The Overnight News Digest is a nightly series chronicling the eschaton.
135,268 PEOPLE HAVE DIED FROM CORONAVIRUS IN THE U.S.
108 DAYS UNTIL ELECTION DAY
The Washington Post
Disappearance of covid-19 data from CDC website spurs outcry
On the eve of a new coronavirus reporting system this week, data disappeared from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website as hospitals began filing information to a private contractor or their states instead. A day later, an outcry — including from other federal health officials — prompted the Trump administration to reinstate that dashboard and another daily CDC report on the pandemic.
And on Thursday, the nation’s governors joined the chorus of objections over the abruptness of the change to the reporting protocols for hospitals, asking the administration to delay the shift for 30 days. In a statement, the National Governors Association said hospitals need the time “to learn a new system, as they continue to deal with this pandemic.
The governors also urged the administration to keep the information publicly available.
Pompeo says protesters and media are attacking American way of life
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday that the American way of life and its founding principles are “under attack,” focusing his criticism on voices in the mainstream news media and protesters who have torn down statues of historical figures. […]
Pompeo had harsh criticism for the New York Times’s 1619 Project, on the history of American slavery, saying its underlying message was that “our country was founded for human bondage.” […]
He also criticized protesters who have yanked down statues across the country, many of them erected in honor of Confederate officers in the Civil War but also enslaving founders of the nation.
“The rioters pulling down statues thus see nothing wrong with desecrating monuments to those who fought for unalienable rights — from our founding to the present day,” he said. “This is a dark vision of America’s birth. I reject it. It is a disturbed reading of history. It is a slander on our great people. Nothing could be further from the truth!”
Los Angeles Times
Supreme Court sides with Florida Republicans to block ex-felons from voting
The Supreme Court turned down an emergency appeal from voting rights lawyers Thursday, leaving in place what a federal judge in Florida called an unconstitutional “pay-to-vote system” that could prevent hundreds of thousands of ex-felons from casting a ballot this fall.
The decision means Florida residents with prior felony convictions will not be allowed to vote in next month’s primary election and may not able to register for the November election unless they can show they have paid all fees, fines or other debts from their past crimes.
“This court’s orders prevents thousands of otherwise eligible voters from participating in Florida’s primary election simply because they are poor,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor said in a dissent joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan. The court’s “inaction continues a trend of condoning disfranchisement,” she said.
Californians turn against each other amid 2nd coronavirus shutdown
[…] Social media exploded this week with furious, often expletive-laced outbursts after Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday that California must largely close for business yet again because of a spike in COVID-19 cases statewide that shows no sign of easing. On Tuesday, the state reported its largest one-day total of new cases, along with sharp jumps in hospitalizations and deaths.
Over the course of the four-month pandemic, Californians have focused their anger at the governor and other politicians, county health officials and the current resident of the White House. But now, in the early days of yet another shutdown, they are turning on each other like never before.
Because, when it comes to the coronavirus, we have met the enemy, and he is us.
Bloomberg
Mark Meadows Calls Fauci’s 1918 Flu Comparison ‘Irresponsible’
Donald Trump’s chief of staff criticized Anthony Fauci for comparing the current coronavirus outbreak to the 1918 flu pandemic, after reprimanding another top White House adviser for publicly attacking Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert.
“He suggested that this virus was worse than, or as bad as, the 1918 flu epidemic,” Mark Meadows said during a Fox News interview Thursday. “I can tell you that not only is that false, it’s irresponsible to suggest so.”
Fauci said Tuesday at an event sponsored by Georgetown University that the coronavirus is a “pandemic of historic proportions” and “when history looks back on it, will be comparable to what we saw in 1918,” when influenza killed tens of millions of people worldwide. Covid-19 has so far killed more than 588,000 people worldwide, and more than 138,000 in the U.S., according to statistics compiled by Bloomberg.
Twitter Says Hackers Didn’t Access User Passwords
Twitter Inc. said users’ passwords weren’t stolen in a widespread digital attack Wednesday, despite the fact that hackers were able to send tweets from several high-profile accounts. […]
The hack on Wednesday affected some of the world’s most recognizable people, including Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama…
Twitter said Wednesday evening that the hack was part of a “coordinated social engineering attack” that targeted Twitter employees. It granted hackers access to some of the company’s internal systems, and then high-profile user accounts, the company said. That forced Twitter to temporarily halt verified accounts from sending any tweets.
AP News
Russia is hacking virus vaccine trials, US, UK, Canada say
Western governments on Thursday accused hackers believed to be part of Russian intelligence of trying to steal valuable private information about a coronavirus vaccine, calling out the Kremlin in an unusually detailed public warning to scientists and medical companies.
The alleged culprit is a familiar foe. Intelligence agencies in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada say the hacking group APT29, also known as Cozy Bear, is attacking academic and pharmaceutical research institutions involved in COVID-19 vaccine development. The same group was implicated in the hacking of Democratic email accounts during the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
After 4 days, 2 explosions, Navy warship fire extinguished
A fire on the USS Bonhomme Richard at a San Diego naval base has been extinguished after a four-day battle against one of the worst infernos to rip through a U.S. warship outside of combat in recent years, the Navy said Thursday.
Rear Adm. Philip E. Sobeck called the last 24 hours of the firefight aboard the amphibious assault ship “amazing,” with the fire reaching up to 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit in parts of the vessel. […]
It could cost an estimated $4 billion to replace the ship if it is deemed un-salvageable.
NPR News
CDC Won't Release School Guidance This Week As Anticipated
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will not release a set of documents this week aimed at giving schools advice on how to reopen to students after coronavirus shutdowns, NPR has learned. Instead, the full set will be published before the end of the month, a CDC spokesperson says.
"These science and evidence-based resources and tools will provide additional information for administrators, teachers and staff, parents, caregivers and guardians, as together we work towards the public health-oriented goal of safely opening schools this fall," the spokesperson said.
… Trump has emphasized that he wants to see schools reopen their classrooms in the fall, but many teachers and parents have balked, concerned that children would spread the virus and get sick themselves. Trump complained on Twitter that the CDC's existing guidance was "too tough."
Europe's Top Court Strikes Down Key Rules Of U.S.-EU Data Transfer
Europe's highest court has struck down a key agreement between the U.S. and the European Union concerning data privacy. In a ruling Thursday, the European Court of Justice found that the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield fails to protect Europeans' rights to data privacy when companies are transferring those data to the U.S.
The decision promises to have major repercussions for the more than 5,300 companies covered by the framework, ranging from banks to social media giants such as Facebook and Twitter. Under the Privacy Shield, implemented in 2016, self-certified companies that comply with the agreement's requirements are considered to have met the EU's higher standard for data privacy.
The ECJ disagreed with that conclusion, however. In its ruling, the court found that surveillance laws in the U.S. "are not circumscribed in a way that satisfies requirements that are essentially equivalent to those required" under EU law.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Kemp’s office seeks to block Atlanta mask mandate in court
Gov. Brian Kemp’s administration went to court Thursday seeking to block Atlanta from enacting coronavirus restrictions and requiring residents to wear masks, setting up a legal showdown between the state and local governments over efforts to contain the disease.
The state filed a lawsuit challenging Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ July 10 decision to revert to “phase one” guidelines that push restaurants to close dining rooms and urge residents to leave home only for essential trips. It also casts the city’s new mask requirements as “void and unenforceable.”
“This lawsuit is on behalf of the Atlanta business owners and their hardworking employees who are struggling to survive during these difficult times,” Kemp said in a statement.
Democrats Ossoff, Warnock outraise Republican opponents
Georgia Democrats outraised their Republican opponents in both U.S. Senate races and two high-profile House contests, according to campaign finance reports filed Wednesday.
Democrat Jon Ossoff’s campaign said he raised $3.45 million from April to June and has $2.5 million in cash on hand. Republican U.S. Sen. David Perdue raised roughly $2.2 million during the same period but has much more -- about $10.7 million -- in the bank.
In the state’s other U.S. Senate race, both of the leading Republicans raised less than Democratic candidate Raphael Warnock, who collected roughly $2.9 million during the reporting period. Warnock has roughly that same amount, $2.88 million, in cash on hand. He is considered the leading Democrat in the special election for U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler’s seat.
Austin Statesman
Gov. Abbott offers passionate defense of pandemic leadership at Texas Republican convention
Gov. Greg Abbott opened the virtual Republican State Convention on Thursday with the most forceful and passionate defense yet of his leadership during the coronavirus pandemic, directly confronting the acid criticism directed his way by many in his own party.
“Now, I know that many of you all are frustrated. So am I,” Abbott said in a recorded message. “I know that many of you do not like the mask requirement. I don’t either. It is the last thing that I wanted to do. Actually, the next to last. The last thing that any of us want is to lock Texas back down again. We must do all that we can to prevent that.”
The pandemic, however, has grown worse “each day,” he said.
“And just the past month, hospitalizations increased every day and quadrupled to more than 10,000. Many regions are running out of ICU beds, and deaths have almost quadrupled, reaching more than 100 in one day last week,” Abbott said. “If we don’t slow this disease quickly, our hospitals will get overrun. And, I fear, it will even inflict some of the people that I’m talking to right now.”
Texas coronavirus deaths hit triple digits for second day in a row
The death toll from the coronavirus continued to rise Thursday as Texas health officials reported a record 129 new fatalities.
It was a daily high for the second consecutive day, after Texas recorded 110 deaths Wednesday, and marked the third time the daily death count has reached triple digits. The statewide death toll from the virus rose to 3,561 as Thursday’s record total brought the rolling seven-day average to 92 deaths per day.
The Texas Department of State Health Services also reported 10,291 new coronavirus infections Thursday… Texas is likely to reach 300,000 total COVID-19 cases Friday, just 10 days after the state crossed the 200,000 threshold.
The Oregonian
The interim head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was in Portland meeting with federal law enforcement officials on Thursday, the same day he issued a blistering public statement calling out “local political leaders” for their refusal “to restore order to protect their city.”
The message from Acting Secretary Chad Wolf condemned “the rampant long-lasting violence” in Portland.
Wolf’s nearly 1,700-word statement refers to Portland’s demonstrators as both “violent anarchists” and a “violent mob.” […]
He blamed “local and state leaders” for failing to address “violent criminals in their communities” and said their inadequate response has “only emboldened the violent mob as it escalates violence day after day.”
CNN
Louisville mayor to be investigated for handling of protesters and Breonna Taylor's case
Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer's handling of the Breonna Taylor case, the death of David McAtee and the protests that followed will soon be investigated.
The Government Oversight and Audit Committee (GOA) of the Louisville Metro Council filed an order Monday to officially launch an investigation "into the action and inaction of the Fischer Administration," according to a press release from the city.
Though it has not happened yet and there is no timeline to finish the investigation, the GOA plans to subpoena former Louisville Metro Police Department Chief Steve Conrad and current Chief Robert Schroeder as part of their investigation, according to the release.
McClatchy DC
Watkins’ attorney moves to disqualify prosecutor, citing ‘remarkable’ timing of charges
Kansas Congressman Steve Watkins’ attorney filed a motion Wednesday night seeking to disqualify Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay’s office from prosecuting the felony case against Watkins, asserting that the timing and nature of the case are politically motivated.
Watkins, a first-term Republican from Topeka, faces three felony charges and one misdemeanor charge related to an investigation into whether he voted illegally in the 2019 municipal election. Kagay, a Republican, announced the charges shortly before Watkins was set to appear in a televised primary debate.
The motion from Watkins’ team points to the timing of the charges and to connections between Kagay and Watkins’ primary opponent, Jake LaTurner, through a shared direct mail vendor to argue Kagay has a conflict of interest.
The Guardian
Closest ever images of sun reveal it is covered in miniature flares
The closest ever images of the sun reveal its surface is speckled with “campfires”, miniature versions of the dramatic solar flares visible from Earth.
The observations, beamed back from the Solar Orbiter spacecraft, which is a joint Nasa and European Space Agency (ESA) mission, could help resolve why the sun’s atmosphere is so staggeringly hot compared to the surface – a central paradox in solar physics. Miniature flares have been proposed as a theoretical explanation for the so-called coronal heating problem, but until now no telescope has had a good enough resolution to observe the sun’s atmosphere in sufficient detail.
The latest footage, taken at 77m kilometres (48m miles) above the solar surface between the orbits of Venus and Mercury, reveals flickering beacons, each spanning just a few hundred kilometres across and lasting minutes, before fizzling out again.
Methane rises to highest level on record
Animal farming and fossil fuels have driven global emissions of the potent greenhouse gas methane to the highest level on record, putting the world on track for dangerously increased heat levels of 3C to 4C.
Since 2000 discharges of the odourless, colourless gas have risen by more than 50m tonnes a year, equivalent to 350m cars or double the total emissions of Germany or France, according to the latest Methane Budget study by a global team of scientists.
The findings, published in Earth System Science Data and Environmental Research Letters, show that more than half of the methane in the atmosphere now comes from human sources. Of this share, ranching, agriculture and landfills account for about two-thirds, while the fossil fuel industry, composed of oil, gas and coal, makes up the rest.
UPI
75 years ago, 'Trinity' test ushered in nuclear age, changed the world
The world entered the nuclear age 75 years ago Thursday at a location in the central New Mexico desert where the U.S. government carried out the "Trinity" test, setting off a 105-pound, plutonium-based bomb.
The test was conducted by the U.S. War Department and designed by the newly created Los Alamos National Laboratory as the closing salvo of the "Manhattan Project" -- a directive from President Franklin D. Roosevelt to develop a nuclear weapon.
The explosion early on the morning of July 16, 1945 produced a blast equal to that of about 44 million pounds of TNT and proved, after years of theorizing, that an atomic chain reaction could be weaponized.
Three weeks later, U.S. armed forces dropped two nuclear bombs -- including one identical to the "Gadget" tested in New Mexico -- over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing tens of thousands instantly and tens of thousands more later from the toxic radiation.
The Atlantic
[…] 75 years ago this morning, humankind exploded the first nuclear weapon, a cable-encrusted steel sphere nicknamed “the Gadget.” The site took on the code name of the detonation, Trinity, which its architect, J. Robert Oppenheimer, had chosen, inspired by a John Donne holy sonnet: Batter my heart, three-person’d God, for I, except you enthrall me, never shall be free.
The first atom bombs worked by nuclear fission—splitting the nucleus of a uranium or plutonium atom by striking its core with a neutron. The force looses more neutrons from the targeted atom, along with energy, and the chain reaction continues: more neutrons, more energy, more neutrons, more energy. In a nuclear power plant, this energy is controlled, heating water to spin a turbine that generates electricity. In a nuclear bomb, the energy is released. That’s what makes it a bomb.
Edward Teller, one of the Manhattan Project physicists, feared that the explosion could extinguish all earthly life. Once set off, he imagined, the chain reaction might extend into the nitrogen in the air, igniting the atmosphere. That didn’t happen, so three weeks after the Trinity test, the fission energy of 140 pounds of uranium and 14 pounds of plutonium were released over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing at least 140,000 civilians. A week hence, Imperial Japan surrendered and World War II ended. American GIs returned home to fill suburbs and inaugurate the Baby Boom. Then the Truman Doctrine initiated the Cold War, and the threat of planetary extinction by the Gadget’s progeny persisted for almost half a century more.
The Smithsonian
One of the Last Living Manhattan Project Scientists Looks Back at the Atomic Bomb Tests
For the elite scientists, engineers and military brass of the Army’s remote nuclear weapons facility at Los Alamos, New Mexico, the night of July 15–16, 1945, was one of excruciating tension. […]
Today, those few who are still alive are a rare breed. Among them is Peter Lax, a 94-year-old mathematics genius and retired professor at New York University, who at the time of the Trinity test was just a 19-year-old corporal stationed at Los Alamos. Recruited for his already-evident mathematical prowess, Lax was far from a key player in the development of the bomb, but his memories of the time shed light on the challenge facing the scientists, many of whom had fled Hitler’s Europe and found refuge in the United States.
“There was a feeling of great urgency,” Lax says today of the Manhattan Project. “At the outset, we didn’t know how far along the Germans were with the bomb. As it turned out, not very far at all. But we felt as if the fate of the world was in our hands.”