NASA Mission Springs a Small Leak After Touching an Asteroid

By BY KENNETH CHANG from NYT Science https://ift.tt/37zOUMu

The country is nearing a grisly record.

By BY CAMPBELL ROBERTSON, EDGAR SANDOVAL, LUCY TOMPKINS, SIMON ROMERO, MITCH SMITH AND AMY HARMON from NYT World https://ift.tt/35r9I6l

'He thinks he's running against somebody else': Trump, Biden spar over health care at presidential debate

President Trump attempted to paint Joe Biden's health care plan as the same as that of the more progressive rivals Biden defeated in the primary race.

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Treasure hunter dug through Yellowstone cemetery looking for famous bounty, feds say

He was allegedly seeking the coveted Forrest Fenn treasure, officials said.

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A 73-year-old in Colorado was fined more than $1,000 after her pet deer gored a woman walking her dog

Tynette Housley, 73, was cited on misdemeanor charges of illegal possession of wildlife and illegally feeding wildlife.

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Lindsey Graham accused of dodging debate as polls show challenger Jaime Harrison closing in

‘I’m not coming back until Amy Coney Barrett is a Supreme Court Justice,' senator says

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America's 1.3 million Jehovah's Witnesses will be sitting out this election

Jehovah's Witnesses do not vote, run for public office, serve in the military, or take "any action to change governments."

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Fauci says as coronavirus infections swell, federal task force is meeting just weekly

The infectious diseases doctor who has become a central figure in the pandemic told MSNBC the frequency of meetings has "diminished" over time.

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How to watch the final presidential debate live on Yahoo

President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden will face off in their last presidential debate Thursday at 9 p.m. ET at Belmont University in Nashville. 

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Two largest wildfires in Colorado history are burning at the same time, 10 miles apart

About 700 square miles of wildfires are actively burning in Colorado. Wildfires have scorched more than 1,000 square miles since July 31.

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China threatens retaliation over US-Taiwan arms sale

China on Thursday threatened to make a "legitimate and necessary" retaliation over the US sale of $1 billion worth of missiles to Taiwan as Beijing becomes increasingly strident over its claims to the self-ruled island.

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In two political battlegrounds, thousands of mail-in ballots are on the verge of being rejected

Tens of millions of Americans have already cast their ballots for the 2020 election by mail, building on a historic shift in voting methods that started with primary elections held during the COVID-19 pandemic.Mail-in ballots, however, aren’t automatically accepted as in-person ballots are. Rather, they can be rejected if they have signature defects on their return envelopes. Unless cured by voters – which means that voters fix the signature errors on them – these submitted ballots will be rejected. Thanks to ongoing reporting of voter turnout in two battleground states, Florida and North Carolina, we can identify the number of mail-in ballots at risk of being rejected. So far, we can tell that there are thousands of ballots flagged for rejection in these two states. In addition, racial minorities and Democrats are disproportionately more likely to have cast mail ballots this election that face rejection. The signature issue with mail ballotsAbove, we use the word “risk” when describing ballots in Florida and North Carolina that have been flagged for rejection. While these ballots have signature defects, they have not yet been formally rejected.Not all states have the same requirements for mail-in voting, but ballots usually face rejection if they’re missing a voter’s signature. Another source of defects is an ostensibly mismatched signature. This happens when an elections official concludes that a voter’s signature on a return envelope doesn’t match the voter’s signature on file. Some states, like North Carolina, require witness signatures on ballot return envelopes, with the lack of such a signature considered a defect. Enough ballots face rejection to sway an electionOur counts of mail ballots facing rejection in Florida and North Carolina are conservative. When calculating them using official data, we assume that any inconsistencies we find in the data are resolved in favor of ballot acceptance.That said, here is what we know as of Oct. 22. In Florida, 3,210,873 voters have cast mail ballots, and of these, 15,003 ballots face rejection, corresponding to a potential ballot rejection rate of 0.47%. This rate is not an estimate. It is based on counts drawn from official statewide data.These thousands of mail ballots currently in limbo can make a difference. Consider the 2018 midterm election. In his successful United States Senate bid in this contest, Republican Rick Scott beat incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson by only 10,033 votes. Over 2 million Floridians have yet to return the mail ballots sent to them by county election officials, so the number of mail ballots subject to rejection in Florida could grow well beyond 15,000.In North Carolina, an even greater percentage of mail ballots face rejection. In that state, 8,228 of 701,425 mail ballots fall into this category, yielding a potential rejection rate of 1.2%.As in Florida, North Carolina’s elections can be extremely close. In the state’s 2016 gubernatorial race, a mere 10,277 votes out of roughly 4.6 million cast separated the winner, Democrat Roy Cooper, from incumbent Republican Pat McCrory. The number of ballots at risk in North Carolina – 8,228 – remains smaller than this margin but could grow as more ballots are returned. Partisan and race-based ballot rejection ratesThe risks of mail ballot rejection are not spread uniformly across voters, and rejected mail ballots are not politically neutral. We can see from our Florida and North Carolina election data that registered Democrats have greater rejection rates than Republicans. The partisan differences in potential ballot rejection rates – Democratic rate minus Republican rate – are approximately 0.07% and 0.16% in Florida and in North Carolina, respectively.In addition, Democrats have expressed a greater willingness to vote by mail than Republicans – though this might be changing. This will compound any biases caused by differing ballot rejection rates across Democratic and Republican voters.Official election data in Florida and North Carolina also reveal a clear racial pattern among mail ballots facing rejection: Black and Hispanic voters are much more likely to have their ballots flagged for missing signatures or other discrepancies than are white voters.In Florida, ballots cast by Hispanic voters face a rejection risk 2.6 times that of white voters. In North Carolina, where the two most common racial groups are Black and white, the risk of ballot rejection for Black voters is three times that of white voters. White voters thus have lower ballot rejection rates than minority voters, who tend to support Democratic candidates over Republican ones. Ballots can still be ‘cured’In both Florida and North Carolina, voters who have submitted mail ballots with signature defects can still cure them. Florida voters have the opportunity to fix their mail ballots through Thursday, Nov. 5. This can be done via affidavit. Details about ballot curing in North Carolina were until recently tied up in court. But voters in the state can now, in some cases, fix ballots with defects. However, ballots in North Carolina missing witness signatures cannot be cured, and voters in the state who cast these types of ballots must request new ballots if they want their votes to count.Curing a ballot with a signature defect requires knowing that it is facing rejection. But not all states send out notices informing voters of ballot defects.In some states, voters who cast mail-in ballots can check on the status of their ballots with local officials or using web resources provided by the secretary of state, which voters can do in New Mexico and Ohio.However, other states, such as Maine and New Hampshire, don’t have laws mandating that voters get the opportunity to cure mail ballots of deficiencies. For this election, though, officials in these two New England states have developed procedures to allow voters to fix ballots with defects.[Deep knowledge, daily. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter.]Given the surge of mail-in ballots in this election cycle, there’s likely to be confusion over rejected ballots and cures. In the future, it’ll be important for states to provide voters with transparent processes for fixing defective ballots so they can ensure they’ll be able to exercise the right to vote.This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Michael Herron, Dartmouth College and Daniel A. Smith, University of Florida.Read more: * Mail delays, the election and the future of the US Postal Service: 5 questions answered * Mail-in voting is safe and reliable – 5 essential readsMichael Herron submitted an expert report on behalf of plaintiffs in the matter of North Carolina Alliance for Retired Americans et al. v. North Carolina State Board of Elections et al. Daniel A. Smith does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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US embassy in Turkey issues a warning about 'potential terrorist attacks and kidnappings' of Americans and foreigners in Istanbul

In response to the threat, the embassy suspended its services and urged American citizens to be careful, avoid crowds, and keep a low profile.

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Man gets 20 years for buying guns used in 2015 terror attack

The man who bought two rifles that husband-and-wife assailants used to kill 14 people in a Southern California terror attack nearly five years ago was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison. Enrique Marquez Jr. supplied the weapons that Syed Rizwan Farook and Farook’s wife, Tashfeen Malik, used on Dec. 2, 2015, to open fire on a meeting and holiday gathering of San Bernardino County employees who worked with Farook. Minutes later, a post on a Facebook page associated with Malik pledged allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State terror group.

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Christian singer to host evangelical ‘worship protest’ on Washington DC’s National Mall with 15,000 expected to attend

The event scheduled this weekend will not require attendees to wear masks or social distance

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Turkish burgers off the menu in Saudi Arabia as trade boycott bites fast food industry

With its spicy sauce and Ottoman-themed packaging, the “Turkish burger” is one of the more exotic choices on the menu at Saudi Arabian restaurant Herfy. Or, at least, it was. This week, the Turkish patty has vanished from the menu and been replaced with an identical “Greek burger,” the latest casualty of Saudi Arabia’s unofficial boycott of Turkish products. “It’s the same thing,” one Herfy worker, Mahmood Bassyoni, told customers as he offered them a taste of the burger, according to Bloomberg news agency. “Just the name changed.” The boycott reportedly began after Recep Tayyip Erdogan outraged Riyadh, one of its main rivals in the Middle East, by claiming that “Arab countries in the Gulf will not exist for long but Turkey will always remain powerful.” Tensions have also simmered over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia’s Istanbul consulate and differing attitudes towards Islamist groups in the region. Mr Erdogan has accused Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, of ordering the murder personally, something that he vehemently denies. The Telegraph approached Herfy for comment on whether the rebranding was related to the boycott but had not received a response at the time of publication. According to Arab News, a Saudi news website, the boycott has been gaining steam in recent weeks, with major supermarket Al Sadhan Group expressing support for the campaign. This was followed by dairy firm Tamimi Markets adding its voice to the backlash against Turkish goods, along with a number of online fashion retailers.

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Trump defends family separation in debate, says immigrant kids whose parents can't be found are 'so well taken care of'

During a rare presidential debate exchange about immigration, President Trump defended his administration’s family separation policy for undocumented immigrants, which has left hundreds of children without their parents for years, saying the kids are “so well taken care of” in federal facilities.

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Fukushima: Contaminated water could damage human DNA, Greenpeace says

The group says the water has a radioactive substance amid reports it could be released into the sea.

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China's President Xi Jinping issues a warning to potential ‘invaders’

President Xi Jinping has issued a sharp warning to potential “invaders” on the 70th anniversary of the Chinese entry into the Korean War.

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Venezuelans 'dying slowly' in rat- and roach-infested homes

Sunlight cannot penetrate, the air is fetid and fellow residents include rats and cockroaches -- but that's how 14 families are "dying slowly" in government accommodation in Venezuela's capital Caracas.

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How has China avoided a coronavirus second wave?

Europe is the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic once again, with the number of daily infections doubling in the past 10 days as a second wave hits. But China has avoided a second wave. The question is why? The answer is that its authorities, after being overwhelmed in Wuhan, have fine-tuned an emergency response for surprise cluster outbreaks. Many subsequent waves of infection have emerged in China, a country of 1.4 billion people and nearly 40 times the size of the UK. Cases have cropped up across the country, as far apart as in the south along the border to Vietnam, and in the north near Russia.

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North Carolina man plotted to assassinate Biden, FBI claims

A North Carolina man had plans to assassinate Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden before he was ultimately arrested by the FBI, according to federal court documents. Federal officials detailed the shocking plot in court filings in a case against Alexander Hillel Treisman, who was arrested in May on child pornography charges. The FBI requested that Treisman remain behind bars until his trial, using the alleged assassination plot as justification.

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AOC's snub of a tribute to an assassinated Nobel Peace Prize winner sure makes it seem like all Israeli leaders are too problematic for the progressive left

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez bailed on a left-wing peace advocacy group's memorial for former Israeli PM Yitzhak Rabin after online backlash.

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