TSA employees are finding themselves at the center of the government shutdown debate.
Transportation Security Administration screeners at airports across the country have been working without pay while the partial government shutdown continues into its second month. In some cases, workers have called in sick or quit, and in others, they are relying on an airport food bank to get through the missed paychecks.
Some TSA workers say their work is important enough that a mass protest could force lawmakers to end the impasse over border security funding. "There's this talk going on that if the TSA workers would take a stand, would walk out, then the airlines would get to the president and he'd have to make a decision to stop the shutdown," TSA agent Cairo D'Almeida told The Seattle Times.
While plenty of pundits have suggested such a move, hoping the ensuing chaos would pressure President Trump to cave on his demand for $5.7 billion toward a border wall, it's a big ask for TSA workers, who, as federal workers, can be fired and even prosecuted for striking. "I know President Trump wouldn't hesitate one second to get rid of the entire federal work force," said D'Almeida.
Still, many TSA employees recognize that they are in a unique position to shape the debate surrounding the record-breaking shutdown. Earlier this week, 7.5 percent of the TSA workforce called in sick, more than double the rate on the same day last year, reports ABC News. That strain alone is creating some political pressure, but it's risky to intentionally cause more trouble. "It's unfair this political burden has fallen to us," D'Almeida told the Times.
Read more about what federal workers can do about the shutdown here at The Week. Summer Meza
In Belarus, protesters took to the streets of Minsk on Sunday night after a government exit poll predicted the authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko will win a sixth term, with 80 percent of the vote.
Witnesses said riot police fired stun grenades, rubber bullets, and water cannons at the demonstrators in order to break up the crowd, BBC News reports. Lukashenko, 65, has been in power since 1994, and is often referred to as "Europe's last dictator." Leading up to the election, the government cracked down on journalists and activists, and officials blocked two challengers from appearing on the ballot and arrested another.
Opposition leaders said they expected the vote to be rigged, and observers were not allowed to monitor the election. The exit poll gives Lukashenko's primary challenger, former teacher Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, seven percent of the vote, but she said during a press conference that she believes "my eyes, and I see that the majority is with us." Catherine Garcia
The coronavirus is a serious, often-deadly pathogen, yet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 40 percent of all cases are asymptomatic. In some isolated outbreaks in prisons and food processing plants where thousands of people contracted COVID-19, as many as 94 percent of infected individuals presented no symptoms. The Washington Post spoke to experts and suggested four possible reasons as to why, though it's important to note the research in all cases is in early stages.
T-Cells: T-cells, a type of white blood cell that generally provides longer-lasting immunity than antibodies, may be the key to understanding resistance. One research group found that, among uninfected blood samples donated to a blood bank between 2015 and 2018, a "remarkable" 40 to 60 percent recognized the coronavirus, suggesting some people may have an immune response based on memory of other, less potent coronaviruses.
Vaccines: The Mayo Clinic is studying whether vaccines for other pathogens can protect against the virus, as has been proven in other situations. Seven types of vaccines given one, two, or five years in the past were found to be associated with a lower rate of coronavirus infection, particularly pneumonia and polio vaccines.
Allergies: Scientists have noted children with asthma and allergies surprisingly don't seem to be at high risk of developing serious cases of COVID-19. One theory is that those children have a reduced number of ACE2 receptors, the protein the virus latches onto before replicating inside the body. Without those receptors, the virus' chance of causing damage could decrease, meaning allergies may offer protection in this case.
Masks: Masks are discussed as a preventative measure, but they may contribute to more mild infections, as well. The most direct evidence of this theory is a comparison of two cruise ships. On the Diamond Princess, where masks weren't used, 47 percent of the positive cases were asymptomatic, whereas an Antarctic-bound Argentine cruise ship that had a similar outbreak, but provided masks to all passengers and crew, saw an 81 percent asymptomatic rate. Read more at The Washington Post. Tim O'Donnell
It's not hard to read between the lines of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar's visit to Taiwan to meet with health officials about the coronavirus pandemic.
Azar arrived Sunday, making him the highest-ranking U.S. cabinet official to embark on a diplomatic visit to the island since 1979 when Washington broke relations with Taipei as a concession to China, which claims Taiwan as a territory. Since then, the U.S. has remained a de facto ally of Taiwan, but has largely refrained from demonstrating any semblance of official ties. The Trump administration has increasingly played fast and loose with those guidelines of late, however, as the U.S.' relationship with China deteriorates, especially in light of the pandemic. And it certainly feels like Azar's trip is part of the possible "strategic shift," The Financial Times reports.
While some experts acknowledge Taiwan deserves better treatment from the U.S., there's also a sense that Washington is creating risks for Taipei, FT reports. "We ought to push the envelope because the envelope was sealed by us, and we have opened it before," said William Stanton, a former director of the American Institute in Taiwan. "But there is the worry — and it is one Taiwan needs to consider as well — that the China threat is constantly there."
Additionally, Shelley Rigger, a professor at Davidson College and a leading Taiwan expert, told FT she isn't sure how serious President Trump is about supporting Taiwan and predicted he could back down if things with China really get heated, leaving the island vulnerable. "If I were Beijing, I would be asking myself: 'If the U.S. gives us a justification to attack Taiwan, what are the odds that he will change is pattern of cutting and running?" Rigger said. Read more at The Financial Times. Tim O'Donnell
An Afghan grand assembly of elders, known as the Loya Jirga, on Sunday passed a resolution to release 400 Taliban prisoners, and President Ashraf Ghani said he will sign the order, effectively removing one of the most important barriers to peace talks between the government and the Taliban, who have been in conflict for decades.
The United States and the Taliban had previously agreed the latter would enter talks with the Afghan government if it released 5,000 prisoners, most of whom have already been freed. But Kabul was hesitant to release the final 400, many of whom are accused of serious offenses, with more than 150 of them on death row. The Loya Jirga said they wanted guarantees the Taliban would not return to the battlefield during negotiations, and Ghani said "the choice is in the Taliban's hands ... the Taliban should show today they don't fear a nationwide cease-fire."
Some civilians and human rights group are wary of the move, but negotiations between the factions are expected to begin next week in Qatar. Read more at Al Jazeera and BBC. Tim O'Donnell