WHAT'S BREWING
SCOTUS LETS SOUTH CAROLINA REQUIRE WITNESS SIGNATURES ON MAIL-IN BALLOTS The U.S. Supreme Court ensured that a restrictive Republican-backed law in South Carolina that requires voters to have a witness sign mail-in ballots will be in place for the Nov. 3 election. The justices, granting a request by various Republican officials, put on hold a lower court ruling that had blocked the restriction. The court said that ballots already sent would not have to comply with the signature requirement. The law was challenged by the state Democratic Party, which argued that requiring a witness to sign ballots endangers people during the coronavirus pandemic and could decrease voting. [Reuters]
CDC: COVONAVIRUS CAN SPREAD FARTHER THAN 6 FEET The top U.S. public health agency said the coronavirus can spread more than 6 feet through the air, especially in poorly ventilated and enclosed spaces. Agency officials maintained that such spread is uncommon, however, several experts said the virus can spread more easily than the CDC seems to be indicating, and suggested that the public should wear masks even in prolonged outdoor gatherings when they are more than 6 feet apart. [AP]
APPEALS COURT: TRUMP ADMIN. CAN'T HOLD KIDS IN HOTEL ROOMS An appeals court refused to allow the Trump administration to resume detaining immigrant children in hotel rooms before expelling them under rules adopted during the coronavirus pandemic. Three judges on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals left in place a lower court’s order that requires the U.S. to stop using hotels in most situations to detain children unaccompanied by a parent. The judges denied the U.S. government’s request for a stay of that order. Border agents since March have placed at least 577 unaccompanied children in hotel rooms before expelling them from the country. [AP]
KYRGYZSTAN PROTESTERS STORM GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS Opposition groups in Kyrgyzstan said they had seized power in the strategically important Central Asian country on Tuesday after taking control of government buildings in the capital during protests over a parliamentary election. President Sooronbai Jeenbekov said the country, which hosts a Russian air base and a large Canadian-controlled gold mine, was facing an attempted coup d’etat. One person was killed and 590 wounded in unrest overnight, the government said. The opposition said it had freed Almazbek Atambayev, a former president jailed on corruption charges. [Reuters]
CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES BURN RECORD 4 MILLION ACRES Wildfires in California have burned more than 4 million acres in 2020, over twice the previous record for any year and an area larger than Connecticut. The most-populous U.S. state has suffered five of its six largest wildfires in history this year as heat waves and dry-lightning sieges coincided with drier conditions that climate scientists blame on global warming. At least 31 people have died in this year’s fires and over 8,454 homes and other structures have been destroyed. [Reuters]
STATES SEE RECORD INCREASE IN COVID-19 CASES Nine U.S. states have reported record increases in COVID-19 cases over the last seven days, mostly in the upper Midwest and West where chilly weather is forcing more activities indoors. On Saturday alone, four states — Kentucky, Minnesota, Montana and Wisconsin — saw record increases in new cases. Nationally, nearly 49,000 new infections were reported, the highest for a Saturday in seven weeks, according to a Reuters analysis. Kansas, Nebraska, New Hampshire, South Dakota and Wyoming also set new records for cases last week. [Reuters] | 
