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Bomb threats sent to polling places and ballot-counting locations in at least five battleground states across the U.S. Tuesday targeted mostly Democratic counties, an NBC News analysis has found. Of the 67 locations, 56 were in 11 counties that voted for Joe Biden in the 2020 election, including the eight most populated. Those high-population Democratic counties include voting locations for Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Detroit, Michigan; Phoenix, Arizona; Atlanta, Georgia; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Maricopa County, Arizona, which Biden won by a slim margin, has consistently been the subject of election denialism conspiracy theories. Some of the threats also included counties that voted heavily for Donald Trump in 2020, including the comparatively smaller Blair and Clearfield Counties in Pennsylvania.

Persons: Joe Biden, Biden, It’s, ”, Larry Norden, “, it’s, ” Norden, Donald Trump, Brad Raffensperger, Authorities didn’t Organizations: U.S, Democratic, NBC, —, NBC News, Center for Justice, FBI, National Intelligence, Washington , D.C, Embassy, Authorities Locations: Milwaukee , Wisconsin, Detroit , Michigan, Phoenix , Arizona, Atlanta , Georgia, Philadelphia , Pennsylvania, Maricopa County , Arizona, Wayne County, Philadelphia County, Georgia’s DeKalb, Fulton, Gwinnett, DeKalb, Blair, Clearfield Counties, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Russia, Iran, Washington ,

Hoax bomb threats targeting polling places and election offices briefly disrupted voting in five battleground states, with the FBI saying the threats in four of those states came from Russian email domains. “The FBI is aware of bomb threats to polling locations in several states, many of which appear to originate from Russian email domains,” the FBI said in a statement Tuesday night. German officials accused Russia of orchestrating bomb threats against several polling places in Moldova’s presidential elections last week. Threats to polling sites and election offices were reported across about a dozen Pennsylvania counties, where targeted polling sites were ordered to stay open late, officials said. “But I think the number of these bomb threats is, if not surprising, very concerning,” he added.

Persons: ”, Bret Schafer, “ It’s, Schafer, Wade Yates, Brad Raffensperger, “, Adrian Fontes, Fontes, Lawrence Norden Organizations: FBI, Russian Embassy, Novosti, Alliance, Democracy, German Marshall Fund, Fulton County, Fulton County Police, Court, Etris, Center, Union City, NBC News, Arizona, ” Police, Philadelphia, Brennan Center for Justice, New York University Law School Locations: Russian, Georgia , Pennsylvania, Arizona , Wisconsin, Michigan, U.S, Russia, Moldova’s, Moscow, Moldova, Georgia, Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Union, Country, Madison , Wisconsin

An army of political propaganda accounts powered by artificial intelligence posed as real people on X to argue in favor of Republican candidates and causes, according to a research report out of Clemson University. The network identified by the Clemson researchers included at least 686 identified X accounts that have posted more than 130,000 times since January. Many of the accounts were removed from X after NBC News emailed the platform for comment. In Arizona’s Republican congressional primary, the accounts supported Blake Masters over Abraham Hamadeh. A search on X for that hashtag shows only one other tweet, from 2018, has used it.

Persons: Donald Trump’s, Pepe, Darren Linvill, They’re, Frank LaRose, Bernie Moreno, Blake Masters, Abraham Hamadeh, didn’t, —, Sen, Sherrod Brown, ” OpenAI, Kai, Cheng Yang, ”, Yang, ChatGPT, Elon Musk, Musk, ” Linvill, Larry Norden, “ There’s, ” Norden, “, Norden, Clemson’s, Eric Hartford, Hartford Organizations: Republican, Clemson University, Clemson, NBC, NBC News, Democratic, Clemson’s Media, “, Ohio Republican Senate, Trump, GOP, Hamadeh, Northeastern University, Ohio Republican, Center for Justice, United, Social Locations: American, Montana , Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Ohio, ”, China, Taiwan, Iran, Russia, Ukraine, United States, U.S

☆ As the RNC ends, swing states’ efforts to fight misinformation ramp up ahead of the election
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-20 | by ( Shania Shelton | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

“2024 is the first American presidential election year at this intersection of election-related mis- and disinformation and the rapid growth of AI generated content. Misinformation spread rapidly through Pennsylvania during the 2020 election as the swing state faced baseless allegations about voting in Pennsylvania, perceived unfairness toward Republican poll-watchers and violations of election rules. Sabir said the misinformation fighting efforts will target voters where they are, including social media, billboards and radio ads. Fontes was recognized in May for his office’s work creating election security tabletop training exercises aimed to protect the state’s election infrastructure. Bellamy said it’s critical to fight misinformation going into this election, and elections are gaining a lot of negative attention.

Persons: CNN —, Ginny Badanes, Ashley O’Rourke, Badanes, O’Rourke, ”, it’s, Megan Bellamy, Donald Trump, Seth Bluestein, “ It’s, ” Bluestein, Omar Sabir, ” Sabir, Sabir, Lawrence Norden, Brennan, ” Norden, Adrian Fontes, Fontes, He’s, ” Fontes, Bellamy, it’ll, ” Bellamy, “, Alexander Kolodin, Kolodin, Katie Hobbs, David Edmonson, TechNet’s, ” Edmonson, Tony Evers, Adam Neylon, they’re, ” Neylon, Lia Holland, ” Holland, I’ve, Trump Organizations: CNN, Republican National Convention, Microsoft, State, Republican, Arizona, Arizona Republican, HB, Democratic, Wisconsin Gov Locations: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Atlanta , Milwaukee, In Arizona, Arizona, Wisconsin

☆ From hunter to guardian: How the ‘Snakeman of India’ found his way into wildlife conservation
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Michelle Cohan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Whitaker would go on to earn the nickname “Snakeman of India,” and spend more than six decades dedicated to reptile research and conservation. His field work with snakes and crocodiles ultimately led his conservation efforts to help save India’s rainforests. We tell people when they’re working in the field, when they’re doing agriculture, use a stick. Romulus Whitaker teaches the next generation about reptiles at his conservation organization, Agumbe Rainforest Research Station, in southern India. And it’s wonderful to realize that dozens, if not hundreds, of young people have continued to do wonderful work with reptiles.

Persons: Romulus Whitaker, ”, Whitaker, Doris Norden Whitaker, Rama Chattopadhyay, Bill Haast, Heyward Clamp Whitaker, I’ve, cobras, we’ve, Arun Sankar, there’s, Cedric Bregnard, You’re Organizations: CNN, Miami Serpentarium, Miami, cobras, Cooperative, Getty Images CNN, Global Health Research, University of Toronto, Research, Cedric Bregnard CNN Locations: America, India, cobras, Mysore, Hoosick , New York, New York, Bombay, Western Ghats, Madras, South India, An, Chennai

"It is not going to be easy for them (Russia)," said one industry executive with knowledge of grains exports. Last year, Russia exported a record volume of wheat on ships chartered from international companies and traders. "Most of what is coming out is dealt with by Russian traders using (shadow) fleet ships, which international traders would not touch". The Black Sea remains a critical area for Russian exports, with other locations more complicated and costly. Russia's Black Sea terminals handle about 70% of the country's grain exports.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Eduard Zernin, Zernin, Cargill, Louis Dreyfus, Viterra, Dreyfus, Bunge, Denmark's, Mike Salthouse, Rosagroleasing, Victoria Mitchell, Jonathan Saul, Nigel Hunt, Polina Devitt, Gus Trompiz, Frank Jack Daniel Our Organizations: General's, REUTERS, Russia's, Grain, Reuters, International Grains Council, Russian, Control, Thomson Locations: Russian, Odesa, Ukraine, Russia Russia, Moscow, Africa, Novorossiysk, Russia's Union, Russia, Turkey, China, Denmark's NORDEN, Bulgaria, Romania, United States, Europe, Taman, Russia's, ., London, Paris

☆ Insurers reviewing Black Sea ship cover after Russia suspension
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Jonathan Saul | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, July 17 (Reuters) - Insurers are reviewing whether to freeze cover for any ships willing to sail to Ukraine after Russia said on Monday it will suspend participation in a UN-backed deal that allows the export of grain through a Black Sea safe corridor, sources said. "Due to the collapse of the Black Sea corridor deal, most shipowners will now refrain from calling Ukrainian ports," Christian Vinther Christensen, chief operating officer with Danish shipping group NORDEN told Reuters. The (key) question is whether Russia mines the area which would effectively cease any form of cover being offered," one insurance industry source said. The Lloyd's of London insurance market has already placed the Black Sea region on its high-risk list. Additional war risk insurance premiums, which are charged when entering the Black Sea area, need to be renewed every seven days.

Persons: Christian Vinther Christensen, Neil Roberts, shipowners, Jonathan Saul, Sharon Singleton Organizations: NORDEN, Reuters, . Insurance, Lloyd's Market Association, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Russia, UN, Turkey, London, Lloyd's

☆ Why 2023 is the year to visit Mongolia
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Breanna Wilson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia CNN —Due to its remoteness and short summer season, Mongolia has long been a destination overlooked by travelers. Here are 10 reasons travelers should start planning their long-dreamed-of Mongolia visit now. A growing visa-free listWith the government of Mongolia declaring 2023 through 2025 the “Years to Visit Mongolia,” citizens from an additional 34 countries can now visit the country visa-free through the end of 2025. Celebrate Naadam as it turns the centuryThe annual Naadam event has always been a great reason to visit Mongolia, but now that the festival has just celebrated its 100 year anniversary, 2023 is as good a time as ever to attend. Yeruu LodgeNestled in the heart of Selenge province on the Yeruu River, Yeruu Lodge is the brainchild of Norwegian founder Eirik Gulsrud Johnsen, who first visited Mongolia in 2017.

Their defeats were a sign of voters rejecting anti-democratic tendencies in tight midterm elections. In swing states Arizona, Nevada and Michigan, "America First" candidates were nominated for secretary of state, the position that oversees elections. All of those candidates lost. Nevertheless, many Republican election deniers won other races around the country. Reuters/Ipsos polling has shown about two-thirds of Republican voters believe the election was stolen from Trump.

☆ Fact Check-As printing issue affected some tabulators in Maricopa County, officials say backup options were available for voters
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Reuters also reported that a Republican request to extend voting in Maricopa County was rejected on Tuesday night. AVAILABLE ALTERNATIVESIn a statement to Reuters on Nov. 8, the Maricopa County Elections Department said that if voters experienced issues with tabulators, they "have a number of options to choose from" (here). The Maricopa County Elections Department explained the process in a tweet (here). Mercer County in New Jersey also reported issues with voting machines scanners on Nov. 8(here) (bit.ly/3zYGFqT). VERDICTThere is no evidence that issues affecting voting machines in Maricopa County led to fraud.

In the aftermath of the 2020 election, local election officials became frequent targets of supporters of former President Donald Trump who supported his false claims of election fraud. Election officials also said that the courts could inject chaos into the process if results are contested for weeks following the vote. Droves of election workers throughout Georgia quit their positions following the 2020 election. And in Pennsylvania, nearly 50 top election officials have left their post within the past two years. “Election workers and election officials leave or stop coming in, more errors can occur as a result, which in turn can fuel disinformation,” he said.

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