Bark Beetles blamed for California wildfires

THEY ARE THE RESULT OF GLOBAL WARMING
The insects are said to have chewed their way through millions of trees across western North America which left them with parched land and dry timber

By Nina Siena October 9, 2020 15:16 



Beetles are getting the blame for sparking the deadly wildfires that have engulfed more than four million acres of land in the state of California. The insects are said to have chewed their way through millions of trees across western North America, which left them with parched land and dry timber during the dry season.

Although scientists and environmental researchers strongly point to climate change being the cause of a five-year drought in the area, state authorities claim many trees have died due to the presence of bark beetles.

Cal Fire Public Information Officer Daniel Berlant said the Creek Fire scorched more than 390,000 acres as massive amounts of pine trees have already been dead and dry due to drought over the years.

The US Forest Service estimates that 90 percent of the trees that burned were dead trees eaten up by bark beetles which easily provided fuel to the blaze, the Daily Mail reported.

According to experts, climate change sparked the drought resulting in stressed and parched trees that rendered them vulnerable to being eaten up by these creatures.

National Geographic said the link between timber that has been killed by bark beetles and wildfires could also depend on the type of forest affected. In some areas, beetles are found to be beneficial.

The wildfires in California cannot be applied to the forest in the Rockies or the Pacific Northwest as Pine beetles, another US native insect, eat their way through older, weaker trees, which makes room for a healthier forest.

In the Rocky Mountains and Pacific Northwest, research data suggests that a beetle infestation actually reduces wildfire incidents. The type of fire that razes through these forests are known as crown fires. This takes place when flames travel just on top and along the canopy. When beetles eat through these trees, the needles and branches die and fall to the ground, thereby leaving nothing for flames to latch on to.

On the other hand, experts say humans have changed the landscape by filling land with fuel and densely packed trees. As more vegetation moved in, it forced trees to compete for nutrient sources which left them stressed and open for the bark invaders.

The US Department of Agriculture has estimated more than 129 million trees have died since 2010 as a result of years of the deadly combination of drought and bark beetle infestations.
In southern Wyoming and northern Colorado, bark beetles can get through 100,000 trees a day. Getty

Slow progress on women's rights decried at UN Summit

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, marked the 25th anniversary of the seminal 1995 World Conference on Women in Beijing.

By Philippe Rater October 2, 2020 


More than 170 countries promised during a virtual UN summit Thursday to step up their efforts to advance women's rights, while the US took aim at China's claims of leadership on the issue.

The meeting, which took place on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, marked the 25th anniversary of the seminal 1995 World Conference on Women in Beijing.

"In the coming five years, China will donate another $10 million to UN Women," President Xi Jinping said in a pre-recorded video, proposing another world meeting on gender equality for 2025.


In her own pre-recorded address, US Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos condemned the treatment of women in Venezuela, Cuba and Iran, but saved her harshest criticism for Beijing.

"The worst violator of all in both scope and scale is the host of the conference we commemorate today," she said.


"Since 1995, the Chinese Communist Party has been responsible for the murder of millions of baby girls through brutal population controls on industrial scale, unfortunately with the support (of) UN agencies."

She specifically took aim at Beijing's operations in the Xinjiang region, which some rights groups and lawmakers in Washington have said could amount to genocide.


DeVos called out practices of sterilisation, abortion and birth control she said have been forced on Uighur Muslim women.

Protesters, led by the group the Feminist Collective, demand Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vazquez declare a state of emergency in response to recent gender-based femicides, assaults and disappearance of women in San Juan, September 28, 2020. Photo: AFP / Ricardo ARDUENGO

Meanwhile, France and Mexico committed to hosting an international forum on women's rights in Paris next June -- a meeting which was scheduled for July of this year but was canceled due to the pandemic.

French President Emmanuel Macron lamented the slow progress of the last 25 years.

"Everywhere, women's rights are under attack, as are human rights, from which they are inseparable," he said.

"Progress achieved by great efforts is being undermined even in our democracies, starting with the freedom for women to control their own bodies, and in particular the right to abortion," he said, also pointing out inequalities in schooling, pay, domestic work and political representation.

Even at the UN General Assembly, there were only a handful of women speakers among the representatives for 170 countries.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said gender equality was "fundamentally a question of power, so it starts with the equal representation of women in leadership positions."

He bemoaned the circumstances that lead to one in three women experiencing violence and 12 million girls marrying under the age of 18 every year.

He also pointed to 137 women being killed by a family member every day in 2017.

Copyright AFP. All rights reserved.

 Doctor reveals everything wrong with Donald Trump's 'live' health check on Fox News

BY HOPE NGO/OCT. 9, 2020 11:36 PM EDT

If you were tuning in to get some clarity on President Donald Trump's medical situation Friday night, you might have come away feeling more than a bit disappointed. Fox News had seemed to promise, and other stations — like WGN9 — has interpreted, that this would be Trump's first on-camera interview since he got sick, and medical examination on top of that. As it turns out, we didn't exactly get what we paid for, because as Dr. José Morey, board-certified physician of radiology and founder of Ad Astra Media told The List, "To begin it was not a medical evaluation. In fact you saw Dr. [Marc] Siegel [the interviewer] preface that at the beginning. If it had been, he could be in violation of either NY state's or D.C.'s telehealth laws. He said it jokingly, but it was a medical disclaimer to not be able to be held liable against medical/legal violations."

Morey also points out that the location of what we now know was a taped interview gave away the fact that there is some concern over just how contagious the president still could be. "The fact that it was outside makes me believe that they are still concerned for potential infection transmission. We know being outside is safer than being enclosed. I assume this was to protect the camera crew and other auxiliary individuals for this interview," Morey says.

Trump is still showing signs of infection: Expert

While President Donald Trump insists that all is well, thanks to the excellent medical staff at Walter Reed, the board-certified physician of radiology tells The List that the reality could not be more stark for the president. "He is still exhibiting signs of infection. Earlier in the day during his call on Sean Hannity you could hear him coughing. Both during that call and during this interview you could hear some voice strain."

Morey said that the video clip also shows the president struggling to breathe, especially at the end of long sentences, which is visible during the on-camera interview. "He [President Trump} would have to inhale deeply. He was also pursing his lips while he breathed and mouth breathing which are signs of stress. His lips may have been mildly cyanotic (blue). It is hard to tell but it is a sign of oxygen desaturation which is consistent with his clinical history. His sentences at times were short with gasps of air."

Doctor says the president's scan may have showed an irregularity

The president's admission led Morey to address a matter Trump's physicians, like Sean Conley, have been brushing aside, but which reporters have been asking to be addressed. Throughout Trump's stay at Walter Reed Military Medical Center, the president's team of physicians had either evaded questions or refused to clarify whether the president had lung damage, and when Trump last still received a negative COVID test. 

To this point, Morey told us, "It sounds like the president had a CT scan that found typical ground glass opacities often seen in COVID infections. It also seems like these may not have fully cleared by the time that he left." Various medical sources describe ground glass opacities as abnormal findings usually picked up by CT scans, and they show up as hazy, gray areas in the lungs (via WebMD).

The interviewer mentioned COVID-related fallacies: Expert

Morey calls out Trump's interviewer for skipping critical questions that would have classified the televised interview as an actual medical examination. "The doctor didn't ask any questions in the way you would with a patient if this had been a true medical evaluation. An example is how he queried about side effects of dexamethasone. In a medical eval you do not ask how did you handle the steroids, you ask for probing questions that would elucidate the typical complications of steroids." The board-certified physician of radiology also called out the interviewer, Dr. Marc Siegel, for raising incorrect statements about the virus.

"He [Siegel] has stated that COVID is no worse than influenza. We know both by the numbers and extent of disease manifestation this is false. The CDC estimates nearly 35 million Americans were infected by the flu in last year's cycle with about 35,000 deaths. This death rate is at about 0.1 percent compared to coronavirus of about 5 percent. The hospitalization rate is also much higher. The manifestations of vasculopathy, hemorrhage, GI symptoms, neurologic symptoms, and long term respiratory and other complications far outpaces those of influenza," Morey says. 

Doctor says Trump should have stayed at the hospital

Morey adds that Siegel also stated that masks didn't provide adequate protection against COVID-19. Morey stressed, "This is not true. Although the reality is more complicated due to proper fitting and adherence, if both are followed the data shows dramatic decreases in infection propagation."

In case you're wondering whether the president was fit to return to the White House, never mind planning public rallies so soon after he was diagnosed with COVID-19? "It seems like the president left earlier than the physicians would have wanted. Typically you are treated under supervision for five days on Remdesivir which he received. We know he got the final treatment at the White House. This may mean the president left AMA (against medical advice)," Morey tells The List.

Why Trump's 'live' Fox News health check is raising eyebrows

BY HOPE NGO/OCT. 9, 2020 

Because there have been so many rumors surrounding President Donald Trump's health, we thought we might get some clarity when Fox News promised what it said what would be the president's first on-camera interview, where the president would undergo a medical evaluation on camera. The network added, "Dr. Marc Siegel will conduct a medical evaluation and interview during the program" (via The Daily Beast). And while the president was indeed on camera for his first live interview, which host Tucker Carlson — and all of us — would say is a remarkable recovery, Carlson noted on his show (via Fox News), "This was his first time talking on camera about what happened. We should know that these are very unusual circumstances. Normally we'd send our own camera crew into the White House to interview the president, but because his diagnosis was just a week ago, we had to rely on the White House camera team for that interview. Dr. Siegel interviewed the president from New York." The network then ran what appeared to be a prerecorded interview.

Fox's decision to keep crews away from the White House is in keeping with the CDC's recommendation that most people can stop self-isolating 10 days after they first show symptoms of having COVID, if their medical condition has improved, they haven't had a fever for 24 hours, and if they aren't on medicines that control a fever (via WGN9). But all of this meant there was not actually a "live" exam of any kind performed, and that immediately raised eyebrows.

Trump credits his success to fighting COVID by seeking early medical treatment

During the chat, the president provided his perspective on what happened at Walter Reed Medical Center — of particular interest to reporters was the state of his lungs, which the coronavirus is known to attack. On camera, Trump said, "They [doctors] tested the lungs, they checked with the lungs, they tested with different machinery, incredible stuff that I've never even seen before. And it tested good... initially, I think they had some congestion in there, but ultimately [I think it] tested good, and with each day it got better. That's why they wanted me to stay, frankly, but the CAT scans were amazing, the equipment is incredible" (via Twitter). He also said he felt strong and has been medication-free for eight hours before the exam. 

Trump also said, "The biggest question is that I did do it early, I had such great access to medical, we have White House doctors who are great, and we have so many doctors. It's a lot easier for me than it is for someone who doesn't have access to doctors so easily [and where] it's a big deal to see a doctor. But here we have them all over the White House, watching from every corner. But very important for me, was very early... and I think it would have gotten a lot worse. One of the doctors said he thought it would have gotten a lot worse. I just think these medications, they're a lot better if you get them early than if you get them late" (via Fox News).

Twitter: Trump is having a telehealth exam

Hulu

Some took to Twitter to express their bemusement over Trump's televised medical exam. One tweeted: "The President is having a tele-health 'exam' on FOX News with Dr. Marc Siegel, who asked what his worst symptoms were when he went to Walter Reed. Trump said he 'didn't feel strong' and experienced 'weakness' until his Regeneron cocktail." Another said bluntly, "I'm watching the dumbest thing I've ever seen," along with a screen capture of the interview taking place. A third shared a clip of the president saying he has been retested, along with the clip of Trump saying, "I haven't even found out numbers or anything yet but I've been retested and I know I'm either at the bottom of the scale or free."

CNN's Jim Acosta confirmed that the president is scheduled to speak at a public rally at the White House on Saturday (via Twitter).

Here's why Donald Trump 'gasping' is trending on Twitter

BY HOPE NGO/OCT. 5, 2020

Shortly after returning to the White House, Donald Trump tweeted a video to express his thanks and show the world how great he felt. "I just left Walter Reed Medical Center and it's really something very special. The doctors, the nurses, the first responders — and I learned so much about coronavirus, and one thing that's for certain: Don't let it dominate you. Don't be afraid of it. We're going to beat it. We have the best medical equipment, we have the best medicines, all developed recently. And you're going to beat it. I didn't feel so good... I could have left two days ago... I felt great, better than I have in a long time..." he said. 

Yet in the face of this reassurance, Trump "gasping" had begun to trend on Twitter. It might have had to do with the fact that moments after he reached the White House balcony, dramatically removed his medical mask, and turned to face reporters, he also appeared to be struggling to breathe (via Twitter).

The Twitterverse was divided over Trump 'gasping'

Some Twitter users were incredulous. "Trump looks like a goldfish that fell out of the fishbowl onto the floor, gasping for breath," commented one user along with a video retweeted all over the Twitterverse showing the president appearing to take big gulps of air. Another tweet said: "Maybe Trump should take it easy. He's visibly gasping for air after climbing stairs and posturing like Putin. COVID ain't no joke." A third commented: "Trump climbs a few steps to the White House, takes off his mask and then is visibly gasping and having diffulty (sic) breathing while he tries to wave and pretend everything is fine." A fourth said: "Trump is gasping with pneumonia. Does he not think we can see?"

The president's supporters maintained the gasps were imaginary, with one saying: "LOL, the triggered left has now abandoned the 'hoax' theory and has gone back to Trump 'gasping' for air and on his deathbed notion. Come on now, make up your minds because the rest of us need to know. It can't be both. Only 8:40 PM though, carry on. Hysterical."

One of the president's biggest critics right now is Kellyanne Conway's daughter Claudia, who posted, "guys lmao he's not doing better... he is so ridiculous. apparently he is doing badly lol and they are doing what they can to stabilize him" (via Palmer Report).

Trump's messaging contradicts advice from public health experts

Twitter's backlash against the president's behavior may make public health experts breathe a bit easier. Doctors had hoped that Trump might learn a few lessons about COVID-19, but that doesn't appear to be the case. An assistant professor of medical at the University of Pennsylvania Harald Schmidt tells the The New York Times: "I am struggling for words — this is crazy. It is just utterly irresponsible." 

By virtue of his position, Trump's experience of COVID is slightly different from everyone else's. The daughter of one Covid victim says: "My mom, a respiratory therapist, couldn't get tested at her hospital where she worked, she had to look for two days for a testing site while feeling the effects of covid, she didn't want to go to a hospital because she said it was worse there and she didn't want to call an ambulance because it was too expensive. So she stayed home for a week and lost her pulse as soon as the medics put her on a gurney." Newsweek has also pointed out that a cost for a five day course of Remdesivir, one of the medicines the president is on, costs $3,120 — or as one candidate for the Senate put it, "Remdesivir is approximately 4 years of taxes for some taxpayers."

The U.S. currently has 7.4 million cases of COVID-19, with nearly 210,000 deaths (via The New York Times).

Read More: https://www.thelist.com/256968/heres-why-donald-trump-gasping-is-trending-on-twitter/?utm_campaign=clip

Regeneron seeks FDA emergency authorisation of Covid-19 antibody therapy used by Trump

Although REGN-COV2 is still currently in its trial phases, there have been exceptions allowed by the FDA such as the most recent one with Trump.

By John Diente October 9, 2020 
 
A little over a week ago, Regeneron was in the news when clinical studies of its antibody therapy reported promising results. Although COVID-19 vaccines have been at the centre of attention over the course of the past few months, experts highlighted the fact that a treatment is equally important. Therefore, when United States President Donald Trump was diagnosed positive for the 2019 novel coronavirus, the biotech firm's experimental drug was administered. Now, the company has applied for emergency use authorisation with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

According to the statement posted on its website, the group already submitted the documents. "Subsequent to our discussions with regulatory authorities, we have submitted a request to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for an Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) for our REGN-COV2 investigational antibody combination for COVID-19," said Regeneron as reported by CNN.

Regeneron continued: "Under our agreement with the U.S. government for the initial doses of REGN-COV2, if an EUA is granted the government has committed to making these doses available to the American people at no cost and would be responsible for their distribution. At this time, there are doses available for approximately 50,000 patients, and we expect to have doses available for 300,000 patients in total within the next few months."

Although REGN-COV2 is still currently in its trial phases, there have been exceptions allowed by the FDA such as the most recent one with Trump. So far, observations made during tests show that it is most effective on people whose immune systems have already begun to fight against the infection. Furthermore, it also apparently reduces the viral load in the nasopharynx, which, in theory, should prevent transmission via respiratory droplets or aerosols.

Trump received a single dose of Regeneron's antibody cocktail, according to a letter issued by White House physician Sean Conley AFP / JIM WATSON

Preliminary data supposedly confirms that there are no alarming side effects, which makes REGN-COV2 fairly safe with proper medical supervision. Meanwhile, others caution against its purported benefits until findings are published on medical journals after being peer-reviewed. With many pharmaceutical companies sharing press releases regarding favourable results from clinical trials, others are suspecting it might be for raising stock prices instead. Majority of healthcare experts agree that the vaccines and treatments might not be publicly available until early in 2021.

A senior warning sign for Trump: 'Go Biden' cry at Villages

Aides say President Donald Trump's campaign has seen an alarming drop in support among older adults in its internal research

Via AP news wire

America Disrupted Seniors(Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Sara Branscom’s golf cart whizzed down the smooth asphalt path that winds through The Villages, the nation’s largest retirement community, an expanse of beautiful homes, shops and entertainment venues that bills itself as “Florida’s Friendliest Hometown.”

Branscom’s cart was festooned with two American flags that flapped in the warm afternoon breeze. A line of oncoming carts bedecked with balloons and patriotic streamers chugged past while honking. Branscom jabbed her left foot on the horn pedal, then gave a thumbs-up.

“This gets you rejuvenated and ready for the next month or so, so we can do this and win. It gives you hope,” the 60-year-old retiree said.

Then she let out a whoop and two surprising words: “Go Biden!”

It’s not a cry that might be expected to resound in The Villages, and it’s certainly not one that is encouraging to President Donald Trump Older voters helped propel him to the White House — the Pew Research Center estimates Trump led among voters 65 and older by 9 percentage points in 2016 — and his campaign hoped they would be a bulwark to cement a second term.

They remain a huge chunk of the electorate. Pew estimates that nationwide, nearly 1 in 4 eligible voters will be 65 and older. It’s the highest level on record, going back to 1970.

But there have been warnings that older voters are in play. To be sure, Trump has solid support among older adults but his campaign has seen a drop-off in its internal research, according to campaign aides, and some public polls suggest Democrat Joe Biden is running ahead or just even with Trump.

Mostly, it seems, older voters have been put off by Trump’s handling of the coronavirus, which affects these voters more acutely than others. They were particularly alarmed by Trump’s performances at daily task force briefings in the spring because his remarks showed an uneven handling of the crisis and inspired little confidence.

The president has tried to shore up his popularity with older adults. He has emphasized themes of law and order, and has warned that Democrats would preside over a sundering of the suburbs. He has promoted his prescription drug policy. And he has kept up steady visits to Florida — after Maine, the state with the oldest population — and advertised heavily there.

But whatever improvement he saw is now in jeopardy. The president’s own COVID-19 infection has refocused attention on the virus and his handling of it. If the 74-year-old Trump can’t safeguard his own health, some wonder, how can he be trusted to protect other older adults who are far more vulnerable?

In few places could any significant drop-off spell doom more profoundly than Florida, a state Trump almost certainly must win. Older adults historically are the most reliable voters, and Florida is infamous for its tight races. So even a modest drop in support could send Trump back to private life.

The Villages, where the median age is 66, is built on the American dream of a golden retirement. “We’ve created the backdrop of possibilities for you to write the next chapter in your story,” its website says.


Retirees can enjoy everything from golf to seminars on Mark Twain to drinking a cold beverage in the town square while listening to a “jamgrass” band (progressive bluegrass in the vein of Phish).


Politically, it long has been considered a conservative redoubt, so entrenched that it’s a must-stop for any national or statewide Republican running for office. One clear measure of its importance: Vice President Mike Pence's scheduled visit Saturday.


The Morse family, which developed the community northwest of Orlando, has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republican campaigns over the years. During the 2008 presidential race, GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin drew a stadium-sized crowd with 60,000 residents flocking to see her in one of the community’s town squares.

Last fall, Trump picked The Villages to promote his support for Medicare and its private insurance option.

But on Wednesday, the scene told a markedly different story. An armada of as many as 500 golf carts gathered at the Sea Breeze Recreation Center to caravan to the nearby elections office, so folks could drop off ballots for Biden.

As each cart rolled into the parking lot and slid a ballot into a locked box under the watchful eye of elections supervisors, dozens lined the sidewalk, cheering and clapping every time a vote was cast.

“I think we all came out of the closet for this election,” said Branscom.

It’s not that there weren’t Hillary Clinton supporters in The Villages in 2016, said Chris Stanley, president of the community’s Democratic Club. There were.

But there was also “an overwhelming sense in 2016 of ‘we’ve got this in the bag.’ There was a level of complacency that she’d win,” said Stanley. “Now there’s a heightened sense of urgency, and in many ways, Trump has been our best recruiting tool ever.”

If the slow moving, four-wheel, golf cart show of force is an indication of growing allegiance to the Democrat among the retiree set, it would represent a substantial shift. In Florida, 29% of registered voters are 65 and older. As of Oct. 1, 43% were Republican, 37% were Democrats and 17% were nonpartisan.

Susan MacManus, a University of South Florida distinguished professor of government and international affairs, said The Villages and its powerful voting demographic have become less Republican over the years because of an influx of more liberal people from the Northeast.

She’s seen research that shows a softening in Trump’s older base, both nationally and in Florida — especially with women.

“That’s the group that’s leaving Trump,” she said. “And it’s because of his demeanor, more than his policies. For older women, especially. They went through the battles. They frankly do not appreciate the demeaning of women. More than that, they’re thinking of their children and their grandchildren.”

Indeed, at The Villages, many of the people riding in golf carts are women like Joan Morrill, a 76-year-old former Republican. The pandemic has weighed heavily on her, especially when she considers her four children and seven grandchildren. “We can’t live like this ...” she said. “I want a better world for them.”

Jeff Johnson, the state director for the Florida AARP, believes voters over 65 are more “in play” in this year’s presidential race, largely because of Trump’s handling of the pandemic. In recent weeks, Democrats have seized on this softening of support and have rolled out six ads targeting older voters.

In 2018, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of the American electorate conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago for The Associated Press, older Republicans thought immigration was the nation’s most important issue, while older Democrats said health care was. But this year, with the pandemic, concern about health care has become a top issue for both.

The Trump campaign seems to be paying attention. On Thursday, the president released a video of himself standing on the White House lawn in which he called older adults “my favorite people.” Noting that they are vulnerable to the virus, he asserted with no basis in fact that a medicine he said he was given in the hospital would be free to older people.

“The seniors are going to be taken care of,” he said.

That is not how it has played out so far. Not only has Florida been slammed by the virus, but also no other demographic has been affected more than older people. About 93% of Florida’s 15,100 deaths from the virus have been people 55 and older, and many are scared — and enraged.

“The whole virus thing has hit really hard here,” said Branscom, who pointed out that almost everyone in The Villages moved there from somewhere else. “We can’t go see our families because of COVID. I’m not seeing an end to it. There is no plan. Biden has a plan. He wears a mask. It gives us hope.”

In recent weeks, Morrill watched as Trump announced he was infected with COVID-19, left the hospital days later and dramatically removed his mask upon his return to the White House.

She seethed.

“I was angry,” she said, her voice shaking. “He’s showing a bad example. He thinks that nothing’s going to affect him. It feels like one lie after another.”

For the golf cart caravan, she wore a T-shirt that said “Team Fauci,” referring to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious-disease expert. “I trust the scientists and the doctors. I don’t trust Trump.”

Those sentiments extend well beyond the well-tended streets of The Villages. Ron Hood, 78, a retired college biology professor, lives on the Atlantic coast in Jacksonville. Hood, a Democrat, is voting for Biden. He, too, feels that Trump has left older adults behind.

“I do think there has been an attitude: ‘Well, it’s not that important to keep them alive and well. If we can’t, well, that’s too bad. Nice knowing you, bye,’” he said. “I just try not to dwell on things like that, though.”

In rural Alachua County, which Clinton carried easily in 2016, 69-year-old Maxie Hicks is deeply troubled by the country’s direction and Trump’s leadership. Hood, who is Black, said he’s been thinking a lot about the civil rights movement, when he was a teenager.

“I’ve never seen this type of cold-blooded hate, not even back then,” he said. “This is a Donald Trump funk. I’ve never seen this much hostility.”

The retired state transportation department worker often thinks about how he and Trump are similar in age. “I don’t know how he could come through our generation and be so mean. So heartless. So insensitive. So indecent. So ungentlemanly.”

The hostility that Hood bemoans has played out even in “the friendliest town,” where Villagers who are Trump enthusiasts have held their own golf cart parades.

In June, a fight broke out between Trump and Biden supporters in front of the Panera Bread shop, and one Trump supporter was captured on video yelling, “White power!”

People still talk about that, and there appear to be some lingering hurt feelings. On Wednesday, during the Biden rally, one woman in her golf cart decked out with Biden signs smiled and said good morning to a man coming from the other direction in a cart with a Trump sign.

“Shove it!” he said.

Judy Wise, a 75-year-old retiree in Plant City, a town east of Tampa on the Interstate 4 corridor, said her niece hasn’t spoken to her in years, since a fight over Trump. Wise is a stalwart supporter, and her niece is not.

“It’s not so much about the man, but the ideology,” Wise explained. She’s convinced that Biden and the Democrats have a “plan to unseat capitalism” and that he will be a “puppet” of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, progressive Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Biden’s running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris.

Wise believes in small government and lower taxes, and she’s worried about the summer’s recent nationwide protests, a few of which have turned violent. She recognizes that Trump can be abrasive, but it doesn’t bother her, and she questions media reports that Trump had called servicemen and women “losers.” Trump wouldn’t do that, she said.

Pamela Allen, 72, supported Trump from the time he came down the escalator in Trump Tower in 2015 to announce his candidacy. Every few weeks, she waves Trump flags on the roadside of her Tampa suburb of Holiday with a group of other Republicans.

“I love him. I think he’s doing a great job. He’s addressing the situations of everyday people’s normal everyday concerns,” she said. “He’s keeping his promises, with little to no help from the media or the Democrats. There is no positivity on anything he does.”

As for the pandemic, she does think it’s serious for older people, but “it may be blown out of proportion.”

“I don’t believe the numbers they’re posting about deaths. I wash my hands. I wear my mask. I avoid getting very close to people I don’t know,” she said.

Professor MacManus cautions that while some older voters have gravitated toward Biden, there are many others like Allen and Wise who are firmly in Trump’s corner. But that might not be enough for Trump.

“They’re still probably leaning more towards Trump. But in Florida, you look at margins,” she said. “He won the senior vote in Florida by double digits in 2016. And now we’re showing single digits in polls. ... Any bleeding of any cohort is a red flag for that candidate.”

And in this week’s golf cart caravan, the Biden flags were blue.

___


Associated Press writers Jonathan Lemire, Josh Boak and Michael Schneider contributed to this report.

The banyan tree looks odd for a reason
Genomic study reveals secrets of those aerial roots.

Credit: Gang Wang

BUDDHA MEDITATED UNDER A BANYAN TREE 

The banyan tree (Ficus macrocarpa) is known for its rather odd appearance, thanks to the ability to sprout roots from branches that eventually reach the soil.

Perhaps less well known is that it, like others in the Ficus species, has co-evolved with the wasp that pollinates it. The size and shape of wasps correspond exactly to those of the fig fruits, and each fig species creates a unique perfume to attract that wasp.

Now researchers in the US and China think they know how and why this happens. Perhaps not surprisingly, it’s all about the genome.

In a paper in the journal Cell, a team led by Ray Ming form the University of Illinois and Jin Chen, of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, describes its analysis of the banyan tree, its pollinating wasp, and a related fig tree, Ficus hispida.

Unlike F. microcarpa, which produces aerial roots and bears male and female flowers on the same tree, F. hispida produces distinct male and female trees and no aerial roots.

“When we sequenced the trees’ genomes, we found more segmental duplications in the genome of the banyan tree than in F. hispida, the fig without the aerial roots,” Ming says. “Those duplicated regions account for about 27% of the genome.”

The duplications were found to increase the number of genes involved in the synthesis and transport of auxins, a class of hormones that promote plant growth. Duplicated regions also contained genes involved in plant immunity, nutrition and the production of volatile organic compounds that signal pollinators.

“The levels of auxin in the aerial roots are five times higher than in the leaves of trees with or without aerial roots,” Ming says, adding that the elevated auxin levels appear to have triggered aerial root production. The duplicated regions also include genes that code for a light receptor that accelerates auxin production.

When they turned to the fig wasp, and compared it with related wasps, the researchers observed that it was retaining and preserving genes for odourant receptors that detect the same smelly compounds the fig trees produce – a likely signal of co-evolution.

They also report discovering a Y chromosome-specific gene that is expressed only in male plants of F. hispida and three other fig species that produce separate male and female plants, a condition known as dioecy.

“This gene had been duplicated twice in the dioecious genomes, giving the plants three copies of the gene. But Ficus species that have male and female flowers together on one plant have only one copy of this gene,” Ming says. “This strongly suggests that this gene is a dominant factor affecting sex determination.”

Understanding this evolutionary history is important, the researchers says, because the ability to produce large fruits in a variety of habitats makes Ficus a keystone species in most tropical forests.

P3 PUBLIC PRVATE PILOT 

Boeing astronaut withdraws himself from first crewed test flight of passenger spacecraft

Chris Ferguson is not going to fly on Starliner next year

By Loren Grush@lorengrush Oct 7, 2020

Chris Ferguson, after NASA announced his assignment to the Starliner mission (NASA/Bill Ingalls)


Boeing employee and former NASA astronaut Christopher Ferguson will no longer command the first crewed test flight of Boeing’s new passenger spacecraft, the CST-100 Starliner, slated to carry its first human passengers next year. NASA astronaut Barry “Butch” Wilmore will take Ferguson’s place on the flight, riding along with the two other NASA astronauts already assigned to the mission.

In a video posted to Twitter, Ferguson said leaving the flight was a “difficult and personal decision” he had to make. “Next year is very important for my family,” he said in the video. “I have made several commitments which I simply cannot risk missing. I’m not going anywhere. I’m just not going into space next year.”

“I HAVE MADE SEVERAL COMMITMENTS WHICH I SIMPLY CANNOT RISK MISSING.”

Ferguson has been instrumental in the multiyear development of Boeing’s Starliner, a privately built crew capsule designed to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station for NASA. Ferguson commanded the last flight of NASA’s Space Shuttle in 2011, before retiring from the agency that year. He then joined Boeing and became director of crew and mission systems for the Starliner program. In 2018, Ferguson was assigned as commander of the first crewed flight test of Starliner, along with astronauts Nicole Mann and Mike Fincke who would be joining as crewmates. Since he is technically no longer a NASA astronaut, Ferguson would have become the first private citizen to fly on a privately made spacecraft to orbit.

I’m taking on a new mission, one that keeps my feet planted here firmly on Earth and prioritizes my most important crew – my family. I’ll still be working hard with the #Starliner team and the @NASA_Astronauts on our crew. pic.twitter.com/PgdhPqwYQS— Christopher Ferguson (@Astro_Ferg) October 7, 2020

NASA and Boeing had planned for Starliner’s first crewed flight to happen as soon as this year, but the flight has been significantly delayed due to problems with the program. In December 2019, Boeing launched the Starliner on its debut flight to the space station — with no crew on board — but the mission suffered from numerous software glitches that prompted the company to bring the capsule home early before it could reach the ISS. After a lengthy investigation by NASA, Boeing has been trying to implement a list of 80 recommendations to ensure that no more glitches occur on upcoming flights. And the company is gearing up to perform a second uncrewed test flight of Starliner, currently planned for December.

WILMORE WILL NOW START TRAINING IMMEDIATELY WITH MANN AND FINCKE

Now, Boeing is targeting no earlier than June of next year for the first crewed test flight, and Ferguson indicated to The Washington Post that he had a family wedding and other commitments in 2021. With Ferguson stepping down, Wilmore will now start training immediately with Mann and Fincke. Wilmore was already part of the backup crew for the mission, so he had already been training for the flight in case he needed to be slotted in. “Having had the chance to train alongside and view this outstanding crew as backup has been instrumental in my preparation to assume this position,” Wilmore said in a statement. “Stepping down was a difficult decision for Chris, but with his leadership and assistance to this point, this crew is positioned for success.”

In the meantime, Ferguson will still be very involved with Starliner. He is assuming a new role as director of mission integration and operations, where he will support the astronauts and make sure that their training is adequate, according to Boeing. The company notes that Ferguson will also be one of the last people the crew will see before they leave for space — and one of the first they’ll see when they return.

We finally know why Boeing’s test flight commander bowed out of Starliner test

Image source: NASA/Bill Ingalls
By Mike Wehner @MikeWehner
October 9th, 2020 

Boeing’s Starliner crew shakeup gets a little more clear as we learn one of the reasons why commander Chris Ferguson stepped down.

The astronaut had family commitments in 2021, including his daughter’s wedding.

The mission has been delayed so many times, and the coronavirus caused so many issues, that things lined up poorly for the astronaut.

It was a few days ago that astronaut Chris Ferguson announced he would be stepping down from his position as the commander of the first Boeing Starliner crewed test flight in 2021. That’s a big deal, as Starliner has been repeatedly delayed and any further hiccups just serve to put the company even farther behind its rival SpaceX, which has already delivered on its promise to NASA with Crew Dragon.

At the time, Ferguson’s statement was relatively vague. He noted that he had prior commitments that he just couldn’t ignore. Now, there are lots of things that a person makes commitments for, but there aren’t many that couldn’t be canceled for a trip to space. Thanks to a statement from Boeing, now we know what is keeping Ferguson’s feet firmly planted on the ground.

According to a company statement, at least one of his commitments that Ferguson has to attend is the wedding of his daughter. That… makes a lot of sense, actually.

As I mentioned in the first article covering this story, the coronavirus pandemic has seriously messed up lots and lots of plans both in the United States and around the world. In fact, NASA and Boeing have noted that the Starliner program was affected by the pandemic as well, and given the project’s history of delays and setbacks, that’s no surprise.

I’m taking on a new mission, one that keeps my feet planted here firmly on Earth and prioritizes my most important crew – my family. I’ll still be working hard with the #Starliner team and the @NASA_Astronauts on our crew. pic.twitter.com/PgdhPqwYQS
— Christopher Ferguson (@Astro_Ferg) October 7, 2020

On top of that, wedding venues have been notoriously strict about cancellations this year, and from personal experience, I know that there is a shocking number of venues that aren’t accepting reschedules or cancellations without charging massive fees, despite the virus spread. It’s a bad situation all around, and while we can’t know for certain what Ferguson’s circumstances are, I’d hesitate to jump to the conclusion that either the astronaut or his daughter are being “selfish,” as some commenters have argued.

In all likelihood, the original wedding plans (and whatever other commitments Ferguson made for 2021) didn’t interfere with the original planned crewed launch of Starliner. Remember, Starliner’s launches have been delayed many times, and the major setback of the uncrewed test mission glitch pushed back Boeing’s timeline significantly. Now, the launch (as it currently stands) is scheduled for a time that overlaps with Ferguson’s family events, and he’s made the decision to put his family first.

But don’t worry, the way Boeing’s Starliner program has been going, the crewed launch may well be delayed again, so you never know who might be aboard that spacecraft when it finally launches.

Mike Wehner has reported on technology and video games for the past decade, covering breaking news and trends in VR, wearables, smartphones, and future tech. Most recently, Mike served as Tech Editor at The Daily Dot, and has been featured in USA Today, Time.com, and countless other web and print outlets. His love of reporting is second only to his gaming addiction.

Tiger King’ star Doc Antle charged with trafficking lion cubs


By Natalie O'Neill

October 9, 2020

Doc Antle Courtesy of Netflix

“Tiger King” celebrity Doc Antle was busted for allegedly trafficking lion cubs between Virginia and South Carolina, authorities said Friday.

The famously ponytailed exotic zoo owner — who was featured as a rival of Joe Exotic in the hit Netflix docuseries — was hit with 15 wildlife trafficking and animal cruelty charges, Virginia’s attorney general announced in a press release.

The agency’s animal law unit spent months investigating Antle’s Myrtle Beach Safari zoo in South Carolina.

Investigators also looked at the Wild Animal Park in Winchester, Virginia, which is owned by Antle’s partner Keith Wilson, the officials said.

Investigators say they found that the partners “violated the Endangered Species Act” by moving the animals between the two zoos — and between states — in poor conditions.

Wilson was also charged with trafficking.

In total, Antle was charged with wildlife trafficking, conspiracy to wildlife traffic and 13 additional misdemeanor charges linked to the animal cruelty and the Endangered Species Act.

His daughters, Tawny Antle and Tilakum Watterson, also face animal cruelty charges.

Details of the charges weren’t immediately clear Friday.

In November 2019, Wilson was previously indicted on 46 counts of animal cruelty.

Law enforcement seized 119 animals from Wilson’s zoo after a judge found he “cruelly treated” tigers, bears, camels and other animals. He will go to trial in June 2021.

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Kyrgyzstan’s political crisis, explained

The Central Asian country faces its greatest political turmoil in a decade.

By Alex Ward@AlexWardVoxOct 9, 2020

Supporters of former Kyrgyzstan President Almazbek Atambayev attend a rally in Bishkek on October 9. Vyacheslav Oseledko/AFP via Getty Images


Gunfire in the capital. Deadly clashes between protesters and state security forces. Annulled elections. A nasty fight for political power. And a president who’s effectively been missing in action through it all.

Over the past week, these scenes have gripped Kyrgyzstan as the Central Asian country faces its greatest political crisis in a decade — one that could see the third ouster of a president in just 15 years.

Many of Kyrgyzstan’s 6 million people are deeply dissatisfied with the government due to widespread corruption and mismanagement of the Covid-19 pandemic. The country’s economy is in tatters, and many have no life savings or struggle to find steady work to bolster themselves against the downturn.

So when voters headed to the polls for parliamentary elections on October 4, most expected that the government-linked parties would be voted out.

But though past votes for Parliament in 2010 and 2015 were conducted freely and fairly by most accounts, the presidential election of 2017 saw current President Sooronbay Jeenbekov essentially installed by his predecessor. That led some experts to worry that this year’s election might be flawed.

Those fears grew when the results came in: Parties allied with the president had won the largest share of the votes.

Only four of the 16 parties in the running passed the 7-percent threshold to win seats; two of those four have links to the current administration, and each received about 24 percent support. One of those two parties, Birimdik, featured the president’s brother as a candidate. The other, Mekenim Kyrgyzstan, is backed by a former customs chief who’s reportedly a crime boss.

All the opposition parties that didn’t win seats immediately cried foul, alleging the election was rigged. Protests erupted in the streets of the capital, Bishkek, plunging the country into chaos.

And things just got worse from there.
Was the election rigged? Possibly not, but many are angry at the result.

There is some evidence that the victorious parties bought votes from cash-strapped citizens and placed undue pressure on local leaders to support them, perhaps at the direction of high-level government officials.

But Eugene Huskey, a professor of political science at Stetson University and an expert on Kyrgyzstan’s politics, said that “this election was probably less flawed than other ones in the country.” Though no exit polls have been released yet, he noted that the high returns for the parties that got into Parliament indicate they perhaps have more support than certain polls suggest.

Further, Huskey said the few surveys released before the election didn’t capture many of the changes that came later, like some parties folding or candidates switching allegiances. “This election overall was fair,” Huskey told me.

Still, dissatisfaction with the result drove thousands to Bishkek’s Ala-Too Square on October 5. Some went because they wanted to protest what they deemed to be an unfair election, reports show, while others joined because the party they liked — but that didn’t get enough votes to win seats — pushed them to rally against the result. In fact, nearly all opposition parties pushed for a rally.

The demonstration throughout the day was peaceful. But as night fell, state security services brutally attacked the protesters with tear gas and rubber bullets, killing one person and injuring at least 600 more per the nation’s health ministry.  

Party leaders who failed to pass the threshold in the parliamentary elections yesterday, and their voters gather at in Ala-Too Square to protest the election results, in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on October 5, 2020. Nazir Aliyev Tayfur/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Jeenbekov denies ordering the assault, though experts like National Defense University’s Erica Marat suspects the decision to push back on demonstrators was his alone to make. “He miscalculated the mood,” she told me. “He likely felt that if he dispersed the crowd, the whole thing would go away.”

But it didn’t, and instead it made things worse. “That was a major turning point,” Columbia University’s Colleen Wood told me.

A mix of people angry at the assault and provocateurs looking to stir trouble stormed the White House, the main government complex featuring the president’s offices and legislature. They seized the building, named changes to top government posts, demanded a new vote, and even freed political prisoners, including the current president’s predecessor and one-time ally, Almazbek Atambaev.

The past couple of days in Kyrgyzstan: political chaos, government buildings being stormed by protesters, a former president being sprung from jail during the night of October 5-6 -- and, by morning, the annulment of the election results. pic.twitter.com/iHeOGaAuyZ— Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (@RFERL) October 7, 2020

The following morning, the country’s election commission annulled October 4’s results to “prevent tension.” The problem is the decision only increased it.
“The power vacuum has turned violent”

Amid popular pressure, the prime minister of Kyrgyzstan — who is less powerful than the president but still provides some checks on his authority — offered his resignation on Tuesday (and finally had it accepted on Friday).

Since then, a messy political fight has broken out to replace him, that’s roughly contested between a pro-government camp and a pro-reform camp.

First, the pro-government side: On October 6, Sadyr Japarov, a former government official who was in prison before protesters released him the night before, met with a group of 35 parliamentarians at the three-star Dostuk Hotel in Bishkek.

But there are some problems with that, experts say. Thirty-five legislators doesn’t make an official quorum, for example, so the appointment is mostly meaningless as a legal matter.

It’s also unclear he’ll garner much popular support due to his ties to government figures and is a criminal himself. In October 2013, he led a protest that ended with taking a provincial governor hostage. He was charged and then fled the country, only to be arrested upon returning to the country in March 2017.

Experts don’t believe, though, that Japarov somehow planned a coup while in prison — events moved quickly and his connections to some in the legislature helped him gain some support.

As for the pro-reform side — a loose connection of more democratic-minded parties and supporters — Omurbek Babanov, who lost the controversial 2017 presidential election, has enough backing to make a challenge. He fled the country after that race for fear he’d be charged with crimes by the current president, only to come back this year to campaign for his old party which didn’t meet the 7 percent threshold.

That, in part, is why some experts fear he may not garner enough support for the job. Plus, they say Babanov may not be as pro-reform as he claims since one of his backers is Atambayev, the former president who rigged the 2017 election against him and still faces corruption charges.

Despite more people and semi-official commissions pushing others to take the prime minister spot, those two have become the main figures tussling for control. And tussle they have: “The power vacuum has turned violent,” said Columbia’s Wood.

Fist fights broke out in Bishkek between the two factions on Friday, culminating in gun shots heard throughout the capital. Some shots were fired at Atambayev’s car, and while he wasn’t harmed, it’s unclear if the bullets were errant or intended to kill him.

As a result of the violence, President Jeenbekov declared a state of emergency that will last until October 21 and be enforced by the nation’s military. Among other restrictions, movement in and out the capital will be heavily controlled.

That’s a rare move, said NDU’s Marat, as post-Soviet nations in Central Asia typically deploy their armed forces only for external matters. “The military doesn’t really involve itself in pacifying protests,” she said, but it goes to show how worried Jeenbekov must really be.

He’s apparently so worried, in fact, that he hasn’t been seen in days, and may even be hiding on purpose.
A lot rides on an absent president

Jeenbekov — who has yet to be seen in public since the protests began — promised to resign as president once a new prime minister and Parliament is in place, a new Cabinet sworn in, and rule of law restored. Experts aren’t sure if he’s just saying that to minimize anger toward him, or if it’s a serious offer.

Either way, he’s still the president, and the future of his country depends on what he does next, Wood told me. It’s quite tricky for him, she said, because if he intervenes and supports either Japarov or Babanov, then it’ll look like the government once again aims to influence an election. But if he stays silent, the uncertainty and lack of leadership might invite more chaos.

But his time is running out. The country’s election authorities plan to make a decision on when to hold a new vote in November, and it’s possible they will ban the pro-government parties that may have actually won the election this week. If that happens, “I can see this spinning out into even more conflict,” said Stetson’s Huskey, assuming violence doesn’t continue and worsen in the days to come.

Russia, which has immense influence in the country, is also watching events closely. “The situation looks like a mess and chaos,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday, alluding to a treaty between the two countries that aims to avoid a breakdown of governance in Kyrgyzstan. He didn’t say what actions Russia might take, but the signal was clear: Russia might intervene.

The good news, experts said, is that parts of the country are trying to calm the situation down. Posts on social media, they say, overwhelmingly call for both sides to stop fighting. There are even groups protecting homes and businesses from looters, with other bringing those volunteers drinks to keep warm. “They’re trying to stabilize the situation from bottom up,” said NDU’s Marat.

That’s all well and good, but the person in charge of stabilizing the situation from the top down — the president — is still missing in action.

Which means Kyrgyzstan’s political turmoil is likely to last for a few more days — perhaps even longer. If that’s the case, the country may host its third major political revolution since 2005, possibly forcing out Jeenbekov before he’s ready.

Armenia, Azerbaijan Agree on Ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh; Big Diplomatic Coup for Mediator Russia

Armenia and Azerbaijan foreign ministers said the truce is intended to exchange prisoners and recover the dead after two weeks of heavy fighting. The announcement followed 10 hours of talks in Moscow sponsored by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov

Smoke rises after shelling by Azerbaijan's artillery during a military conflict in Stepanakert, the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh, on October 9, 2020. (AP Photo)

ASSOCIATED PRESS MOSCOW
LAST UPDATED:OCTOBER 9, 2020

With Russia's mediation, Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to a cease-fire in Nagorno-Karabakh starting at noon Saturday following two weeks of heavy fighting that marked the worst outbreak of hostilities in the separatist region in a quarter-century.

The countries' foreign ministers said in a statement that the truce is intended to exchange prisoners and recover the dead, adding that specific details will be agreed on later.


The announcement followed 10 hours of talks in Moscow sponsored by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who read the statement. It stipulated that the cease-fire should pave the way for talks on settling the conflict.

If the truce holds, it would mark a major diplomatic coup for Russia that has a security pact with Armenia but also cultivated warm ties with Azerbaijan.


The latest outburst of fighting between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces began September 27 and left hundreds of people dead in the biggest escalation of the decades-old conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh since a separatist war there ended in 1994. The region lies in Azerbaijan but has been under control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia.

The talks between the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan were held on invitation from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who brokered the cease-fire in a series of calls with President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.


Armenia said it was open to a cease-fire, while Azerbaijan previously had made a potential truce conditional on the Armenian forces' withdrawal from Nagorno-Karabakh, arguing that the failure of international efforts to negotiate a political settlement left it no other choice but to resort to force.

Russia has co-sponsored peace talks on Nagorno-Karabakh together with the United States and France as co-chairs of the so-called Minsk Group, which is working under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.


Speaking in an address to the nation Friday hours before the cease-fire deal was reached, the Azerbaijani president insisted on his country's right to reclaim its territory by force after nearly three decades of international talks that "haven't yielded an inch of progress."

"Mediators and leaders of some international organizations have stated that there is no military solution to the conflict," Aliyev said. "I have disagreed with the thesis, and I have been right. The conflict is now being settled by military means and political means will come next."


The current escalation marked the first time that Azerbaijan's ally Turkey took a high profile in the conflict, offering strong political support. Over the past few years, Turkey provided Azerbaijan with state-of-the-art weapons, including drones and rocket systems that helped the Azerbaijani military outgun the Nagorno-Karabakh separatist forces in the latest fighting.

Armenian officials say Turkey is involved in the conflict and is sending Syrian mercenaries to fight on Azerbaijan's side. Turkey has denied deploying combatants to the region, but a Syrian war monitor and three Syria-based opposition activists have confirmed that Turkey has sent hundreds of Syrian opposition fighters to fight in Nagorno-Karabakh.


In an interview with CNN Arabic aired Thursday, Azerbaijan's president admitted that Turkish F-16 fighter jets have stayed on in Azerbaijan weeks after a joint military exercise, but insisted that they have remained grounded. Armenian officials had earlier claimed that a Turkish F-16 shot down an Armenian warplane, a claim that both Turkey and Azerbaijan have denied.

Turkey's involvement in the conflict raised painful memories in Armenia, where an estimated 1.5 million died in massacres, deportations and forced marches that began in 1915 as Ottoman officials worried that the Christian Armenians would side with Russia, its enemy in World War I.


The event is widely viewed by historians as genocide. Turkey denies the deaths constituted genocide, saying the toll has been inflated and that those killed were victims of civil war and unrest.

Turkey's high profile in the conflict worried Russia, which has a military base in Armenia. The two countries are linked by a security treaty obliging Moscow to offer support to its ally if it comes under aggression.


At the same time, Russia has sought to maintain strong economic and political ties with oil-rich Azerbaijan and ward off Turkey's attempt to increase its influence in the South Caucasus without ruining its delicate relations with Ankara.

Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have negotiated a series of deals to coordinate their conflicting interests in Syria and Libya and expanded their economic ties. Last year, NATO member Turkey took the delivery of the Russian S-400 air defense missiles, a move that angered Washington.


A cease-fire in Nagorno-Karabakh would allow the Kremlin to stem Turkey's bid to expand its clout in Russia's backyard without ruining its strategic relationship with Ankara.

While Turkey has aspired to join the Minsk Group talks as a co-chair, the statement issued by Armenia and Azerbaijan contained their pledge to maintain the current format of the peace talks.