Threats Mar US Voting | The Yaks of War

“You will vote for Trump … or we will come after you.” So read emails sent to Democrats in Florida, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Alaska from the "officialproudboys" domain. The far-right Proud Boys in Florida, which owns the domain, denies involvement, but the FBI is reportedly investigating the possible voter intimidation. During the first presidential debate, President Donald Trump told the group to “stand by,” which many took to mean they should wait to take action during the election. Meanwhile, a Memphis poll worker was fired after stopping people wearing “Black Lives Matter” and “I Can’t Breathe” shirts from voting.

Sources: Washington Post, CBS

2. Juror: Homicide Charges ‘Not Presented’ in Breonna Taylor Case

Their hands were tied. The same day a Kentucky judge approved a grand jury member’s petition to speak about the killing of Taylor in a botched police raid, the anonymous juror issued a damning statement. Delivered by a lawyer, it said the grand jury probing Taylor’s March 13 death “was not presented any charges” to consider against the officers who fired the fatal shots and “did not have homicide offenses explained to them.” Critics have accused Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who opposed letting the juror speak, of misleading the public into thinking the panel exonerated the officers.

Sources: Yahoo, The Week

3. Britain to Infect Volunteers, Lock Down Manchester

Charles Dickens could have framed this well. Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he “bitterly” regrets having to impose a strict lockdown beginning Friday night on some 3 million inhabitants of the Manchester area amid surging coronavirus infection rates. And there’s no compensation scheme for those affected by business closures and travel restrictions after Johnson and local officials failed to agree on an amount. Meanwhile, London researchers have a controversial plan to infect volunteers with the coronavirus to more quickly determine the effectiveness of vaccines, rather than wait for accidental exposure.

Sources: AP, The Guardian, Washington Post

4. Trump Firm Paid $188,561 in Chinese Taxes

According to The New York Times, tax records have revealed a Chinese bank account belonging to Trump International Hotels Management LLC — which unsuccessfully pursued business in China from 2013 to 2015, even as Donald Trump began his presidential campaign. Because it’s under a corporate name, it wasn’t listed on his government financial disclosures, but the Trump Organization said the account‘s been inactive since 2015. Trump has attempted to link Joe Biden to Beijing by virtue of a Chinese bank account belonging to his son, and has pressured Attorney General William Barr to investigate Hunter Biden’s business connections.

Sources: NYT, BBC, AP

5. Also Important …

Witnesses in Lagos, Nigeria, say that soldiers opened fire on people protesting against police brutality, leaving “multiple bodies laying on the ground.” U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says Democrats are drafting a compromise pandemic relief bill, but Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has reportedly warned the White House against striking a deal. And San Francisco has approved the Caution Against Racial and Exploitative Non-Emergencies Act, or CAREN Act, which lets people sue those who call the police on people of color for doing something innocuous.

Off-world news: After hurtling away from Earth for four years, NASA’s Osiris-Rex spacecraft touched down for a moment on the asteroid Bennu in hopes of grabbing a sample to bring back home.

Listen Up: Need a little rhythm to get you through the week? Listen to OZY’s curated Hump Day Playlist, featuring the game-changing artists you love and rising stars you'll soon love. Check out this week's playlist on OZY's Spotify.

Songwriter and producer Finneas is the brains behind some of your favorite songs from Selena Gomez, Bruno Mars, Justin Bieber — and of course his younger sister, Billie Eilish. Today, he joins The Carlos Watson Show to discuss his path to success — and how he thinks Gen Z creativity and the speed of our news cycle will force us to Reset America. Watch this episode and share your own ideas with us on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #ResetAmerica.

How do you navigate your cash flow? How can you adapt to today’s economic challenges? What are successful businesses doing right now? JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Sekou Kaalund shares details on Advancing Black Entrepreneurs by Chase for Business, a free toolkit for business owners to improve everything from supply chains to vendor relationships.

Call off the yak attack. People’s Liberation Army Cpl. Wang Ya Long is back in Chinese-controlled pastures after he was captured Monday by Indian forces, becoming another headline in a decadeslong Himalayan border standoff in the Ladakh region. India repatriated him yesterday after Chinese officials explained that he’d been “asked by herders to help find a lost yak” Sunday before getting lost himself. Tensions have been high since a deadly June clash, and keeping track of woolly livestock has become an issue. Last month India returned 17 stray yaks to China — possibly after checking for monitoring devices.

Sources: SCMP, Times of India

2. Feds File Antitrust Suit Against Google

It's “a monopoly gatekeeper for the internet.” That’s how the U.S. Justice Department characterized the search giant in launching its antitrust suit yesterday. If Google goes unchecked, “we will lose the next wave of innovators,” said Attorney General William Barr. Google responded that users aren’t forced to use it by a lack of alternatives. While some view the action, which might seek parent company Alphabet’s breakup, as a Republican campaign stunt, many Democrats support reining in big tech. Governments from the European Union to Australia are already mounting regulatory action against the tech titan.

Sources: FT (sub), Reuters, Politico

3. Can Bangladesh Teach the World How to Fight the Virus?

With the world’s eighth-largest population living shoulder-to-shoulder, one might expect Bangladesh would be a COVID-19 bloodbath. But its reported death rate is at the low end of the spectrum, something more developed nations could learn from. Writing for OZY, tech entrepreneur Anir Chowdhury says many countries are fighting the pandemic with outdated technology and science, while in Bangladesh, an interdisciplinary, data-focused effort is finding infections quickly and containing them with hyperlocal lockdowns. If the rest of the world doesn’t move on from 18th-century strategies, Chowdhury says predictions of 1 million more deaths may be realized.

Source: OZY

4. Investors Pan Netflix for Missing Estimates

They’ll be back. Still riding an unprecedented pandemic streaming wave, Netflix yesterday reported adding 2.2 million subscriptions and raking in quarterly revenue of $6.44 billion — nearly 23 percent more than 2019’s third quarter. But that wasn’t enough to satisfy voracious investors, falling short of the 2.5 million new users analysts had predicted. So investors dumped the video-on-demand provider’s shares, driving its stock price down 6 percent in after-hours trading. Co-CEO Reed Hastings emphasized retaining Netflix’s 195 million subscribers, saying “it’s fundamentally about member satisfaction” because at some point, theaters will reopen.

Sources: Variety, Deadline

5. Kershaw Wins World Series Game 1 for Los Angeles

October hasn’t been his month. Until last night, when three-time Cy Young-winner Clayton Kershaw allowed only two hits in six innings to cement his Dodgers’ 8-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. He had help: Brushing off Sunday’s celebratory shoulder dislocation, Cody Bellinger put up the first two runs with a fourth-inning homer off Rays starter Tyler Glasnow, while Mookie Betts homered and tied a Fall Classic record by stealing two bases in one inning. Rays manager Kevin Cash acknowledged it was Kershaw’s night, saying: “You can see why he’s going to the Hall of Fame one day.”

Sources: ESPN, AFP