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Yahoo News/YouGov Poll: Presidential race tightens even as most voters oppose GOP's push to replace Ginsburg before election Joe Biden’s lead over Donald Trump has shrunk from 10 points two weeks ago to 5 points today, according to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll. Yet most voters oppose the GOP’s pre-election push to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Biden supporters seem more energized than Trump supporters by the issue. https://ift.tt/331UeWx
GOP Sen. Cory Gardner stayed mum on meatpacking coronavirus outbreaks as he received industry donations Some of the biggest and most deadly COVID-19 outbreaks in the U.S. stemmed from the meatpacking industry. But Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) was reluctant to call for accountability, including when it came to a Colorado-based plant Gardner received donations from, Business Insider reports.Early in the pandemic, meatpacking factories' close quarters became home to massive COVID-19 outbreaks throughout the country. An outbreak at the JBS meatpacking plant in Greeley, Colorado led to at least 291 confirmed cases and six deaths — the biggest localized outbreak in the state. Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) explicitly called for an investigation at the facility, as did a JBS employee union, which called out Gardner for failing to provide promised coronavirus tests for workers. But Gardner wouldn't discuss the situation with Business Insider, and similarly avoided questions about JBS in a local radio interview.Throughout his Senate career, Gardner has been one of the top recipients of donations from JBS; He has received $24,000 from the company over the years. This election cycle, he received the second most money from JBS of any senator, as well as the second largest contribution total from the meatpacking industry as a whole. Gardner is considered one of the most vulnerable senators this fall as he faces former Gov. John Hickenlooper (D).More stories from theweek.com America needs to hear the bad news first A mild defense of Republican hypocrisy on the Supreme Court Trump is the only one being honest about the Supreme Court fight https://ift.tt/3hYzP8L
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United to become 1st U.S. airline to offer passengers COVID-19 tests United Airlines has announced plans to start offering COVID-19 tests to certain passengers, becoming the first U.S. airline to do so, CNN reports. The airline on Thursday said that beginning on Oct. 15, passengers traveling from San Francisco International Airport to Hawaii will be able to take either a rapid COVID-19 test at the airport or a test that they can administer at home prior to the trip.At the airport, United will offering Abbott's COVID-19 test that provides results in 15 minutes. For the mail-in test from Color, passengers will be able to return it through mail or a drop box and get the results back in between 24 and 48 hours. According to CBS News, the rapid testing at the airport "takes about 20 minutes from arrival to result and initially will cost $250," while the at-home testing "will be $80 plus shipping and go to a San Francisco lab for processing."This program, United said, will help ensure that these passengers who test negative for COVID-19 will not be subject to Hawaii's 14-day quarantine requirements. As CNN notes, Hawaii says that those who "are tested no earlier than 72 hours before their flight arrives with an FDA-approved nucleic acid amplification test" can avoid the 14-day quarantine. United Chief Customer Officer Toby Enqvist says the company will "look to quickly expand customer testing to other destinations and U.S. airports later this year." More stories from theweek.com America needs to hear the bad news first A mild defense of Republican hypocrisy on the Supreme Court Trump is the only one being honest about the Supreme Court fight https://ift.tt/3057zv3
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Jim Jordan Demands Answers from FBI Director on Whether He Is Probing Hunter Biden Allegations Representative Jim Jordan on Thursday sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray demanding that he provide answers on whether his agency is investigating allegations against Hunter Biden that appeared in a report by Senate Republicans this week.The report by investigators for the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs along with the Senate Finance Committee contained serious allegations of "potential criminal activity" against Hunter Biden, son of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, including that he allegedly received a wire payment of $3.5 million from the wife of the former mayor of Moscow. The 87-page report also claimed that the younger Biden had business associations with Chinese nationals linked to the Chinese Communist government and the People’s Liberation Army and made payments to women who appeared to be linked to an Eastern European prostitution or human trafficking ring.“We write to ask what investigative steps—if any—the Federal Bureau of Investigation has taken in response to the information in this report,” Jordan wrote in his letter to Wray.The report "shows that the FBI has been aware of some alleged misconduct for years,” and “detailed widespread concern within the Obama-Biden Administration about Hunter Biden’s role on the board of Burisma Holdings," the Ohio Republican wrote.Hunter Biden joined the board of Burisma, a Ukranian natural gas company, in 2014 after his father became vice president. In that role, court records suggested he earned at least $50,000 a month advising the energy company on “transparency, corporate governance and responsibility, international expansion and other priorities,” according to Burisma. He resigned from the board in April of last year.A consulting firm representing Burisma Holdings, Washington-based Blue Star Strategies, at one point used the Biden name to leverage a meeting between the gas company and State Department officials, according to internal State Department email exchanges."The FBI suffered from a pattern of misconduct and politicization at the highest levels of the FBI during the Obama-Biden Administraton," Jordan wrote in his letter, adding that the "new revelations" in the Senate report "only add more concern about the FBI's actions." https://ift.tt/3c6DsYr
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Bolton allegedly tried to share details of Trump's Ukraine dealings during impeachment, but the White House stopped him Former National Security Adviser John Bolton reportedly tried to do his part during President Trump's impeachment hearings.Bolton famously refused to testify during Trump's impeachment trial regarding the president's alleged quid pro quo with Ukraine, only confirming the deal months after the fact. But Bolton apparently did try to divulge some details from his book regarding Trump's Ukraine dealings — the White House just wouldn't let him, an official overseeing Bolton's book's prepublication review said in a Wednesday court filing.Ellen Knight, a career federal official formerly overseeing the National Security Council's records, was tasked with reviewing Bolton's book and making sure it didn't contain classified information, The New York Times describes via the filing from Knight's lawyer. During that process, Bolton requested a speedier review of a part of his book regarding Trump and Ukraine so he could release it during the impeachment trial. Knight's lawyer said at that point, Bolton's memoir The Room Where it Happened didn't have any classified information and Knight was "prepared to clear the manuscript," but White House aides still denied his request.Through her lawyer, Knight alleged that the "apolitical process" of prepublication review was "commandeered by political appointees for a seemingly political purpose." Bolton's book was the only time Knight had been asked to take several "unusual" steps within the review process, and she hadn't heard of predecessors having to do so either, her lawyer said.The court filing comes a week after the Justice Department opened a criminal inquiry into Bolton's book to determine whether it shared classified information. The White House tried to shut down the publication of Bolton's book even after copies of it were already in the hands of journalists.More stories from theweek.com America needs to hear the bad news first A mild defense of Republican hypocrisy on the Supreme Court Trump is the only one being honest about the Supreme Court fight https://ift.tt/3iW5A3G
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Possible virus vulnerability discovered; about 20% of people with COVID-19 remain asymptomatic The spike protein on the novel coronavirus that helps it break into healthy cells has a tiny "pocket" that could make it vulnerable to antiviral drugs, researchers have discovered. In a paper published on Monday in Science, researchers note that common-cold-causing rhinoviruses have a similar pocket, and drugs that fit into the pocket by mimicking fatty acids like LA have lessened symptoms in human clinical trials. This suggests, they say, that drugs developed to target the pocket on the coronavirus spike protein might help eliminate COVID-19. https://ift.tt/2ExHltS
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Chief Executive of Embattled Alaskan Mine Project Resigns
By BY HENRY FOUNTAIN from NYT Climate https://ift.tt/363C0pd
