Monday, February 17, 2020

BAE successfully tests solar-powered high-altitude plane

BAE Syatems announced the successful test flight in Australia of its high-altitude solar-powered plane. With a wingspan of 114 feet, it travels in the upper stratosphere and can stay aloft for a year. Photo courtesy of BAE Systems

Feb. 17 (UPI) -- A solar-powered unmanned aircraft with a wingspan of 114 feet completed its maiden high-altitude flight in the stratosphere, maker BAE Systems said on Monday.

The plane, called PHASA-35, which stands for Persistent High altitude Solar Aircraft and its wingspan measured in meters, is meant to fly about 32 miles above the earth in the space, in the upper atmosphere between conventional aircraft and satellites.

The aircraft's solar-powered batteries could allow it to stay aloft for over a year at a time, providing a stable platform for monitoring, surveillance, communications and security applications.

It can also offer military and commercial customers with capabilities not available from existing air and space platforms, and could be used in communications networks disaster relief and border protection at a fraction of the cost of satellites, BAE said in a statement.

The plane, which went from proof of capability to testing in only 20 months, is underwritten by Britain's Science and Technology Laboratory and Australia's Defense Science and Technology Group, and built by BAE Systems and its subsidiary, Prismatic Ltd. Its flight trials were successfully completed at the Royal Australian Air Force Woomera Test Range in South Australia.

"To go from design to flight in less than two years shows that we can rise to the challenge the U.K. government has set industry to deliver a Future Combat Air System within the next decade," said Ian Muldowney, engineering director at BAE Systems.

Additional test are scheduled for later this year, with plans to enter initial operations with customers within 12 months.

Airbus is among companies competing in the high-altitude, long-endurance category of planes, and in 2019 completed a 26-day test flight of its solar-powered Zephyr S "High Attitude Pseudo-Satellite."

North Korea slams Scarlett O'Hara for 'bourgeois' motives

AND THEY WOULD BE CORRECT AS BRITISH COLONIALISM WAS THE SOURCE OF THE SOUTH'S PSEUDO ARISTOCRATIC AIRES

Feb. 17 (UPI) -- A translation of the novel Gone With The Wind, uploaded to a North Korea state-sanctioned mobile app, includes North Korean criticism dismissing the main protagonists as "bourgeois" and having "no basic morality," according to a South Korean news service.

NK Economy reported Monday a North Korean smartphone obtained by the news service included a translated copy of the 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell, which was later adapted into an Academy Award-winning film starring Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara. The North Korean translation dates to 1999, according to the report.

The North Korean preface to the novel gave the author credit for creating authentic characters and for the "dramatic depiction of human relationships."

But the prologue also slammed the book for its depiction of materialism and Scarlett's lust for money.

"Scarlett's personality is embodied in the bourgeois view that 'life is about making money' and 'the highest goal in life is to make money and seek profits'," the North Korean preface read, according to NK Economy.

"It is thoroughly individualistic and selfish to live out life this way."

The preface goes on to say Scarlett's life goal of making money shows how she is void of "basic morality." Scarlett's capitalist mindset makes her "fearless" of criticism, and pushes her to "seduce" Rhett Butler during her second husband's funeral.

"Her only ideal is to make money that in turn makes more money," the North Korean criticism read. The preface also slammed the novel for glamorizing plantation life in the American South and for expressing "white supremacy" and "contempt and hatred for blacks and people of color."

In the field of media and entertainment, North Korea may have also been expanding its cartoon offerings.

Japan-based paper Choson Sinbo reported Monday Pyongyang aired the 100th episode of The Boy General after the animation first aired in 1982.

The 100th and final episode aired in December, making it one of the longest-running animated series, according to the report.

Lesotho's drought makes 500,000 people hungry, UN says

By HERBERT MOYO, Associated Press

MASERU, Lesotho (AP) — An estimated 500,000 people are threatened with hunger in Lesotho, a quarter of the mountain kingdom's population, according to the United Nations, which is appealing to the international community for help.

A drought last year and patchy rains this year have contributed to poor harvests that have left large parts of the rural population without adequate food, said U.N. resident coordinator Salvator Niyonzima.

The European Union on Monday announced aid worth 1.5 million euros ($1.6 million) but much more is needed.

An estimated $74 million is needed to get adequate food for the country, according to an appeal launched last year by the Lesotho government when it declared the shortage of food an emergency.

Lesotho, like other parts of southern Africa, received below normal rainfall in the 2018-19 rainy season due to the El-Nino induced drought.

It is unlikely that the upcoming 2020 harvest season will significantly improve the food situation as the rains came very late and many rural farmers did not even plant any crops, Niyonzima said.

Lesotho's women and young girls have been hit hardest by the food shortages and they will be more vulnerable to sexual abuse and sexual exploitation as a result of the food insecurity, according to a U.N. report.

“Girls and young women who are heads of households are also more exposed to sexual abuse and sexual exploitation in exchange for food," the report says. “Occasional reports mention that some girls drop out of school to support the household and siblings. Child marriages are likely to rise in the near future and need to be monitored.”
FOR A DECADE CHINA USED LESOTHO FOR CLOTHING PRODUCTION IN ORDER TO GET AROUND WTO RESTRICTIONS, ON JAN 1, 2000 THOSE RESTRICTIONS WERE REMOVED, SO WERE ALL THE FACTORIES RUN BY CHINESE BACK TO CHINA THEY WENT LEAVING AN IMPOVERISHED LESOTHO BEHIND.

Nikolai Bukharin 1915

Toward a Theory of the Imperialist State

Ossinsky on Bukharin's Imperialism and the World Economy

Uneven And Combined Development In History Part 1

https://www.marxists.org › archive › novack › works › history

The law of uneven and combined development is a scientific law of the widest ... The second law grows out of and depends upon the first, even though it reacts .

What do we mean by… uneven and combined development ...

https://www.rs21.org.uk › 2014/02/25 › what-do-we-mean-by-uneven-and...

Feb 25, 2014 - Until the First World War uneven development had been a largely ... Colonial rule could even throw societies backwards, as in the case of ...

Gantz vows to form government without Netanyahu, Arab parties

WITH A STEP TO THE RIGHT, PUT YOUR HANDS ON YOUR HIPS

LET'S DO THE TIME WARP AGAIN

Feb. 16 (UPI) -- Benny Gantz, the leader of Israel's Blue and White party, said Sunday that he will seek to form a government without Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor predominately Arab parties in Parliament after the upcoming election.

Gantz said he expects his party to win the most seats on the Israeli parliament, known as the Knesset, in the March 2 election and said he would form a unity government with Netanyahu's Likud party only if the prime minister, who has been indicted on bribery and other charges, resigns.

"Netanyahu has concluded his historic role from a political point of view. There is no government for the Likud with Netanyahu and without Bibi there is no unity," said Gantz. "He is going to go to trial. Imagine that while he is preparing for trial with a battery of lawyers on fatal issues from his personal point of view, the Chief of Staff needs to hold a very urgent nighttime discussion on security issues."

Benny Gantz, chairman of Israel's Blue and White party, said Sunday he will form a government with neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor Arab parties after the upcoming elections. Photo by Debbie Hill/UPI | License Photo

He also repeated his vow form a "Jewish majority government" and not to sit with predominately Arab parties saying he will not need the support of the Joint List party to form a government.

"I will not sit with the Joint List and I do not need their support," he said. "I heard [Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor] Liberman saying this morning that he will sit with Labor and Meretz and he will sit with us. We have no agreements with Liberman. We had great negotiations with him before the last Knesset dissolved, we reached unprecedented achievements in understandings on issues of religion and state."

Joint List Chairman Ayman Odeh criticized Gantz's pledge to exclude the Arab parties from the government.

"There is one thing that needs to leave politics quicker than Netanyahu and that is the racist phrase 'Jewish majority,'" Odeh said. "If there won't be a majority of citizens, there won't be a majority."

Netanyahu said Gantz was lying about not needing the support of Arab parties to form a majority government.

"Anyone thinking of voting Blue and White needs to know that he is voting for a government which will be dependent on the Joint List," he said. "Only a vote for Likud will bring about a strong, right-wing government and stop a dangerous government [from being formed], preventing a fourth round of elections."

Netanyahu spoke Sunday night at the annual leadership mission of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in Jerusalem.

"Without the State of Israel there is no future for the Jewish people," Netanyahu said.

But he noted relationships between Israel and surrounding Muslim and Arab states have improved.

"There is scarcely one Muslim or Arab country around the world we don't have deepening ties with," said Netanyahu. "Sometimes it comes out in the open. A year ago [my wife] Sara and I went on a very moving visit to Oman, and two weeks ago we had a very moving visit with the president of Sudan.

On Saturday, there was first flight of an Israeli airplane in Sudanese airspace.

"We now have flights over Sudan direct to South America, and people can stop on the way in Chad, which also resumed relations with us recently," Netanyahu said. "What you're seeing is about 10 percent, there are vast changes and they're coming because Israel is now a power to contend with and because collaboration with Israel helps you assure the future of your people, and helps you assure a better future for your people."

UPDATED
Taliban confirms Afghan peace deal 'finalized,' will be signed this month
By Don Jacobson UPI

Afghan security officials patrol in an operation against the Taliban militants in the Helmand district of Afghanistan on February 1. Photo by Watan Yar/EPA-EF

Feb. 17 (UPI) -- The Taliban on Monday officially acknowledged it has reached an agreement with the United States to reduce violence in Afghanistan and said the deal would be signed by the end of February.

Deputy chief Taliban negotiator Mawlawi Abdul Salam Hanafi made the announcement in a recorded interview published on a pro-Taliban website.

In the video, Hanafi said "both sides have agreed to sign the agreement by the end of this month," after making a "favorable environment before signing of the agreement."

The statement marked the Taliban's first public acknowledgement of the agreement in principal announced by the United States on Thursday calling for a seven-day reduction in violence in Afghanistan.

RELATED U.S. soldier dies at Afghanistan's Bagram Airfield

Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said that in addition to negotiating with the Taliban, he has been consulting with allies about the proposal at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

While far short of the complete cease-fire sought by the Afghan government, such a commitment would represent a key development in the talks that are ultimately aimed at removing U.S. forces from Afghanistan, where they have been stationed since late 2001.

U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, the chief negotiator with the Taliban, said Sunday he was "cautiously optimistic" the agreement could lead to a more lasting peace in Afghanistan.
RELATED Mark Esper: U.S., Taliban have negotiated seven-day reduction of violence

"But I am realistic enough to know that there are lots of challenges ahead," he added.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah also described the peace agreement as "finalized" Monday at a meeting of the country's Council of Ministers.

"The agreement between the Taliban and U.S. has been finalized, and the signing of the agreement is based on the reduction in violence over seven days, and then it will continue," Abdullah said. "It also an opportunity for the opposite side to show that they want peace in the country."

Taliban Claims to Have Finalized Peace Deal With the U.S.

A Taliban spokesperson has claimed that the organization has finalized a peace deal with the U.S. to end more than 18 years of war.

© Alejandro Licea/U.S. Army/Handout via REUTERS A U.S. soldier assigned to the Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 1st Armored Division watches as a UH-60 Blackhawk Helicopter prepares to land during an advise and assistance mission in southeastern Afghanistan, August 4, 2019.

Courtesy Alejandro Licea/U.S. Army/uhail Shaheen told Afghan television station 1TV on Monday that the two parties had reached an agreement and suggested the deal would be signed by the end of February. Newsweek has contacted the State Department to confirm Shaheen's report.

Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah confirmed to the TOLOnews channel that a deal had been agreed, though noted that whether it is signed will depend on the success of a proposed period of reduced violence.

"The agreement between the Taliban and U.S. has been finalized and the signing of the agreement is based on the reduction in violence over seven days and then it will continue," Abdullah explained. "It is also an opportunity for the opposite side to show that they want peace in the country."

The U.S. has been negotiating an end to the country's longest running war since July 2018. A deal seemed close at hand in September 2019, and President Donald Trump had even reportedly organized a secret summit with Taliban leaders at Camp David. But negotiations collapsed again after the Taliban took credit for the death of a U.S. soldier.

Trump declared the peace process "dead" after that failure, but negotiations have continued led by U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad.

This weekend, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said the U.S. plan for reduced violence is the first step in any lasting peace deal.

"There is a reduction in violence period, and then we have to consider whether or not to move forward with the agreement, with the peace agreement," he told reporters in Munich, Germany.

He added that the U.S. also plans to cut troop numbers to around 8,600 from the current level of between 12,000 and 13,000. Nonetheless, Esper explained that these steps remain "conditions based."

Over the weekend, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani warned that his government would evaluate any deal practically, and warned that the Taliban could be using a "Trojan Horse strategy" to undermine U.S. and government forces. Still, Ghani said his administration would "take a substantial step forward" and give the deal a chance to succeed.

The Taliban have thus far refused to negotiate directly with the Afghan government, dismissing it as a puppet administration controlled by Washington. An eventual peace deal may see the ultra-conservative Taliban re-enter Afghan politics, a development feared by civil and women's rights campaigners, who were brutally repressed under the group's rule from 1996 to 2001.

US negotiates its own exit from Afghanistan

A Soviet soldier waves on his way back to the USSR along

a north Afghanistan highway on Feb. 7, 1989. (AP)
Updated 16 February 2020 AP

Taliban, Washington agreed on Friday to a temporary truce

KABUL: Afghanistan on Saturday marked the 31st anniversary of the last Soviet soldier leaving the country. This year’s anniversary came as the US negotiates its own exit after 18 years of war, America’s longest.

Some of the same Afghan insurgent leaders who drove out the former Soviet Union have been fighting the US, and have had prominent seats at the negotiating table during yearlong talks with Washington’s peace envoy.

Moscow pulled out of Afghanistan in 1989, a decade after invading the country to support an allied communist government. Afghan mujahideen, or holy warriors, received weapons and training from the US throughout the 1980s to fight the Red Army. Some of those mujahideen went on to form the Taliban.

The US and the Taliban agreed on Friday to a temporary truce. If successful, it could open the way for another historic withdrawal that would see all American troops leave the country.

The chief negotiator for the Taliban, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, was once an American ally against the Soviets. So was another Taliban negotiator, Khairullah Khairkhwa. He spent 12 years detained at Guantanamo Bay until his release in 2014 in exchange for US Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.

The Taliban are now at their strongest since the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan ousted them from power.

Kabul’s streets were quiet on Saturday, normally the busy start of the Afghan workweek. There were no official public celebrations marking the anniversary, and most people took the holiday off.

Shakeb Rohin was only seven years old when the Soviets pulled out. Now a graduate of Kabul University’s economics department, he said he can’t remember the Soviet occupation. Since then, he said he’s witnessed only war.

“We are so tried of war, we want a peaceful solution for Afghanistan’s problems,” he said.

Abdul Shakor Ahmadi, 56, recalled how people were very happy on the day of the pullout. But he said the civil war that followed was worse.

With the Cold War over, the US lost interest in Afghanistan. The mujahideen government — which included many of the warlords in Kabul today — eventually turned their guns on each other in the early 1990s.

The fighting killed tens of thousands of civilians. It also led some former mujahideen to regroup into the Taliban, who rose to power in 1996.

“I hope peace comes this time,” Ahmadi said. “At least once in our lifetime we would be able to see peace in our country. We’re so worried about the future of our children.”
The US and Taliban take a first step toward a peace deal in Afghanistan

A seven-day reduction in violence will be the first test of whether a formal deal is possible.

By Jen Kirby jen.kirby@vox.com Feb 14, 2020

Afghan security forces at the site of a suicide attack on February 11, 2020. Xinhua/Xinhua Kabul via Getty Images

The United States and the Taliban have reached a deal that could be the start of ending America’s longest-running war.

This is not a peace agreement, but rather something of a pre-agreement. The US and the Taliban have agreed to a seven-day “reduction in violence” pact, a US official confirmed Friday to media outlets.

It’s not clear when this deal will take effect, per NPR, or how it will be measured, according to the Wall Street Journal.

But the violence reduction deal is intended as a test of whether a more lasting ceasefire might be possible, according to a senior Afghan official. What a lasting ceasefire — specifically one between the Afghan government and the Taliban — might look like, and how it might be implemented, is much murkier.

If this reduction in violence is successful, the US and the Taliban could sign an agreement that leads to the gradual drawdown of the 12,000 US troops that remain in the country, which in turn would precipitate the Taliban and the Afghan government beginning formal negotiations on a political settlement.

“But how all it gets stitched together — if it does — isn’t clear,” James Cunningham, nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and former ambassador to Afghanistan, told Vox.

The US and the Taliban came close to a peace deal in 2019, which would have withdrawn US troops from the country and would have required the Taliban to publicly rescind its support for terrorist groups ties and enter into talks with the Afghan government over power-sharing. The Afghan government objected to being largely left out of these discussions and wanted a more permanent ceasefire, with conditions.

Abruptly, in September, President Trump said on Twitter that he halted peace talks after a Taliban attack in Kabul left one US service member and 11 other people dead. Trump said he had planned to fly Taliban leaders to Camp David for the signing, before he made an about-face.

But the US government and Taliban have renewed efforts to try to reach an agreement, potentially putting an end to a nearly two-decade war on Trump’s watch.

“We’ve said all along that the best, if not the only, solution in Afghanistan is a political agreement. Progress has been made on that front and we’ll have more to report on that soon, I hope,” Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Thursday.

“It is our view that seven days for now is sufficient but in all things our approach to this process will be conditions based,” he added.

Trump seemed buoyed at the chances of success, saying on Geraldo Rivera’s podcast Thursday that there was a “good chance” for a deal.

Earlier this week, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had told him of “notable progress” in talks with the Taliban. “This is a welcoming development and I am pleased that our principal position on peace thus far has begun to yield fruitful results. Our primary objective is to end the senseless bloodshed,” he said.
What does this all mean for America’s longest war?

Given that there’s little appetite for putting more troops on the ground, a negotiated settlement between the Taliban and Afghan officials would likely be the best possible outcome after years of war — but it is still a long way away.

Last year, even as the US and the Taliban were trying to negotiate a deal, Afghanistan witnessed extraordinary violence, which some saw as the Taliban’s attempt to gain leverage.

The Taliban had also previously rejected a full ceasefire in Afghanistan, so this reduction of violence agreement seems to be the nearest test as to whether the Taliban is capable of sustaining a reduction in hostilities, or at least enough to pave the way for more robust negotiations to begin.

This, again, is going to be no easy feat. Last time around, the Afghan government objected to being left out of US-Taliban negotiations. And as NPR reports, the Taliban has said it wants Afghan officials to participate as citizens, since it does not formally recognize the government in Kabul.

The United States has been at war in Afghanistan for 18 years, and it still has about 12,000 troops committed there. Trump has made it clear he wants to pull troops out of the country, something two previous presidents have failed to achieve.

But the Atlantic Council’s Cunningham warns that it’s dangerous for the White House to race into a deal just to get troops out. “Americans should not want to see a rush to complete withdrawal without a political settlement,” he said.

The Trump administration, especially with the 2020 election looming, might be eager to declare victory by bringing troops home from Afghanistan and signing some sort of peace treaty with the Taliban. But success — for the US, for Afghanistan, and, most importantly, for the Afghan people — is likely going to be an uncertain and precarious process.

Hundreds of migratory birds fill weather radar in Key West

By Caroline Catherman and Chuck Johnston, CNN

A weather radar in Key West, Florida, exploded in a wave

of hundreds of red, orange, and green dots early Monday morning.

© National Weather Service Key West "Key West radar has had a busy night, but not because of weather!" tweeted the National Weather Service Key West.

It would have been quite a storm, if the activity wasn't almost completely due to migrating birds.

The birds showed up on the radar in green and yellow. Rain was visible on the radar in darker blue colors, according to the Twitter post.

The National Weather Service wrote in a separate tweet that this activity is typical during this time of year, as birds migrate back to their homes after flying South for winter.

Curious Twitter users wanted to know what types of birds were showing up on the radar, but the National Weather Service could only narrow it down to 118 possibilities.

A graphic created by Cornell University researchers shows the migratory patterns of 118 types of birds across North and South America.

Last September, the National Weather Service Key West posted a gif to Twitter showing multiple flocks of birds migrating south over the island.

Jeff Bezos says he's giving $10 billion to fight climate change — about 7.7% of his net worth

Rebecca Harrington BI

Jeff Bezos said on Monday that he's giving $10 billion to fight climate change.

© Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters

The Amazon CEO and richest man in the world announced he'd start the Bezos Earth Fund in a post on Instagram. He said he expects to start giving out grants this summer.

With an estimated net worth of nearly $130 billion, his pledge accounts for about 7.7% of his wealth.

"Climate change is the biggest threat to our planet," Bezos said in the post. "I want to work alongside others both to amplify known ways and to explore new ways of fighting the devastating impact of climate change on this planet we all share."

The move follows pressure from Amazon employees to push the company to do more to fight climate change. More than 350 employees signed a Medium blog in January calling for net-zero emissions by 2030, among other requests.

In September, Bezos announced Amazon's climate pledge to get the company carbon neutral by 2040, 100% renewable energy by 2o30, and 100,000 electric delivery vehicles by 2030.

Bezos is the only American among the world's five richest people who has not signed the Giving Pledge, in which participants promise to give away more than half of their wealth during their lifetimes or in their wills, Business Insider's Paige Leskin wrote. His ex-wife MacKenzie Bezos signed the pledge in May.

His full Instagram post read:

"Today, I'm thrilled to announce I am launching the Bezos Earth Fund.⁣⁣⁣

Climate change is the biggest threat to our planet. I want to work alongside others both to amplify known ways and to explore new ways of fighting the devastating impact of climate change on this planet we all share. This global initiative will fund scientists, activists, NGOs - any effort that offers a real possibility to help preserve and protect the natural world. We can save Earth. It's going to take collective action from big companies, small companies, nation states, global organizations, and individuals. ⁣⁣⁣

I'm committing $10 billion to start and will begin issuing grants this summer. Earth is the one thing we all have in common - let's protect it, together.⁣⁣⁣
⁣
- Jeff"

Daytona 500 resumes without president, pomp, packed house
By JENNA FRYER, AP Auto Racing Write

John Hunter Nemechek, from left, walks down pit road after getting out of his car after rain stopped the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Sunday, Feb. 16, 2020, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)Next Slide
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1/11 SLIDES © Provided by Associated Press

John Hunter Nemechek, from left, walks down pit road after getting out of his car after rain stopped the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Sunday, Feb. 16, 2020, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The president is gone. So are the clouds, the long lines and most of the crowd.

The Daytona 500 was scheduled to resume Monday afternoon after “The Great American Race” was postponed for just the second time in 62 years. Rain halted the event at just 20 laps, with pole-sitter Ricky Stenhouse Jr. out front the entire way at Daytona International Speedway.

The rain began moments after President Donald Trump and his motorcade completed a ceremonial lap around the apron of the famed speedway. As the caravan pulled off the track, the sky opened and the race did not begin.

The start already had been delayed 13 minutes to accommodate Trump’s appearance, his remarks to an enthusiastic crowd that chanted “Four More Years!” and finally his command for drivers to start their engines. The idea was for the field of 40 to be racing as Air Force One took off from the Daytona airport, located just a few hundred yards behind the track, recreating iconic photos of visits from Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.

THIS PHOTO IS FROM 2004

Trump was just the second sitting president to attend the Daytona 500, and first to be given a pre-race role. Reagan and George H.W. Bush attended summer races at Daytona.

Trump was personally welcomed at the airport by the France family, which owns NASCAR, and met in a secure area with at least a dozen drivers. He and the first lady posed for selfies with the drivers.

Trump also gave a rare autograph to rising star Hailie Deegan when he signed her racing helmet — an endeavor negotiated via Twitter direct messages between the 18-year-old Deegan and Donald Trump Jr.

Deegan posted pictures of her meet-and-greet on social media.

But the more-coveted photo opp never materialized as drivers were huddled under umbrellas for a nearly hour-long wait while Air Force One took off over the speedway.

They did get a chance to race, an uneventful 20-lap parade in which the top five never changed positions. Then the rain came again, and the most eventful part of the evening occurred: Timmy Hill, making his Daytona 500 debut, wandered into the infield media center looking for food because the Bojangles stand in the fan area was out of chicken.

Hill made light of the strange day in an impromptu news conference. What started with such promise, pomp and circumstance ended with soaked fans scurrying away after already waiting in lines for hours because of the heightened security that comes with a presidential visit.

But NASCAR was committed to running its version of the Super Bowl and called teams back to their cars after a second delay that lasted more than two hours. This was long after crew members had been seen packing up their belongings and exiting the garage, and despite a weather radar that forecast imminent heavy rain.

Teams and drivers trudged out to pit road, only for the sky to open and drench everyone. Drivers were among those seen sprinting off pit road as the blinding rain forced NASCAR to immediately call it a day. The last postponement was in 2012, and that was the first time in Daytona 500 history the race was not completed as scheduled.

Monday marks the third time the Daytona 500 will be run on Presidents Day, the other two in 1959 and 1970.

Much of the sellout crowd that was on hand for Sunday's opener and Trump's ballyhooed visit won't stick around for the afternoon start.

Many fans expressed frustration Sunday with long waits at entrance gates, delays caused by Secret Service bag checks and metal detectors.

Fans stuck in line for up to three hours complained they had no water and no way to use restrooms. Track workers eventually started passing out free water.

UK
Deadly storms force climate activists to cancel meeting
Haley Ott

CBS News

London — As Britain entered its second week of punishing rain, wind and flooding, a group of young climate change activists said they were forced to cancel their first ever national conference due to the extreme weather.

"There's a bleak irony in our being beaten back by climate change," 15-year-old Sophia from London said in a statement released by the U.K. Student Climate Network via Greenpeace U.K. "We are now living in an age of climate storms - where the most extreme weather of the last century is becoming the norm in this one."

One woman is believed to have died in the flooding caused by Dennis, the second major storm to hit the United Kingdom in two weeks. Two men reportedly drowned in the ocean as high winds churned up huge waves over the weekend, and another man was killed after falling into a river in Wales, Britain's LBC radio news reported.

© Chris Furlong / Getty Images Storm Dennis Causes Flooding In The UKA month's worth of rain was forecast for parts of the U.K., further inundating areas that were just catching their breath after last week's storm, Ciara, slammed Britain and parts of Europe with over 90-miles-per-hour winds.

A record 634 flood warnings were issued Sunday across the U.K., according to the government's Environment Agency. On Monday, more than 200 remained in place, some of them for severe flooding, prompting officials to warn of a danger to life.

Emergency government funding was released to help those in affected areas.

"We'll never be able to protect every single household just because of the nature of climate change and the fact that these weather events are becoming more extreme," said British Environment Secretary George Eustice. He added that authorities had "done everything that we can do with a significant sum of money, and there's more to come."

© Provided by CBS News Passers by look out over a flooded parking lot as water levels in the River Ouse continue to rise on February 17, 2020 in York, England.Weather forecasters said Monday that some rivers in the north of England had yet to peak as Dennis continued to dump water on communities that were already sodden. Last week, Ciara caused major flooding and disruption in many of the same areas affected by Dennis. In Wales, authorities called the scale of the flooding "unprecedented," with some of the highest water levels on record in 40 years.

"People are furious," one resident, Adelle Stripe, told Britain's Guardian newspaper. "We've had three serious floods in eight years; what is happening here is evidence that climate change is real."

Dennis has also battered other parts of Europe, with nine people injured in weather-related car accidents in Germany. Flooding and disruptions to transportation were reported in France, Norway and Denmark.

"The longer we wait to take the action we need, the harder it will be, and the bigger the risk of it being too late," Sophia, the young climate activist, said.

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment