Iran has executed an alleged CIA and Mossad agent who it says helped spy on Qassem Soleimani before his assassination

Qassem Soleimani, who led Iran's Revolutionary Guard, was killed by a US drone strike in January. His death almost brought the US and Iran to war.

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Netanyahu's graft trial resumes amid Israeli virus anger

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En Brasil los profesionales de la salud podrían haber contagiado de coronavirus a las poblaciones indígenas

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Who Is Behind Those N.B.A.‘Bubble Life’ Tweets?

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Trump Threatens to Send Federal Law Enforcement Forces to More Cities

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Three Coronavirus Vaccine Developers Report Promising Initial Results

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Felony Charges Filed Against St. Louis Couple Who Pointed Guns at Protesters

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Trump’s Occupation of American Cities Has Begun

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After Dismissing Coronavirus Surge, Trump Wants to Talk About the Virus Again

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CBS New York reporter Nina Kapur dead at 26 after moped accident

Fellow journalists expressed their grief following the young and promising reporter's death.

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Iran executes man convicted of spying on US-slain general

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Two coronavirus vaccines 'produce immune response'

Two COVID-19 vaccine candidates have proven safe for humans and produced strong immune reactions among patients involved in two separate clinical trials, doctors said Monday. The first trial among more than a thousand adults in Britain found that the vaccine induced "strong antibody and T cell immune responses" against the novel coronavirus. A separate trial in China involving more than 500 people showed most had developed widespread antibody immune response.

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Fact check: Yes, Biden botched stats on COVID-19 and gun deaths

A social media post points out the Democratic presidential candidate incorrectly cited millions of deaths from COVID-19 and guns.

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Trump's chief of staff reportedly wants him to 'avoid drawing attention' to COVID-19

As new COVID-19 cases continue to climb in the United States, President Trump's chief of staff reportedly wants the White House to publicly ignore the pandemic as much as possible.A new report in The New York Times focused on Republicans breaking from Trump on the coronavirus crisis describes how White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows "has been particularly forceful in his view that the White House should avoid drawing attention to the virus." In fact, the report says that even amid a surge in new COVID-19 cases around the country, some of Trump's "closest advisers" insist that the "best way forward is to downplay the dangers of the disease."This advice is evidently getting through to Trump, who in a recent interview with Fox News again asserted that the coronavirus is "going to disappear," a prediction he said he'll be right on "eventually."Although the Times report describes how some Republican lawmakers have pushed the White House to bring back regular coronavirus briefings led by Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx, Meadows has reportedly "for the most part opposed any briefings about the virus." Meanwhile, Trump, the Times writes, now "seems less interested in the specific challenges the virus presents," and David Carney, an adviser to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), told the Times, "The president got bored with it."More stories from theweek.com Joe Biden vs. the most interesting man in the world Former Obama adviser lays out why Biden's VP would likely be the 'most powerful in history' Will Congress throw the American economy off a cliff?

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UK ratchets up criticism of China over Uighurs, Hong Kong

Britain and China issued new salvos of criticism against each other Sunday, with the U.K. foreign secretary hinting that he may suspend the U.K.’s extradition arrangements with Hong Kong over China's moves against the city-state. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab also accused Beijing of “gross and egregious” human rights abuses against its Uighur population in China’s western province of Xinjiang. In response, the Chinese ambassador to Britain warned that China will deliver a “resolute response” to any move by Britain to sanction officials over the alleged rights abuses.

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Trump won't commit to accepting result if he loses election

Brushing aside polls showing his support down amid the worsening coronavirus outbreak, Trump won't promise to accept the 2020 election result.

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Brazil Bolsonaro's low approval rating improves despite rising COVID-19 cases

Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro's low approval ratings rose for a third consecutive month, a poll showed on Monday, as the perception of his handling of the coronavirus crisis and the economy's direction continued to improve gradually. The latest monthly XP/Ipespe poll findings come as the coronavirus-related deaths and cases also continue rising, cementing Brazil's place as the world's second-biggest hotspot for the pandemic after the United States. Bolsonaro's overall approval rating rose two percentage points to 30% this month, the highest since April, while the share of those who think he is doing a bad or terrible job fell three percentage points to 45%, the lowest since April.

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Gig economy workers are paying dearly for pre-pandemic earnings on traditional payroll

"It's like there's this huge carrot dangling in front of my face, but it's a few inches away from me and I can't reach it," an out-of-work videographer said.

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Watchdog: Virus stalks Egypt's prisons amid news blackout

The new coronavirus has struck several Egyptian prisons and killed at least 14 detainees, a leading human rights watchdog said Monday, as authorities seek to stifle news of the virus’ spread behind bars. The organization, Human Rights Watch, released an extensive report based on letters smuggled from prison and interviews with inmates and their relatives, documenting multiple cases of detainees who died after experiencing virus symptoms without being tested or receiving adequate medical treatment. Tens of thousands of people in Egypt are crammed into what rights groups say are overcrowded and unsanitary prisons.

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Ohio governor who has refused to issue a statewide mask mandate warns the state 'could become Florida'

DeWine on Sunday said Ohio is "now headed in the wrong direction, and frankly, I'm very, very concerned about that."

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Missing Kansas dog makes 50-mile trip to old home in Missouri

Cleo, a four-year-old labrador, walks from Kansas to Missouri, leaving her owner "speechless".

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Border Patrol is out of control

Want to defund the police? A good place to start might be the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.The latest Trumpist assault on American democracy reached a boiling point over the weekend in Portland, Oregon. Video showed two men in military gear — later revealed to be CBP agents — plucking a demonstrator off the street and putting him in an unmarked car. Another protester told The Washington Post a similar story about being detained by unidentified agents, only to be released later without an arrest report. (The agency says its officers identified themselves during arrests, contradicting witness reports.)That wasn't the worst of it: Federal agents reportedly shot another demonstrator in the head with a rubber bullet, fracturing his skull.The result was widespread alarm and anger. "Mr. President, federal agencies should never be used as your own personal army," Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler (D) said during a Friday press conference. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) referred to the agents as "unidentified stormtroopers." Oregon's attorney general filed suit against the federal government — including CPB, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the Department of Homeland Security — alleging it had violated the rights of protesters. The ACLU filed a similar lawsuit to protect the rights of journalists and legal observers. Even the local U.S. attorney called for an inquiry.While several federal agencies are involved in the mayhem in Portland, the use of border patrol agents here should arouse the most scrutiny — they aren't enforcing immigration law by cracking down on the city's protesters, after all. But even before the recent demonstrations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection was a rogue agency with a toxic culture. The agency might not serve as President Trump's "personal army," precisely, but it has long been ripe for use and abuse by an authoritarian-minded executive. Trump fits the bill.Scandals emerge from CBP's toxic soil with regularity — just last week, the Government Accountability Office revealed the agency was misusing its funds, taking money meant to be spent on medical care for migrants in its custody and using it instead to buy dirt bikes and boats. That follows outrageous stories in recent years involving widespread racism among agents, and reports of officials turning a blind eye toward migrant deaths.Even if the agency were somehow free of corruption, its official duties and authorities would still be disquieting.In carrying out Trump's immigration policies, for example, CBP held children as young as 2 or 3 "in jail-like border facilities for weeks at a time without contact with family members, or regular access to showers, clean clothes, toothbrushes, or proper beds," according to Human Rights Watch. Just as alarming is the agency's jurisdiction: The "border" where it carries out its enforcement duties extends 100 miles inland from the country's actual borders — an area that encompasses roughly two-thirds of the U.S. population, as well as the entire state of Hawaii.Within that zone, CBP can act as a law unto itself. The government holds that the protections of the Constitution do not fully apply at the border, and agents conduct themselves accordingly — stopping cars and buses without cause to check the citizenship status of passengers, even when those vehicles haven't been involved in actual border crossings. "In practice, Border Patrol agents routinely ignore or misunderstand the limits of their legal authority in the course of individual stops, resulting in violations of the constitutional rights of innocent people," the ACLU says in a fact sheet on the matter.The protests sparked by George Floyd's death have broadened CBP's apparent mandate. Agents have been increasingly deployed to do domestic law enforcement — deputized as marshals in Washington, D.C., and ordered to defend monuments and federal property against vandals. That almost seems reasonable. But as The New York Times noted, many of those agents are often trained in dealing with violent drug smugglers, not protesters whose primary crime is scrawling graffiti on a courthouse.In short, this is not an agency predisposed to act humanely or respect Constitutional niceties. Like Trump himself, CBP seems prone to enforcing law and order while shrugging off the actual rule of law."CBP is operating as a shadowy paramilitary force in Portland and other places throughout the country, and this is absolutely horrific and unacceptable," Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) told The Daily Beast.Portland may just be the beginning. The Trump administration plans to expand the enforcement techniques it is using in Oregon to additional U.S. cities. It is up to Congress and the courts to put a stop to this. How? Congress can narrow CBP's mandate, so that it only deals with border issues. It can redraw the border zone down to just 25 miles. Legislators can also reduce the agency's size, which has ballooned since 9/11. They can require the CBP to demilitarize, encouraging it to use caseworkers to track and keep touch with asylum-seeking migrants. They can make an agency that is less empowered and amenable to abuse.Trump and his cronies would surely look for other ways to crack down on protesters. He will abuse any power he has, and claim powers the Constitution doesn't actually grant him. Congress, however, doesn't need to make it easy for him. It is time to defund U.S. Customs and Border Protection.Want more essential commentary and analysis like this delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for The Week's "Today's best articles" newsletter here.More stories from theweek.com Joe Biden vs. the most interesting man in the world Former Obama adviser lays out why Biden's VP would likely be the 'most powerful in history' Will Congress throw the American economy off a cliff?

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