https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/23/world/covid-19-coronavirus.html
The fast-tracking could come before Phase 3 trials are complete, raising concerns. Italy reported its highest case count since May 4. Life in China, where the pandemic began, is returning to normal.
On Saturday, Trump tweeted: “The deep state, or whoever, over at the FDA is making it very difficult for drug companies to get people in order to test the vaccines and therapeutics. Obviously, they are hoping to delay the answer until after 3 November. Must focus on speed, and saving lives!”
The “deep state” conspiracy theory holds that a permanent government of bureaucrats exists to thwart the president’s agenda. Former Trump campaign manager and White House adviser Steve Bannon, an enthusiastic propagator of the theory, has also said it is “for nut cases” and “none of this is true”.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Trump’s tweet “scary” and “beyond the pale”.
Shortly after being challenged on his claims about plasma treatment compared to caution from officials including FDA commissioner Hahn, Trump ended the briefing.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53884710
https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/trumpometer/?ruling=true
Tracking President Donald Trump's campaign promises: The Trump-O-Meter is PolitiFact's meter for tracking 100 promises President Trump made during his 2016 campaign. (We tracked President Barack Obama’s promises when he was in office, too.) For each campaign promise, our reporters research the issue and then rate it based on whether the promise was achieved: Promise Kept, Promise Broken, Compromise, Stalled, In the Works or Not Yet Rated. We rate the promise not on the president's intentions or effort, but on verifiable outcomes.
https://time.com/5882803/netanyahu-budget-negotiations/
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Sunday that he had accepted a proposal to extend budget negotiations, preventing the government from collapsing and plunging the country into a new election.
In a nationally televised address, Netanyahu said that now was not the time to drag the country into a fourth parliamentary election in less than two years.
“Now is the time for unity. Not for elections,” he said.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/285744
The complaint initially drew little media attention, until two men suspected of taking part in the rape were arrested last week.
Now, police say that a total of 11 suspects have been arrested in connection with the case, with investigators working to identify more suspects involved in the rape.
Nine of the suspects now in custody are minors - 17-year-olds - with two adults also in custody.
The arrest of one of the suspects, a 27-year-old resident of the coastal city of Hadera, was extended Sunday by five days.
In addition, police have arrested a woman employed by the hotel on suspicion of obstruction of justice.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dem-senator-calls-on-trump-to-denounce-qanon-conspiracy-theory
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, on Sunday called on President Trump to disavow the far-right conspiracy movement QAnon – just days after the president said supporters of movement “love our country.”
Warner called the conspiracy theory movement, which has gained popularity among a small faction of Republicans, a "fringe group” that is “potentially a threat.”
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-august-23-2020/
The Israeli government mediated the sale of spyware made by the Israeli firm NSO Group to the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf nations, the Haaretz daily reports.
According to the report, there have been sales worth hundreds of millions of dollars over the past few years to Gulf countries. Those nations, according to the report, are handled by a special department within NSO that is the most profitable in the company.
The spyware has been implicated in the gruesome killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was dismembered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in a 2018 incident that has also been linked to the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.
https://apnews.com/6dbd1dbde3986d3ff51f4fe9d9deaa38
Sitting and standing shoulder to shoulder, some without face masks, hundreds of supporters of President Donald Trump jammed into an airplane hangar for an Arizona campaign event this week, ignoring the advice of Trump’s own health experts.
Like his boss, Vice President Mike Pence went mask-less in Iowa last week as he reached across a barrier to autograph a half-dozen familiar red Trump campaign hats, literally crossing the line of vulnerability outlined by the coronavirus task force he heads.
The episodes, along with similar ones in New Jersey, Florida and Wisconsin, project a confusing message to the public even as Trump and Pence are trying to secure the confidence of Americans during a global pandemic and in the lead-up to the November election.
“This was supposed to be just a quick, little small gathering,” Trump said, joking that “We’re supposed to have 50 people, right?”
“We’ll call it a peaceful protest, that way we can do whatever we want,” Trump added.
“This is like a rally,” Trump added, before telling supporters: “I hereby grant you a pardon.”
