Big Time News Blog: 07/09/20

Thursday, July 9, 2020

Explosion heard in western Tehran: Iran state media

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Tenant faces eviction for Black Lives Matter banner on his Illinois balcony, he says

“We just wanted to advocate any way we can.”

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Feds: Top Ohio State Immunologist Lied About Chinese Funding and Ties to Research Groups

Federal prosecutors allege that a top immunologist at Ohio State University illegally concealed Chinese funding for his research and attempted to flee the country before his arrest in Alaska in May.In a criminal complaint unsealed on Thursday, the Justice Department accuses Song Guo Zheng, the Ronald L. Whisler MD Chair in Rheumatology and Immunology at Ohio State’s medical school, of fraudulently obtaining federal grant funds from the National Institutes of Health and making false statements to investigators.Zheng, prosecutors say, obtained nearly $5 million in federal research grants without disclosing ties to Chinese entities and additional grant funds provided by them. The complaint and other filings in a federal court in Ohio indicate that Zheng has long been affiliated with Chinese research efforts called “Talent Plans” that U.S. officials have alleged are integral to Chinese government efforts to boost scientific and technological advancement in the country by having experts train and conduct research in the United States and elsewhere.According to prosecutors, Ohio State placed Zheng on administrative leave while it conducted its own investigation into those alleged omissions. Zheng, they say, quickly began making plans to return to his native China.Zheng’s attorneys have not directly responded to the allegations in court. But the transcript of his arraignment indicates that Zheng, a U.S. permanent resident, has denied the charges against him. “I understand” the charges, Zheng told the court through a translator, “but I disagree with all of them.”Ohio State confirmed that Zheng was an employee and said he’d been placed on unpaid leave, but declined to comment further. “Ohio State has been and continues to assist federal law enforcement authorities in every way possible,” a university spokesperson told The Daily Beast in an email. “We cannot comment further at this time due to the ongoing law enforcement investigation.”The U.S. Attorney’s office in the Southern District of Ohio declined to comment when The Daily Beast first inquired about the Alaska arrest in late May. However, they provided a statement on Thursday after the criminal complaint was unsealed.“We allege that Zheng was preparing to flee the country after he learned that his employer had begun an administrative process into whether or not he was complying with rules governing taxpayer-funded grants,” said David M. DeVillers, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio. “This is our office’s third recent case involving the illegal transfer of intellectual property and research to China. This underscores our commitment to work with the FBI, the Department of Health and Human Services, and our research institutions to protect our country’s position as a global leader in research and innovation, and to punish those who try to exploit and undermine that position.” A lawyer for Zheng did not respond to repeated requests for information. Efforts to reach Zheng personally were not successful.Zheng’s case is just the latest federal prosecution of a U.S. academic whom the DOJ alleges had undisclosed ties to Chinese interests or funders. The department has also recently gone after researchers at Harvard University and the University of Kansas. In public remarks this week, the FBI Director Chris Wray stated, “We’ve now reached the point where the FBI is opening a new China-related counterintelligence case about every 10 hours.”Prosecutors say Zheng’s case revolves around a failure to disclose Chinese funding in grant applications during his time at OSU and at two previous jobs at the University of Southern California and Pennsylvania State University.Zheng “had received numerous admonishments from both NIH and OSU regarding conflicts of interest, and I believe he failed to disclose his overseas activities because he knew they placed his NIH funding at risk,” an FBI agent investigating the case told the court. According to prosecutors, Zheng gave conflicting answers when asked if he was involved with China’s Talent Plan programs. Zheng told a law enforcement interviewed that he “had been recruited into the PRC talent plans but he did not accept the position because he did not want to spend nine months of the year in the PRC.” But later in the interview, he appeared to acknowledge his participation, saying “he did not know he had to report his affiliation with talent plans.”According to the criminal complaint, OSU notified Zheng of its administrative investigation in mid-May. Six days later, prosecutors say, he left Columbus, “contacted a friend and was afforded a seat on a charter flight back to the PRC and packed up numerous electronic devices and a significant amount of personal items.” Prosecutors also presented evidence that Zheng and his wife planned to sell their house in Ohio.Prosecutors characterized that as an attempt by Zheng to flee the country. He was stopped at the Ted Stevens airport in Alaska. Zheng allegedly used his Chinese passport to board the flight and when the plane was deboarded, he quickly gave his carry-on luggage to a passenger he did not know. “When confronted,” prosecutors said, “Zheng initially indicated he was moving permanently, then changed his story to indicate he was visiting a sick relative and later added he was looking for a job in the PRC.”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.

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US student visas: 'A lot of people I know are scared for the future'

The US said some visas could be revoked because of coronavirus, leaving students confused and uncertain.

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Democratic Senate candidates smash fundraising records in 2nd quarter

Democratic Senate hopefuls are raising record amounts of cash in their bids to unseat Republican Senate incumbents.

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Chances of global warming to 1.5C within five years doubles under new modelling

Global temperatures have a 20 per cent change of reaching 1.5C above pre-industrial levels in the next five years, according to new analysis from the World Meteorological Organisation which doubles the likelihood from an earlier assessment. Analysis last year from the Met Office, which led on the new report, put the likelihood at 10 per cent. The Met Office said the higher figure was produced by using models from ten different climate centres around the world for the first time. The Paris Agreement, which governments signed up to in 2015, aims to limit global warming to 1.5C and at least 2C, based on averages over a 30-year period. Current warming is at 1C, which the WMO said would continue over the next five years, with a one in five chance that one year would hit 1.5C and a 70 per cent chance that one month would. “This study shows – with a high level of scientific skill – the enormous challenge ahead in meeting the Paris Agreement on Climate Change target of keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas. The predictions take into account natural variations, such as the El Nino climate cycle, as well as human impact. They do not take into account changes in greenhouse gas emissions from the coronavirus lockdown. The models also suggest that almost all areas are likely to be warmer than the recent past, with the Sahel and high latitude regions wetter. Professor Adam Scaife, the head of long range prediction at the Met Office, said: “This is an exciting new scientific capability. As human-induced climate change grows, it is becoming even more important for governments and decision makers to understand the current climate risks on an annually-updated basis.”

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Ohio sheriff refuses to enforce governor's mask order: 'I'm not going to be the mask police'

An Ohio sheriff said he won't enforce Governor Mike DeWine's order making face masks mandatory in states with high rates of Covid-19 infections.Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones appeared on CNN Wednesday and told anchor Brianna Keilar that while he wears a mask and is "good with that," he has no plans on enforcing the governor's mask order.

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Fox News Breaking News Alert

Fox News Breaking News Alert

PROGRAMMING ALERT: President Trump live exclusively on 'Hannity,' coming up on Fox News

07/09/20 6:02 PM

Tennis Tours Hope to Salvage Their Seasons. It’s Not Getting Easier.

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Two Cheers for Liberalism! (Or Maybe One and a Half)

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Ready to Tame Your Sweet Tooth?

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Congress Presses Military Leaders on Suspected Russian Bounties

By BY CHARLIE SAVAGE AND ERIC SCHMITT from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3gM7v9M

A Conservative Court and Trump’s Own Appointees Declare Their Independence

By BY PETER BAKER from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2W3fmaJ

Trump on Releasing His Tax Returns: From ‘Absolutely’ to ‘Political Prosecution’

By BY KATIE ROGERS from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3egGs4q

An Austin police officer appeared to grope a woman's breast after pulling her over for a traffic violation

The Austin Police Department defended the officer's conduct, saying he followed the department's regulations and that no female officer was available.

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Nile dam dispute spills onto social media

As Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan struggle to resolve a long-running dispute over Addis Ababa's mega-dam project on the Nile, some of their citizens are sparring online over their rights to the mighty waterway. For nearly a decade, multiple rounds of talks between Cairo, Addis Ababa and Khartoum have failed to produce a deal over the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Anxiety has mounted in downstream Sudan and Egypt, which fear for their vital water supplies after upstream Ethiopia declared plans to start filling Africa's largest dam reservoir in July.

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Two arrested after coughing on Walmart employees, refusing to wear masks, AZ cops say

Police said one of the suspects tried to flee the scene.

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2 men arrested for looting stores in Santa Monica during protests

Santa Monica Police arrested two suspects wanted for looting the REI and VANS stores during the protests against police brutality.

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Coronavirus: How New Zealand went 'hard and early' to beat Covid-19

What has been the strategy behind New Zealand's Covid-19 success?

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Russia and China veto Security Council resolution enabling aid to Syria

Russia and China vetoed a Security Council resolution on Tuesday that would maintain cross border aid to Syria’s rebel-held northwest, in a move criticised as threatening millions of civilian lives. Russia instead proposed a resolution that would allow the delivery of aid through a single crossing point from Turkey for six months. Syria’s closest ally, Moscow argues that aid should be delivered via Damascus across conflict lines. China said it was in favour of maintaining cross border aid but opposed the resolution because its drafters Germany and Belgium failed to include a condemnation of unilateral US sanctions on Syria. The veto was the 15th Russia had used since the start of the Syrian war in 2011, and the ninth for China. A European diplomat told AFP the veto was an "extremely negative development". "They want to strangle the population even more," the diplomat said, speaking anonymously, adding that aid "cannot reach the population from one" crossing point.