Yemen's rival sides meet in Geneva for prisoner swap talks

Yemen’s warring sides on Friday began long-awaited U.N.-brokered peace consultations in Switzerland on the exchange of prisoners, part of a deal aimed at ending a conflict that has killed thousands and set off the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Delegates from Yemen’s internationally recognized government, supported by a Saudi-led military coalition, sat down in Geneva with their rivals, the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, for talks co-chaired by the Red Cross, according to Martin Griffiths, the U.N. envoy to Yemen. Griffiths urged the parties to “release detainees swiftly” and “bring relief to thousands of Yemeni families.”







Editorial: Boris Johnson's Brexit gambit casts a shadow on peace in Northern Ireland

Prime Minister Boris Johnson's attempt to tinker with the Brexit withdrawal agreement could endanger peace in Northern Ireland.







NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn't happen this week

None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out. THE FACTS: Maps circulating on social media with this claim include only American data.







Iranian Hackers Can Now Beat Encrypted Apps, Researchers Say

Iranian hackers, most likely employees or affiliates of the government, have been running a vast cyberespionage operation equipped with surveillance tools that can outsmart encrypted messaging systems -- a capability Iran was not previously known to possess, according to two digital security reports released Friday.The operation not only targets domestic dissidents, religious and ethnic minorities and anti-government activists abroad but can also be used to spy on the general public inside Iran, said the reports by Check Point Software Technologies, a cybersecurity technology firm, and the Miaan Group, a human rights organization that focuses on digital security in the Middle East.The reports, which were reviewed by The New York Times in advance of their release, say that the hackers have successfully infiltrated what were thought to be secure mobile phones and computers belonging to the targets, overcoming obstacles created by encrypted applications such as Telegram and, according to Miaan, even gaining access to information on WhatsApp. Both are popular messaging tools in Iran. The hackers also have created malware disguised as Android applications, the reports said.A spokesperson for Telegram said that the company was unaware of the Iranian hacker operation but that "no service can prevent being imitated in 'phishing' attacks when someone convinces users to enter their credentials on a malicious website." WhatsApp declined to comment.The reports suggest significant advances in the competency of Iranian intelligence hackers. And they come amid warnings from Washington that Iran is using cybersabotage to try to influence U.S. elections. Federal prosecutors on Wednesday identified two Iranian individuals they said had hacked into U.S. computers and stolen data on behalf of Iran's government and for financial gain."Iran's behavior on the internet, from censorship to hacking, has become more aggressive than ever," said Amir Rashidi, director of digital rights and security at Miaan and the researcher for its report.According to the report by Check Point's intelligence unit, the cyberespionage operation was set up in 2014, and its full range of capabilities went undetected for six years.Miaan traced the first operation to February 2018 from a malicious email targeting a Sufi religious group in Iran after a violent confrontation between its members and Iranian security forces.It traced the malware used in that attack and further attacks in June 2020 to a private technology firm in Iran's northeast city of Mashhad named Andromedaa. Miaan researchers determined that Andromedaa had a pattern of attacking activists, ethnic minority groups and separatist opposition groups but also had developed phishing and malware tools that could target the general public.The hackers appeared to have a clear goal: stealing information about Iranian opposition groups in Europe and the United States and spying on Iranians who often use mobile applications to plan protests, according to the Miaan report.Among the most prominent victims of the attacks, the reports said, are the Mujahedeen Khalq, or MEK, an insurgent group that Iranian authorities regard as a terrorist organization; a group known as the Association of Families of Camp Ashraf and Liberty Residents; the Azerbaijan National Resistance organization; citizens of Iran's restive Sistan and Balochistan province; and HRANA, an Iranian human rights news agency. Human rights lawyers and journalists working for Voice of America have also been targeted, Miaan said.According to Check Point, the hackers use a variety of infiltration techniques, including phishing, but the most widespread method is sending what appear to be tempting documents and applications to carefully selected targets.One of these is a Persian-language document titled "The Regime Fears the Spread of the Revolutionary Cannons.docx," referring to the struggle between the government and the MEK, sent to members of that movement. Another document was disguised as a report widely awaited by human rights activists on a cybersecurity researcher.These documents contained malware code that activated a number of spyware commands from an external server when the recipients opened them on their desktops or phones. According to the Check Point report, almost all of the targets have been organizations and opponents of the government who have left Iran and are now based in Europe. Miaan documented targets in the United States, Canada and Turkey as well as the European Union.The spyware enabled the attackers to gain access to almost any file, log clipboard data, take screenshots and steal information. According to Miaan, one application empowered hackers to download data stored on WhatsApp.In addition, the attackers discovered a weakness in the installation protocols of several encrypted applications including Telegram, which had always been deemed relatively secure, enabling them to steal the apps' installation files.These files, in turn, allow the attackers to make full use of the victims' Telegram accounts. Although the attackers cannot decipher the encrypted communications of Telegram, their strategy makes it unnecessary. Rather, they use the stolen installation files to create Telegram logins to activate the app in the victims' names on another device. This enables the attackers to secretly monitor all Telegram activity of the victims."This cutting-edge surveillance operation succeeded in going under the radar for at least six years," said Lotem Finkelstein, head of threat intelligence at Check Point. "The group maintained a multiplatform, targeted attack, with both mobile, desktop and web attack vectors, that left no evasion path for victims on the target list."The attackers, Finkelstein said, "designed their cyberweapons to technically target instant messaging apps, even ones considered secured."Miaan experts said the Iranian company linked to the attackers, Andromedaa, has been mentioned in at least three previous reports linking them to stealing information through malware. The Miaan report said the attack tools in those cases suggested they were "designed, built and run by the same hacker(s)."Rashidi, the Miaan researcher, attributed the success of the hackers partly to what he described as their social skills in creating deceptions that lured victims into a trap.For example, one malware targeting dissidents in Sweden was designed as a Persian-language instructions tool for Iranians seeking Swedish driver's licenses. Another application targeting ordinary Iranians promises to give users a larger exposure on social media apps like Instagram and Telegram.Finkelstein said it was "highly possible" that the hackers were freelancers employed by Iranian intelligence, as has been true in previous Iranian hacking episodes. He also said the infrastructure of the operation led Check Point to conclude that the attacks are "administered by Iranian entities against regime dissidents."Babak Chalabi, 37, the spokesperson of the Azerbaijan National Resistance Organization, which promotes the rights of ethnic Turks in Iran, said his computer was hacked by this group in late 2018 when he received an email with a link and clicked on it.Chalabi said he had done an interview with the Al-Arabiya television channel about Iran's cybersecurity, and three days later he received an email from a person disguised as an Al-Arabiya editor informing him that the network had received complaints from Iran about his interview and asking him to look at the complaints through a link.When Chalabi clicked on the link, his computer was infiltrated, he said. He contacted Rashidi of Miaan. Rashidi reviewed his files and the email and confirmed this group of hackers was behind it.This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company







One family's desperate, deadly attempt to flee Lebanon

Mohammed Sufian did not dream of much: a job, food on the table, the chance to buy his 2½-year-old son the little things a toddler wants. The city is also home to tens of thousands of Syrians who fled civil war in their country that broke out in March 2011.







Running out of storm names, Atlantic season goes Greek









AP Exclusive: Census layoffs ordered despite judge's ruling

Two weeks after a federal judge prohibited the U.S. Census Bureau from winding down the 2020 census, a manager in Illinois instructed employees to get started with layoffs, according to an audio of the conversation obtained by The Associated Press. During a conference call Thursday, the Chicago area manager told supervisors who report to him that they should track down census takers who don't currently have any cases, collect the iPhones they use to record information, and bid them goodbye. It was unclear whether such actions would violate U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh's temporary restraining order prohibiting the Census Bureau from winding down field operations while she considers a request to extend the head count by a month.







CDC drops controversial testing advice that caused backlash

U.S. health officials on Friday dropped a controversial piece of coronavirus guidance and said anyone who has been in close contact with an infected person should get tested. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention essentially returned to its previous testing guidance, getting rid of language posted last month that said people didn’t need to get tested if they didn't feel sick. It was "not consistent with the basic principles of controlling an epidemic,”said Dr. Silvia Chiang, a pediatric infectious diseases expert at Brown University who applauded the change announced Friday.







AP Exclusive: Pandemic shrinking Europe's monitor of US vote

Europe’s largest security organization said Friday that it has drastically scaled back plans to send as many as 500 observers to the U.S. to monitor the Nov. 3 presidential election and now will deploy just 30 because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe — which has observed U.S. elections since 2002 but is better known for monitoring voting in countries such as Belarus or Kyrgyzstan — has spent months trying to figure out how to safely keep tabs on an election it worries will be “the most challenging in recent decades” as Americans pick a president in the throes of a global health crisis. The OSCE's mission originally was to have involved 100 long-term and 400 short-term observers to the U.S. starting this month, but health concerns and restrictions on travel prompted the Vienna-based organization to pare that back to 30 observers, spokesperson Katya Andrusz told The Associated Press.







Firefighters battle exhaustion along with wildfire flames

Firefighters trying to contain the massive wildfires in Oregon, California and Washington state are constantly on the verge of exhaustion as they try to save suburban houses, including some in their own neighborhoods. Oregon firefighter Steve McAdoo’s shift on Sept. 7 seemed mostly normal, until late evening, when the team went to a fire along a highway south of Portland.







US carrier transits Strait of Hormuz amid tensions with Iran

The USS Nimitz aircraft carrier safely transited on Friday through the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important chokepoint for oil shipments, the U.S. Navy said, as tensions with Iran continue to simmer. In a “scheduled” maneuver, the U.S. sent the carrier and several other warships through the strait, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, according to the U.S. Navy’s Bahrain-based 5th fleet. The Nimitz, America’s oldest carrier in active service, carries some 5,000 sailors and Marines.







Guatemalan president tests positive for new coronavirus

Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei said Friday he has tested positive for the new coronavirus, but he told a local radio station he feels well. Giammattei, 64, has multiple sclerosis and uses canes to walk. The government press office said in a statement that Giammattei “will be isolating himself from all public activity, and so all communication will be conducted remotely.”







Coronavirus red alert declared in Iran as death toll nears 24,000

Iran has declared a coronavirus red alert due to a third wave of infections, with thousands more deaths likely to follow in the Middle East’s worst affected country. The red alert will cover the entire country, according to Iranian state media reports, as the death toll rose on Friday by 144 to 23,952 and the total number of cases exceeded 400,000. Iranian officials have carved up the country into white, orange and red areas based on the number of infections and deaths. But the country’s deputy health minister said the system was now redundant as “the entire country is red.” "The colour classification doesn't make sense anymore,” Iraj Harirchi said on an Iranian television programme. "If the current course continues, the death toll will reach 45,000," he added. According to Reuters news agency, in the northwestern city of Tabriz, the number of hospitalised patients has risen from under 40 per day to 160. And in the Shia Muslim holy city of Qom, it has increased from ten a day to 160. Mr Harirchi said that if 95 per cent of the country wore masks and the number of gatherings fell by half then the severe death toll could be reduced. It comes after leaked documents revealed that the number of deaths from coronavirus in Iran was at least triple the figure reported by the authorities. The papers, obtained by BBC Persian, showed that an even more severe third wave of the virus was underway. Even by the government’s public figures, Iran is the worst affected country in the Middle East. Iran formally reported its first coronavirus case in mid-February, with the deaths of two people in Qom, though health workers and Iranian journalists had given earlier warnings about the illness. Since then, Iran has been accused of deliberately underreporting infections. “Everyone knew that the number of Covid cases was significantly higher than what officials were reporting,” an Iranian journalist in Tehran told The Telegraph earlier this month. Iran has also struggled under crippling US sanctions targeting the regime’s leadership, which even before the pandemic had led to severe medicine shortage.







Amal Clooney Quits U.K. Special Envoy Role Over Country’s Plans to Break International Law









Push is underway to test COVID-19 vaccines in diverse groups

In front of baskets of tomatoes and peppers, near a sizzling burrito grill, the “promotoras” stop masked shoppers at a busy Latino farmers market: Want to test a COVID-19 vaccine? Aided by Spanish-speaking “health promoters” and Black pastors, a stepped-up effort is underway around the U.S. to recruit minorities to ensure potential vaccines against the scourge are tested in the populations most ravaged by the virus. Scientists say a diverse group of test subjects is vital to determining whether a vaccine is safe and effective for everyone and instilling broad public confidence in the shots once they become available.







Flooding affects more than 1 million across East Africa

Flooding has affected well over a million people across East Africa, another calamity threatening food security on top of a historic locust outbreak and the coronavirus pandemic. The Nile River has hit its highest levels in a half-century under heavy seasonal rainfall, and large parts of Sudan, Ethiopia and South Sudan have been swamped amid worries about climate change. As warnings of a new famine grow in South Sudan, the United Nations says flooding there has affected at least a half-million people, many in areas of Jonglei state that saw eruptions of deadly intercommunal violence this year.







Africa's week in pictures: 11 - 17 September 2020

A selection of the week's best photos from across the continent and beyond.







Trump and other world leaders won't attend UNGA in person this year

The U.N.'s annual meeting of world leaders will be almost fully virtual.







Turkey's Halkbank urges dismissal of Iran sanctions criminal case in U.S.









Amal Clooney Quits UK Media Envoy Role Over Government’s “Lamentable” Brexit Actions









Hundreds of thousands still without power in Sally cleanup

Hundreds of thousands of people were still without power Friday along the Alabama coast and the Florida Panhandle in the aftermath of Hurricane Sally as officials assessed millions of dollars in damage that included a broken bridge in Pensacola and ships thrown onto dry land. While the cleanup pressed on, the record-shattering hurricane season notched another milestone: Forecasters ran out of traditional names for storms, forcing them to begin using the Greek alphabet for only the second time since the 1950s. In Loxley, Alabama, Catherine Williams lost power and some of her roof to Sally.







EU leaders to discuss Brexit at summit in boost to trade deal hopes

European Union leaders will discuss Brexit at their European Council September summit , a month earlier than planned, in a boost to British hopes of hitting Boris Johnson's October deadline for a trade deal. Charles Michel, the European Council president, and Michel Barnier met in Brussels on Friday, the day after the EU's chief negotiator met with David Frost. As recently as Thursday, senior EU diplomats were insisting there was no way Brexit would force itself onto the agenda of the summit. EU officials inisted the discussion would be a brief analysis of the state of play. UK sources told the Telegraph that the decision to put the trade negotiations before the heads of state and government of the EU-27 was hopefully a sign the EU had begun to take the Prime Minister's October 15 deadline seriously. Mr Johnson has said that if the trade deal is not finalised by October 15, shortly before another EU summit the same month, both sides should prepare for a no deal Brexit, which will mean trading on WTO terms and with tariffs. In London, George Eustice, the Brexiteer Environment Secretary predicted that even if there was a no deal exit, “common sense” would break out in the new year and an agreement would be signed. “I just think it is implausible that it would be a long term scenario where we will have no free trade agreement or partnership at all with our nearest neighbour,” he told BBC radio, “If there is to be no deal as you put it, it is more likely to be no deal yet.” Sources in Brussels have made it clear that if Britain was forced back to the negotiating table after an economically damaging no deal, it would be faced with the same demands over issues such as the level playing field guarantees but enjoy far less goodwill from the EU. The last round of trade negotiations in London were overshadowed by the row over Mr Johnson's Internal Market Bill, which Brussels says breaks the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement and international law. On Friday Amal Clooney, the famous human rights lawyer quit as the UK’s special envoy on media freedom in protest at the “lamentable” bill, which will face stiff opposition in the House of Lords despite a compromise being brokered with Tory rebel MPs. The EU has threatened to walk away from negotiations and to take legal action against Britain unless the offending clauses are excised before the end of the month. "Brexit will be discussed at the European Council next week in an information point. It will be an occasion to briefly analyse the situation." an EU official said. The official said there was a need to fully implement the Withdrawal Agreement. "The EU is neither intimidated or impressed but breaking an international agreement is extremely worrying," the official said. The source said the EU leaders remained "firm and steady" and was still looking to agree a trade deal with the UK "but that requires substantial progress on key issues such as the level playing field and fisheries." The official said time was short to agree the deal by the October deadline and prevent a no deal exit at the end of the year, when the UK leaves the transition period and the Single Market and Customs Union. On Thursday, a senior EU diplomat briefed reporters in Brussels that "It is very clear that there is going to be no Brexit on the end of the agenda." He said that the time for any concrete decisions on Brexit by the EU's leaders would be the October summit. That is when they will be expected to either back the draft trade deal, if the agreement is ready in time. The next round of trade negotiations is in Brussels at the end of the month.







U.N. approves EU resolution on monitoring Belarus human rights









AP-NORC poll: Majority plan to vote before Election Day

A majority of President Donald Trump's supporters plan to cast their ballot on Election Day, while about half of Joe Biden's backers plan to vote by mail, a sign of a growing partisan divide over how best to conduct elections in the United States. Overall, 39% of registered voters say they will vote by mail, well above the 21% who say they normally do so, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Fifty-seven percent of Trump's supporters say they'll vote in person on Nov. 3.







VIRUS DIARY: Always learning from 'happy little accidents'

I'm not alone in confessing that I have always enjoyed those Bob Ross instructional painting programs that ran on PBS for many years. Maybe it was his Mr. Rogers-like guidance that there were no mistakes, “just happy little accidents.” Bob died 25 years ago.







Amanda Milling: ‘The PM still has support of Red Wall despite locking down the North’

Amanda Milling, chairwoman of the Conservative party, is wincing at the memory of being a government whip at the height of last year’s parliamentary paralysis over Brexit. The MP was one of the tellers when yet another knife-edge crunch vote was tied 310 for and 310 against, leaving Speaker Bercow to cast the deciding vote. “I was literally shaking,” she reveals as she recalls the extraordinary events of April last year, when the Commons was split over a motion to hold more indicative votes. “There was a long 10 minutes when the two chief whips went off to talk about it. We had no idea what Bercow was going to do. I was literally standing by the clerks’ desk, quivering, thinking this is so nerve wracking.” In the end the former Speaker voted "no" in accordance with precedent, and the motion did not pass. Monday’s ‘mini’ rebellion over the Internal Market Bill has given the MP for Cannock Chase a hint of deju vu, although she insists the latest row over Brexit is “nothing like” the shenanigans of 2019. It seems an eternity ago to the 45-year-old who was appointed chairwoman in February after backing Boris Johnson’s leadership bid from the very beginning. Even the December election feels “far away”, she admits, although ever the party patriot, she insists the Prime Minister remains “hugely popular” in the Red Wall seats which turned Blue under the Tories. What, even in the post-coronavirus era, when the competence of Mr Johnson’s fledgling administration is called into question on a daily basis? “When you get out of Westminster and actually talk to people, the mood is really quite positive. They are incredibly supportive of the PM.” Honestly? “Seriously. You only have to look at my Facebook page to see the warmth with everyone getting behind him when he was ill.” A cursory search of her social media feed finds it awash with videos of Milling touring the UK along with re-posted manifesto pledges, criticisms of Labour and even a picture of her black labrador, Milly. Milling has spent the three months since lockdown restrictions were lifted in June touring what she insists on calling the ‘Blue Wall’, following her party’s 80-seat majority. “I have to correct people actually when they talk about the Red Wall. I say: ‘Stop there, it is very much the Blue Wall now’. And we need to turn it from light Blue to dark Blue.” Yet while the business people Milling meets are largely supportive of the furlough scheme, and initiatives like Eat Out To Get Out, is she not worried about the effect coronavirus might have on next May’s local elections? Even the party’s own MPs have expressed concerns about how the Tories may fare at the ballot box, without the dual threat of no Brexit and Jeremy Corbyn to wield over voters. Insisting the Conservatives will still stick to their big-spending infrastructure pledges, despite the debt being wracked up by the pandemic, she says: “Despite coronavirus, we are still fully committed to those manifesto commitments. One of my key priorities is levelling up.” But in planting enough “magic money trees” to rival Corbyn’s allotment as they strive to keep their more diverse electorate happy, might the Conservatives be in danger of leaving the party faithful behind? “I don't think we're leaving our old school Tories behind. We have gone through an unprecedented period, over the last six months, which none of us could have predicted, but we are still fully committed to reflecting the country that we serve. “Look at the parliamentary party now in terms of who has been elected and their backgrounds. The party is more diverse and I want to continue that journey.” It is certainly a far cry from the party Milling aspired to join when she left independent Moreton Hall School in 1993 to study economics and statistics at University College London. Back then there were just 60 female MPs out of 650 - under 10 per cent. “I was fascinated by politics but it was something which was just not achievable,” she says. “But then parliament has changed over the last 25 years and so has the Conservative party.” Brought up in a Tory household under Margaret Thatcher’s leadership, Milling was a party activist from a young age. “Even as a teenager, I was delivering leaflets from one of our local councillors.” A portrait of the Iron Lady adorns her office, in tribute to the woman who made her “aspire to something”. Yet it was not until Milling divorced in the early Noughties that she finally decided to give up a successful career in market research to follow in Thatcher’s footsteps, having served as a Conservative councillor in Lancashire. “It was after the 2010 election and I remember somebody saying to me: “Have you thought about going to Parliament?” And I thought: “No”. And then you start thinking about it a bit more. I think it was my grandfather who said: “There's no such word as can’t”. That's really in my DNA.” Milling was selected for her Staffordshire seat in May 2014, after the incumbent Tory MP Aidan Burley announced he would be standing down after helping to organise a Nazi-themed stag party. “I’d separated a couple of years earlier and I thought, I can do it, because I actually had the bandwidth to be able to literally pack up my bags, wrap up work and relocate. I just turned my life upside down in two weeks. “Somebody said: “What are you going to do if you lose?” And I said: “My job for the next nine months is to make sure I don't lose.” I'd be in the office until midnight, just making sure I won that election.” Even with the next general election three and a half years away, Milling remains in campaign mode, although she hopes Labour under Sir Keir Starmer will fight cleaner than the Corbynistas. “Some of the stories from the last election were horrendous.” Regaling tales of posters being torn down, she adds: “Sir Keir does need to clean it up because last year was not a pleasant experience and it shouldn't be like that.” In the meantime there is next month’s Conservative party conference to finalise - a virtual four-day event that Milling insists “will not be a giant Zoom call”. Although secretive about the finer details, she reveals there will be five keynote speeches this year, from the PM, Chancellor, Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary and herself, as chairwoman. But no keynote speech from Health Secretary Matt Hancock in the midst of a global pandemic? “We are using different platforms and methods of communication to achieve what everyone would normally do on a stage, but in a more interactive way,” she says. With criticism having already surfaced over her co-chairman Ben Eliot’s handling of potential donors in light of Robert Jenrick’s role in a controversial development by Richard Desmond, Milling appears keen to keep the party’s powder dry. “There are a whole load of obligations in terms of transparency and we fully adhere to all of those,” she insists. While the focus remains on “keeping those donations going, keeping the membership going, and keeping the campaign going”, Milling points out that, unlike her recent predecessors: “I'm not five weeks away from the next general election.” “I always talk about it being like car servicing,” she adds. “Until now we haven’t really had the chance to get the bonnet open and see which bits need some oil.” In the wake of an unprecedented national breakdown, the Conservatives’ chief mechanic can only hope that Johnson’s party passes its first MOT.







Lebanese firm under U.S. sanctions accuses Washington of choking economy









AP Exclusive: More migrant women say they didn’t OK surgery

Sitting across from her lawyer at an immigration detention center in rural Georgia, Mileidy Cardentey Fernandez unbuttoned her jail jumpsuit to show the scars on her abdomen. After Cardentey repeatedly requested her medical records to find out, Irwin County Detention Center gave her more than 100 pages showing a diagnosis of cysts but nothing from the day of the surgery. It has the date, Aug. 14, and part of the doctor’s name, Dr. Mahendra Amin, a gynecologist linked this week to allegations of unwanted hysterectomies and other procedures done on detained immigrant women that jeopardize their ability to have children.







Dutch government seeks to hold Syria accountable for torture

The Dutch government announced Friday it is holding Syria responsible under international law for “gross human rights violations,” in a process that could ultimately trigger a case at the United Nations’ highest court. The Dutch initiative, invoking the U.N. Convention against Torture, is the latest attempt to hold President Bashar Assad's government accountable amid widespread reports it is mistreating its own citizens against the backdrop of the country’s grinding civil war. “The Assad regime has not hesitated to crack down hard on its own population, using torture and chemical weapons, and bombing hospitals,” Foreign Minister Stef Blok said in a statement.







Biden makes push for voters on National Black Voter Day

Joe Biden’s campaign unveiled a series of nationwide digital events Friday targeting Black voters in swing states — a strategic move by the Democratic presidential nominee to further energize the key demographic as the race heads into its final weeks. The virtual events, which will commemorate Friday's inaugural National Black Voter Day, will begin with a voter registration and early vote rally in North Carolina featuring vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris as part of the campaign’s “Turn Up and Turn out the Vote Virtual Bus Tour.” The tour is a joint effort with the Congressional Black Caucus’ PAC and will be spread across a full weekend of events, according to plans shared first with The Associated Press.







U.S. Admits That Congressman Offered Pardon to Assange If He Covered Up Russia Links

LONDON—Lawyers representing the United States at Julian Assange’s extradition trial in Britain have accepted the claim that the WikiLeaks founder was offered a presidential pardon by a congressman on the condition that he would help cover up Russia’s involvement in hacking emails from the Democratic National Committee.Jennifer Robinson, a lawyer, told the court that she had attended a meeting between Assange, then Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, and pro-Trump troll Charles Johnson at Assange’s hide-out, the Ecuadorian embassy in London, on August 15, 2017.Robinson said the two Americans claimed to be emissaries from Washington and “wanted us to believe they were acting on behalf of the president.” The pair allegedly told Assange that they could help grant him a pardon in exchange for him revealing information about the source of the WikiLeaks information that proved it was not the Russians who hacked Democratic emails.“They stated that President Trump was aware of and had approved of them coming to meet with Mr. Assange to discuss a proposal—and that they would have an audience with the president to discuss the matter on their return to Washington, D.C.,” Robinson said.The White House has denied that Trump took part in any such plan. The claim itself is not new—Assange’s lawyers previewed the allegation in a pre-trial hearing in February—but this is the first time Robinson’s testimony has been heard in full. The WikiLeaks lawyer said Rohrabacher offered Assange the deal a year after emails that damaged Hillary Clinton in the presidential race had been published, when the Russia investigation was gathering pace. The stolen DNC emails posted by WikiLeaks were hacked by Russian operatives.After Robinson read her testimony in a London courtroom on Friday, lawyers representing the U.S. accepted the witness statement as accurate and confirmed they had no intention of cross-examining the claim. They did dispute, however, that President Donald Trump gave his blessing for the pardon offer.James Lewis, who was representing the U.S. government, said, “The position of the government is we don't contest these things were said. We obviously do not accept the truth of what was said by others.”Rohrabacher, who was known as Putin’s favorite congressman, partially corroborated the claim back in February, saying at the time, “I spoke to Julian Assange and told him if he would provide evidence about who gave WikiLeaks the emails I would petition the president to give him a pardon... He knew I could get to the president.”Rohrabacher said he followed up the meeting by calling then White House chief of staff John Kelly to discuss the pardon. However, the ex-congressman said he never spoke to Trump about it.Regardless, Assange turned the offer down, his lawyers said.Assange has argued that he should not be extradited to the U.S. because the American case against him is politically motivated. He spent almost seven years hiding in the Ecuadorian embassy in Central London, claiming that he would be jailed in the U.S. if he wasn’t granted asylum. He was kicked out of the embassy last year.If Assange fails in his fight against extradition to the U.S., he will face 18 charges including conspiracy to commit computer intrusion, which, his defense argues, could result in a prison sentence of 175 years.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.







Netherlands prepares case against Syria for "gross human rights violations"









Veru Announces ESMO Congress 2020 Oral Presentation of Positive Clinical Results from its VERU-111 Phase 1b Study in Metastatic Prostate Cancer









REFILE-WRAPUP 3-U.N. steps up monitoring of reported abuses in Belarus, raising stakes









The global medical gowns market by revenue is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 9% during the period 2019-2025

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05968731/?utm_source=PRN The global medical gowns market by revenue is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 9% during the period 2019–2025. The global medical gowns market size will reach billion by 2025, representing an annual growth rate of 9%. Based on value shipment, the global medical gowns market is expected to observe an absolute growth of 69% during the forecast period. Several factors are likely to influence the growth of the market, which include the rising number of surgical procedures for several diseases and the potential risk reduction for healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). The increase in donations of medical gowns to healthcare workers is another key factor contributing to the market growth across the globe. Furthermore, the outbreak of new pandemic such as COVID-19 will drive the future growth of the market. With the increasing focus on coronavirus laboratory testing, there is a high requirement for medical gowns worldwide. Moreover, with the number of coronavirus cases growing, countries are rushing for panic buying and hoarding of PPE kits due to the fear of the spread of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. The following factors are likely to contribute to the growth of the medical gowns market during the forecast period: • Emergence of New Pandemic Challenge • Rising Focus on Medical Gowns Production Increase Strategy • Increase in Donation of Medical Gowns to Healthcare Providers • Growing Number of Surgical Procedures The study considers the present scenario of the medical gowns market and its market dynamics for the period 2019?2025. It covers a detailed overview of several market growth enablers, restraints, and trends. The report offers both the demand and supply aspect of the market. It profiles and examines leading companies and other prominent ones operating in the market. Global Medical Gowns Market Segmentation The global medical gowns market research report includes a detailed segmentation by product type, power source, application, and geography. In terms of volume, the surgical gown segment is likely to reach over five billion units by 2025. The growth can be attributed to several factors, including the high number of orthopedic, laparoscopic, bariatric, gynecological, and gastrointestinal (GI) surgeries, the increasing geriatric population, the rising popularity of minimally invasive surgeries, and technological advancements for surgical procedures. In 2019, based on volume, the patient gowns segment accounted for over 38% of the global medical gowns market. The use of patient robes facilitates the identification process in the healthcare facility, which contributes to objectification with a focus on disease and symptoms. Also, they offer immense comfort and protection during medical examinations or surgical procedures to the patient. Enhancements in materials, which include disposable multilayer patient gowns are fluid-resistant, comfortable, and breathable with soft, fabric-like material that requires no maintenance, are expected to contribute to the market growth. In 2019, the moderate risk segment captured over 43% volume share. These gowns are intended for procedures such as arterial blood drawing. Therefore, with the significant burden of diseases and HAIs while treating such diseases need effective management with dedicated PPE such as moderate risk level medical gowns. Moreover, the exposure to pathogenic microorganisms harbored in the blood, body fluids, and other potentially infectious materials (OPIM) that lead to occupationally acquired infections (OAIs) is driving HCPs to don adequate PPE with moderate risk level medical gowns to protect themselves in-patient care and surgical surroundings. In 2019, the disposable segment by volume accounted for over 78% share of the global medical gowns market. Disposable medical gowns are widely preferred in the healthcare industry. The segment is expected to grow as the material is high on comfort, safety, barrier performance, and reliability. Also, they offer antibacterial assurance and environmental safety. Such barrier effectiveness while providing quality patient care is a key factor for the high uptake of disposable ones. Also, the majority of these products are manufactured from polypropylene, which is a by-product of petrochemical with recyclable and environment-friendly properties. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of disposable materials is highly recommended to reduce contaminations in healthcare settings. Segmentation by Product • Surgical • Patient • Non-surgical Segmentation by Risk Level • Moderate • Minimal and Low • High Segmentation by Usability • Disposable • Reusable INSIGHTS BY GEOGRAPHY North America's medical gowns market will reach a revenue of over billion by 2020. The region has witnessed an increase in the number of several advanced surgical procedures for treating acute and chronic diseases. Around 60% increase in atherectomy procedures for treating CVDs were reported among Medicare beneficiaries between 2011 and 2014 in the region. The US is the major revenue contributor to the global medical gowns market. The country holds the highest market value due to better healthcare accessibility and healthcare coverage and spend. The US market is growing at a significant rate due to the increase in the prevalence of acute and chronic diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer, and pandemics such as COVID-19. Moreover, favorable government recommendations for wearing medical robes to avoid infections in healthcare settings is another factor driving the market growth in the country. Segmentation by Geography • North America o US o Canada • Europe o UK o Germany o France o Italy o Spain • APAC o China o Japan o South Korea o Australia o India • Latin America o Brazil o Mexico o Argentina • Middle East & Africa o South Africa o Saudi Arabia o Iran o Turkey INSIGHTS BY VENDORS The global medical gowns market is highly competitive, dynamic, and characterized by the presence of several global, regional, and local vendors, offering a diverse range of products to end-users. With the outbreak of COVID-19, the number of companies manufacturing medical gowns increased exponentially, especially in the APAC region. Most key players, including Cardinal Health, Owens & Minor, 3M, Kimberly-Clark, Medline Industries, Standard Textile, Aramark, and Angelica have demonstrated consistent growth over the last few years. Moderate to a high growth of major players will continue to boost the global market growth for medical gowns. Prominent Vendors • Cardinal Health • Owens & Minor • The 3M Company • Kimberly-Clark • Medline Industries • Standard Textile • Aramark • Angelica Other Prominent Vendors • Atlas Infiniti • Bellcross Industries • Boston Scientific • Care+Wear • Contec Healthcare • Crosstex International • DACH Schutzbekleidung • Dispotech • DUKAL • Dynarex • ENAYAH • ERENLER MED?KAL • Euronda • Ford Motor Company • Franz Mensch • FULLSTAR GROUP • GOWNIES • HePRO.US • Superior Uniform Group • Thermo Fisher Scientific • Mölnlycke Health Care • Leboo Healthcare Products • Intco Medical • IKBOLO • Timo • Medic • Priontex • PAUL HARTMANN • Medica Europe • Pidegree Industrial • Panther Healthcare • Medi Dent Disposable International • Safetec of America • Sara Healthcare • Hogy Medical • Lohmann & Rauscher • PRIMED • TIDI Products • Welmed • Graham Medical • Tronex Healthcare • Shanghai Medical • MED Medical Products • Van Dijk Holland • Forlong Medical • KM Healthcare • FarStar Medical • Le Chateau • Med-Con • Medicom • Narang Medical • Neomedic • Sterimed • Wujiang Evergreen EX/IM • Yeakn Protecting Products KEY QUESTIONS ANSWERED 1. What is the medical gowns market size and growth rate during the forecast period? 2. What are the factors impacting the growth of the medical gowns market share? 3. What are the drivers, trends, and restraints in the hospital gowns market? 4. Who are the leading vendors in the medical gowns market, and what are their market shares? 5. What is the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the medical gowns market share?Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05968731/?utm_source=PRN 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







Firefighter dies battling wildfire sparked by gender reveal

A firefighter died battling a wildfire in California that officials said was sparked by a device used to reveal a baby's gender. The death happened Thursday in the San Bernardino National Forest as crews battled the El Dorado Fire, the U.S. Forest Service said in a statement. The fire erupted earlier this month from a smoke-generating pyrotechnic device used by a couple to reveal their baby’s gender, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, said.







Pope seeks to 'liberate' Virgin Mary from the Mafia

Pope Francis is giving his blessing to a new Vatican think tank that is seeking to prevent the Mafia and organized crime groups from exploiting the image of the Virgin Mary for their own illicit ends. The Vatican’s Pontifical Marian Academy launched the think tank Friday at a conference titled “Liberating Mary from the Mafia.” It was a reference to the historic relationship between the Italian mob and the Catholic Church, and the popular displays of Marian devotion by mobsters in Italy and beyond.







Israel charges east Jerusalem woman with aiding Hezbollah









Satellite images show N. Korea preparing for military parade

North Korea is preparing for a massive military parade in its capital to mark the 75th anniversary of its ruling party next month, satellite images indicated Friday, even as the country strengthens its anti-coronavirus measures. On Monday, the North’s Korean Central News Agency said the country is intensifying its emergency anti-coronavirus efforts.







Blast targets 'American' English school in southern Iraq

An improvised explosive device blew up outside an English-language institute in southern Iraq early Friday without causing any casualties, Iraqi police said in a statement, amid a recent uptick in attacks targeting the American presence in Iraq. The school is not formally affiliated with any institutions in the U.S. It was believed to to have been targeted because it offered English-language lessons to Iraqis. Rocket attacks routinely target the heavily fortified Green Zone, the seat of the Iraqi government, where the U.S. Embassy is located.







AP Interview: South Africa to know true virus toll in weeks

South Africa should know its true toll from the coronavirus pandemic within a few weeks, the government’s chief medical adviser says, as the country prepares to almost fully reopen its economy after bringing the first surge in cases under control. The official death toll from COVID-19 is more than 15,700 but the real number is likely more than 30,000 when deaths not recorded at hospitals are taken into account, Salim Abdool Karim, epidemiologist and chairman of the government’s COVID-19 advisory committee, told The Associated Press in an interview. Similar surveys are beginning in other countries across Africa, which has seen far fewer confirmed cases and deaths in the pandemic than health experts once feared.







Global Market Outlook for the Soil Treatment Market to 2025 - Overall Market Forecast to Grow at a CAGR of 6.2% During 2020-2025









After showdown, UN rights body OKs more scrutiny of Belarus

The U.N.'s top human rights body on Friday passed a resolution backed by the European Union seeking quick and enhanced scrutiny of alleged violations in Belarus by authorities under President Alexander Lukashenko, after rejecting efforts to squelch speakers and water down the text. The Human Rights Council voted 23-2 with 22 abstentions on the resolution that calls on the U.N. human rights chief to look into the situation of rights in the former Soviet republic and report back by year-end. The vote followed a dramatic “urgent debate” in which Belarus and backers like China, Russia and Venezuela sought to muzzle speakers like Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, a former English teacher who placed second to Lukashenko in the country's disputed presidential election last month.







Virus clusters at French universities give Europe a lesson

The clutches of cases are a warning sign for countries elsewhere in Europe, where most universities are readying to resume teaching and research in coming weeks. “We go back to university in conditions that are a bit extreme, and we fear we might get COVID-19,” Elise Gilbert, 20, who is studying literature at the Sorbonne, said of the overcrowding students encountered. France's experience so far stands in contrast to what's happening in Britain, where virus-driven changes on campuses mean university life will look a lot different this term.







Israel returns to virus lockdown as cases mount

Israel went back into a full lockdown on Friday to try to contain a coronavirus outbreak that has steadily worsened for months as its government has been plagued by indecision and infighting. The three-week lockdown, which began in the early afternoon, will require the closure of many businesses and set strict limits on movement and public gatherings. In an address late Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that even stricter measures may be needed to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed.







Trump and Biden hit unlikely battleground state of Minnesota

Minnesota has backed Democratic presidential candidates for nearly half a century and rarely receives much attention during the final stages of the race. This is when campaigns typically focus their resources on more traditional swing states like Florida or Pennsylvania. Trump this evening will be in Bemidji, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) north of Minneapolis, while Biden earlier in the day swung through the Duluth area, on the banks of Lake Superior and close to the Wisconsin border.







Trump's Northern Ireland envoy issues border warning - FT









No Democrat Speaks to Tories Quite Like Trump

(Bloomberg Opinion) -- The barbs being traded across the Atlantic, between British Conservatives and American Democrats, are a reminder of how this U.S. presidential race is an awkward one for Boris Johnson’s Tories. Whisper it, but Donald Trump has been almost as influential in reshaping the means and mien of the U.K.’s Conservative Party as he has the Republican Party. Many Tories quite like it that way.Chances are that Joe Biden, if he wins in November, would be a little less interested in Britain and a little frostier toward Boris Johnson. It’s pretty clear already that he’s far less enamored of Brexit.If we are heading toward a Biden administration, Conservatives haven’t exactly started on the right foot. In introducing a bill that overrides parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol — specifically, the bit of the U.K.-EU Withdrawal Agreement that is designed to preserve the achievements of the 1998 Belfast Agreement that brought peace to Northern Ireland — Johnson sure got Biden’s attention.“Any trade deal between the U.S. and U.K. must be contingent upon respect for the [Good Friday] Agreement and preventing the return of a hard border. Period,” Biden tweeted Wednesday. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had a similar message.The reaction among some Tories was swift. Iain Duncan Smith, one of the stalwart Brexiters and a former Tory leader, snapped that Biden should worry more about “the need for a peace deal in the USA to stop the killing and rioting before lecturing other sovereign nations.” Others, including former Brexit minister David Davis, piled on too. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab traveled to Washington to smooth feathers, getting praise from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo but only warnings from Democrats.The current U.S. president is so unpopular in the U.K. that Johnson spent most of Trump’s last visit to the country avoiding being photographed with him. And yet, it’s easy to see why some Tories would miss him. Trump, the tireless Brexit cheerleader. Trump, who was practically campaigning for Boris Johnson while Theresa May was still hanging on to her job as prime minister. Trump, who promised to put Britain at the “head of the queue” for a trade deal after Barack Obama warned that Brexit would relegate it to the back of the line. When the putative leader of the free world love-bombs you to that extent, it’s hard not to be taken in.Trump’s tough talk on crime also fits neatly with the Tories’ self-image as the party of law and order. His demonization of immigrants chimed with that undercurrent in the Brexit vote. Many Conservatives were taken aback by the strength of the protests following the George Floyd killing in May. While there was only sporadic violence in Britain, Conservatives, infuriated by the defacing of statues, related to Trump’s call for a more robust policing response in the U.S. and did the same in Britain.There is no Democratic figure that speaks to Tories in the same way. Barack Obama’s relationship with former Tory Prime Minister David Cameron had grown strained by 2016. The strongly pro-Irish sentiment in Congress and among Irish-Americans also rankles Conservatives who are used to ignoring Ireland.Of course, if Biden wins, both sides would quickly bury the hatchet by inauguration day, not least because of the many policy synergies to build on.On the virus, Johnson’s government would find itself far more aligned with a Biden administration. After early blunders made Britain one of the world’s worst performing countries in battling the pandemic, Johnson has been quick to impose new quarantines and lockdown measures, even over opposition from some Conservative quarters. Unlike Trump, whose interest in the virus extends only so far as he can blame his enemies for its effects, Biden’s plan is for exactly the kind of extensive test-and-trace policy that Johnson has been struggling to put in place.On climate change, the U.K.’s commitment to a net-zero emissions target is so far from Trump’s stance on the subject that Britain would welcome the U.S. returning to international consensus. On geopolitics, it’s too simplistic to say that a Biden administration would revert to Obama-era policies on Iran, China or other issues. The world has changed in many ways. But on a range of issues there is likely to be a deeper discussion of strategy and coordination between Britain and the U.S. Up to Johnson’s 2019 election win, the values agenda (socially conservative, populist) was the main driver of Tory politics. But when it comes to economic policy, the Tories and Democrats are not poles apart. Quite the contrary: The Conservative Party, with its strong manifesto commitment to bolstering Britain’s universal state-run health-care system and high levels of public spending, looks more at home with the Democratic Party than the GOP.As for that vaunted U.S.-U.K. trade deal that Trump promised, it would be a positive for both, but it’s not the game-changer Brexiters or Trump suggested. And a President Biden, with his long legislative experience, might be in a better position to smooth Congressional approval once a deal is reached. For all its usefulness in getting Brexit done and winning the last election, Trumpism cannot be the future of the Conservative Party. The Tories dissenting over the controversial new Brexit-related bill, and those who have criticized government policy on the pandemic, are sending a message that there is a limit to how far a government can ride on populist bluster and grandiose promises.There is also a limit to how much chaos, governing incompetence, confusion and uncertainty people will take. The near simultaneous Brexit vote and Trump win in 2016 marked an era in which Anglo-American publics suspended disbelief; a Biden win would signal to Conservatives that those who fail to deliver can also be punished for it. This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Therese Raphael is a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion. She was editorial page editor of the Wall Street Journal Europe.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.







At town hall, Biden blasts Trump's 'criminal' virus response

Joe Biden went after President Donald Trump again and again over his handling of COVID-19, calling Trump's downplaying of the pandemic “criminal” and his administration “totally irresponsible." Biden decried Americans' loss of basic “freedoms" as the U.S. has struggled to contain the pandemic, like the ability to go to a ballgame or walk around their neighborhoods. Biden faced a half-dozen questions about the coronavirus and a potential vaccine in the town hall from moderator Anderson Cooper and audience members.







US Embassy in Kabul warns of extremist attacks against women

The U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan warned that extremists groups are planning attacks against a “variety of targets” but are taking particular aim at women. The "Taliban don't have any plans to carry out any such attacks," the group's spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed told The Associated Press on Friday. Peace negotiations underway in Qatar, where the Taliban maintain a political office, are in the initial stages, with participants still hammering out what items on the agenda will be negotiated and when.







