Oct 19, 2018 - Technology

WhatsApp bans Brazilian frontrunner Bolsonaro’s son amid fake news fears

The son of Jair Bolsonaro, the far-right frontrunner in Brazil's Oct. 28 presidential runoff, has demanded an explanation after being banned from WhatsApp amid a controversy over fake news on the Facebook-owned platform.

Why it matters: Representatives of Whatsapp told The Guardian that several accounts had been banned to fight the distribution of fake news. Newspaper Folha du São Paulo reports that Bolsonaro backers paid to illegally distribute mass WhatsApp texts. After denouncing WhatsApp's "persecution," Flavio Bolsonaro later said his account had been reactivated.

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Barak Ravid
Updated 25 mins ago - World

Scoop: Decisive meeting could lead to Israeli-Sudanese normalization

Lt. Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Sudan's head of the Sovereign Council, meets with Bahraini aid officials in Khartoum, Sept. 15. Photo: Mazen Mahdi/AFP via Getty Images

U.S., Emirati and Sudanese officials will hold a decisive meeting in Abu Dhabi on Monday on a possible normalization agreement between Sudan and Israel, Sudanese sources told me.

Why it matters: If the U.S. and the United Arab Emirates accommodate Sudan’s requests for economic aid, an announcement on a normalization agreement with Israel similar to the ones struck with the UAE and Bahrain could be made within days, sources briefed on the process tell me.

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Axios
Updated 2 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 12:45 p.m. ET: 30,838,610 — Total deaths: 958,090— Total recoveries: 21,088,552 — Map.
  2. U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 12:45 p.m. ET: 6,777,026 — Total deaths: 199,352 — Total recoveries: 2,577,446 — Total tests: 94,211,463 — Map.
  3. Politics: Testing czar on Trump's CDC contradictions: "Everybody is right" — Trump's health secretary asserts control over all new rules.
  4. Education: What we overlooked in the switch to remote learning
  5. Health: The dwindling chances of eliminating COVID-19.
  6. World: Guatemalan president tests positive for COVID-19 — The countries painting their pandemic recoveries green.
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Orion Rummler
Updated 2 hours ago - Health

7 states set single-day coronavirus case records last week

Data: Compiled by Axios; Map: Danielle Alberti/Axios

Seven states set new highs last week for coronavirus infections recorded in a single day, according to the COVID Tracking Project and state health departments. Wisconsin and Nebraska surpassed records set the previous week.

Why it matters: Problem spots are sticking in the Midwest, although the U.S. is moving in the right direction overall after massive infection spikes this summer.

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