So what is SARS and why is it so controversial?

For more than a quarter of a century, SARS took the lead on the country’s most serious crimes — armed robbery, kidnapping, assault and murder. But over time it has become notorious for alleged abuses committed with apparent impunity.

But critics say the #EndSARS campaign has resulted in little change.

“Detainees in SARS custody have been subjected to a variety of methods of torture including hanging, mock execution, beating, punching and kicking, burning with cigarettes, waterboarding, near-asphyxiation with plastic bags, forcing detainees to assume stressful bodily positions and sexual violence,” the report said.

“Findings from our research indicate that few cases are investigated and hardly any officers are brought to justice on account of torture and other ill-treatment.”

How did the recent unrest begin?

After weeks of outcry online from young people in the country over claims of kidnapping, harassment and extortion by SARS, protesters began taking to the streets about two weeks ago.

Amnesty International said in a tweet Tuesday that “thugs and sponsored hoodlums” were also attacking peaceful protesters across the country.

Members of the Nigerian diaspora community also organized protests in solidarity with their counterparts at home, with demonstrations held as far afield as Canada, England, Germany and the United States.

Buhari said the disbanding of SARS was “only the first step” in extensive police reform. “We will also ensure that all those responsible for misconduct or wrongful acts are brought to justice,” the president added, insisting that “the vast majority of men and women of the police force are hard-working and diligent in performing their duties.”

But protesters are demanding wider reforms and further protections against the police, including independent oversight and psychological evaluation of officers.

Amnesty said many doubt the promised changes will make a difference. “Nigerians are skeptical of authorities’ pledge to end police atrocities because the past claims of reforming SARS have turned out to be empty words,” the rights group tweeted Monday.

A 17-year-old died in police custody on Monday in Kano, a city in the north of the country, after allegedly being tortured, according to Amnesty International.

Many protesters and journalists were assaulted by police in the capital Abuja on the same day, the rights group said. Videos on social media show dozens of cars belonging to protesters burning and Amnesty said three people had died.

What happened in Lagos?

Violence erupted Tuesday evening in Lagos, hours after state governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu imposed a 24-hour curfew and deployed anti-riot police to the city in an attempt to prevent further unrest.

Eyewitnesses told CNN they had seen multiple demonstrators shot by soldiers during a peaceful protest at the city’s Lekki tollgate.

Human rights group Amnesty International said that after an on-the-ground investigation it had found that 12 people were killed during protests in two locations in Lagos on Tuesday, Lekki and Alausa, a district further north.

It said that “evidence gathered from eyewitnesses, video footage and hospital reports” confirmed that over a period of about two hours “the Nigerian military opened fire on thousands of people who were peacefully calling for good governance and an end to police brutality.”

The army has dismissed reports that protesters were shot dead as “fake news.” The Nigerian Army and police did not return requests for comment.

Eyewitness Akinbosola Ogunsanya, a talk show host on Afrosurge Radio, said the shooting began shortly after the lights at the tollgate were switched off. “Members of the Nigerian army pulled up on us and they started firing,” he said. “I just survived, barely.”

Another witness, Temple Onanugbo, spoke to CNN from his home nearby and said he heard what he believed were bullets being fired. He said the sound lasted “for about 15 to 30 minutes.” Onanugbo said he saw “multiple bodies laying on the ground.”

CNN couldn’t independently corroborate the witness accounts.

The state government has ordered an investigation into the incident, a spokesman for the governor said.

Nigerians have called on Buhari to address the nation directly and apologize for the onslaught. The statement issued by the President on Wednesday, signed by his special adviser, Femi Adesina, did not mention the attacks.

The latest tropical storm is expected to become a hurricane by the time it gets closer to Bermuda later this week, with forecasters saying the island could feel some impacts.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said as of 2 p.m. EDT that Tropical Storm Epsilon is packing maximum sustained winds of 60 mph and is located about 675 miles southeast of Bermuda, moving east-north-northwest at 12 mph.

Epsilon formed on Monday, becoming the 26th named storm of the busy 2020 Atlantic hurricane season. 

TROPICAL STORM EPSILON FORMS IN ATLANTIC, BECOMES 26TH STORM OF 2020 HURRICANE SEASON

According to the NHC, the storm is expected to make a turn toward the north and northwest later on Tuesday, with a general northwestern motion expected through Thursday.

Tropical Storm Epsilon is seen over the Atlantic on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2020.
(NOAA/GOES-East)

Gradual strengthening is also expected over the next couple of days, and Epsilon is forecast to be at or near hurricane strength by Wednesday night or Thursday morning.

The storm will then approach Bermuda on Thursday, but it’s still too early to tell what impacts the storm will have. 

The forecast track of Tropical Storm Epsilon.
(Fox News)

Current forecast tracks show Epsilon will just brush Bermuda later this week, but the island could still be impacted by tropical storm conditions. At this point, Bermuda will likely only see tropical storm conditions with the worst staying east of the island, but a track closer to Bermuda would increase impacts.

‘BUBBLE CURTAIN’ IS THE NEWEST CRAZY HURRICANE-KILLING IDEA

“Interests in Bermuda should monitor the progress of Epsilon,” the NHC said.

A tropical storm watch has been issued for the island, with tropical-storm force conditions expected to arrive within 48 hours.

Tropical storm-force winds extend outward up to 300 miles from the center of the storm, and Epsilon is generating large swells that will impact Bermuda over the next couple of days. 

Epsilon represents a record for the earliest 26th named storm, beating out Nov. 22 in 2005, according to Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach.

There is just over one month left in the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, which ends Nov. 30, but this season has broken numerous records as forecasters in September ran out of traditional names and went to the Greek alphabet for storms Alpha and Beta. Delta became a Category 4 storm before weakening and swiping Mexico, then took aim and roared into Louisiana as a Category 2 hurricane.

NOAA forecasters had called for up to 25 named storms this season with winds of 39 mph or higher; of those, seven to 10 could become hurricanes. Among those hurricanes, three to six will be major, classified as Category 3, 4 and 5 with winds of 111 mph or higher.

A look at the numbers of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season.
(Fox News)

That’s far above an average year. Based on 1981-to-2010 data, that is 12 named storms, six hurricanes, and three major hurricanes.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE WEATHER COVERAGE FROM FOX NEWS

So far this year, there have been 26 named storms, including nine hurricanes and of those, three major hurricanes.

A look at the Greek alphabet names that are being used for the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, after the hurricane center ran out of official names due to the number of storms.
(Fox News)

The last time the Greek alphabet was used in the Atlantic was in 2005, the year of Hurricane Katrina. With a total of 27 storms that year, the first six letters of the Greek alphabet were used: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon and Zeta.

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Fox News’ Adam Klotz and Brandon Noriega contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON | Donald Trump and Joe Biden’s microphones will be cut when they do not have the floor, during their debate on Thursday, to avoid the cacophony that reigned during the first debate between the two presidential candidates in September, announced Monday the American commission responsible for these debates.

Democratic candidate Joe Biden, like US President and Republican candidate Donald Trump, will have two minutes to answer questions from the debate moderator, and during that time, the microphone of whoever is supposed to listen will be muted.

Once both candidates have used these two minutes, an open discussion will then be possible, this time with both microphones open.

“It is the wish of the commission that the candidates be respectful of their respective speaking time, which will advance the public debate for the benefit of the spectators”, indicated the commission in a statement.

But Donald Trump’s campaign manager Bill Stepien reacted strongly to this decision.

“President Trump is eager to debate Joe Biden, whatever last minute changes decided by a biased committee, in a last ditch attempt to provide an advantage to his favorite candidate,” he said in a statement.

According to Mr. Stepien, President Trump intends to discuss the affairs of Hunter Biden, son of Joe Biden, as he now does regularly, two weeks before the election.

“If the media doesn’t ask Joe Biden these questions, the president will, and there will be no escape for Biden,” Stepien said.

During their first debate in September, Mr. Trump interrupted his Democratic rival 71 times, the latter only interrupting him 22 times, according to the Axios news site.

The two candidates were scheduled to debate again last Thursday, but the committee imposed a virtual debate after the president tested positive for the coronavirus, a format that was immediately rejected by Mr. Trump. The two men then held separate meetings which were broadcast on television.

The debate scheduled for Thursday will be the last between the two men before the election on November 3.

“That’s the real terror of this all: Trump takes down the whole ticket, the whole Republican side of the Senate,” said Mark McAllister, a Republican who voted for Trump four years ago but has no plans of doing so again.

“There are some good things,” McAllister said of the last four years, pointing to the economy before the pandemic. “But overall, I am disgusted with him.”

Republican officials in Iowa are nervously watching the suburbs here, just as their counterparts are doing across the nation, as the President’s shaky support threatens the Republican Senate majority. Trump campaign signs dot the fall landscape, but blue “Republicans for Biden” signs also offer an ominous warning for the final three weeks of the campaign.

The same story is unfolding in Iowa as in many battlegrounds: Independents, women and seniors are turning away from Trump, amid dissatisfaction over his handling of coronavirus and his broader conduct in office. Yet it’s resonating even more now than earlier this year, with hospitalizations for Covid-19 rising to an all-time high and cases nearing the 100,000 mark.

Former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, who returned home here last week after serving as the US ambassador to China for the last four years, said criticism of the President was unfounded.

“The virus is not the President’s fault,” Branstad told CNN. “President Trump finished strong in 2016 and I think he’s going to finish strong here again.”

While the President has considerable support in broad swaths of the state, particularly rural Iowa, that rosy view is not universally held by Republican officials, several of whom said they were alarmed at the President’s precarious political standing in the state.

“The bottom isn’t falling out, but we can certainly see it,” a top Republican in Iowa, who regularly speaks to the President’s campaign, told CNN. “I don’t know how far it will go.”

Ernst, whose Republican star has steadily risen since being elected to the Senate in 2014, could be collateral damage. She campaigned on a pledge to be an independent voice, promising in a memorable TV ad, surrounded by pigs, to cut pork barrel spending and “make ’em squeal.”

“She was a kick-butt candidate, who was going to take names once she got to Washington,” said Cindy DePond, stopping to chat late last week after casting her early vote. “She did not make them squeal. We didn’t see any of that from her.”

In a weekend campaign stop here, as Ernst rode her Harley-Davidson motorcycle across Iowa, she briefly talked to reporters and dismissed the notion that the President was complicating her race.

“No,” she said. “I’m running my own race.”

Asked about her standing among suburban voters, she said: “I’ve met with suburban women. They are really concerned about law and order. That’s an issue that draws them closer to the President.”

It’s a central question of the race that only the election can answer: Is the law-and-order message turning out — or turning off — voters?

Greenfield, the Democratic nominee in the Senate race, believes health care and preserving Social Security benefits are the top issues facing voters.

“Health care is number one,” Greenfield said in an interview. “Whether it’s cost or folks getting gouged for prescription drugs, whether it’s rural health care or mental health care, that’s one of the key things people are talking about — certainly during Covid that has elevated the conversation.”

She has been among the candidates in her party logging record-setting fundraising, including $29 million in the last three months, in another sign of the Democratic fervor at the prospect of taking control of the Senate.

Ernst seized upon that point, saying “Iowans cannot be bought,” at her campaign rally, suggesting out-of-state money is flooding into help her rival. Yet the reality is that Republicans — including the Trump campaign, which pulled its advertising in Iowa — are being outspent.

For her part, Greenfield said Ernst hasn’t lived up to her pledge to be an independent voice for Iowans.

“She went to Washington, she joined party leadership and she votes with (Senate Majority Leader) Mitch McConnell and party leaders 97% of the time,” Greenfield said in an interview. “That doesn’t sound very independent to me.”

With a competitive Senate race, along with four closely watched House contests, Iowa is awash in political advertising. A flood of outside groups are also weighing in, featuring images of Greenfield morphing into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and billboards with pictures of Bernie Sanders and a message: “Bernie: Joe Biden’s socialist comrade.”

At the center of it all is the presidential campaign, which is now locked in a tight race. Trump’s standing may lift — or sink — the Republican ticket here, but the fact that he is defending his Iowa terrain at all is a far bigger sign of trouble in other battleground states.

Four years ago, Trump won 93 of the state’s 99 counties, including 31 that twice voted for President Barack Obama. Iowa had more so-called pivot counties than any state in the country.

Jasper County, once home to the Maytag company, is one of them.

Michelle Smith, the county’s Democratic chairwoman, said many too many Democrats were not inspired to vote four years ago for Hillary Clinton, which she said wouldn’t happen this time.

“The people I know who didn’t vote are going to vote for Joe Biden this time because they realize by not voting what we’ve had to do ensure the last 3 1/2 years,” Smith said. “At the end of the day, I really do think it is either a vote for or against Trump.”

But signs of Trump strength are plentiful across Jasper County, which is about 40 miles east of Des Moines. Conversations with Republicans here suggest far less concern about the controversy of the day back in Washington — many of them self-inflicted, voters are quick to point out — but the President whose results they believe in.

“We’re so far into it now, people either like him or they don’t,” said Thad Nearmyer, the Republican county chairman. “If you already like him, you’re pretty much locked in.”

Yet even with early voting underway and Election Day three weeks away, some voters are still not entirely sure what to do.

Mark Hallam, who holds a nonpartisan seat on the Newton City Council, counts himself in that group. He said the economic downturn, in the wake of coronavirus, could change some minds and make the president and Ernst more vulnerable, but he doubts the president’s conduct will suddenly sway anyone.

“Trump is something of an enigma to me,” Hallam said. “I enjoy some of his theatrics, while others I’m put off by, because it’s my not personal style. But it is who Donald Trump is.”

A toilet in the Russian Zvezda module on the International Space Station (ISS) broke down. This was reported by “RIA Novosti” with reference to the crew’s negotiations with the Earth, broadcast by the American space agency NASA.

It is noted that the cosmonauts use the restroom on the US segment of the ISS. There are currently two Russian-made toilets on the ISS – in the Zvezda and Tranquility modules.

There is another American-made toilet at the station, which was brought in by the Cygnus cargo ship in October. It has not yet been installed, it is planned to do it on the territory of the American segment of the station.

On October 6, Roscosmos cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin told the Mission Control Center that a smoke detector had been triggered on the International Space Station (ISS) in the Zarya module, which is part of the Russian segment.

On October 3, the ISS crew recorded the readings of air leaks. It was decided to close the transition compartment of the Russian Zvezda module for another three days.

The next day, MCC asked the astronauts to eliminate the leak to the ISS by mid-October.