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COVID-19 infections continue their rapid spread. The number of cases has surpassed 30.8 million, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.  The U.S. remains the country with the most infections.  Recent growth in U.S. cases in the Southwest and Midwest is being attributed to the reopening of schools and colleges.  A four-day motorcycle rally has Missouri and other states bracing for an outbreak.  Last year, over 100,000 people attended the Bikefest Lake of the Ozarks event.  The annual event in Central Missouri began Wednesday and ends Sunday.  FILE – Thousands of bikers rode through the streets for the opening day of the 80th annual Sturgis Motorcycle rally, Aug. 7, 2020, in Sturgis, S.D.A similar event was held last month in Sturgis, South Dakota.  COVID-19 cases and one death in several states were traced back to Sturgis. The U.S. has nearly 6.8 million cases, Hopkins reported early Sunday.  India follows the U.S. with 5.4 million cases and Brazil comes in third with 4.5 million infections, according to Hopkins. India said Sunday that it had recorded 92,605 new cases in the previous 24-hour period.  Pharmacy workers give instruction on how to administer a COVID-19 nasal swab self-exam at a drive-up CVS pharmacy in Dallas, Sept. 18, 2020.The U.S. has also recorded the highest number of COVID-19 deaths.  The U.S. has more than 199,000 of the world’s more than 957,000 coronavirus deaths. Brazil follows the U.S. in coronavirus deaths with more than 136,000 deaths.  India has reported nearly 87,000 deaths.  European countries announced new coronavirus restrictions Friday, one day after the World Health Organization warned infections have started to spread again across the continent at “alarming rates.” In Spain, which has more cases than any other European country with more than 640,000, the regional government of Madrid ordered a lockdown effective Monday in some poorer areas after a spike in infections there. While movement in the area will be restricted, people will still be allowed to go to work. Authorities in Nice, France, have banned gatherings of more than 10 in public spaces and cut bar operating hours, after new restrictions were imposed earlier this week in Bordeaux and Marseilles. Spectators keep social distance as they attend the outdoors performance of theatre play ‘Voices of The West End’, at Bywell Hall, Northumberland, as the north-east of England is under lockdown, Sept. 19, 2020.Britain said it is considering a new national lockdown after cases nearly doubled to 6,000 a day in the latest reporting week. British Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said another lockdown should be a last resort but that the government would do whatever is necessary to contain the virus. Starting September 28, Britain will impose up to a $13,000 fine on anyone who has tested positive for the coronavirus and fails to self-isolate. The fine will also be charged to anyone who has been traced as a close contact of someone with the virus and also fails to self-isolate.  Israel began a second lockdown Friday because of a sharp jump in the number of coronavirus cases.  The three-week-long restrictions come just as the country begins the Jewish holidays.   People protest against the government’s decision to close beaches during the three-week nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sept 19, 2020.Israelis are allowed to travel no more than 500 meters from their houses, with few exceptions.  In Iran, a senior Iranian official said the country should be on “red alert” after it reported 3,049 new cases Friday, the highest daily gain since early June.  Canada has decided to extend the closure of its U.S. border to nonessential travel until October 21, after seeing an increase in infections in recent weeks. . The closing was first announced March 18 and has been extended each month since.  The U.S. Air Force has transported a large field hospital to Jamaica.  The U.S. Southern Command said in a statement the hospital was donated “to support the Caribbean nation’s ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic.” 
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A train pulls into the Odenplan subway station in central Stockholm, where morning commuters without masks get off or board before settling in to read their smartphones.Whether on trains or trams, in supermarkets or shopping malls — places where face masks are commonly worn in much of the world — Swedes go about their lives without them.When most of Europe locked down their populations early in the pandemic by closing schools, restaurants, gyms and even borders, Swedes kept enjoying many freedoms. The relatively low-key strategy captured the world’s attention, but at the same time it coincided with a per capita death rate that was much higher than in other Nordic countries.Now, as infection numbers surge again in much of Europe, the country of 10 million people has some of the lowest numbers of new coronavirus cases — and only 14 virus patients in intensive care.Whether Sweden’s strategy is succeeding, however, is still very uncertain.Its health authorities, and in particular chief epidemiologist Dr. Anders Tegnell, keep repeating a familiar warning: It’s too early to tell, and all countries are in a different phase of the pandemic.That has not stopped a World Health Organization Europe official from saying the continent could learn broader lessons from Sweden that could help the virus battle elsewhere.“We must recognize that Sweden, at the moment, has avoided the increase that has been seen in some of the other countries in western Europe,” WHO Europe’s senior emergency officer, Catherine Smallwood, said Thursday. “I think there are lessons for that. We will be very keen on working and hearing more from the Swedish approach.”According to the European Center for Disease Control, Sweden has reported 30.3 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days, compared with 292.2 in Spain, 172.1 in France, 61.8 in the U.K. and 69.2 in Denmark, all of which imposed strict lockdowns early in the pandemic.Overall, Sweden has 88,237 reported infections and 5,864 fatalities from the virus, or 57.5 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants since the beginning of the crisis.The way Sweden’s strategy was viewed outside the country seems to depend largely on what stage of the pandemic the observer was experiencing at the time. Initially, many abroad were incredulous at images of Swedes dining with friends in restaurants or sipping cocktails on the Stockholm waterfront. Some were envious that Swedish businesses were not forced to close.Then came shock as the virus ripped through the country’s nursing homes and hospices.By mid-April, more than 100 deaths were reported each day in Sweden, while mortality rates were falling elsewhere in Europe.Today, as fears of a second wave grow across Europe, it’s fashionable to praise Sweden, with reporters from France, the U.K. and elsewhere traveling to Stockholm to ask about its success.But a Swedish government commission investigating the handling of the pandemic will, undoubtedly, have hard questions to answer: Did authorities wait too long to limit access to nursing homes, where about half of the deaths occurred? Were they too slow to provide personal protective equipment to staff in those homes when shortcomings in the elderly care sector had long been known? Why did it take so long to set up wide-scale testing?Tegnell also refuses to rule out a second wave of coronavirus infections in Sweden. A particular concern is the return of students to high schools for the first time since March.“We need to be very careful and find the first sign that something is going on so that we can do as much as possible to prevent it from escalating,” he told The Associated Press.Localized outbreaks are expected, but rather than fight them with nationwide rules, officials plan to use targeted actions based on testing, contact-tracing and isolating patients rapidly.“It’s very important that we have quick and local response to hit down the virus without making restrictions for the whole country,” Health Minister Lena Hallengren said last week.From the beginning, health officials argued that Sweden was pursuing a sustainable approach toward the virus that the population could adopt — for years, if necessary. “This is a marathon, not a sprint,” became a slogan repeated by ministers at every opportunity, given that neither a vaccine nor a cure yet exist.While the rest of the world watched with envy at the freedoms that Swedes enjoyed amid lockdowns elsewhere, there were not as many as people have assumed. Gatherings were capped at 50, and congregating at bars was banned. Most of the changes involved voluntary actions by citizens, rather than rules imposed by the government.This trust given to the population to shoulder personal responsibility in the pandemic puts Sweden at odds with most other countries that used coercive measures such as fines to force compliance.This is often attributed to a Swedish model of governance, where large public authorities comprised of experts develop and recommend measures that the smaller ministries are expected to follow. In other words, the people trust the experts and scientists to develop reasonable policies, and the government trusts the people to follow the guidelines.Swedes were asked to work from home when possible and maintain a social distance, and most willingly complied. While people now ride public transportation without masks, there are also far fewer people commuting than before.Unlike most European countries that have mandated wearing face masks in public spaces, Sweden does not recommend their broad use, and people largely follow that recommendation.Health officials say face masks used outside health care facilities by untrained personnel can provide a false sense of safety that could see sick people leave home and ignore social distancing. Instead, they believe simple but nonnegotiable guidelines provide clear rules that can stay in place for long periods of time: staying home when showing symptoms of COVID-19, maintaining good hand hygiene and keeping social distancing.In a country the size of California with only a quarter of that state’s population of 41 million, and with low levels of transmission, most Swedes believe wearing masks makes little sense.Carol Rosengard, 61, who runs a center for disabled youth, has seen people wear masks improperly or take them off to smoke a cigarette or drink water.“That’s not how they should be handled,” Rosengard said, explaining her support for not imposing face mask rules on the population.That view is echoed by Hallengren, the health minister, who doesn’t totally dismiss the effectiveness of masks and sees their usefulness in cases of severe local outbreaks. At the same time, she rejects blanket rules for the entire country.”People will not wear masks for years,” she said. 
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Strong afternoon winds intensified a wildfire burning for nearly two weeks in mountains northeast of Los Angeles, prompting authorities to issue new evacuation orders Saturday for desert communities that lost some homes a day earlier.Meanwhile, officials were investigating the death of a firefighter on the lines of another Southern California wildfire that erupted earlier this month from a smoke-generating pyrotechnic device used by a couple to reveal their baby’s gender.The death occurred Thursday in San Bernardino National Forest as crews battled the El Dorado Fire about 120 kilometers east of Los Angeles, the U.S. Forest Service said in a statement.In northern Los Angeles County, firefighters focused on protecting homes Saturday as increasingly erratic winds pushed the Bobcat Fire toward foothill communities in the Antelope Valley after churning all the way across the San Gabriel Mountains. An evacuation order was issued Saturday for all residents in that zone as the fire burned toward Wrightwood, a mountain community of 4,000, said fire spokesperson Andrew Mitchell.The fire grew to 368 square kilometers on Saturday when winds pushed the flames into Juniper Hills.Some residents fled as blowing embers sparked spot fires, hitting some homes but sparing others. Bridget Lensing feared her family’s house was lost on Friday after seeing on Twitter that a neighbor’s house three doors down went up in flames.Members of the San Bernardino County Fire Department keep an eye on a flareup from the Bobcat Fire on Sept. 19, 2020, in Valyermo, Calif.The house stood when she made her way back Saturday afternoon but her neighbors’ houses in the remote community were burned to the ground.“Everything around us is gone,” she said.The extent of the destruction in the area about 80 kilometers northeast of downtown LA wasn’t immediately clear. But Los Angeles County park officials said the blaze destroyed the nature center at Devil’s Punchbowl Natural Area, a geological wonder that attracts some 130,000 visitors per year.No injuries were reported.On the south side of the Bobcat Fire, firefighters continued to protect Mount Wilson, which overlooks greater Los Angeles and has a historic observatory founded more than a century ago and numerous broadcast antennas serving Southern California.The fire that started September 6 had already doubled in size over the last week. It is 15% contained.Officials said the fire has been challenging because it is burning in areas that have not burned in decades, and because the firestorms across California have limited resources. There were about 1,660 firefighters on the lines.The name of the firefighter killed in the nearby El Dorado Fire was being withheld until family members are notified. The body was escorted down the mountain in a procession of first-responder vehicles. No other information was released about the circumstances of the death.A statement from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, said it was the 26th death involving wildfires besieging the state.A new blaze sparked by a vehicle that caught fire was growing in wilderness outside Palm Springs.To the north, a fire burning for nearly a month in Sequoia National Forest roared to life again Friday and prompted evacuation orders for the central California mountain communities of Silver City and Mineral King.More than 7,900 wildfires have burned more than 14,164 square kilometers in California this year, including many since a mid-August barrage of dry lightning ignited parched vegetation.The El Dorado Fire has burned more than 89 square kilometers and was 59% contained, with 10 buildings destroyed and six damaged.Cal Fire said earlier this month that the El Dorado Fire was ignited September 5 when a couple, their young children and someone there to record video staged the baby gender reveal at El Dorado Ranch Park at the foot of the San Bernardino Mountains.The device was set off in a field and quickly ignited dry grass. The couple frantically tried to use bottled water to extinguish the flames and called 911.Authorities have not released the identities of the couple, who could face criminal charges and be held liable for the cost of fighting the fire.Throughout the Northwest, firefighters welcomed cooler weather and rain, as well as much-improved air quality and visibility that would allow some to survey fire activity with drones. 
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With precision and boundless energy, a team of carpenters used medieval techniques to raise up — by hand — a 3-ton oak truss Saturday in front of Notre Dame Cathedral, a replica of the wooden structures that were consumed in the landmark’s devastating April 2019 fire that also toppled its spire.The demonstration to mark European Heritage Days gave the hundreds of people a firsthand look at the rustic methods used 800 years ago to build the triangular frames in the nave of Notre Dame de Paris.It also showed that the decision to replicate the cathedral in its original form was the right one, said Gen. Jean-Louis Georgelin, who heads the cathedral’s reconstruction.“It shows … firstly that we made the right choice in choosing to rebuild the carpentry identically, in oak from France,” Georgelin said in an interview. “Secondly, it shows us the … method by which we will rebuild the framework, truss after truss.”A debate over whether the new spire should have a futuristic design or whether the trusses should be made of fireproof cement like in the Cathedral of Nantes, which was destroyed in a 1972 fire, ended with the decision in July to respect Notre Dame’s original design and materials.Carpenters put the skills of their medieval colleagues on show in front of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France, Sept. 19, 2020. French President Emmanuel Macron wants the cathedral reopened in 2024 in time for the Paris Olympic Games.A total of 25 trusses are to be installed at an unknown date in the cathedral nave. Philippe Gourmain, a forestry expert working on the cathedral project, said the carpentry phase will not come before 2022.“The problem of Notre Dame is not a carpentry problem. We have the wood. We know how to do it,” Gourmain said. “The big issue is regarding the stone.”Some stones — which support the carpentry — were damaged by the fire and “it’s not so easy now” to find similar stone, he said.French President Emmanuel Macron wants the cathedral reopened in 2024 in time for the Paris Olympic Games, a deadline that many experts have called unrealistic.For the moment, the delicate task of dismantling melted scaffolding, which was originally erected to refurbish the now-toppled spire, continues. That job, started in early June, will be completed in October.The soaring cathedral vaults are also being cleared of debris by 35 specialists on ropes. The organ with its 8,000 pipes was removed for repair in early August.It is not yet known what technique will be used to create and install the wooden trusses.Carpenters showcase medieval techniques in front of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France, Sept. 19, 2020. A total of 25 trusses are to be installed at an unknown date in the cathedral nave.The truss mounted for the weekend display is a replica of truss No. 7, more advanced that the first six trusses, which were “more primitive,” said Florian Carpentier, site manager for the team from Carpenters Without Borders team that felled the trees and used axes to cut the logs for the wooden frame. With rope cables and a rustic pulley system, the carpenters slowly pulled the truss they built in July from the ground where it was laid out.“It’s a moment to see, ancestral techniques that last. There is the present and the past and it links us to our roots,” said Romain Greif, an architect who came with his family to watch the display. “It’s an event.”In a final touch, once the No. 7 truss replica was raised on high, a carpenter shinnied up the wooden beams — to cheers — to tie an oak branch to the top of the triangular structure, a symbol of prosperity and a salute to the workers, a tradition still honored in numerous European countries. 
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A late draft to the Tour de France, Neilson Powless didn’t have time to scramble together a turtle necklace, the spirit animal of his Native American tribe, or paint one of their wampum bead belts on the frame of the bike that he’s ridden for three punishing weeks, over 3,300 kilometers of roads.But although unable to carry the Oneida Tribe’s symbols with him, the Tour rookie has become a powerful symbol himself as the first tribally recognized Native North American to have raced in the 117-year-old event.Not only has Powless survived cycling’s greatest and most grueling race, he distinguished himself in a crop of exciting young talents who helped set this Tour alight. Crossing the finish in Paris on Sunday will, he hopes, resonate on reservations back in the United States.”My main hope is that I can be a positive role model for young Indigenous kids who have a lot going against them,” Powless, who turned 24 during the race, told The Associated Press. “I think finishing the Tour de France is a testament to years of hard work and dedication to a lifelong dream. Hopefully I can help drive kids to setting their mind to a goal and going after it.””It must make it a lot easier when you can see somebody else who is doing it, or has done it,” he added.Neilson Powless of the US rides during the 16th stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 164 kilometers from La Tour-du-Pin to Villard-de-Lans, Sept. 15, 2020.Word of Powless’ feats in France has filtered back to the Oneida Nation in Wisconsin. The tribal chairman, Tehassi Hill, says the cyclist is blazing “a trail of journey, hope and inspiration.””Whenever one of our own, from the Oneida community, are in the spotlight, it definitely does not go unnoticed. Neilson’s journey and accomplishments, I’m sure are spoken of at many gatherings here in Oneida,” Hill told the AP.”Even during a pandemic, he did not falter or give up on his dreams,” the Oneida leader added. “This is an important message not only to our youth here in Oneida, but to everyone in our community.”Powless traces his Oneida heritage to his grandfather, Matthew Powless. The ex-U.S. Army paratrooper lived on the Stockbridge-Munsee Reservation in Wisconsin. He coached boxing and occasionally showed off his tribal smoke-dancing skills to his grandson. He died at age 80 in 2015.”I saw him dance once or twice when I was younger, but I wish I could have watched him more,” said Powless, who grew up in Roseville, California. “He tried to get me into boxing for a few years and I would train at the gym he coached at sometimes when we would visit.”The good news for American cycling is that Powless saw his future on a bike, instead. His main job at this Tour has been to ride in support of his team leader, veteran Colombian rider Rigoberto Uran. But Powless has also shown off his own strengths, particularly on arduous climbs. On his birthday, during Stage 6, he was part of a small group that powered to the front of the race in a fight on the slopes of the Mont Aigoual, with stunning views across southern France. He placed fourth at the top.”An amazing experience,” he said. “The win would have been nice.”He distinguished himself again two days later, placing fifth on the brutal Stage 8 of climbing in the Pyrenees.”This Tour will be a massive point of growth for him,” Jonathan Vaughters, his boss at the EF Pro Cycling team, told the AP. “Where that heads him is still unknown. But he certainly is coming out of the Tour a much better rider than he went in.”The Tour confirms he is its first Native North American competitor. The cyclist hasn’t made a fuss of his heritage. Vaughters says he only found out that Powless is one-quarter Oneida from the rider’s dad just days before he took the Tour start on August 29. Still, when pressed, Powless proudly points out that he has a tribal ID recognizing him as one of the 16,500 Oneida members.”The tribe has helped me financially with schooling. I have family on the reservation,” he said. “It’s not that I just had a blood test one day and decided ‘Oh, I guess I’m Native American.’ It is something I have, like, sort of grown up with and it has been part of my whole life and the tribe recognizes that as well.”Told just days before the Tour that he was on the team, Powless says he didn’t have time to discreetly decorate his bike or source a replacement for the turtle necklace he broke last year.Still, based on his performances, he’ll surely be back and able to fix that at future Tours.”Normally I would have a painting of the Oneida bead belt, the wampum belt, somewhere on my bike, my garment, my shoe,” he said. “Just something really small, most people wouldn’t even really see it. It’s just something that I have always tried to keep close to me.”  
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The United States is returning virtually all the U.N. sanctions on Iran, including an arms embargo, according to a Saturday night statement by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.Calling Iran the world’s leading state sponsor of terror and anti-Semitism, the statement said the sanctions are being reimposed through the snapback process contained in U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231, which implemented the Iran nuclear agreement.The U.S. took this action because Iran failed uphold its JCPOA commitments and the Security Council failed to extend the U.N. arms embargo on Iran, which had been in place for 13 years, the statement said.The statement also said, “The United States expects all U.N. member states to fully comply with their obligations to implement these measures.” It said the U.S. would announce in the coming days “additional measures to strengthen implementation of U.N. sanctions and hold violators accountable.”’Maximum pressure’“Our maximum pressure campaign on the Iranian regime will continue until Iran reaches a comprehensive agreement with us to rein in its proliferation threats and stops spreading chaos, violence and bloodshed,” the statement said.Pompeo had met Wednesday with British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab in Washington. During a joint press conference, Pompeo said, “We will return to the United Nations to reimpose sanctions so that the arms embargo will become permanent next week.”FILE – British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab speaks at a press conference with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the State Department, Sept. 16, 2020, in Washington.Raab replied, “I think we absolutely agree that Iran must never be — never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon.” However, he did not say whether and how Britain would implement the snapback sanctions.In August, Britain, France and Germany, the so-called E3, said they could not support the U.S. move to restore U.N. sanctions on Iran, saying the action was incompatible with efforts to support the Iran nuclear deal.“Whether those countries will in fact ignore the U.N. sanctions [under U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231] remains to be seen,” Elliott Abrams, U.S. special envoy for Iran and Venezuela, told reporters Wednesday in a phone briefing. He added the E3 and other European countries had told Washington that they didn’t want the Iran arms embargo to end, but they were unable to take any action that kept the U.N. arms embargo in place.Sanctions detailsAbrams said the returned sanctions include “a ban on Iran engaging in enrichment and reprocessing-related activities, the prohibition on ballistic missile testing and development, and sanctions on the transfer of nuclear and missile-related technologies to Iran.”U.S. officials warn that an Iran free from restrictions would lead to further regional destabilization, intensified conflicts and a regional arms race.FILE – Brian Hook, U.S. special envoy for Iran, walks past pieces of Iranian missiles at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, Washington, Nov. 29, 2018.The U.S. tried but failed on August 14 to extend an expiring arms embargo against Iran through a resolution at the U.N. Security Council.The embargo against the sale or transfer to or from Iran of conventional weapons is set to expire on October 18, under the 2015 nuclear deal, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).With the extension blocked, Washington saw triggering a snapback of U.N. sanctions under Resolution 2231 as the only path for restoring the arms embargo.As the U.S. snaps back sanctions against Iran, E3 nations are largely seen as likely to ignore them. Some experts said there would be a limited impact on European economies, unless the U.S. punished those nations with secondary sanctions.2015 accordUnder the JCPOA concluded on July 14, 2015, the five permanent U.N. Security Council members, plus Germany, agreed with Iran to gradually lift international sanctions in return for limits on Tehran’s nuclear activities, to prevent it from making a nuclear bomb. It also opened Iran’s markets back up to many foreign investors.The United States withdrew from the deal in May 2018, reimposing unilateral sanctions on Iran. In response, Tehran resumed some of its nuclear activities, and in July 2019 it breached the deal by exceeding limits on both uranium enrichment and stockpile levels. Iran denies that its nuclear activities are for military purposes.VOA’s Nike Ching contributed to this report.
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Police in London clashed with protesters Saturday at a rally against coronavirus restrictions, even as the mayor warned that it was “increasingly likely” that the British capital would soon need to introduce tighter rules to curb a sharp rise in infections.Scuffles broke out as police moved in to disperse hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in London’s central Trafalgar Square. Some protesters formed blockades to stop officers from making arrests, and traffic was stopped in the busy area.The “Resist and Act for Freedom” rally saw dozens of people holding banners and placards, such as one reading “This is now Tyranny,” and chanting “Freedom!” Police said there were “pockets of hostility and outbreaks of violence towards officers.”Britain’s Conservative government this week banned social gatherings of more than six people in a bid to tackle a steep rise in COVID-19 cases in the country. Stricter localized restrictions have also been introduced in large parts of England’s northwestern cities, affecting about 13.5 million people.But officials are considering tougher national restrictions after Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed Friday that Britain is “now seeing a second wave” of coronavirus, following the trend seen in France, Spain and across Europe.London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the city may impose some of the measures already in place elsewhere in the U.K. That may include curfews, earlier closing hours for pubs and bans on  household visits.People sit on a street closed to traffic to try to reduce the spread of coronavirus so bars, cafes and restaurants can continue to stay open, in London, Sept. 19, 2020. New lockdown restrictions in England appear to be in the cards.”I am extremely concerned by the latest evidence I’ve seen today from public health experts about the accelerating speed at which COVID-19 is now spreading here in London,” Khan said Friday. “It is increasingly likely that, in London, additional measures will soon be required to slow the spread of the virus.”Cases climbThe comments came as new daily coronavirus cases for Britain rose to 4,322, the highest since early May.The latest official estimates released Friday also show that new infections and hospital admissions are doubling every seven to eight days in the U.K. A survey of randomly selected people, not including those in hospitals or nursing homes, estimated that almost 60,000 people in England had COVID-19 in the week of September 4, about 1 in 900 people.Britain has Europe’s highest death toll in the pandemic with 41,821 confirmed virus-related deaths, but experts say all numbers undercount the true impact of the pandemic.In a statement, British police said the protesters Saturday were “putting themselves and others at risk” and urged all those at the London rally to disperse immediately or risk arrest.
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U.N. officials say a cease-fire that took effect in July in eastern Ukraine appears to be holding and has resulted in a significant drop in civilian casualties.The cease-fire between the Ukrainian government and Russian-backed separatists is giving rise to hope that the period of relative calm, the longest since the conflict began in April 2014, might result in a permanent peace.The conflict, which broke out after Russia’s illegal annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, has killed more than 13,000 people.
Since the cease-fire began July 27, the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine says security incidents in eastern Ukraine have dropped by 53 percent. It adds there has been an even larger reduction in civilian casualties.Jens Laerke, spokesman for the U.N. Organization for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, says security incidents have dropped from 533 in July to 251 in August, and five civilian casualties were reported in August compared with 13 the previous month.’Sense of normality’“Our colleagues in Ukraine tell us that this improvement has given people on both sides of the ‘contact line’ that divides eastern Ukraine a sense of normality and people hope that it will become sustainable,” he said. “But they also report that up till now, they have not observed changes in terms of humanitarian access that could lead to a scaling up of humanitarian work, and that is largely due to restrictions imposed in response to COVID-19.”Laerke notes all five official crossing points were closed in late March because of the coronavirus pandemic. He says two have since reopened. However, he says crossings across the contact line are largely limited to those granted humanitarian exemptions.
The Ukrainian government stopped funding government services in areas controlled by rebels in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions when the conflict began. People living there are required to register as displaced people and cross the contact line into government-controlled areas to receive benefits.That is creating hardships for elderly people, especially those who are ill and disabled. The U.N. calculates up to 1.2 million people are unable to receive their pensions and social benefits because they cannot cross the contact line to obtain them.
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President Donald Trump on Saturday urged the Republican-run Senate to consider “without delay” his upcoming nomination to fill the Supreme Court seat vacated by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg just six weeks before the election.The White House was making preparations to select a nominee for the seat held by Ginsburg, who spent her final years on the bench as the unquestioned leader of the court’s liberal wing.Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, vowed on Friday night, hours after Ginsburg’s death, to call a vote for whomever Trump nominated. Democrats said Republicans should follow the precedent they set in 2016 by not considering a Supreme Court choice in the run-up to an election.Trump made his view clear in a tweet Saturday: “We were put in this position of power and importance to make decisions for the people who so proudly elected us, the most important of which has long been considered to be the selection of United States Supreme Court Justices. We have this obligation, without delay!”.@GOP We were put in this position of power and importance to make decisions for the people who so proudly elected us, the most important of which has long been considered to be the selection of United States Supreme Court Justices. We have this obligation, without delay!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 19, 2020Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said any vote should come after the Nov. 3 election. “Voters should pick the president and the president should pick the justice to consider,” Biden said.The impending clash over the vacant seat — when to fill it and with whom — is sure to significantly affect the stretch run of the presidential race, further stirring passions in a nation already reeling from the pandemic that has killed nearly 200,000 people, left millions unemployed and heightened partisan tensions and anger.McConnell, who sets the calendar in the Senate and has made judicial appointments his priority, declared unequivocally in a statement that Trump’s nominee would receive a confirmation vote in the chamber. In 2016, McConnell refused to consider President Barack Obama’s choice for the high court months ahead of the election, eventually preventing a vote.As the nation learned of Ginsburg’s death, Trump was unaware, speaking for more than an hour and a half at a Minnesota rally without mentioning it. He huddled with aides after stepping off stage but acted surprised when he spoke with reporters moments later, saying he did not know she had died.Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg Dies at 87Ginsburg, a stalwart liberal and the second woman to serve on the court, died Friday from complications with cancer The president told reporters that Ginsburg was “an amazing woman who led an amazing life.” Aides had worried how the Minnesota crowd would react if Trump mentioned her death from the stage, according to a White House official not authorized to publicly discuss private deliberations and spoke on condition of anonymity.But Trump had noted in his rally speech that the next presidential term could offer him as many as four appointments to the nine-member court, whose members are confirmed for life. “This is going to be the most important election in the history of our country and we have to get it right,” he added.A confirmation vote in the Senate is not guaranteed, even with a Republican majority. McConnell has not indicated if he bring a vote before the election.Typically it takes several months to vet and hold hearings on a Supreme Court nominee, and time is short ahead of the election. Key senators may be reluctant to cast votes so close to the election. With a slim GOP majority, 53 seats in the 100-member chamber, Trump’s choice could afford to lose only a few.McConnell did not specify the timing, but trying for confirmation in a post-election lame-duck session if Trump had lost to Biden or Republicans had lost the Senate would carry further political complications.Democrats immediate denounced McConnell’s move as hypocritical, pointing out that he refused to call hearings for Merrick Garland, Obama’s pick, 237 days before the 2016 election. The 2020 election is 46 days away.Battle Heats Up Over Justice Ginsburg’s ReplacementDeath of the liberal justice gives President Donald Trump an opportunity to add another conservative to the bench, shifting the court’s ideological balanceSenate Democratic leader Charles Schumer, in a tweet, echoed word for word what McConnell said in 2016 about the Garland nomination: “The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president.”Trump said last month that he would “absolutely” try to fill a vacancy if one came up before the end of his first term. “I would move quickly, ” Trump said in an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. “Why not? I mean, they would. The Democrats would if they were in this position.”Trump last week added 20 names to his list of candidates he’s pledged to choose from if he has future vacancies to fill. He contrasted his list with unnamed “radical justices” he claimed Biden would nominate who would “fundamentally transform America without a single vote of Congress.”Trump released a similar list in 2016 in a bid to win over conservative and evangelical voters who had doubts about his conservative credentials. Among those on his current list: Sens. Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton, former Solicitor General Noel Francisco and Judge Amy Coney Barrett of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in Chicago, long a favorite of conservatives.The average number of days to confirm a justice, according to the Congressional Research Service, is 69, which would be after the election. But some Republicans quickly noted that Ginsburg was confirmed in just 42 days.Four GOP defections could defeat a nomination, while a tie vote could be broken by Vice President Mike Pence.Among the senators to watch are Republicans Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah and others.Collins is in a tight race for her own reelection, as are several other GOP senators, including Cory Gardner in Colorado. Murkowski and Romney have been critical of Trump and protective of the institution of the Senate.Some Republicans, including Collins and Murkowski, have suggested previously that hearings should wait if a seat were to open. And because the Arizona Senate race is a special election, that seat could be filled as early as November 30 — which would narrow the window for McConnell if the Democratic candidate, Mark Kelly, hangs onto his lead.In a note to his GOP colleagues Friday night, McConnell urged them to “keep their powder dry” and not rush to declare a position on whether a Trump nominee should get a vote this year.“For those of you who are unsure how to answer, or for those inclined to oppose giving a nominee a vote, I urge you all to keep your powder dry,” McConnell wrote. “This is not the time to prematurely lock yourselves into a position you may later regret.”McConnell argued that there would be enough time to fill the vacancy and he restated his argument that the 2016 Senate precedent — in which a GOP-held Senate blocked Obama’s election-year nomination — did not establish a rule that applies to the Ginsburg case. Under McConnell, the Senate changed the confirmation rules to allow for a simple majority.Obama called for Republicans to wait, saying “a basic principle of the law – and of everyday fairness – is that we apply rules with consistency and not based on what’s convenient or advantageous in the moment.”One difference from 2016 is that, despite the vacancy resulting from Ginsburg’s death, conservatives have a working majority of five justices on a range of issues. When Antonin Scalia died four years ago, the court was divided between four liberals and four conservatives.The next pick could shape important decisions, including on abortion rights, as well as any legal challenges that may stem from the 2020 election. The 2018 hearings on Trump’s second pick, now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh, turned into a bitter partisan battle after sexual assault allegations were made.Biden has promised to nominate a Black woman to the high court if given the chance. He has said he’s also working on a list of potential nominees, but the campaign has given no indication that it will release names before the election. 
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