'Awe inspiring' photos of the only total solar eclipse of 2020
Wyatte Grantham-Philips, USA TODAY
The total solar eclipse as seen from Piedra del Aquila, Neuquen province, Argentina on December 14, 2020.
The only total solar eclipse of 2020 arrived Monday. And some lucky sky gazers in the world's southern hemisphere witnessed what NASA describes as "one of nature's most awe-inspiring sights."
A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon fully blocks the sun and casts a shadow on Earth, creating a temporary darkness in the middle of the day. Observers in the eclipse's "path of totality" can see only the sun's atmosphere (or corona), which looks like a ring of light.
According to NASA, this year's show began at 9:40 a.m. ET Dec. 14. Unfortunately, few people around the world were able to watch it able to watch it live — as the path of totality tracked over only parts of South America — stretching from Saavedra, Chile to Salina del Eje, Argentina.
Totality lasted up to 2 minutes and 10 seconds, weather permitting. NASA livestreamed the event, courtesy of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and telescopes at the Observatorio Docente UC, Santa Martina.
If you don't live in near the eclipse's path, or missed the online viewing, never fear: you can check out these spectacular photos.
Magdalena Nahuelpan, a Mapuche Indigenous girl, smiles as she looks at a total solar eclipse using special glasses in Carahue, La Araucania, Chile, Monday, Dec. 14, 2020. The total eclipse was visible from Chile and the northern Patagonia region of Argentina, and as a partial solar eclipse in Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.
The moon moves across the the sun during a solar eclipse in the path of totality in Piedra del Aguila, Argentina, Monday, Dec. 14, 2020. The total solar eclipse was visible from the northern Patagonia region of Argentina and from Araucania in Chile.
The diamond ring effect is seen during the total solar eclipse from Villa Chocon, Neuquen province, Argentina on December 14, 2020.
The total solar eclipse as seen from from Pucon, southern Chile, on December 14, 2020. - The hopes of thousands of tourists and residents in Chile's south saw their hopes of watching a total eclipse of the sun shrink as heavy rain fell on Monday just hours before the expected event.
View of the total solar eclipse in Pucon, southern Chile, on December 14, 2020.
The moon partially covers the sun during a total solar eclipse as seen from Piedra del Aquila, Neuquen province, Argentina on December 14, 2020.
Using a welder's mask as protection, a man views a total eclipse in Piedra del Aguila, Argentina, Monday, Dec. 14, 2020. The total solar eclipse was visible from the northern Patagonia region of Argentina and from Araucania in Chile, and as a partial eclipse from the lower two-thirds of South America.
The moon covers the sun during a total solar eclipse in Piedra del Aguila, Argentina, Monday, Dec. 14, 2020. The total solar eclipse was visible from the northern Patagonia region of Argentina and from Araucania in Chile, and as a partial eclipse from the lower two-thirds of South America.
Make sure to wear solar eclipse glasses for eye protection (regular sunglasses are not sufficient) and never look directly at the sun. You can learn more about safety precautions here.
BEIJING (Reuters) -China said on Monday the European Union should stop making "irresponsible remarks" after it called for the release of all those arrested for reporting in China in a statement on a detained Chinese national working for Bloomberg News. China's foreign ministry said on Friday authorities had detained Haze Fan, who works for the Bloomberg bureau in Beijing, on suspicion of endangering national security. The European Union called for authorities to grant Fan "medical assistance if needed, prompt access to a lawyer of her choice, and contacts with her family."
Research scientist Tommy Thompson isn't incarcerated for breaking the law. Despite an investors lawsuit and a federal court order, Thompson still won't cooperate with authorities trying to find those coins, according to court records, federal prosecutors and the judge who found Thompson in contempt. “He creates a patent for a submarine, but he can’t remember where he put the loot,” federal Judge Algenon Marbley said during a 2017 hearing.
A sweeping investigation into the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny pins the non-fatal act on Russia's FSB spy agency, and suggests a very poor tasting cocktail may have been the source.Per the report — which was conducted by the investigative website Bellingcat in partnership with CNN, Der Spiegel, and The Insider — Navalny, a major thorn in the side of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was in the Russian city of Tomsk on Aug. 19 when he met his traveling team at a hotel bar for a drink around 11:15 p.m. He ordered a late-night Bloody Mary, but was told by the bartender the ingredients weren't on hand and that he should have a Negroni instead.Navalny took the advice, but quickly set the drink aside after a sip or two because, he said in an interview, it "tasted like the most disgusting thing I've had in my life." He soon went to bed, and the next morning fell critically ill on his flight back to Moscow.> Bellingcat's investigation suggest Navalny was poisoned with a negroni that had some novichok bitters mixed inhttps://t.co/Q7Pg41d2Xr pic.twitter.com/pWeSWGOJkS> > — max seddon (@maxseddon) December 14, 2020The investigation suggests that drink may have been tainted with the poisoning agent Novichok, although CNN notes the toxin could have also been added to laundry he had done at the hotel, placed on a towel or pillow case, or injected into a shampoo bottle. Read more about the investigation into Navalny's poisoning, which used phone and travel data to implicate the FSB at Bellingcat and CNN.More stories from theweek.com Donald Trump's defeat is good. Why does it feel so bad? National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien, wife are reportedly making Europe event a holiday vacation Will Georgia show Democrats ran the wrong campaign against Trump?
Like many others in March I was spending my days locked down in my London flat, listening to reports about how overwhelmed the NHS was and the struggle to get essential supplies. However where I differed is that all I could think about was Yemen. I am British, but I’m originally Yemeni, and regularly report from it for BBC News and the World Service. If the UK was struggling to cope, I thought to myself, just how would the authorities in Yemen fare? I was terrified for them: my family, my friends, the nation. But I mainly feared for my grandmother. She is in her late 70’s and ticked all the vulnerable categories. I began calling my sister who lives in northern Yemen every day asking her if there were any cases. But while I was terrified, she, like so many others in the war-torn country was oblivious to the threat. The Houthi authorities in the north hadn’t announced a single case. From London I set about trying to find out what was truly happening, but it was near impossible. The Houthis had imposed a blanket restriction on all Covid reporting from areas they control.
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said on Monday Tehran could move past a diplomatic quarrel with Turkey over a poem recited by President Tayyip Erdogan during a visit to Azerbaijan, which Tehran had called a threat to its territorial integrity. Iran summoned Turkey's envoy last week after Erdogan recited an Azeri-Iranian poem lamenting the 19th century division of Azerbaijan's territory between Russia and Iran.
President Trump on Sunday offered a new rationale for threatening to veto the annual defense policy bill that covers the military's budget for equipment and pay raises for service members: China. He did not outline his concerns.
An oil tanker off Saudi Arabia's port city of Jiddah suffered an explosion early Monday after being hit by “an external source,” a shipping company said, suggesting another vessel has come under attack off the kingdom amid its yearslong war in Yemen. The attack on the Singapore-flagged BW Rhine, which had been contracted by the trading arm of the kingdom's massive Saudi Arabian Oil Co., marks the fourth assault targeting Saudi energy infrastructure in a month. It also apparently shut down Jiddah port, the most important shipping point for the kingdom, which later said a bomb-laden boat like the remote-controlled ones used by Yemen's Houthi rebels caused the explosion.
The Michigan state House punished one of its own members Monday ahead of the state's Electoral College vote that will affirm President-elect Joe Biden's victory, The Detroit Free Press reports.Earlier Monday, during a local radio interview, state Rep. Gary Eisen (R) was asked about the vote, which is set to take place at the state capitol in Lansing later in the afternoon. Eisen, a supporter of President Trump who has championed his unfounded claims of voter fraud, hinted that he and others were planning some sort of event, either at the capitol or elsewhere, that could potentially disrupt the vote, the Free Press reports. He also questioned the veracity of a threat regarding safety at the capitol, suggesting it was a "convenient" way to dissuade Trump supporters from gathering in protest. But when asked if he could ensure people's safety, Eisen said he couldn't "because what we're doing today is uncharted."In response, Michigan's Republican legislative leaders removed Eisen from his committee assignments for the rest of the term. "We as elected officials must be clear that violence has no place in our democratic process," said Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield (R), noting that numerous politicians in Michigan have faced threats of violence this year, including Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D). "We must be held to a higher standard." Read more at The Detroit Free Press.More stories from theweek.com Donald Trump's defeat is good. Why does it feel so bad? National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien, wife are reportedly making Europe event a holiday vacation Will Georgia show Democrats ran the wrong campaign against Trump?
Israel announced on Saturday that it is establishing full diplomatic relations with the relatively isolated Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, the latest in a string of international deals designed to show Israel’s growing acceptance abroad. “The circle of recognition of Israel is widening,” said Israeli foreign minister, Gabi Ashkenazi. “The establishment of relations with the Kingdom of Bhutan will constitute a new stage in the deepening of Israel’s relations in Asia.” The agreement follows several years of secret contact between the two countries with the aim of establishing relations, according to a statement from Israel’s foreign ministry. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the deal, tweeting that it is an “additional fruit of the peace agreements”. The accord between the two countries does not appear to be linked to the US-backed Abraham accords, in which four Arab countries have agreed to normalise relations with the Jewish state since August. Mr Netanyahu added that Israel was in contact with more countries to normalise relations. Bhutan is a relatively isolated country and only maintains diplomatic relations with around 53 countries, which does not include the US, UK or France, who only maintain informal contact via India. With a population of around 800,000 people, the Kingdom of Bhutan is wedged between neighbouring giants, China and India. They have long relied on the latter for guidance on foreign and defence policy. Ron Malka, the Israeli ambassador to India said he signed the agreement with his Bhutanese counterpart, Maj Gen Vestop Namgyel, on Saturday night, calling the agreement a “historic day”. The joint statement on the deal said the key areas of cooperation would include economic, technological and agricultural development. “The ties between the peoples through cultural exchanges and tourism would also be further enhanced,” the statement added. Bhutan was closed off to tourists until 1970 and still strictly limits entry to the country with a $250 daily fee per visitor in high season
Two Brazilian police officers have been arrested in Rio de Janeiro after security camera images showed them shooting at two young men on a motorbike, before taking them away in a car. Saturday's incident in the poor Rio suburb of Belford Roxo shines a fresh light on aggressive tactics of Brazilian police, who critics allege often target poor young Black men in deadly raids. Critics say Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right former army captain, has empowered police to be more aggressive than ever, offering them his full support to take out criminals in the country's drug-riddled slums.
The Treasury Department says it knows the Iranian intelligence officers who kidnapped the former FBI agent Robert Levinson who died in their custody. U.S. officials announced on Monday that two members of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) would be sanctioned for their alleged role in Levinson’s kidnapping and detention.“Senior Iranian officials authorized Levinson’s abduction and detention and launched a disinformation campaign to deflect blame from the Iranian regime,” the statement reads.Trump Says He ‘Won’t Accept’ That Ex-FBI Agent Robert Levinson Died in Iran, Despite Family’s StatementThe Treasury Department identified Mohammad Baseri and Ahmad Khazai as senior Iranian intel officials involved in Levinson’s kidnapping and disappearance. Baseri is allegedly a “high-ranking MOIS officer involved in counterespionage activities in and outside of Iran” who has “worked directly with intelligence officials from other countries in order to harm U.S. interests,” according to the Treasury statement. Khazai is a “high-ranking member of the MOIS” who has allegedly worked with Iran’s intel program in foreign countries.In a statement released alongside the sanctions designation, FBI Director Christopher Wray accused Iran of lying about its role in Levinson’s disappearance in 2007. “The government of Iran pledged to provide assistance in bringing Bob Levinson home, but it has never followed through. The truth is that Iranian intelligence officers—with the approval of senior Iranian officials—were involved in Bob’s abduction and detention.”Levinson, a former FBI agent, flew to Kish Island off the southern Iran coast while ostensibly pursuing an investigation into counterfeit cigarettes on behalf of a tobacco company at a meeting with Dawud Salahuddin. Salahuddin, an American convert to Islam, fled to Iran after killing an Iranian diplomat from the shah-era government who had become a dissident.U.S. law-enforcement officials had reached out to Salahuddin after the 1993 World Trade Center bombing in an attempt to learn more about global terrorism and began a back-channel dialogue, during which Salahuddin discussed the possibility of returning to the U.S. and facing criminal charges.As the AP later reported, Levinson’s cigarette-counterfeiting investigation was a cover for his work as a contractor at the CIA, and his meeting with Salahuddin was part of an attempt to turn him into an informant for the agency. Levinson disappeared after the meeting, only to surface in proof-of-life videos and a photograph received in 2010 and 2011.In the images, a gaunt Levinson pleads for help from the U.S. government to “answer the requests of the group that has held me for three and a half years” while making no mention of the “group” holding him or his whereabouts. In the subsequent photos, Levinson appeared in an orange prison jumpsuit holding signs with “help me” and “why you can not help me” printed on them.Iran Can’t Find an American Hostage, U.S. Officials SayLevinson’s family waged a 13-year search for him until the Trump administration told family members in 2020 that intelligence indicated Levinson had likely died in Iranian custody at some point prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, The New York Times reported.Iran has denied holding Levinson in detention or any connection to Levinson’s disappearance.Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
Congress could announce a $1.4 trillion spending deal as soon as Monday that would avoid a government shutdown ahead of Friday's midnight deadline, three sources told Politico. The legislative text is reportedly expected Tuesday.One GOP aide told Politico that debate remains open on just a "few small items," but otherwise a compromise looks like it's in place.Politico notes the omnibus deal is expected to be the last major piece of legislation pushed through Congress in the lame-duck session, and the hope is that lawmakers will attach a COVID-19 relief package, in some form, to the larger bill. A bipartisan group of lawmakers is trying to get colleagues to sign up for a $908 billion stimulus that would be split into two pieces, but it has faced resistance from Senate Republicans and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) who plans to reject it because it doesn't include stimulus checks. Read more at Politico.More stories from theweek.com Donald Trump's defeat is good. Why does it feel so bad? National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien, wife are reportedly making Europe event a holiday vacation Will Georgia show Democrats ran the wrong campaign against Trump?
A subpoena seeking documents from Hunter Biden asked for information related to more than two dozen entities, including Ukraine gas company Burisma, according to a person familiar with a Justice Department tax investigation of President-elect Joe Biden's son. The breadth of the subpoena, issued Tuesday, underscores the wide-angle lens prosecutors are taking as they examine the younger Biden’s finances and international business ventures. Hunter Biden's ties to Burisma in particular have long dogged the policy work and political aspirations of his father, Joe Biden, now the president-elect of the United States.
Two Sackler family members who previously served on OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP's board have agreed under pressure to testify this week before a U.S. House of Representatives panel examining the nationwide opioid epidemic, avoiding subpoenas threatened by the committee's chairwoman. David and Kathe Sackler reached an agreement in recent days with the House Oversight Committee to appear at a hearing set for Thursday, according to a Monday memo from Democratic Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney to members of the panel. The two are among the Sackler family members who own Purdue.
Jerry Falwell Jr. resigned as president of Liberty University in August after a series of scandals involving sexual indiscretions and questionable use of university funds on friends and family, but Liberty's board is still split on the partisan direction Falwell steered the private evangelical Christian school founded by his father, Jerry Falwell Sr.Especially divisive, Politico reports, is the question of whether Liberty should continue funding the Falkirk Center, a conservative "think tank" named after Falwell and GOP activist Charlie Kirk that "has produced no peer-reviewed academic work and bears little relation to study centers at other universities," but did run "pro-Trump ads, hired Trump allies including former adviser Sebastian Gorka and current Trump attorney Jenna Ellis to serve as fellows, and, in recent weeks, has aggressively promoted [President] Trump's baseless claims of election fraud."As a 501c(3) nonprofit, Liberty University is technically barred from supporting political candidates and spending money on political campaigns. But the Falkirk Center, founded in 2019, "purchased campaign-season ads on Facebook, at least $50,000's worth of which were designated by the network as political ads, that promoted Trump and other Republican candidates by name," Politico reports. And more generally, since endorsing Trump for president in 2016, Falwell has "pumped millions of the nonprofit religious institution's funds into Republican causes and efforts to promote the Trump administration, blurring the lines between education and politics."Last July, for example, the Falkirk Center held a two-day summit on China policy at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., featuring a host of GOP officials and Trump allies but no Democratic speakers, Politico reports. Numerous evangelical groups have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars holding events at Trump's Washington hotel, where "prominent evangelical ministers were given VIP status," The New York Times reported in October. But Liberty University also has an academic mission, and slashed its humanities programs even as it poured millions into GOP organizations."The Falkirk Center, to me, represents everything that was wrong with Liberty when Jerry was there," Karen Swallow Prior, a professor at Liberty for 21 years who left at the end of last school year, told Politico. "It's brazenly partisan." University spokesman Scott Lamb said the donations to GOP organizations "are consistent with the mission and focus of Liberty University as an evangelical Christian university," and went toward "nonpartisan" activities like voter registration.More stories from theweek.com Donald Trump's defeat is good. Why does it feel so bad? National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien, wife are reportedly making Europe event a holiday vacation Will Georgia show Democrats ran the wrong campaign against Trump?
It didn't take the Supreme Court long to make short work of what President Donald Trump called “the big one.” Trump has been clinging to baseless claims of fraud in the hope of reversing election results that made Democrat Joe Biden the next president and deprived Trump of four more years in the White House. For all Trump's predictions that the court and his justices would make things right, he and his supporters were lacking one basic element: a strong legal argument that might plausibly attract some sympathy on a court now dominated by conservative justices.
