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The FBI has opened more than 300 domestic terrorism investigations since late May and arrested nearly 100 people in Portland, Oregon, a focal point of the George Floyd protests, a top federal prosecutor said on Tuesday.Erin Nealy Cox, U.S. Attorney, Northern District of Texas, testifies during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on police use of force and community relations on on Capitol Hill, June 16, 2020, in Washington.Erin Nealy Cox, the U.S. attorney for the northern district of Texas and co-head of a recently formed Justice Department task force on “antigovernment extremists,” told congressional lawmakers that the investigations were opened after May 28, three days after Floyd, an African American, died while in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His death sparked nationwide protests.“That does not include any potential civil rights investigations or violent crime associated with the civil unrest,” Cox said during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the protests that have at times been marked by violence.Attorney General William Barr announced the creation of the Justice Department task force in late June, saying “antigovernment extremists” had “engaged in indefensible acts of violence designed to undermine public order.”Justice Department U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito speaks during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 9, 2020, to examine COVID-19 fraud.The task force, co-headed by Craig Carpenito, the U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey and composed of prosecutors and FBI agents, is charged with developing “detailed information about violent antigovernment extremist individuals, networks and movements.”“Any group, regardless of their name, if they’re violent and antigovernment, we will be looking at them,” Cox said during the hearing. “If it is a white supremacist that is engaging in gang or drug activity, that would not fall under the purview of our task force.”The establishment of a task force focused on antigovernment extremists has raised concern that the Justice Department is giving short shrift to investigating white supremacist groups at a time the threat from far-right extremists is on the rise. Last year, FBI Director Christopher Wray said most of the bureau’s domestic terrorism cases are linked to white supremacy.Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois asked Cox why the Justice Department “has stopped tracking white supremacist incidents as a separate category of domestic terrorism.” Cox said she did not know.The hearing brought into sharp relief partisan passions over at times violent confrontations between protesters and law enforcement officers in recent weeks.Republican Sen. Ted Cruz said the protests over police brutality and racism had been hijacked by “rioters and looters and those who cynically exploit the protests for their own evil ends.”“Peaceful protests must be protected. Riots must be stopped,” Cruz said, accusing Democrats of refusing to condemn the violence.Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, speaks during a Senate Judiciary Committee business meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 11, 2020.Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono, saying “no one is condoning violence,” accused federal law enforcement officers of unleashing violence against peaceful protesters.“In Portland, federal agents used excessive and discriminate force to break up people gathered to peaceably protest,” Hirono said.Last month, the Trump administration sent dozens of federal law enforcement agents into the city, with President Donald Trump accusing the city leadership of losing “control of the anarchists and agitators” targeting a federal courthouse.Subsequent reports that the agents had used excessive force against protesters and grabbed demonstrators off the streets of Portland while driving in unmarked vehicles provoked a backlash, eventually prompting the federal personnel to agree to pull out of the city.Ken Cuccinelli, a senior official with the Department of Homeland Security, denied that the situation has grown quieter since the department agreed to withdraw its agents.“Last night, the local police declared a riot,” Cuccinelli said. “Not the federal but the local police.”Since the protests started in May, 140 law enforcement officers have sustained injuries in Portland, he said. 
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Afghan officials said Tuesday that dozens of Islamic State and Taliban prisoners were able to escape from a prison in eastern Nangarhar province after it was attacked by militants. IS took responsibility for the attack. VOA’s Zabiullah Ghazi reports from Jalalabad.
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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 Debunk”What Science Says About Children, COVID-19 and School Reopenings,” FactCheck.org, July 24.Social Media DisinfoScreenshotCirculating on social media: Photo claiming to show crowds protesting in Berlin against coronavirus restrictions.Verdict: FalseRead the full story at: ReutersFactual Reads on CoronavirusEverything you need to know about the UK’s new 90-minute coronavirus test
Two new coronavirus tests that can return results in just over an hour are set to be released in the UK, the government has announced.
— Euronews, August 3
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New York City’s health commissioner, Dr. Oxiris Barbot, resigned Tuesday, expressing her “deep disappointment” with the way New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has handled the COVID pandemic and his use of the department’s expertise.In her resignation letter, sent to de Blasio and members of the media, Barbot said, “I leave my post today with deep disappointment that during the most critical public health crisis in our lifetime, that the Health Department’s incomparable disease control expertise was not used to the degree it could have been.”Earlier this year, the New York Times reported de Blasio initially ignored Barbot’s advice about canceling large gatherings and closing businesses. Last month, he stripped control of the city’s COVID-19 contact-tracing program from the health department, and placed the program under Health and Hospitals, the agency that runs the city’s public hospitals.Barbot’s replacement was announced as Dr. Dave Chokshi—a Rhodes Scholar who served at the Louisiana Department of Health during Hurricane Katrina and was the principal health adviser to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in the Obama administration.At his Tuesday news conference, de Blasio thanked Barbot for her service and the important work she did during the crisis. He told reporters it became clear it was time to move forward and “create a new approach” for how to handle the pandemic.Earlier this year, New York City was the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States, with daily deaths passing 400 per day. But this past month, the city saw the lowest number of hospitalizations since the pandemic began. 
 
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This week on Healthy Living, how is the Coronavirus affecting your travel plans? We hear from some of you in Kenya about going on vacation during these times. Public health expert Dr. Marie Mbaga shares some tips to stay safe while traveling. And, a new trend in Sudan – home gardening. These topics and more on the show this week. S1, Ep56
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On Healthy Living this week, some good news when it comes to disease control in Africa, specifically with Ebola in the DRC and polio in Nigeria. Also, a look at how Burundi is handling Coronavirus testing and we hear from UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima on progress made against HIV/AIDS. These topics and more on the show this week. S1, Ep55
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The Bahamas begins a two-week national lockdown Tuesday due to a spike in coronavirus cases. Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis announced the restriction in a national address Monday night, saying the decision was based on the advice of health experts. Minnis said, officials will evaluate the impact of the lockdown after two weeks and the decision to relax or extend the lockdown will be made in part by the cooperation of the people living on the islands. Minnis said, citizens who break their quarantine after testing positive for the coronavirus will be fined. Travel for essentials such as food, water, medicines is restricted to Monday, Wednesday and Friday, from 7 am to 5 pm for the general public and essential workers have an additional day on Saturday from 7am to 1 pm. Minnis said, the onus is on the Bahamians and residents to work together and control the spread of COVID-19. The prime minister added that health care services and accommodations are being overwhelmed because of the rapid increase in coronavirus cases mostly among people 20 to 40 years old. The Bahamas confirmed the vast majority of the 679 COVID-19 cases occurred in the past month. So far, there are 14 coronavirus deaths.  
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With the coronavirus spreading widely across the United States, the White House’s pandemic task force coordinator is advising those living with vulnerable people to wear a mask at home, as well as in public places.  “If you’re in multigenerational households and there’s an outbreak in your rural area or in your city, you need to really consider wearing a mask at home,” Deborah Birx said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” The United States is recording more than 60,000 new cases and more than 1,000 deaths per day on average, according to the COVID Tracking Project.Birx said the pandemic was entering a “new phase” in the United States.  While outbreaks were focused in large cities in the early months, “this epidemic right now is different and it’s more widespread and it’s both rural and urban,” she said. President Donald Trump called Birx’s comments “pathetic.” He tweeted she “took the bait” after criticism from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who said Birx had previously presented too optimistic an outlook.So Crazy Nancy Pelosi said horrible things about Dr. Deborah Birx, going after her because she was too positive on the very good job we are doing on combatting the China Virus, including Vaccines & Therapeutics. In order to counter Nancy, Deborah took the bait & hit us. Pathetic!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 3, 2020 The coronavirus can spread from infected people before they show symptoms, or from people who never show symptoms. One study estimates that more than half of all cases derive from presymptomatic or asymptomatic people.The safest best, Birx said, is “assuming that you’re positive if you have individuals in your households with comorbidities” such as diabetes or heart or lung disease. Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
A man wearing a face mask walks past a coronavirus awareness mural depicting children of various faiths praying while wearing face masks in Depok, Indonesia, Wednesday, July 8, 2020. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)Experts are increasingly convinced that the virus can hang around in the air in droplets expelled by an infected person for longer than previously suspected, especially indoors.  Epidemiologists have assumed that large droplets an infected person releases while coughing or sneezing, or even shouting or singing, fall to the ground within two meters, hence the social distancing recommendation.  “Then we find out from the aerosol particle scholars that say, ‘You know, there are larger particles than that that stay floating around a lot longer, so you shouldn’t assume they all go to the ground,'” said National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci in an interview Monday with the Journal of the American Medical Association.Scientists are still debating how big a role airborne transmission plays in spreading COVID-19. But, Fauci added, “The one thing that it does tell you that’s important is that you really better wear a mask.” While breezes quickly blow away floating virus particles outdoors, “We need to pay a little bit more attention now to the recirculation of air indoors,” Fauci added, “which tells you that mask-wearing indoors … is something that is as important as wearing masks when you’re outside dealing with individuals where you don’t know where they came from.”  
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Hurricane Isaias is continuing to make landfall in southeastern North Carolina. The National Hurricane Center’s website said, radar and surface views showed the eye of Isaias first moved inland near Ocean Isle Beach, with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph (140 km/h) just after 11pm EDT. Less than an hour later, a weather station on Johnny Mercer Pier at Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, measured sustained winds of 62 mph (100 km/h).  Heavy rain and coastal storm surge flooding is expected.   Forecasters said parts of Eastern South Carolina and Eastern North Carolina can expect rainfall amounts of 7 to 15 centimeters (3 to 6 inches).  Isaias is expected to move quickly through the mid-Atlantic and Northeast on Tuesday and Tuesday night affecting the states of Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C. and New England.   Tropical storm warnings are in effect from the Virginia border north to Maine, in the upper northeast. President Donald Trump declared a state of emergency in North Carolina to free up funds for federal officials to help towns and cities coordinate disaster relief efforts.  Trump made a similar declaration Saturday for Florida, which was spared the full impact of the storm.  
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Media reports say a suicide bombing attack killed at least four people, including the bomber at a Mogadishu restaurant, which is popular with security forces and government workers. Several others were injured in Monday’s attack on the Lul Yamani restaurant, in the Somali capital.  Police say the attacker detonated the explosives at the entrance to the restaurant after being stopped by a restaurant security guard. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the Islamist al-Shabaab militant group is suspected of being involved because its history of targeting security forces.  
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The deaths of a number of African American men in police custody have led to a reexamination of U.S. law enforcement and calls to defund local police. One retired police official in Los Angeles says partnerships between the police and community can be part of the solution. Mike O’Sullivan reports.Camera:  Mike O’Sullivan       Produced by:  Rob Raffaele 
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Isaias strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane hours before it is expected to make landfall along the coast of the Carolinas.  The U.S. National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane warning from South Santee River, South Carolina, to Surf City, North Carolina. The storm’s maximum sustained winds reached 121 kph (75 mph) Monday evening and was centered about 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Workers stack sandbags around a hydro-dam as they prepare for Tropical Storm Isaias in the lower Manhattan area of New York City, Aug 3, 2020.North of the expected landfall area, tropical storm warnings were in effect as far away as Long Island, New York and the Merrimack River in New Hampshire. Forecasters said the Carolinas and other states in the region can expect rainfall amounts of 7 to 15 centimeters (3 to 6 inches). Winds along the coast of the Carolinas are expected to exceed 60 kph (37 mph) in some places. The storm is also expected to bring a storm surge of up to 1.5 meters (5 feet) in portions of North and South Carolina. The mayor of Charleston, South Carolina, John Tecklenburg, said city offices would close early Monday but said he did not think there was a need to issue a curfew.  President Donald Trump declared a state of emergency in North Carolina ahead of the storm’s arrival there to free up funds for federal officials to help towns and cities coordinate disaster relief efforts. Trump made a similar declaration Saturday for Florida. 
 
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