Kids’ Graphic Novels That Turn the Superhero Genre on Its Head

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Texas: All of a sudden, a two-party election in the Lone Star State.

By BY MANNY FERNANDEZ from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2HVQrC4

‘They’re coming after our state,’ McSally warns Arizona Republicans.

By BY JENNIFER MEDINA from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/34IEQ1S

Fact check: There is no Sen. Rob Donaldson, so posts of his speech about Barrett are fake

A post on new Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett originated as a hypothetical. It took off, with many people assuming it was from a real senator.

US election: Don Jr told Trump supporters to ‘have some fun’ before Biden vehicles ‘rammed by armed group’

Trump’s eldest son called on supporters ‘get out there, have some fun’

Dem Rep. Tells Hunter Biden’s Business Partner He Will Defend Him against ‘Partisan Hack’ Attack

A Democratic congressman told Hunter Biden’s former business associate, Tony Bobulinski, that he will defend him from attacks calling Bobulinski a "partisan hack" over his decision to go public with claims about the Biden family's foreign business dealings.Democratic Representative Ro Khanna sent an email to Bobulinski, who has donated to Khanna in the past, wishing him well and saying he vouched for him that he has "never been a ‘partisan hack’ in our interactions and have talked about putting country over party," Fox News reported.“Tony, hope you are doing okay. I did give an on the record statement to The NY Times that I know you, you have always acted honorably with me, and you and other family members supported me,” Khanna wrote in his message. “I have told any media outlets that have asked the same thing.”The California Democrat said that he “refused to comment on the details of your allegations because I don’t have personal knowledge about that, but have said I respect your service to our country and that you have never been a ‘partisan hack’ in our interactions and have talked about putting country over party.”In a Fox News interview that was aired Tuesday, Bobulinksi accused Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden of “lying” about whether he was directly involved in his son’s foreign business dealings.The former U.S. Navy lieutenant and corporate investor was the former CEO of SinoHawk Holdings, which he said was a partnership between the CEFC China Energy conglomerate and the Biden family. He was the recipient of a May 13, 2017 email that discussed a plan to have 10 percent in their related joint venture, Oneida Holdings, “held by H for the big guy?” The “big guy” was Joe Biden, and “H” was Hunter, Bobulinski confirmed.Bobulinski said he had several meetings with the former vice president, one on May 2, 2017, according to text messages about the meeting.Bobulinski said he decided to go public with documents and information on the Bidens after Democratic congressman Adam Schiff said on television that this “smear” of Biden “comes from the Kremlin,” a claim Bobulinski called "absolutely disgusting."“I also have made it clear that I do not think you are a Russian agent,” Khanna added in his email to Bobulinski. “I will continue to make that statement to any media that asks.”“I remain appreciative for your past support and your requesting your family members to support,” Khanna said. “After the heat of the election, if you want to, I am happy to chat.”Bobulinski also said he was warned by former partner Rob Walker that going public with his claims against the Bidens would “bury all of us.”“Throughout 2015 and 2016 while Joe was still the sitting vice president of the United States, these guys had been doing extensive work around the world,” Bobulinski said in the Fox News interview, adding that “the only qualification they had was the Biden name.”

Philippines evacuates nearly 1 million as world's strongest 2020 typhoon approaches

'They give me the willies': scientist who vacuumed murder hornets braces for fight

Chris Looney helped dismantle the first nest of Asian giant hornets in the US. Now he’s preparing for the next stepThe eradication of the first nest of Asian giant hornets on US soil somewhat resembled a science fiction depiction of an alien landing site. A crew of government specialists in white, astronaut-like protective suits descended upon the hornet nexus to vanquish it with a futuristic-looking vacuum cleaner, to the relief of onlookers.The nest of the fearsome invasive insects, notoriously known as “murder hornets”, was found in a tree crevice near Blaine, in Washington state, via a tracking device attached to a previously captured worker hornet. The Washington state department of agriculture (WSDA) confirmed the nest had been successfully removed, with dozens of live captives taken back for inspection.“It was cold so they were docile, so between their slowness and the protective gear no one was hurt,” said Chris Looney, a WSDA entomologist who was tasked with vacuuming up the hornets.Wielding a lengthy, toxic stinger, the hornets can cause renal failure and death in people, as dozens of people in Japan have found out to their cost. One entomologist in Canada described the feeling of being stung as like “having hot tacks pushed into my flesh”.They can also squirt venom, as Looney saw first-hand when his lab workbench was sprayed by hornets as they roused themselves following capture. “I was more worried about getting permanent nerve damage in the eye from the squirted venom than being stung,” said Looney, who wore goggles for the capture. “They are pretty intimidating, even for an inch-and-a-half insect. They are big and loud and I know it would hurt very badly if I get stung. They give me the willies.”Murder hornets do not earn their moniker from killing people, however, with honeybees far more likely to be targeted. A honeybee colony can be decimated within a few hours, with the hornets decapitating their victims and feeding severed body parts to their young. This poses a gnawing concern for hobbyist beekeepers and even farmers in the US north-west, where managed honeybees are crucial for the pollination of crops such as blueberries and raspberries.Asian giant hornets were first discovered in North America last year, popping up in British Columbia, Canada, before a handful of specimens made it south of the border to Washington state. The hornets, native to east Asia, most likely arrived on the continent clinging to imported goods sent via sea or air. A close relative of the hornet has already made separate inroads into France and the UK.A key, and unnerving, question is how far they will manage to spread across America. Looney said the removal of the first nest found in the US was just a “small victory” in a battle likely to rage for several years to contain the insects. Thousands of sightings have been reported in Washington, and while many are false or mistaken, Looney said it was likely the hornets had spread, potentially establishing dozens more nests.“It’s hard to say how they will behave here compared to their native range, but the fear is that there are large apiaries of bees that could be sitting ducks, while as the hornets move south to warmer weather their colonies could grow larger,” he said. “The object of our work is to avoid finding this out.”Scientists who have modeled the potential spread of the hornets predict they will be able to extend down the west coast into California. The Rocky Mountains and drier interior of the US pose major barriers to an eastward push but environs on the east coast such as New York would be ideal homes for the murder hornets should they inadvertently be transported there.Looney said he was “troubled” by evidence that overwintering hornet queens like to bury themselves in straw and hay, commodities that are regularly shifted around the US by train or truck. A hornet queen that hitched a ride would still face challenges establishing a nest even if moved to the east coast – it could immediately be crushed underfoot, after all – but the potential pathway is there.“I’m more worried about human transportation of these hornets than I initially was,” Looney conceded.The Asian giant hornet is just the latest invasive species to make its mark on North America. Burmese pythons are now legion in southern Florida, while Asian carp are common in the Mississippi river system. In the insect world, the spotted lanternfly is a growing agricultural pest and emerald ash borers have arrived to lay waste to stands of trees.These arrivals are symptoms of the growth in international trade and tourism, while climate change is making many parts of the US more hospitable for certain invasive species. The Asian giant hornet, for example, is thought to favor the sort of elevated temperatures that the US is experiencing as the planet heats up. This could help it spread at the rate of its cousin species in France, which has been able to advance up to 78km a year. If it is not controlled, the murder hornet could fundamentally change ecosystems across the US.Still, even in a fraught year racked by a pandemic, social unrest and economic disaster, Looney said any fears of being assailed by a murder hornet should be “low on the anxiety meter”.He added: “We should be concerned about it but we will do our best until the money runs out or the battle is won or lost. If we fail, it will be unpleasant. But there are other things to be much more worried about right now.”

Texas early voting exceeds total of all 2016 ballots cast

Texans have already cast more ballots in the presidential election than they did during all of 2016 — an unprecedented surge of early voting in a state that was once the country's most reliably Republican, but may now be drifting toward battleground status.

Tensions between left and right-wing protesters in Vancouver, Washington, after a Black man was shot dead by police officers in a drugs bust

Kevin E. Peterson Jr, 21, produced a handgun and was shot dead by deputies, said Clark County Sheriff's Office.

David Perdue: Georgia senator pulls out of final debate after 'brutal' takedown by Democrat goes viral

Video of debate where Democrat Jon Ossoff calls Republican incumbent a ‘crook’ has been viewed more than 11m times on Twitter

Despite suppression tactics, young voters are 'raising hell' with historic early voting turnout

Young voters face voting obstacles from cumbersome voter ID laws to a lack of polling places. Still, they're turning out in historic numbers.

China destroys domes of famous mosques as cultural whitewash continues

China’s campaign to suppress Islam is accelerating as authorities remove Arab-style onion domes and decorative elements from mosques across the country. Stark changes have been observed at the main mosque in Yinchuan, capital of Ningxia province, where most of China’s Hui ethnic Muslim minority live. The bright green onion-shaped domes and golden minarets that used to soar into the sky atop Nanguan Mosque have all been pulled down. Golden Islamic-style filigree, decorative arches, and Arabic script that before adorned the mosque have also been stripped away. What remains is unrecognisable – a drab, gray, rectangular facility with “Nanguan Mosque” written in Chinese, as shown in photos posted online by Christina Scott, the UK’s deputy head of mission in China, on a recent trip. “TripAdvisor suggested the Nanguan Mosque in Yinchuan well worth a visit,” Ms Scott wrote on Twitter, along with ‘before and after’ photos. “Only this is what it looks now, after ‘renovations.’ Domes, minarets, all gone. No visitors allowed either, of course. So depressing.”

A high school newspaper has exposed how state police quoted Adolf Hitler and advocated violence in a training manual

The training manual quotes from Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf, calling for the "perpetually constant and regular employment of violence."

Trump rally organisers fire water at crowd as supporters pass out in Texas heat

Just two days ago Trump rally left many supporters hospitalised due to freezing cold

Body-camera footage released of Wallace killing; family says officers were improperly trained

The footage from body-worn cameras that was taken as police responded to a call about Walter Wallace Jr. shows him emerging from a house with a knife as relatives shout at officers about his mental health condition, a lawyer for the man's family said Thursday.

A new tropical depression formed in the Caribbean. It could become Tropical Storm Eta

A new tropical depression has formed in the Caribbean, putting the 2020 hurricane season within reach of breaking a slew of meteorological records.

They protested to oust their scandalous governor. Tuesday they'll vote to usher in a new era.

The election on the island follows the historic protests following the scandal that led to Gov. Ricardo Rosselló's resignation.

The Battlegrounds Within Battlegrounds

By BY KEITH COLLINS, TRIP GABRIEL AND STEPHANIE SAUL from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2TJBvJP

Celebrities lend Biden a hand in turning out the vote in Philadelphia.

By BY NICK CORASANITI from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3jPB3US

Stanford Study Seeks to Quantify Infections Stemming From Trump Rallies

By BY SHERYL GAY STOLBERG from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/35Pg9QV

For transgender people in the military, much hinges on presidential election

Joe Biden has been vague about his plans for the military if he wins the election, but one specific promise he has made is to roll back the Trump administration policy that effectively bars transgender service members from serving openly in accord with their gender identity.

Police reach breaking point amid protests, pandemic, rising crime

Amid rising crime rates, a polarizing election and the continued high-profile police killings of Black Americans, some police veterans say they can't recall a tougher time to be an officer.

Philadelphia police say they rescued a lost child. His family says they actually ripped him from his mother's car.

During recent protests over the police killing of Walter Wallace Jr. in Philadelphia, the U.S.'s largest police union posted what looked like a sympathetic photo. A Philadelphia police office held a Black toddler, with a caption purporting he was found "walking around barefoot in an area that was experiencing complete lawlessness," the National Fraternal Order of Police's Facebook post said.But lawyer's for the boy's family say that's not what happened. Rickia Young was driving with her toddler son to pick up her 16-year-old nephew when she accidentally drove into an area where police and protesters were facing off. She tried to turn around, but police surrounded the car, smashed its windows, and threw Young and her nephew onto the street, her lawyers tell The Washington Post. The officers then pulled the toddler from the seat, video of the incident shows.> The attacked on this boy and his mother were caught on video. @ryanjreilly has done a good job of pointing out this lie by @GLFOP https://t.co/kJ4QcrXegc> > — Riley H. Ross III (@AttorneyRoss) October 30, 2020Police soon detained Young, but she had to be taken to the hospital before she could be processed because she was bleeding from her head after police threw her to the ground. Young's nephew was also injured, and the toddler was hit in the head. Young was split from her son for hours before she was released without charges. Her family found the boy in his car seat in the back of a police car, broken glass from the car's windows still in the seat, the Post describes.The whole scene was caught on video by AApril Rice, who told the Philadelphia Inquirer watching what happened was "surreal" and "traumatic." The National Fraternal Order of Police has since deleted the post. Philadelphia police still haven't told the Young family where to find the car, along with her son's hearing aids and other belongings inside.More stories from theweek.com How to make an election crisis 64 things President Trump has said about women Republicans are on the verge of a spectacular upside-down achievement

The flu shot lasts for about 6 months: Here's when it starts working and why it may get less effective as time goes on

The flu shot is effective for about six months. You should get it in October so it lasts through March and covers you through flu season.

Michigan Senate candidate John James is proof all skinfolk ain’t kinfolk

OPINION: James is fashioning himself as a moderate who believes in bipartisanship. The problem is when it comes to the party of Trump, you can’t play it both sides. John James is a Black man who has a shot at becoming the next U.S. Senator from the great state of Michigan.

Kennedy cousin Skakel will not be retried in 1975 killing

A prosecutor said Friday that Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel will not face a second trial in the 1975 killing of Martha Moxley, an announcement that came 45 years to the day after the teenager was bludgeoned to death in her wealthy Connecticut neighborhood. The decision ended a rollercoaster drama that included claims others could be the killer, alleged confessions by Skakel, several books based on the case and conflicting rulings by the Connecticut Supreme Court, which first upheld Skakel's murder conviction but later overturned it. Skakel, 15 at the time of Moxley's death and now 60, served more than 11 years in prison before being freed in 2013.

Las Vegas police charge driver after man pushed a cyclist to her death, fell out a minivan window, hit his head on a lamppost, and died at the scene

Rodrigo Cruz, 22, was the driver of the minivan involved in the two deaths, the Las Vegas police said.

Facebook admits it 'improperly' blocked some political ads due to 'technical issues' as Joe Biden's campaign slams it for being 'wholly unprepared'

Facebook said no ads were blocked "because of any partisan consideration," as Biden's camp accused the company of offering "no clarity" on the issue.

The battle for Senate control looks more volatile than the presidential race

First Read is your briefing from "Meet the Press" and the NBC Political Unit on the day's most important political stories and why they matter.

How to Take On the Tech Barons

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A judge orders the Postal Service to take ‘extraordinary measures’ to deliver ballots on time in 22 districts.

By BY LUKE BROADWATER AND HAILEY FUCHS from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2HQCHbo

N.E.H. Funds Restoration of Statues Toppled During Protests

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Trump, in Minnesota, lashes out at Democrats for limiting crowd sizes.

By BY ANNIE KARNI from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3mEgxIy

Nursing Homes, Racked by the Virus, Face a New Crisis: Isolation

By BY JACK HEALY, DANIELLE IVORY AND SERGE F. KOVALESKI from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2TCEnIb

Voters suing Minnesota over a mask mandate are asking the Supreme Court to intervene.

By BY JACEY FORTIN from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2JeAC9Y

Woman Beheaded in French Knife ‘Terror’ Attack at Church, 3 Dead

Three people have been killed—including one elderly woman and another person by decapitation—and several others injured in a suspected terror attack inside the Notre-Dame basilica in the French city of Nice. The knife-wielding assailant, who was wounded by police gunfire, allegedly yelled “Allahu Akbar” several times, including while he was being detained, in what has come to be known as a battle cry for Islamic extremists in Europe.The city’s mayor, Christian Estrosi, wrote immediately after the killings that “everything suggests a terrorist attack,” and said the unnamed suspect had been arrested and taken to a hospital in the city. The Paris’ anti-terror prosecutors office said it has opened an investigation. Italian police said late Thursday that the killer is a 21-year-old Tunisian migrant who was smuggled to the Italian island of Lampedusa in September. After he completed the mandatory two-week COVID-19 quarantine, he left the migrant camp and made his way to France. Authorities have his details and fingerprints as part of the immigration process and are working with French police. “The suspected knife attacker was shot by police while being detained. He is on his way to hospital, he is alive,” Estrosi told reporters at the scene. Although a motive has not been confirmed by officials, the mayor expressed his wish to “wipe out Islamo-fascism” from the country.French President Emmanuel Macron declared a state of emergency and ordered security to be strengthened at places of worship across the nation. On Wednesday night, Macron had put France back into lockdown because of its out-of-control resurgence in coronavirus cases. Hours after the attack, he visited the basilica and met with security and rescue personnel.The Nice slashings occurred on the same day that an assailant was shot dead by police near another French city, Avignon, after he reportedly waved a gun at officers, and also as a guard was reportedly attacked outside the French consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.Local reports in the French Riviera city say the elderly woman and a man who died were attacked inside the heart of the Nice basilica. The BBC reports a woman who fled to a nearby cafe was stabbed many times and died at a hospital, and that a witness at the scene managed to set off an alarm on a “special protection system” set up by city officials. One eyewitness told the BBC: “We heard many people shouting in the street. We saw from the window that there were many, many policemen coming, and gunshots, many gunshots.”In July 2016, Nice was the scene of unthinkable carnage when an armed French delivery driver attacked a waterfront Bastille Day fireworks party with a truck, killing at 84 people, including 10 children. France has been under high alert for terrorist acts in recent weeks as 14 people suspected of murdering 12 Charlie Hebdo staffers, a female police officer, and four men in a Jewish supermarket in 2015 in retaliation for the publication of cartoons of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad went on trial.As the courtroom proceedings opened, two people were stabbed near the publication’s old offices in Paris on Sept. 25 in what the French interior minister then declared was “clearly an act of Islamist terrorism.”The Nice attack also comes less than two weeks after the beheading of middle-school teacher Samuel Paty in Paris after he had shown his students cartoons published by the satirical magazine.Estrosi said the two attacks were similar. “The methods match, without doubt, those used against the brave teacher in Conflans Sainte Honorine, Samuel Paty,” he said.Family of Moscow-Born Teen Who Beheaded Teacher Were from Chechnya Where Charlie Hebdo Cartoons Are DemonizedPresident Macron delivered the eulogy at Paty’s funeral, and said France would not abandon its right to free speech. “We will continue, Professor. We will defend the freedom that you taught so well and we will promote secularism, we will not renounce caricatures, drawings, even if others retreat,” Macron said. “We will continue the fight for freedom and the freedom of which you are now the face.”Macron’s comments have drawn sharp criticism in the Islamic world with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan calling for a boycott of French goods. In response, Charlie Hebdo published a caricature of Erdogan in his underwear lifting a Muslim woman’s skirt on Wednesday, drawing scorn from Erdogan for what he referred to as a “a grave insult to my prophet.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

FBI Investigating Hunter Biden for Money Laundering: Report

The FBI opened an investigation into Hunter Biden and associates in 2019 on suspicion of money laundering, a Justice Department official told Sinclair Broadcasting.The criminal investigation is ongoing, the DOJ official said.The revelation comes after Tony Bobulinski, a former business partner of Hunter Biden, came forward with a trove of documents regarding the Biden family's dealings with now-defunct Chinese energy firm CEFC. While Joe Biden has denied that he has ever spoken with Hunter regarding the latter's overseas business dealings, Bobulinski claims the former vice president is lying.> EXCLUSIVE: Tony Bobulinski tells @WeAreSinclair he was questioned by six @FBI agents, with counsel present, for five hours on October 23, listing him as a "material witness" in an ongoing investigation focused on Hunter Biden and his associates. His cell phones were examined. pic.twitter.com/5lPzRTREJN> > -- James Rosen (@JamesRosenTV) October 29, 2020Additionally, Bobulinski told Sinclair that he was interviewed by FBI agents for five hours last Friday and was listed as a "material witness" for the agency.The interview "was a very cooperative deep dive into all the facts across that time period" during which Bobulinski conducted business with members of the Biden family, Bobulinski said.The New York Post reported earlier this month that it was given materials purportedly from Hunter Biden’s laptop. While a subsequent Fox News report revealed that Hunter Biden’s laptop was subpoenaed by the FBI in connection with a money laundering investigation, the Thursday report by Sinclair marks the first confirmation that Hunter Biden himself is the subject of an ongoing criminal probe.The Biden campaign has not denied the veracity of any of the materials revealed by the Post or Bobulinski. However, the campaign has stated that "Joe Biden has never even considered being involved in business with his family, nor in any overseas business whatsoever."

Popular Thai pro-democracy figure charged over flash mob rally

One of Thailand’s most popular anti-establishment politicians has been charged for his role in an illegal flash mob protest last year, in a move that is likely to fuel the current wave of pro-democracy protests. Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, 41, a charismatic billionaire and founder of the dissolved Future Forward party, is accused of five public assembly violations linked to the rally in Bangkok's central shopping district last December, Krisadung Nutcharat, his lawyer, said on Thursday. The charges include failing to notify police of a public gathering, blocking a sky train station, using a megaphone without permission and holding a rally close to a royal residence. Four other people from his Progressive Movement Group and Move Forward Party face similar charges. All five deny any wrongdoing. Mr Thanathorn has been an outspoken advocate of the protest movement that has gripped the Thai capital, Bangkok, since June, and he recently condemned a short-lived emergency order aimed at keeping demonstrators off the streets. During last year’s elections, he and his pro-democracy Future Forward Party, proved to be enormously popular with young, first-time voters, and garnered the third-largest share of seats.

Kyle Rittenhouse extradited to Wisconsin following terse ruling from Illinois judge accusing him of asking the court to 'ignore binding Illinois law'

Rittenhouse, charged in Wisconsin with first-degree homicide over the shooting of three people at Kenosha protests, had been fighting his extradition.

Body-camera footage released of Wallace killing; family says officers were improperly trained

The footage from body-worn cameras that was taken as police responded to a call about Walter Wallace Jr. shows him emerging from a house with a knife as relatives shout at officers about his mental health condition, a lawyer for the man's family said Thursday.

Republican Sen. Mike Lee said fact-checking labels placed by social media companies are a form of censorship

The comment was made in a Senate hearing where Republicans said Twitter, Facebook, and Google discriminate against conservatives on their platforms.

"Someone's reading our texts": Tucker Carlson, UPS and the non-stolen Biden documents

Carlson implied he was the target of a deep-state plot when "damning" documents went missing. Then UPS found them

White House coronavirus adviser Dr Birx boycotting Covid task force over misinformation

Dr Birx has travelled to 40 states in a personal bid to advise officials on Covid

Gov. Ron DeSantis had trouble voting because someone had falsely submitted a change of address under his name

Anthony Guevara, 20, was charged with altering a voter registration without consent and unauthorized access of a computer, in connection to the case.

Europe Is Locking Down Everything to Keep Schools Open During COVID’s Second Wave

ROME—The Ambrosoni family in the central part of the city here have one computer, painfully slow internet, and three children in elementary school, making learning from home something of a challenge. When schools closed down last March, the children essentially stopped learning, the family says. And the family does not want to see that happen again.“During the first lockdown in the spring, each child had to sacrifice a third of their school day so their siblings could also attend classes,” mom Gabriella, who is still on furlough from the last lockdown, told The Daily Beast. “Which means they all basically lost the last part of the school year.” And with dad Angelo working at a restaurant—now subject to further restrictions and likely new closures—buying two more computers just isn’t in the cards at the moment.The Ambrosoni family struggle is mirrored across Europe, where keeping schools open during new lockdowns in the second wave of the pandemic has been a priority. Not only do smaller housing and spotty infrastructure make at-home learning difficult, but in many southern European countries like Italy, where daycare centers are scarce and grandparents as caregivers are now off-limits due to COVID concerns, schools play a vital role in keeping parents at work.But as European education ministers fight to keep schools open, experts across the continent are warning that while young people do not generally suffer the same consequences of COVID-19, the schools are likely contributing to the rapid spread of the virus. Writing in Bloomberg News, Italian economics analyst Ferdinando Giugliano says the biggest dilemma for governments during the second wave is what to do about schools. “Closing them could lead to a ‘lost generation’ of learners and make it harder for parents to get back to work,” he says. “Keeping them open could further propagate the virus.”So far, the majority of European governments are struggling to find that balance, and with no centralized European policy, the solutions are quite literally all over the map.French President Emmanuel Macron announced a nationwide lockdown Wednesday night after his country topped more than 50,000 new cases in a single 24-hour period over the weekend, but schools for the most part will remain open. “I have decided that we must return to confinement,” he said Wednesday night. “The whole territory is concerned.”The same scenario is playing out in Germany, which is also under new lockdown measures for all leisure activities. There, too, keeping schools open is a priority both to ensure that kids whose families can’t afford multiple computers or who have spotty internet won’t have to sacrifice their children’s education. Addressing the nation to announce new measures on Wednesday, Chancellor Angela Merkel made it clear that “social sacrifices must be made” to ensure schools stay open. “We will do everything so that our children are not the losers of the pandemic,” she said. “School and daycare need to be the most important things.”In Italy, which is also now under new restrictions until Nov. 24 that include the shuttering of gyms and theaters and the early closure of bars and restaurants at 6 p.m., daycare centers and elementary schools are also being prioritized, while high schools now have to teach 75 percent of their curriculum online and stagger entrances to institutions to ensure proper social distancing. Many Italian high school students are, however, streaming their classes on smartphones rather than computers, calling into question the quality of education they are getting. And the policy isn’t nationwide. The southern region of Puglia ordered all schools closed Thursday after several clusters tied to elementary schools emerged. And the region of Campania, where Naples has become a major hot spot this time after having few cases in the first wave, has waffled in its closures, first shutting down all schools in a lockdown and then opening nursery schools and elementary schools as parents struggled to find adequate daycare without them open.Other European countries have admittedly lost the battle to keep in-person learning going. The Czech Republic, which has one of Europe’s highest contagion rates after largely avoiding problems in the first wave, closed schools last week. “I apologize to school directors. I apologize to parents for the permanent uncertainty,” Czech Education Minister Robert Plaga said when making the announcement. “But it’s necessary to do it and to do it fast.”Several studies have pointed to mixed results in whether in-person learning leads to the spread of the virus. A study in Germany by the Institute of Labour Economics in Bonn found no correlation between the opening of its schools in September and the uptick in cases in late October. A similar study in Italy instead found a direct correlation, with more than 2,800 incidents of outbreaks within a month of school starting in mid-September.A database of global superspreader events being kept by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine has identified very few incidents within school settings. “Schools should be important given that so many networks come together [there]—with kids, parents, and social life,” Gwen Knight, the project director, told the Financial Times. “But the signal doesn’t seem to be very strong. We are finding it quite hard to find direct evidence of transmission within the school setting, but we are not doing enough testing.”As the second wave envelopes Europe, most government leaders are trying to keep schools open as long as they can, even as most concede that given how fast the virus is spreading, winter holidays will almost undoubtedly start for students much sooner than usual.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

SCOTUS: N.C. ballots can be counted up to nine days after election

The Supreme Court will allow absentee ballots in North Carolina to be received and counted up to nine days after Election Day.

Asteroid samples tucked into capsule for return to Earth

A NASA spacecraft tucked more than 2 pounds of asteroid samples into a capsule for return to Earth after losing some of its precious loot because of a jammed lid, scientists said Thursday. “We’ve still got a lot of work to do” to get the samples back safely, said lead scientist Dante Lauretta of the University of Arizona. The spacecraft Osiris-Rex won't depart Bennu’s neighborhood until March at the earliest, when the asteroid and Earth are properly aligned.

Mitch McConnell’s approval drops nationwide despite political win with Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination

Only 16 per cent of respondents say they felt better about Mr McConnell’s job performance

Red coating contaminates SpaceX rockets, delays crew launch

SpaceX’s second astronaut flight is off until mid-November because red lacquer dripped into tiny vent holes in two rocket engines that now must be replaced. SpaceX and NASA officials announced the discovery of the potentially damaging contamination Wednesday. The clogged holes were found after the aborted launch of a GPS satellite on Oct. 2.

North Korea says shooting death of South Korean man was self-defensive measure

'The possibility of real-world harm is high': Experts warn of violence from QAnon around the election

Experts who study QAnon say they’ve observed an increase in calls for offline action among the movement’s followers, adding to the growing risk of postelection violence posed by a variety of extremist groups.