China’s only bodyguard school trains protectors skilled in digital dark arts

At the “Genghis Security Academy,” which bills itself as China’s only dedicated bodyguard school, students learn that the threats to the country’s newly rich in the tech age are more likely to emerge from a hacker than a gunman. Each day students in matching black business suits toil from dawn until midnight at the school in the eastern city of Tianjin, where digital defenses are given equal pegging to the traditional close-protection skill set of combat, weapons training and high-speed driving. About 1,000 graduate each year, hoping to land jobs as guards to China’s burgeoning ranks of rich and famous, positions which can be worth up to US$70,000 — several times more than an annual office wage. However, the school has said that it cannot meet demand as China’s rapid growth mints millionaires — 4.4 million according to a Credit Suisse report last year, more than in the US. The course fees are up to US$3,000 a student; and while they had to cancel training between February and June because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has not dampened demand. Only the best make the cut, founder Chen Yongqing (陳永青) said, adding that his disciplinarian standards are stricter than in the army. “I’m quick-tempered and very demanding,” the army veteran from China’s northern Inner Mongolia region told reporters. “Only by being strict can we cultivate every good sword. If you don’t forge it well, it will break itself,” he said. About half of the students are ex-military, Chen said. They train in rows in a large, shabby sports hall, holding blue plastic guns ahead of them with a steady stare — before practicing hustling their clients safely into a black Audi with smashed windows. Other sessions are held in a classroom or gym, where they box in matching red T-shirts. Mobile phones are confiscated throughout, while meals are taken in silence in

Ginsburg: Trump to name a woman

IN A HURRY? The president said that while he had not chosen who he would name to fill Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s post, she would be ‘very talented, very brilliant’

US President Donald Trump on Saturday said that he would nominate a woman to succeed late US Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The president’s desire to “to move quickly” on the process, despite Democrats’ vehement opposition, is likely to dominate the campaigns — alongside other hot-button issues such as COVID-19 and the US’ ongoing racial reckoning — ahead of the Nov. 3 election. “I think it’s going to move quickly actually,” Trump told reporters outside the White House, adding that he thought his choice would be made “next week.” Addressing a rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina, later in the day, he took an impromptu poll from the crowd, asking them to cheer for either a woman or a man to be his pick. The crowd cheered considerably louder for the former. “That’s a very accurate poll because that’s the way I feel. It will be a woman. A very talented, very brilliant woman, who I haven’t chosen yet — but we have numerous women on the list,” Trump said. The 87-year-old Ginsburg, immensely popular among Democrats, died on Friday after a long battle with cancer. Her death, just weeks before the presidential election, offers Republicans a chance to lock in a conservative majority for decades to come, on a court where justices are appointed for life. The stakes are high as the decision could affect such weighty issues as abortion, healthcare, gun control and LGBT rights. They are pushed even higher in a bitter election year when the justices can play a decisive role in legal wrangling over a contested result — such as when they ruled in former US president George W. Bush’s favor to end the 2000 election debacle. Trump has already named two justices during his term as president, Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, giving conservatives a 5-4 majority before Ginsburg’s death, although that does

Donations to Democrats surge after Ginsburg’s death

Democrats raised more than US$71 million in the hours after US Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death, demonstrating how the liberal icon’s passing and the contentious nomination fight that lies ahead have already galvanized the party’s base. The jaw-dropping sum was raised by 9pm on Saturday after news of her death broke late on Friday, according to a donation ticker on the Web site of ActBlue, the party’s online fundraising platform. This year’s campaign, which will decide control of the White House and the US Senate, had already delivered record-shattering fundraising totals for the Democrats, a sign of the motivation within the party to rebuke US President Donald Trump on election day. However, Ginsburg’s death brought new impetus to the campaign, particularly after Trump and US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell both pledged to move forward with finding a new justice. That would further tilt the court in a conservative direction, carrying wide-ranging implications for the fate of abortion access, environmental regulations and healthcare. Although ActBlue has not yet disclosed who the biggest recipients were, Democratic challengers to Republican senators were in line to benefit from the influx of cash. A group of Democratic strategists raising money through an effort called “Get Mitch or Die Trying,” which shares donations among Democratic Senate contenders, reported that within hours of Ginsburg’s death they more than doubled what they had previously raised. “In tribute to the extraordinary life of Justice Ginsberg, I’m matching donations to this fund up to US$10,000 tonight,” tweeted Grey’s Anatomy showrunner Krista Vernoff. US Senator Brian Schatz, a Democrat, included a link to the fundraising effort in his tweet: “Don’t pick your favorite candidate or the one you’ve heard of. Give here. I repeat, this money goes directly to the most competitive races, not just the most famous candidates.” A separate

Ricin mailed to the White House

An envelope addressed to the White House and intercepted by US authorities contained a substance identified as ricin, a deadly poison that appeared to have been sent from Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said on Saturday. The RCMP “has received a request for assistance from the FBI in connection with a suspicious letter sent to the White House,” an RCMP spokesman said. “The FBI conducted an analysis on the substance found in the envelope. This report indicated the presence of ricin, a toxic substance,” the RCMP added. The RCMP said that it is working with the FBI, but declined to discuss further details. The envelope was intercepted at a government mail center before it arrived at the White House. Asked about the reports, the FBI said that the agency and “US Secret Service and US Postal Inspection Service partners are investigating a suspicious letter received at a US government mail facility. At this time, there is no known threat to public safety.” The White House and US Secret Service declined to comment. Ricin is found naturally in castor beans, but it takes a deliberate act to convert it into a biological weapon. According to guidelines from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it “works by getting inside the cells of a person’s body and preventing the cells from making the proteins they need. Without the proteins, cells die. Eventually this is harmful to the whole body, and death may occur.” Death from ricin poisoning, the CDC said, can “take place within 36 to 72 hours of exposure,” depending on the dosage and whether the poison was inhaled, ingested or injected. There have been numerous incidents involving envelopes mailed with ricin to US officials. In 2018, a Utah man, William Clyde Allen III, was indicted for making ricin-related threats, including mailing a threat against Trump

Virus Outbreak: COVID-19 adds to extreme pressure for California firefighters

‘TREMENDOUS STRESS’: Firefighters are fighting fires for 24 to 36 hours, and some can only rest in tents because of the risk of spreading the virus

This year’s ferocious wildfires on the US west coast are taking a heavy toll on exhausted firefighters who see no end in sight to the blazes, with the COVID-19 pandemic adding another layer of risk. For Chula Vista Fire Department Battalion Chief Darrell Roberts, a 20-year veteran firefighter in California, the more than two dozen major wildfires raging across the state and the unprecedented scale of the blazes are a stark reminder of climate change and the new normal. “When resources are stripped thin and literally every firefighter is out on the front lines, and you have firefighters coming from all over the US and other countries, we know that we’re in unprecedented waters,” Roberts, 42, told reporters after a three-week deployment on the front lines. “We haven’t seen fires like this before,” he added. The severity of the ongoing blazes — which have devoured more than 2 million hectares in California, Oregon and Washington state and killed more than 30 people — has tested the limits of traditional firefighting techniques and pushed crews to the point of exhaustion, he said. Yet while the intense heat and unpredictable flames are known enemies for firefighters, adding to the challenge this year is the COVID-19 pandemic, which has further stretched resources. “COVID is already a high concern in our day-to-day operations, when we’re not involved in fighting fires, and now we’re combining both, and that’s put a tremendous amount of stress and strain on firefighters, because our job is to save lives, but we now also have to protect ourselves,” Roberts said. Fire officials have had to adjust the layout at fire base camps to reduce the risk of spread, and many firefighters have resorted to bringing their own tents for added security, he said. “Our last seven days out fighting the fires, we literally slept out in

Impunity robs Romania trafficking victims of justice

“I want him to pay for everything I’ve suffered,” said a short, frail 24-year-old Romanian who was forced into prostitution by a man who duped her. The man with whom she fell in love trafficked her in Romania and then to Austria before she managed to escape. “Once he hit me with a chair and almost killed me,” another 31-year-old victim said, adding that the experience pushed her “to the brink of suicide.” Both women are housed in a shelter for trafficking victims in northeastern Romania and are awaiting the start of proceedings against the men who passed them around. Yet their wait might be in vain, given the impunity that many perpetrators seem to enjoy in Romania. On a national level, the number of alleged traffickers sent to court dropped from 400 in 2018 to 347 last year. Agence France-Presse gained access to hundreds of pages of judicial documents and interviewed victims, prosecutors and lawyers in different regions. The drawbacks were apparent even in the high-profile “Tandarei” case, which spanned the UK and Romania. In one of the largest child trafficking rings uncovered in Europe, more than 100 people were convicted in the UK over an operation in which dozens of minors were forced to beg and steal. However, in Romania all those charged were last year acquitted after an almost decade-long trial. The Romanian judges complained about the investigation led by the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT), saying a lot of it was “accusations based on hearsay,” while leads on alleged bribes paid to local police were not followed up. In a report on trafficking in Romania, the US Department of State said that “widespread complicity and the failure to incriminate officials hampered effective law enforcement.” “Trafficking networks have vast sums of money, which often allows them to buy impunity,” said Silvia Tabusca, director

World News Quick Take

UNITED KINGDOM Virus protesters arrested Police have made 32 arrests during a demonstration in central London against COVID-19 restrictions and mass vaccinations. More than 1,000 people are estimated to have joined the rally in Trafalgar Square, among them 5G conspiracy theorists, coronavirus skeptics and “anti-vaxxers.” Sections got into scuffles with police — some officers, with their batons drawn, were pushed back by crowds on the margins of the demo. By early evening on Saturday, the Metropolitan police said the area had been cleared. The police force said it attended the Resist and Act for Freedom rally, which began at about midday, and attempted to encourage protesters to leave throughout the day. “Despite this, protesters remained, putting themselves and others at risk,” it said. “It is important to remember that we are still in the middle of a global pandemic, and the changes have been introduced to help control the spread of the virus, keep everybody safe and save lives.” Among the crowds were people selling T-shirts bearing 5G conspiracy theories and advocating the legalization of cannabis, with banners calling for government scientific advisers to be sacked and declaring COVID-19 a “hoax.” SPAIN Homes sought for 110 cats Animal charities in the country’s south were on Saturday urgently seeking homes for 110 cats after they and their owner were evicted from an apartment in the Valencia region. SPAMA Safor, an animal shelter in the southeastern town of Gandia, had initially thought there were 96 cats in the apartment. However, by Saturday evening, the charity said it had removed 110 cats and urgently needed help to shelter them “at least until they are vaccinated or sterilized.” “Apparently the owner took in a pair of cats three years ago and they have been procreating ever since,” Salvadora Tormas, who works with the shelter, told reporters. The shelter

Thousands rally against government in Bangkok

SIGNIFICANT DATE: Police said at least 5,000 people had gathered at the Thammasat University campus on the anniversary of the 2006 coup against Thaksin Shinawatra

Thousands of protesters yesterday demonstrated in Bangkok against the government of former coup leader and Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, with many also demanding reforms to the powerful monarchy. “Down with feudalism, long live the people,” was one of the chants. Protests have been building since mid-July to call for the removal of the government, a new constitution and elections. They have also broken a long-standing taboo by criticizing the monarchy of Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn. Police said that at least 5,000 people had gathered at the campus of Thammasat University, long seen as a hotbed of opposition to the military and royalist establishment, and that scene of a massacre of protesters in 1976. Under light rain, protesters spilled onto Sanam Luang, a public space opposite the Grand Palace where state ceremonies are traditionally held. “Today the people will demand back their power,” Arnon Nampa, a human rights lawyer who has emerged as a leading figure in the protest movement, wrote on Twitter. Yesterday was is the anniversary of the coup against populist then-Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in 2006. Among the protesters were many of his Red Shirt followers, veterans of clashes a decade ago with the pro-establishment Yellow Shirts. “I’m here to fight for the future of my children and grandchildren. I hope that by the time I die, they will become free,” said 68-year-old Tasawan Suebthai, a Red Shirt with amulets round her neck to ward off bullets. So far the protests have been peaceful. The biggest to date drew more than 10,000 people last month, but organizers expect more this time. Thai politics has for years been marked by challenges to the royalist and military establishment by politicians backed by poor urban and rural voters, and more recently by the student protesters. The military, which proclaims itself the defender of the country’s core institutions, in particular

Virus Outbreak: Victoria reports 21 COVID-19 cases, seven deaths

APOLOGY: Victoria’s chief health officer said it was ‘inappropriate’ to single out the Afghan community, after saying he was prioritizing attempts to engage with them

Victoria Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton yesterday apologized for comments he made singling out Melbourne’s Afghan community in relation to a COVID-19 outbreak in the city of Casey. Sutton made the apology as Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews announced 21 new COVID-19 cases and seven more deaths in the state. It was the lowest number of new cases in the state since June 24. Melbourne’s 14-day new case average was 39.3, well below the state’s target of 50. Andrews said the declining numbers showed that the state’s strategy is working. “Those numbers tell a powerful story of what can be achieved when you stay the course,” he said. “When you don’t get sidetracked by some of the loudest voices, who I understand are hurting and want to open up … but we won’t be open for very long if we don’t first get these numbers down to a low level.” There are 834 active cases in Victoria, 806 of which are in Melbourne and 28 in Victoria. More than half the total — 433 cases — are in aged care. The state’s death toll has risen to 757 and the national count is at 844. Public health authorities have raced to stop infections growing in the Casey and Dandenong council areas on Melbourne’s southeast rim, which now has 90 active cases, three of whom have been admitted to hospital. Five households in Clyde, Cranbourne North, Hallam and Narre Warren South are linked to 34 active cases. Contact tracers discovered members of each house had been breaching the 5km travel limit for visits. A special team has been created to target the cluster, with the government saying that it is in conversation with local community members and leaders. Sutton yseterday said that it was wrong to single out the Afghan community in reference to the cluster, describing his remarks as “inappropriate.” Sutton had

Beloved Japanese mushroom under threat

In a country that prides itself on its seasonal cuisine, few ingredients generate as much anticipation in Japan as the delicate, unmistakably autumnal flavors of the matsutake mushroom. As the humidity of summer gives way to cooler days, it is soon to appear on special display in supermarkets, while upmarket ryotei restaurants are to present delicate slivers in clear soups or steamed with gently seasoned rice. For Japanese diners with money to spare, the matsutake is the taste of autumn, prized for its meaty texture and sweet aroma, which combines mushroom with a hint of cypress. Yet its status as the king of mushrooms is in doubt. This summer, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) placed the fungus on its Red List of threatened species for the first time, identifying it as “vulnerable.” Japanese consumers have been blamed for helping consign the Pacific bluefin tuna to Red List status in 2014, but experts say that overconsumption is not responsible for the matsutake shortage. Instead, they cite a steep decline in its natural habitat of red pine forests, and the rising menace presented by the pinewood nematode, an invasive worm originally from North America. While deforestation is threatening matsutake populations in other parts of the world, changes in the way people interact with pine forests in Japan appear to have sealed the mushroom’s fate. The postwar exodus to urban areas meant man-made pine forests where matsutake had previously thrived were left abandoned, said Akiyoshi Yamada, an associate professor at Shinshu University’s Institute for Mountain Science. With no one left to clear the forest floor of “litter” such as pine needles, leaves and branches, the bare ground where matsutake grow, drawing sustenance from the roots of red pine trees, was invaded by rival plant species, he said. By the 1970s, disease caused by the pinewood nematode “exploded in western

Indian Army admits fault in killings of three Kashmiri men

In a rare admission of wrongdoing, the Indian military on Friday said that its soldiers in Kashmir exceeded their legal powers in the killings of three local men it had described as Pakistani terrorists. Indian Army spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia said that police are investigating whether the men were actually involved in militancy. The victims have now been identified as residents of Rajouri District whose families had filed a complaint accusing soldiers of killing them in a staged gunbattle, he said. On July 18, the Indian Army said that its soldiers had killed three “unidentified Pakistani terrorists” in the southern Shopian area. About a month later, three Kashmiri families in Rajouri identified the victims as their missing relatives using photographs of the bodies that circulated on social media, and filed a complaint with police. Police ordered an investigation, and the results have not yet been released. “Their DNA report is awaited. Their involvement with terrorism or related activities is under investigation by the police,” Kalia said in a statement, without explaining how the military had identified the three men. Kalia said an army investigation showed that the soldiers had exceeded the powers granted to them under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. The act gives the Indian military in Kashmir sweeping powers to search, seize and even shoot suspects on sight without fear of prosecution. Under the act, local authorities need federal approval to prosecute erring army or paramilitary soldiers in civilian courts. The special powers were given to the military in 1990, a year after an armed rebellion erupted in Kashmir seeking the Himalayan region’s independence or merger with neighboring Pakistan, which also controls part of Kashmir. “Consequently, the competent disciplinary authority has directed to initiate disciplinary proceedings under the army act against those found prima facie answerable,” Kalia said. “Indian Army is

Watchdog slams attacks on female journalists

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Friday condemned relentless social media attacks on female journalists in Pakistan — vicious assaults that have threatened rape and even death. The attacks often follow instances of public criticism of the ruling party, led by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, a former cricket player who turned to politics later in life and whose following includes legions of young people. Criticism had focused on Khan’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Pakistan has reported more than 304,00 cases of the virus, including 6,408 deaths. The numbers have been declining since June, with fewer than 400 new cases reported on most days and as testing has increased. The relentless trolling and mounting complaints from female journalists prompted CPJ’s Asia program coordinator Steve Butler and senior Asia researcher Aliya Iftikar to warn that those spewing abuse online of female Pakistani journalists are often fans of the ruling party. The New York City-based group did not provide evidence of direct links between the perpetrators and Khan’s party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). CPJ’s statement, featuring testimonials from several female PakistanI journalists, comes after a petition, signed by more than 100 female journalists, was last month submitted to the government demanding an end to the online assaults. “The target of these attacks are women with differing viewpoints and those whose reports have been critical of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s government, and more specifically its handling of the coronavirus pandemic,” the petition said. “The online attacks are instigated by government officials and then amplified by a large number of Twitter accounts, which declare their affiliation to the ruling party,” it said. “In what is certainly a well-defined and coordinated campaign, personal details of women journalists and analysts have been made public.” The attacks have “dire offline consequences,” with many female reporters saying

Ginsburg’s death reshapes US election

‘TITANIC BATTLE’: The prospect of another conservative Supreme Court nominee has emboldened Trump’s supporters, but also those who fear losing abortion rights

The death of US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday has set off a fierce political battle over her replacement and thrust the sudden vacancy into the forefront in the November presidential election. Ginsburg, who died at age 87 of complications from pancreatic cancer, was a fierce advocate for women’s rights and the court’s leading liberal voice. Her death gives US President Donald Trump a chance to expand his conservative majority with a third appointment at a time of deep divisions in the US. Political strategists say that it could bolster his effort to shift the subject away from his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic that has killed nearly 200,000 Americans, while galvanizing his conservative base and Democrats who fear a change in the balance of power on the Supreme Court. “This is going to set off a titanic battle. This could seriously affect the election,” said David Gergen, a political adviser who has served four US presidents, both Republican and Democratic. Trump, seeking re-election on Nov. 3, has already appointed two conservatives to lifetime posts on the court, Neil Gorsuch in 2017 and Brett Kavanaugh in 2018. Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Friday said that he intends to act on any nomination Trump makes, while Democrats immediately called for the seat to be kept vacant until after Jan. 20, when the winner of the Nov. 3 election would be sworn in. Trump has been trailing his Democratic opponent, US vice president Joe Biden, in opinion polls for months, as Democrats have sought to make the election a referendum on Trump and in particular his response to the public health crisis. “Any week Donald Trump doesn’t have to talk about coronavirus is a net positive for him,” said Joel Payne, a Democratic strategist who worked for 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton. “Historically, Republicans vote

Ruth Bader Ginsburg memorialized as Notorious RBG

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg moved slowly. When court was in session, she often had her head down, sometimes leading visitors to think she was asleep. She once acknowledged that she did occasionally nod off, including during a State of the Union address. It was a mistake to equate her gait and gaze with frailty, for Ginsburg showed over and over a steely resilience in the face of personal loss and serious health problems that made the diminutive New Yorker a towering women’s rights champion and forceful presence at the court over 27 years. She made few concessions to age and recurrent health problems, working regularly with a personal trainer. She never missed any time in court before the age of 85, and then only following surgery in December 2018 for lung cancer. Ginsburg died on Friday of complications from metastatic pancreatic cancer at her home in Washington at 87, the court said. Late in her court tenure, she became a social media icon, the Notorious RBG, a name coined by a law student who admired Ginsburg’s dissent in a case cutting back on a key civil rights law. The justice was at first taken aback. There was nothing “notorious” about this woman of rectitude who wore a variety of lace collars on the bench and often appeared in public in elegant gloves. When her law clerks and grandchildren explained the connection to another Brooklynite, the rapper The Notorious B.I.G., her skepticism turned to delight. “In the word the current generation uses, it’s awesome,” Ginsburg said in 2016, shortly before she turned 83. In 2018, Ginsburg was the subject of a documentary and a feature film On the Basis of Sex, in which the actor Felicity Jones portrayed her. In her final years on the court, Ginsburg was the unquestioned leader of the liberal justices, as outspoken in dissent as she

US versus the world on ‘snapback’

IRAN SANCTIONS: While the US ‘pretends’ that it has activated the snapback, it would be ‘like pulling a trigger and no bullet coming out,’ a diplomat said

The US was yesterday to unilaterally declare that UN sanctions against Iran are once again in force, a move that risks increasing Washington’s diplomatic isolation while also stoking international tensions. “Virtually all UN sanctions on Iran will come back into place this weekend at 8pm Eastern Time on Saturday the 19th,” said Elliott Abrams, the US Department of State’s top official on Iran. On this point, Washington is almost alone in the world: All the other great powers — China, Russia and also the US’ own European allies — have challenged the claim. In mid-August, US President Donald Trump’s administration suffered a resounding defeat at the UN Security Council when it tried to extend the embargo on conventional weapons being sent to Tehran, which was due to expire in October. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made an unusually vehement attack on allies France, Britain and Germany, accusing them of “siding with Iran’s ayatollahs,” and on Aug. 20 announced a controversial move known as the “snapback,” which aims to re-establish all sanctions against Tehran a month later. The sanctions were lifted in 2015 when Iran signed on to an international agreement not to seek to build nuclear weapons. Trump said that the landmark accord, negotiated by his predecessor former US president Barack Obama, was insufficient and withdrew the US from the agreement in 2018, then renewed and strengthened Washington’s bilateral sanctions. The US is insisting it is still a participant in the agreement it stormed out of, but only so that it can activate the “snapback” option. Virtually every other member of the Security Council disputes Washington’s ability to execute this legal pirouette, and the council has not taken the measure any further. This dialogue of the deaf has gone on unabated: The Trump administration acts as if the international sanctions were coming back, while the rest of the

California wildfire smoke blankets parts of Canada

Smoke from California and Oregon wildfires this week cloaked Canada’s third-largest city of Vancouver — known for its majestic mountain views and fresh ocean breezes — in the dirtiest air in the world. Days have been spent smarting under a thick haze that has irritated eyes and throats, and sent asthmatics gasping for breath. It has also complicated COVID-19 testing. On Friday, despite forecasted smoke-clearing rain storms, the city — 1,300km north of the biggest California fires — topped for the second time this week the World Air Quality Index for worst air, after briefly ceding first place to Portland in fire-stricken Oregon. “I’m out of breath all the time, my chest feels like it’s exploding, I feel like I’m going to suffocate,” said Fatima Jaffer, a doctoral student at the University of British Columbia. “I’m afraid of the long-term damage this smoke might do to my lungs and my asthma,” she added. Authorities for the metropolitan region of 2.5 million residents have issued daily air quality warnings since Tuesday last week, with things so bad that Vancouver opened five filtered “clean air shelters.” It is equivalent to smoking eight cigarettes a day, researchers said. Health officials urged people to close windows and avoid strenuous exercise or outdoor activities — especially those with respiratory illness. Jaffer, 58, said her worsening asthma added to a sense of panic and dread, as she had just recovered from COVID-19, which robbed her of her sense of smell. She worries the smog could increase her odds of reinfection or cause new health complications. “I’d just gotten to the place of getting over the fear of COVID-19 and felt like I could breathe again, and now I literally can’t,” she said. It has been an “entire horrible week for air quality,” said Armel Castellan, a federal warning preparedness meteorologist. “The fine particulate has brought our Air

In California, Wi-Fi vans help disadvantaged students

A minivan with a Wi-Fi router attached to the dashboard and a satellite antenna on the roof is helping 200 disadvantaged students in Santa Ana, close to Los Angeles, cope with the rigors of distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. “When the school district launched the new school year last month, some of the parents had challenges,” said Roman Reyna, who is overseeing the “Wi-Fi on wheels” project launched by JFK Transportation, which organizes school runs in the district. “A lot of our students don’t have access to Wi-Fi. So it’s difficult for them to hear some of the messages or learning lessons behind the computer,” Reyna said. As many schools began the year with teaching online, the head of the company, Kevin Watson, came up with the idea of equipping some of his vans with Internet relays and parking them at strategic points in the city, where students with no Internet at home could stay on top of their school work. “We park the van, and we’re here about eight hours to ensure that the students are connected during the day,” Watson said. “The Wi-Fi signal will reach approximately three and a half football fields, that’s about 350 yards [320 meters].” The connection is secured by a password and accessible only to students, he added. “The Wi-Fi routers are 5G, it’s one of the best and very quick,” said Watson, who is African-American and grew up in neighborhoods of Santa Ana, where many immigrant families live and often struggle to make ends meet. Each van is able to connect some 200 students, and seven have already been deployed as part of the project. Financial negotiations are ongoing with the school district and the hope is to have a fleet of about 50 of the vehicles, Watson said. The project has highlighted inequalities in a state that boasts the