James Randi, magician and debunker,

dies at 92

Oct. 21 (UPI) -- James Randi, the magician, escape artist and debunker of paranormal and pseudoscientific claims, has died. He was 92.

The James Randi Educational Foundation announced in a statement Wednesday that Randi had died the day prior due to "age-related causes.

"He had an Amazing life. We will miss him," the statement read.

We are very sad to say that James Randi passed away yesterday, due to age-related causes.

He had an amazing life. We will miss him.

Please respect Deyvi Peña's privacy during this difficult time.— Randi Foundation (@jref) October 21, 2020

The Canadian-born magician who went by the stage name the Amazing Randi was a celebrated magician and escape artist, known for such elaborate acts as extracting himself from a straight jacket while dangling over the Niagara Falls in the 1970s. In 1975, he also performed at the White House at the request of first lady Betty Ford during the presidency of Gerald Ford, according to his foundation.

However, Randi is possibly better known for his work debunking psychics, spoon-benders, faith healers, homeopathic medicine and the like.

Famously on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" in 1973, Randi and the late-night host worked together to prove that Israeli mentalist Uri Geller's psychic and supernatural powers were nothing more than magic tricks.

For the show, Randi had the producers supply the props for Geller to use and he was unable to perform a single trick during the entire segment.

Decades later, Geller admitted he never had any powers but Randi lambasted him, saying "it was too late" as his claims had negatively affected too many people, organizations and governments that believed him.

In the 2014 documentary "An Honest Liar," Randi said he has spent his life fighting "people who are stealing money from the public, cheating them and misinforming them."

He also famously started The Million Dollar Challenge offering up that large sum of money to anyone who could prove they have paranormal powers. No one ever earned the award.

"Over the years, we have spent a great deal of time dealing with claims ranging from yet another dowsing claim to some VERY eccentric and untestable claims," the foundation said in 2015 when it announced the fund would be transformed into grants for non-profit groups that promote critical thinking.

"The overwhelming majority refused to fill out the applications or even state a claim that can be tested. Some of them show up in person and demand to be tested while they wait," the foundation said. "We can no longer justify the resources to interact with these people"

For his work, Randi has won numerous awards, including the $272,000 "genius grant" from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in 1986 for his investigations into claims of the supernatural, occult and paranormal, his foundation said.

He is remembered by Deyvi Pena, whom Randi married in 2013.

Fellow magician Penn Jillette of the duo Penn & Teller mourned Randi's death online, saying "you invented us."

Another picture from the last day I spent with Randi. I talked to him a couple times after this. My inspiration, my hero, my mentor, my friend. I will talk to him the rest of my life and my memory of him will answer. I didn't absorb enough wisdom, but I absorbed a lot. pic.twitter.com/8oerQO59m9— Penn Jillette (@pennjillette) October 22, 2020

"We will never forget that without Randi, there would not be Penn & Teller. It's really that simple," Jillette said via Twitter, posting a series of photos of himself with Randi.

"My inspiration, my hero, my mentor, my friend," he said.

On This Day: Brooklyn Dodgers sign Jackie Robinson
On Oct. 23, 1945, Jackie Robinson, the first black baseball player hired by a major league team, was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers and sent to their Montreal farm team.
By UPI Staff


National Baseball Hall of Fame member Lou Brock getrs a closer look at the Jackie Robinson display at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City on July 9, 2012. On October 23, 1945, Jackie Robinson, the first black baseball player hired by a major league team, was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers and sent to their Montreal farm team. File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI | License Photo

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/2020/10/23/On-This-Day-Brooklyn-Dodgers-sign-Jackie-Robinson/1861603147410/

Russia grants Edward Snowden permanent residency, says his lawyer

Edward Snowden has been living in Russia to evade U.S. prosecution since 2013. Photo by Dennis Van Tine/UPI | License Photo

Oct. 23 (UPI) -- Russia has granted former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden permanent residency, his lawyer said.

Attorney Anatoly Kucherena told Russian state-run Tass news agency on Thursday that "Snowden was granted an open-ended residence permit" by Russia earlier in the day.

Snowden has been living in Russia since 2013 in evasion of U.S. prosecution for charges related to his leaking of information on U.S. intelligence and surveillance operations.

The 37-year-old whistleblower has been living in the Asian nation on three-year permits since, with his most recent document set to expire on April 30 but was automatically extended until June 15 due to the coronavirus pandemic, his lawyer said, adding that Snowden applied for its extension once lockdown measures were eased.

Kucherena said his client is not considering applying for Russian citizenship.

Russia first granted Snowden asylum in 2013 after arriving from Hong Kong, where U.S. authorities had sought his extradition.

He was granted a three-year extension to stay in Russia in 2014, which was extended a further three years in 2017.

Air pollution killed nearly a half-million newborns last year, study says


A woman wears a face mask while walking in Beijing, China, amid hazardous levels of air pollution. Wednesday's report said people in Asia, Africa and the Middle East are the most affected by air pollution. File Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

Oct. 21 (UPI) -- New research Wednesday says air pollution is the leading cause of death for newborns in their first month of life, and was responsible for killing nearly a half-million babies last year.

The "State of Global Air 2020" report was compiled and published by the Health Effect Institute.

The study said 476,000 newborn babies died last year due to pollution, most of whom lived in underdeveloped nations.

"Air pollution is linked with an increased risk of low birth weight and preterm birth," it states. "Babies born too small or too early are more susceptible to health problems such as lower-respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, brain damage and inflammation, blood disorders, and jaundice."

The analysis said about two-thirds of deaths last year resulted from indoor pollution, like burning charcoal, wood and animal dung for cooking -- and more than 90% of the global population experienced fine particle air pollution that exceeded safety guidelines from the World Health Organization.

"In 2019, air pollution moved up from the fifth to the fourth leading risk factor for death globally, continuing to exceed the impacts of other widely recognized risk factors for chronic diseases like obesity, high cholesterol, and malnutrition," the report states.

The assessment said the only causes of early death that ranked higher than pollution were high blood pressure, tobacco use and poor diet.

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"Over the last several decades, scientists have continued to build an extensive body of evidence on the risks that breathing poor-quality air poses to human health and our environment, perhaps the most extensive evidence that exists for any environmental risk factor," the study notes.

"Despite all that is known about the effects of air pollution on health, the findings in 2019 show that little or no progress has been made in many parts of the world."

Travel restrictions imposed after the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic early this year, the researchers said, led to a brief improvement of global air quality.

"As restrictions have lifted, emissions have risen -- quickly erasing any gains in air quality," it says. "Since air pollution's most substantial health burdens arise from chronic, long-term exposure, COVID-19 has offered only a temporary respite from air pollution."

The report says residents in India face the most air pollution, followed by populations in Nepal, Niger, Qatar and Nigeria. It said Asia, Africa and the Middle East have been affected most by air pollution.

South Korea police launch investigation into delivery worker's death

South Korea police are investigating a delivery worker death following the discovery a note detailing grievances about work conditions. 

File Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI | License Photo

Oct. 21 (UPI) -- South Korean authorities are investigating the death of a delivery driver who left behind a note detailing unfair contract terms with his company.

The probe follows a statement of concern from President Moon Jae-in on the status of essential workers amid COVID-19.

Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency said Wednesday it is assembling a team of 14 detectives to probe the driver's death and verify the note, Yonhap reported.

The death of the unidentified driver has been ruled a suicide, according to local press reports. The man's death comes after at least 11 delivery workers across the country have been found dead since the pandemic. Overwork leading to exhaustion and illness has been cited as the cause for many deaths.

The note left in the case of the latest driver, who worked for local logistics company Logen, was found Tuesday. The note began with the words, "I have been wronged," according to local television network KBS.

The note included grievances toward Logen. According to the written statement, the company required the driver to pay up front a security deposit and also pay a premium for the right to deliver packages in an area of Busan, South Korea's second-biggest city. The note went on to say those payments reduced his salary.

Kim In-bong, secretary general of a national logistics workers union, told KBS the security deposits are a common feature of contracts with top logistics companies, including CJ Logistics. CJ Logistics is part of CJ Group, one of the country's biggest conglomerates.

The company is to issue a formal apology on Thursday, according to lawmakers visiting a CJ logistics center on Wednesday, Yonhap reported.

Workers under contract with CJ Logistics have recently died, including a man in his late 40s with the surname Kim, on Oct. 8. Another CJ employee in his late 30s was found dead at his residence on Oct. 12, according to the report.

"COVID-19 is increasingly pushing the livelihoods of workers within economic blind spots, including those of special-employment type workers, towards the brink," Moon said Tuesday.

Web search data shows soaring interest in police reform, study finds

Hundreds of demonstrators gather in downtown Los Angeles, Calif., on May 27 to protest the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis two days earlier. Floyd died after an officer kept him pinned on the ground for several minutes with his knee pressed to the back of his neck, suffocating him. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo


Oct. 21 (UPI) -- Interest by Americans in police reform has reached unprecedented levels this year judging from how they researched the subject online, according to a study published Wednesday.

Researchers at the University of California at San Diego found that in the 41 days following the May 25 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Google searches for "police" and "reform(s)" rose to record highs, eclipsing past searches on the topic more than 150-fold.

There were more than 1.3 million total searches, said lead author John Ayers, co-founder of the Center for Data Driven Health at the Qualcomm Institute at UC-San Diego.

"Discussing political opinions openly in this polarized landscape is not something anyone is eager to do," Ayers said. "Instead, when it comes to controversial issues like police reform, you're far more likely to stay mum and search online about what you may be thinking."

By examining Internet searches, he said, "decision makers can discover what issues and policies resonate with the public."

The analysis, titled "Quantifying Public Interest in Police Reforms by Mining Internet Search Data Following George Floyd's Death," found that searches for specific topics within the realm of "police reform" following Floyd's death also set new national records.

Searches for "police" and "union(s)" exceeded all-time highs and reached about 1.2 million searches. Queries combining "police" and "training" rose nearly 5 times (820,000 searches) and "police" and "immunity" increased 53-fold (360,000 searches), the researchers found.

Results varied by state. Residents in 33 states, including Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and New Jersey, searched more for police "training" than any other reform topic. Sixteen states, including Wyoming, Mississippi, South Dakota and West Virginia, searched most for police "union(s)."

Only two states, North Dakota and New Mexico, searched most for police "immunity."

The authors suggested that analyzing Internet search data is a powerful new scientific tool for policy makers for quickly gauging public sentiment.

"Currently, we evaluate the public's interest in policy using methods, like surveys, that ask specific questions relating to a specific point in time... a snapshot of sorts," said co-author Alicia Nobles, assistant professor of medicine at UC-San Diego.

"However, monitoring Internet searches gives us a more robust picture of public interest -- we can capture more voices, in their own words, and in near real time engendering more democratic policy making."

Protesters demand justice in police killing of George Floyd

Demonstrators hold a sign in Los Angeles on June 14 for Breonna Taylor, a black woman who was shot by police in her home while she was sleeping. Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo

CHEMICAL WARFARE
Environmental groups sue DHS over use of tear gas in Portland

The American Civil Liberties Union is suing the Department of Homeland Security over its use of chemical munitions in Portland. Photo by Doug Brown/ACLU of Oregon

Oct. 21 (UPI) -- A coalition of environmental, public health and social justice groups in Oregon has sued the Department of Homeland Security over its use of tear gas and chemical weapons to quell protests in Portland, accusing the federal agency of creating "potentially grave health and environmental hazards."

Filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon on Tuesday in an Oregon district court, the lawsuit accuses the DHS of breaking environmental law when its agents of Operation Diligent Valor deployed an "unprecedented amount of dangerous chemical weapons" to disperse protests against police brutality and racial inequality.

The complaint accuses the federal agency of deploying the chemical munitions without preparing an environmental assessment and an environmental impact statement as mandated for major federal actions by the National Environmental Policy Act.

"In short, NEPA required Defendants to consider the potentially severe environmental and human health impacts of Operation Diligent Valor, but they did not do so. And they continue to abdicate that responsibility to Plaintiffs and the public," the lawsuit states.

Operation Diligent Valor was deployed July 4 to Portland in a bid to protect federal buildings amid months-long protests that erupted in response to the police-involved killing of George Floyd on Memorial Day.

The plaintiffs Neighbors for Clean Air, Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides, Cascadia Wildlands, 350PDX and Willamette Riverkeeper said in the lawsuit that the chemical weapons and tear gas used during the operation have "infiltrated" nearby residences, buildings and parks and may have permeated the city's vegetation.

"The manner and volume of tear gas and other munitions deployed in relation to Operation Diligent Valor in Portland has been so excessive and substantial that visible munitions residue and sediment have accumulated in and on Portland's streets, sidewalks, curbs, bioswales, stormwater system, buildings and standing water," the lawsuit said.

Kelly Simon, interim legal director at ACLU Oregon, equated environmental justice with racial justice in a statement, saying that they both disproportionally deny minorities the right to a safe and healthy community.

"The large volumes of tear gas and other chemical weapons that federal officers recklessly and thoughtlessly unleashed in Portland is yet more evidence of the Trump administration's racist disregard for public health and a safe living environment," Simon said. "So, we will see them in court, again."

The coalition is seeking an injunction forcing the DHS to stop using chemical munitions, including tear gas, until the proper studies and analysis as mandated by the NEPA are completed.

The ACLU has already filed lawsuits against DHS and other federal agencies over its response to protests in Portland.

On July 22, it filed a lawsuit accusing the federal agency of targeting and attacking several volunteer street medics. The lawyers group was also awarded a court order prohibiting law enforcement from attacking journalists and legal observers in Portland amid the protests.

Protect Democracy later in July also filed a lawsuit against the DHS, its leaders and other federal agencies, accusing them of exceeding their authority in Portland with Operation Diligent Valor.

The lawsuit claims agents deployed in Operation Diligent Valor exceeded their authority to protect federal buildings by making arrests, injuring protesters and firing tear gas.

 Trump donor pleads guilty to secretly lobbying for foreign interests

By Darryl Coote

Oct. 20 (UPI) -- Elliott Broidy, a former major fundraiser for President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, pleaded guilty Tuesday to violating lobbying laws by secretly accepting millions of dollars from foreign interests to influence the White House.

Broidy, 66, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly for the District of Columbia to one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act, agreeing to forfeit the $6.6 million he profited in the scheme as part of his plea deal, the Justice Department said in a release.

The venture capitalist from Beverly Hills faces up to five years in prison with sentencing scheduled for Feb. 12.

Prosecutors charged Broidy earlier this month with conspiring to secretly work for a Chinese government minister and a foreign national to influence the Trump administration.

"Elliott Broidy sought to lobby the highest levels of the U.S. government to drop one of the largest fraud and money laundering prosecutions ever brought and to deport a critic of the Chinese Communist Party, all the while concealing the foreign interests whose bidding he was doing," Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers of the Justice Department's National Security Division said in a statement. "His guilty plea is the first step in vindicating the principle of transparency that undergirds the free flow of ideas in our democratic system."

The Justice Department said Broidy pleaded guilty to agreeing to lobby Trump, the Justice Department, its attorney general and other top administration officials to drop a civil forfeiture case concerning the embezzlement of billions of dollars from 1Malaysia Development Berhad, a Malaysian government strategic investment fund and company better known as 1MDB.

Broidy was paid $9 million by the unnamed foreign national believed to be Malaysian financier Jho Low, and the Justice Department described Broidy's conspirator as "the alleged architect of the 1MDB scheme."

The Justice Department charged Low in 2018 on charges of conspiring with others to embezzle billions from 1MDB as well as conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by paying bribes to Malaysian and Abu Dhabi officials.

Broidy pleaded guilty to receiving $9 million for his illegal lobbying work between March 2017 and January 2018, of which he paid $2.4 million to his co-conspirator Nickie Lum Davis, who pleaded guilty on Aug. 31.

George Higginbotham, a former Justice Department employee, pleaded guilty for his involvement in November 2018.

Prosecutors said Broidy also admitted to pushing Trump to play golf with Prime Minister Najib Razak in order to allow the Malaysian dignitary to discuss the 1MDB investigation. A Malaysian court sentenced Razak to 12 years in prison in July on corruption and money laundering charges in connection to the 1MDB scandal.

Broidy also pleaded guilty to attempting to influence the Trump administration on behalf of a People's Republic of China minister to extradite a dissident living in the United States, the Justice Department said.

In the plea deal, Broidy said he attempted to arrange meetings between an unnamed Chinese minister and the heads of the Justice Department and Homeland security as well as other high-level administration officials while the foreign politician was visiting the United States in May 2017 concerning the extradition case.

The Justice Department said none of his illegal lobbying was successful. LOSER

"This case demonstrates how foreign governments and principals seek to advance their agendas in the United States by hiding behind politically influential proxies," Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian C. Rabbitt of the Justice Department's Criminal Division said in a statement. "Such conduct poses a serious threat to our national security and undermines the integrity of our democracy."

Judge Kollar-Kotelly said during the hearing that prosecutors declined to bring charges against Broidy over his attempts to influence U.S. policy concerning a Middle Eastern country.

U.S. again tops 60K new COVID-19 cases; surgeon general rejects 'herd immunity'

Pedestrians wear face masks in Times Square in New York City on Wednesday.

 Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

Oct. 21 (UPI) -- U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams joined other top health experts Wednesday in opposing a dangerous "herd immunity" strategy, as the United States again added another 60,000 COVID-19 cases.

According to updated data from Johns Hopkins University, there were 60,300 new cases nationwide on Tuesday -- the third time in the past week that the level has topped 60,000.

Deaths in the United States also increased on Tuesday, the data showed, to more than 900. Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 8.28 million cases and about 221,100 deaths nationwide.

Wednesday, Adams joined Dr. Antony Fauci and other top health officials in opposing a herd immunity strategy, which is purportedly being considered by the Trump administration. Adams said pursuing such a strategy, which effectively allows the coronavirus to spread unchecked, would result in an unacceptable death toll.

Adams tweeted that there's no "example of a large-scale successful intentional infection-based herd immunity strategy" and warned that the course would "lead to many complications/deaths."

The strategy reasons that letting the virus spread would infect large populations, who would then develop a natural immunity to COVID-19 and thereby reduce the number of people who can be infected afterward. Eventually, the theory goes, the virus would run into a dead end.

"Large numbers of people would need to be infected to achieve herd immunity without a vaccine," Adams wrote, warning that such a path could "overwhelm" healthcare systems.

Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, rejected the idea of herd immunity last week, calling it "ridiculous" and "total nonsense."

Most scientists say there would be no feasible way to isolate and protect vulnerable Americans who face a greater risk of death from COVID-19 in such a scenario.

Researchers at the University of Washington say a herd immunity strategy would likely lead to tens of thousands of additional deaths by the start of 2021.

Child cases have increased by almost 15% -- 84,000 cases -- in the first two weeks of October, according to an update from the American Academy of Pediatrics and Children's Hospital Association.

Since the start of the crisis, about 740,000 children have tested positive in the United States -- almost 11% of total cases, it said. The overall infection rate is 986 per 100,000 children.

Though severe illness and deaths still appear to be rare among children, the groups urged authorities to "provide detailed reports on COVID-19 cases,

Nearly 8 in 10 report pandemic is causing mental health strain

A pedestrian wears a face mask to prevent the spread of COVID-19 on Wall Street in New York City on Oct. 15, as researchers report growing mental health issues linked to the pandemic. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

COVID-19, health care, the economy, systemic racism and the presidential election are a threat to the nation's mental health, according to an American Psychological Association poll.

Seventy-eight percent of adults polled said the pandemic is causing major stress and 60% called the array of issues facing the country overwhelming.

And younger adults are really struggling, the poll revealed. Respondents from Generation Z -- those born since 1996 -- pegged their stress level in the past month at a 6 on 10-point scale in which 1 represented "little to no stress" and 10 was "a great deal of stress." That compared with an average stress level of 5 among all adults.

Nineteen percent of adults said their mental health is worse than it was a year ago.

That included 34% of Gen Z adults, 19% of millennials, who were born between 1977 and 1995, 21% of Gen Xers, who were born between 1965 and 1976, 12% of baby boomers, who were born between 1946 and 1964, and 8% of those born before 1946.

Gen Z adults were the most likely to report common signs of depression. More than 7 in 10 said that in the last two weeks they were so tired that they sat around and did nothing, felt very restless, found it hard to think or concentrate, felt lonely, or felt miserable or unhappy.

"This survey confirms what many mental health experts have been saying since the start of the pandemic: Our mental health is suffering from the compounding stressors in our lives," said Arthur Evans Jr., chief executive officer of the APA. "This compounding stress will have serious health and social consequences if we don't act now to reduce it," he said in an association news release.

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Evans noted that the youngest Americans are showing signs of serious mental health issues, including depression and anxiety.

The poll found that changes to school are a big stressor for Gen Zers. More than 8 of 10 teens said they have had negative impacts of school closures, and 51% said planning for the future seems impossible.

Among college students, 67% feel the same way about planning for the future. And 87% of Gen Z members in college said school is a significant source of stress.

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"Loneliness and uncertainly about the future are major stressors for adolescents and young adults, who are striving to find their places in the world, both socially, and in terms of education and work. The pandemic and its economic consequences are upending youths' social lives and their visions for their futures," said survey researcher Emma Adam, a professor of education and social policy at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.

Adam said public policy must address this generation's need for social, emotional and mental health supports as well as financial assistance and educational and work opportunities. "Both comfort now and hope for the future are essential for the long-term well-being of this generation," she said.

But most Americans aren't getting the support they need. Among adults, 61% said they could use more emotional support than they've gotten over the last year, with more than 82% of Gen Z adults saying the same.

"As a society, we must galvanize our resources to support teens and young adults," Evans said. "We need to stand with them to fight systemic injustices, which can be a source of stress relief while supporting them in building their resilience. The pandemics of racism and COVID will not be overcome quickly. We all need to learn skills to help us manage our stress while we fight for a society that is more equitable, resilient and innovative."

The nationwide poll of more than 3,400 adults was conducted Aug. 4-26 in English and Spanish. It also included a sample of more than 1,000 13- to 17-year-olds.

More information

For more on stress, see the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health.

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