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Power cuts and evacuations ordered across California as wildfire threats flare anew

A fast-burning wildfire triggered evacuation orders for 60,000 Southern California residents on Monday as hundreds of thousands elsewhere across the state endured a second straight day of power shutoffs due to heightened fire risks from high winds. The latest threats came amid California's worst wildfire season on record in terms of landscape burned, with more than 4 million acres (1.6 million hectares) scorched since the start of the year, along with thousands of homes destroyed and 31 lives lost. Red flag warnings for incendiary weather conditions remained posted across much of California due to extreme winds likely to produce gusts of up to 70 miles and 80 miles per hour (113 kph 129 kph), according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).

COVID-19 heart changes raise death risk; virus may be lead killer of young adults during surges

A new study may help identify which COVID-19 patients with signs of heart injury are at higher risk for death. Doctors looked at 305 hospitalized patients with elevated levels of troponin, a protein released when the heart has been injured. Death rates were 5.2% in patients without troponin in their blood, 18.6% when troponin was high but hearts looked normal, and 31.7% in those with high troponin plus so-called heart remodeling.

Veterans answer call to staff U.S. voting stations amid COVID-19

A decade after Dan Berschinski deployed to Afghanistan to fight for freedom and lost his legs in battle, the former Army infantry officer is training for a key role in U.S. democracy: manning a voting station in place of elderly poll workers at risk of COVID-19. The retired Army captain, now 36, said a “perfect storm” is driving him and other former military members to volunteer at voting centers on Election Day, Nov. 3., where they will check IDs and bring people to voting booths. “Our infrastructure is undermanned and the people who traditionally do this job for us are at risk,” said Berschinski, a small business owner who lives in Atlanta with his girlfriend.

A Florida man drove a stolen bulldozer through a neighborhood and destroyed Biden-Harris campaign signs, police say

James Blight, 26, was arrested and charged with grand theft auto and trespassing in Haines City, Florida, in connection to the incident.

75-year-old touted holistic cancer cure. Then he duped patients out of $700K, feds say

Howard L. Young — who is not a licensed doctor — claimed he had cured himself of cancer with “naturopathic methods,” according to federal prosecutors.

Head of Virginia military academy resigns amid report of racist culture

J. H. Binford Peay III, who had been the institute's superintendent for 17 years, told its board he was stepping down after learning on Friday that Virginia Governor Ralph Northam and "certain legislative leaders had lost confidence in my leadership ... and desired my resignation." "You have profoundly changed our school for the better," John William Boland, president of the school's Board of Visitors, said in a letter to Peay. Last week, Northam and several top elected officials and lawmakers wrote to the board to express concern "about the clear and appalling culture of ongoing structural racism" at the college.

45 missing kids rescued in Ohio’s largest anti-human trafficking effort, officials say

The U.S. Marshals Service worked alongside 50 state law enforcement agencies.

Biden has solid lead in Wisconsin, narrower edge in Pennsylvania: Reuters/Ipsos poll

Democratic presidential challenger Joe Biden leads President Donald Trump by a solid margin in Wisconsin and maintains a narrower advantage in Pennsylvania with just over a week until Election Day, Reuters/Ipsos opinion polls showed on Monday. Reuters/Ipsos is polling likely voters in six states - Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan, North Carolina, Florida and Arizona - that will play critical roles in deciding whether Trump wins a second term in office or if Biden ousts him. * Biden's advantage is marginally wider than his 51%-43% lead the prior week.

A youth track coach in Miami-Dade has been charged with rape and molestation of 2 girls

The founder and head coach of a successful youth track and field program sits in jail after sisters said he molested the younger sister at 15 several years after he raped the older sister when she was 14.

Slovakia's blanket COVID-19 testing may prevent tighter lockdown, PM says

Slovakia may be able to avoid harsher anti-coronavirus measures as a result of its plans for nationwide testing scheduled to start this weekend, Prime Minister Igor Matovic said on Monday. Authorities conducted pilot testing in four badly hit regions over the weekend with more than 90% of people participating, producing an infection rate just below 4% of those tested. The country will conduct wide-ranging testing over the next two weekends.

Weekly U.S. COVID-19 deaths up 15%, new cases rise 24%

The United States performed 7.7 million COVID-19 tests last week, of which 6.3% came back positive for the new virus, compared with 5.4% the prior week, according to data from The COVID Tracking Project, a volunteer-run effort to track the outbreak. Since the outbreak started, over 225,000 people in the United States have died and over 8.6 million have become infected with the novel coronavirus.

Europe needs 'serious acceleration' in fight against coronavirus: WHO

Europe needs a "serious acceleration" in the fight against the coronavirus and a lack of contact-tracing capacity could drive the disease into the darkness, a top World Health Organization official said on Monday. In Europe the picture is unrelentingly grim as a string of countries reported record increases, led by France, which posted more than 50,000 daily cases for the first time on Sunday, while the continent passed the threshold of 250,000 deaths. The vast region, comprising 46 countries at WHO, accounted for 46% of global cases and nearly one third of deaths, said Mike Ryan, the WHO's top emergencies expert.

Pelosi says White House rejecting Democrats COVID-19 testing plan

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Monday the White House has refused to sign on to Democratic lawmakers' plan for a coronavirus testing strategy, despite earlier public statements to the contrary by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. "Today, we are waiting for an important response on several concerns, including on action to crush the virus," Pelosi said in a letter to colleagues. "Ten days after Secretary Mnuchin went on CNBC to declare that he was accepting our testing plan, the Administration still refuses to do so."

Body found in trunk of car that crashed on Miami highway. Virginia man arrested for murder.

Troopers stopped to help a Virginia man who’d gotten into a traffic crash Sunday afternoon on the Palmetto Expressway near Miami Lakes. A foul odor wafted from the trunk. Inside was the body of a hip-hop artist who went missing over a week ago.

Felicity Huffman completes supervised release after college admissions scandal conviction

Twelve months ago this weekend, the "Desperate Housewives" actress walked out of a federal lockup in California.

Europe needs 'serious acceleration' in fight against coronavirus - WHO

"We are still hopeful that countries will not have to go into so-called national lockdowns," Maria van Kerkhove, the WHO's technical head for COVID-19, told an online briefing, when asked about Europe's rising case numbers. "Right now we are well behind this virus in Europe, so getting ahead of it is going to take some serious acceleration in measures," added Mike Ryan, the WHO's top emergency expert.

Scientists remove 98 'murder hornets' in Washington state

Scientists removed 98 so-called murder hornets from a nest discovered near the Canadian border in Washington state over the weekend, including 13 that were captured live in a net, the state Department of Agriculture said Monday. The other 85 Asian giant hornets were vacuumed into a special container when the first nest discovered on U.S. soil was eradicated on Saturday, the agency said.

Backhoe thief drove through Florida town allegedly digging up Biden-Harris campaign signs

James Blight was arrested in Haines City, Florida, for allegedly stealing a backhoe to dig up the yards and vandalize the homes of people displaying Joe Biden signs.

Backhoe thief drove through Florida town allegedly digging up Biden-Harris campaign signs

James Blight was arrested in Haines City, Florida, for allegedly stealing a backhoe to dig up the yards and vandalize the homes of people displaying Joe Biden signs.

Three-way talks over Ethiopia's Nile River dam set to resume

Negotiations between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan over the controversial dam that Ethiopia is building on the Nile River will resume Tuesday, according to the chairman of the African Union, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. Talks over the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopia Renaissance Dam broke off seven weeks ago and are set to restart after the African Union had extensive consultations with the three countries, according to a statement issued by Ramaphosa Monday.

Dozens of ballots destroyed after fire set at Boston dropbox

Officials called the alleged arson "a disgrace to democracy, a disrespect to the voters fulfilling their civic duty, and a crime."

County lines drug gangs recruiting children at the school gate, MP claims

County lines gangs are recruiting children at the school gate and targeting pupils as they leave detention, an MP has claimed. Labour Shadow Youth Justice Secretary Peter Kyle has said gang members wait outside school, hoping to recruit vulnerable children, and have even targeted pupil referral units. The term county lines refer to organised criminal networks involved in exporting illegal drugs into areas of the UK. The MP for Hove and Portslade said: “County lines drug gangs recruit the vulnerable. The drug gangs recruit outside schools waiting for the kids in detention." “They understand the vulnerabilities of children, they know the psychology of children.” "The criminals understand our child protection system better than the Home Office and the justice system.” The National Crime Agency says gangs often exploit children and adults with mental health or addiction problems to act as drug runners. In cases of 'cuckooing' the dealers will take over a local property, normally belonging to a vulnerable person, and use it as a base to operate their criminal activity from. Chief Superintendent Nick May from Sussex Police said: "Drug dealers recruiting young people outside schools is not a specific issue that has been reported to police in Brighton and Hove but I understand it is a despicable tactic that has been seen elsewhere. "County Lines is a complex issue, marring cities across the UK. In Brighton and Hove we are taking robust action to dismantle lines running into the city in order to disrupt the supply and prevent the vulnerable from being exploited.”

On the moon, water water everywhere and not a drop to drink (yet)

The moon lacks the bodies of liquid water that are a hallmark of Earth but scientists said on Monday lunar water is more widespread than previously known, with water molecules trapped within mineral grains on the surface and more water perhaps hidden in ice patches residing in permanent shadows. While research 11 years ago indicated water was relatively widespread in small amounts on the moon, a team of scientists is now reporting the first unambiguous detection of water molecules on the lunar surface. At the same time, another team is reporting that the moon possesses roughly 15,000 square miles (40,000 square kilometers) of permanent shadows that potentially could harbor hidden pockets of water in the form of ice.

U.S. lawmakers: Special Counsel probing possible Pompeo campaign law violation

The Democratic leaders of two U.S. House of Representatives Committees said on Monday the Office of Special Counsel had launched an investigation of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's speech to the Republican National Convention in August. Pompeo, who was appointed to his position by President Donald Trump, praised the Republican president's foreign policy record in a speech recorded in Jerusalem in August during a trip to Israel. The speech was aired at the convention, which nominated Trump for re-election.

Finnish psychotherapy patients risk having secrets made public after hack

Thousands of psychotherapy patients in Finland risk having their most painful and intimate secrets made public, after one of the country's largest private psychotherapists was hacked. Current and former patients of Vastaamo, which runs 25 centres across Finland, began receiving blackmail emails from Friday, two days after the company first went public about the data breach. "What makes this case unique is the large number of victims and how sensitive and personal the information is which the blackmailers have obtained," Marko Leponen, the police commissioner leading the investigation into the breach, said at a press conference on Sunday. He said that police could not yet rule out the involvement of both domestic and international criminals. The blackmail emails, which include the victims' personal numbers, demand a €200 bitcoin payment, which doubles to €400 if not paid within 24 hours. If the victim does not then pay within a further 24 hours, the blackmailers threaten to make their notes public, including full transcriptions of psychotherapy sessions. One victim told Finland's state broadcaster Yle that he had found the email when he searched his junk folder after the breach was publicised. "This blackmail message caused floods of tears," he said. "The situation is really distressing." There were several things he had told his therapist that he would not want to be made public, he confirmed. "I told him all my bad feelings there, but after that I said that I could do it alone, and I didn't go on." Vastaamo said on Wednesday that it had been approached by the blackmailers and decided not to meet their demands. In a further press release on Sunday, it said that it "deeply regretted" the breach, which it said appeared to have taken place between November 2018 and March 2019. Security experts told the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper that a 10-gigabyte data file containing psychotherapists' notes on 2,000 patients had appeared on websites hidden on the so-called 'dark web'. Victim Support Finland, a support line run by the Red Cross and five other charities, said that the number of calls from worried crime victims had leapt eight-fold on Friday as Vastaamo clients received the mails. The Red Cross has now launched a special line for victims of the leak, together with the charity Mental Health Finland.

More English cities face tightest COVID lockdown rules

Britain announced wider coronavirus restrictions on Monday which will take the number of people under England's highest category of alert to nearly 8 million, as the government battles a sharp rise in cases. The number of new COVID cases has risen by almost a quarter over the past week to 153,483, and new COVID deaths were 50% higher than the week before at 1,272, taking fatalities over the course of the pandemic to 44,998, the highest in Europe. From 0001 GMT on Tuesday Warrington in northwest England will be classified as the highest Tier 3 alert level, Britain's health ministry said.

Family’s dog turns ‘vicious’ and kills infant as parents slept, Virginia police say

The dad killed the dog as soon as he saw what happened, police say

Pelosi optimistic of COVID-19 relief deal before Nov. 3 U.S. elections-aide

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi is hopeful that congressional Democrats and the Trump administration can reach agreement on a coronavirus relief bill before the Nov. 3 elections, her spokesman said on Monday, adding that major issues still must be ironed out. "The speaker remains optimistic that an agreement can be reached before the election," Pelosi Deputy Chief of Staff Drew Hammill said in a tweet following a 52-minute conversation she held with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Hammill added that Democrats were awaiting the administration's acceptance of a national plan on coronavirus testing and tracing and that heads of congressional committees were still holding discussions.

He ripped the assistance money out of her hand, and then he ate it, Florida police say

They say finder’s keepers. Not sure what they would say about this incident in Central Florida.

U.S. new home sales drop; record low mortgage rates underpinning demand

Sales of new U.S. single-family homes unexpectedly fell in September after four straight monthly increases, but the housing market remains supported by record low mortgage rates and demand for more space as the COVID-19 pandemic drags on. "While there could be some ups and downs along the way, we still look for strength in the housing market as low mortgage rates boost activity and earlier pent-up demand for housing is released," said Daniel Silver, an economist at JPMorgan in New York. New home sales fell 3.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 959,000 units last month.

U.S. early voting tops 60 million as historic pace continues

More than 60 million Americans have cast ballots in the U.S. presidential election with eight days to go, a record-breaking pace that could lead to the highest voter turnout in over a century, according to data from the U.S. Elections Project on Monday. The tally is the latest sign of intense interest in the contest between Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden, as well as voters' desire to reduce their risk of exposure to COVID-19, which has killed about 225,000 people across the United States. Democrats hold a significant advantage in early voting due to their embrace of mail balloting, which Republicans have historically cast in large numbers but have shunned amid repeated and unfounded attacks by Trump who says the system is prone to widespread fraud.

Eurovision Song Contest set for May 2021 with same "Open Up" theme

Eurovision Song Contest organisers on Monday announced dates for the 2021 event in Rotterdam with the same "Open Up" theme planned for this year's edition before it was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. The European Broadcasting Union said it was working with four scenarios ranging from a relatively normal version of the contest to one in which the Netherlands is in lockdown. Organisers said they believe live performances with reduced audiences and social distancing measures should be possible at the Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam.

U.S. Marshals find 45 missing children; 169 arrested

169 arrests were made during the October mission.