Thailand Bans Protests | An Ebola Breakthrough

Thailand’s government has banned public protest via an emergency decree after thousands gathered over the weekend. More than 20 people were arrested when a student demonstration heckled a royal motorcade while flashing the three-fingered salute from the Hunger Games series, which has become a symbol of the movement. This follows months of largely peaceful protests calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who, as army commander, led the 2014 coup that toppled the elected government, and returned to power last year. Protesters said they’ll turn out despite the ban, even as police are expected to install checkpoints around Bangkok.

Sources: BBC, AP, Yahoo

2. Early Voting Wave Indicates Extremely High Turnout

Roughly fifteen million people — including 1 in 4 newly registered voters — have already cast their ballots in the U.S. presidential election, largely driven by strong enthusiasm in the Democratic party. Election officials have long worried that large numbers of mail-in ballots would mean voting counts could not be completed for days, but the early voting numbers mean that may not be an issue. Democratic nominee Joe Biden leads President Donald Trump by an average of more than 10 points in national polls and just reported a record fundraising haul for September of $383 million.

Sources: Washington Post, FT (sub), Fivethirtyeight

3. Europe Sees Highest New Cases of the Pandemic

It’s springtime for COVID-19 again. Authorities are reporting a total of 100,000 new cases a day across Europe — the highest of the pandemic. As a result, new regulations have been put in place. In Paris, residents will have to stay indoors between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. Northern Ireland is locking down, shutting schools, restaurants and bars. The surge is being blamed on people refusing to wear masks, along with summer activities like parties and illegal gatherings where few precautions were observed. Some of the surge could be attributed to increased testing, but medical facilities are nonetheless preparing for an expected flood of hospitalizations.

Sources: WSJ (sub), Forbes, CBS

4. US Financial Sector Got Warning About Pandemic

In February, when President Donald Trump was assuring Americans that COVID-19 was under control, senior advisers briefed a conservative think tank with a different picture of the looming danger of the virus. A memo about that briefing spread through the financial world, allowing investors a clearer picture than the general public and causing some to make transactions (or stock up on toilet paper) based on what they’d heard. The government is already investigating Sen. Richard Burr for allegedly selling stock based on information he received about the virus in government briefings.

Source: NYT

5. Also Important …

Amy Coney Barrett has completed her U.S. Senate testimony and is on track for approval as the next Supreme Court Justice. President Trump called for schools to reopen despite COVID-19, revealing that his 14-year-old son Barron had already been infected. And a lemur is missing, possibly stolen, at the San Francisco Zoo.

Coronavirus Update: Dr. Anthony Fauci says some Americans may need to “bite the bullet” and nix their Thanksgiving celebrations this year to avoid traveling and gathering, both of which put one at higher risk for the virus.

Get to know the real Chelsea Handler. The famous comedian keeps Carlos laughing while discussing how she fights injustice, encouraging us to "get out of your own a**holes" and approach others with empathy. Of course, she also gives us the latest scoop on her relationship status. Need a laugh today? Check out The Carlos Watson Show on YouTube. And check out some of the kind words that reviewers atVariety, NBC and USA Today have had to say recently.

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With the Democratic Republic of Congo currently battling its third Ebola outbreak in as many years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared an antibody treatment shown in trials to significantly reduce the risk of death for those infected. Last year, the first Ebola vaccine was also approved. The antibody treatment, Inmazeb, was developed by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals — the same company whose experimental cocktail President Trump credits with helping him get over COVID-19. Regeneron has also inked a deal to provide Ebola treatment for the U.S. strategic national stockpile, for estimated earnings of over $300 million.

Sources: StatNews, France 24

2. Social Media Criticized for Restricting Tabloid Story

After the New York Post published a salacious article about Joe Biden’s son Hunter that included unconfirmed claims about the Democratic presidential candidate, Facebook and Twitter attempted to stop the spread of the story. Twitter blocked users from linking to the piece, while Facebook limited its spread via its algorithm (though it still had 600,000 likes, comments and shares across the platform). Now both companies — which have stepped up moderation of fake news in the run-up to the election — are seeing backlash, as some saw political bias in the focus on a story aimed at hurting a presidential candidate.

Sources: NPR, Sydney Morning Herald

3. French Museum Delays Mongol Exhibit Over ‘Censorship’

More like Genghis Khan’t. The Château des ducs de Bretagne, a museum in the French city of Nantes, has postponed its exhibit about the Mongol Empire, a partnership with China’s Inner Mongolia Museum, after the Chinese government attempted to intervene. According to the museum, China’s Bureau of Cultural Heritage demanded control over the brochures and maps in the exhibition, also forbidding the use of the words “Mongol,” “empire” and “Genghis Khan.” China has recently put more pressure on its ethnic Mongolian enclaves: Earlier this year, protests broke out when Chinese authorities reduced the teaching of school subjects in the Mongolian language in favor of Mandarin.

Sources: Newsweek, BI

4. She’s Reviving Indigenous Face Tattoos

That’s how to leave your mark. Local tribes of Southern California once routinely participated in a rich tattoo culture, but centuries of cultural extermination had brought them largely to a halt. Then came Heidi Lucero, who got the traditional “111” face tattoo — three vertical lines on her chin — and then became a researcher and artist to resurrect the tradition, OZY reports. Lucero is also working to bring back traditional hand-tapping tattoo methods and reconstruct the beliefs behind the markings, to keep culture alive in an area that lost a huge portion of its tribal history to colonization.

Source: OZY

5. Alabama Football Coach Nick Saban Tests Positive for Virus

One of the most prominent figures in college sports, Saban is asymptomatic and now in isolation at home, where he will direct his team’s practices over Zoom. Greg Byrne, the athletics director at the University of Alabama, also tested positive for COVID-19 — and everyone who came into contact with them will be asked to quarantine. Saban and the Crimson Tide recently went to Mississippi for a game, and Alabama is expected to host the Georgia Bulldogs this weekend, calling attention to the role travel may play in spreading the virus within college football.

Sources: ESPN, NYT