8. Bolshoi Utrish reserve burns near Anapa, emergency mode declared. Forest fire affected two settlements. More than 1000 tourists were evacuated from  emergency zone. Moreover, according to some sources, the evacuation is not free. According to Interfax, Il-76 plane took off from Ramenskoye near Moscow to Anapa with 42 tons of water on board, and a Be-200 amphibious aircraft was sent to Anapa from Krasnoyarsk.

9. Austria for the first time has declared a Russian diplomat persona non grata. According to Kronen Zeitung, for many years he was engaged in industrial espionage at an IT company, as reported by an Austrian citizen who called the Russian diplomat his curator. In response, the Russian Foreign Ministry has expelled Austrian Ambassador Johannes Aigner. Earlier, Russian diplomats were expelled from Slovakia and Norway on suspicion of espionage.

10. The Norwegian Foreign Ministry declared Alexander Stekolshchikov, trade representative of the Russian Embassy in Oslo, "persona non grata" after a Norwegian citizen of Indian origin, Harsharn Singh Tatgar, admitted during interrogation that he passed industrial information to a Russian diplomat and received money from him for it. Tatgar was arrested during a meeting with a Russian diplomat at a pizzeria in Sagena in Oslo.

11. Three Russian diplomats were expelled by Slovakia for abuse of Slovak visas during the murder in Berlin.

12. Earlier, the Czech authorities complained about the “dominance” of Russian “spies” with diplomatic passports.

13. A former US army green beret Peter Rafael Dzibinski Debbins living in northern Virginia has been arrested and charged with divulging military secrets about his unit’s activities during 15 years of contacts with Russian intelligence. Debbins provided the Russian intelligence agents with information about his chemical and Special Forces units.  In 2008, after leaving active duty service, Debbins also provided Russian intelligence agents with the names of, and information about former Special Forces team members who could be recruited," the indictment of Department of Justice  says. Debbins’ mother was born in USSR, and Debbins met his wife in Russian city of Chelyabinsk, where they were married in 1997, according to The Guardian. After graduating from college in Minnesota, Debbins returned to Russia in 1997, where he was assigned the code name, "Ikar Lesnikov," by Russian intelligence. He subsequently signed a statement under his code name saying he wished to "serve Russia." After beginning U.S. active-duty service in 1998, Debbins was deployed to South Korea to serve as a lieutenant in the 4th Chemical Company. While on leave, he traveled to Russia and provided his contacts in the intelligence service with U.S. defense information. "Debbins sought to help Russia, as he considered himself a loyal son of Russia," the court documents say. After leaving the army in 2008, Debbins, dissatisfied with his military career, returned to Russia with intention of opening his own business. "He ended up working as part of a front created by a GRU officer, and subsequently continued to provide them with information, including classified intelligence about his unit's missions in Georgia and Azerbaijan.”

14. Former CIA officer Alexander Yuk Ching Ma was arrested in Hawaii for spying for Chinese intelligence. According to court documents, Ma worked for the CIA more than 30 years ago — from 1982 to 1989, maintained a Top Secret clearance, and began selling secrets in 2001. Ma left the CIA in 1989 and lived and worked in Shanghai, China, before arriving in Hawaii in 2001. In 2004, Ma got a job as interpreter at the local FBI office in Honolulu, where he "regularly copied, photographed and stole classified documents." Prosecutors said that an 85-year-old relative of Ma's who was also a former CIA officer had worked alongside him to sell secrets to the Chinese, although the relative was not charged.

15. Facebook reportedly plans to sue Thailand's government over its demand that the company block users within the country from accessing a group critical of its king. Facebook blocked Thai users from accessing the group, which has one million users and has criticized the country's king amid pro-democracy protests.

16. For all the excitement over the next big thing in lithium-ion batteries, the simple fact is that plain old water is the only large scale, long duration energy storage medium available today in the US and in many other parts of the world. The challenge is that water batteries, aka pumped hydropower, require expensive new infrastructure, which limits their application. That could be about to change, and it looks like the US Department of Energy is determined to be the change maker.

17. Nano-diamond self-charging batteries could disrupt energy as we know it. California company NDB says its nano-diamond batteries will absolutely upend the energy equation, acting like tiny nuclear generators.

18. USS Lake Erie operates with multinational ships and USS Chung Hoon fires a missile during RIMPAC 2020, USS Greenville arrives in Diego Garcia and USS Seawolf stops near Tromsø, Norway.

19. A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV Heavy rocket will launch the NROL-44 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). Liftoff will occur from Space Launch Complex-37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. This will be 141st mission for United Launch Alliance and our 29th for the NRO. It is the 385th Delta launch since 1960, the 12th Delta IV Heavy and the 8th Heavy for the NRO.

20. Taiwan Military: “The Chinese army will probably carry out 2 anti-ship ballistic missile attacks towards the South China Sea on August 26 in the morning, from 2 different bases. The impact zone mentioned in NOTAM A3325 / 20 also coincides with maritime notification 0078.”

21. Satellite imagery analysis by artificial intelligence platform MioTech shows how China's worst floods in decades have damaged the country.

22. Victorian farmers have issued a desperate call to arms for Aussie workers as a looming shortage of seasonal labour due to coronavirus threatens this year’s harvests.

23. New Zealand: Lack of foreign workers a 'disaster' for agriculture, farmers say. “The Government has told us to put inexperienced people into these big machines, because anyone can drive a tractor.”

24. Brazil outage buoys Alumina amid fruitful smelter talks. Alumina is the latest Australian company to benefit from disruptions to commodity supply in Brazil and now predicts a shortage of alumina this year.

25. US Department of State on President Erdogan’s Meeting With Hamas Leadership: “The United States strongly objects to Turkish President Erdogan hosting two Hamas leaders in Istanbul on August 22.  Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and EU and both officials hosted by President Erdogan are Specially Designated Global Terrorists. The U.S. Rewards for Justice Program is seeking information about one of the individuals for his involvement in multiple terrorist attacks, hijackings, and kidnappings. President Erdogan’s continued outreach to this terrorist organization only serves to isolate Turkey from the international community, harms the interests of the Palestinian people, and undercuts global efforts to prevent terrorist attacks launched from Gaza."

26. Michael Morris, 66, was sentenced to 17 years in prison for his role in operating a massive international sex trafficking organization that was responsible for coercing hundreds of Thai women to engage in commercial sex acts across the United States.

27. Multiple buildings set on fire during 2nd night of unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Multiple buildings were set on fire overnight in Kenosha during the second night of unrest following the police-involved shooting of Jacob Blake. Looters assaulted an older business owner trying to defend his business. All freeway exits into Kenosha are closed. Police department is in the process of closing gas stations and turning off gas pumps. Governor Evers has declared a state of emergency in Wisconsin and authorized 250 National Guard members to be on the ground in Kenosha County tonight. Rioters are trying to tear down the fence outside the Kenosha County Courthouse. An American flag was just burned outside the Kenosha County Courthouse. One woman screams, “Death to America!” and kicks the fence. Rioters are now setting off fireworks at the police outside the Kenosha County Courthouse. Sheriff’s deputies in riot gear have emerged from the courthouse. Some are throwing projectiles at the officers.

28. Riots erupt in Atlanta in response to the shooting of Jacob Blake, an unarmed black man, in Wisconsin. Law enforcement in Atlanta are pushing Black Lives Matter rioters back with tear gas. National Guard is coming out to assist police. Chaos began when someone began spray painting the walls of Zone 5 precinct. An officer intervened and a crowd swarmed. More police arrived and protesters threw fireworks toward police. According to eyewitness Matt Johnson, “The ones causing the most damage tonight were dressed in black, but were not Black.” Police have arrested nine people tonight. “This was not a peaceful protest,” a spokesperson said. One officer was injured from mace, per police.

29. If one travels across state lines to riot it is a federal crime. In fact, even using infrastructure such as television to incite rioting falls under this. A number of media people have been openly doing this. This law was used against right wingers who defended themselves in Charlottesville.

30. Unlawful assembly declared at DTLA protest. A protest march and rally held in downtown Los Angeles against two police shootings in the past 10 days, including Jacob Blake in Wisconsin, was declared an unlawful assembly by police. However, no arrests were reported.

31. Hurricane Laura has become a Category 1. May make landfall as a Category 3.

32. Scope of California wildfires is staggering. Fires have chewed through 1.4 million acres in the state this year. By this point in 2019, 56,000 acres had burned. Firefighters remain stretched far too thin, and the coronavirus implications of the still uncontained wildfire crisis are dire.

33. Why you may struggle to get gas for your barbecue or caravan: Calor refuses to take on new customers after a 45% growth in demand causes nationwide shortages. An investigation by FEMAIL has discovered that Calor Gas is refusing to sell new cylinders to customers, with only those who already have a gas bottle on loan from the supplier eligible for refills.

34. The hydrogen electrolyzer market is likely to witness strong growth through 2030 with an impressive 10% CAGR. A new FMI study says that the pandemic is likely to negatively impact the hydrogen electrolyzer market, as key manufacturers and developers face major liquidity crunch, as investors are hesitant to finance the sector, and governments are delaying climate change policies in light of unprecedented economic uncertainty in the year ahead.

35. A nationwide study of 8075 patients was conducted to look at low-dose HCQ therapy and mortality in hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) 2400 mg during 5 days was used in Belgium for COVID-19. Impact of HCQ on mortality among 8075 patients with COVID-19 was assessed. Lower mortality in HCQ-treated patients as compared to supportive care. Lower mortality is irrespective of symptoms duration.

36. Concern grows about shortage of plasma after FDA expands access to COVID-19 treatment. The FDA issued an emergency use authorization for convalescent plasma.

37. For the first time in three decades, military families and retirees are getting revamped IDs. The card will be more durable and more closely resemble the Common Access Cards.

38. Pentagon: It's time to bring microelectronics manufacturing to U.S. The U.S. government must entice companies to do more microelectronics manufacturing in the United States, the Pentagon's undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment said Thursday. Working toward a more resilient microelectronics supply chain, while also addressing national security risks: "We can no longer clearly identify the pedigree of our microelectronics," which are key to technologies like 5G as well as components in many weapons systems, Ellen Lord said. "Therefore, we can no longer ensure that backdoors, malicious code or data exfiltration commands aren't embedded in our code." The United States is one of three countries that has microelectronics manufacturing capabilities, but according to a 2016 report from the Congressional Research Service, American microelectronics manufacturers have increasingly moved microchip fabrication plants abroad.

39. The Department of Energy and Microsoft said they were partnering to create AI tools for disaster response. The DOE has created the First Five Consortium, which refers to the critical importance of how first responders make decisions in the first five minutes after a disaster strikes. Microsoft and the DOE, along with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the Pentagon’s Joint AI Center, will apply AI tools to:
⁃Wildfire prediction and fire line containment (which is especially timely at the moment)
⁃Damage assessment 
⁃Search and rescue 
⁃Natural disasters 

40. It was early April and the military services had a choice to make: Do we shut down initial entry training and risk our end strength numbers for years to come, or do we power through the COVID-19 pandemic and try to keep these close-quarters hordes of young people as safe and healthy as possible? At Air and Education Training Command, officials decided to take a week to shut down and reset, then come back, nearly full-steam ahead with some key modifications. “We directed our [military training instructors] to graduate a class one week early. They trained through the weekend, they met training objectives,” Maj. Gen. Andrea Tullos, who commands 2nd Air Force, told Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Tuesday at Lackland Air Force Base. ”At the same time, we told the recruiters: Don’t ship.” The modified BMT went from about 800 trainees per flight to between 400 and 480, allowing for smaller groups in classroom instruction and some room to space out in housing bays with about 40 trainees, rather than 60. The service has instituted deep-cleaning protocols, mandatory mask usage and cots arranged with pillows alternating on the left or right, so no one is in each other’s breathing radius while in bed. BMT also streamlined the uniform issue process. Rather than moving trainees through indoor stations to get each piece of clothing and pair of shoes, they are shuffled outside to pick up a pre-packed bag of items according to their sizes. After two weeks, the “restriction of movement” phase ends and they can get into more training around the base, including preparing for Basic Expeditionary Skills Training, in which a field test is required to graduate. For extra space, as well as quarantine facilities, a tent city went up in a parking lot on base. There, trainees who tested positive, and their close contacts, could spend two weeks in isolation. But otherwise, Air Force indoctrination went mostly as normal, with less down time and some sections shortened, like time spent on military drill and ceremony. The first two cohorts that went through BMT after mid-March had five confirmed cases of coronavirus, Maj. Gen. John DeGoes, head of the 59th Medical Wing, told Military Times. At that point, tests were only available for symptomatic trainees who could confirm close contact with a diagnosed case. Since that point, and post-reset, there have been 30 more positive trainees, 29 of whom were asymptomatic at the time they were tested. That’s about a 0.5 percent infection rate in the 3,500 trainees who have gone through BMT since the beginning of the pandemic.

41. US home construction surges 22.6%, third monthly increase. Construction of new U.S. homes surged 22.6% last month as homebuilders continued to bounce back from the coronavirus pandemic.

42. Back-to-school search for virtual school supplies could lead to desk and chair shortages. Back-to-school desks for kids are in high demand, and it could lead to a shortage online.

43. 39% of younger millennials say the Covid-19 recession has them moving back home. About 39% of younger millennials (defined here as ages 24 to 29) say they are either planning or have already moved back in with their parents because of the economic downturn.

Grand Solar Minimum News:

1. Patagonia is facing a mini-ice age as thousands of livestock lives are lost. They are saying, “Decreased carbon in the atmosphere because people haven’t been driving around as much due to COVID-19... “ These are Grand Solar Minimum conditions that happen in a predictable pattern with predictable consequences. Global food shortage is coming. Prepare.

2. More than 100,000 livestock animals perish as intense snowstorms hit Patagonia, with 70% of the highland flock at risk. There are have been massive losses of sheep in the Patagonia highlands because of intense snowstorms. In the high areas of the Argentine Patagonia Rio Negro province, this could cause the death of 70% of the flock. Ranchers and laborers do what they can to save the animals, with their bare hands, without tools or protection, moving the frozen snow in search of the sheep.

3. The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of the Nation called an extraordinary meeting of the Federal Agricultural Council (CFA) to discuss actions that help mitigate the heavy damage that the wave of snowfalls that is shaking the Patagonia is leaving on livestock production South of the country.

4. The intense snowfalls that are registered in Patagonia not only affected the herds of cows and sheep of the cattle producers of the region, but the guanacos were the victims of the inclement weather that took place throughout the week.

5. In two tweets that went viral over the weekend you can see the animals feeling the severity of the cold and heavy snowfalls that have been manifesting these days.

6. Strong snow storms are wreaking havoc in Argentina's Patagonia, bringing down power lines and blanketing the region. A statement from the Argentine Rural Confederations regrets that the return to the harsh Patagonian winters, after a time of great drought, “highlights the terrible infrastructure conditions that dominate that region: routes, roads, sewers, telephone and internet communication services, gas, electricity, which collapse in the face of the phenomenon and complicate the attempts to rescue residents, families, workers and producers, as well as the losses of property in a deterioration process that will be aggravated in the coming weeks.”

7. The polar air mass from Antarctica plummeted temperatures in much of the Brazilian territory, as well as in Argentina and Uruguay, and threatens to cause a record cold in several cities until Monday.  Cruelest snowfalls in the last 20 years where animals literally freeze to death. Half buried in the snow without being able to move. This is also happening in Brazil and Chile. In Chile, the temperatures are the lowest they’ve been in 70 years. No one in the American media is reporting on this. Compare to the Doomsday Document by the British Government in which the Sun is doing limited release.

Kenosha violence: 3 shot, including 2 fatally in another night of unrest