Viewers call out Nik Wallenda's live volcano high-wire crossing for safety precautions

High-wire artist Nik Wallenda crossed Nicauragua's active Masaya Volcano during the ABC special Volcano Live! Wednesday night. And he had to worry about a lot more than just keeping his balance.

This volcano is one of only eight volcanoes in the world to have a lava lake, filled with 2,000-degree molten rock. The volcano also emits a toxic fog that is made up of hydrogen fluoride, hydrogen sulfide, hydrochloric acid, sulfur dioxide, and carbon dioxide gasses, which required that the high-wire cable be coated in special material to keep from corroding.

Wallenda wore a gas mask and sealed goggles to keep the toxic fumes from burning and incapacitating him. Despite the safety precautions, he said that the gasses managed to burn his eyes.

At a height of 1,800 feet, this was Wallenda's highest walk. He later admitted it was also his windiest. There was one point during the walk in which viewers could really see Wallenda battling the wind.

Despite the toxic gasses, 2,000-degree lava, gusting winds, and the fact that this was his longest and highest crossing of his career, many viewers complained on Twitter about Nik wearing a safety harness, causing quite a feud to emerge between haters and fans.

It should be pointed out that Wallenda normally uses a safety harness, including his walks across Niagara Falls and Times Square. In fact, the only major walk he has done in the last eight years without a safety harness was the Grand Canyon in 2013.

The entire crossing took Wallenda a little over 31 minutes. He spent much of that time praying, as well as pitching his new book Facing Fear. When he did finally finish the walk, he was greeted by hugs, cheers, and place in the history books.

NIk Wallenda becomes the first person to walk over an active volcano

Overcoming fear. #VolcanoLivewithNikWallenda pic.twitter.com/vfj2AeQwai— Nik Wallenda (@NikWallenda) March 5, 2020

March 4 (UPI) -- Nik Wallenda became the first person to walk a high wire directly over an active volcano on Wednesday night.

The 41-year-old known as the "King of the Wire" successfully completed the 1,800-foot-long walk over the Masaya Volcano in Nicaragua in a two-hour ABC special titled "Volcano Live! with Nik Wallenda."

"It was amazing," said Wallenda. "The first half of the walk, just being able to see that volcanic lava down there ... absolutely mesmerizing."

What would you be thinking if you were in Nik's shoes right now? 

VIDEO ON TWITTER
#VolcanoLivewithNikWallenda pic.twitter.com/uXFQH2ujWD— Nik Wallenda (@NikWallenda) March 5, 2020

Wallenda added that the wind conditions were unpredictable and the gasses from the volcano burned his eyes, which were protected by a gas mask.

"I just put myself in my back yard training," he said. "I just put myself back there and just mentally went 'OK, you're fine, you've walked in stronger winds than this.'"

Wallenda previously broke a Guinness World Record over the summer when he walked 1,808 feet across a tightrope in a Canadian city 30 feet over the ground in about 30 minutes.

He has also walked 25 stories above Time Square, faced what he described as the "intimidating roar of falls" and "blinding mist" as he made a 1,800-foot-long trek 170 feet above Niagara Falls, and walked a wire 1,500 feet above an Arizona gorge near the Grand Canyon without a harness.

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USA 

Lawyer challenging abortion law reacts to Supreme Court arguments

Kate Smith, CBS News•March 6, 2020

Julie Rikelman, an attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights, has spent years working on June Medical Services v. Russo, a Supreme Court case that could dramatically alter abortion access in the United States.

All that work was realized Wednesday during oral arguments when Rikelman was given 30 minutes to deliver arguments and take questions from justices on the newly-conservative high court. Speaking from the steps of the Supreme Court immediately following the hearing, Rikelman said she "felt good.""I think I was able to answer all of the justice's questions. I felt prepared," Rikelman said during an interview with CBS News.At the center of Wednesday's case is Louisiana Act 620, the "Unsafe Abortion Protection Act," a 2014 law that requires doctors who provide abortions to have privileges to admit patients at a nearby hospital. While the state says it's designed to improve patient safety, critics, like Rikelman's firm, say it's intended to shut down clinics that provide abortion.

Just weeks after it was signed into law, the Center for Reproductive Rights challenged the restrictions, largely blocking it from ever going into effect. The Supreme Court's decision, expected later this year, will ultimately determine whether or not the law can be implemented. Today, only one doctor currently providing abortions in the state is in compliance with the regulation. If the law were to go into effect, that physician has said he would step down, effectively making Louisiana the first state to be without an abortion clinic since Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized the procedure.On Wednesday, the Supreme Court held oral arguments, an hour-long hearing where each side presents their case and take queries from justices.

CBS News' Kate Smith interviews Julie Rikelman, an attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights Gilad Thaler

Rikelman said the justice's questions were in line with what she was expecting."They asked questions about why this law could potentially be different than the Texas law," Rikelman said, referencing Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt, a Supreme Court case in 2016 that struck down an identical law out of the neighboring state. "Why should the outcome for the state of Louisiana be different from its neighbor Texas?"In 2016, Chief Justice John Roberts dissented from the court's decision in Whole Woman's Health. On Wednesday, Roberts, as well as Justice Brett Kavanaugh, asked Rikelman whether Louisiana's admitting privileges were inherently unconstitutional or could the regulation be legal if abortion access wasn't impacted."What I said is the court has already said that admitting privileges have no benefit for patients," Rikelman said. "They do nothing for health whatsoever. And generally, laws that have no benefit, can't be constitutional."The Louisiana Attorney General's Office did not make Liz Murrill, the attorney defending the state's regulation, available for an interview following arguments on Wednesday.Justices, in particular Justice Samuel Alito, also questioned Rikelman on whether or not it was appropriate for abortion clinics to represent patients in cases, like Wednesday's, that challenged abortion regulations, a question that was raised to the court by Louisiana last year. Per the state's argument, people seeking an abortion should be capable of legally challenging abortion restrictions."Once a woman finds out she's pregnant, she has only a few weeks to get an abortion and she'd have to file the case in that exact window of time," Rikelman said. "And for our case, she'd then have to keep it going for five and a half years. The state hasn't explained what would be different if there was a woman in this case instead of the physicians."

In June Medical Services v. Russo, as well as more than a dozen other abortion-related cases in the Supreme Court's pipeline, the plaintiff is an abortion provider, not a patient.

"This law applies to doctors, it doesn't apply to the patients. It directly regulates the doctors," Rikelman said. "It is a strategy that has been used in order to obstruct abortion is to impose requirements on doctors and clinics. So, it would be ironic if the doctors couldn't then challenge those laws."Rikelman said that if the court were to side with Louisiana on the issue of standing, the impact would be "devastating.""The reality is that most women can not bring these cases themselves," Rikelman said. "And the court has really recognized that before. Women are concerned about their privacy. They're concerned about the stigma. There are protestors outside clinics in Louisiana taking pictures of people who go in and out of the clinics, and in an age of social media, it would be very difficult for a woman to keep her decision private."

Argentina farmers announce strike after soya exports tax hike

AFP•March 5, 2020


Soya beans are one of Argentina's major exports, alongsiude soya flour and soya oil, where the South American country is the world leader (AFP Photo/JUAN MABROMATA)More

Buenos Aires (AFP) - Argentina's farmers announced on Thursday a four-day strike after the government of President Alberto Fernandez increased tariffs on soya exports just three months after already hitting the agricultural sector with higher taxes.

Soya is Argentina's biggest export commodity and the government hiked tariffs from 30 to 33 percent on Thursday.

The industrial action announced by the four farming employers federations is the first to hit Fernandez since he assumed power in December.

When Fernandez took over, he imposed 30 percent tariffs on soya exports and 12 percent taxes on other agricultural products such as corn and wheat as part of a plan to tackle an economic crisis.

Argentina has been in recession for more than 18 months while it is desperately trying to renegotiate some of its debt -- which stands at more than 90 percent of GDP -- to stave off a damaging default.

The latest tax increase was published in the government's official bulletin on Thursday following days of meetings between Agriculture Minister Luis Basterra and representatives of the farming sector.

In 2008, then-president Cristina Kirchner -- currently the vice-president -- provoked a clash with agricultural businesses by ramping up export taxes.

The country was practically paralyzed by the ensuing protests.

Fernandez, who was cabinet chief at the time, resigned.

"Once again it will be the countryside that will pay the debts and costs of a crisis we didn't generate," said the Rural Society of San Pedro, one of the most active agricultural interest groups during the 2008 face-off.

Argentina's GDP shrank by 2.1 percent in 2019 after a similar fall of 2.5 percent the year before.

Inflation is at more than 50 percent while poverty and unemployment are on the rise.

In 2019, Argentina exported 29.65 million tons of soya flour, 10.12 million tons of soya beans and 5.29 million tons of soya oil.

Argentina is the world's largest exporter of soya flour and in 2019 become number one in soya oil, too.

Delhi's displaced scrape a living after deadly riots
By Alasdair Pal and Devjyot Ghoshal, Reuters•March 4, 2020


People look towards a relief camp in Mustafabad in the riot-affected northeast of New Delhi

By Alasdair Pal and Devjyot Ghoshal

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Mohammed Anees fled his home in northeastern New Delhi last week as Hindu-Muslim clashes erupted in his area, escaping with his family of four to a relative's home. He had only a few hundred rupees in his wallet, leaving everything else behind.

Now the 37-year-old Muslim mechanic is among more than 1,000 people sheltering in a large open-air mosque that has been turned into a relief camp in the Mustafabad area of the Indian capital and opened on Monday.

"I don't have any money left now," Anees said, showing pictures of his ransacked home that he visited on the weekend on his cracked mobile phone.

With jewelry and savings looted and afraid of more violence, he moved to the camp with his wife and three children, victims of the worst communal riots in New Delhi for decades. More than 40 people were killed and hundreds injured.

Anees lived in Shiv Vihar, where two large mosques and dozens of Muslim houses surrounding it were torched. Houses with Hindu symbols were largely left untouched.

In total, some 2,000 people are believed to have been displaced, local politician Amanatullah Khan said. Hundreds of those are taking shelter on the floors of private homes.

"The police brought us and left us here," said Mohammed Uddin, 70, outside a cramped house where dozens of people packed into an entrance foyer. "They didn't even check if we were hurt."

Many of those displaced, who are overwhelmingly Muslim, have moved to the Mustafabad camp, where a kitchen provides free meals and volunteer doctors are treating victims.

Rashid Ali, a local resident helping organize the camp, said they had received some help from the Delhi government, run by a regional party.

On a long desk outside the mosque premises, a small group of lawyers helped the victims of riots file for compensation ranging from 25,000 rupees ($341.34) to 100,000 rupees.

Seema Joshi from Delhi's ruling Aam Aadmi Party, who was helping the legal team, said around 500 applications had been made, though many people showed up without any paperwork since they fled in a hurry without documents or had belongings burnt.

In the narrow streets surrounding the mosque, women jostled for food supplies as children rummaged through piles of second-hand clothes donated to victims.

On a loudspeaker, an announcer asked for volunteers to clean an overflowing toilet attached to the relief camp.

"A lot of people are facing depression," said Wasim Qamar, a doctor at the camp. "People saw terrible things. Some of them can't eat or sleep. They are very fearful."

Describing the violence as "one-sided and well-planned" against Muslims, the Delhi Minorities Commission - a government-appointed body that focuses on minority groups - said the Delhi government's compensation package was inadequate after surveying riot-hit areas on Tuesday.

Saurabh Bharadwaj, a lawmaker from Aam Aadmi, said the party was trying to improve its response to the emergency.

Some leaders from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party have accused opposition groups of fanning the violence, saying that Muslims targeted Hindus during the clashes.

Shabira, 55, and her family were rescued by police early last Wednesday from Shiv Vihar, leaving their home with nothing but what they were wearing.

At the relief camp, she said she was getting basic amenities - food, shelter and diapers for her infant grandchild.

"I want my house back," she said, in tears. "I just want to go back."

(Reporting by Alasdair Pal and Devjyot Ghoshal, additional reporting by Anushree Fadnavis; editing by Mike Collett-White)

Sen. Ted Cruz Hatches Plan to Curtail the International Criminal Court’s Power

“If there was some other kind of legal maneuver like this available, I strongly suspect it would have been exploited before now.”Laurel Miller, Asia Director for the International Crisis Group and formerly the State Department’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan

Betsy Swan,The Daily Beast•March 5, 2020

LAST YEAR PHOTO BEFORE HE GREW BEARD

Carlos Barria/Reuters

Sen. Ted Cruz is aiming to dramatically curtail the power of the International Criminal Court, The Daily Beast has learned. The Texas Republican is working to garner support for a resolution that would call on the UN Security Council to bar the ICC from bringing charges against people from states who aren’t parties to the treaty that governs it—which would include Russia, China, the U.S., and Israel.

The resolution would also condemn the court for investigating American soldiers and Israeli officials, per a Republican aide familiar with Cruz’s outreach. Cruz has indicated that he expects bipartisan support for the effort, the aide said. One human rights expert said Moscow and Beijing would also likely welcome the effort. Trump administration officials—notably Secretary of State Mike Pompeo—have also lambasted the court.

Cruz laid out his strategy in a closed-door meeting with American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) activists on Capitol Hill earlier this week, the aide said. In the meeting, Cruz said he expected Russia and China to support the proposed UN Security Council resolution because they also worry the court could target their citizens. Cruz also told the group that he expected British and French diplomats to be open to the effort out of concerns about the court’s legitimacy.

“The United States will not sit idly by while unaccountable political operatives convene kangaroo courts in foreign countries to prosecute and persecute American soldiers and the soldiers of our allies,” the senator said in a statement provided to The Daily Beast. “I will work with my colleagues and the Trump administration on measures aimed at countering this decision, including and especially through a United Nations Security Council resolution that would prohibit the ICC from prosecuting the nationals of non-member states.”
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The effort comes after the court greenlit a move by its top prosecutor to investigate war crimes in Afghanistan—including crimes potentially committed by American perpetrators.

A treaty called the Rome Statute, agreed to in 1998, established the court to hear cases against people charged with genocide, war crimes, and other crimes against humanity. More than 100 countries are party to the treaty; the U.S., Israel, Russia, and China are not.

In December 2019, the court’s top prosecutor announced she would investigate potential war crimes committed by Israel in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Cruz pointed to the investigation in remarks at the AIPAC conference in Washington last week, calling the court “one of the most profound threats to Israel.”

Bolton Threatens International Criminal Court With Sanctions if It Keeps Probing Alleged U.S. War Crimes

Daniel Balson, Amnesty International’s advocacy director for Europe and Central Asia, told The Daily Beast that authoritarian governments will likely cheer the move.

“The hostility to the ICC evinced by the Trump Administration and its allies may be welcomed by governments in Moscow and Beijing but it is a minority view around the world,” Balson said. “Most UN member states have taken the considered decision to join the court. In seeking to leverage the UN Security Council against the ICC, Sen. Cruz believes he’s asserting American sovereignty. In reality, he’s expressing contempt for both international law and the sovereignty of others.”

And Laurel Miller, Asia Director for the International Crisis Group and formerly the State Department’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, told The Daily Beast that Cruz’s plan sounded infeasible.

“That doesn’t sound very plausible to me,” she said. “If the U.S. could have achieved something like that, it would have done so much sooner.”

“The U.S. has been opposed to the idea of the ICC being able to assert jurisdiction over Americans for many years, and during the Bush administration there was a big effort spearheaded by John Bolton in the State Department to get countries to promise not to hand over Americans,” she added. “If there was some other kind of legal maneuver like this available, I strongly suspect it would have been exploited before now.”

Vice President Mike Pence acknowledged on Thursday there were not enough tests available to meet the demand amid a coronavirus outbreak spreading in the US, after previously saying “every American can be tested” for the deadly illness.

This is a breaking news story. More follows…

Mike Pence's press secretary snaps at reporter for asking coronavirus question

Graig Graziosi, The Independent•March 5, 2020

Vice President Mike Pence speaks to reporters in the Brady press briefing room of the White House about the coronavirus Monday, 2 March, 2020: (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Vice President Mike Pence’s press secretary Katie Miller snapped at a White House correspondent on Wednesday following a press briefing dealing with the White House’s coronavirus task force.

The reporter, Brian Karem, asked Mr Pence about whether the White House has any guidance for uninsured individuals to get testing. Mr Pence was nearing the end of his press conference when Mr Karem asked him about coronavirus testing for the uninsured.

“Can you please supply some guidance to the uninsured who want to get tested?” Mr Karen asked.

Mr Pence blew past the question and wrapped up his press conference. He suggested the risk to the broader American population “remains low.”

“As we continue to take these steps, as Americans continue to take common-sense practices to protect their own health, the health of their family, we’ll work to keep it [low],” he said.

As Mr Pence finished and moved to leave the room, Mr Karem again yelled out his question, asking if there was any guidance for the uninsured to get testing.

He was ignored, so he tried again.

“Gentlemen, ladies, can the uninsured get tested?” Mr Karem asked.

Ms Miller snapped a response at Mr Karem.

“Screaming for the camera isn’t going to get you anywhere” she said.

Mr Karem pushed again.

“Well, how about answering the question? We would like an answer to that question,” he said. “It’s a valid question, could you answer it?”

At that point Ms Miller moves to exit the room, responding “We’ll get you an answer” as she departs.

It is unclear if the White House has followed up on Mr Karem’s question.

Though the Centers for Disease Control are not charging patients for testing, individuals can still incur hospital costs from visiting the ER.

Border Patrol waited to call EMS for U.S. man who later died

Graham Kates, CBS News•March 5, 2020


Border Patrol told Congress that officials at a Texas station called for an ambulance "immediately" after a now-deceased man arrested near the border showed "signs of distress." But the local sheriff told CBS News his office, which dispatches EMS, didn't receive a call until up to 26 minutes later.

At approximately 3:30 p.m. on February 4, Border Patrol agents arrested U.S. citizen James Paul Markowitz "as a suspect in an alien smuggling incident," according to the notice to Congress. 

More details about the 32-year-old Texan's arrest have not been released."

At around 6:00 p.m., during processing at the Brackettville Station, the man began exhibiting signs of distress," the notification said.

 "EMT-certified agents immediately administered first aid and contacted local Emergency Medical Services as his health deteriorated.

 At around 6:40 p.m., EMS arrived and transported the subject by ambulance to a local hospital."But according to Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe, who reviewed his office's phone records for CBS News, the call for help didn't come in until 6:26 p.m.

Sheriff Coe said Markowitz was described as "sweating" and "fidgety," when the 6:26 phone call was made. 

He said his office dispatched an ambulance five minutes later, and that the vehicle arrived at 6:37.

Markowitz was brought to a hospital, where he later died. His cause of death has not yet been determined.Until they were contacted by CBS News, some members of Congress — who received the statement because CBP is required to notify federal legislators — appeared to believe that CBP called for help at "around 6:00," and that it took EMS nearly 40 minutes to arrive. 

In a letter to Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf sent Wednesday, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairman Joaquin Castro and Immigration Task Force Chairwoman Linda Sánchez asked, "What help did Mr. Markowitz receive during the 40 minutes it took for EMT to arrive to the Brackettville Station?" 

Castro and Sánchez wrote in their letter that they "remain troubled twenty-eight days after the death of James Paul Markowitz without any further details or relevant information to his case."

Informed of the sheriff's timeline that appears to contradict CBP's Congressional notification, Castro said, "If this account is accurate, it raises serious concerns about CBP's actions and decision to wait 20 minutes after Mr. Markowitz started exhibiting symptoms before calling an EMT."

"Such a delay could have played a role in Mr. Markowitz tragic death. That is why we need transparency and answers from the Department of Homeland Security. We will continue holding DHS and CBP accountable for all deaths on their watch," Castro said.

In a statement to CBS News sent after this story was initially published, CBP said Markowitz first showed signs of distress at 6:05 pm and was immediately examined by a Border Patrol agent certified as an emergency medical technician. At 6:11 the agent took Markowitz outside for fresh air, but then decided Markowitz needed medical care. CBP said by 6:26 it was apparent that "more advanced care was required."

"It is devastating that besides all the efforts our EMTs and local medical professionals the life of the individual could not be saved. We will continue to work with local law enforcement to identify the cause of death," said Acting Chief Patrol Agent Doyle E. Amidon.

The agency said an investigation into Markowitz's death is ongoing.

Camilo Montoya-Galvez contributed to this report.

YouTubers keep playing Plague Inc. to try and simulate how coronavirus will spread across the world, even though the company behind the game has stressed it's 'not a scientific model'

Business Insider•March 5, 2020

MessYourself Gaming playing Plague Inc.
MessYourself Gaming / YouTube


YouTubers have been playing a game called Plague Inc. where they have to try and wipe out humanity with a disease.

So many people have been downloading the app since news of the coronavirus broke that its creator James Vaughan had to put out a statement saying the outbreak was "deeply concerning" and Plague Inc. is "a game, not a scientific model."

The game has now been banned in China.

Mental health experts believe games of all kinds can help reduce depression and anxiety, and disaster simulators can help people by giving them a sense of control over the situation.

When the coronavirus first entered the news cycle at the beginning of the year, people around the world started playing an old game again called Plague Inc.

It's a strategy game where the player is tasked with destroying humanity with a disease.

People thought it would be fun to see if they could wipe out everyone on Earth with their made-up virus by inputting some basic information they knew about coronavirus, like coughing and pneumonia symptoms and how it spreads through animals. It ended up reaching the top spot on Apple's App Store charts, and subsequently got banned in China.

Many YouTubers have also downloaded the game and uploaded their attempts of human erasure. A search for "coronavirus Plague Inc" brings up hundreds of results from the last few weeks from creators from several different countries including MessYourself Gaming, The Soviet Gaming Mobile, and Duygu Köseoğlu.

Some have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times, and many succeed in their mission of killing the human population.

YouTuber D'Angelo Wallace commented on the trend in a video where he read out some of the main concerns, including questions over whether it was ethical to make light of a virus that has killed over 3,000 people so far.

"Instead of making some sort of criticism or critique or even commentary on this coronavirus, the only thing these YouTube videos are really doing is causing even more people to panic," he said, going on to fact check beliefs about how the virus is spreading and how deadly it is.

The spike in people playing Plague Inc. prompted its creator James Vaughan to put out a statement saying the outbreak was "deeply concerning."

He said Plague Inc. has been around for eight years now and an outbreak of disease always leads to more downloads as people "seek to find out more about how diseases spread and to understand the complexities of viral outbreaks."

"We specifically designed the game to be realistic and informative, while not sensationalizing serious real-world issues," he said. "This has been recognised by the CDC and other leading medical organisations around the world."

He added that everyone playing the game should remember it is just that — "a game, not a scientific model."

"The current coronavirus outbreak is a very real situation which is impacting a huge number of people," he said. "We would always recommend that players get their information directly from local and global health authorities."
—Semen (@SleazyLebaneazy) March 5, 2020

Mental health expert Michelle Colder Carras, who specializes in video game use, told Business Insider in a previous article she isn't surprised Plague Inc. is very popular right now. Disaster simulators can give players a kind of "exposure therapy," giving them a sense of control over the situation, she said.

Studies are also increasingly showing that video games can act as a form of therapy for people with mental health conditions, the article continues.

According to Colder, "It's certainly possible that people are playing [Plague Inc.] as a way to work through anxiety or put things into perspective."

Read more:

People are obsessed with a game where you destroy humanity by spreading a disease. It's a way to work through coronavirus anxiety, according to an expert.

The wildly popular simulation game 'Plague Inc' has been pulled from the iPhone's Chinese app store amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis in China

Videos show the shockingly rapid progress China is making with 2 hospitals it's panic-building to fight the coronavirus

Experts think the Wuhan coronavirus jumped from bats to snakes to people. Bats have been the source of at least 4 pandemics.

The Wuhan coronavirus has spread to 14 countries. Here's how to protect yourself while traveling.

Read the original article on Business Insider

FILTHY LUCRE

Cash could be spreading the coronavirus, warns the World Health Organization

IMAGINE HOW THAT'S GOING TO IMPACT BANKING AND THE STOCK MARKET

Business Insider•March 5, 2020

Cash could be spreading the novel coronavirus, according to the World Health Organization.

The WHO told Business Insider that people should wash their hands after handling cash, especially before eating.

People should use contactless payments instead, the WHO told The Telegraph.

In February, China said it would destroy cash from areas highly affected by the coronavirus in an effort to slow the spread.

Cash could be contributing to the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, according to the World Health Organization.

The WHO told The Telegraph that the coronavirus could remain on money for days after being exposed to it and that people should avoid touching their face after handling cash.

"We know that money changes hands frequently and can pick up all sorts of bacteria and viruses and things like that," a WHO representative told The Telegraph. "We would advise people to wash their hands after handling banknotes and avoid touching their face."

Cash could be spreading the coronavirus, warns the World Health Organization
REUTERS/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus

In a statement to Business Insider, a WHO representative said people "should wash their hands or use a hand sanitizer after handling money, especially if they are about to eat or before handling food."

The Mayo Clinic says that viruses tend to last longer on hard surfaces like plastic and metal than on soft surfaces like fabric — US dollars are a blend of paper and fabric — but that factors like temperature and humidity affect how long a virus sticks around on surfaces.

China said in February that it would destroy and disinfect cash from hospitals, buses, and markets in areas severely affected by the coronavirus.

The UK-based Telegraph reported that the Bank of England said it would not follow China's plan and disinfect cash.

The US Treasury Department did not respond to a request for comment.

What The Satanic Temple is and why it's opening a debate about religion
Joseph P. Laycock, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, Texas State University,
The Conversation•March 5, 2020

The Satanic Temple unveils a statue of Baphomet, a winged-goat creature, at a rally for the First Amendment in Little Rock, Arkansas, in August 2018. AP Photo/Hannah Grabenstein

A group called The Satanic Temple went to court in their lawsuit against the city of Scottsdale, Arizona, for religious discrimination in January 2020.

The city’s attorneys argued that they could not possibly be guilty of religious discrimination because The Satanic Temple is not a religion. This argument prompted the judge in the case, Justice David Campbell, to ask, “What is religion?”

I am a professor of religious studies, and part of my job is getting students to think critically about the definition of religion. After studying The Satanic Temple for my book, “Speak of the Devil,” I find the most interesting thing about this group is the way it disrupts commonly held ideas about what religion is.

History of the group

The Satanic Temple was created in 2013 by two friends using the pseudonyms Malcolm Jarry and Lucien Greaves. Many members of The Satanic Temple use pseudonyms because of threats and hate mail that they receive.

Members of The Satanic Temple do not believe in God or the devil. Its beliefs are articulated in “the seven tenets.” These tenets emphasize reason and science as well as values such as compassion and justice.

The first tenet states, “One should strive to act with compassion and empathy toward all creatures in accordance with reason.” Other tenets address bodily autonomy, the freedom to offend and taking responsibility for one’s mistakes.

It was a series of political actions invoking religious freedom that brought the group into the public eye. They demanded the same privileges for Satanists that many Christians take for granted, such as erecting religious monuments on government property and using government meetings to present sectarian prayers.

Today there are 24 official chapters of the group throughout North America and Europe, ranging in membership from a dozen to over 100 people. Chapters can be found in coastal cities but also in the South and the Midwest. Texas is home to four chapters, more than any other state.

There are also thousands of supporters with individual memberships or in unofficial chapters with names like “Friends of The Satanic Temple, Arkansas.”
Political actions


One of the group’s political goals is to advocate for the value of the separation of church and state. Their strategy is to remind the public that if Christians can use government resources to assert their cultural dominance, then Satanists are free to do the same.

After Oklahoma installed a monument of the Ten Commandments at its State Capitol in 2012, the group demanded that their statue of a satanic deity, Baphomet, a winged-goat-like creature, be installed next to it.

The group received US$30,000 in donations from people around the country to build the statue.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court ordered the Ten Commandments monument removed. However, thousands of people extended their support to The Satanic Temple, leading to the creation of the group’s first few chapters.
Prayer invocations

The trouble in Scottsdale, Arizona, began in 2014 when the Supreme Court ruled in Greece v. Galloway that city councils and other government bodies may begin meetings with “invocations” that involve sectarian prayers.

What this meant was that the government could invite a pastor to say, “We pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,” as long as they did not discriminate against religious groups who wanted to give the invocation.

The Satanic Temple took the Supreme Court at their word. In 2016 they asked Scottsdale to open a city council meeting with the following prayer:


“Let us stand now, unbowed and unfettered by arcane doctrines born of fearful minds in darkened times. Let us embrace the Luciferian impulse to eat of the Tree of Knowledge and dissipate our blissful and comforting delusions of old.

"Let us demand that individuals be judged for their concrete actions, not their fealty to arbitrary social norms and illusory categorizations. Let us reason our solutions with agnosticism in all things, holding fast only to that which is demonstrably true.

"Let us stand firm against any and all arbitrary authority that threatens the personal sovereignty of One or All. That which will not bend must break, and that which can be destroyed by truth should never be spared its demise. It is Done. Hail Satan.”
Backlash against the Satanists

Initially Scottsdale officials agreed. Satanist Michelle Shortt, a member of the Arizona chapter, was scheduled to speak before a council meeting that April.

But then the Christian backlash began.

In court, attorneys discussed how one church sent over 15,000 emails demanding the Satanists be uninvited, crashing the city’s email system. Scottsdale officials cancelled Shortt’s invocation and declared a new policy that all invocation speakers must have “a substantial connection to the Scottsdale community.”

When the Satanists sued, Judge Campbell ruled there was insufficient evidence to prove Scottsdale officials acted out of religious prejudice.

People hold signs with Bible verses to protest The Satanic Temple’s unveiling of its statue of winged-goat creature Baphomet in Little Rock, Arkansas in August 2018. AP Photo/Hannah Grabenstein

What is religion?

However, an important outcome of the case was that Campbell rejected Scottsdale’s claim that The Satanic Temple is not a “real religion” or seeks only to mock actual religions.

The debate over what constitutes religion is an old one. In 1961, the Supreme Court acknowledged in Torcaso v. Watkins that there are many religions like Buddhism, Confucianism and even expressions of Judaism that are just not interested in God. Torcaso v. Watkins did not define religion; it merely ruled that religion is not synonymous with theism.

Scholars of religion have suggested that religion is not reducible to theism or indeed any one element. They have noted that the word religion is used differently in different contexts.

For example, religion scholar Catherine Albanese, in her 1981 book “America: Religions and Religion,” presented religions as systems consisting of “four ‘c’s.” These include creed, or a set of beliefs; code, or rules; cultus, meaning rituals; and community. In other words, religion is much more than the sum of its parts.

Religion can also be redefined to serve certain political interests. For example, in 2012 the state of Florida could not legally execute paranoid schizophrenic and convicted murderer John Errol Ferguson because the Florida Supreme Court ruled that the mentally ill must understand they will die when they are executed.

Ferguson stated he could not die because he was an immortal “prince of God.” The state circumvented this law by ruling that Ferguson’s delusions were a religious conviction and proceeded with the execution.

The word religion lends itself to such creative legal uses precisely because it has no set definition. As religion scholar Russell McCutcheon says, religion’s “utility is linked to its inability to be defined.”

The Satanic Temple is significant because it renders this sort of verbal slipperiness less tenable. If this group can no longer be dismissed as a “hoax,” people might be forced to think a bit more about what religion is.

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This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.

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