For the second time in four years, progressive voters’ hopes to elevate Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont to the top of the Democratic ticket were dashed this spring, when Sanders’ call for a social revolution and Medicare for All fell flat, and former Vice President Joe Biden surged to victory in the race for the presidential nomination. In 2016, many of these same liberal Democrats decided to sit out the general election after Hillary Clinton edged out Sanders for the Democratic presidential nomination – and Sanders appeared half-hearted in urging them to back Clinton at the polls.  But Sanders made a compelling argument Monday night – at the start of the 2020 Democratic National Convention – that progressives’ issues and policies will live on if they help the more moderate Biden defeat President Donald Trump in the November 3 general election.  “The future of our democracy is at stake,” Sanders said in a live speech from his home in Burlington, Vermont. He added, “Many of the ideas we fought for, that just a few years ago were considered radical, are now mainstream.” The appeal for party unity was a departure for the self-styled democratic socialist who was the last remaining primary rival to Biden earlier this year. Sanders has not always advocated loyalty to the Democratic party, with whom he usually caucuses in the U.S. Senate.  Progressive wing He is seen foremost as the leader of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, the group of liberal voters who support social reform policies intended to help working Americans, including universal health care, free college tuition, a higher minimum wage and a raft of other social benefits. Sanders rested his appeal to his supporters on the idea that defeating Trump is key to keeping progressive causes in the mainstream discussion.  FILE – Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden and his running mate Senator Kamala Harris, D-Calif., August 12, 2020.“I think he successfully showed that he’s strongly supporting Joe Biden and [vice presidential candidate Kamala] Harris, that he made the case to his movement that many of the issues that he was pushing now are mainstream and that he’s willing to work with progressives and, of course, moderates and even conservatives to help get Biden elected,” James Thurber, distinguished professor in the department of government at American University, said. He was referring to Biden’s running mate, California Senator Kamala Harris. Sanders’ conciliatory tone this year marks a departure from the 2016 election cycle, when he accused the Democratic Party of rigging the nomination process in favor of Clinton, and there was plenty of sniping between the Sanders and Clinton camps.  “This is a time where we’ve seen Senator Sanders be more of a party team player than he usually is. And I think it was quite impressive to many who were watching that he stayed on message,” said Lara Brown, director of the Graduate School of Political Management (GSPM) at the George Washington University. “Part of the case that he made last night was that the progressive agenda has really come more and more into the mainstream over the past few years and that that isn’t going to go away anytime soon,” Brown said.  But progressives’ values could be jeopardized, Sanders told supporters, unless they vote for Biden to ensure Trump does not win a second presidential term. “Under this administration, authoritarianism has taken root in our country. I, and my family, and many of yours, know the insidious way authoritarianism destroys democracy, decency and humanity,” Sanders said Monday.  Motivation to supporters Trump has repeatedly asserted that liberal Democrats like Sanders are out to “destroy the country,” and are promoting socialist values anathema to many Americans.  Sanders’ rhetoric was intended to motivate his supporters to vote for Biden instead of staying home or choosing another candidate.  FILE – Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump stands with Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton before the first presidential debate at Hofstra University, September 26, 2016, in Hempstead, N.Y.“In 2016, as we all know, Hillary lost by about 68,000 votes in three key states, collectively, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan. And in those states, 100-200,000 people voted for third- and fourth-party candidates and many of them didn’t vote at all. And that’s the key here. He [Sanders] has to motivate his supporters to get out and vote for Biden, not to vote for another candidate,” Thurber said. While noting that he still has significant policy disagreements with Biden, Sanders also outlined in his speech the many areas where progressive causes could be advanced if Democrats retake the White House. Biden’s campaign worked with Sanders in the weeks leading up to the convention to ensure some of his progressive goals were included in the official platform of the Democratic Party.  Sanders said Biden supported progressive causes such as raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, paid family leave and funding for universal schooling for 3- and 4-year-olds while making child care affordable for millions of families.  Sanders did note that his Medicare for All plan – a single, government-sponsored health insurance program for all Americans – did not make it into the party platform.  “While Joe and I disagree on the best path to get to universal coverage, he has a plan that will greatly expand health care and cut the cost of prescription drugs. Further, he will lower the eligibility age of Medicare from 65 to 60,” Sanders said.  Control of Senate With control of the Senate also at stake this election year, analysts say a key part of Sanders’ appeal to progressives was to remind them that putting a Democrat in the White House was the best way of ensuring their agenda becomes law.  “He was very good at explaining to his supporters that progressives have won. They are now the mainstream of the Democratic Party. Their issues are the ones that are a top concern,” Brown said.  If Democrats pick up the three to four seats needed for a majority in the Senate, Sanders is well-positioned to play a key role in leadership. One of his Democratic colleagues recognized his contribution Monday night after his speech.  Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut tweeted, “The careful, purposeful steps Bernie Sanders has taken to bring the party together this spring and summer will be a huge part of the story we tell when Joe Biden wins.”   
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A bipartisan investigation into Russian efforts to influence the outcome of the 2016 U.S. presidential election found that Moscow successfully used a complex web of operatives and active measures to ensnare members of President Donald Trump’s campaign, in some cases, leaving the incoming administration open to manipulation. The report concluded, among other things, that Trump’s 2016 campaign chairman Paul Manafort posed a “grave counterintelligence threat” because of his dealings with people close to the Kremlin. But it also found that the FBI’s investigation of the Russian meddling in the election was “flawed.” FILE – Trump Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort talks to reporters on the floor of the Republican National Convention at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, July 17, 2016.Released Tuesday by the Senate Intelligence Committee, the report is the fifth on the subject by the committee and the culmination of more than three years of work. It includes hundreds of witness interviews and the review of more than 1 million pages of documents.The report focuses on key players from Russia and the Trump campaign, as well as efforts undertaken by Russian intelligence and organizations like the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks, which according to the report, “likely knew it was assisting a Russian intelligence influence effort.” Although the report does not find evidence that Trump campaign officials willingly and knowingly worked with Russia to win the election, committee investigators concluded that whether due to ambition or naivety, key officials were indifferent to the possibility help was coming from the Kremlin. With WikiLeaks and its release of documents obtained during Russia’s hack of the Democratic National Committee’s computer services, for example, the report found the Trump campaign, “sought to maximize the impact of those leaks to aid Trump’s electoral prospects.” “The Trump Campaign publicly undermined the attribution of the hack-and-leak campaign to Russia and was indifferent to whether it and WikiLeaks were furthering a Russian election interference effort,” the report added. The Senate report raises especially deep concerns about the role of Manafort, a Republican political operative and international lobbyist who joined the Trump campaign in March 2016.  “Manafort’s presence on the Campaign and proximity to Trump created opportunities for Russian intelligence services to exert influence over, and acquire confidential information,” the report said. Manafort was convicted of tax and bank fraud charges during a separate investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller. He was released from prison to home confinement earlier this year.  FILE – Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., speaks during a Senate Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill, May 5, 2020.“We can say, without any hesitation, that the Committee found absolutely no evidence that then-candidate Donald Trump or his campaign colluded with the Russian government to meddle in the 2016 election,” said acting chairman, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio. No Hoax: Bipartisan Probe Says US Intelligence Made Right Call on Russian Election MeddlingA newly issued bipartisan report says the top US intelligence agencies made the right call when they traced the plot back to Russian President Vladimir Putin 
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The World Meteorological Organization says temperatures of 54.4 degrees (Celsius) reported Sunday at Furnace Creek, Death Valley in the U.S. state of California, may be the third hottest on Earth.The U.N. weather agency is assembling an international team of atmospheric scientists to verify the temperatures reported in Death Valley are legitimate. The WMO says that is a very complicated procedure and is likely to take several months to complete.
 
If validated, however, World Meteorological scientists say it would qualify as the third highest temperature ever recorded on the planet. The hottest temperature ever recorded was 56.7 degrees (Celsius) in Death Valley on July 10, 1913. The second hottest was set in July 1931 in Kebili, Tunisia, at 55 degrees (Celsius).
 
The scorching conditions come as sweltering heat grips the west coast of the United States, with temperatures reaching the high 30s and 40s. WMO spokeswoman Clare Nullis says the U.S. National Weather Service expects the intense heat to continue for a while.“The National Weather Service in Las Vegas, which covers the Death Valley area, tweeted overnight, ‘We are in the midst of a long-duration extreme heat event. Another run at 130 degrees Fahrenheit plus temperatures in Death Valley remains possible,’” ,” said Nullis.
 A person walks on a boardwalk at the salt flats at Badwater Basin, Aug. 17, 2020, in Death Valley National Park, California.The WMO says extreme high temperatures are part of a global trend.  It says July was the hottest July on record for the northern hemisphere, and Arctic sea ice was the lowest on record for the month.
 
It says Western and Central Europe experienced another heatwave last week, Japan recorded temperatures of more than 40 degrees (Celsius) Monday at Hamamatsu, and Siberia has experienced a prolonged heatwave.
 
The WMO currently is in the process of verifying the record high temperature of 38 degrees (Celsius) reported June 20 in Siberia. If proven, that would be the highest temperature ever recorded in the Arctic Circle.
 
Nullis tells VOA the relationship between climate change and the extreme weather events is inescapable.
 
“We are seeing more intense, extreme heat waves. More frequent. They are starting earlier and finishing later than in the past,” said Nullis. “This is consistent with everything that we expect from climate change. Of all the extreme weather events that we see, the relationship between heat and climate change is the one that we see that is clearest.”
 
Man-made climate change is caused by the emission of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane into the atmosphere. Scientists agree that drastically cutting greenhouse gas emissions is the key to tackling global warming.
 
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