else. As EU leaders arrived in Brussels for their first in depth discussion of Brexit this year, it became clear they planned to call his bluff. A commitment to “intensified negotiations” was removed from the summit conclusion. EU leaders told the UK to make the “necessary moves” on the three major issues of fishing, level playing field and enforcement. David Frost, in a breach of protocol that infuriated EU officials, took to Twitter and let rip just as Michel Barnier began a summit press conference.

Sat, 24 Oct 2020 15:46:47 GMT

Guinea elections: Alpha Condé wins third term amid violent protests
The opposition leader says he will contest the result giving Alpha Condé, 82, a third term.

Sat, 24 Oct 2020 15:09:01 GMT

Boat parades, road rallies buoy Trump and his supporters
When a flotilla of pontoon and fishing boats decked out with "Trump 2020” flags cruised past him this summer, Dale Fullenkamp got an idea. “They are enthusiastic in ways I haven’t seen,” said Pennsylvania-based Republican political strategist Charles Gerow.

Sat, 24 Oct 2020 15:00:09 GMT

European buildings turn blue for UN's 75th anniversary
More than 150 monuments and buildings across Europe will be lit up blue on Saturday to mark the 75th anniversary of the United Nations.

Sat, 24 Oct 2020 14:48:42 GMT

'We don't speculate': How AP counts votes and calls races
As it has for more than 170 years, The Associated Press will count the nation's vote in real time on Election Day and report the results of presidential, congressional and state elections on Nov. 3 and beyond. AP will use that vote count to declare winners in some 7,000 races, so the world knows who wins not only the White House, but control of Congress and every state legislature. “There is no national election commission in the United States that tells us who won on Election Day,” said David Scott, a deputy managing editor who helps oversee AP's coverage of elections.

Sat, 24 Oct 2020 14:02:04 GMT

Russians Who Pose Election Threat Have Hacked Nuclear Plants and Power Grid
Cybersecurity officials watched with growing alarm in September as Russian state hackers started prowling around dozens of American state and local government computer systems just two months before the election.The act itself did not worry them so much -- officials anticipated that the Russians who interfered in the 2016 election would be back -- but the actor did. The group, known to researchers as "Dragonfly" or "Energetic Bear" for its hackings of the energy sector, was not involved in 2016 election hacking. But it has in the past five years breached the power grid, water treatment facilities and even nuclear power plants, including one in Kansas.It also hacked into Wi-Fi systems at San Francisco International Airport and at least two other West Coast airports in March in an apparent bid to find one unidentified traveler, a demonstration of the hackers' power and resolve.September's intrusions marked the first time that researchers caught the group, a unit of Russia's Federal Security Service, or FSB, targeting states and counties. The timing of the attacks so close to the election and the potential for disruption set off concern inside private security firms, law enforcement and intelligence agencies."One possible explanation is that they are calling in the real pros -- the A Team -- who is used to operating in this really sensitive critical infrastructure where you want to keep quiet until you don't," said Suzanne Spaulding, the former undersecretary for cybersecurity and critical infrastructure at the Department of Homeland Security.In 2016, Russian hackers from other groups were unusually noisy in their efforts to penetrate some state election databases. "You could argue they didn't care about being quiet," Spaulding said. But now that Russia has been called out and punished for interfering in the election, President Vladimir Putin "may want to keep this quiet until the circumstances are set for their use in information operations," she added.American officials described the hackings in an advisory on Thursday as "opportunistic," rather than a clear attack on election infrastructure, but conceded the group had targeted dozens of state and local systems and stolen data from at least two targets' servers."They're broadly looking to scan for vulnerabilities and they're working opportunistically," said Christopher C. Krebs, the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which issued the warning along with the FBI.That hardly reassured researchers who have tracked Energetic Bear for years. "This appears to be preparatory, to ensure access when they decide they need it," said Adam Meyers, the head of threat intelligence at CrowdStrike, a security firm that has monitored the group.Energetic Bear typically casts a wide net, then zeros in on a few high-value targets. In Germany and the United States, the group has infected websites popular in the energy sector, downloading malware onto the machines of anyone who visited the sites, then searching for employees with access to industrial systems.In other attacks, it has hijacked the software updates for computers attached to industrial control systems. It has also blasted targets with phishing emails in search of employees, or co-workers, who might have access to critical systems at water, power and nuclear plants.And it has done so with remarkable success. A disturbing screenshot in a 2018 Department of Homeland Security advisory showed the groups' hackers with their fingers on the switches of the computers that controlled the industrial systems at a power plant.The group has thus far stopped short of sabotage, but appears to be preparing for some future attack. The hackings so unnerved officials that starting in 2018, the U.S. Cyber Command, the arm of the Pentagon that conducts offensive cyberattacks, hit back with retaliatory strikes on the Russian grid.Some called the counterattacks the digital era's equivalent of mutually assured destruction. But any hope that U.S. officials had that their strikes would deter Russia dissipated when the group started targeting American airports in March.Officials at San Francisco International Airport discovered Russia's state hackers had breached the online system that airport employees and travelers used to gain access to the airport's Wi-Fi. The hackers injected code into two Wi-Fi portals that stole visitors' user names, cracked their passwords and infected their laptops.The attack began on March 17 and continued for nearly two weeks until it was shut down. By then, officials at two other airports discovered their Wi-Fi portals had also been compromised. Researchers would not name the other victims, citing nondisclosure agreements, but said they were on the West Coast.As pervasive as the attacks could have been, researchers believe Russia's hackers were interested only in one specific person traveling through the airports that day."Ostensibly, hundreds of thousands of people could have been compromised," said Eric Chien, a cybersecurity director at Symantec, who examined the attack. "But only 10 were."Chien's team discovered that the hackers were "fingerprinting" the machines of anyone who logged onto the Wi-Fi network in search of one older version of Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser. If they found a match, the hackers infected those laptops. If the Wi-Fi visitors used any other browser, the hackers left them alone."From what we could see, they were going after a specific individual," Chien said.In the government alert on Thursday, officials said that the Russian group was again targeting aviation systems. It did not name the targets but did suggest in some technical language that one could have been the airport in Columbus, Ohio.In a previous homeland security warning about the group, officials said it "targets low security and small networks to gain access and move laterally to networks of major, high-value asset owners within the energy sector."Security researchers warned that the spate of attacks on American state and local systems could mirror the trajectory of those attacks: Russia's hackers using their foothold in seemingly random victims' networks to mine for more interesting targets closer to the election on Nov. 3. They could take steps like pulling offline the databases that verify voters' signatures on mail-in ballots, or given their particular expertise, shutting power to key precincts."The most disconcerting piece is that it demonstrates Russia's intent and ability to target systems near and dear to us, but that shouldn't surprise us," said Frank Cilluffo, the director of Auburn University's McCrary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security.By deputizing the FSB's stealthiest infrastructure hackers to target state and local systems, some security experts believe Russia may be hedging its bets.If, for example, Putin believes President Donald Trump will be reelected and wants to forge a better relationship with the United States, he may want to limit the degree to which Russia is seen as interfering.Likewise, the experts said, if former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee, is elected, Russia may try to use its foothold in the systems to weaken or delegitimize him, or it may hold back so as not to provoke the new administration."By doing this more quietly, you give yourself more options," Spaulding said.This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company

Sat, 24 Oct 2020 13:58:06 GMT

Trump Used 'Kids in Cages' to Blur Responsibility for Child Separation
WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump has never been known for making apologies or displaying regret, but when his policy of separating children from their families at the southwestern border arose during his debate with former Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday, he had a ready deflection for the "kids in cages" accusation.It was Biden's fault."They said, 'Look at these cages; President Trump built them,' " Trump said. "And then it was determined they were built in 2014. That was him."Trump is correct that the Obama administration expanded the number of border facilities with chain-linked enclosures in 2014, but the journey from their construction to contend with a surge of Central American children crossing the border to Trump's "zero tolerance" policy that led to the separation of thousands of families was not captured by the president's evasions. Nor is it explained by the "kids in cages" catchphrase often hurled by Trump's opponents."It is one of the definitive phrases, but I don't think sloganeering will ever bring you closer to why this disaster happened in the first place," Cristobal Ramon, a senior policy analyst at the Bipartisan Policy Center, said of the "kids in cages" catchall. "You have to get beyond slogans."The Obama administration separated children from adults at the border only in cases in which there was a doubt about the familial relationship between a child and an accompanying adult or if the adult had a serious criminal record.Trump's "zero tolerance" policy was a deliberate act of family separation, meant to deter migrants from trying to enter the United States. It directed prosecutors to file criminal charges against everyone who crossed the border without authorization, including parents, who were then separated from their children when they were taken into custody.That policy was ended amid international outcry, but its repercussions remain. Court documents filed this week showed 545 children still have not been reunited with their parents after the Trump administration resisted sharing information with a court-appointed committee of lawyers and advocacy groups tasked with finding their guardians.But as with many of Trump's prevarications, there was a nugget of truth to his assertions Thursday night. The holding of migrant children in chain-linked enclosures predated his administration.Traditionally, migrants who crossed the border initially were held by the Border Patrol in stations designed for the short-term stay of a specific population: single Mexican adults who could be quickly returned to Mexico. In 2014, the demographic at the border shifted dramatically, to Central American families and unaccompanied children who surrendered to agents with the hope of obtaining protection in the United States.A law designed to protect migrant children, the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, prevented the U.S. government from rapidly turning away such families because they had not traveled from a neighboring country. The families, who fled poverty, torture and persecution, were instead packed into the stations, prompting agents to cram some into adjacent concrete sally ports -- essentially large garages -- in the sweltering heat."I went back to Washington and said you have a humanitarian disaster in front of you," said Gil Kerlikowske, a former commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, recalling his message to the Obama administration after a visit to the facilities in 2014.The Obama administration then converted a warehouse in McAllen, Texas, into a facility that could hold more than 1,000 detainees. That facility, with chain fencing installed to separate adult men from mothers and children, would later be known as the Central Processing Center."They stood up what we thought would be a temporary structure" that would be better for families and children, said Ronald D. Vitiello, former deputy chief of the Border Patrol in the Obama administration and a former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement under Trump. "In a nontechnical sense, are those cages? I guess you could call them that."The design, he said, was to "be open so you can see from one side of the facility to the other to protect people in it."But expediency led to cruelty. Trump claimed Thursday that the migrants were "so well taken care of," but in reality, his own policies fueled overcrowding in the holding facilities.After drawing widespread condemnation from lawmakers in both parties, immigration activists and the United Nations, Trump signed an executive order in June 2018 that largely ended the policy of family separation.But the president's anti-immigration messaging helped fuel another surge of Central American families seeking refuge at the border in 2019. Smugglers purchased radio spots warning families that there was a brief window to go to the United States before the next crackdown.After they are processed in a Border Patrol facility, migrant children traveling alone are supposed to be transferred to a shelter managed by the Health and Human Services Department, where many are subsequently released to a relative sponsor.But Trump deterred many sponsors from claiming those children by requiring they provide fingerprints and other personal information that some feared would later be used to find and deport them. With spaces limited in those shelters as well as longer-term detention facilities managed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the holding cells along the border were once again crammed with children lacking proper hygienic resources and exposed to disease. They were held in the border cells for weeks, even though the government is supposed to transfer them to shelters within 72 hours."There was the front-end policy of separating children through zero tolerance," Ramon said. "There was the back-end policy of requiring fingerprints to get children out of detention."That's where you create this backlog of children in facilities that weren't designed for them," he added.The detention facilities are not as relevant now -- but not because migration has halted. Instead, through its "Remain in Mexico" policies, the Trump administration has forced tens of thousands of asylum-seekers to wait on the other side of the border for court hearings, creating squalid refugee camps in some of Mexico's more dangerous areas.The administration has also cited the coronavirus in using a public health emergency rule to rapidly return migrants, including children traveling alone, back to Mexico or their home country.At the debate Thursday, Trump hurled his "They built the cages" accusation at Biden repeatedly, so often that it was difficult for Biden to answer. But the former vice president did manage to say that parents had their children "ripped from their arms and separated, and now they cannot find over 500 sets of those parents and those kids are alone, nowhere to go, nowhere to go.""It's criminal," Biden added.Lee Gelernt, the primary lawyer challenging the family separation policy, said Trump was trying "to switch the debate" away from a policy that was exclusive to his administration."The fact is no other administration, Democrat or Republican, has ever systematically separated children," Gelernt said. "The Trump administration's actions to systematically separate children is unprecedented, and what made that much more horrific is that there was no age limit. Even babies and toddlers were separated."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company

Sat, 24 Oct 2020 13:57:05 GMT

Despite rhetoric, GOP has supported packing state courts
Republican claims that Democrats would expand the U.S. Supreme Court to undercut the conservative majority if they win the presidency and control of Congress has a familiar ring. It's a tactic the GOP already has employed in recent years with state supreme courts when they have controlled all levers of state political power. Republican governors in Arizona and Georgia have signed bills passed by GOP-dominated legislatures to expand the number of seats on their states’ respective high courts.

Sat, 24 Oct 2020 13:57:04 GMT

Inside the Refugee Camp on America's Doorstep
MATAMOROS, Mexico -- A butter yellow sun rose over the crowded tent camp across the river from Texas, and a thick heat baked the rotten debris below, a mixture of broken toys, human waste and uneaten food swarming with flies.Clothing and sheets hung from trees and dried stiff after being drenched and muddied in a hurricane the week before.As residents emerged from the zipper-holes of their canvas homes that morning in August, some trudged with buckets in hand toward tanks of water for bathing and washing dishes. Others assembled in front of wash basins with arms full of children's underwear and pajamas. They waited for the first warm meal of the day to arrive, though it often made them sick.The members of this displaced community requested refuge in the United States but were sent back into Mexico and told to wait. They came there after unique tragedies: violent assaults, oppressive extortions, murdered loved ones. They are bound together by the one thing they share in common -- having nowhere else to go."Sometimes I feel like I can't hold on anymore," said Jaqueline Salgado, who fled to the camp from southern Mexico, sitting outside her tent on a bucket as her children played in the dirt. "But when I remember everything I've been through, and how it was worse, I come back to the conclusion that I have to wait."Salgado is one of about 600 people stranded in a place that many Americans might have thought would never exist. It is effectively a refugee camp on the doorstep of the United States, one of several that have sprung up along the border for the first time in the country's history.After first cropping up in 2018, the encampment across the border from Brownsville, Texas, exploded to nearly 3,000 people the following year under a policy that has required at least 60,000 asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico for the entirety of their legal cases, which can take years.Those who have not given up and returned home or had the means to move into shelters or apartments while they wait have been stuck outside ever since in this camp, or others like it that are now strung along the southwest border.Many have been living in fraying tents for more than a year.The Trump administration has said the "remain in Mexico" policy was essential to end exploitation of American immigration laws and alleviate overcrowding at Border Patrol facilities after nearly 2 million migrants crossed into the United States between 2017 and 2019.The Mexican authorities have blamed the U.S. government for the situation. But they have also declined to designate the outdoor areas as official refugee camps in collaboration with the United Nations, which could have provided infrastructure for housing and sanitation."It has been the first time we have been in this situation," Shant Dermegerditchian, director of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' office in Monterrey. "And we certainly don't support this."The U.S. Supreme Court agreed this week to review the policy after it was successfully challenged in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The case will not be resolved until after the election, so those living in the camp have months of waiting ahead, if not longer.The camp drew attention during Thursday night's presidential debate, when former Vice President Joe Biden noted, "This is the first president in the history of the United States of America that anybody seeking asylum has to do it in another country," he said. "They're sitting in squalor on the other side of the river."The arrival of the coronavirus has made things much worse. Though only a few cases broke out at the camp, most of the American aid workers who entered regularly to distribute supplies stopped coming, hoping to avoid transporting the virus.The Gulf Cartel, which traffics drugs across the border and is as powerful a force as local law enforcement, moved in to fill the void.The gang charges tolls to camp residents who decide to swim across the river on their own and sometimes kidnaps them for ransom. Beatings and disappearances have also become more common -- sometimes to protect women or children who are being abused, but other times because camp residents have violated the gang's rules about when and where they are permitted to roam outside their tents.Nine bodies have washed ashore on the banks of the Rio Grande near the camp in the last two months; the Mexican authorities said most of the deaths were a result of a rise in gang activity during the pandemic."I haven't done anything, I haven't stolen anything, and still I have to keep escaping. Why?" Salgado said that day in August.She said she and her children were on the run from her abusive husband, who drank excessively and would beat them when he was upset, and because her brother had been kidnapped and killed. Just then, her 11-year-old son, Alexander, who seemed to have only vaguely been paying attention, put down his toys and started to heave."He is constantly nervous," his mother said. "Every time we fought, his anxiety would make him sick and he would end up vomiting."Most children in the camp have not attended formal schooling since they left home. Parents agonize over whether they will be able to make up for the lost time. Some have become worried enough to launch their children across the river on the backs of smugglers, sending them alone on the last leg of their dangerous journey to the United States.Those who cannot bear to make such a decision are often tormented by second-guessing."I was scared I would never see him again because he's all I have," said Carmen Vargas, clinging to the arm of her 13-year-old son, Cristopher, who has a mop of curly brown hair and is tall for his age. "But my son needs to go to school. He's only 13 years old, and practically he has lost two years already."Cristopher teared up listening to his mother describe the life they had left behind. She pulled out identification cards showing that she had been a municipal police officer in Honduras, but said her success became a liability when she put a powerful drug cartel member in jail in 2018. Within hours, the cartel announced a hit on Vargas. She and Cristopher fled, leaving behind the ornate wooden furniture she had saved up to buy and a refrigerator full of food.With cupped palms, Vargas caught beads of sweat that dripped down her forehead as she spoke. She apologized for the stench; just outside her tent, insects crawled around a pile of feces that had washed up when the river flooded. "You have to withstand everything here: sun, water, cold, heat, we have it all."The camp residents are chronically sick with flulike viruses and stomach bugs that wend endlessly through the tents and with respiratory problems aggravated by the dusty air. Their skin is pockmarked from the throngs of mosquitoes that overwhelm the camp after it rains.Most acknowledge that life on the other side of the border would hardly be charmed -- especially if they lost their asylum cases and had to live in the shadows."Without papers, is it still better to be in the U.S. rather than here? Yes, it's a thousand times better," said Lucia Gomez, from Guerrero, Mexico, as she picked up clothing and toys that had been scattered outside their tent by hurricane winds. "They might find you, detain you and deport you," she said. "But if you manage to avoid them, you will be able to put food on the table."In her arms, she held her youngest child, an 8-month-old boy named Yahir, whose back was covered in a bumpy heat rash. Her son William, 16, plopped cherries into his mouth from a plate that was covered in flies.Gomez said her family had made a run for the camp from southern Mexico after their home was ransacked and her husband and father-in-law were shot to death. "A man came in and shouted, 'Put your hands up!'" her 8-year-old son Johan chimed in, holding his arms up as if he were holding an imaginary gun."That is why we wait," she said. "We try to get through this unworthy life. And we try to resist for our children's sake."Volunteer groups bought the laundry basins and water tanks, as well as hand-washing stations and a row of concrete showers that, after months of laying dry in the middle of the camp, were recently connected to a water source.But their efforts have often felt futile. Since the camp appeared, the invisible wall of policies blocking its inhabitants from being allowed into the United States has only grown taller and more fortified.Some have found ways to improvise a modicum of comfort. Antonia Maldonado, 41, from Honduras, stood in a kitchen she had cobbled together under tattered blue tarps suspended from trees. She placed raw chicken onto a grate over an open flame, using a scavenged piece of wood resting on two stacks of upside-down buckets as a countertop.She said she had been looking toward the election for hope that a new administration might ease some of the restrictions put into place by President Donald Trump."Not a leaf gets into that country without his permission," Maldonado said, adding, "I just want to live with dignity. I'm not asking for riches."Some parents pinch pesos to buy decorations and treats from supermarket reject bins for their children's birthdays. But many walk around the camp with bloodshot eyes, constantly on the brink of tears, or in a zombielike state, as if they have shut down emotionally.When Rodrigo Castro de la Parra arrived in Matamoros, he alternated between emotional extremes. In the span of a year, he had gone from being a shy high school student who liked to stay up late at night and draw flowers in his notebook to the head of his entire family. That was after the 18th Street Gang, the most brutal and powerful gang in Guatemala, murdered his mother and sister -- signaling a grudge that meant he and the rest of his relatives could be next on its kill list."I can't sleep," he said one afternoon, sitting outside the tents where he lived with his wife, daughter, grandmother, orphaned niece and his 16-year-old-sister, who had given birth after arriving at the camp. "Sometimes I feel hysterical." He said he worried that someone else in his family could be killed.But only two weeks later, it was Castro de la Parra's body that washed out of the river at one edge of the camp. His death was a mystery. The police investigated it as a possible homicide but ultimately determined that he had drowned.His wife, Cinthia, was still in shock when she took a bus back to Guatemala City for the repatriation of her husband's body. She also hoped to replace her travel documents that had been soaked in his pants when he died.She would need them when she went back with their 2-year-old to try again.This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company

Sat, 24 Oct 2020 13:55:49 GMT

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