Розділ: Повідомлення
МОН радить закладам вищої та технічної освіти перейти на дистанційне навчання до 15 листопада
Міністерство освіти і науки рекомендує закладам вищої, фахової передвищої та професійно-технічної освіти перейти на дистанційне навчання з 15 жовтня до 15 листопада. Про це МОН заявило 12 жовтня.
За повідомленням, міністерство розіслало керівникам навчальних закладів листи з відповідними рекомендаціями через погіршення епідеміологічної ситуації з поширенням коронавірусної хвороби.
«Вищі військові навчальні заклади (заклади вищої освіти із специфічними умовами навчання), військові навчальні підрозділи закладів вищої освіти, військові коледжі сержантського складу, фахові коледжі із специфічними умовами навчання організовують освітній процес відповідно до рішень державних органів, у сфері управління яких вони перебувають», – йдеться в повідомленні пресслужби відомства.
Читайте також: У Харкові через пандемію хочуть змінити графік руху поїздів метро
МОН також родить вищим навчальним закладам звільнити гуртожитки від студентів через неможливість «гарантувати безпечні для здоров’я умови масового перебування здобувачів освіти». Але додає, що такий виїзд не може бути примусовим та має враховувати «максимально безпечні умови переміщення здобувачів освіти».
«З метою створення безпечних умов проживання здобувачів освіти в гуртожитках у вказаний період заклад освіти може ухвалити рішення щодо обмеження відвідування гуртожитків сторонніми особами. Виняток становлять окремі приміщення закладів вищої, фахової передвищої, професійної (професійно-технічної) освіти, що визначені як виборчі дільниці для організації голосування виборців за місцем їх проживання на місцевих виборах, які відбудуться 25 жовтня 2020 року», – уточнюють у міністерстві.
11 жовтня Міністерство освіти і науки України запропонувало встановити осінні канікули в школах з 15 до 30 жовтня.
За добу 11 жовтня в Україні виявили 4 420 нових випадків COVID-19. Загалом в Україні підтвердили майже 265 з половиною тисяч випадків COVID-19. Померли 5 015 людей, одужали – 114 410.
…
By Gromada | 10/12/2020 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
В Одесі звільнили вчительку, яка довела україномовну школярку до сліз – департамент освіти
«Поведінка вчителя несумісна з діяльністю у закладі освіти»
…
By Gromada | 10/12/2020 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
How a Winner is Declared in US Presidential Election
Many people assume the winner of the U.S. presidential contest is determined once the media calls the race and the losing candidate delivers a concession speech. But the truth is that formally declaring a presidential winner is a months-long process that won’t be completed until January. That process essentially involves Americans voting for electors, the electors voting for the president, and then Congress declaring the winner. FILE – Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Missouri, signs an official tally to count Electoral College votes, certifying Donald Trump’s presidential victory, Jan. 6, 2017.“There’s Election Day, where those electors are elected; there’s the date in December where the electors meet and then vote for president; and then there’s the date in January where the Congress certifies that election,” says Amy Dacey, executive director of the Sine Institute of Policy and Politics at American University. In addition to the Electoral College, certifying the winner of the presidential election involves the Senate, House of Representatives and the National Archives. This four-month process is the result of a compromise among the Founding Fathers, who weren’t convinced voters could be trusted to choose a worthy leader. “This was first created because there wasn’t that confidence in the citizenry to make that decision,” Dacey says. “They didn’t believe the American people should directly choose the president and vice president, but they didn’t want to give Congress the sole power of selection, either.” COVID-19 could complicate counting Election experts predict counting the ballots will take longer this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the increased number of voters that are expected to cast mail-in ballots. FILE – A poll worker wears personal protective equipment as she monitors a ballot drop box for mail-in ballots outside of a polling station during early voting, in Miami Beach, Florida. Aug. 7, 2020.“These are legal procedures that have to be followed,” says Lia Merivaki, assistant professor of American Politics at Mississippi State University. “Pushing for the election to be called on election night will create more confusion and will create distrust and … possibly, many are going to start suing the states because they expect the results to be announced on election night. So it will make the job of election officials and the states harder as they try to keep the process transparent and fair.” Once the 50 states, plus the District of Columbia, tally the in-person, mail-in and provisional ballots, each state governor draws up a list of electors. Copies of this list, known as the Certificate of Ascertainment, are submitted to the U.S. Archivist, the head of the FILE – The U.S National Archives building in Washington, D.C.The electors in each of the states complete Certificates of Vote and send them to the U.S. Senate, the National Archives and state officials. Once that is done, the Electoral College has no further duties until the next presidential election. The final step in the process occurs on Jan. 6, 2021, when Congress meets to count the electoral votes and officially certify the winner. The process is ordinarily ceremonial, but there can be objections. There were FILE – President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Duluth, Minnesota, Sept. 30, 2020.“This is uncharted territory and I hope we don’t get to that because you really are overhauling years of democratic norms and procedures,” Merivaki says. “I think that it would be very extreme if the Senate is going to take an action that really cancels the will of the people. I think that will be very problematic for the status of democracy in the United States … I mean, that’s not a democracy anymore.” Dacey thinks complications could arise if the winner of the popular vote doesn’t also win the Electoral College. President Trump won the Electoral College in 2016 but lost the popular vote to Democrat Hillary Clinton.FILE – Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, left, stands with Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton before the first presidential debate at Hofstra University, Sept. 26, 2016, in Hempstead, N.Y.The same occurred in 2000, when Republican George W. Bush won the Electoral College but narrowly lost the popular vote to Democrat Al Gore. FILE – Texas Governor and Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush (R) and Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Al Gore speak during their presidential debate at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, Oct. 3, 2000.“I think the biggest question is, ‘Do voters feel like when they cast their ballot on Election Day, it is a deciding factor in who represents them?’ In every other election, it is, because it is that popular vote that’s the determiner,” Dacey says. “I do think that it can diminish people’s faith in the process, and it could diminish the engagement, and I want more people voting. And if they think their popular vote, their vote on Election Day, doesn’t actually make that decision, I think it’s just going to cause a challenge for participation and people’s faith in the system.”
…
By Polityk | 10/12/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Лід на Північному полюсі «талий, тонкий і крихкий» – науковці
Науковці найбільшої у світі місії, що досліджує кліматичні зміни, повернулися з Північного полюсу після збору інформації про атмосферу, океан, морський лід та екосистеми. Криголам Німецького інституту Альфреда Вегенера Polarstern прибув до порту приписки Бремергафен у Північному морі 12 жовтня після 389 днів, проведених у дрейфі в Північному Льодовитому океані.
Керівник місії, яка має назву MOSAIC, Маркус Рекс заявив, що він та його колеги на власні очі побачили драматичні наслідки глобальних кліматичних змін на арктичних льодах.
Рекс заявив AFP, що місія змогла проплисти через великі ділянки відкритих вод, які «іноді тягнуться до самого горизонту», підкреслюючи масштаби танення морського льоду.
На Північному полюсі вчені виявили «сильно ерозований, талий, тонкий і крихкий лід», сказав він, додавши, що якщо тенденція потепління триватиме, через кілька десятиліть «в Арктиці влітку не буде льоду».
Протягом року на борту корабля Polarstern перебували 500 фахівців із 20 країн, включно зі США, Великою Британією, Францією, Росією та Китаєм.
…
By Gromada | 10/12/2020 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
У Києві відбулась акція за права ЛГБТ+
У Києві 11 жовтня у Всесвітній день камінг-ауту відбулася акція «Свободу не вимкнеш» за права ЛГБТ+.
Як повідомили організатори акції, ГО «КиївПрайд», на площі Спортивній зібралося більше ніж 300 людей. Серед тих, хто виступав, були представники і представниці громадських, міжнародних організацій та об’єднання ЛГБТ+ військових.
Спікери і спікерки наголосили на неприпустимості дій «праворадикальних угруповань із метою залякування бізнесу й суспільства. «Акція була організована у відповідь на погрози і тиск на адміністрацію ТРЦ «Гулівер» після того, як він три дні поспіль транслював 140-метровий ЛГБТ+ прапор. 8 жовтня праворадикально налаштовані особи влаштували пікет із вимогою вимкнути трансляцію», – заявили організатори.
«Ми зібралися тут не тільки заради нашої видимості та відстоювання прав людини, а й заради тих, хто не зміг вийти сьогодні публічно. Хто досі в Україні змушений і змушена приховуватися заради власної безпеки. Ми активістки та активісти виборюємо це право і будемо продовжувати робити це, допоки Україна не стане безпечною для всіх», – заявила Руслана Панухник, директорка ГО «КиївПрайд».
Як повідомляє «Суспільне», під ТРЦ «Гулівер» вийшли також противники акції ЛГБТ+, представники праворадикальних «Нацкорпусу» і «Традиції і порядку».
«Ми за консервативні цінності, за патріархат, за сімейні цінності, проти одностатевих шлюбів. Ми виходимо цю позицію відстоювати», – сказав один із учасників цієї акції.
Між учасниками пікетів стояв кордон із поліцейських. Про сутички не повідомляли.
У Києві від 26 вересня до 11 жовтня відбувався ПрайдМісяць.
your ad hereBy Gromada | 10/12/2020 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Ballot Box Restriction Stays in Place in Texas
Texas voters are back to facing limits on places to drop off their absentee ballots while a federal appeals court considers whether Republican Gov. Greg Abbot violated voting rights by his decision to provide Texas voters with only one ballot drop-off location per county for the Nov. 3 presidential election.Late Saturday the appeals court lifted an injunction granted Friday by U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman.Abbott said the limit on ballot boxes was meant to discourage voter fraud. His order was issued after multiple ballot box locations had been set up and the dropping off of ballots had begun.Pitman wrote in his 46-page decision, “By limiting ballot return centers to one per county, older and disabled voters living in Texas’s largest and most populous counties must travel further distances to more crowded ballot return centers where they would be at an increased risk of being infected by the coronavirus in order to exercise their right to vote and have it counted.”Voting rights activists have argued that Abbott’s decision was a move to suppress the vote.The U.S. has a long history of absentee ballot voting, but this year Republican President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers have vehemently opposed it.
…
By Polityk | 10/11/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Judge Throws Out Trump Campaign’s Pennsylvania Lawsuit
A federal judge in Pennsylvania on Saturday threw out a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump’s campaign, dismissing its challenges to the battleground state’s poll-watching law and its efforts to limit how mail-in ballots can be collected and which of them can be counted.The ruling by U.S. District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan — who was appointed by Trump — in Pittsburgh also poured cold water on Trump’s election fraud claims.Trump’s campaign said it would appeal at least one element of the decision, with barely three weeks to go until Election Day in a state hotly contested by Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.The lawsuit was opposed by the administration of Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, the state Democratic Party, the League of Women Voters, the NAACP’s Pennsylvania office and other allied groups.”The ruling is a complete rejection of the continued misinformation about voter fraud and corruption, and those who seek to sow chaos and discord ahead of the upcoming election,” Wolf’s office said in a statement.The state’s attorney general, Josh Shapiro, a Democrat whose office fought the Trump campaign’s claims, called the lawsuit a political stunt designed to sow doubt in the state’s election.No proof”We told the Trump campaign and the president, ‘Put up or shut up,’ to his claims of voter fraud in Pennsylvania,” Shapiro told The Associated Press. “It’s important to note they didn’t even need to prove actual voter fraud, just that it was likely or impending, and they couldn’t even do that.”Trump’s campaign said in a statement that it looked forward to a quick decision from the appeals court “that will further protect Pennsylvania voters from the Democrats’ radical voting system.”The lawsuit is one of many partisan battles being fought in the state Legislature and the courts, primarily over mail-in voting in Pennsylvania, amid concerns that a presidential election result will hang in limbo for days on a drawn-out vote count.FILE – An employee of the Philadelphia Commissioners Office examines ballots at a satellite election office at Overbrook High School in Philadelphia, Oct. 1, 2020.In this case, Trump’s campaign wanted the court to bar counties from using drop boxes or mobile sites to collect mail-in ballots that are not “staffed, secured and employed consistently within and across all 67 of Pennsylvania’s counties.” Trump’s campaign said it would appeal the matter of drop boxes.More than 20 counties — including Philadelphia and most other heavily populated Democratic-leaning counties — have told the state elections office that they plan to use drop boxes and satellite election offices to help collect the massive number of mail-in ballots they expect to receive.Trump’s campaign also wanted the court to free county election officials to disqualify mail-in ballots where the voter’s signature may not match their signature on file and to remove a county residency requirement in state law for certified poll watchers.In guidance last month, Wolf’s top elections official told counties that state law does not require or permit them to reject a mail-in ballot solely over a perceived signature inconsistency. Trump’s campaign had asked Ranjan to declare that guidance unconstitutional and to block counties from following it.Just ‘uncertain assumptions’In throwing out the case, Ranjan wrote that the Trump campaign could not prove its central claim: that Trump’s fortunes in the Nov. 3 election in Pennsylvania are threatened by election fraud and that adopting changes sought by the campaign will fix that.Ranjan wrote Trump’s campaign could not prove that the president has been hurt by election fraud or even that he is likely to be hurt by fraud.”While plaintiffs may not need to prove actual voter fraud, they must at least prove that such fraud is ‘certainly impending,’ ” Ranjan wrote. “They haven’t met that burden. At most, they have pieced together a sequence of uncertain assumptions.”Ranjan also cited decisions in recent days by the U.S. Supreme Court and the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in hot-button election cases, saying he should not second-guess reasonable decisions by state lawmakers and election officials.The decision came as Trump claims he can lose the state only if Democrats cheat and, as he did in 2016’s campaign, suggests that the Democratic bastion of Philadelphia needs to be watched closely for election fraud.On Friday, Trump’s campaign lost a bid in a Philadelphia court to force the city to allow campaign representatives to monitor its satellite election offices.Democrats accuse Trump of trying to scuttle some of the 3 million or more mail-in votes that are expected in the election in Pennsylvania, with Democrats applying for mail-in ballots by an almost 3-to-1 rate over Republicans.
…
By Polityk | 10/11/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Ситуація з COVID-19 на окупованому Донбасі «критична» – представник омбудсмана
Ситуація в окупованих частинах Донецької та Луганської областей є критичною, повідомив представник Уповноваженої Верховної Ради з прав людини у Луганській і Донецькій областях Павло Лисянський 10 жовтня.
За його словами, співробітники Офісу Омбудсмана України продовжують збирати інформацію про порушення прав людини в ОРДЛО.
«Ситуація на тимчасовоокупованій території Луганської та Донецької областей критична. Лікарні в ОРДЛО переповнені, засобів індивідуального захисту в аптеках ОРДЛО не вистачає, обмежувальні заходи, такі як – соціальна дистанція, масковий режим та інше, не діють», – стверджує Лисянський.
Він звертає увагу на те, що підконтрольні Росії бойовики, попри пандемію, проводять масові заходи на окупованій територій, чисельність яких може перевищувати сотню людей.
«Наразі, в ОРДЛО ставлять три діагнози: ГРВІ, пневмонія, коронавірус. Людей з першими двома діагнозами відправляють по домівках, та справжню кількість хворих на коронавірус окупанти замовчують», – зазначає представник уповноваженої з прав людини.
Читайте також: Всю ніч мама просиділа на стільці поруч із виходом з відділення – дочка померлої від пневмонії в Луганську
Лисянський також зазначає, що бойовики не припиняють незаконну видачу російських «паспортів» жителям окупованих територій, тим самим ставлячи під загрозу здоров’я та життя цивільних людей.
«Офіційно» відомо про понад 6 тисяч випадків COVID19 з початку пандемії, з них – 298 летальних на окупованій частині Донбасу. За словами місцевих жителів, у картки людям записують будь-які діагнози, крім коронавірусу.
…
By Gromada | 10/10/2020 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
«Пам’ятай, нагадуй, борись»: у Запоріжжі нагадали владі про долю полонених і безвісти зниклих
10 жовтня в центрі Запоріжжя відбулася акція «Нагадай про кожного». Активісти зібралися на майдані Героїв Революції з плакатам з написами «Свободу в’язням Кремля», «Кожного ката чекає розплата», «Пам’ятай, нагадуй, борись», повідомляє кореспондент Радіо Свобода.
Співорганізатор акції Тимофій Орлянський повідомив, що наразі українська влада не розробляє відповідного законодавства щодо полонених, яких утримують на територіях інших країн та в окупованих районах України.
Читайте також: У Києві влаштували письменницький марафон на підтримку в’язнів Кремля
«Не створені комітети, не ведеться представництво на міжнародному рівні. І це нас дуже занепокоює, оскільки зараз до більшості в’язнів терористичних організацій і терористичної країни Російської Федерації застосовуються нелюдські умови тримання, порушуються їхні права. На території Російської Федерації затримані представники правозахисних громадських організацій, і це дуже турбує суспільство», – сказав Орлянський.
До акції долучилися запорізькі ветерани війни на Донбасі та волонтери. Волонтерка батальйону «Донбас» Стелла Орел принесла з собою фотографію бійця «Донбасу», мешканця Бердянську Юрія «Фокса» Соловйова. Як розповіла активістка, боєць зник під час Іловайського котла і доля його досі невідома.
«Ось наш хлопець з Бердянську. Медик. Він вивозив поранених, і коли почався «зелений коридор», розстрілювали наших хлопців, то він зник. Пройшло 6 років, і досі не знайдено тіло. Окрім нього, ще 10 чоловік з батальйону «Донбас», які досі не знайдені, і нічого не відомо про їх долю. Є організації по зниклим безвісті, але, на жаль, нема як такої роботи. По всій Україні у нас 756 зниклими безвісти вважаються», – розповіла Орел.
Під час мітингу активісти озвучили головні вимоги до влади. Серед них, зокрема, вимога прийняти закон, який регулює питання статусу полонених та їх соціального захисту. Активісти також домагаються ухвалення закону про воєнні злочини, який би дозволив українським судам виносити вироки воєнним злочинцям згідно з нормами міжнародного права.
Читайте також: «Людина наче нормальна, і здається, що вона не може катувати» –Єгор Трояновський про фільм «Біс» (рос.)
Також серед вимог – призначити відповідальну особу від Офісу Президента з питань полону і зниклих безвісти та поновити роботу Комісії Кабміну з питань зниклих безвісти, дозволивши брати в ній участь представникам родин зниклих безвісти.
Під час заходу було організовано вільний мікрофон, коли всі охочі могли висловитися на підтримку полонених та зниклих безвісті та їх родин.
10 жовтня акція на підтримку українських полонених і безвісти зниклих також відбулася у Львові та в низці інших українських міст.
Понад 300 громадян України перебувають у катівнях Росії та на тимчасово окупованих територіях Донбасу.
…
By Gromada | 10/10/2020 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Former Trump Fundraiser Charged with Illicit Lobbying on 1MDB, China
A former leading fundraiser for President Donald Trump has been indicted on a charge that he illegally lobbied the U.S. government to drop its probe into the Malaysia 1MDB corruption scandal and to deport an exiled Chinese billionaire.Elliott Broidy was charged in Washington federal court with one count of conspiracy to act as an unregistered foreign agent after allegedly agreeing to take millions of dollars to lobby the Trump administration.The indictment, made public Thursday, said Broidy was recruited in 2017 by an unnamed foreign national, understood to be Malaysian Low Taek Jho, to pressure U.S. officials to end their investigation of a scandal engulfing Malaysia’s then-prime minister, Najib Razak.The scandal involved the theft of over $4.5 billion from state investment fund 1MDB, and Low was allegedly central to moving and hiding some of the stolen funds.At the time Broidy was national deputy finance chairman of the Republican National Committee after having been a major fundraiser for Trump’s successful 2016 presidential campaign.After being recruited by Low, Broidy personally asked Trump to invite Najib to play golf during the Malaysian leader’s September 2017 visit to the United States, the indictment said.The goal was to give Najib a chance “to attempt to resolve the 1MDB matter” with the US leader, the document said.The golf game never happened, and Low was indicted in 2018 for his role in siphoning off billions from 1MDB.Low, who has also been charged in Malaysia over the scandal, has consistently denied any wrongdoing. His current whereabouts are unknown.In addition, in May 2017 Low introduced Broidy to a Chinese state minister, and they discussed Beijing’s desire that Washington deport an exiled Chinese tycoon, the indictment said.It did not name either person, but the tycoon is known to be Guo Wengui, a prominent dissident businessman.According to The Wall Street Journal, the Chinese official was Sun Lijun, at the time Beijing’s powerful vice minister of public security.The indictment describes Broidy’s intense lobbying of the White House, the Justice Department and law enforcement on behalf of the Chinese, including contacts with but not direct discussions with Trump.The object of the lobbying conspiracy, the indictment said, was “to make millions of dollars by leveraging Broidy’s access to and perceived influence with the president and his administration.”The indictment came just weeks after a key partner of Low and Broidy, Hawaii businesswoman Nickie Mali Lum Davis, pleaded guilty to a charge of illegal lobbying both on the 1MDB case and the Guo case.Guo remains in the United States, where he has continued to campaign against Beijing authorities, working closely with another longtime Trump associate, Steve Bannon.Bannon was arrested in August while aboard Guo’s yacht off the coast of Connecticut and charged with defrauding donors to a Mexican border wall project.
…
By Polityk | 10/10/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Trump to Host White House Event Despite COVID-19 Questions
President Donald Trump is scheduled to host hundreds of people Saturday on the South Lawn of the White House and deliver remarks, a senior administration official confirmed to VOA. This would be the president’s first in-person event since he announced a week ago that he had tested positive for the coronavirus, triggering a multiday hospital visit and aggressive medical treatments for COVID-19.As first reported by ABC News, the event will feature “remarks to peaceful protesters for law and order” by the president. Trump is expected to deliver his speech from one of the balconies of the White House.The latest update from the president’s physician, Dr. Sean Conley, on Thursday evening said that Trump’s “physical exam has remained stable and devoid of any indications to suggest progression of illness.” Conley’s memo also noted that “Saturday will be day 10 since Thursday’s diagnosis and based on the trajectory of advanced diagnostics the team has been conducting, I fully anticipate the president safe return to public engagements at that time.”Trump ended his four-day stay at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Monday and since then his doctors have provided the public with upbeat updates on his condition. Still public health experts question the judgment of holding a public event so soon after his diagnosis.“I would certainly be very cautious and suggest that people err on the side of caution rather than on the side of boldness,” said William Schaffner, a professor of infectious diseases at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. “I would certainly not recommend that anyone who has recently recovered, even 11 days after having a positive test, be out in any sort of a crowd,” he added.President Donald Trump, center, stands with Judge Amy Coney Barrett as they arrive for a news conference to announce Barrett as his nominee to the Supreme Court, in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, Sept. 26, 2020.According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, “available data indicate that persons with mild to moderate COVID-19 remain infectious no longer than 10 days after symptom onset.” But questions remain on the timeline of the president’s illness. While his physicians say that Trump was diagnosed on Thursday, White House officials have refused to say when the president had last tested negative. Questions also remain about the severity of Trump’s illness, particularly as the drugs he was given are generally administered only to those with moderate to severe symptoms.In another development Friday, the U.S. Commission on Presidential Debates confirmed that the Oct. 15 presidential debate is officially canceled after Trump said he would not participate in a virtual format.The commission announced earlier this week that the debate would take place virtually because Trump had contracted the coronavirus. Trump rejected that plan, and the White House later argued that since Trump’s doctor cleared him to hold public events, the debate should be held in person. However, the commission said it would not reverse its decision.A debate scheduled for Oct. 22 in Nashville, Tennessee, is still scheduled between Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden.Trump’s Saturday event will come two weeks after a Rose Garden event marking Trump’s nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court. Officials are looking into the Sept. 26 ceremony as a potential source of a coronavirus outbreak. More than 30 staffers and Trump campaign aides have been infected since then, including first lady Melania Trump, press secretary Kayleigh McEnany and adviser Stephen Miller.Two Republican senators who attended the event have also tested positive.There are also concerns for Trump’s own health if he were to resume public duties too soon. COVID-19 is often unpredictable, with some patients’ condition deteriorating during the second week of illness.“We would always urge patients who are recovering from an illness that’s as severe as COVID to take it easy and recover gradually for the benefits of their own health and the people around them,” Schaffner said. “Remember, it can have some long-term effects, even in people who have mild symptoms.”While convalescing, Trump has sought to project the image of an active president on a swift road to recovery, spending some time in the Oval Office every day since Wednesday and releasing several video announcements that highlight his physical well-being.TO MY FAVORITE PEOPLE IN THE WORLD! pic.twitter.com/38DbQtUxEu— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 8, 2020In a telephone interview Thursday night on Fox News, Trump said that he wants to hold a rally in Florida on Saturday and another in Pennsylvania on Sunday. He is scheduled to have an in-person interview with the same network Friday night, where the outlet’s resident medical expert would examine him.The New York Times reports that the crowd for the Saturday White House South Lawn gathering would include people attending an event elsewhere in Washington, organized by a Trump supporter, Candace Owens. Owens is an activist from the group Blexit, a campaign to urge Black Americans to leave the Democratic Party.After the Republican National Convention in August, during which Trump delivered his acceptance speech on the South Lawn in front of supporters, he was criticized for using the White House grounds for political purposes.According to a source with knowledge of the event’s planning, attendees must wear a mask and submit to a COVID-19 screening, which consists of “a temperature check and a brief questionnaire.”
…
By Polityk | 10/10/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Plot Puts Focus on Governors’ Safety Amid Threats, Protests
An alleged plot to kidnap Michigan’s governor has put a focus on the security of governors who have faced protests and threats over their handling of the coronavirus pandemic. While the alleged plot against Gretchen Whitmer is the most specific and highest profile to come to light, it’s far from the first threat against state officials, particularly Democrats who imposed business closures and restrictions on social gatherings. In New Mexico, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said this week that news of the arrest of 13 men accused of planning the overthrow of Michigan’s government rattled members of her family. “I started to get calls from both my daughters who were terrified and who were often included in some of the negative messaging,” Grisham said this week. “Early on in this pandemic, one of the threats that we got was ‘I hope your grandchildren, get COVID.'” FILE – New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham puts on her face mask when not speaking during an update on the COVID-19 outbreak in the state during a news conference in Santa Fe, N.M., April 15, 2020.In August, a man pleaded guilty to making threats against the Democratic governor on social media and was sentenced to 14 months in prison. During the pandemic, the state Capitol that houses her office has been closed to the public. But its grounds have been the site of protests, including by some who carried weapons and are militia members. Even with the glass doors locked, State Police have at times deployed additional security measures, such as putting up opaque screens inside the doors to hide their exact location from protesters. Across the country, armed protesters have rallied this year against coronavirus-related shutdowns. In Michigan, some protesters with guns were allowed inside the statehouse in April after passing temperature screenings. Some lawmakers wore bulletproof vests. Protests both against virus restrictions and racial injustice this year have targeted not just the offices but also the homes of government executives. Fourteen unarmed protesters calling for the release of prison inmates, for instance, were arrested outside the gates of the residence of California Gov. Gavin Newsom in July. The offices of governors and those in charge of protecting them have declined to say how security has changed because of specific threats they face or the Michigan case. Pointing finger at TrumpBut some governors are linking the threats to President Donald Trump, who on Twitter late Thursday condemned “extreme violence” while also blasting Whitmer, saying she has done a “terrible job.” Whitmer herself pinned some of the blame on the president and his remarks. However, there is no indication in the criminal complaint that the men arrested were inspired by Trump. At a briefing Friday, Vermont Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican, said elected officials “but especially at the top, must realize that words matter” and that rhetoric can lead to violence. FILE – Vermont Gov. Phil Scott speaks to reporters in his offices at the State Legislature in Montpelier, March 13, 2018.”We are reaching a boiling point in this country,” he said. “So it’s up to all of us to lower the temperature.” Washington Gov. Jay Inslee singled out the president, who has often criticized Whitmer, for responsibility. “It is very unfortunate that she has been troubled not just directly by these threats, but constant barrage of, frankly, incendiary criticism from the president, and I think that’s been very unfortunate,” Inslee said. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, who also serves as chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, called on Trump to denounce extremist groups. FILE- New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy speaks at Rutgers University in Piscataway, N.J., Aug. 25, 2020.”This shocking development is the most disturbing of the increasingly violent threats being made against Democratic governors by some of the most extreme and violent fringes of the right,” Murphy said in a statement. “Unless and until President Trump openly denounces such right-wing extremism, groups like the Michigan Militia will continue to act as if they hold a permission slip from him to openly engage in such terrorist plots.” Addressing threatsThe threat this year against public employees has risen enough that the bipartisan National Governors Association sent its members a memo in August laying out ways to try to discourage and deal with threats. Among them: Encouraging civil discourse with protesters, personally complying with mask and social distancing orders and prosecuting threats. Over the nation’s history, violence against governors has been rare. The only time a sitting U.S. state governor was assassinated was in Kentucky in 1900, when Kentucky Gov. William Goebel was shot in the chest near the state capitol building just three days after he was sworn into office. In the same area this spring, current Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, was hanged in effigy from a tree on the state Capitol grounds in Frankfort. In April, a man was charged after being accused of making threats against Beshear and Kentucky State Police troopers online. This week, a fence began going up around the state’s executive mansion.
…
By Polityk | 10/10/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Pelosi Introduces 25th Amendment Measure After Questioning Trump’s Fitness to Serve
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Congressman Jamie Raskin unveiled legislation Friday to create a commission that would be empowered by the Constitution’s 25th Amendment to act in concert with the Vice President Mike Pence to strip the president of his duties.
Pelosi announced the legislation after she called on the Trump administration earlier this week to disclose more information about the health of President Donald Trump, who was recently diagnosed with COVID-19.
“Clearly he is under medication. Any of us who is under medication of that seriousness is in an altered state,” Pelosi told reporters Friday on Capitol Hill. “He has bragged about the medication he has taken and, again, there are articles by medical professionals saying this could … have an impact on judgment.”
Pelosi also said the introduction of the measure was not directed at Trump but rather an effort to codify procedures to help protect the security of the country in the future.
“This is not about President Trump,” she said. “He will face the judgment of the voters, but he shows the need for us to create a process for future presidents.”
Raskin, who is also a constitutional lawyer, said Trump’s COVID-19 infection “has focused everybody’s mind on the need for following through on this suggestion in the 25th Amendment that Congress set up its own body. And I think again in the age of COVID-19, where a lot of government actors who have been afflicted by it, we need to act.”
Trump took to Twitter after the legislation was unveiled, saying “Crazy Nancy Pelosi is looking at the 25th Amendment in order to replace Joe Biden with Kamala Harris. The Dems want that to happen fast because Sleepy Joe is out of it!!!”FILE – President Donald Trump walks out of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to return to the White House after receiving treatments for COVID-19 in Bethesda, Maryland, Oct. 5, 2020.Opponents of the president have for some time considered invoking the amendment. Introducing the measure at this time, however, appears intended to focus public attention on Trump’s health and his administration’s handling of the coronavirus just weeks before the Nov. 3 presidential election.
Congress is not in session, casting doubt on whether lawmakers will seriously consider the legislation and bring it to a vote in the House or in the Senate, where Trump’s Republican party is in the majority. Nor is there any indication that Pence would be willing to participate in a move to replace Trump.
The 25th Amendment, which provides for continuity of government, includes a provision under which the vice president and a majority of cabinet secretaries can declare the president unable to perform his duties. In that case the vice president immediately becomes acting president.
The amendment also allows for the Congress to create a new body in place of the cabinet secretaries which, together with the vice president, could declare the president unable to perform his duties. In either case, the president can challenge the declaration and reclaim his office.
If the vice president and the cabinet secretaries or the new body created by Congress again declare the president unable to perform his duties, the Congress can again transfer his powers to the vice president with a two-thirds vote.
25th Amendment, Article 4
Section 4. Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.
Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.
Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.
…
By Polityk | 10/10/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Lawsuit Calls for Immediate Relief from USAGM CEO’s Actions
From the start of his tenure as CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media in June, Michael Pack and his team of political appointees aggressively sought “to fundamentally remake USAGM into state sponsored media,” according to a lawsuit filed in a federal court in Washington on Thursday. The FILE – Michael Pack, CEO the U.S. Agency for Global Media, is seen at his confirmation hearing, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Sept. 19, 2019.Members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee have flagged several concerns about Pack’s decisions regarding the Open Technology Fund, the firing of network heads and his failure to renew visas for international journalists, among other matters. The plaintiffs named in the filing late Thursday include former USAGM CFO Grant Turner and four other senior executives who were placed on administrative leave in August. The named defendants include USAGM CEO Michael Pack and five of his staff members. The lawsuit says Pack and his team sought to install themselves in editorial decision making; scrutinized news copy and personal social media feeds of journalists at USAGM’s networks, including at VOA, for perceived bias against President Donald Trump; and retaliated against staff who flagged concerns about alleged firewall violations and mismanagement. The suit also argues that Pack’s decisions and investigations have affected VOA’s editorial independence, with journalists and senior management avoiding stories that could be deemed controversial to protect staff from potential USAGM retaliation. Freezes and alleged violations of the Antideficiency Act — which prevents government agencies from spending funds differently from how Congress intended — have further hampered the USAGM mission, with VOA language services drastically reducing or cutting content after losing staff, the suit says. “If Voice of America and the other USAGM networks are to survive Defendants’ insidious stewardship, this Court must act,” the suit says. “It must enforce the firewall in the way Congress wrote it and the agency’s own regulation construes it.” The lawsuit comes in the wake of protected whistleblower complaints filed to the Office of the Inspector General and Office of Special Counsel on behalf of agency employees. The OIG in September also wrote to USAGM to express concern about comments suggesting it would take disciplinary action against whistleblowers within VOA. In a statement shared Friday with VOA, Pack said the lawsuit was “without merit” and that all of his and his team’s decisions and actions are “correct and lawful.” “USAGM leadership will not allow any effort to distract attention away from the real issues of an agency that has been poorly run and mismanaged for years, to the detriment of national security and the American people and the agency’s ability to perform its important mission of promulgating American ideals such as democracy and freedom around the world,” Pack said. Editorial interference The lawsuit alleges several breaches of the federally regulated editorial firewall that prohibits anyone in the executive branch or a network outside the newsroom from “attempt[ing] to direct, pressure, coerce, threaten, interfere with, or otherwise impermissibly influence any of the USAGM networks.” On Pack’s first day in office he removed VOA standards editor Steven Springer, a veteran journalist who oversees and enforces the agency’s editorial guidelines. To date, USAGM has ignored multiple communications from VOA leadership that the position is critical to the network, the suit says. FILE – The Voice of America building, in Washington, June 15, 2020.The lawsuit cites a letter sent to management by an unnamed senior editor in August that argues that the extended absence of a standards editor, especially during a U.S. presidential election, “is frankly journalistic malpractice.” “The longer the position remains empty, the more likely we will make errors that undermine our credibility,” the editor wrote. The lawsuit also alleges interference in personnel matters including the firing of Radio Free Asia executive editor Bay Fang; attempts to reassign a newly hired New York bureau chief for VOA — an effort resisted by the newsroom; and Pack’s refusal to sign J-1 visas — the special entry permits for individuals with unique talents. The latter, the suit argues, has resulted in several VOA language services “struggling to produce the volume and quality of content both Congress and their audience expect.” VOA has more than 40 language services that broadcast to a weekly audience of some 280 million people. The lawsuit says VOA had to cancel Hausa-language service affiliation partnerships as well as “radio and Twitter content aimed at young people who are vulnerable to extremism.” Actions by the defendants led to a shortage of staff for the Mandarin service and reduced programming in Russian, Iranian and Korean languages, as well as disruption to Venezuela programming, the suit says. Intimidation and investigations The lawsuit accuses Pack and co-defendants, including senior adviser Samuel Dewey, of illegally interfering with journalistic content. It alleges Dewey has tried to insert himself into news coverage meetings; bypassing newsroom leadership to speak directly with journalists to seek action. USAGM policy states that suspected editorial shortcomings should be investigated by journalists at the news networks rather than outside officials. The suit argues USAGM management does not have the authority to initiate an investigation into specific editorial issues or impose punishments. In one such investigation, USAGM officials questioned reporters and editors about profiles of first lady Melania Trump and Jill Biden, with an emphasis on the author of specific words about the president’s comments on immigrants and his attacks on “perceived adversaries on Twitter.” The line was changed before publication. “USAGM’s attempt to root out the writer and editor responsible for these words is a reprehensible attempt to retaliate against reporters … and to penalize them for taking what they perceive to be an anti-Trump viewpoint,” the suit alleges. Dewey also asked VOA’s leadership to identify which journalists are working on which stories, the suit alleges. It says that interference by the CEO’s office has led to self-censorship to avoid retaliation against staff. The lawsuit details a September newsroom meeting at which VOA managers dropped several political stories “because of increased scrutiny, the investigations, and the risks of retaliation by the Defendants.” Similarly, reporting has been adjusted to prevent any possibility of the defendants interpreting content as pro-Biden. A senior VOA manager wrote to VOA’s leadership: “[W]e have reached a point where we, in the News Center, are at least as worried about self-censorship as we are about bias and think we need to be equally vigilant against both.” The investigations and scrutiny of staff extends beyond the news content published by the agency. The lawsuit details investigations into journalists’ social media profiles and alleges Pack and his team compiled a 30-page document about White House Bureau Chief Steven Herman, who had written a letter to VOA acting director Biberaj raising concerns about Pack’s actions. Staff in the CEO’s office “have placed Herman’s reporting under a magnifying glass since the letter, and have been watching Herman’s private social media activity for any hint of bias,” the suit alleges. USAGM staff shared with Biberaj the document that alleged Herman had conflicts of interest. The suit says the actions amount to an attempt to intimidate and undermine Herman’s coverage of the administration. FILE – Congressman Michael McCaul, R-Tex, questions witnesses during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 16, 2020.In response to allegations about an investigation into Herman, lead Republican on the Foreign Affairs Committee Michael McCaul of Texas said earlier this week he was “concerned about the state of affairs at USAGM and its grantees like OTF under CEO Pack’s watch.” OTF provides grants to create technology to facilitate the free flow of information. Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, said the investigation was “inappropriate and possibly illegal.” “This didn’t happen in a vacuum. This is all part of the growing politicization of the United States Agency for Global Media, which VOA is housed under, by new CEO Michael Pack,” Murphy told VOA. “Freedom of press is crucial to a democracy. That’s why I’m working on legislation to protect journalists from being targeted for their perceived political views.” FILE – Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., speaks during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 24, 2020.An Oct. 4 policy memo Pack shared about social media use and conflicts of interest is similarly viewed by the lawsuit as an attempt to control reporters and their supervisors. In a statement Monday on the memo, Biberaj said VOA handles potential infractions in accordance with its policies and federal law.”VOA’s independence, integrity, and credibility of our reporting are of paramount importance,” Biberaj said. “VOA considers any violation of the firewall or attack on its journalistic independence completely unacceptable.” The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP), a nonprofit that offers pro bono legal support to journalists, said Pack’s actions have “prompted broad bipartisan condemnation.” “This lawsuit is a welcome step in restoring independence to the broadcasters so they can continue to provide crucial news services to audiences around the world, particularly in countries suffering under censorship or state-controlled media,” said Gabe Rottman, director of RCFP’s technology and press freedom project. Funding Since his appointment, Pack has frozen budgets at the agency, imposed hiring freezes, and attempted to redistribute funding already approved by Congress. The latter carries administrative and penal sanctions, the suit says. USAGM distributes grants to the networks but since June several funds have been withheld without explanation. The funds had already been allocated via appropriation bills signed into law by the president. Other funds were moved internally and without legal authorization, the suit alleges, including $3.4 million in Internet Freedom funds which were moved from a grantee without notifying the appropriate bodies or having them reapportioned by the Office of Management and Budget, and $1.4 million from the Office of Policy Research.
…
By Polityk | 10/09/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Illinois Farmers Voice Support for Trump Despite Hardships
When he set out to plant his crops earlier this year, Illinois farmer Ron Moore was preparing for another year of trade uncertainty with China, one of the largest purchasers of the more than 300 hectares of soybeans he grows on a family farm he has tilled since 1977.The year 2020 would prove to be unlike any growing season Moore had witnessed. A global pandemic upended the food supply chain, pushing down wholesale prices for livestock and the foodstuffs they consume.“They [thinned herds] are not going to eat a lot of corn and they’re not going to eat a lot of soybean meal,” Moore explained to VOA during a break in this year’s harvest. “So that decimated demand for the grains that provide the feed for the livestock.”The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported a 35% drop in soybean prices that coincided with a multiyear trade war with China that saw Beijing turn increasingly to Brazil and other U.S. competitors for the staple. The pandemic reduced Chinese purchases even further.“It was a double whammy, so to speak, and we were terribly affected by the pandemic in the livestock and grain industry,” Moore said.Despite such hardships in recent years, polls show a majority of American farmers remain loyal to President Donald Trump. While Trump has slipped in recent national surveys, he retains core support among farmers who praise his administration for aggressive federal measures that have helped them survive adversity.For many, the challenges continue. Some 30 kilometers from Moore’s operation, farmer Wendell Shauman has seen prices for corn, one of his primary crops, fall 44% since 2014. Hopes for a rebound in 2020 have been dashed.“It’s been a pretty ugly year pricewise,” Shauman said. “Most of what I’ve sold is way below what I’d hoped for.”’It was a big help’Keeping farmers afloat, according to Moore and Shauman, are payments since 2018 from the USDA’s Market Facilitation Program to compensate them for losses suffered as a result of foreign tariffs and the erosion of export markets.“While it wasn’t make or break, it was a big help,” Shauman told VOA. “I’m sure there are people that wouldn’t have had anything to eat if it didn’t happen.”“It gives us a lifeline,” Moore said. “We’re still treading water. We need more profitability and better markets to get out of the water and get on dry land. When government intervenes into our marketplace, I believe it’s up to the government to find solutions to bring our market back to where it was before they intervened.”The USDA unveiled a $19 billion aid package earlier this year as the pandemic constricted the nation’s food supply. Another round of $14 billion in agricultural assistance followed last month.Illinois Farm Bureau’s National Legislative Director Adam Nielsen says that since 2016, the government has spent nearly $100 billion to prop up America’s agricultural sector and save family farms.“We’ve been able to stem the tide of farm bankruptcies,” Nielsen told VOA, speaking from Bloomington. “Farmers, while they haven’t been spending extravagantly, they’ve been able to pay for feed, seed and fertilizer to get another crop in the ground.”While grateful for the assistance, Shauman said the program can’t go on forever.“We’ve increased the debt a huge amount in a very short amount of time, almost in a World War Two type of crisis. There’s not enough money for the government to just keep giving everybody a living,” he said.Hoping for a semblance of normalcyMeanwhile, a few encouraging signs have emerged. China recently increased purchases of U.S. grain products, modestly boosting prices. Continued testing of coronavirus vaccines gives farmers hope that the pandemic will ebb and the domestic market for foodstuffs will return to some semblance of normalcy in the year to come.For now, with weeks to go before the Nov. 3 presidential election between Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden, Shauman holds out hope for a permanent U.S. trade agreement with China. He believes Trump’s trade battles with Beijing will benefit farmers in the long run and that the president has demonstrated he understands their plight.“The way he treated farmers and kept us going, that didn’t have to happen,” Shauman said. “It’s pretty surprising for a guy who has a New York history and knows very little about agriculture to be as supportive of agriculture.”He added, “I like what he’s done. I don’t like the way he talks sometimes. I get frustrated with that. He could have some better manners.”Shauman finds Biden’s message of bipartisan cooperation appealing, noting, “You’ve got to have compromise. You’ve got to have people working together.”But he rejects demands to overhaul the U.S. economy to combat climate change, part of the so-called Green New Deal that Biden has distanced himself from but which some Democrats support.”I haven’t heard anybody talking about a battery-powered tractor yet,” Shauman said. “What I am going to plant with? Talk often seems nonsensical to me.”A September poll found Trump leading Biden 50% to 33% among rural adults, with 11% undecided. In the same poll, conducted by DTN/Progressive Farmer and Zogby Analytics, 59% of farmers said they would struggle financially without the USDA’s Market Facilitation Program and the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program.Ron Moore hopes for better times if Trump wins a second term. “We are anticipating that when we get all these trade deals in place, that will bring us from a supply-side marketplace to a demand-driven marketplace, and so that’s why, I think in lots of surveys, that’s why farmers are supporting the president in this election,” he said.While many Illinois farmers voice support for Trump, the most recent poll in the state that includes America’s third-largest city, Chicago, gives Biden a commanding 25-point lead, 61% to 36%.Nationally, farm and ranch operators account for less than 2% of the U.S. population, according to USDA statistics. More broadly, roughly 20% of Americans reside in rural areas.
…
By Polityk | 10/09/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Foreign Actors Focused on US Elections and Spreading COVID-19 Lies, Official Says
U.S. officials who analyze and combat disinformation aimed at undermining democracies say foreign actors are now focusing on two topics: spreading falsehoods about coronavirus vaccine development and the U.S. elections.In an interview with VOA, the State Department’s special envoy and coordinator for Global Engagement Center Lea Gabrielle said President Donald Trump’s health also is an active topic of online discussion among overseas audiences.“When we see the trending narratives, we are seeing that news of the president being infected with COVID is trending in the online information space,” Gabrielle told VOA State Department correspondent Nike Ching on Wednesday during a Skype interview.After years in which American intelligence focused on Russian-style disinformation tactics, U.S. officials say during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chinese Communist Party has learned from the Kremlin’s approach, even using it to shape online narratives inside China’s tightly controlled domestic internet.In recent days after Trump announced that he and the first lady had tested positive for coronavirus, gloating postings appeared on social media closely controlled by the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda networks. When online users started engaging in more serious discussions about the president’s illness and its ramifications, Chinese censors shut them down.The following are excerpts from VOA’s interview with Gabrielle. It has been edited for brevity and clarity.Ching: From what we have seen – some gloating social media postings after President Trump and senior U.S. officials tested positive for the coronavirus – is there indication that U.S. foreign adversaries are pushing out certain narratives, taking advantage of this moment to sow discord in the United States, and to undermine Americans’ confidence in the political system?Gabrielle: When we see the trending narratives, we are seeing that news of the president being infected with COVID is trending in the online information space. We’ve seen within mainland China’s social media space that there has been a variation of different types of narratives.But I think it’s also very important to recognize that the Chinese Communist Party very closely controls those narratives, that the Chinese Communist Party censors narratives within the Chinese information landscape and on Chinese social media. So it’s really hard to tell what’s actually happening in the minds of the Chinese people.And, quite frankly, I think that it would be beneficial to the people of China to be able to have open discourse rather than being trapped inside that great firewall of China.Ching: How are U.S. adversaries changing or adjusting their disinformation campaigns and influence operations as we get closer to the Nov. 3 election?Gabrielle: Our (Global Engagement Center) mission is to directly synchronize and coordinate efforts of the U.S. federal government to counter foreign disinformation and propaganda that’s aimed at undermining the security or the stability of the United States and its partners and allies.So we focus on that foreign disinformation aimed at foreign audiences.Adversaries and malign actors, competitors that use disinformation or use the information space as a weapon, tend to target elections. Democratic values, democratic principles and democratic elections go hand in hand with malign actors trying to use disinformation and propaganda to undermine those processes.The GEC has been tracking a lot of different disinformation narratives over the past several months. Of course, around COVID-19 we’ve seen a lot of disinformation narratives being pushed by Russia, China and Iran as well.Now what we’ve seen most lately is a trend towards disinformation narratives around vaccine development.From the Chinese Communist Party, we’ve seen an effort to reshape the global narrative to try to make the Chinese Communist Party look like the global leader in the response, rather than as being responsible for the spread of the virus.We see Russia continuing to use disinformation narratives to try to undermine democratic institutions. And we’ve seen a lot of Russian disinformation narratives around COVID-19, as well as around vaccine development.We’ve also seen Russian disinformation narratives focus around unrest in Belarus and on other global topics.Ching: What are other focuses of U.S. elections-related narratives?Gabrielle: During the COVID crisis we’ve seen the Chinese Communist Party go to great lengths and adopt Russian style disinformation tactics. So the tactics are adapting and changing as the social media environment changes. But we’re working very closely with our partners within the US interagency, and globally, to make sure that they are up to date on what we’re seeing in the disinformation and propaganda space.Ching: What keeps you up at night these days?Gabrielle: I love that question and thank you so much for asking. I am very concerned about how this wonderful social media environment and this connectivity that we have that connects people worldwide is being manipulated by bad actors.And I think it’s really important that we increase resiliency in populations and we decrease vulnerability by training people to better understand how the information space is being manipulated. Because ultimately technology is going to change, malign actors that want to manipulate people and that want to push their agendas forward are going to continue.And the best resistance to that, the best way to protect against disinformation, is really having an educated, informed and resilient audience. So I think we have to focus on making sure people are aware of how the information space is manipulated. And we all have a responsibility to think before we share information and to really vet the source to make sure it’s truthful before we spread it.
…
By Polityk | 10/09/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Волонтери звернулись до влади щодо забезпечення лікарень киснем для хворих на COVID-19 – Ножевнікова
Президента Володимира Зеленського, прем’єр-міністра Дениса Шмигаля і міністра охорони здоров’я просять або дозволити лікарням використовувати технічний кисень, або видавати ліцензії на виробництво кисню за прискореною схемою. Про це розповіла одеська волонтерка, засновниця благодійного фонду «Корпорація монстрів» Катерина Ножевнікова.
«Із забезпеченням лікарень киснем склалась критична ситуація і є два виходи з неї. Або виключити кисень з переліку медичних препаратів, як це було раніше зроблено за часів Януковича. Тоді країна буде забезпечена киснем на багато років вперед – багато в яких заводів кисень є відходом виробництва. Або надавати заводам, які готові виробляти медичний кисень, ліцензії в прискореному режимі», – заявила Ножевникова.
За її словами, це проблема не тільки Одеської області, але й багатьох інших регіонів, де немає заводів з виробництву медичного кисню. На Одещині, за словами волонтера, в деяких лікарнях кисню вистачить на тиждень-два, а в деяких – тільки на декілька днів.
Вона зазначила, що у медичного і технічного кисню є різниця в концентрації та засобах перевезення, але це проблема, яку можна вирішити швидко. Наразі постачальники вже не можуть забезпечити потреби одеських лікарень і відмовляються від договорів. За інформацією волонтерки, розглядається можливість створення в регіоні кисневого складу, який будуть наповнювати постачальники з Дніпра, але для цього потрібно отримувати «аптечну» ліцензію, що також потребуватиме багато часу.
«Виробники технічного кисню звертались до міністерства ще в квітні із такими пропозиціями, але їхній лист втратили. Тепер я точно знаю, що варіанти заслухали і у президента, і у прем’єра ще 5 жовтня. Зараз чекаємо вирішення», – заявила Ножевнікова.
За даними уряду, міністр охорони здоров’я Максим Степанов повідомив, що сьогодні на засіданні Кабміну буде винесено декілька постанов, в тому числі постанова щодо забезпечення киснем. Будуть виділені та розподілені по регіонах відповідні кошти в межах субвенції. Він додав, що МОЗ готовий у стислі терміни сертифікувати виробників медичного кисню.
В Україні минулої доби виявили рекордні 5804 нові випадки коронавірусного захворювання COVID-19. Загалом від початку пандемії на коронавірусну хворобу в Україні захворіли понад 250,5 тисячі людей, 4779 – померли.
…
By Gromada | 10/09/2020 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Метеорологи повідомили про третю поспіль рекордно теплу ніч у Києві
У Центральній геофізичній обсерваторії імені Бориса Срезневського повідомили про третю поспіль рекордно теплу ніч у столиці України.
«Ніч на 9 жовтня у Києві виявилась найтеплішою, адже температура не опустилася нижче +13,4°С. Попереднє рекордне значення +13,3°С 1889 року перевищено на 0,1°С», – йдеться в повідомленні.
Напередодні йшлося про те, що ніч на 8 жовтня у Києві також, як і попередня, виявилась найтеплішою за період спостережень.
Раніше метеорологи повідомляли, що від початку року в Києві встановлено 27 температурних рекордів.
your ad hereBy Gromada | 10/09/2020 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
КМДА внесла до переліку щойно виявлених об’єктів культурної спадщини «тарілку» на Либідській
Департамент охорони культурної спадщини КМДА вніс будинок Українського інституту науково-технічної експертизи та інформації на вулиці Антоновича, 180 («Тарілка» на Либідській) до переліку щойно виявлених об’єктів культурної спадщини і направив відповідний наказ до Міністерства культури та інформаційної політики України, повідомила пресслужба столичної адміністрації.
«Наступний крок – надання Мінкультом «тарілці» статусу пам’ятки і занесення до Державного реєстру нерухомих пам’яток України», – йдеться в повідомленні.
Як наголошують у департаменті, це має відбутися якомога швидше.
Державний реєстр нерухомих пам’яток України – база даних, що містить відомості про пам’ятки культурної спадщини.
Напередодні міністр культури та інформаційної політики Олександр Ткаченко звернувся до столичної влади з проханням внести «тарілку» в список щойно виявлених пам’яток об’єктів культурної спадщини, щоб міністерство могло завершити процес внесення її до державного реєстру пам’яток місцевого значення.
Будівля «Тарілка, що літає» споруджена 1971 року за проєктом архітекторів Флоріана Юр’єва і Льва Новикова. Представник архітектури другої хвилі радянського модернізму. Біля «тарілки» нині будують торговий центр Ocean Mall. Серед представників громадськості лунають перестороги, що це може загрожувати самій будівлі або спотворити архітектурний ансамбль довкола.
…
By Gromada | 10/09/2020 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
US Farmers Prepare to Vote after Receiving Billions in Federal Aid
When he set out to plant his crops earlier this year, Illinois farmer Ron Moore was preparing for another year of trade uncertainty with China, one of the largest purchasers of the more than 300 hectares of soybeans he grows on a family farm he has tilled since 1977.The year 2020 would prove to be unlike any growing season Moore had witnessed. A global pandemic upended the food supply chain, pushing down wholesale prices for livestock and the foodstuffs they consume.“They [thinned herds] are not going to eat a lot of corn and they’re not going to eat a lot of soybean meal,” Moore explained to VOA during a break in this year’s harvest. “So that decimated demand for the grains that provide the feed for the livestock.”The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported a 35% drop in soybean prices that coincided with a multiyear trade war with China that saw Beijing turn increasingly to Brazil and other U.S. competitors for the staple. The pandemic reduced Chinese purchases even further.“It was a double whammy, so to speak, and we were terribly affected by the pandemic in the livestock and grain industry,” Moore said.Despite such hardships in recent years, polls show a majority of American farmers remain loyal to President Donald Trump. While Trump has slipped in recent national surveys, he retains core support among farmers who praise his administration for aggressive federal measures that have helped them survive adversity.For many, the challenges continue. Some 30 kilometers from Moore’s operation, farmer Wendell Shauman has seen prices for corn, one of his primary crops, fall 44% since 2014. Hopes for a rebound in 2020 have been dashed.“It’s been a pretty ugly year pricewise,” Shauman said. “Most of what I’ve sold is way below what I’d hoped for.”’It was a big help’Keeping farmers afloat, according to Moore and Shauman, are payments since 2018 from the USDA’s Market Facilitation Program to compensate them for losses suffered as a result of foreign tariffs and the erosion of export markets.“While it wasn’t make or break, it was a big help,” Shauman told VOA. “I’m sure there are people that wouldn’t have had anything to eat if it didn’t happen.”“It gives us a lifeline,” Moore said. “We’re still treading water. We need more profitability and better markets to get out of the water and get on dry land. When government intervenes into our marketplace, I believe it’s up to the government to find solutions to bring our market back to where it was before they intervened.”The USDA unveiled a $19 billion aid package earlier this year as the pandemic constricted the nation’s food supply. Another round of $14 billion in agricultural assistance followed last month.Illinois Farm Bureau’s National Legislative Director Adam Nielsen says that since 2016, the government has spent nearly $100 billion to prop up America’s agricultural sector and save family farms.“We’ve been able to stem the tide of farm bankruptcies,” Nielsen told VOA, speaking from Bloomington. “Farmers, while they haven’t been spending extravagantly, they’ve been able to pay for feed, seed and fertilizer to get another crop in the ground.”While grateful for the assistance, Shauman said the program can’t go on forever.“We’ve increased the debt a huge amount in a very short amount of time, almost in a World War Two type of crisis. There’s not enough money for the government to just keep giving everybody a living,” he said.Hoping for a semblance of normalcyMeanwhile, a few encouraging signs have emerged. China recently increased purchases of U.S. grain products, modestly boosting prices. Continued testing of coronavirus vaccines gives farmers hope that the pandemic will ebb and the domestic market for foodstuffs will return to some semblance of normalcy in the year to come.For now, with weeks to go before the Nov. 3 presidential election between Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden, Shauman holds out hope for a permanent U.S. trade agreement with China. He believes Trump’s trade battles with Beijing will benefit farmers in the long run and that the president has demonstrated he understands their plight.“The way he treated farmers and kept us going, that didn’t have to happen,” Shauman said. “It’s pretty surprising for a guy who has a New York history and knows very little about agriculture to be as supportive of agriculture.”He added, “I like what he’s done. I don’t like the way he talks sometimes. I get frustrated with that. He could have some better manners.”Shauman finds Biden’s message of bipartisan cooperation appealing, noting, “You’ve got to have compromise. You’ve got to have people working together.”But he rejects demands to overhaul the U.S. economy to combat climate change, part of the so-called Green New Deal that Biden has distanced himself from but which some Democrats support.”I haven’t heard anybody talking about a battery-powered tractor yet,” Shauman said. “What I am going to plant with? Talk often seems nonsensical to me.”A September poll found Trump leading Biden 50% to 33% among rural adults, with 11% undecided. In the same poll, conducted by DTN/Progressive Farmer and Zogby Analytics, 59% of farmers said they would struggle financially without the USDA’s Market Facilitation Program and the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program.Ron Moore hopes for better times if Trump wins a second term. “We are anticipating that when we get all these trade deals in place, that will bring us from a supply-side marketplace to a demand-driven marketplace, and so that’s why, I think in lots of surveys, that’s why farmers are supporting the president in this election,” he said.While many Illinois farmers voice support for Trump, the most recent poll in the state that includes America’s third-largest city, Chicago, gives Biden a commanding 25-point lead, 61% to 36%.Nationally, farm and ranch operators account for less than 2% of the U.S. population, according to USDA statistics. More broadly, roughly 20% of Americans reside in rural areas.
…
By Polityk | 10/09/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Q&A: Foreign Disinformation Campaigns, COVID-19 and the US Election
U.S. officials who analyze and combat disinformation aimed at undermining democracies say foreign actors are now focusing on two topics: spreading falsehoods about coronavirus vaccine development and the U.S. elections.In an interview with VOA, the State Department’s special envoy and coordinator for Global Engagement Center Lea Gabrielle said President Donald Trump’s health also is an active topic of online discussion among overseas audiences.“When we see the trending narratives, we are seeing that news of the president being infected with COVID is trending in the online information space,” Gabrielle told VOA State Department correspondent Nike Ching on Wednesday during a Skype interview.After years in which American intelligence focused on Russian-style disinformation tactics, U.S. officials say during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chinese Communist Party has learned from the Kremlin’s approach, even using it to shape online narratives inside China’s tightly controlled domestic internet.In recent days after Trump announced that he and the first lady had tested positive for coronavirus, gloating postings appeared on social media closely controlled by the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda networks. When online users started engaging in more serious discussions about the president’s illness and its ramifications, Chinese censors shut them down.The following are excerpts from VOA’s interview with Gabrielle. It has been edited for brevity and clarity.Ching: From what we have seen – some gloating social media postings after President Trump and senior U.S. officials tested positive for the coronavirus – is there indication that U.S. foreign adversaries are pushing out certain narratives, taking advantage of this moment to sow discord in the United States, and to undermine Americans’ confidence in the political system?Gabrielle: When we see the trending narratives, we are seeing that news of the president being infected with COVID is trending in the online information space. We’ve seen within mainland China’s social media space that there has been a variation of different types of narratives.But I think it’s also very important to recognize that the Chinese Communist Party very closely controls those narratives, that the Chinese Communist Party censors narratives within the Chinese information landscape and on Chinese social media. So it’s really hard to tell what’s actually happening in the minds of the Chinese people.And, quite frankly, I think that it would be beneficial to the people of China to be able to have open discourse rather than being trapped inside that great firewall of China.Ching: How are U.S. adversaries changing or adjusting their disinformation campaigns and influence operations as we get closer to the Nov. 3 election?Gabrielle: Our (Global Engagement Center) mission is to directly synchronize and coordinate efforts of the U.S. federal government to counter foreign disinformation and propaganda that’s aimed at undermining the security or the stability of the United States and its partners and allies.So we focus on that foreign disinformation aimed at foreign audiences.Adversaries and malign actors, competitors that use disinformation or use the information space as a weapon, tend to target elections. Democratic values, democratic principles and democratic elections go hand in hand with malign actors trying to use disinformation and propaganda to undermine those processes.The GEC has been tracking a lot of different disinformation narratives over the past several months. Of course, around COVID-19 we’ve seen a lot of disinformation narratives being pushed by Russia, China and Iran as well.Now what we’ve seen most lately is a trend towards disinformation narratives around vaccine development.From the Chinese Communist Party, we’ve seen an effort to reshape the global narrative to try to make the Chinese Communist Party look like the global leader in the response, rather than as being responsible for the spread of the virus.We see Russia continuing to use disinformation narratives to try to undermine democratic institutions. And we’ve seen a lot of Russian disinformation narratives around COVID-19, as well as around vaccine development.We’ve also seen Russian disinformation narratives focus around unrest in Belarus and on other global topics.Ching: What are other focuses of U.S. elections-related narratives?Gabrielle: During the COVID crisis we’ve seen the Chinese Communist Party go to great lengths and adopt Russian style disinformation tactics. So the tactics are adapting and changing as the social media environment changes. But we’re working very closely with our partners within the US interagency, and globally, to make sure that they are up to date on what we’re seeing in the disinformation and propaganda space.Ching: What keeps you up at night these days?Gabrielle: I love that question and thank you so much for asking. I am very concerned about how this wonderful social media environment and this connectivity that we have that connects people worldwide is being manipulated by bad actors.And I think it’s really important that we increase resiliency in populations and we decrease vulnerability by training people to better understand how the information space is being manipulated. Because ultimately technology is going to change, malign actors that want to manipulate people and that want to push their agendas forward are going to continue.And the best resistance to that, the best way to protect against disinformation, is really having an educated, informed and resilient audience. So I think we have to focus on making sure people are aware of how the information space is manipulated. And we all have a responsibility to think before we share information and to really vet the source to make sure it’s truthful before we spread it.
…
By Polityk | 10/09/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Trump Says He Won’t Take Part in Virtual Debate; Biden Makes New Plans
President Donald Trump says he will not participate in the presidential debate originally scheduled for Oct. 15 in Miami, allowing Democratic nominee Joe Biden to take part in an ABC News town hall event in Philadelphia that evening.Trump rejected the change to a virtual format announced Thursday morning by the U.S. Commission on Presidential Debates, which explained that the format was necessary because of the president’s COVID-19 diagnosis.Asked about the virtual format on Fox Business, Trump said, “I’m not going to waste my time in a virtual debate. That’s not what debating is all about. You sit behind a computer and do a debate is ridiculous. And then they cut you off whenever they want.”Virtual debate OK with BidenThe Biden campaign had said the former vice president would be willing to participate in a virtual debate.In a statement, the Biden campaign said, “we hope the Debate Commission will move the Biden-Trump Town Hall to October 22 so that the president is not able to evade accountability.”The Trump campaign issued a statement agreeing that the next debate should take place Oct. 22, with the third and final debate on Oct. 29. The Biden campaign has rejected having a debate so late in the campaign.Confined to White HouseTrump has been recovering from COVID-19 and has been confined to the White House since returning from the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Monday.The president’s physician, Dr. Scott Conley, issued a statement Thursday evening saying the president had completed his course of therapy for COVID-19 and responded well. He shows no signs of the illness progressing, and Conley anticipates Trump’s safe return to public events on Saturday.Earlier, Alyssa Farah, communications director at the White House, was asked when the president last tested negative for the coronavirus.”I can’t reveal that at this time. Doctors would like to keep it private,” she said.’I think I’m better … ‘Meanwhile, Trump said he is doing well and is ready to hold campaign rallies.“I think I’m better to the point where I’d love to do a rally tonight,” he said.Trump’s doctors have not said if he is ready to hold rallies.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines say a person who has tested positive for COVID-19 should be isolated for at least 10 days. Trump’s positive COVID-19 test was revealed late last week.
…
By Polityk | 10/09/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
In 25th Amendment Bid, Pelosi Mulls Trump’s Fitness to Serve
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is questioning President Donald Trump’s fitness to serve, announcing legislation Thursday that would create a commission to allow Congress to intervene under the 25th Amendment to the Constitution and remove the president from executive duties.Just weeks before the Nov. 3 election, Pelosi said Trump needs to disclose more about his health after his COVID-19 diagnosis. She noted Trump’s “strange tweet” halting talks on a new coronavirus aid package — he subsequently tried to reverse course — and said Americans need to know when, exactly, he first contracted COVID as others in the White House became infected. On Friday, she plans to roll out the legislation that would launch the commission for review.”The public needs to know the health condition of the president,” Pelosi said, later invoking the 25th Amendment, which allows a president’s cabinet or Congress to intervene when a president is unable to conduct the duties of the office.Trump responded swiftly via Twitter.”Crazy Nancy is the one who should be under observation. They don’t call her Crazy for nothing!” the president said.The president’s opponents have discussed invoking the 25th Amendment for some time, but are raising it now, so close to Election Day, as the campaigns are fast turning into a referendum on Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. More than 210,000 Americans have died and millions more infected by the virus that shows no signs of abating heading into what public health experts warn will be a difficult flu season and winter.Trump says he “feels great” after being hospitalized and is back at work in the White House. But his doctors have given mixed signals about his diagnosis and treatment. Trump plans to resume campaigning soon.Congress is not in legislative session, and so any serious consideration of the measure, let alone votes in the House or Senate, is unlikely. But the bill serves as a political tool to stoke questions about Trump’s health as his own White House is hit by an outbreak infecting top aides, staff and visitors, including senators.Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) speaks to the media after the Republican policy luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 22, 2020.In a stunning admission, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Thursday that he had stopped going to the White House two months ago because he disagreed with its coronavirus protocols. His last visit was Aug. 6.”My impression was their approach to how to handle this was different from mine and what I insisted we do in the Senate, which is to wear a mask and practice social distancing,” McConnell said at a campaign stop in northern Kentucky for his own reelection.On Friday, Pelosi along with Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., a constitutional law professor, plan to roll out the legislation that would create a commission as outlined under the 25th Amendment, which was passed by Congress and ratified in 1967 as way to ensure a continuity of power in the aftermath of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination.It says the vice president and a majority of principal officers of the executive departments “or of such other body as Congress” may by law provide a declaration to Congress that the president “is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.” At that point, the vice president would immediately assume the powers of acting president.Trump abruptly halted talks this week on the new COVID aid package, sending the economy reeling, his GOP allies scrambling and leaving millions of Americans without additional support. Then he immediately reversed course and tried to kickstart talks.It all came in a head-spinning series of tweets and comments days after he returned to the White House after his hospitalization with COVID-19.First, Trump told the Republican leaders in Congress on Tuesday to quit negotiating on an aid package. By Wednesday he was trying to bring everyone back to the table for his priority items — including $1,200 stimulus checks for almost all adult Americans.Pelosi said Thursday that Democrats are “still at the table” and her office resumed conversations with top negotiator Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.She said she told Mnuchin she was willing to consider a measure to prop up the airline industry, which is facing widespread layoffs. But that aid, she said, must go alongside broader legislation that includes the kind of COVID testing, tracing and health practices that Democrats say are needed as part of a national strategy to “crush the virus.”Normally, the high stakes and splintered politics ahead of an election could provide grounds for a robust package. But with other Republicans refusing to spend more money, it appears no relief will be coming with Americans already beginning early voting.Democrats have made it clear they will not do a piecemeal approach until the Trump administration signs off on a broader, comprehensive plan they are proposing for virus testing, tracing and other actions to stop its spread. They have scaled back a $3 trillion measure to a $2.2 trillion proposal. The White House presented a $1.6 trillion counter offer. Talks were ongoing when Trump shut them down.”There’s no question that the proximity to the election has made this much more challenging,” McConnell said.
…
By Polityk | 10/09/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
«Схеми» зафіксували, як перший помічник президента Шефір таємно приїжджав додому до олігарха Ахметова
Журналісти програми «Схеми» зафіксували, як перший помічник президента України Сергій Шефір таємно приїжджав до маєтку олігарха Ріната Ахметова під Києвом. Про це йдеться у розслідуванні «Зе-Ахметов».
31 серпня знімальна група зафіксувала, як із бокових воріт Офісу президента виїхала Audi А8 на «номерах прикриття», якою на постійній основі користується перший помічник президента Сергій Шефір, і потім заїхала на заправку по дорозі в бік елітного поселення Конча-Заспа.
Туди під’їхала автівка, якою користується охорона Ріната Ахметова та приїхав броньований Mercedes-Maybach.
Журналісти зафіксували, як Сергій Шефір вийшов з Audi та пересів у Maybach.
Maybach попрямував у бік селища Плюти у Київській області. Журналістам вдалось відслідкувати, як автомобіль повернув саме до бокових воріт маєтку бізнесмена Ріната Ахметова.
Заміський маєток Ріната Ахметова розташований поблизу селища Плюти у 35 кілометрах від Києва.
Журналісти звернулись до Сергія Шефіра із запитаннями, що він обговорював з олігархом, чому зустрічався з ним таємно і чи відомо про це президентові. У відповідь Сергій Шефір зазначив: «Відповім на всі питання одразу. Нічого, що суперечить інтересам нашої країни, нічого протизаконного я не роблю, крапка».
Ці питання також «Схеми» адресували пресслужбі олігарха. Про тему зустрічі з Шефіром у серпні у Ахметова не відповіли, так само не підтвердили і не заперечили її проведення.. Натомість нагадали про іншу відому зустріч – 16 березня, коли Володимир Зеленський офіційно зустрічався з представниками крупного бізнесу: «Як ви знаєте, ця зустріч була присвячена боротьбі країни з коронавірусом. Тоді ж, у березні, на боротьбу з епідемією в Україні пан Ахметов виділив 300 мільйонів гривень. На ці гроші Благодійним фондом Ріната Ахметова закуплені і направлені до лікарень країни тести і засоби індивідуального захисту для медиків, а також апарати ШВЛ, які вже рятують життя українців. Мета у пана Ахметова тільки одна – допомогти нашій країні подолати пандемію. Будь-які інші версії є чутками і маніпуляціями».
Журналісти надіслали запит до президента України із запитаннями, чи відомо йому про таємну зустріч Шефіра з Ахметовим вдома у олігарха, і чи уповноважував президент свого помічника на перемовини із ним, і чи вважає Зеленський такий формат контактів прийнятним, з огляду на передвиборчі обіцянки прозорих відносин з представниками великого бізнесу.
З Офісу президента надійшла така відповідь: «16 березня 2020 р. під час зустрічі з представниками великого бізнесу (у тому числі за участю Ріната Ахметова) глава держави Володимир Зеленський обговорював питання протидії поширенню Covid-19. У подальшому інших зустрічей (у тому числі приватних або неофіційних) президента України з бізнесменом Рінатом Ахметовим не було. Глава держави також не доручав та не уповноважував представників своєї команди на такі зустрічі».
Також там зауважили: «Бізнесмен Рінат Ахметов здійснює суттєвий внесок в економічний та соціальний розвиток України через належні йому підприємства, які є одними з найбільших платників податків та забезпечують робочі місця для сотень тисяч громадян України. Ми вдячні Благодійному фонду Ріната Ахметова за виділення значних коштів на боротьбу з епідемією».
Окремо «Схеми» звернули увагу на лояльну до президента редакційну політику інформаційного мовлення телеканалу «Україна», що базується, в тому числі, на висновках медіаекспертів профільного онлайн-видання «Детектор медіа». Зокрема, це відображається у частоті появи новин про Зеленського та тональності ток-шоу «Свобода слова Савіка Шустера» за участю президента, яке також виходить на каналі олігарха.
«Схеми» звернулися до телеканалу «Україна» з проханням прокоментувати висновки медіаекспертів про редакційну політику щодо президента України.
«Головна задача «Новинної Групи Україна» – це працювати в інтересах суспільства, висвітлюючи усі важливі локальні та міжнародні події. Природно, що Президент України Володимир Зеленський є одним з головних ньюзмейкерів у вітчизняному медіапросторі, і наша редакція не має права не висвітлювати всі резонансні події за його участю, оскільки саме це і буде порушенням стандартів журналістики», – йдеться у відповіді.
На зростання впливу Ахметова в цьому році неодноразово звертали увагу як українські, так і іноземні ЗМІ.
У коментарі «Схемам» аналітик інвестиційної компанії Concorde Capital Олександр Паращій зазначив: «За Порошенка на налагоджування хороших стосунків з президентом у Ахметова зайняло десь приблизно півтора роки. Ми пам’ятаємо судові справи проти газових активів Ахметова, ми пам’ятаємо, як пресувалися енергетичні, електроенергетичні активи Ахметова. Якщо говорити про історію стосунків Ахметова із президентом Зеленським, то поки що так виглядає, що Ахметову набагато швидше вдалося налагодити конструктивні стосунки з новим президентом».
«Чому насправді олігархи в Україні настільки сильні гравці? Тому що держава дуже слабка. Тому що, враховуючи, а це дуже важливо, на мою думку, відносини між Зеленським та Коломойським – а ці відносини, як зрозуміло, дуже напружені – і це зрозуміло, чому власне акції Ахметова пішли вверх», – аналізує відносини президента Зеленського з олігархами Войцех Конончук, заступник директора Центру східних досліджень імені Марека Карпа (Варшава, Польща).
І додає: «Я думаю, що пан Ахметов, він насправді став дуже впливовою людиною за президентства Володимира Зеленського».
Раніше в Офісі президента та у фракції «Слуга народу» назвали фейком та заперечили інформацію про фінансування Ахметовим, опубліковану «Українською правдою».
Із посиланням на одного з «крупних бізнесменів» видання повідомило, що олігарх виділяє гроші на команду президента Володимира Зеленського і «Слугу народу».
Видання вказувало, що Рінат Ахметов зберігає своє становище, «задобрюючи нову владу»: наприклад, купує по 300 «швидких» для сіл, бере під опіку декілька областей на час пандемії коронавірусу.
У пресслужбі олігарха наведені в статті дані назвали «абсолютною брехнею», що завдає шкоди діловій репутації Ріната Ахметова.
Рік тому «Схеми» також фіксували, як Сергій Шефір таємно відвідував офіс олігарха Ігоря Коломойського у центрі Києва. Як пояснював тоді перший помічник Зеленського: «Я був у справах студії «Квартал 95». (…) Мені з чогось же жити треба. Треба зарплату отримувати».
…
By Gromada | 10/08/2020 | Повідомлення, Суспільство
Trump Campaign Works to Frame His COVID-19 Illness as Electoral Asset
With less than a month before the election, President Donald Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis has returned the pandemic to the forefront of the presidential race. While his administration sought to project an image of a president who is recovering quickly, his campaign is working to frame his illness as an electoral asset.Since his return Monday from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Trump has projected an image of an incumbent ready to return to the job. On Wednesday he left the executive residence to work briefly from the Oval Office, where he received updates on Hurricane Delta and the ongoing negotiation with congressional Democrats on the emergency economic rescue package.Throughout his convalescence Trump has remained very active on Twitter, with posts that included attacks on his political opponents, statements on his nomination of conservative judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, as well as several assurances of his physical well-being.FEELING GREAT!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 6, 2020Strength in sicknessTrump’s messaging included a video released Monday showing his discharge from the hospital and arrival back to the White House, climbing stairs rarely used when returning to the executive residence. His main message to Americans, delivered after taking off his mask, is not to be afraid and not to allow the coronavirus to “dominate your lives.”In a video released Wednesday evening, Trump called his illness a “blessing from God.” He highlighted the drugs he said have helped him “a lot” and characterized them as “a cure.”A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT! pic.twitter.com/uhLIcknAjT— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 7, 2020“Trump is trying to portray himself as a kind of Superman,” said Norman Ornstein, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. He is “vanquishing the virus, while also downplaying the deadly quality of it to make his administration’s failed approach look better,” he said.Trump’s allies see it as a president doing his best as he battles adversity.“We’re not going to surrender to it like Joe Biden would surrender to this virus,” Mercedes Schlapp, a Trump campaign adviser, said Monday on Fox News. “And at the end of the day, we know that the president is doing well.”The White House physicians’ daily updates on the president’s condition have been rosy. On Wednesday, Dr. Sean Conley, the president’s doctor, said that his “physical exam and vital signs, including oxygen saturation and respiratory rate, all remain stable and in normal range.” Press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who along with several of her staff, tested positive for the coronavirus this week, tweeted the memo.A Wednesday update from President @realDonaldTrump’s physician: pic.twitter.com/IEn3Clv9yg— Kayleigh McEnany (@PressSec) October 7, 2020While the Trump administration sought to project an image of a strong and swift recovery, his campaign is working to leverage the president’s illness. During a segment on Fox News on Monday, Trump campaign communications director Erin Perrine presented the president’s diagnosis as a competency that Joe Biden lacks.“He is battling it head on, as toughly as only President Trump can,” Perrine said. “He has experience now of fighting the coronavirus as an individual. Those firsthand experiences, Joe Biden, he doesn’t have those,” she added.Republican strategist Amanda Iovino of the Market Research firm WPA Intelligence said that as the president seeks to use his personal battle against the virus as a metaphor for how the country is fighting the pandemic, there is an opening for the campaign to use the president’s diagnosis in “relating to and empathizing with Americans who have had the virus or who have had loved ones infected,” in particular seniors — a key demographic in the 2020 election — who are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19.Trump won the senior vote by 7 percentage points in 2016, but an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released Sunday showed Biden leading Trump in this group by 27 points, while a CNN/SSRS poll released Tuesday showed Biden leading by 21 points.Pandemic overblownAs the Trump campaign calculates that the president’s projection of strength in his battle against the virus will secure support from his base and possibly win sympathy from undecided voters, they are also hoping that Trump’s rapid recovery will prove that the pandemic threat has been overblown.Trump’s approach is to project triumph, said Jennifer Mercieca, a professor of communication at Texas A&M University.“He’s trying to convey that the virus is trivial, and we can easily overcome it and get back to normal,” she added.Mercieca calls that approach “a hard sell” because the virus rampaged through Trump’s inner circle, with the first lady and at least 11 White House staff and Trump campaign aides contracting the virus so far. Three Republican senators who attended a White House event on September 26 and 11 people involved in the first presidential debate on September 29 have also tested positive.“People will ask ‘If the White House isn’t safe, then can my house be safe?’” Mercieca added.Logistically, Trump’s diagnosis has changed plans for the last weeks of campaigning before the November 3 election. With a candidate unfit to travel at least temporarily, the campaign is relying on Vice President Mike Pence and other surrogates, including family members Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, and Eric and Lara Trump to continue “Operation Make America Great Again.”The Trump campaign has also moved away from the “Biden is hiding in his basement” line of attack, which compares the energy of Trump’s massive rallies and his opponent’s smaller, socially distanced events.Biden’s limited exposureIn the past six months, the Biden campaign strategy has been to limit their candidate’s exposure, adhering to strict health protocols outlined by state and national guidelines. Following Trump’s diagnosis, the Biden campaign has stayed the course and stuck to campaign travel plans, either virtually or meeting supporters in small groups in outdoor venues where masks are worn.As news of Trump’s illness broke, Biden offered his thoughts and prayers for the president’s and first lady’s “swift recovery.”Jill and I send our thoughts to President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump for a swift recovery. We will continue to pray for the health and safety of the president and his family.— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) October 2, 2020Biden has been cautious about commenting on Trump’s illness but on Monday he faulted the president for failing to wear masks and follow social distancing guidelines, saying that Trump is “responsible” for contracting the virus.“Anybody who contracts the virus by essentially saying, ‘Masks don’t matter, social distancing doesn’t matter,’ I think is responsible for what happens to them,” Biden said in an NBC town hall in Miami.John Fortier, director of governmental studies at the Bipartisan Policy Center, said the Biden campaign would be wise to avoid using Trump’s illness as political leverage.“I expect that they will simply wish the president well and wait and see what the limitations on campaigning and debates are,” he said.Trump said he is looking forward to the second debate even as concerns surface about the advisability of meeting his opponent while still in recovery.On Tuesday, Biden, who has had at least four negative tests since his first face-off with Trump, said that if the president still has COVID-19, “we shouldn’t have a debate.” His campaign is demanding proof that the president does not pose a threat to Biden and the attendees at the town hall-style debate scheduled for October 15.“There will be citizens there in attendance asking questions,” said Biden deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield in an interview Wednesday on ABC’s “Good Morning America. “So, the obligation is on Donald Trump to prove that he is not contagious.”Wednesday night, Vice President Mike Pence and Biden’s running mate California Senator Kamala Harris faced each other in a debate. Despite the candidates being 12 feet apart, Pence’s team reluctantly allowed a plexiglass divider between them, a request made by the Biden-Harris team.
…
By Polityk | 10/08/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Next Presidential Debate to Be Virtual; Trump Says He Won’t Take Part
President Donald Trump says he will not participate in the next presidential debate, after the U.S. Commission on Presidential Debates announced Thursday the debate will be virtual “in order to protect the health and safety of all involved.” The commission said Trump, who is being treated for COVID-19, and Democratic challenger Joe Biden would participate from separate remote locations. In a statement, the commission said the debate, which is scheduled for next Thursday, will be held as originally planned at the Adrienne Arsht Performing Arts Center in Miami, Florida. The “town hall” format, with the candidates taking questions from audience members, will also remain the same. The John S. and James L. Knight Concert Hall at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County is shown, in Miami, Oct. 8, 2020.Asked about the announcement on Fox Business, Trump said, “I’m not going to waste my time in a virtual debate. That’s not what debating is all about. You sit behind a computer and do a debate is ridiculous. And then they cut you off whenever they want.” The Biden campaign has said the former vice president will participate. In a statement, the Biden campaign said “given the President’s refusal to participate on October 15th, we hope the Debate Commission will move the Biden-Trump Town Hall to October 22nd so that the President is not able to evade accountability.”Trump has been recovering from COVID-19 and has been confined to the White House since returning Monday from the Walter Reed Medical Center. He said he is doing well and is ready to hold campaign rallies. “I think I’m better to the point where I’d love to do a rally tonight,” he said. Trump’s doctors have not said if he is ready to hold rallies. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines say a person who has tested positive for COVID-19 should be isolated for at least 10 days. Trump’s positive COVID-19 test was revealed late last week.
…
By Polityk | 10/08/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
