WorldReutersMerkel's party postpones Dec. 4 congress planned to choose new leader
The executive committee of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) has decided to postpone a party congress planned for Dec. 4 to elect a new leader, Secretary General Paul Ziemiak said on Monday. The executive committee agreed it could not hold the meeting, which it had planned to stage in Stuttgart, in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. "The current situation would not allow a party conference on December 4," Ziemiak told reporters.
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Turkey, Turkish Cypriots seek 2-state deal for Cyprus
Turkey's president and the newly-elected Turkish Cypriot leader voiced their support on Monday for the resumption of peace talks for Cyprus based on a solution envisioning two separate states — departing from a formula followed for decades. Speaking alongside Ersin Tatar, the Turkish-backed hardline politician who won the Turkish Cypriot leadership election last week, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said peace efforts seeking a federal solution to divided Cyprus had been tried before and would be a “waste of time.” “At the point we have reached, we believe with certainty that to start negotiations based exclusively on the option of a federation is a waste of time,” Erdogan said.
WorldThe TelegraphSingapore halts use of flu vaccines after 48 die in South Korea
Singapore has temporarily halted the use of two influenza vaccines as a precaution after some people who received them in South Korea died, becoming among the first countries to publicly announce a halt of the vaccines' usage. South Korea reported that, as of Saturday, 48 people had died after getting flu shots, but said it would carry on with the state-run vaccination programme because it found no direct link between the deaths and the shots. No deaths associated with influenza vaccination have been reported in Singapore to date, but the decision to halt the use of SKYCellflu Quadrivalent and VaxigripTetra was precautionary, the health ministry and the Health Sciences Authority (HAS) said i...
PoliticsReutersU.S. lawmakers: Special Counsel probing possible Pompeo campaign law violation
The Democratic leaders of two U.S. House of Representatives Committees said on Monday the Office of Special Counsel had launched an investigation of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's speech to the Republican National Convention in August. Pompeo, who was appointed to his position by President Donald Trump, praised the Republican president's foreign policy record in a speech recorded in Jerusalem in August during a trip to Israel. The speech was aired at the convention, which nominated Trump for re-election.
WorldAssociated PressMalaysia'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."
U.S.The IndependentAOC criticises ‘unacceptable’ lines at New York polling stations after waiting two hours to cast ballot
New York lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has criticised what she says are "unacceptable" lines at a number of polling stations in the city. She said New York voters faced waits of between two and four hours before being able to cast their ballots in the November election. "There is no place in the United States of America where two-, three-, four-hour waits to vote is acceptable," said the city's 14th congressional district representative.
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China sanctions U.S. firms over Taiwan arms sales
China is set to impose sanctions on U.S. firms over arms sales to Taiwan. On Monday (October 26) a foreign ministry spokesman said the measures would target top defense contractors: To safeguard our national interests, China decided to take necessary measures and levy sanctions on U.S. companies such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing Defense and Raytheon, and those individuals and companies who behaved badly in the process of the arms sales with Taiwan. The move comes after Washington approved the sale to Taiwan of equipment worth around 1.8 billion dollars.
WorldThe TelegraphFinnish psychotherapy patients risk having secrets made public after hack
Thousands of psychotherapy patients in Finland risk having their most painful and intimate secrets made public, after one of the country's largest private psychotherapists was hacked. Current and former patients of Vastaamo, which runs 25 centres across Finland, began receiving blackmail emails from Friday, two days after the company first went public about the data breach. "What makes this case unique is the large number of victims and how sensitive and personal the information is which the blackmailers have obtained," Marko Leponen, the police commissioner leading the investigation into the breach, said at a press conference on Sunday.
- BusinessReuters
Not just small talk for Hungarian solar pavements
A Hungarian tech company is taking small steps with recycled plastic waste to make solar panels built into pavements to power buildings and charge electronic devices in public places. The solar cells are protected with hardened glass tiles, which allow the pavements to carry the weight of vehicles, and the secret lies in the small-scale approach, said Imre Sziszak, co-founder of Budapest-based Platio. "There are no complicated bits in this panel.
WorldAssociated PressTensions between EU and Turkey escalate over Erdogan insults
Tensions between the European Union and Turkey have risen further after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan questioned the mental state of his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron. Several EU officials harshly criticized Erdogan's comments over the weekend and the bloc's executive arm, the European Commission, said on Monday that the Turkish leader should change his approach if he does not want to derail the bloc's attempts at renewed dialogue with his country. Erdogan said Saturday that Macron needed his head examined.
WorldBBCPakistan's first metro line opens to passengers in Lahore
China has invested tens of billions of dollars in Pakistan as part of its Belt and Road Initiative which aims to link the economies of Asia, Africa and Europe via huge infrastructure projects. Belt and Road: China showcases initiative to world leaders Italy joins China's New Silk Road project The metro project led to protests from people concerned it would damage some of Lahore's most famous landmarks, in particular the Shalimar Gardens, a world heritage site. More than 600 trees had to be felled along the route.
PoliticsThe WeekTrump reportedly doesn't 'want to help some' GOP senators amid warnings of 'potentially catastrophic' election
Josh Holmes, a top adviser to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), told Politico he thinks the Republican Party could win more Senate races than people expect on Nov. 3, but the fact that there are so many close contests means "you could have a whole bunch of scenarios play out on Election Day." The worst-case scenario for the GOP, he said, is "potentially catastrophic." As it turns out, the party may not get that much help from President Trump when it comes to avoiding such a fate.
U.S.Miami Herald9-year-old hunting with father accidentally shoots, kills himself, Nebraska cops say
A father-son hunting trip left a 9-year-old boy dead Sunday following an accidental shooting, according to Nebraska police. Gunnar Holte was pheasant hunting with his father around Branched Oak Lake in Lincoln on Sunday morning when the incident occurred, the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office told KLKN. The boy was reloading his shotgun when his father heard it fire, KETV reported from the sheriff's office.
WorldAssociated PressAirstrike kills dozens of Turkish-backed Syrian fighters
An airstrike on a rebel training camp in northwestern Syria on Monday killed more than 50 Turkish-backed fighters and wounded nearly as many, in one of the heaviest blows to the opposition's strongest groups, a spokesman and a war monitor said. The opposition blamed Russia for the daytime strike and vowed to retaliate for the attack on Faylaq al-Sham. Russia and Turkey, although they support opposite sides in Syria's conflict, have worked together to maintain a cease-fire in the last enclave of Syria's rebels, centered on the province of Idlib.
ScienceBusiness InsiderNASA used a Boeing 747 rigged with a massive telescope to discover water on the moon — take a look at SOFIA
Data from NASA's flying observatory, nicknamed "SOFIA," was responsible for finding molecular water (H2O) on the moon. Housed inside the former Pan Am and United Airlines Boeing 747 is a far-infrared telescope that can detect star formations, distant galaxies, and the formation of new solar systems. The discovery is among the most consequential the jet has made in over 100 flights and a decade of service.
PoliticsReutersTrump asks Supreme Court to block deadline extension for North Carolina ballot
President Donald Trump's campaign again asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Sunday to block North Carolina's plan for counting absentee ballots that arrive after the Nov. 3 Election Day, the latest legal tussle in a wide-ranging fight over mail-in voting. The campaign initially filed the application on Thursday after a U.S. federal appeals court decision last week left in place North Carolina's plan, dealing a setback to Trump's re-election campaign. In a 12-3 decision, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last Tuesday denied a bid to halt the North Carolina State Board of Elections from tallying ballots postmarked by Nov. 3 that arrive before Nov. 12.
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Alzheimer's disease study by IBM cites language as an early sign of disease
An artificial intelligence program analyzing language predicted whether people with no memory or thinking problems would develop Alzheimer's disease later in life, researchers said. The study by IBM, funded by drug giant Pfizer, found a computerized model analyzing language patterns accurately predicted up to 74% of participants diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease later in life. The study is the latest in an emerging research field focusing on early detection of Alzheimer's disease, the memory-robbing disease that afflicts about 5.8 million Americans.
WorldAssociated PressThai protesters shun Parliament, ask Germany to probe king
Pro-democracy demonstrators in Thailand expanded their protests internationally on Monday, marching to the German Embassy to appeal to Angela Merkel's government to investigate whether Thailand's king has exercised political power during his extended stays in Bavaria. The protesters acted while criticizing their own Parliament, which began a special two-day session earlier Monday to address political tensions resulting from the near-daily pro-democracy protests demanding the prime minister's resignation, constitutional changes and reforms to the monarchy. The scrutiny and public criticism of the monarchy that has been displayed by some of the protesters is unprecedented in a country where the royal institution has been considered sacrosanct.
WorldBusiness InsiderBritain's equivalent of the Navy SEALs stormed an oil tanker, ending a suspected hijacking off the UK coast
The British version of the Navy SEALs performed a daring rescue Sunday after an oil tanker alerted the police to a suspected hijacking. The Special Boat Service took control of the Nave Andromeda after dark in nine minutes, ending a 10-hour standoff, Sky News reported. The crew had found seven stowaways, believed to be asylum seekers from Nigeria, before alerting the police, according to the BBC.
PoliticsThe Daily BeastMitch McConnell’s Conservative Challenger Gets a Boost... From Dems
In a last-ditch effort to unseat Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), a deep-pocketed Democratic group has begun airing ads backing the Libertarian candidate in Kentucky's U.S. Senate contest. A new super PAC called True Kentucky Patriots started buying television and digital ads last week in support of Libertarian Brad Barron, calling him “Kentucky's true conservative for U.S. Senate,” in the words of one thirty-second spot. Barron is one hundred percent pro-Second Amendment, one hundred percent pro-life, and one hundred percent pro-term limits.
U.S.BBCGeorge Floyd death: A city pledged to abolish its police. Then what?
At the end of January Ade Alabi made a big investment. The image of the burning precinct, abandoned by police in the face of angry and violent protesters, signalled for him that something different was happening in Minneapolis. This was the station where the four policemen charged in the killing of George Floyd worked.
WorldAssociated PressPhilippines recalls ambassador who allegedly mistreated maid
The Philippines' ambassador to Brazil has been ordered to return home to face investigation after video surfaced allegedly showing her physically mistreating her Filipino house helper, officials said Monday. Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said in a tweet that the diplomat, who was identified by his department as Ambassador Marichu Mauro, was recalled rapidly “to explain the maltreatment of her service staff. The video footage, reportedly taken from security cameras in the ambassador's residence in Brasilia and shown by a Brazilian news agency, showed a woman mistreating somebody who appeared to be a house worker, including by pulling her hair and ear.
PoliticsAssociated PressHouse already won? Pelosi thinks so, and reaches for more
With control of the House hardly contested, Pelosi is working to fortify Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and win extra House seats in case Congress is called on to resolve any Electoral College dispute with President Donald Trump. Pelosi said she feels so confident Democrats will keep the House this election, she's already preparing to win the next one in 2022. This year, I'm trying to win it two years in advance — by being so substantial in this election that as soon as we start into the next year, people will see our strength,” Pelosi told The Associated Press in an interview.
U.S.INSIDERA white woman yelled 'f--- Black Lives Matter' at a Starbucks barista after she told her to wear a mask
An unnamed white woman yelled at Alex Beckom, a 20-year-old Black barista, after Beckom told her she had to wear a mask in Starbucks. The woman yelled "f--- Black Lives Matter" at the barista, falsely claimed she was being discriminated against because she is a Trump supporter, and said the coronavirus was a hoax. Starbucks has required all customers to wear masks in its stores since July.
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Joe Biden 'has been caught in repeated lies over Biden Inc.': Sen. Johnson
Sen. Ron Johnson said he has repeatedly requested information from Hunter Biden's team.
“Many are longtime Republicans wrestling with what they see as a choice between two lousy candidates.”
“Some undecideds turn out to be people who’ve long felt alienated from the two big political parties.”
“They’re not following the 24-hour news cycle. The election and politics are just not a high priority.”
“One common trait: at this stage of the game, the undecided voter doesn’t fit into an easy political profile.”
“More realistically...these voters may not be motivated to vote at all in the 2020 election.”