The U.S. government on Tuesday warned citizens that if they travel to mainland China or Hong Kong they may be subjected to "arbitrary detention." The statement said that people visiting China may not be allowed to return to their home countries because the Chinese government imposes "exit bans" for a variety of reasons, including civil disputes and to "gain bargaining leverage over foreign governments."

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• The State Department warned that U.S. citizens could be detained for extended periods of time and interrogated while being denied access to consular services.
• If they visit Hong Kong, U.S. nationals could face "heightened risk of arrest, detention, expulsion, or prosecution."
• The Chinese government said that it protects the rights of foreign visitors and accused the U.S. government of engaging in "unwarranted political manipulation."
• Beijing and Washington have clashed on multiple issues in recent months, including TikTok, coronavirus, Taiwan, Tibet, the South China Sea, Hong Kong, and Chinese detention camps in Xinjiang.
• The tensions have led to tit-for-tat closures of consulates and new visa restrictions on students and journalists.

China expects to develop a COVID-19 vaccine before the end of the year. Nine of the 30 vaccines currently undergoing human trials are being developed in China, which is the world's largest vaccine maker. The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CCDC) said that one of those vaccines should be ready by November or December.

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• The CCDC indicated that not everyone may need to get vaccinated. Last weekend, director Gao Fu said that essential workers and Chinese nationals living in countries with high contagion rates will be prioritized. 
• Chinese pharma companies including China National Biotec Group and Sinovac Biotech have been given experimental vaccines to thousands of Chinese residents, including people in the military and those doing "high-risk jobs."
• Potential Chinese vaccines include a nasal spray that is being developed by researchers based in mainland China and Hong Kong.

An appeals court has ruled that the Trump administration can terminate a program that allows 300,000 immigrants from Sudan, Nicaragua, Haiti, and El Salvador to stay in the U.S. President Trump in 2017 sought to terminate the Temporary Protected Status program, which offers immigrants a chance to live and work in the U.S. if their home countries face armed conflicts or natural disasters. But immigrants filed a lawsuit saying that the termination was motivated by racism since only "non-white, non-European immigrants" were targeted. A lower court previously sided with the plaintiffs and issued an injunction that has now been lifted by the 9th Circuit Appeals Court. That means the immigrants could be subjected to deportation starting next year. 

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• About 247,000 people from El Salvador live in the U.S. with TPS status. El Salvador has the highest murder rate per capita.
• There are about 55,000 Haitians, 4,500 Nicaraguans, and 774 Sudanians living in the U.S. under the TPS program.
• The Trump administration has also sought to end TPS protections for people from Honduras and Nepal, who have also challenged the move in the courts.
• More than 130,000 TPS recipients are essential workers, according to the Center for American Progress.

GOOD NEWS: Gigi, A lamb with an "old soul," has forged a friendship with Merlin, a disabled duck, in a New Jersey animal sanctuary called Goats of Anarchy. The 130 animals living at GOA are usually separated by species and don't mix up much. But Gigi is quite the cuddler, said GOA's founder Leanne Lauricella. A few weeks ago, carers spotted Gigi laying next to Merlin and they thought it was a one-off. At first, Merlin, who has an injured leg and can't walk, seemed a bit frustrated but their friendship developed and now the two hang out regularly. "Every day, Gigi visits Merlin out in the grass and curls up next to him ... It's like she is trying to comfort him," said Lauricella.

At least 87 wildfires continue raging in California, Oregon, and Washington state. 22 people are reported missing in Oregon but rescue teams can't search for them because the fires are too intense. The wildfires have killed at least 36 people, including 25 in California, where firefighters are striving to keep deadly blazes away from populated communities.

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• People in the states worst affected by the wildfires are breathing the most polluted air on the planet.
• This year, wildfires have destroyed 3.3 million acres in California, 26 times more than the area burned this time last year.
• The U.S. National Interagency Coordination Center said that the current fires in California are just the beginning of a "significant fall fire season" that will likely get worse due to warmer and drier conditions that will last through December.
• Nearly 16,500 firefighters are battling flames in California but this year they can't count on help from crews of inmates, because many state prisons are under lockdown due to the pandemic.
• USPS has closed 12 locations in both California and Oregon, and one location in Washington, due to the wildfires.

This has been the hottest summer on record in the Northern Hemisphere, NOAA said on Monday. Temperatures in June, July, and August were 2.11F (1.17C) above the 20th-century average. In August, global surface temperatures were the highest in history worldwide, behind 2016. The organization said that 2020 is on track to be among the five-warmest years on record.

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• Devastating fires in western states and a virulent hurricane season in the Atlantic have put climate change in the spotlight in recent weeks. 
• Democratic candidate Joe Biden on Monday said that if President Trump is to win re-election, suburbs will be "burned in wildfires," "flooded out" due to heavy rains, and "blown away" by superstorms. He called Trump a "climate arsonist."
• In a meeting with Trump on Monday, Wade Crowfoot, California Secretary for Natural Resources, noted that climate change is partly to blame for the fires.
• Trump responded by falsely claiming that scientists don't really know that to be the case.
• "It will start getting cooler. You just watch," responded Trump.
• Trump says that western states are partly to blame for the fires because they failed to properly manage their forests. However, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said that the federal government controls 57% of the forested land in California, while the state is responsible for just 3%.

Hurricane Sally is expected to drench the Gulf Coast with more than two feet of rain when it makes landfall this afternoon, the National Hurricane Center said. Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama have called for evacuations in low-lying areas. Ports, schools, and businesses have shut their doors, and energy companies have stopped refineries and off-shore oil rigs. Forecasters say that storm surges could reach up to 9 feet (2.7 meters) in some areas.

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• Like Hurricane Harvey in 2017, Sally is a slow-moving storm that is expected to unleash downpours for long periods of time.
• Forecasters say that Sally could dump between 10 and 20 inches of rain along the coast, but some areas could see 30 inches.
• As of Tuesday morning, Sally was 60 miles east of the mouth of the Mississippi River and moving at a speed of just two miles per hour.

Astronomers have detected a chemical in the upper layer of the Venusian atmosphere that may be a possible sign of life. On Earth, phosphine gas is produced by anaerobic (non-oxygen-breathing) bacteria. Phosphine has previously been spotted in the atmospheres of gas giant planets – Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune – due to known chemical processes that occur in those planets, but scientists are puzzled as to why it exists on Venus. They say there are three different explanations for the presence of the gas: chemical reactions involving atmospheric gases and sunlight, chemical reactions on the planet's surface, or life. The researchers published their findings in the journal Nature Communications.

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• The researchers first spotted phosphine on Venus in 2017, using the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope in Hawaii and later confirmed their findings using the Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array in Chile.
• Researchers have long considered Venus inhospitable because it is the hottest planet in the solar system – surface temperatures there can reach 900F (465C) – and because its atmosphere is toxic.
• But some have theorized that life could exist in the upper part of the Venusian atmosphere where temperatures reach 85F (30C). 

An autonomous ship is about to begin trials before it sails across the Atlantic Ocean using only AI and solar energy. The Mayflower is scheduled to make an appearance on Wednesday before it officially makes the voyage in April 2021, following the same path that the Pilgrims did in 1620. It will use cameras, radars, IBM Watson, and computer vision technology to navigate.

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• Crews will begin trialing the ship off England's south coast over the next several months. The actual 3,000-mile voyage will take 12 days rather than the two months it took the Pilgrims.
• AI and edge computing software from IBM will navigate the fully autonomous boat. It will make onboard decisions via an edge computing module fed with data from an IBM AI engine.
• The University of Plymouth, autonomous craft specialists MSubs, and charity Promare are also working on the project, which will travel from Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Mass. and gather scientific data during the trip.
• The organizations are training the PowerAI engine with ocean data, which will allow it to navigate and recognize things like ocean life and other ships.
• Allied Market Research predicts the autonomous shipping market could reach $135 billion by 2030. Fully autonomous oceangoing cargo ships could be routine in 10-15 years.

* This story first appeared on Inside AI. 

Quick Hits

• Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who is recovering after being poisoned with the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok, posted a picture of himself on Monday. Doctors have removed a ventilator from Navalny, who is now able to breathe on his own.
• Due to coronavirus, spectators won't be allowed at Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade this year. A small celebration featuring giant character balloons, floats, and performers will take place in front of TV cameras only. 
• Actor Paul Rudd stars in a public service announcement video that encourages millennials to wear masks. 
• Slack is gathering industry leaders and product experts at Slack Frontiers, a free virtual conference dedicated to digital transformation.*

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