Judge halts Tennessee law that restricted mail-in voting

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A federal judge on Wednesday halted a Tennessee law that restricted voting by mail by mandating that first-time voters show their identification at an election office before voting.U.S. District …

3,951 new coronavirus cases diagnosed as cabinet meets on closure – The Jerusalem Post

Jerusalemites wearing face masks for fear of coronavirus  walk on Jaffa road in the City Center of Jerusalem on July 12, 2020. Israel has seen a spike of new COVID-19 cases,  cabinet ministers imposed new restrictions on public gatherings in a bid to stem the rising infection rate of the coronavirus (photo credit: OLIVIER FITOUSSI/FLASH90)

Some 3,951 people were diagnosed with coronavirus on Wednesday, the Health Ministry reported Thursday, setting a new record for the country. There were 487 people in serious condition, including 137 who were intubated. The death toll hit 1,055.

The plan that coronavirus commissioner Prof. Ronni Gamzu and the ministry will present is still somewhat unclear, though it appears that from the perspective of health professionals, there are two options: a total lockdown such as the one the country underwent on Passover, or a “breathing” closure which would involve tightening restrictions but not completely shutting down.

Source: 3,951 new coronavirus cases diagnosed as cabinet meets on closure – The Jerusalem Post

The coronavirus may have reached Los Angeles by Christmas – Los Angeles Times

Researchers from UCLA and their colleagues at the University of Washington documented an unmistakable uptick in patients seeking treatment for coughs. The increase began the week of Dec. 22, 2019, and persisted through the end of February.

Some of those patients were treated in outpatient centers. Others came to emergency rooms, and some were ultimately admitted to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center or other hospitals operated by UCLA

“A significantly higher number of patients with respiratory complaints and diseases starting in late December 2019 and continuing through February 2020 suggests community spread of SARS-CoV-2 prior to established clinical awareness and testing capabilities,” wrote the team led by Dr. Joann Elmore, who is both an internist and professor of health policy and management at UCLA.

We now know that seven patients treated at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center in mid-March for a flu-like illness actually had COVID-19. The fact that they all felt well enough to leave their homes and had no clear ties to anyone who had recently visited a COVID-19 hotspot suggests they became infected through sustained community transmission, another group of researchers wrote in the Journal of the American Medical Assn.

Source: The coronavirus may have reached Los Angeles by Christmas – Los Angeles Times

4 U.S. teachers die of coronavirus after school year begins – National | Globalnews.ca

AshLee DeMarinis was just 34 when she died Sunday after three weeks in the hospital. She taught social skills and special education at John Evans Middle School in Potosi, Missouri, about 70 miles (115 kilometres) southwest of St. Louis.

A third-grade teacher died Monday in South Carolina, and two other educators died recently in Mississippi. It’s unclear how many teachers in the U.S. have become ill with COVID-19 since the new school year began, but Mississippi alone has reported 604 cases among school teachers and staff.

The early phase of the pandemic claimed the lives of dozens of teachers. The New York City Department of Education alone lost 31 teachers among 75 employees whose deaths were blamed on the coronavirus.

Across the U.S., the American Federation of Teachers lists 210 union members who have died. The list includes support staff and retirees as well as teachers.

Source: 4 U.S. teachers die of coronavirus after school year begins – National | Globalnews.ca

Abducted Kolesnikova ‘told she was leaving Belarus dead or alive’ | Euronews

Maria Kolesnikova said in a formal complaint released by her lawyer that she was threatened agents of Belarus' state security committee.

“These people threatened to take my life, which I perceived as real,” wrote Kolesnikova.

“In particular, it was stated that if I did not leave the territory of the Republic of Belarus voluntarily, I would still be taken away: alive or in parts.”

“There were also threats to deprive me of my liberty for up to 25 years, to cause me problems in places of detention, in places of deprivation of liberty, which I also perceived as real.”

Kolesnikova claims that when she did not consent to the authorities and that she was kept in a cell for one hour, the letter continues.

She also confirms the version of her supporters that, in order not to be forcibly expelled from the country, she tore up her passport.

“After the KGB officers realised that I would not leave Belarus voluntarily, they put a bag on my head, pushed me into a minibus, and took me to the [Aleksandrovka village], where they tried to use force against my will to expel me from the Republic of Belarus.”

“After I tore my passport, thus excluding entry into the territory of Ukraine, I was again put in a minibus and taken to the Mozyr border detachment, where I was until the evening of September 8, 2020.”

The letter also states that Kolesnikova was “warned about criminal liability for knowingly false denunciation”.

Source: Abducted Kolesnikova ‘told she was leaving Belarus dead or alive’ | Euronews

IFTTT introduces a paid plan, reduces free usage to 3 applets

Money honey, if you want to get along with me – not ifttt-banner-c7738837bd793caf0b8169b6f6f
If This Then That (IFTTT), a web-based service that lets you set up useful task flows between popular apps (like sync photos you post on Twitter to your Dropbox storage) is adding a paid tier after a decade of being available for free. More importantly, it’s reducing free tier usage to three applets (tasks). The company said it’s taking this step to “better align our Pro product roadmap with the needs of our most active Applet creators.”  With the pro tier, IFTTT is introducing new features such as multi-step applets, multiple action execution with logic, and faster execution. The last…

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