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Two people died and nine people were missing in France and Italy after a storm hit along the border of the two countries, bringing record rainfall in places and causing flooding that swept away roads and damaged homes, authorities said Saturday.The storm, dubbed Alex, ravaged several villages around the city of Nice on the French Riviera. Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi called it the worst flooding disaster in the area for more than a century after flying over the worst-hit area by helicopter.”The roads and about 100 houses were swept away or partially destroyed,” he told French news channel BFM.”I have been particularly shocked by what I saw today,” French Prime Minister Jean Castex told a news conference after visiting affected areas, adding he was concerned that the death toll could rise.Roads, bridges goneAt least eight people were missing in France, authorities said. These included two firefighters whose vehicle was carried away by a swollen river, according to local witnesses cited by several French media.Television images from both countries showed several roads and bridges had been swept away by floodwater, and numerous rivers were reported to have left their banks.In Italy, at least two people died — one a firefighter hit by a falling tree and another a man in his 30s whose car was swept into a river after a road subsided, local authorities said.As night fell, one Italian was still unaccounted for, while another 16 people earlier feared missing, including a group of six German trekkers, had all been found safe.Officials in the Piedmont region reported a record 630 mm (24.8 inches) of rain in just 24 hours in Sambughetto, close to the border with Switzerland. The Piedmont regional chief, Alberto Cirio, called on the government to declare a state of emergency.The water level in the River Po jumped by 3 meters (9.84 feet) in just 24 hours.Villages cut offEric Ciotti, a member of the French parliament who is from one of the worst affected villages in the area, Saint-Martin-Vésubie, said several villages located in steep-sided valleys of the mountainous region were cut off.Meteo France said that 500 mm (19.69 inches) of rain was registered over 24 hours in Saint-Martin-Vésubie and close to 400 mm in several other towns — the equivalent of more than three months of rain at this time of the year.There was more rainfall than on October 3, 2015, when floods caused the death of 20 people in and around the French Riviera city of Cannes, Jérémy Crunchant, the director of civil protection, told France Info.In Venice, a long-delayed flood barrier system successfully protected the lagoon city from a high tide for the first time on Saturday, bringing big relief following years of repeated inundations.
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Hundreds of Honduran migrants are encountering problems from Guatemalan and Mexican security forces as they continue their journey to the United States.
 
Fears of a confrontation intensified Friday as about 1,000 migrants, who lacked food after walking hundreds of kilometers from Honduras, were blocked by about 100 police and army soldiers at a roadblock in northern Guatemala.
 
Saturday morning, hundreds of the migrants who entered Guatemala without registering were bused back to the Guatemalan border after running into the roadblock.
 
Small groups of migrants were still walking before dawn Saturday along the highway where the roadblock is located, but a short while later none of the estimated 1,000 migrants remained in the area. Undeterred, many of the migrants’ plan to continue their trek to the U.S.
 
Guatemalan authorities said the original group of about 2,000 migrants was split after 108 agreed to return to Honduras, some traveling north to the roadblock, and others walking, hitching rides or catching buses to Guatemala City.
 
Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei promised to apprehend the migrants and send them back to the border, declaring they represent a health threat during the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
The migrants are heading to the U.S. as Latin America suffers from widespread job losses sparked by the pandemic.
 
Their journey comes two years after a caravan was formed shortly before the U.S. midterm elections and became a hot campaign issue. The migrants initially received support from communities along the way, particularly in southern Mexico.
 
But Mexico deployed National Guard troops and immigration agents to intercept large groups of migrants after U.S. President Donald Trump, who is seeking reelection, threatened tariffs on Mexican imports of it did not stem the flow of migrants to the U.S. border.
 
Mexico’s migration authority chief Francisco Garduno said this week the government would deploy hundreds of military and immigration personnel to its border to prevent the caravan from entering the country.
 
Mexican President Lopez Obrador suggested the caravan was associated with the November 3 U.S. presidential election.   
 
“It has to do with the election in the United States,” Obrador told reporters. “I don’t have all the elements, but I think there are indications that it was put together for this purpose. I don’t know to whose benefit, but we’re not naive.”
 
The Trump administration said Thursday it would admit a record low 15,000 refugees during the coming year.
 
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has vowed to raise the refugee cap to 125,000, saying accepting persecuted people is consistent with American values.
 
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Officials in Afghanistan say a suicide bomber Saturday detonated an explosives-laden mini truck in the country’s eastern Nangarhar province, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens more.
 
The war-ravaged country has witnessed an escalation of violence in recent weeks, even as representatives of the Afghan government and Taliban insurgents are holding peace talks in Doha, the capital of Qatar.
 
A government spokesman in Nangarhar told VOA the deadly afternoon bombing in the Ghani Khel district occurred near a security installation linked to the Afghan spy agency.
 
Attaullah Khogyani said both security personnel and civilians were among those killed and injured. He said the death toll could increase.
 
There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attack, which happened in an Afghan province where both the Taliban and militants linked to the local branch of the Islamic State terror group are active.
 
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani issued a formal statement denouncing the attack as an “unforgivable crime” by Taliban-linked militants who targeted innocent civilians.   
 
“The Taliban continue to perpetrate their acts of terror in collusion with other terrorist groups, massacre civilians and damage public facilities on a daily basis,” the official statement quoted Ghani as saying.
 
Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian also blamed the Taliban for plotting the violence.
 
In a video statement released via Twitter, Arian said the insurgents had carried out 650 attacks in the last two weeks, killing nearly 70 civilians and injuring many more. The Taliban has not responded to the allegations.
 
The insurgent group has turned down repeated domestic and international calls for a cease-fire until a political arrangement emerges from the ongoing intra-Afghan peace negotiations.
 
The peace dialogue stems from a February agreement between the U.S. and the Taliban to end nearly two decades of Afghan war. The talks began Sept. 12 but no significant headway has been made so far.
 
The lack of progress prompted U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, to return to Doha earlier this week to press the rival teams to resolve their differences and move the process forward.
 
“The Afghan people and the international community are watching closely and expect the negotiations to make process toward producing a roadmap for Afghanistan’s political future and a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire,” Khalilzad tweeted before landing in the Qatari capital. 
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Some activities U.S. President Donald Trump attended in the last week, analysts say, have likely been superspreader events for COVID-19, leaving behind a trail of infected people, making it difficult to determine who infected whom.On Friday of last week, the president attended fundraiser at his Washington hotel. Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, who was at the function, has since reported her COVID-19 positive status.The next day, the White House hosted events for Judge Amy Coney Barrett, Trump’s nominee to replace the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Guests were tested for the virus and if found negative were told that it was safe to remove their masks to socialize in the Rose Garden and in the White House. Photos from the Rose Garden event show many maskless people sitting side by side in rows of chairs without regard to social distancing.Since then, two senators who attended the events – Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Mike Lee from Utah – along with Notre Dame University President John Jenkins, have reported COVID-19 infections.At the first presidential debate Tuesday in Cleveland, Ohio, the first lady and Trump’s grown children sat in the audience maskless, even after physicians from the Cleveland Clinic offered face coverings to them.”I am frustrated today as I worry now about my own health and the health of so many others who were present that evening like journalists, support staff, Cleveland Clinic professionals, and many others who could have potentially been exposed,” Ohio House Minority Leader Emilia Strong Sykes said in a statement Friday. “This is a very somber moment for our country in a year of somber moments.”Bill Stepien, Trump’s campaign manager, has reported his COVID-19 positive status since traveling to Cleveland.On Wednesday, the president went to Minnesota for a fundraiser in Shorewood and a rally in Duluth. Trump aide Hope Hicks started feeling ill on the way back to Washington and is reported to have self-isolated on the plane. Hicks had also been with the president in Cleveland.Hicks had tested negative for the virus earlier Wednesday but tested positive Thursday morning. Despite his exposure to Hicks, Trump traveled to New Jersey on Thursday for a fundraiser at his golf club, where he mingled maskless with maskless guests.By late Thursday, Bloomberg News reported that Hicks was COVID-19-positive, and the White House confirmed the story.New Jersey public health officials are conducting contact tracing to warn fundraiser participants of their possible exposure to the coronavirus-caused disease.First lady Melania Trump also has been infected. She is recuperating at the White House.
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Armenian and Azerbaijani forces continued fighting Saturday for the seventh day over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, ignoring international calls for a cease-fire.   
 
Armenia says the territory’s capital, Stepanakert, was the target of bombing by Azeri forces.  
 
Authorities in the breakaway territory have warned that the “last battle” for the region has begun. They called on the international community Saturday to “recognize the independence” of Nagorno-Karabakh as “the only effective mechanism to restore peace.”
 
In a statement issued late Friday, the second this week, the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Igor Popov of Russia, Stéphane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the United States, expressed their “alarm at reports of increasing civilian casualties” and strongly condemned the continued violence.  
 
“Targeting or threatening civilians is never acceptable under any circumstances,” the statement said, adding that “the co-chairs call on the sides to observe fully their international obligations to protect civilian populations.”
 
Armenia responded positively Friday to a call by the Minsk Group for a cease-fire between its forces and Azerbaijani forces, engaged in a conflict that is threatening to escalate into all-out war.Armenia is “ready to engage” with the OSCE Minsk Group “to reestablish a cease-fire regime based on the 1994-1995 agreements,” the country’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Friday.
 
Azerbaijan’s president has demanded the withdrawal of Armenian forces from Nagorno-Karabakh as the only way to end the fighting.
 
Both sides previously had dismissed demands for a truce in the disputed region, where fighting has escalated in recent days to levels not seen since the 1990s.  Dozens of people have been killed and hundreds of others injured in the fighting that erupted September 26.
 
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It’s another devastating year of wildfires in the American West. More than 1.5 million hectares have burned in California so far, shattering the previous record. As wildfires continue to worsen under the influence of climate change, one project offers hope on how to begin to confront a problem of enormous proportions. VOA’s Steve Baragona has more.
Produced by: Steve Baragona
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The coronavirus pandemic has again upended the U.S. presidential campaign with President Donald Trump’s announcement early Friday morning that he and first lady Melania Trump have contracted the potentially deadly virus.Both the president and the first lady placed themselves in quarantine, and Trump was hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in late afternoon following reports that he developed a fever. White House officials emphasized the president is not incapacitated and would continue to work from the hospital.Trump’s battle with the coronavirus could rally public support for him, as often happens in a time of crisis. But it could also conflict with his campaign message that everything is getting back to normal.“It’s very unpredictable at this time,” said John Fortier, a political analyst with the Bipartisan Policy Center.The second presidential debate, scheduled for October 15, could be postponed or canceled if Trump is too ill to participate or remains in quarantine to prevent the spread of infection. The debate, which was to be a town hall-style event with a live audience in Miami, could also be changed to a virtual format with participation via video conferencing.With the November election just weeks away, Fortier said, both presidential candidates are making their “primary argument” to win over undecided voters and generate enthusiasm among supporters.Pandemic focusTrump had been holding mass rallies where he has downplayed the seriousness of the virus and many supporters have not worn masks. At an event in New Jersey on Thursday, the president said the development of a vaccine was imminent and that ”the end of the pandemic is in sight.”Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 7 MB480p | 10 MB540p | 12 MB720p | 25 MB1080p | 50 MBOriginal | 176 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioThe president falling ill could conflict with his campaign message “that everything is turning around, we’re past this, and things are getting back to normal,” said Todd Belt, a professor of politics at George Washington University.The death toll from COVID-19 in the U.S. has topped 208,000, and the infection rates in many states have recently been rising, according to Johns Hopkins University data.The president has defended his administration’s response to the health and economic crises caused by the pandemic, saying the death toll would have reached into the millions had he not moved quickly to suspend travel from China where the outbreak originated and provided extensive medical support to states.Public reactionBelt said many people will be hard pressed to feel sympathy for Trump after his mocking of Democratic candidate Joe Biden and others for wearing masks, and after the president continued to hold events that violate social distancing guidance from health officials.With the electorate already intensely divided over Trump, Fortier with the Bipartisan Policy Center said he can “imagine both sides feeling strongly that this is related to their feelings” and reinforce their political views about the coronavirus and the campaign.Public opinion could also turn against Biden if his campaign is seen as mocking or ridiculing Trump for contracting the virus, Fortier said.“I think it could be dangerous politically for Biden and really backfire on him,” he said.Because of the pandemic, Biden had already cut back significantly on travel and instead waged a mostly virtual campaign with few in-person events and with mandatory masks and social distancing enforced.During a speech Friday in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Biden said he sent “my prayers for the health and safety of the first lady and the President of the United States.”“We can get this pandemic under control so we can get our economy working for everyone,” Biden said. “But this cannot be a partisan moment. It must be an American moment.”Biden has made what he has described as Trump’s mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic a major focus of his campaign, contrasting his plans to implement a national strategy to bring down the infection rate with the president’s downplaying of the virus.Extreme scenarioWhile the White House says the president is experiencing only mild symptoms, there are risks that his condition could get significantly worse and even be life threatening. Trump, at age 74 and somewhat overweight, is in a high-risk category for complications from COVID-19 that can cause significant damage to the lungs and heart.If the president were to become incapacitated, Vice President Mike Pence would assume the role of the acting head of the federal government and commander in chief.Pence on Friday tested negative for the coronavirus. The White House is conducting widespread testing of officials who may have come in contact with the president and his senior aide Hope Hicks, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday.Biden, his wife, Jill, and Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris all tested negative for the coronavirus Friday.Regarding the presidential campaign and November election, the Republican Party could replace Trump as the party nominee if he is unable to continue.Voters backing the party would still cast their ballots for the Trump-Pence ticket. But because the U.S. Electoral College system uses the popular vote to pick electors pledged to the winning party, those electors affiliated with the Republican party could then vote for the new party nominee.
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An Iranian political prisoner suffering from a panic disorder has been sent against his will to a psychiatric clinic after prison interference with his medical treatment led to his partial paralysis, according to a friend and family member of the dissident.In a Tuesday interview with VOA Persian from Iran, the friend of dissident Behnam Mahjoubi said authorities transferred Mahjoubi from Tehran’s Evin prison to the Razi Aminabad psychiatric hospital in southern Tehran’s Shahr-e-Rey district on Saturday. Ebrahim Allah Bakhshi said he learned of the transfer by speaking with Mahjoubi on the phone that day.Allah Bakhshi, a former political prisoner, and Mahjoubi both are members of Iran’s Gonabadi Dervish religious minority. Members of the Sufi Muslim religious sect long have complained of harassment by Iran’s Shiite Islamist rulers, who view them as heretics.Allah Bakhshi said he had been in regular phone contact with Mahjoubi in prison and learned that Evin authorities had been blocking Mahjoubi’s access to panic disorder medications provided by family members since August. He said Mahjoubi went on a hunger strike that month, not only to protest the denial of the medication, but also in solidarity with jailed Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, who began her own hunger strike at Evin on August 11.Mahjoubi began suffering coronavirus symptoms while on the hunger strike and ended the protest after 10 days to take the necessary medication, Allah Bakhshi said. Sotoudeh’s husband, Reza Khandan, told rights activists on September 26 that his wife ended her hunger strike due to worsening health.Allah Bakhshi said a prison doctor also recently pressured Mahjoubi into taking sleeping pills to treat the jailed dissident’s panic disorder. He said Mahjoubi stopped taking the pills after feeling unwell and refused the doctor’s orders to take more, drawing a warning from prison authorities that a continued refusal would result in a transfer to the psychiatric clinic.VOA could not independently confirm Allah Bakhshi’s account of Mahjoubi’s situation. Iranian state media have been silent on the matter.من صالحه حسینی، همسر بهنام محجوبی، دومین نامه‌ سرگشاده‌ای است که درباره نگرانی از وضعیت همسرم، می‌نویسم. یک ماه پیش نوشتم که زندان در ارائه داروهای خاص همسرم کوتاهی می‌کند و هشدار داده بودم که عدم مصرف داروهای بهنام، باعث می‌شود که جسم او از کار بیفتد.#رشتهتوییت#بهناممحجوبی— صالحه حسینی (@salehehosini) September 29, 2020In a series of Tuesday tweets, Mahjoubi’s wife, Saleh Hosseini, said he suffered a fall in prison on Saturday, leaving him partially paralyzed. She said his transfer to the psychiatric clinic happened later that day.Allah Bakhshi told VOA that he last spoke to Mahjoubi by phone on Monday. He said he learned that Mahjoubi received an unknown injection while being confined to a hospital bed and that a court had ordered Mahjoubi to remain at the psychiatric clinic until further notice.“Mahjoubi wanted to be sent to a forensic medicine clinic, not a psychiatric hospital,” Allah Bakhshi said.پنجمین روز از انتقال‌اجباری #بهنام_محجوبی به تیمارستان‌رازی “امین‌آباد” می‌گذرد.جان بهنام در خطر است، صدای او باشیم.#FreeBehnampic.twitter.com/IQlxz1dq2R— ابراهیم الله‌بخشی (@allahbakhshii) October 2, 2020In a Friday tweet, Allah Bakhshi said five days had passed since what he called Mahjoubi’s forced transfer to the psychiatric clinic. “Behman’s life is in danger. Let’s be his voice,” he wrote.Mahjoubi was among more than 300 Dervish community members arrested for involvement in anti-government protests in Tehran, February 19-20, 2018. The protests escalated into violent street confrontations between Iranian security forces and the activists. Five officers were killed.Iranian rights activists have said Mahjoubi was released on bail later that year while also being sentenced to two years in prison on the charge of “assembly and collusion against national security.” He began serving the sentence at Evin in June.The Dervishes involved in the 2018 protests in Tehran had been demanding the release of arrested members of their community and the removal of security checkpoints around the house of their elderly leader, Noor Ali Tabandeh. He died in December 2019.This article originated in VOA’s Persian Service. Click here for the original Persian version of the story.
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Fake news about the coronavirus can do real harm. Polygraph.info is spotlighting fact-checks from other reliable sources here​.Daily DebunkClaim: “[W]e never needed nursing home beds [for COVID-positive patients] because we always had hospital beds. So it just never happened in New York, where we needed to say to a nursing home, ‘We need you to take this person even though they’re COVID-positive’.” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, September 30.Verdict: FalseRead the full story at: CNN Social Media DisinfoWomen wearing face masks walk in the city center, amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Middleborough, Britain October 2, 2020Circulating on social media: Claim that increase in UK COVID-19 cases proves masks are ineffective.Verdict: FalseRead the full story at: Reuters Factual Reads on CoronavirusTrump joins Johnson, Bolsonaro in club of leaders diagnosed with Covid
Britain’s Prince Charles and Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro are among the figures to have tested positive.
— NBC News, October 2Inside the Coronavirus
What scientists know about the inner workings of the pathogen that has infected the world
— Scientific American, October 1
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President Donald Trump’s positive COVID-19 test has thrown an already contentious election into further disarray and raised the possibility of a national security crisis over the continuity of government. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has the story.
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VOA Connect Episode 142 –  We visit people who are following their passion and doing positive things for their community.  
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As the Census 2020 deadline in the United States approaches, a federal judge has ordered the U.S. Census Bureau to halt plans to wind down its in-person operations for the time-being. The census, which is conducted in the U.S. every ten years, helps determine how hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funding is distributed and how many congressional seats each state gets in a process known as apportionment. Mariia Prus has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. Victoria Kupchinetsky contributed.Videographer: Dmitriy Savchuk, other sources
 
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Since Sunday, Armenian and Azerbaijan forces have been fighting over the disputed Caucasus’ Nagorno Karabakh enclave. With the fighting escalating, the support for Azerbaijan by Turkey, a NATO member, is drawing growing international scrutiny and criticism. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.
Camera: Berke Bas    Producer: Jason Godman
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A little more than a month before the U.S. presidential election, Donald Trump announced early Friday via Twitter that he and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for the coronavirus and have begun quarantining themselves. In response, Vice President Mike Pence tweeted: “Karen and I send our love and prayers to our dear friends President @realDonaldTrump and @FLOTUS Melania Trump. We join millions across America praying for their full and swift recovery. God bless you President Trump & our wonderful First Lady Melania.”Karen and I send our love and prayers to our dear friends President A woman walks past an electronic stock board showing Japan’s Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm in Tokyo Friday, Oct. 2, 2020. U.S. stock futures and Asian shares have fallen after U.S. President Donald Trump said he and first lady Melania Trump…Global markets fell following the news of Trump’s diagnosis.Naoya Oshikubo, a senior economist with Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management in Tokyo, told Reuters he was worried that Trump would “become even more aggressive against China” after contracting the virus.  Oshikubo added, “I got the impression that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has become more anti-China after he had COVID-19.” The coronavirus first emerged in China late last year. Democratic Congressman Joaquin Castro of Texas expressed concern, tweeting: “It’s not just a matter of the President’s personal health; it’s a matter of national security. This virus has claimed over 200k American lives in 6 months.”If @realdonaldtrump tests positive for COVID-19, the White House needs to be honest with the American people. It’s not just a matter of the President’s personal health; it’s a matter of national security. This virus has claimed over 200k American lives in 6 months.— Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) October 2, 2020More than 7.2 million people in the U.S. have contracted COVID-19.  
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the first foreign leaders to send well wishes to the Trumps.  Modi said on Twitter, “Wishing my friend @POTUS @realDonaldTrump and @FLOTUS a quick recovery and good health.” 
 Wishing my friend @POTUS@realDonaldTrump and @FLOTUS a quick recovery and good health. https://t.co/f3AOOHLpaQ— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 2, 2020That sentiment was echoed by some of the president’s fiercest critics.“We sincerely pray the President& the First Lady do not have the worst of this disease,” American civil rights leader Jesse Jackson said on Twitter.  “We must all pray for the full recovery of the President& his wife. For whatever religious or political persuasion you may be, we must all pray as millions of people are affected by this disease.”We sincerely pray the President& the First Lady do not have the worst of this disease.We must all pray for the full recovery of the President& his wife.For whatever religious or political persuasion you may be, we must all pray as millions of people are affected by this disease.— Rev Jesse Jackson Sr (@RevJJackson) October 2, 2020More Reaction from World LeadersI wish a speedy recovery to U.S. President @realDonaldTrump and @FLOTUS Melania Trump, who tested positive for COVID-19.I sincerely hope that they will overcome the quarantine period without problems and regain their health as soon as possible.— Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (@RTErdogan) October 2, 2020From IsraelLike millions of Israelis, Sara and I are thinking of President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump and wish our friends a full and speedy recovery. https://t.co/UcxQpsxBLE— Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) October 2, 2020From  WHO chief My best wishes to President @realDonaldTrump and @FLOTUS for a full and speedy recovery. https://t.co/6OUZT20huK— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) October 2, 2020
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Locked down or just staying close to home, people have been driving much less in the United States during the coronavirus pandemic. But while this may be six months of good news for the environment, businesses like hotels, service stations and tourist destinations are hurting.According to the Federal Highway Administration, (FHA) compared to the same time last year, total driving decreased by 40% in April soon after the pandemic emerged.Recently, as more people have been getting back into their vehicles, the group said driving increased so that as of July, total kilometers are down only 11% compared to 2019.Ruth Cody, who lives in Alexandria, Virginia, is among the millions of Americans who have cut down on their driving. Cody said she and her husband have been doing “much less driving” because they can work from home. They also refrain from driving to stores and other businesses to help protect themselves from the coronavirus.“We’re spending more time in our neighborhood and taking walks with our children instead of using our cars,” Cody said.Rabi Abonour, a transportation researcher at the The full moon sets as morning traffic travels on a freeway Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020, in Leawood, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)Abonour is working with a program that encourages officials of U.S. cities to promote various types of emissions-free transportation.Carbon dioxide and other emissions from passenger vehicles are a major source of air pollution.With fewer cars on the road, the air has been cleaner in many U.S. cities including notoriously smoggy Los Angeles, said Abonour.He thinks the cleaner air won’t last long “because we already see levels of driving increasing across the country.”“A pandemic is the worst possible way to reduce the emissions and improve the environment,” said climate and energy expert Constantine Samaras.But the Carnegie Mellon University associate professor said he is hopeful about “the small impact” less driving is making on carbon dioxide levels.“A lot of folks are saying, why can’t we have this all the time, we don’t need a pandemic to make this a reality,” Constantine said.However, the decline in driving during the pandemic doesn’t just reflect more people working from home. It’s also the result of widespread unemployment, shuttered businesses, and other devastating economic consequences.“Restaurants, hotels and other establishments are being impacted by people’s driving habits,” points out Adie Tomer, a fellow at the Brookings Institution who focuses on infrastructure.Because people aren’t driving for business travel and are holding back on taking vacations, “the hotel industry is really struggling,” said Mark Muro, another Brookings fellow.Many restaurants have not rebounded from the loss of diners, and people aren’t visiting some tourist attractions due to fears of getting the coronavirus from the crowds, said Tomer.However, driving has picked up en route to destinations such as national parks and beaches, where visitors feel comfortable because they can social distance more easily, said Tori Emerson Barnes, executive vice president of public affairs and policy at the U.S. Travel Association.And, with fewer vehicles on the road, the energy industry is suffering because drivers aren’t filling up their gas tanks as often as they did before the pandemic.Due to the lack of demand, “Gasoline refineries around the country have been running at very reduced capacity rates,” said Marty Durbin, senior vice president of policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.Also feeling the lack of demand is the Highway Trust Fund, which allocates the fuel taxes collected at gas pumps to maintain U.S. highways and road infrastructure.“The pandemic is, for sure, going to affect the amount of fuel taxes that the federal government and states are going to collect,” said Samaras.And since “the need for fixing and deploying infrastructure is not going away,” he said, road maintenance is being put off and highway projects are not getting off the ground. 
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U.S. President Donald Trump has announced he and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for the coronavirus.President Trump tweeted at 12:54 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Friday (04:54 UTC): “Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!”Eleven minutes later, the White House released a memorandum from the 74-year-old president’s physician, Dr. Sean Conley, confirming the positive tests for the Trumps.“The President and First Lady are both well at this time, and they plan to remain at home within the White House during their convalescence,” Conley said.He added that he expects the president “to continue carrying out his duties without disruption while recovering, and I will keep you posted on any future developments.”Melania Trump tweeted at 1:27 a.m.: “As too many Americans have done this year, @potus & I are quarantining at home after testing positive for COVID-19. We are feeling good & I have postponed all upcoming engagements. Please be sure you are staying safe & we will all get through this together.”All of Trump’s political events for the near future were quickly ordered canceled, according to a White House official.The news immediately caused U.S. stock futures to plunge and potentially puts Trump’s presidential campaign into hiatus, barely a month before the election against former Vice President Joe Biden, who leads in the national polls.Trump, who for months has played down the seriousness of the coronavirus, on Thursday evening confirmed during a telephone interview on the Fox News Channel that he and the first lady had been tested after one of his closest aides, Hope Hicks, was confirmed to be infected.Hicks, counselor to the president, traveled with Trump to Pennsylvania for a campaign rally on Saturday, then to Cleveland for the presidential debate on Tuesday and to Minnesota for campaign events the following day.Hicks was showing symptoms at a political rally Wednesday evening in Duluth, Minnesota, and tested positive Thursday morning, according to officials who spoke on condition of not being named.Trump on Thursday, however, along with some top officials flew to New Jersey for a political fundraising event where he was in close contact with dozens of other people.During the telephone interview with Fox News show host Sean Hannity, the president suggested Hicks could have contracted the virus from members of the military or law enforcement.“It is very, very hard when you are with people from the military, or from law enforcement, and they come over to you, and they want to hug you, and they want to kiss you because we really have done a good job for them,” said Trump. “You get close, and things happen. I was surprised to hear with Hope, but she is a very warm person with them. She knows there’s a risk, but she is young.”The president, however, in the eighth decade of his life, is in a high-risk category for the coronavirus, but is otherwise believed to be in good health.Nearly 7.3 million people in the United States have been infected with COVID-19 and more than 207,000 have died – the most reported by any country.  
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Fake news about the coronavirus can do real harm. Polygraph.info is spotlighting fact-checks from other reliable sources here​.Daily DebunkClaim: COVID-19 mortality rates are very low, therefore COVID-19 is not an important public health concern; if you are 70+ years old, you have a 0.054% chance of dying from COVID-19.Vedict: MisleadingRead the full story at: Health Feedback Social Media DisinfoScreenshotCirculating on social media: Claim that Covid-19 “vaccines” are being distributed in Africa but are not for sale in the U.S,, Canada and the European Union because they are unsafe and still undergoing testing in developing countries.Verdict: MisleadingRead the full story at: Agence France-Presse Factual Reads on CoronavirusInside the Coronavirus
What scientists know about the inner workings of the pathogen that has infected the world
— Scientific American, October 1COVID research updates: Tests reveal silent reinfections in hospital workers
Nature wades through the literature on the new coronavirus — and summarizes key papers as they appear.
— Nature, September 28
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