Norwalk

'Antifa' website cited in conservative media attack on Biden is linked to — wait for it — Russia

One America News chief White House correspondent Chanel Rion used a Russian-linked site to take a shot at the Democratic ticket.

Ammonium Nitrate Blew Up Beirut. It Also Fuels Africa’s Most Dangerous Illegal Mines.

ABUJA, Nigeria—The ammonium nitrate that exploded last week in Beirut—killing 154 people, injuring more than 5,000 and causing widespread destruction—was destined for Mozambique, a transit point for raw materials in the explosives trade, where shipments often end up in the hands of illegal Chinese-owned mining companies with dubious human rights records. Almost seven years ago, Fábrica de Explosivos de Moçambique (FEM), a Mozambican firm that produces explosives, ordered 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate from a Georgian company known as Savaro for the purpose of manufacturing explosives for mining companies. But the substance was transported in September 2013 on the Russian ship Rhosus, which docked in Beirut, where it tried to make more money by picking up several pieces of heavy machinery, and never made it to Mozambique, as Lebanese authorities impounded the cargo for failing to pay port fees.FEM, a company majority-owned by the Portuguese explosives company Moura Silva e Filhos, has come under intense scrutiny since the ammonium nitrate it ordered caused the blast in Beirut on Aug. 4. A spokesperson for the company admitted to CNN that FEM had ordered the substance from Georgia but was told several months later by the company that was supposed to facilitate the transfer to Mozambique that the vessel carrying ammonium nitrate had been seized in Lebanon and that the order was “not going to be delivered.” As a result, according to the spokesperson, FEM “never paid for it.” Beirut Government Was Warned Over Explosives in Port Two Weeks Before Deadly Blast: ReportBut FEM's claim that it didn't pay for the ammonium nitrate has been disputed by a number of sources. Baroudi and Partners, a Lebanese law firm representing the ship’s crew, said in a statement on Aug. 5 that the substance was purchased by the International Bank of Mozambique (IBM) for FEM. An official in Mozambique’s Justice Ministry who didn’t want to be named also told The Daily Beast that IBM “did the transaction on behalf of FEM.”Conflicting reports regarding the final destination of the ammonium nitrate have also raised questions regarding the transparency of the purchase. While the Mozambican port authorities said on Aug. 6 that the substance was meant to be transported from a port in the eastern city of Biera, where the Russian ship would have arrived from Beirut, to either Zambia or Zimbabwe, Mozambique’s largest weekly newspaper, Savana, reported that the ammonium nitrate was actually supposed to be used for the manufacturing of explosives for the Brazilian mining company, Vale, which operates the country’s largest coal mine in the western Tete province. FEM did not respond to The Daily Beast’s request for comments.The explosives market across Mozambique, as well as in neighboring Zambia and Zimbabwe, is huge, with dozens of mining firms depending on big companies like FEM for explosives. (Landlocked Zambia and Zimbabwe also depend on Mozambique’s seaports for imports that come across the water). But the three countries are also the preferred places for a high number of illegal miners who, despite not being licensed to operate, are still able to obtain explosives from manufacturers on the black market.A Mozambican customs official informed The Daily Beast privately that explosives are usually transported by land from FEM offices in Mozambique to Zambia where they are sold to mining companies in the country. The company itself does have an office in Zambia and there are allegations that it sells explosives to illegal miners, including unscrupulous Chinese nationals.“Explosives companies including FEM do not carry out serious background checks on some of these so-called mining companies,” the official said. “Because of that, criminal companies, especially those owned by Chinese people, are mining in Zambia simply because they have explosives.”FEM’s presence in Africa is quite significant. The company, which specializes in the manufacture and application of explosives for commercial purposes, also has subsidiary companies in Zambia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola and commercial agreements in Malawi. But it is in Mozambique, where it has its head office, that its operations are most known.FEM is said to have sold explosives to Mineradora Industrial de Cassassole, a Chinese company operating in Tete province whose illegal mining operations led to the death of one of its workers two years ago.It was revealed after the worker—29-year-old Sakson Lobiano—died in 2018 that Mineradora Industrial de Cassassole, which was only licensed by Mozambican authorities to operate an open cast gold mine in Tete’s northern Macanga district, decided to operate underground and opened an illegal shaft 90 meters deep, where Lobiano was killed. The miner died from inhaling dust and toxic particles from an explosion that was ignited by a Chinese co-worker, who had no training in underground work or license to handle explosives.“We believe the company got those explosives from FEM,” Alex Camacho, a local environmental activist in Tete, told The Daily Beast. “[FEM] is where virtually every mining company gets it explosives from.”In its website, FEM boasts that it has been the main company “responsible for manufacturing and supplying the Mozambican explosives market” since its founding in 1955. It also noted that in the last two decades it has expanded to become a reference in the whole of southern Africa. But its growth has also come with accusations of negligence.“That Mozambique has so many illegal miners who all have access to explosives should tell everyone that the manufacturers are letting their explosives get to the wrong hands,” said Camacho who is individually campaigning against illegal mining in Tete. “In Mozambique, once you think about explosives, you think about FEM.”Mozambique, the world’s seventh-poorest country, has suffered years of illegal mining as well as logging of its natural forests by Chinese companies that take advantage of widespread corruption in the impoverished country to gain access.According to the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), an international NGO with offices in London and Washington, D.C., Chinese companies in 2012 imported between 189,615 and 215,654 cubic meters of timber that had been illegally exported from Mozambique. The illegal action comprised a huge 48 percent of China’s imports from the African nation.But it is in the mining sector that exploitation by Chinese-owned companies in southeast Africa have been mostly noted.There are several Chinese mining and explosives companies operating in Zambia and many of them have been accused of human rights abuses and negligence towards safety regulations.In 2005, 52 Zambian workers were killed at a Chinese-owned explosives factory near Chambeshi, a town in Zambia’s copper belt. In 2010, Zambia charged two Chinese managers with attempted murder after they opened fire on protesting Zambian workers. Seven years later, Zambian authorities arrested 31 Chinese nationals for illegal mining in the copper belt.In Zimbabwe, Chinese-run mines have been dogged with several allegations of human rights violations of local workers.Early this year, local miners in Matabeleland South province protested their sacking by their Chinese employer, whom they also accused of constantly beating up workers. Their protest was followed by complaints in April by workers in another mining company of being underpaid and working without protective clothing as COVID-19 began to spread. Then came the shooting of two Zimbabwean mining workers in June by their Chinese boss during a row with workers over outstanding pay in central Zimbabwe.“Chinese mining companies do what they like in southeastern Africa and no one can question them,” said Camacho, the environmental activist. “It is sad that the government agencies that are supposed to regulate their activities are only concerned about the money they can generate from these companies.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

Andrew Yang on Democratic National Convention: 'I kind of expected to speak'

Yang voiced his apparent disappointment in not being on the list of speakers at the upcoming Democratic National Convention.

North Korea nuclear reactor site threatened by recent flooding, U.S. think-tank says

Satellite imagery suggests recent flooding in North Korea may have damaged pump houses connected to the country's main nuclear facility, a U.S.-based think-tank said on Thursday. Analysts at 38 North, a website that monitors North Korea, said commercial satellite imagery from August 6-11 showed how vulnerable the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center's nuclear reactor cooling systems are to extreme weather events. The Korean peninsula has been hammered by one of the longest rainy spells in recent history, with floods and landslides causing damage and deaths in both North and South Korea.

US says Iran briefly seizes oil tanker near Strait of Hormuz

The Iranian navy boarded and briefly seized a Liberian-flagged oil tanker near the strategic Strait of Hormuz amid heightened tensions between Tehran and the U.S., the American military said Thursday. The U.S. military's Central Command published a black-and-white video showing what appeared to be special forces fast-roping down from a helicopter onto the MT Wila, whose last position appeared to be off the eastern coast of the United Arab Emirates near the city of Khorfakkan. The Iranian navy held the vessel for some five hours before releasing it Wednesday, said a U.S. military official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss details not yet made public.

Police officers set dog on black man and say ‘good boy, good boy’ as it bites his leg

A police dog in Salt Lake City was ordered to attack an African American man who was on his knees with his hands in the air.Police officers arrived at Jeffery Ryans’s house in April in Salt Lake City, Utah, after they responded to a call made by someone who said they had heard him arguing with his wife, according to the Daily Mail.

Riot declared in downtown Portland, protesters tear-gassed

Local and state police made arrests after demonstrators returned to downtown area despite withdrawal of federal agents

Georgia shop that said it would charge only white people $20 booking fee apologizes

Black people and customers of color were exempt from the refundable fee.

‘Enormous Price to Pay’: Pompeo Says He Warned Russian Foreign Minister against Bounties on U.S. Troops

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday that he warned Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov against placing bounties on the heads of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, assuring him there would be “an enormous price to pay.”“If the Russians are offering money to kill Americans, or for that matter other Westerns as well, there will be an enormous price to pay. That’s what I shared with foreign minister Lavrov,” Pompeo said during an interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.“I know our military has talked to their senior leaders as well. We won’t brook that, we won’t tolerate,” Pompeo continued.Reports broke in June that U.S. intelligence found that at least one American soldier, as well as a number of Afghan civilians, died as a result of alleged secret bounty payments that Russia offered Taliban militants to target U.S. troops in Afghanistan.Intelligence about the alleged bounty offerings by Russia was reportedly included in the president’s daily written intelligence briefing in February, but the White House claims Trump was not verbally briefed on the matter until the New York Times’s June 26 report on the issue. The Times reported that some bounties as high as $100,000 were paid for each U.S. or allied troop killed.The Washington Post said in a similar report that several American service-members died as a result of monetary rewards that a Russian military intelligence unit offered to terrorist militants to target U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan.Pompeo's warning to the Russian foreign minister reportedly came during a July 13 phone call that was officially held to discuss a separate topic, the possibility of meeting between the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.The secretary of state expressed Washington’s intense opposition to the bounty program but did not speak about the specific intelligence indicating that Russia paid Taliban fighters and other Afghanistan militants to kill U.S. service members.Last month, President Trump said he has never discussed the intelligence with Russian President Vladimir Putin despite several phone calls between the two heads of state since the intelligence was made known. Trump has said he was not briefed on the intelligence because there was not a consensus about its reliability within the intelligence community.Meanwhile, the U.S. has been entrenched in negotiations with the Taliban and the Afghan government over a peace agreement that involves the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the region.

Trump says fear of 'low income housing' will bring 'the suburban housewife' to his side

The president has attacked Joe Biden by trying to appeal to a community that no longer exists.

Satellite Images Reveal Beirut Explosion's Devastation

The full extent of the damage is staggering.

Chicago man charged with attempted murder in shooting that police say sparked looting

A Chicago man who allegedly shot at officers in an incident that police said prompted looting was charged with attempted murder late Monday night.

Taiwan says discussing purchase of U.S. mines, cruise missiles

Taiwan is in discussions with the United States on acquiring underwater sea mines to deter amphibious landings as well as cruise missiles for coastal defense, Taiwan's de facto ambassador to United States said on Wednesday. Speaking to the Washington's Hudson Institute think tank, Hsiao Bi-khim said Taiwan was facing "an existential survival issue," given China's territorial and sovereignty claims over the island and needed to expand its asymmetric capabilities. Hsiao said Taipei was currently working with the United States on acquiring a number of hardware capabilities, including cruise missiles that would work in conjunction with Taiwan's indigenous Hsiung Feng missile system to provide better coastal defense.

South Dakota Governor to get $400,000 security wall around residence

South Dakota officials said Wednesday they plan to build a security fence budgeted for $400,000 around the official governor’s residence to protect Gov. Kristi Noem.

Protesters in Minneapolis say they won't clear barricades around the George Floyd Memorial until the city leaders meet their 24 demands

Some of the demands include recalling Hennepin County Attorney, Mike Freeman, and ending qualified immunity.

Air Force helicopter shot at from ground while flying over Virginia, crew injured

FBI investigating shot fired at UH-1N Huey flying over Virginia which injured a crew member.

Americans might face a long wait for the COVID economic relief Trump promised in executive order

Trump's plan to give $300 per week in unemployment benefits faces a number of legal, logistical and funding hurdles.

How U.S. Sanctions on Hong Kong Could Leave Banks Caught in the Middle

Finance houses operating in the global financial hub find themselves in a very difficult position.

Pro Poker Player Was Bound, Sexually Assaulted, ‘Lit on Fire’ After Motel Meeting

Susie Zhao, the professional poker player whose charred remains were found in a remote Michigan park in July, was allegedly bound with zip ties and sexually assaulted before she was “lit on fire until she died” after meeting with a convicted sex offender, according to new court documents. Zhao, 33, was last seen around 5:30 p.m. on July 12 by her mother, the White Lake Township Police Department previously told The Daily Beast. The next day, her “badly burned” body was discovered at around 8:05 a.m. in a parking lot near the Pontiac Lake Recreation Area, about an hour outside of Detroit. Last week, Jeffrey Bernard Morris, 60, was charged from his hospital bed with first-degree premeditated murder. Authorities discovered the convicted sex offender allegedly met Zhao in a motel room the night before her body was found. Morris, who is homeless and has a “lengthy criminal history” is currently in jail after being denied bail. A Pro Poker Player Was Found ‘Badly Burned.’ Was She Murdered Over Gambling?“This is not the end of the investigation into Susie’s death but the beginning of the pursuit of justice for her and her family,” White Lake Township Detective Chris Hild said in a press conference. “We can only hope that where we are today brings some level of comfort to the healing process.”In new court documents, first obtained by WXYZ, authorities revealed what occurred the night the pro poker player, known on the circuit as “Susie Q,” went missing. Cell phone records indicate Morris and the rising poker star first met on July 12. In an interview with police the night of his arrest on July 31, Morris admitted to picking up Zhao on Watkins Lake Road before they both checked into the Sherwood Motel at around 9:26 p.m.  Morris told investigators the pair left the motel at some point to buy some alcohol and that Zhao left the motel at around midnight and took everything with her. Cell phone records, however, show the 33-year-old’s phone didn’t leave the motel until around 5 a.m on July 13, according to the court documents. Surveillance footage near the motel and cell phone records also show Morris left the room at around 5 a.m., before driving to a secluded section of the Pontiac Lake Recreation area—where Zhao was found. Court documents say that evidence suggests Morris was at the 3,745-acre park for about seven minutes. When Zhao was found the following morning, she was identified by fingerprints and was bound with zip ties. She had been sexually assaulted with a large object before being "lit on fire until she died,” the court documents state. A spokesperson for the Oakland County Medical Examiner told The Daily Beast that Zhao’s cause of death is currently unknown, pending an autopsy and toxicology results. When authorities pulled Morris over on a warrant in Ypsilanti weeks later, investigators found several hairs and other evidence with possible bloodstains. They also found duffle bags with a fitted bed sheet that appeared to have blood on it and a wooden baseball bat that also appeared to have a bloodstain. The items were taken to Oakland County Crime Lab for testing. Authorities are now scrambling to understand the motive behind the “mysterious death” that occurred just weeks after Zhao moved back to her home state of Michigan from California on June 9. Two childhood friends of Zhao previously told The Daily Beast that the poker player bounced between several cities—including Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Florida—both for her job and because she was “a jet-setter.” According to PokerNews.com, Zhao was successful in the professional worker world, garnering several deep runs in the World Series of Poker Main Event—placing 90th in 2012 to earn $73,805. Over the course of her career, Zhao won $224,671, according to the poker database The Hendon Mob. Despite earlier speculation, authorities have said there is no evidence that Zhao’s death was connected to her gambling.“I don’t think there was ever anything else that she wanted to do. She was playing poker from a very young age,” Meredith Rogowski, a childhood friend, told The Daily Beast. “It was not a surprise. She was very bold and did whatever she wanted to do. Whenever we talked about her job, she was very nonchalant. But I do know it was exhausting to be in that world—it was long hours and some of the people she met weren’t always genuine.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

Decades-old photo of Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell and a Confederate flag lives on and on

McConnell said he thinks the photograph was taken during his first term in the Senate at a Sons of Confederate Veterans meeting in Louisville.

Nick Cave compares cancel culture to 'bad religion'

The musician believes political correctness online is having an "asphyxiating effect" on society.

Israel strikes Gaza militant sites after incendiary balloons

The Israeli military said it struck Hamas militant sites in the Gaza Strip early Thursday in response to continued launches of explosives-laden balloons from the Palestinian territory into Israel. The military said its targets included a compound used by Hamas' naval force and underground infrastructure and observation posts. Israel and Hamas have fought three wars and numerous smaller flareups since the Islamic militant group seized control of Gaza in 2007.

This is what it looks like in Sturgis, South Dakota, where hundreds of thousands of unmasked bikers are partying like the coronavirus isn't real

Bikers at the Sturgis Rally say they're enjoying the freedom and crowds they haven't been able to experience elsewhere during the pandemic.

Airbnb is suing a guest who threw a party after 3 people were injured in a shooting at the short-term rental

Airbnb says the guest booked the short-term rental under false pretenses, acted with negligence, and violated public health orders.

Party with 400 people shut down during students’ first weekend back at ECU, cops say

Police say the number of parties was still a far cry from past opening weekends at East Carolina University.

Litman: Michael Flynn's latest day in court adds up to a probable win for Trump, partisanship and corruption

The likely bottom line of the Flynn saga: The man who compromised U.S. national security, and then lied about it, will walk.

AOC responds to apparent Democratic party convention speech snub: 'Eternity is in it'

Firebrand lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has hit back at an alleged snub by the Democratic party after being given just 60 seconds to deliver a speech a next week’s convention.AOC responded on Twitter by posting the poem ‘I have only just a minute’, written by the late Dr Benjamin E. Mays, an American Baptist minister and civil rights leader.

Hong Kong freedom lovers deserve global support against Chinese Communist Party's new Red Terror

Hong Kong advocates for democracy are being targeted and arrested as China seeks to stamp out dissent.

3 charged with threatening R. Kelly accusers

Federal prosecutors announced charges Wednesday against three men accused of threatening and intimidating women who have accused R&B singer R. Kelly of abuse, including one man suspected of setting fire to a vehicle in Florida.

U.S. Supreme Court allows easing of Rhode Island voting restrictions

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday left in place a lower-court ruling that relaxes voting restrictions in Rhode Island during the coronavirus pandemic. The justices rejected an emergency request made by the Republican National Committee and the state's Republican Party. The unsigned order left intact a decision by Rhode Island-based U.S. District Court Judge Mary McElroy, who ruled on July 30 that the Republican groups had waited too late to intervene in the case.

MBS is stamping out the final threat to his rule, bringing an end to his 3-year coup marked by power grabs, forced disappearances, and assassinations

Crown Prince Mohammed is gunning for Saad al-Jabri and Mohammed bin Nayef, but they are old friends of the US, who want answers from the kingdom.

'Latinx' Is Gaining Popularity. But New Research Says Only 3% of U.S. Hispanics Use the Gender-Neutral Term

Only 3% of people in the U.S. describe themselves as Latinx, a gender-neutral and inclusive alternative to Latino or Hispanic.

Fact check: Kamala Harris quote about 'vengeance' is fake, created by satire website

The alleged speech by the Democratic vice presidential nominee was fabricated by a satirical site. Harris never vowed to "come for" Trump supporters.

What is inside the White House agreement with Israel and UAE?

Donald Trump has announced the “full normalisation of relations” between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, suspending Israel’s efforts to declare sovereignty over a third of occupied West Bank territories to instead focus on “expanding ties with other countries in the Arab and Muslim world”.“Everybody said this would be impossible,” the president said from the Oval Office on Thursday.

Residents of Chicago Neighborhood Eject Black Lives Matter Protesters

A small group of residents from Chicago's Englewood neighborhood ejected Black Lives Matter protesters who arrived for a demonstration at a local police precinct.Several activist groups had organized a march leading to the 7th police precinct in Englewood. However, an organizer later told Fox 32 that groups decided to leave after confrontations with nearby residents left them feeling "unsafe.""If you ain’t from Englewood, get the f*** out of here!" resident Darryl Smith shouted at the protesters. Residents engaged in pushing matches with some of the protesters."They were…gonna come to Englewood, antagonizing our police, and then when they go back home to the North Side in Indiana, our police are bitter and they're beating up our little black boys," Smith told Fox. Charles McKenzie, of a community violence-prevention group called God's Gorillas, concurred, saying "We refuse to let anyone come to Englewood and tear it up."Protesters maintained that they had come to demonstrate peacefully in favor of defunding the police. Organizers from one of the protest groups, GoodKids MadCity, said that they were themselves residents of Englewood, but that others in the neighborhood did not support eliminating the police entirely.Englewood has long been plagued by gun violence, including this year as Chicago sees a spike in shootings and homicides. Chicago police recorded 440 homicides and 2,240 shooting victims in the first seven months of 2020, up from 290 homicides and 1,480 shooting victims the previous year.On Sunday, police shot and wounded a 20-year-old who allegedly fired on officers, an incident that sparked confrontations with police after rumor spread that the wounded suspect was a child. That night, what appeared to be organized looters ransacked Chicago's downtown."A lot of people saying the looting sparked from Englewood. We're not having that. It didn't spark from Englewood," Smith said. "Those [looters] are opportunists, and we're tired of Englewood getting a black eye for any and everything that happens."

Pence: Kamala Harris as Biden's VP confirms Democratic Party controlled by radicals

Vice President Mike Pence shares his thoughts on the Biden-Harris ticket.

Mother of arrested Key West boy sues city, police officers, teacher and school district

Lawyers for the mother of a now 10-year-old boy who Key West police officers tried to handcuff in 2018 at his elementary school after he was accused of punching a teacher filed a civil rights lawsuit Tuesday in federal court against the school district, the city, the individual officers involved as well as the teacher and two school officials.

Imprisoned Iranian human rights lawyer begins hunger strike

A prominent Iranian human rights lawyer has begun a hunger strike seeking better prison conditions and the release of political prisoners amid the pandemic, her husband said Thursday. Reza Khandan told The Associated Press his wife Nasrin Sotoudeh began the strike Tuesday and he feared it would exacerbate her chronic gastrointestinal and foot problems. Iran has the highest number of virus-related deaths in the region with 19,162 after 174 died since Wednesday.

Boston University announced students can still receive their degrees after they die, but the school says it has nothing to do with the pandemic

Boston University spokesman Colin Riley said plans for a posthumous degree policy were in place long before the novel coronavirus outbreak began.

Why are COVID-19 cases in kids rising? It's mostly the adults around them

The pediatric cases are a direct reflection of what's happening in their surrounding communities, experts said.

Trump criticizes Joe Biden's VP process, saying he disagreed with pledge to consider only women

Trump declared Biden had "roped himself" into choosing a woman as a running mate and said he would have been "inclined to go a different route."

Conservatives are trying to destroy the US Postal Service. Instead we should expand it

The USPS is our most successful and trusted institution by almost any measure. Let’s embrace and empower it There is an American corporation that employs 633,108 people, handles 142.6bn pieces of product every year, and holds a 48% global market share in its sector. It constitutes a domestic retail network larger than McDonald’s, Starbucks and Walmart combined, one that spans even the most rural and isolated parts of the United States. It is an iconic brand tremendously popular with the American public. Even during a devastating pandemic, this firm has seen its total third-quarter revenue increase by $547m year over year.Instead of trumpeting that 3.2% gain, however, the corporation’s CEO ominously warns that the company is “in a financially unsustainable position absent significant fundamental change” and threatens to start scrapping it for parts. The notion is bizarre. Yet that is exactly what’s happening to the United States Postal Service (USPS). A completely politicized and manufactured crisis threatens to destroy one of the most important institutions in the United States.The US Post Office Department was created by the federal government soon after the American Revolution with a mission to connect a geographically diverse country and avoid the state censorship that plagued colonial America. In the centuries that followed, it has only expanded that mandate, maintaining tens of thousands of far-flung retail offices and postal boxes, all at no taxpayer expense.No surprise that 91% of Americans hold a favorable view of the USPS.Contrary to common tropes of state inefficiency, the post office is both fulfilling a broad social service, far beyond what is expected of any private corporations, and doing so profitably. Those profits are disguised, however, by a 2006 law imposed by Congress that requires the USPS to create a $72bn fund to pay for its post-retirement healthcare costs 75 years into the future. It’s a requirement no other organization, public or private, has to fulfill.Business leaders often worry about state intervention “picking the winners and losers” of market competition. But the decades-long campaign against the USPS is more like the opposite – the state undermining its own successful project in pursuit of ideologically driven cutbacks and privatization schemes.The damage being done won’t just affect American consumers, particularly those in rural areas that rely the most on the USPS. It will also affect voters – during a pandemic when voting by mail is more important than ever – and hundreds of thousands of workers.Postal employment is one of America’s most powerful engines of upward mobility. As early as 1861, the Post Office Department began hiring black employees and maintained that practice throughout the century of racial apartheid that followed the end of slavery. Today, a full quarter of USPS workers are black and the vast majority of them unionized. For these workers, and millions of others, stable public sector employment is the only viable route to union protections, job stability and a decent living.Given the status of the USPS as one of the largest employers in the United States, a needless austerity program of any size would directly affect every community in the country. But the indirect effects would be just as profound. Collective bargaining influences pay and benefits across sectors, benefiting even non-union workers in private companies like FedEx. USPS unions, such as the American Postal Workers Union, have intervened more widely, too, in defense of social goods enjoyed by all working people and backing Bernie Sanders and his demands for new programs like Medicare for All.However, rather than just trying to protect the USPS as it currently exists from Trump administration attacks, we should go further. Let’s expand the USPS’s mandate.> We can imagine, for example, the USPS using its unrivaled logistical reach to deliver food and other essentials to the poor and elderlyFor example, we should consider resurrecting postal banking. Throughout much of the 20th century the Post Office Department operated a savings system, which allowed customers to make deposits. Today, numerous countries offer postal banking services, including France, New Zealand and South Korea. The return of the postal savings system could help the millions of American adults who currently don’t have a bank account, but may regularly access the more than 17,000 post offices in zip codes where there is only one or no bank branch location.As private banks continue to operate in predatory ways and close local branches and “payday lenders” prey on workers without bank accounts, a viable public option is needed more than ever.We can imagine, for example, the USPS using its unrivaled logistical reach to deliver food and other essentials to the poor and elderly, or expanding into the field of telecommunications by helping to improve access to broadband internet in rural areas. No single part of our government is going to be able to do everything well. But it’s worth considering expanding the scope of our best-functioning agencies to meet the challenges of the 21st century.Despite our country’s tremendous wealth we’re failing behind our peers in the industrial world on a range of metrics such as poverty, hunger, life expectancy and infant mortality. Part of the reason is our refusal to invest in and develop our public sector and services. We’re failing ourselves and generations to come. Now is the time to double down on our most beloved and efficient public institution, not jeopardize its future. * Bhaskar Sunkara is the founding editor of Jacobin magazine and a Guardian US columnist. He is the author of The Socialist Manifesto: The Case for Radical Politics in an Era of Extreme Inequality

German businessman in Wirecard probe dies in Philippines

A German businessman in the Philippines wanted for questioning over the Wirecard accounting scandal has died, the justice minister said Thursday. Christopher Reinhard Bauer died from "natural causes" on July 27 at a hospital in the capital Manila and was later cremated, Menardo Guevarra told AFP. "He was the same person summoned by the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) in connection with the Wirecard fraud investigation," he said, after the government obtained official documents that confirmed earlier reports of Bauer's death.

Coronavirus in India: Did men do more housework during lockdown?

Some hope the pandemic will prove a lasting leveller for gender relations in the domestic setting.

Nigeria convicts first pirates under new maritime law

A Nigerian court made the first convictions under a new anti-piracy law, giving hope to the world's shipping fleets that legal reforms will help stem rising attacks in the Gulf of Guinea. The three men fined by the court in Port Harcourt, Nigeria's oil hub, on Tuesday were among nine accused of hijacking the tanker MV Elobey VI off Equatorial Guinea in March and securing a $200,000 ransom for the crew. The merchant shipping industry has long pressed Nigeria to take action in the area, which has been dubbed "pirate alley."