The U.S. Census Bureau is cutting its schedule for data collection for the 2020 census a month short as legislation that would have extended the national head count’s deadlines stalls in Congress. The move is worrying researchers, politicians and others who say the change will miss hard-to-count communities, including minorities and immigrants, and produce less trustworthy data.
The Census Bureau said late Monday that the door-knocking and ability for households to respond either online, by phone or by mail to the questionnaire will stop at the end of September instead of the end of October so that it can meet an end-of-the-year deadline to turn in numbers used for redrawing congressional districts.
Census experts, academics and civil rights activists worry the sped-up count could hurt its thoroughness and produce inaccurate data that will have lasting effects through the next decade. The count determines how $1.5 trillion in federal spending is distributed and how many congressional districts each state gets.
“This move will rush the enumeration process, result in inadequate follow-up, and undercount immigrant communities and communities of color who are historically undercounted,” U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, chairwoman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, wrote Census Bureau director Steven Dillingham in a letter Tuesday.
In the letter, Maloney, a Democrat from New York, requested interviews before her committee with eight Census Bureau officials, including two recent additions to the bureau’s leadership whose appointments by the Trump administration have been sharply criticized as politically driven.
But Dillingham said the agency aimed to have the same level of responses as past censuses. “We will improve the speed of our count without sacrificing completeness,” he said.
If communities are missed, it will have “a large downstream impact” not only on apportionment but social science research and other Census Bureau surveys that rely on the once-a-decade census, said David Van Riper, director of spatial analysis at the University of Minnesota’s Institute for Social Research and Data Innovation.
“It’s interesting that this is happening now because all of the COVID databases are using population data from the census,” Van Riper said. Data used from an inaccurate count during a pandemic like the one the U.S. is experiencing “would give us a false perception of what’s going on on the ground,” he added.
As of Monday, 37% of U.S. households hadn’t yet responded to the census questionnaire. Some of the 500,000 door knockers hired by the Census Bureau have begun visiting those households, but they weren’t expected to go out in force until next week.
An analysis by the CUNY Center for Urban Research shows that 10 states currently are trailing their 2010 self-response rates by 5 to 10 percentage points, meaning they will require a greater share of door-knocking than they did a decade ago. Those states are Alaska, Montana, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas and Wyoming.
Four former Census Bureau directors who have served in both Democratic and Republican administrations warned in a letter that cutting short the door-knocking phase would force the bureau to rely on administrative records and statistical techniques to fill gaps on a much larger scale than in previous censuses.
Congress should task an independent institution to measure whether the 2020 count matches the outcomes of previous censuses, and if not, recommend what steps should be taken, said the letter signed by Vincent Barabba, Robert Groves, Kenneth Prewitt and John Thompson.
Facing delays caused by the pandemic, the Census Bureau had earlier this year pushed back wrapping up field operations for the once-a-decade head count from the end of July to the end of October.
The bureau also asked Congress in April to extend the deadline for turning in apportionment data used for drawing congressional districts from Dec. 31, 2020, to April 30, 2021. Top Census Bureau officials have said it would be impossible to meet the end-of-the-year deadline, and that the bureau expected bipartisan support for the request.
The request passed the Democratic-controlled House as part of coronavirus-relief legislation but it hasn’t gone anywhere in the Republican-controlled Senate. The chamber’s inaction coincides with a memorandum Trump issued last month to try to exclude people living in the U.S. illegally from being part of the process for redrawing congressional districts.
Civil rights groups, states, cities and individuals have filed at least a half-dozen lawsuits challenging the memorandum as unconstitutional and an attempt to limit the power of Latinos and immigrants of color.
The request to Congress also asked that the deadline for turning in data used for drawing legislative and local districts be extended from March 30, 2021, to July 31, 2021, but the Census Bureau is now aiming to finish those responsibilities by the end of March.
Maloney on Tuesday introduced an update to the legislation pending in Congress that would give the Census Bureau more time by pushing back the deadlines to the later dates.
Critics say the move to speed up the deadlines is just the latest Trump administration effort to politicize the 2020 census, starting with a failed attempt to add a citizenship question to the form.
“This is nothing but a disgusting power grab from an administration hell-bent on preserving its fleeting political power at all costs,” said Julie Menin, census director for New York City.
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Month: August 2020
Горіла сосна, палала. Палає і зелений карлик. Рейтинги політиків по Києву та Україні
Горіла сосна, палала. Палає і зелений карлик. Рейтинги політиків по Києву та Україні
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Хабаровские десантники выступили против обиженного карлика пукина
Хабаровские десантники выступили против обиженного карлика пукина
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«Темний демон» єрмак, «теплі почуття» до крадуна авакова і «вагітна» хвойда мендель
«Темний демон» єрмак, «теплі почуття» до крадуна авакова і «вагітна» шльондра мендель.
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На початку квітня у команді Офісу президента відбулося поповнення: політтехнолог Михайло Подоляк, який ще не так давно критикував політику ОП, «слуг народу» і зеленого карлика, став антикризовим радником голови Офісу президента єрмака.
Які саме кризи він вирішує? Чи справді єрмак є «темним демоном» за спиною зеленого карлика, про що Подоляк писав раніше? Чи правильно зробив президент, коли не звільним голову ОП після скандалу з «плівками Лероса»? Чи становить загрозу для президента міністр МВС крадун аваков, якого Подоляк ще не так давно називав «неформальним президентом»? Та для чого Подоляк порадив прес-секретарці зеленого карлика хвойді мендель публічно спростовувати чутки про свою «вагітність»?
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Обкурений зе-прокурор євген дудко із сокирою напав на сусідів і “спалив” котедж в Козині
Обкурений зе-прокурор євген дудко із сокирою напав на сусідів і “спалив” котедж в Козині.
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Увірватись на барбекю з сокирою? Ні, це не герой фільму жахів, це звичайний київський прокурор євген дудко. І хоч в його декларації лише квартира на 30 квадратів в Києві, завдяки нападу на сусідів ми з’ясували – живе прокурор в маєтку в елітному Козині. Офіційно маєток належить батьку, який нібито доларовий мільйонер з 90-х, але насправді не отримував прибутків вже років 10
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Истерика в бункере обиженного карлика: турецкие F-16 готовят подарки пукинским оркам
Истерика в бункере обиженного карлика: турецкие F-16 готовят подарки пукинским оркам.
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Раньше Анкара ограничивалась помощью Азербайджану в виде материальной части, но в этот раз все пошло по другому сценарию. Турция ввела именно свои войска и в частности, были развернуты турецкие истребители F-16, а также многоцелевые вертолеты С-129 и С-70 Black Hawk
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Famous NYC Public Library Lions Put on Masks
The distance between the two large stone lions that guard the entrance to New York’s Public Library is well over two meters. But the statues were recently given face masks as a symbol that everyone must do their part to keep everyone safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. VOA’s Elena Wolf reports from New York.Camera: Max Avloshenko
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Victims of Suspected Boko Haram Attack on Cameroon IDP Camp Need Urgent Help
The United Nations refugee agency says victims of a suspected Boko Haram terror attack on an IDP camp in Cameroon’s Far North region remain unprotected and in need of urgent help. At least 18 people were killed and 11 others injured.The camp housing 800 internally displaced people was attacked early Sunday. Militant jihadists reportedly threw a grenade into the compound while people were sleeping.The U.N. refugee agency says it is outraged by this brutal, unprovoked attack and condemns it in the strongest terms. UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch tells VOA that Nigeria-based terror group Boko Haram is suspected of being behind the attack.“In Cameroon, since early this year, more than 87 attacks have been recorded, which are attributed to Boko Haram. It has affected millions of people in the region and only in this area of Cameroon, there are more than 320,000 people displaced,” he said.This latest attack near the village of Nguetchewe follows an upsurge of violence in Cameroon’s Far North Region, including looting and kidnapping. Civilians in this area, which covers Chad and north-east Nigeria, have been at the mercy of Boko Haram and other armed groups for years.Baloch says the attack on the IDP camp has caused some 1,500 people, including terrified residents of the hosting village, to flee to a nearby town for safety. He says the UNHCR is sending an emergency mission to assess the situation and evaluate the protection and health needs of those affected.“Against the backdrop of growing insecurity, UNHCR anticipates enhanced protection, shelter, water and sanitation will be needed as the country responds to the COVID-19 pandemic… Access a uge issue for humanitarians in this region in terms of providing humanitarian support,” said Baloch.The U.N. says Boko Haram violence in the Lake Chad Basin region has cost the lives of 30,000 people, displaced more than three million and forced nearly 300,000 Nigerians to seek refuge in neighboring countries.
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Thai Army Chief Says ‘Hatred of Nation’ Bigger Threat Than Virus
Thailand’s powerful army chief on Wednesday told cadets that the “hatred of the nation” plaguing the country was a bigger threat than the coronavirus, as a nascent pro-democracy movement grows bolder.
The kingdom has seen near-daily protests for more than two weeks by mostly young Thais, fuelled by their anger at a pro-military royalist government headed by former army chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha.
The most overt show of discontent came Monday night, when young students dressed in Harry Potter robes cheered on a lawyer as he led a discussion on the monarchy’s role in Thailand.
During a visit to a military academy on Wednesday, army chief Apirat Kongsompong — an arch-royalist who has slammed pro-democracy figures in the past — spoke obliquely about the “disease” of criticising one’s country.
“COVID-19 can be cured… but the disease that cannot be cured is the hatred of the nation,” the general said.
“We cannot cure people who hate their nation.”
Thailand’s politics has long been defined by a cycle of violent protests and military coups, in apparent zealous protection of the monarchy.
The super-rich King Maha Vajiralongkorn sits at the apex of Thai power, and is protected from open criticism by harsh royal defamation laws.
Premier Prayut, who led the last coup in 2014, is seen as a product of the military’s legacy in politics, and much of his cabinet is stacked with generals and royalist establishment elite.
His administration has faced criticism for its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which has slammed the Thai economy and left millions jobless.
Social-media savvy protesters have called for his government’s ouster and amendments to a 2017 military-scripted constitution, which critics say unfairly stacks the power in favour of the military-aligned ruling party.
Prayut appeared to strike a conciliatory tone Tuesday, saying that a committee has been set up to discuss constitutional amendments and floated “public forums with the people, including the young” to discuss grievances.
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Vietnam Says Contagion ‘Under Control’ in Virus Epicenter but Spread Elsewhere
A new coronavirus outbreak in Vietnam spread to two more provinces on Wednesday, the country’s health minister said, as the COVID-19 task force declared the contagion “under control” in the central city where the outbreak began.
Aggressive contact-tracing, targeted testing and strict quarantining had helped Vietnam contain earlier outbreaks, but it is now battling infections in at least 10 cities and provinces, after going more than three months without domestic transmission.
The health ministry confirmed two new cases on Wednesday, bringing Vietnam’s total infections to 672, with 8 deaths.
The new outbreak was first reported on July 25 in the tourist resort city of Danang and has spread to major urban centers like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, which have since closed entertainment venues, restricted gatherings and tested tens of thousands of people.
Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long told state media on Wednesday the outbreak had expanded to the provinces of Bac Giang near Hanoi and Lang Son, bordering China, both linked to the Danang infections.
State media and government officials have made strong statements against illegal immigration since the new outbreak, but no official links have been made.
The outbreak in Danang, currently under lockdown alongside Quang Nam province, was “under control,” the government’s COVID-19 steering committee said late Tuesday.
The source of the Danang outbreak remains unclear.
All but six of its cases have been traced to three of the city’s hospitals, the committee said, and the six had not infected anyone else.
“The second wave of the pandemic may be happening elsewhere in the world, but we are determined to not let that happen in Vietnam,” committee head Vu Duc Dam said in the statement, which predicted more cases and deaths ahead.
“We do not intend to repeat the story of a widespread, national lockdown either. If everything is done well, we are confident we can fight the disease.”
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Greece Grapples with Dramatic Spike in COVID-19 Infections
Greece has recorded its biggest spike in COVID-19 infections since emerging from a nationwide lockdown three months ago. The country’s virus-free status – relative to others in Europe – has largely faded since allowing tourists to visit again. But now authorities are largely blaming young Greeks for the dramatic rise in infections, accusing them of socializing recklessly and not acting responsibly. Officials fear Greece is just weeks away from living a nightmarish contagion much like that already seen in Italy earlier this year.For a country that until recently had only about 3,000 COVID-19 infections, Tuesday’s single-day count of 121 new cases set off alarm bells.It also forced Sotiris Tsiodras, an infectious diseases expert and the head of the Greek government’s medical response team, to return to the public podium, issuing a stark warning 70 days after Greece claimed it had successfully flattened its coronavirus curve.The situation now, he said, is dangerous and Greeks have to understand the severity of it because the fate of this flare-up ultimately hinges on them.If people behave as they should, Tsiodras said, then they can once again quash the curve. But if they do not, then this can easily and quickly turn into what he described as an Italy-like calamity.COVID-19 infections have been climbing since tourists began trickling back into this sun-drenched country in early June.But as Greeks too have started seeking summer retreat, they also have been loosening up in their compliance with social distancing rules, refusing to wear masks at beach bars, restaurants and social gatherings.Passengers wait to board a ship bound to Greek Aegean islands at the port of Piraeus, near Athens, Greece, Aug. 1, 2020. Authorities introduced tougher restrictions this week following an increase in infections.Home-grown cases have overtaken foreign ones.State statistics released Wednesday suggested only 10 percent of Greece’s COVID-19 cases are linked to tourism.To stem the spread, authorities have introduced a new list of measures, including a cap on large weddings and celebrations that officials say have contributed to the dramatic rise in COVID-19 cases here. They have also implemented tighter border controls – mainly from Albania where the pandemic shows no signs of abating.But reining in Greece’s beach-partying youth is proving more difficult. Greek Civil Protection Minister Nikos Hardalias is now calling on people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s to socialize responsibly, not recklessly.He said that as a father he appeals to the youth to step up to the plate and take the lead in protecting Greece and what it has managed to achieve these past few months in keeping itself clear of the virus.The youth, he said, should now act as young heroes, protecting their families, parents and grandparents.But to officials, it appears that young people are not doing that. Islands like Mykonos and Ios are buzzing with beach parties, defying stiff regulations and steep fines for those failing to observe rules that require them to remain seated at bars, open-air nightclubs and concerts.It is no wonder, health experts say, that the average age of cases here has now dropped from 72 to 52, with the slide slipping more and more into younger age groups traveling around the country during summer break.Cars queue at Promahonas border crossing with Bulgaria, which is the only land border into Greece that is open, July 6, 2020.Charalambos Gogos is a doctor advising the state government’s response.He explained the alarming element in this flare-up is the speed with which it is spreading. It has doubled, he said, in just a matter of days.Any further rise from this point on, he warned, will spell an unchecked pandemic. He said it is imperative to keep the rate and pace of infections down.With Greece’s economy largely dependent on tourism, government officials say they do not want to resort to a new nationwide lockdown, fearing it could scare travelers and business away.
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COVID-19 Spells Trouble For Europe’s Pensions, and Skyscrapers
Commercial landlords across Europe are bracing for prolonged repercussions from the coronavirus. While they argue offices will remain just as important after the pandemic as before, corporate bosses are starting to rethink their office space needs and many white-collar employees say they would prefer to continue to work largely from home. The pandemic may have kicked off a revolution in working practices — and that could spell trouble, economists say, for pensions funds, which have billions of dollars invested in commercial property, seen before the pandemic as a safe long-term bet.Property experts in London say the demand for office space in the British capital’s financial district is set to fall significantly. They predict corporate bosses will start shunning skyscrapers, preferring instead to rent self-contained buildings for their staff, which can be more easily managed in a public health crisis. The end of the skyscraper?The chief executive of Barclays Bank, Jes Staley, says there will be a distinct trend away from skyscrapers. He told the BBC, “I think the notion of putting 7,000 people in a building may be a thing of the past, and we will find ways to operate with more distancing over a much longer period of time.” Barclays is already exploring moving out of large flagship buildings and using retail branches as work hubs for their corporate management employees and investment bankers to use when they need to have face-to-face meetings. FILE – Visitors look at the sights during the official opening of “The View” viewing platform at the Shard skyscraper in London.Property consultant Tony Lorenz says shifts in working practices will amount to the most radical change for the commercial property market in the past half-century. He and other property consultants calculate Britain businesses will find they have far more office space than they need. And they say corporate boards are questioning why they need to have staff working from expensive buildings when their white-collar employees have shown they can work productively from home by exploring the full potential of technology. “I’m anticipating at least a 20 percent to 30 percent fall in rents for offices,” Lorenz told reporters in London. Unpaid rentsIn the more immediate term commercial landlords have already lost a fortune because of lockdowns and tenants being unable to pay their rents. “When you look at the investment market, investors will not be confident that tenants will survive. Even the strongest tenants are struggling to pay rents,” Lorenz says.Across the world millions of tenants and not only in financial districts have stopped, or are delaying, paying their rent to landlords as economies have been left reeling. Hotels and restaurants as well as retail and warehousing businesses have all been struck hard by the pandemic, many will go bankrupt, leaving commercial landlords with considerable losses on their hands, say analysts.Across Western Europe less than half of tenants have been paying their rents on time. Hotels have been especially laggardly, hardly surprising given occupancy rates have fallen to as low as 15%. “The impact of COVID-19 on sentiment in the commercial property sector was always going to make for painful reading. However, the erosion in confidence is stark. What’s even more worrying for investors and occupiers alike is that the full extent of the toll it will take on businesses and the underlying economy is still unclear,” says Simon Rubinsohn of Britain’s Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.A global issueThe same commercial property slump is being seen outside Europe as well. In the United States commercial landlords have seen rent collection fall by half, according to research firm Remit Consulting.FILE – Property advertisements are seen in central London.The US commercial real estate market is coming under increased stress, according to Real Capital Analytics, a New York-based research firm that monitors the commercial real estate investment market. It reported last month that transactions fell 68% in the second quarter of 2020 across all property types compared with 2019. Many investors have been waiting on the sidelines to see what unfolds. The firm warned the market was paralyzed because the worth of assets is now unclear.Australia, too, is seeing the same problem when it comes to rents and a paralyzed commercial property market. “With many tenants unable to pay rent and vacancies rising, many owners [have] opted to wait and see before making any swift decisions resulting in a decline in investment activity,” Vanessa Rader, head of research at Ray White Commercial, told the Australian Financial Review.The short-term losses and likely major changes roiling the commercial property market represent a major threat to pension funds and other long-term investors, adding to the economies woes triggered by the pandemic. With the yield on government bonds dropping since the 2008 financial crash, institutional investors have turned increasingly to the commercial property market, investing in hotels, shopping malls and office buildings, netting them an average 7% return. Last week the World Bank said that the 2008 financial crisis reduced the value of global pension assets by 23%. “The magnitude of the pandemic is expected to be higher,” it warned.
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North Korean Border City Rocked by Apparent Deadly Explosion
A series of explosions rocked a North Korean city near the border with China this week, according to multiple reports, resulting in possible casualties.Neither North Korean officials nor state media have commented on the blasts, which reportedly occurred late Monday in a residential area in the city of Hyesan.Videos, posted by the Associated Press and the Seoul-based Daily NK, showed repeated explosions, along with orange flames and dark smoke rising from a neighborhood in Hyesan. The videos were shot from China, which lies just across the Yalu River from North Korea.Daily NK, which relies on a network of anonymous sources across North Korea, reported that the explosion killed at least 15 people. That figure has not been confirmed.The outlet said the initial blast appeared to be caused by a gas leak in a house, which exploded a liquid petroleum gas cylinder. That set off as many as 10 other explosions at nearby houses, it reported.North Korea frequently does not report deadly accidents.
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Первый пошел: «русснефть» пошла ко дну, утянув за собой пукинского миллиардера
Первый пошел: «русснефть» пошла ко дну, утянув за собой пукинского миллиардера.
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В действительности все обстоит с точностью до наоборот и тотальный звиздец только начинается. Несмотря на откат цен до 40 долларов за баррель, ситуация с нефтью по-прежнему не позволяет путинской шайке получать сверхприбыль. Более того, бюджет путляндии в прошлые месяцы понес такие потери, что еще долго будет проходить шоковую терапию и переживать фантомные боли при упоминании Саудовской Аравии и Беларуси
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Синильна маячня кравчука. Вільна (від пам’яті і тверезого глузду)економічна зона
Синильна маячня кравчука. Вільна (від пам’яті і тверезого глузду)економічна зона
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Займаєтесь паскудством! Здай свої нагородні стволи! – емоційна відповідь кабану геращенку
Займаєтесь паскудством! Здай свої нагородні стволи! – емоційна відповідь кабану геращенку.
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Заступник крадуна авакова кабан антон геращенко дивується, що ніхто не кинувся рятувати Анастасію Лугову під час спроби зґвалтування у потягу.
Бо якби кинувся, поліція б затримала рятівника за напад на ґвалтівника.
Ще його чомусь не цікавить чому ніхто з поліціянтів не зупиняв своїх колег мусорів при зґвалтуванні Нелі Погребіцької у Кагарлику.
У них, на відміну від звичайних громадян, була при собі зброя. Але серед мусорів не було людей.
Блог про українську політику та актуальні події в нашій країні
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Началось! Люди выходят по всей путляндии
Началось! Люди выходят по всей путляндии.
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Хабаровчан услышали, ведь во многих городах прошли акции солидарности с Хабаровском, который уже четвертую неделю выходит на улицу. Акции были как и всегда мирные, лозунг которых был – покорми голубей, но разумеется, если в Хабаровске митинги не разгоняют и не планируют это делать, то вот в других городах граждан в основном задерживали
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Бункер уже не спасет обиженного карлика пукина. Проснулась путляндия!
Бункер уже не спасет обиженного карлика пукина. Проснулась путляндия!
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Здравомыслящие россияне перестали быть частью путляндии лишь потому, что она перестала быть самой собой, превратившись в коллективного обиженного карлика пукина
Для распространения вашего видео или сообщения в Сети Правды пишите сюда, или на email: pravdaua@email.cz
Лучшие предложения товаров и услуг в Сети SeLLines
Ваши потенциальные клиенты о нужных им товарах и услугах пишут здесь: MeNeedit
Pompeo’s Warning Against Closer China-Iran Ties Highlights Dilemma for Beijing
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s latest warning that China would destabilize the Middle East by deepening ties with U.S. foe Iran is raising questions about how far Beijing will go to boost its partner Tehran in an emerging deal that would heighten U.S.-China tensions. “China’s entry into Iran will destabilize the Middle East. It’ll put Israel at risk. It’ll put the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Emirates at risk as well,” Pompeo told U.S. TV network Fox News in a Sunday interview, as he urged the three U.S. allies and other regional countries to beware of Beijing, one of Washington’s main international rivals. “Iran remains the world’s largest state sponsor of terror, and to have access to weapons systems and commerce and money flowing from the Chinese Communist Party only compounds that risk for that region,” Pompeo added. Tehran, which has armed Islamist militant groups blamed for terrorist attacks in the Middle East and beyond for decades, describes itself as a terror victim rather than sponsor.Secretary of State Mike Pompeo testifies before a Senate Foreign Relations committee hearing on the State Department’s 2021 budget on Capitol Hill, July 30, 2020, in Washington.The top U.S. diplomat was speaking in reference to Western media reports, published last month, suggesting China and Iran were close to finalizing a 25-year trade and military agreement known as a “comprehensive strategic partnership.” Chinese and Iranian leaders first agreed to work toward such a deal — the highest level of bilateral relations that Beijing grants to a partner — in 2016. In recent weeks, Iranian officials have said talks with China on a deal were continuing but gave no indication of when they will conclude. Beijing has not shared any details of the negotiations. The two regional powers have been economic and military allies for decades. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin brief reporters about additional sanctions placed on Iran, at the White House, Jan. 10, 2019, in Washington.In an August 2 article on the U.S. news site Tablet, analysts Michael Doran and Peter Rough of the Washington-based Hudson Institute said the benefits to China of fueling what they called the “destabilizing activities” of Iran and Russia are “many and substantial.” Doran and Rough said such a Chinese strategy would “exhaust” U.S. leaders dedicated to reducing commitments to the Middle East, “damage American prestige” by enabling Iran to prop up allied forces fighting U.S. influence in the region, and “pin down” U.S. naval resources in the Persian Gulf to deal with threatening Iranian behavior rather than in the Western Pacific that China seeks to dominate. The Hudson analysts said another benefit to China would be sowing further division between the United States and Washington’s European allies over how to handle Iran’s nuclear program and involvement in regional conflicts. They said U.S. allies who doubt Washington’s commitment to the region also could be forced to cultivate better ties with Beijing. Other analysts told VOA Persian that they see several factors influencing China against enabling Iran to further destabilize the Middle East. “The Chinese have done pretty well under the status quo,” said Guy Burton, an international affairs professor at Belgium’s Vesalius College. He said the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and continued U.S. military presence in the country have made it stable enough for China to win lucrative contracts to develop Iraq’s oil and gas industry. Such stability could be jeopardized if Iran-backed Iraqi Shiite militias step up attacks on the U.S. forces there. Burton said another factor is China’s interest in not escalating tensions with Washington by aggressively defying U.S. sanctions on Iran. While Beijing remains the top purchaser of Iranian oil, he said it has “very quietly been pulling back” from such oil imports and other investments in Iran over the past year. Howard Shatz, a senior economist at the RAND Corporation in Arlington, Virginia, said China also may not be able to persuade Iran to accept as strong a partnership as Beijing would like. “Iran’s population is not necessarily totally receptive to large scale Chinese involvement in the country,” Shatz said. “China is providing an economic lifeline for Iran right now, but some Iranians fear a lot of Chinese involvement could limit Iran’s power in the region.” An additional restraint on Beijing’s pursuit of closer ties with Iran, the analysts told VOA, is the Chinese government’s existing strong economic and military ties with U.S. allies Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Israel. China has “comprehensive strategic partnerships” with both Saudi Arabia and the UAE, relying on them as two of its main sources of oil imports while also selling arms to both nations. Beijing also has a lower-level partnership with Israel involving investments in the Jewish state’s high-tech sector. Robert Mogielnicki, an analyst at the Washington-based Arab Gulf States Institute, said such relationships are a “safer bet” for China than closer ties with Iran. “I see a lot more stability and potential for China to build its economic relations and strategic partnerships that already exist in the region, rather than reinventing the wheel with a risky partner like Iran,” Mogielnicki said. This article originated in VOA’s Persian Service.
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In Hong Kong, Some Activists Fear Academic Freedom Will Suffer Under National Security Law
When lecturer Shiu Ka-Chun received a letter from his university last week, he was shocked to find that he had been effectively fired. Shiu, also a legislator, has taught social work at the Baptist University of Hong Kong for 11 years, where his teaching had been consistently rated as excellent. He was jailed last year for “inciting public nuisance” in the 2014 civil disobedience Occupy Central movement and after his release, he was removed from teaching duties pending disciplinary proceedings linked to his conviction. Shiu said his effective dismissal amounted to “political persecution” but the university gave him no explanation. He said he felt “angry, upset and insulted.” The university declined to comment on his case. Law professor Benny Tai, one of the founders of the 2014 occupy movement jailed last year on public nuisance charges for his role, was also fired by the University of Hong Kong last week. Tai lamented that academics in Hong Kong are “no longer free to make controversial statements about politically or socially controversial matters.” Shui and Tai’s dismissals occurred the same week as the arrests of four students on national security charges, the disqualification of 12 pro-democracy legislative candidates and news of Hong Kong police issuing arrest warrants for six Hong Kong activists abroad. The incidents took place within a month of the passing of a strict, broadly defined national security law that, among other things, bans acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces. Although Tai’s dismissal was widely considered an indicator of the demise of the city’s academic freedom, China’s liaison office and the Beijing-owned press in Hong Kong triumphantly declared it as “a deed of justice” for an academic who has spread “poisonous” political thinking among youngsters. The Wen Wei Po newspaper compared Tai’s dismissal to the removal of “a poisonous cancer” and portrayed Tai in a cartoon as a virus being dusted away by a broom. Hong Kong and Chinese officials have escalated their rhetoric on the education sector in recent months, accusing teachers of “inciting” anti-China sentiments and encouraging students to oppose the authorities, and blaming them for the mass, anti-government protests last year. The national security law is aimed at stamping out activities like the pro-democracy protests, which turned increasingly violent as frustrations mounted. Hong Kong’s top leader, Carrie Lam, told a forum days after the national security law was passed last month that social movements, from the Occupy movement in 2014 to last year’s anti-government movement, indicate that “anti-China forces have infiltrated school campuses.”Protesters walk on top of a bridge near Hong Kong Baptist University, in Hong Kong, Nov. 16, 2019. Most anti-government demonstrators abandoned their positions Saturday.Citing statistics that some 40% of those arrested in the anti-government protests were students and 45% of them were under 18, she vowed to push national security law in schools and colleges across Hong Kong, saying the law would put education “back on the right track.” The national security law stipulates that the government tighten supervision of schools to “safeguard national security” and prevent terrorist activities. Hong Kong’s security minister, John Lee, a member of the newly formed national security committee, also told the China-owned Ta Kung Pao newspaper last week that his first priority would be to “deal with the schools” and the authorities would get rid of the “bad apples” to “rescue students from being poisoned.” “The national security committee… would punish public enemies severely and take preventive measures to obliterate viruses that endanger national security within one or two years,” Lee said. The education authorities have been putting pressure on schools and teachers to increasingly toe the government line. The education secretary told schools in June to discipline students or teachers who protest the national security law. The authorities also launched new mandatory requirements for new teachers to be trained on professional conduct and national development. After the law passed, the education chief banned students from singing protest songs, posting political slogans or forming human chains. He also told schools they could call the police if students showed disrespect toward the national anthem. A teacher had her contract terminated after she allowed students to sing protest songs at their music examination. The education bureau also told schools to review their library books to avoid falling afoul of the new law after public libraries pulled several titles by pro-democracy politicians. The bureau has also warned that if schools do not cooperate with the bureau’s investigation of teachers who had “conduct issues” including advocacy of their political positions, it could revoke the principals’ and teachers’ licenses. With some receiving warnings and under the threat of having their contracts terminated, teachers say the atmosphere has been increasingly stifling. A teacher who taught liberal studies — a subject widely vilified by officials for supposedly promoting critical views of the authorities — was given a warning by the education bureau and removed from his duties after airing anti-police brutality rhetoric online. He said he now chooses his words very carefully. “Self-censorship has become a common practice among many teachers,” he said. “Now, we avoid discussing politics. Every single word can be used against us.” Many critics say the restrictions on the freedom of thought and expression will deal a heavy blow to Hong Kong’s education. Kenneth Chan, political scientist at the Baptist University of Hong Kong, said the message that has been sent to academics is “behave and stay within the perimeters of the ivory tower or face the consequences of prosecution.” Ip Kin-yuen, a legislator for the education constituency, said teaching quality will be heavily compromised when teachers cannot air their views freely. “If teachers are worried about being punished for what they teach and say, the quality of education will suffer,” he said. “Just having the national security law there is enough to stifle teachers.” Sociology professor Chan Kin Man, who has also been jailed as a co-founder of the 2014 Occupy movement, said the new law has proven to be an effective tool for silencing free speech as it punishes non-violent acts that supposedly threaten national security. “This is having a huge impact on speech,” he said.
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Rights Groups Decry Malaysia Probe of Al Jazeera
Malaysia’s recent moves to arrest and deport a Bangladeshi man for criticizing the government’s treatment of migrant workers on a news show underscore the country’s backsliding on press freedom in recent months, rights groups say. Authorities arrested Mohamad Rayhan Kabir on July 24, weeks after revoking his work permit over an on-camera interview he gave the Qatari-based news organization Al-Jazeera’s 101 East news program. In the July 3 episode, “Locked Up in Malaysia’s Lockdown,” he accuses the government of racism for targeting fellow migrant workers for arrest in its response to the coronavirus pandemic. Kabir remains in custody without charge. Authorities have yet to explain what laws they suspect him of breaking, even while officials have threatened to deport Kabir and bar his return to Malaysia forever. Authorities have moved against Al-Jazeera, too, deposing the journalists who worked on the episode in a sedition probe and accusing the Qatari news outlet of filming without the requisite licensing. Police raided its offices in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital, on Tuesday, seizing two computers. Censorship redux Combined with the pressure on Al-Jazeera, Kabir’s arrest “clearly shows that the current authorities in Malaysia don’t tolerate any independent reporting and consequently have very little respect for press freedom,” said Daniel Bastard, Asia Pacific director for Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Rights groups agree that Malaysia’s media climate took a sharp turn for the worse with the surprise collapse of a reformist government in February and the return to power of the corruption-mired United Malay National Organization. Since UMNO’s revival, they say, more than a dozen people have been arrested, charged or questioned for comments deemed critical of the new regime, including clean-government advocates, journalists and opposition lawmakers. Bastard called it a “sad reminder” of the stifling press environment that mired much of UMNO’s first stint in power, which ended with its defeat at the polls in 2018 to former party leader turned critic Mahathir Mohamad. “Several journalists told RSF they don’t dare anymore to cover some subjects as they would feel enabled to do under Mahathir’s government,” he said. “The environment has dramatically changed, and it seems self-censorship has become the new normal again.” Fear of reprisal now has news outlets censoring their readers as well. Malaysia’s attorney general dragged local online news outlet Malaysiakini into court last month over comments some readers left on its site chiding the judiciary. Taking heed, Al-Jazeera recently shut down the comments section to its 101 East episode on Malaysia’s lockdown on YouTube. Both outlets have denied any wrongdoing and stood by their reporting.Staffs of news broadcaster Al Jazeera leave Bukit Aman police headquarters after being questioned by the Malaysian police over a documentary about the country’s arrests of undocumented migrants, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, July 10, 2020.Shooting the messenger Rights groups say Kabir’s arrest will also make the millions of migrant workers in Malaysia all the more reluctant to speak to the press about alleged abuses, raising the risk that they will fester. “Now the implication is that most other migrant workers will be completely afraid of speaking out,” said Wathshlah Naidu, executive director of Malaysia’s Center for Independent Journalism. “The moment you speak out … the investigation is not going to be on what you are alleging, but the investigation is going to be on you. And that’s what happened to Mr. Kabir.” she said. The government was quick to reject the claims of racial bias Kabir and others made to 101 East, insisting the raids on migrant communities around Kuala Lumpur and its mass arrests of undocumented workers were needed to stem the spread of the coronavirus. But even before the outbreak, reports of abuse were rife on the palm plantations and factory floors were many of Malaysia’s several million migrant workers toil in conditions that can verge on what rights groups call modern-day slavery. Matthew Bugher, Asia program director for freedom of expression advocates Article 19, said Kabir’s arrest will further stifle the media’s ability to bring those abuses to light. “When people are fearful that expressing their concerns might lead to criminal charges, they’re much [less] likely to report cases to authorities or to the media. And especially in cases of vulnerable populations like migrant workers, refugees, they might be scared to go to authorities, so press freedom is particularly important to bring out those types of concerns,” he said. Viral infractions Naidu said Kabir’s arrest and other efforts to muscle the media into towing the government line have even broader implications amid the pandemic. “Especially in [the] time of COVID, where we rely very heavily on media for updated, reliable and timely information, the implication would be information would be limited, information would perhaps not necessarily be very balanced because you [journalists] may want to sort of adopt the government’s position because you are working within this kind of climate of fear,” she said. That goes for reporting on the government’s response to the pandemic, as well, Bugher added. “There has been a distinct pattern under the COVID-19 crisis of media workers targeted under Malaysia’s Communications and Multimedia Act and Penal Code for simply doing their job,” the International Federation of Journalists said in a statement last month. “It is urgent for Malaysia during the COVID-19 pandemic to prioritize the public’s right to know and for the media to be able to report freely and fairly without the threat of persecution.”
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Storm Isaias Kills 6 Along US East Coast
The storm that hit the United States as Hurricane Isaias and killed six people as it brought heavy wind and rain up the East Coast, is expected to dissipate late Wednesday or early Thursday over southeastern Canada. The U.S. National Weather Service said the storm had weakened to a post-tropical cyclone by late Tuesday. Forecasters expect the storm to bring about two to seven centimeters of rain to southeastern Canada while its winds continue to die down. Isaias came ashore in Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina on Monday night as a Category 1 hurricane and quickly moved up the east coast, of the United States losing some force as it drifted inland, but leaving behind floods, downed trees, and power outages.A Philadelphia police officer rushes to help a stranded motorist during Tropical Storm Isaias, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2020, in Philadelphia.Isaias spawned a tornado that killed two in Windsor, North Carolina. A woman in Mechanicsville, Maryland died when a tree fell onto her car and another person was killed in the New York City borough of Queens, when winds blew a tree onto his van. A tree branch also killed a person in Delaware, while another person died in Pennsylvania when water overtook their vehicle and swept it downstream. Tornadoes were also reported in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Virginia. Several children received minor injuries when high winds blew the roof off a day care center in Philadelphia.
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Media Report: US Health Chief to Visit Taiwan
U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar will travel to Taiwan in coming days, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, the first U.S. Cabinet official to visit the Chinese-claimed island in six years, a move likely to anger Beijing. Taiwan’s official Central News Agency said it would be the highest-level visit made by a U.S. Cabinet official since Washington broke formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 1979.
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US Media Agency Reports Years-long Problems With Vetting Employees
A report on security procedures for vetting workers at the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees Voice of America and other U.S.-funded news networks, is exposing divisions between the agency’s current and former leaders. The USAGM on Tuesday released a 96-page report by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management – marked “not to be released to the public or other personnel who do not have a valid ‘need-to-know’ ” – following new CEO Michael Pack’s call for the review late last month. The report’s findings highlight chronic deficiencies about the vetting of employees going back almost a decade. Problems ranged from what the report describes as a lax approach to background checks and record-keeping to background investigations that were too aggressive and “beyond the scope of the Federal Investigative Standards.” The report’s harshest criticism, however, focused on the former. “The quality of USAGM’s background investigations posed a serious risk to both the agency and the Federal Government as a whole,” the report said. “USAGM employees have not been properly vetted, yet currently have access to government systems, facilities, and, in some cases, sensitive or classified information.” The report called on USAGM to “immediately initiate new investigations for all individuals investigated by USAGM” since 2012, when the agency’s authority under a vetting agreement with OPM officially expired. The report said this affected 1,527 past background investigations, of which only 314 had been scheduled for reinvestigation as of February. VOA reached out to both USAGM and OPM for clarity on how many current employees have been properly vetted, and to describe what, if any, damage may have been done to U.S. national security as a result. Neither agency responded for publication. Former USAGM CEO John Lansing, who led the agency for four years before resigning last September, pushed back against allegations that management had resisted changes intended to improve security.Former USAGM CEO John Lansing, who led the agency for four years before resigning last September.“The much bigger and more important issue is the attempt by Michael Pack to weaken and delegitimize VOA and other USAGM properties and their Congressionally mandated mission to provide unbiased and professional journalism around the world,” Lansing, who is now president and CEO of National Public Radio, wrote in an email to VOA. Too much, too little security Whether any of the backgrounding lapses alleged in the report resulted in security breaches or affected the content of USAGM programming is unclear. As the report points out, “most positions at USAGM were classified as non-critical sensitive,” a relatively low-risk classification. Still, senior USAGM officials, who were quoted anonymously in articles by Real Clear Politics and The Washington Times before the report was released, stressed the risks. “U.S. national security is jeopardized any time there is even a single security violation,” the official told the publications. “In this case, an entire agency, with daily global reach, was permitted to fully inculcate lax, or non-existent, security procedures.” However, the report also notes that in many cases USAGM exceeded government standards for vetting employees and faulted the agency for subjecting “employees to investigative questioning that went beyond the current investigative standards for their position.” “This also imposed an unnecessary paperwork burden on employees and risked noncompliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act and the Privacy Act,” the report said. A May 2018 letter from Lansing to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and to OPM argued for holding the agency to a higher standard, despite concerns from OPM that it would create more paperwork. The Broadcasting Board of Governors, as USAGM was known at the time, “will continue to consider every covered position at BBG a ‘National security position,’ given the ability of the occupant of each position to potentially bring about a material adverse effect upon the national security,” Lansing wrote. “This designation is consistent with BBG’s longstanding practice,” he added, citing guidance the agency sent to OPM in 1991. “We face risks of ‘hostile foreign intelligence services, which endeavor to place agents within [the Agency] to influence or alter the content of the broadcasts for disinformation purposes, to intimidate its personnel, or to otherwise disrupt the mission of the agency.’”The U.S. Office of Personnel Management building in Washington, June 5, 2015.‘Nobody knew’ Still, the OPM report alleges shortcomings. For example, it says that agency officials appeared to be unaware that a memorandum of understanding authorizing USAGM to conduct vetting investigations on its own had expired in 2012. Top agency officials “claimed ‘nobody knew’ of the expired MOU during our 2018 onsite activities,” the report said. In an email to employees last month, new USAGM CEO Michael Pack said he had requested the security review because of “systemic, severe and fundamental security failures, many of which have persisted for years.” He also promised that USAGM is working with “federal partners to ensure that findings are addressed swiftly and appropriately.” Pack, a conservative documentary filmmaker nominated by President Donald Trump, became CEO of the agency in June. Since then, he has come under bipartisan criticism in Congress for quickly ousting leaders of the USAGM networks and the Open Technology Fund, a nonprofit that finances efforts to circumvent digital censorship in countries with repressive regimes. USAGM employs hundreds of journalists working around the world, many in conflict zones and in authoritarian countries where they can be targeted for their reporting. Because of the combination of language and journalistic skills required, the agency routinely employs qualified foreigners under special, temporary visas. Networks under USAGM’s umbrella include the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Radio Free Asia and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting.
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