Getty Images U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday: I dont agree with the statement that if everyone wears a mask everything disappears. But he appears to be softening his stance on the issue.

President Trumps resolve may be cracking at least when it comes to face masks.

At Tuesdays 5 p.m. daily presser, Trump said, I have no problems with the masks. If youre close together, I would put on the mask. In response to a question about whether hed experienced a sudden a change of heart on both masks and social distancing. Im getting used to the mask ...I will wear it where appropriate. Ive always agreed with that. Ive never fought either one.

A day earlier, the president tweeted (TWTR)a photo of himself wearing a mask with a presidential seal: Many people say that it is Patriotic to wear a face mask when you cant socially distance. CNN (T)reported that the presidents falling poll numbers likely played a role in his latest decisions to wear a mask and resume his daily 5 p.m. update on the coronavirus pandemic.

On April 3, the Trump administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reversed their policies on face masks and said all Americans not, as they previously said, just medical workers should wear cloth face coverings. As of Wednesday, COVID-19 had claimed at least 140,909 lives in the U.S. and infected more than 3.9 million people.

Unlike New York Mayor Bill de Blasios mandate to wear masks in stores, however, the federal governments recommendations are voluntary. Whats more, Trump at the time signaled his staunch resistance to wearing a mask. I dont think Im going to be doing it, he said. Wearing a face mask as I greet presidents, prime ministers, dictators, kings, queens I just dont see it.

Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for three decades and one of the leading experts on pandemics in the U.S. for four decades, did not attend Tuesdays White House daily briefing, and prevoiusly said he has not officially briefed the president since June 2. He has advocated the use of face masks since April along with the CDC and WHO.

But the public appear to have responded favorably to Faucis message. Most voters said they approved of the doctor, although the majority of Republicans said so by a whisker, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll of 1,337 registered voters from June 17 to June 22. Overall, 67% of voters gave Fauci the thumbs up, including 81% of Democrat and 51% of Republicans.

Trump has stopped short of a federal mandate. During an interview on Fox News, journalist Chris Wallace asked Trump if he would introduce a federal mandate to wear face masks in public places where social distancing is not possible. No, I want people to have a certain freedom, Trump replied. I dont agree with the statement that if everyone wears a mask everything disappears.

Asked if he took responsibility for not having a federal policy on coronavirus during the interview, Trump replied, Look, I take responsibility always for everything because its ultimately my job too. I have to get everybody in line. Some governors have done well, some governors have done poorly. We have more testing by fair than any country in the world.

As of Wednesday, COVID-19 had infected nearly 15 million people globally. It had killed more than 616,990 people worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins Universitys Center for Systems Science and Engineering. New York, once the epicenter of the virus in the U.S., has still had the most deaths of any state (32,520), followed by New Jersey (15,737) and Massachusetts (8,450).

CityWatch: CDC confirms that coronavirus already spreading in New York City when European travel ban went into effect in March

On Feb 29, the surgeon general tweeted his opposition to the public wearing masks. Seriously people: STOP BUYING MASKS! he wrote. They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #coronavirus, but if health-care providers cant get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk! He reversed course in April.

The public was confused. N95 masks appear to be effective for health-care workers. One study says N95 medical-grade masks do help filter viruses that are larger than 0.1 micrometers. (One micrometer, um, is one millionth of a meter.) The coronavirus is 0.125 um. The masks have efficacy at filtering smaller particles and are designed to fit tightly to the face, the study said.

The markets appear torn between optimism on the momentum behind positive vaccine research results and the impact of new infection surges, particularly in California, Arizona, Florida and Texas. The Dow Jones Industrial Index (DJIA)and S&P 500 (SPX)closed higher Tuesday as investors looked toward the prospect of further fiscal stimulus. The Nasdaq Composite (COMP)ended lower.

Video: Trump gives mixed messaging on mask debate (NBC News)

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Read the original:

Trump tweets photo of himself wearing a mask in apparent U-turn: 'Many people say that it is Patriotic to wear a face mask' - MSN Money

President Trumps resolve may be cracking at least when it comes to face masks.

On Monday, Trump tweeted TWTR, +0.37% a photo of himself wearing a mask with a presidential seal, writing, Many people say that it is Patriotic to wear a face mask when you cant socially distance. CNN T, +1.22% reported that the presidents falling poll numbers likely played a role in his latest decisions to wear a mask and resume his daily 5 p.m. update on the coronavirus pandemic.

On April 3, the Trump administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reversed their policies on face masks and said all Americans not, as they previously said, just medical workers should wear cloth face coverings. As of Tuesday, COVID-19 had claimed at least 140,909 lives in the U.S. and infected at least 3.8 million people.

Unlike New York Mayor Bill de Blasios mandate to wear masks in stores, however, the federal governments recommendations are voluntary. Whats more, Trump at the time signaled his resistance to wearing a mask. I dont think Im going to be doing it, he said. Wearing a face mask as I greet presidents, prime ministers, dictators, kings, queens I just dont see it.

During an interview on Fox News on Sunday, journalist Chris Wallace asked Trump if he would introduce a federal mandate to wear face masks in public places where social distancing is not possible. No, I want people to have a certain freedom, Trump replied. I dont agree with the statement that if everyone wears a mask everything disappears.

Asked if he took responsibility for not having a federal policy on coronavirus during the interview, Trump replied, Look, I take responsibility always for everything because its ultimately my job too. I have to get everybody in line. Some governors have done well, some governors have done poorly. We have more testing by fair than any country in the world.

As of Tuesday, COVID-19 had infected 14.7 million people globally. It had killed more than 610,149 people worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins Universitys Center for Systems Science and Engineering. New York, once the epicenter of the virus in the U.S., has still had the most deaths of any state (32,506), followed by New Jersey (15,715) and Massachusetts (8,433).

CityWatch:CDC confirms that coronavirus already spreading in New York City when European travel ban went into effect in March

On Feb 29, the surgeon general tweeted his opposition to the public wearing masks. Seriously people: STOP BUYING MASKS! he wrote. They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #coronavirus, but if health-care providers cant get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk! He reversed course in April.

The public was, understandably, confused. N95 masks appear to be effective for health-care workers. One study says N95 medical-grade masks do help filter viruses that are larger than 0.1 micrometers. (One micrometer, um, is one millionth of a meter.) The coronavirus is 0.125 um. The masks have efficacy at filtering smaller particles and are designed to fit tightly to the face, the study said.

The markets appear torn between optimism on vaccine research and the economic impact of new infection surges, particularly in California, Arizona, Florida and Texas. The Dow Jones Industrial Index DJIA, +0.70% closed higher Monday as investors looked toward the prospect of further fiscal stimulus. The S&P 500 SPX, +0.27% and Nasdaq Composite COMP, -0.60% also ended higher.

Link:

Trump tweets photo of himself wearing a mask in apparent U-turn: Many people say that it is Patriotic to wear a face mask - MarketWatch

Eakinomics:Death and Your Federal Government

Eakinomics apologizes for its recent obsession withdeath, but Ive been in search of topics cheerier than the pandemic, Congress, or the administration. The occasion for todays observations is Gordon Grays superbpieceon Numident and the Death Master File (DMF), a piece that was, in turn, prompted by the fact that Treasury recently sent on the order of 1 million checks, totaling about $1.4 billion, to dead people. This is actually a pretty low error rate since there were roughly 160 million checks sent out, but it did raise the question: How was Treasury supposed to knowwho had died?

As it turns out, the Social Security Administration (SSA) is the chief curator of death records in the federal government with the obvious goal of ceasing payment of Social Security benefits upon death. According to Gray, the SSA maintains a master registry containing identifying information of all holders of assigned Social Security numbers, known as the Numerical Index File, or Numident. When an individual dies, that fact is denoted in their Numident record with a date of death and a death indicator to facilitate a stoppage in paid benefits. It obtains data largely from states (as well as funeral homes, families, etc.).

Sounds like a plan. Unfortunately, over time state data increasingly has come in the from the state-based Electronic Death Registration System (EDRS), and the Social Security Act prohibits sharing data obtained from the states with benefit-paying agencies. This prohibition presumably would halt the flow of the death data across the government except for the fact that in 1978 a Federal Postal Service official realized that the Service might be spending millions on pension benefits to deceased postal workers.He sued the SSA for access to the death data under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), under the logic that dead people did not have privacy protection under FOIA.

The suit was never decided; instead SSA agreed to a consent decree that remains in place to this day. Under the decree, the SSA produces a subset of the Numident that strips out the state-supplied data and is shared with other agencies. This subset goes by the nifty name of Death Master File. Among the agencies restricted to using the DMF instead of the full Numident is the Treasury Bureau of the Fiscal Service, which sent the checks. As Gray notes, Beginning with the 4thbatch of payments, the IRS did provide the Bureau of the Fiscal Service with temporary access to the full death file until the IRS was able to set up its own internal process for doing so thereafter.

In short, there was a patch on the system for purposes of sending the checks, but the larger information-sharing challenge remains.

Read more:

Death and Your Federal Government - AAF - American Action Forum

When it comes to debate about US military policy, the 2020 presidential election campaign is so far looking very similar to that of 2016. Joe Biden has pledged to ensure that we have the strongest military in the world, promising to make the investments necessary to equip our troops for the challenges of the next century, not the last one.

In the White House, President Trump is repeating the kind of anti-interventionist head feints that won him votes four years ago against a hawkish Hillary Clinton. In his recent graduation address at the military academy West Point, Trump recycled applause lines from 2016 about ending an era of endless wars as well as Americas role as policeman of the world.

In reality, since Trump took office, theres been no reduction in the US military presence abroad, which last year required a Pentagon budget of nearly $740 billion. As military historian and retired career officer Andrew Bacevich notes, endless wars persist (and in some cases have even intensified); the nations various alliances and its empire of overseas bases remain intact; US troops are still present in something like 140 countries; Pentagon and national security state spending continues to increase astronomically.

When the National Defense Authorization Act for the next fiscal year came before Congress this summer, Senator Bernie Sanders proposed a modest 10 percent reduction in military spending so $70 billion could be redirected to domestic programs. Representative Barbara Lee introduced a House resolution calling for $350 billion worth of Department of Defense cuts. Neither proposal has gained much traction, even among Democrats on Capitol Hill.

Instead, the House Armed Services Committee just voted 56 to 0 to spend $740.5 billion on the Pentagon in the coming year, prefiguring the outcome of upcoming votes by the full House and Senate.

Even if Biden beats Trump in November, efforts to curb US military spending will face further bipartisan resistance. In the never-ending work of building a stronger anti-war movement, Pentagon critics, with military credentials, are invaluable allies. Daniel Sjursen, a thirty-seven-year-old veteran of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan is such a critic.

Inspired, in part, by Bacevich, who he acknowledges as a mentor, Sjursen has just published a new book, Patriotic Dissent: America in the Age of Endless War (Heyday Books). Written in a powerful voice, the book is composed of Sjursens political insights and painful personal reflections, rooted in the experience of an eighteen-year military career. It provides a timely reminder of just how costly, wasteful, and disastrous our post 9/11 wars have been.

Patriotic Dissent is a short book with just 141 pages, but it packs the same kind of punch as Howard Zinns classic 1967 polemic, Vietnam: The Logic of Withdrawal. Like Zinn, who became a popular historian after his service in World War II, Sjursen skillfully debunks the conventional wisdom of the foreign policy establishment, and the militarys own current generation of yes men for another war power hungry president. His appeal to the conscience of fellow soldiers, civilians, and veterans alike deserves the widest possible audience on the Left, and, hopefully, far beyond it.

Sjursen has the distinction of being a graduate of West Point, an institution that produces few political dissenters. He grew up in a working-class firefighter family on Staten Island. Even before enrolling at the Academy at age seventeen, he was no stranger to what he calls deep-seated toxically masculine patriotism. As a newly commissioned officer in 2005, he was still a burgeoning neo-conservative and George W. Bush admirer and definitely not, he reports, any kind of defeatist liberal, pacifist, or dissenter.

Sjursens initial experience in combat vividly described in his first book, Ghost Riders of Baghdad: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Myth of the Surge occurred at the statistical height of sectarian strife in Iraq. The horror, the futility, the farce of that war was the turning point in my life, Sjursen writes in Patriotic Dissent.

When he returned, at age twenty-four, from his brutal, ghastly deployment as a platoon leader, he knew that the war was built on lies, ill-advised, illegal, and immoral. This unexpected, undesired realization generated profound doubts about the course and nature of the entire American enterprise in the Greater Middle East what was then unapologetically labeled the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT).

By the time Sjursen landed in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, in early 2011, he had been promoted to captain but no longer believed in anything we were doing. He was, he confesses, simply a professional soldier a mercenary, really on a mandatory mission I couldnt avoid. Three more of my soldiers died, thirty-plus were wounded, including a triple amputee, and another over-dosed on pain meds after our return.

Despite his disillusionment, Sjursen had long dreamed of returning to West Point to teach history. He applied for and won that highly competitive assignment, which meant the Army had to send him to grad school first. He ended up getting credentialed, while living out of uniform, in the Peoples Republic of Lawrence, Kansas, a progressive oasis in an intolerant, militarist sea of Republican red.

During his studies at the state university, Sjursen found an intellectual framework for his own doubts about and opposition to US foreign policy. He completed his first book, Ghost Riders, which combines personal memoir with counterinsurgency critique. Amazingly enough, it was published in 2015, while he was still on active duty, but with almost no blowback from superior officers.

Before retiring as a major four years later, Sjursen pushed the envelope further, by writing more than a hundred critical articles for TomDispatch and other civilian publications. He was no longer at West Point, so that body of work triggered a grueling, stressful, and scary four-month investigation by the brass at Fort Leavenworth, during which the author was subjected to a non-publication order.

At risk were his career, military pension, and benefits. He ended up receiving only a verbal admonishment for violating a Pentagon rule against publishing words contemptuous of the President of the United States. His PTSD and co-occurring diagnoses helped him qualify for a medical retirement last year.

Sjursen has now traded his identity as a soldier the only identity Ive known in my adult life for that of an anti-war, anti-imperialist, social justice crusader, albeit one who did not attend his first protest rally until he was thirty-two years old. With several left-leaning comrades, he started Fortress on a Hill, a lively podcast about military affairs and veterans issues.

Hes a frequent, funny, and always well-informed guest on progressive radio and cable TV shows, as well as a contributing editor at Antiwar.com, and a contributor to a host of mainstream liberal publications. This year, the Lannan Foundation made him a cultural freedom fellow.

In Patriotic Dissent, Sjursen not only recounts his own personal trajectory from military service to peace activism. He shows how that intellectual journey has been informed by reading and thinking about US history, the relationship between civil society and military culture, the meaning of patriotism, and the price of dissent.

One historical figure he admires is Marine Corps Major-General Smedley Butler, the recipient of two Medals of Honor for service between 1898 and 1931. Following his retirement, Butler sided with the poor and working-class veterans who marched on Washington to demand World War I bonus payments. And he wrote a best-selling Depression-era memoir, which famously declared that war is just a racket and lamented his own past role as a high-class muscle-man for Big Business, for Wall Street, and for the Bankers.

Sjursen contrasts Butlers anti-interventionist whistleblowing nearly a century ago, with the silence of high-ranking veterans today after nineteen years of ill-advised, remarkably unsuccessful American wars. Among friends and former West Point classmates, he knows many still serving who obediently resign themselves to continued combat deployments because they long ago stopped asking questions about their own role in perpetuating and enabling a counter-productive, inertia-driven warfare state.

Sjursen looks instead to small left-leaning groups like Veterans for Peace and About Face: Veterans Against the War (formerly Iraq Veterans Against the War), and Bring Our Troops Home. US, a network of veterans influenced by the libertarian right. Each, in its own way, seeks to reframe dissent, against empire and endless war, as the truest form of patriotism. But actually taming the military-industrial complex will require big-tent, intersectional action from civilian and soldier alike, on a much larger scale.

One obstacle to that, he believes, is the societal divide between the vast majority of citizens who have chosen not to serve in the military and the one percent of their fellow citizens on active duty, who then become part of an increasingly insular, disconnected, and sometimes sententious post-9/11 veteran community.

Not many on the left favor a return to conscription. But Sjursen makes it clear theres been a downside to the United States replacing citizen soldiering with a tiny professional warrior caste, created in response to draft-driven dissent against the Vietnam War, inside and outside the military. As he observes:

Nothing so motivates a young adult to follow foreign policy, to weigh the advisability or morality of an ongoing war as the possibility of having to put skin in the game. Without at least the potential requirement to serve in the military and in one of Americas now countless wars, an entire generation or really two, since President Nixon ended the draft in 1973 has had the luxury of ignoring the ills of US foreign policy, to distance themselves from its reality.

At a time when the United States desperately needs a massive, public, empowered anti-war and anti-imperial wave sweeping over the country, we have instead a civil-military gap that, Sjursen believes, has stifled antiwar and anti-imperial dissent and seemingly will continue to do so. Thats why his own mission is to find more socially conscious veterans of these endless, fruitless wars who are willing to step up and form a vanguard of sorts for revitalized patriotic dissent.

Readers of Sjursens book, whether new recruits to that vanguard or longtime peace activists, will find Patriotic Dissent to be an invaluable educational tool. It should be required reading in progressive study groups, high school and college history classes, and book clubs across the country. Lets hope that the authors willingness to take personal risks, rethink his view of the world, and then work to change it will inspire many others, in uniform and out.

Read the original:

How a Working-Class Soldier and Platoon Leader in Iraq Turned Against Our Forever Wars - Jacobin magazine

As delivered

Mister President,

Members of the Security Council,

I brief you today as Palestinians and Israelis are grappling with a complex and potentially destabilizing three-pronged crisis:

An escalating health crisis as both struggle to contain the rapid spike of COVID-19 cases.

A spiraling economic crisis as businesses close, unemployment soars, protests increase, and the economy suffers the financial impact of months of lockdowns and restrictions.

And finally, a mounting political confrontation, driven by the threat of Israeli annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank, and the steps taken in response by the Palestinian leadership.

These developments are not happening in a vacuum. The unfolding dynamics have shed a stark light on the daily reality of the conflict and the imperative to resolve it through negotiations between the parties. They have further exposed the unsustainability of the occupation and the need to update agreements that define the relationship between the two sides in the interest of peace.

In recent weeks, the region and the broader international community have continued to express their firm rejection of annexation. Among these, on 1 July, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom published an Op-Ed in a leading Israeli newspaper expressing his opposition to annexation and asserting that such a step would violate international law and run contrary to Israel's own long-term interests. Two joint statements issued on 7 July one by the Foreign Ministers of Egypt, France, Germany and Jordan, and the second by Foreign Ministers of nine Arab States and the Secretary-General of the Arab League stressed their staunch opposition to the move and called for a return to negotiations based on UN resolutions and international law.

On 2 July, leaders from Fatah and Hamas held a rare joint video press conference, in an effort to restate their opposition to annexation and to commit to a unified Palestinian front against it.

Palestinian and Israeli women are also making their voices heard. On 9 July, I engaged with some 100 Palestinian women in a high-level dialogue organized by UN Women, marking the 20th anniversary of the adoption of Security Council Resolution 1325. Participants shared their deep concern and uncertainty in the face of both COVID-19 and annexation threats. Ten Palestinian women leaders, supported by 180 women, issued a joint appeal against annexation, calling for the right to live in a democratic state of their own in freedom, dignity and equality.

A separate appeal issued by 22 Israeli women leaders, and later signed by over a hundred others, highlighted that annexation plans pose an irreversible danger to Israelis, Palestinians, and regional stability. Responding to both initiatives 45 global women leaders signed a joint call against annexation and for peace, highlighting the importance of heeding womens voices in situations of conflict.

The Secretary-General and the United Nations will continue efforts to resuscitate a dialogue among all stakeholders, with no preconditions, and in the interest of peace and a negotiated resolution to the conflict. For these efforts to stand a chance of success, there must be political will from all parties. Otherwise, the path to a negotiated solution risks quickly becoming unnavigable, moving instead towards a one-state reality of perpetual occupation and conflict.

Mister President,

Regrettably, the situation on the ground is rapidly being affected by the dramatic increase in COVID-19 cases in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel.

To contain the pandemic, the Palestinian Authority (PA) has re-imposed movement restrictions across the West Bank as well as some closures in the worst-hit governorates. Israel has also re-imposed limitations on gatherings and certain non-essential businesses, as well as lockdowns in specific areas. Movement between Israel, the West Bank and Gaza remains heavily restricted, and the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt has been closed in both directions since 15 May.

The challenge of confronting the rapid increase in cases in the West Bank and boosting prevention efforts in Gaza has been significantly compounded by the ending of coordination between the Palestinian Authority and Israel. The PAs refusal to accept any clearance revenues transferred by Israel has exacerbated an already concerning fiscal crisis and impacted service provision. It has effectively blocked the ability of patients to travel from Gaza for treatment outside of the Strip and has led to delays in delivering humanitarian assistance and materials intended for the COVID-19 response and other health support and services.

In response, the United Nations has engaged with all sides to ensure the continued and unimpeded provision of humanitarian assistance. The UN has reached agreements with the PA to make exceptions for coordinating humanitarian deliveries and with Israel to streamline its administrative procedures, considering the COVID-19 crisis. I want to thank the authorities for their openness and cooperation with the United Nations on these challenges. Having said this, I am also concerned that we are far below the level of coordination that existed in the beginning of the year, when the first wave of the virus hit. This situation could have serious repercussions on the ability to control its spread and its impact on peoples lives.

Over the past weeks, because of the unprecedented circumstances, the UN has offered to increase its intermediary role between the parties. This includes COVID-19 response as well as a greater role in the facilitation of patient referrals from Gaza. Nevertheless, there are limitations to what the UN and other organizations can be expected to do. Any increased responsibilities in this context should be limited and time-bound and not designed to replace the roles and responsibilities of the Palestinian Authority or the Government of Israel.

While the COVID-19 pandemic and the breakdown in cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian authorities have raised new concerns and complicated the speedy transfer of patients outside of Gaza, it is important to recognize the long-standing, underlying fragility of Gazas own healthcare system.

Mister President,

On the economic side, the Palestinian Ministry of Finance announced on 2 July that it would pay partial Government salaries for the month of May. The May salary payments were delayed due to an 80 per cent reduction in Palestinian revenues stemming from the economic impact of COVID-19 and from the PAs refusal to accept the monthly transfers of its clearance revenues. It is unclear whether the Palestinian Government will have sufficient resources to make any future salary payments or, indeed, to continue to carry out its governing functions in the coming months.

The suspension of coordination between the PA and Israel has also impeded the ability of Palestinian Security Forces (PSF) to move through Areas B and C of the West Bank, undermining their capacity to enforce COVID-19-related restrictions.

Mister President,

During the reporting period, daily violence continued throughout the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Overall, one Palestinian was killed by Israeli Security Forces (ISF) and 65 Palestinians, including ten children, and two Israeli soldiers were injured in various incidents.

Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza organized protests against Israels plan to annex parts of the West Bank. Overall these protests remained peaceful. On some occasions Israeli Security Forces used rubber-coated bullets and tear gas, declared closed military areas and set up checkpoints near protests.

On 9 July, ISF shot and killed a 34-year-old Palestinian man and shot and wounded a 17-year-old Palestinian in the central West Bank village of Kifl Hares. ISF released a CCTV video allegedly showing the two throwing Molotov cocktails toward a military patrol and soldiers opening fire in response.

Meanwhile, settlers perpetrated some 13 attacks against Palestinians, resulting in nine injuries and damage to property, about half the number of such incidents recorded during the previous month.

There were some 25 incidents also in which Palestinians threw stones or Molotov cocktails at Israeli-owned vehicles, injuring seven Israeli civilians, including one child, and causing damage to property.

In Gaza, while the relative calm continued, Palestinian militants fired five rockets towards southern Israel. One fell short inside Gaza, one was intercepted by the Iron Dome system and the others hit in open areas in Israel, causing no injuries or damage. On all occasions, the IDF carried out retaliatory strikes against Hamas targets, including underground infrastructure in the Strip, with no injuries reported. Over the month, militants also test fired an unusually high, 69, rockets and mortars towards the sea, with 44 projectiles launched on 1 and 3 July, alone.

Economic tensions brought out dozens of Palestinians on 5 July, who demonstrated in front of the Legislative Council in Gaza City against the deteriorating situation, poverty and unemployment.

Mister President,

In the past month, the Israeli authorities demolished 48 Palestinian-owned structures due to a lack of Israeli-issued building permits. Another five structures were self-demolished by their owners following the receipt of demolition orders. Of the buildings demolished, 39 were in Area C and 14 in East Jerusalem. Consequently, 34 people, including 17 children and ten women, were displaced and over 250 people were otherwise affected.

I note that the latest information available from Israeli authorities indicates that, as of 31 May, the number of Palestinian detainees, including minors, in Israeli prisons is at its lowest level in years. The number of Palestinian minors in Israeli prisons has declined by some 30 percent, from 201 in February to 142 in May. While still too high, I welcome this development, particularly in light of the recent calls to release detainees and reduce their numbers during the COVID-19 crisis.

Mister President,

Turning briefly to the region, in Lebanon, the economic situation continues to deteriorate, with inflation rising as the Lebanese lira falls against the U.S. dollar. As the health and education sectors come under increased stress, and with growing concerns over food insecurity, the Government and the International Monetary Fund remain engaged in talks over a potential assistance package. In parallel, Lebanon has witnessed a spike in daily COVID-19 infections, with 2,542 confirmed cases as of 15 July.

The situation in the UNIFIL area of operations remained mostly stable, notwithstanding several instances of weapons being pointed between Israel Defense Forces and Lebanese Armed Forces along the Blue Line. On 2 July, under COVID-19 restrictions, the UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander chaired a tripartite meeting attended by senior delegations of the Lebanese Armed Forces and the IDF to prevent tensions along the Blue Line.

On the Golan, while generally calm, the situation remained volatile, with the continued violations of the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement. On 15 July, the Alpha side informed UNDOF that they had eliminated a position within the area of separation which they believed was a violation and a threat. UNDOF did not observe this activity but observed an explosion in the area of separation consistent with the report from the Alpha side.

Mister President,

In closing, I would like to emphasize that confronting the current crises requires unity of effort, strength of purpose, and a clear understanding of the multifaceted risks we are facing.

The ferocity of the COVID-19 virus and its devastating human and economic toll demand extraordinary measures measures that must rise above politics-as-usual. Immediate efforts to curb the virus and to mitigate its impact must be prioritized.

Israeli and Palestinian leaders have a duty to protect the lives and livelihoods of their populations.

With unemployment in Israel surging to over 20 per cent, and with thousands of Israelis taking to the streets to demand greater financial support from their Government, many have highlighted the staggering financial and, potentially, human cost of moving forward with potential annexation plans.

I reiterate the Secretary-General's call on the Israeli Government to abandon plans to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.

With an 80 per cent reduction in its income, the Palestinian Authority faces the risk of a total collapse at a time when Palestinians throughout the occupied territory need the services and support of their Government more than ever.

I call on both sides to work with the United Nations in ensuring that those forms of civil and security coordination that are vital to preventing the continuing spread of the corona virus are reinstated immediately. This should be done without prejudice to the political position of either party. It is necessary to do that in order to protect lives in the face of rapidly growing infection rates.

We will continue to work with all sides to ensure that humanitarian and health needs are met.

For the United Nations, protecting lives will always remain our highest priority.

The complexities of the pandemic also require us to examine how we arrived at this pivotal, and destructive, point in the history of the conflict and what it will take to reverse the current course.

Last week, I spoke with representatives of Palestinian and Israeli civil society organizations engaged in peacebuilding efforts. Their resilience, creativity and commitment to a peaceful solution are deeply inspiring, and we, in the international community, would do well to follow their lead.

Today, however, it is not enough to restate our opposition to annexation. Today we should discuss what can and must be done to improve the situation on the ground, preserve the prospect for a two-state solution, increase the chances of meaningful negotiations for a peaceful resolution of the conflict, and protect these efforts from spoilers, radicals and extremists.

To this effect I reiterate today the Secretary-Generals call to the members of the Middle East Quartet, the Arab countries, the Israeli and Palestinian leadership to urgently re-engage.

We need to restart diplomacy!

Over these past years, these types of discussions have been dormant for too long, allowing both parties to move further apart along diverging paths. Unilateral action and the threat of unilateral action have made the goal appear ever more distant. Only by engaging together, based on shared principles and aspirations, can we identify realistic steps to avoid increasing polarisation and advance the goal of two states, living side-by-side in peace, security, mutual recognition, integrated into the region.

We must use the opportunity presented by the current crises to move forward, to and to regain the path towards a negotiated two-state solution, built on a just and sustainable resolution to the conflict in line with relevant UN resolutions, bilateral agreements and international law.

Thank you.

See original here:

UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Briefing to the Security Council on the Situation in the Middle East, 21 July 2020 -...

New Delhi, Jul 21 (PTI) After concluding a "quick" trade deal, India and the US need to sit down on the negotiating table for working towards a more sustainable, robust and enduring partnership in the form of a free trade agreement (FTA), Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said. For the FTA, the minister said, India is willing to work with an open mind, with a willingness to open markets with a corresponding opportunity for Indian businesses in the US. "I believe we have a quick trade deal which has some of the pending matters built up over the last couple of years which we need to get out of the way quickly. We are almost there. I think another couple of calls and we should be able to solve that out. "Post that, as was already intimated to the US Congress, the US and India need to sit down on the negotiating table, I do not know if that can be done before the (US) elections or post the elections, but we need to work towards a much more sustainable, a much more robust, a much more enduring partnership in the form of a FTA," he said in a webinar of US-India Business Council. Goyal said that both the countries should also look for a preferential trade agreement (PTA) which can include 50-100 products and services. While in a PTA two trading partners eliminate or significantly reduce import duties on a limited number of goods traded between them, in a FTA the countries remove duties on maximum number of products. "We believe we should also look at an early harvest in the form of a PTA, so that we can rather than waiting for the gains of a FTA, which may take severalyears to conclude, we could look at an early harvest of maybe 50 or 100 products and services, where we can engage with mutual trust and open spirit. So that the partnership between the US and India can kick start much faster," he added. India and the US are negotiating a limited trade deal with a view to ironing out differences on trade issues to boost economic ties. India is demanding exemption from high duties imposed by the US on some steel and aluminium products, resumption of export benefits to certain domestic products under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), and greater market access for its products from sectors such as agriculture, automobile, automobile components and engineering. On the other hand, the US wants greater market access for its farm and manufacturing products, dairy items and medical devices, apart from cut inimport duties on some information and communication technology products. The US has also raised concerns over trade deficit with India. Further the minister stated that the government is taking several steps to further improve the business climate to attract investors. He said businesses are looking for a stable and predictable policy environment, fair play, ease of doing business, better infrastructure in terms of logistics, utilities, and common facilities required for manufacturing firms. "By enlarge industry and business wants to be left alone, wants freedom to operate and is willing to commit itself to work within the framework of a country''s laws. And I think India is working towards making all of these enablers...whether it is ease of doing business, whether it is improving our competitive edge, bringing down logistics cost, making it easier to get approvals. All of this typical needs of business which we in government are trying to address," he said. He added that there is an opportunity and a trust deficit available globally and India is willing to fill that gap in the international supply chain as a trusted partner. Talking about formulation of the single window clearance process, he said a team is working on this by understanding the needs of businesses, their pain points and requirements. "We are understanding industry pain points and their requirements. We are trying to create such a genuine single window, and not a window behind which it opens to 10 doors. It is a herculean task, will take some time but I assure you that we are committed to make it happen," the minister said. To begin with one of the first things that on a pilot basis, the government is going to release "very soon" is a GIS based land bank availability across the country, he said adding "we have identified in six states a few hundred thousand hectares of land and we are actually going to offer you a Google earth view of particular lands available for industry to buy. Taking it forward from there so much so that my intention is that a person sitting in Iceland should be able to not only locate the land he wants but also pay for it and buy it". "I will give you a simple example of how I am explaining it (single window process) to my own officers. I said look at the common application form that a student who applies to US university has to fill up. It''s eight universities, one form, small supplement to each...," he added. The minister also said that India has become self-sufficient in ventilators and "I shortly be starting export of ventilators". In March, the government banned export of ventilators in wake of the coronavirus outbreak. The US remained India''s top trading partner for the second consecutive fiscal in 2019-20. According to the data of the commerce ministry, in 2019-20, the bilateral trade between the US and India stood at USD 88.75 billion, as against USD 87.96 billion in 2018-19. The US is one of the few countries with which India have a trade surplus. The trade gap between the countries has increased to USD 17.42 billion in 2019-20 from USD 16.86 billion in 2018-19. In 2018-19, the US had surpassed China to become India''s top trading partner. PTI RR MR

Disclaimer :- This story has not been edited by Outlook staff and is auto-generated from news agency feeds. Source: PTI

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India, US need to sit down on negotiating table for FTA: Goyal - Outlook India

Organizer Stacey Little says the nascent group, which covered about $50,000 in bail for black protesters, hopes to be more than a community bail fund in the coming years

When the Columbus Freedom Fund formed in March, Stacey Little knew she and her fellow organizers would put the community bail fund to good use. The groups goal was to raise funds to help people in Franklin County who were sitting in jail and unable to leave not because they were convicted of a crime and incarcerated, but because they couldnt afford to post bail.

And thats exactly what the Columbus Freedom Fund (CFF) has done. But Little could never have anticipated the protests that would sweep the country and take over Downtown Columbus in the days and weeks following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police in late May. Nor could she have predicted the prominent role the CFF would play in those protests and the huge influx of cash for which the group would be responsible.

Oh, my gosh. It was crazy, Little said. When the protests happened, I had so many notifications on my phone I couldn't even make a phone call because my phone was buzzing and beeping. The first week of the protest, on Instagram, we went from maybe 100-some followers to 4,000 or 5,000 followers. [Now] we have almost 11,000 followers.

And the money. At the height of the protests, countless local individuals and organizations were giving to the Columbus Freedom Fund every day. It became the go-to repository for the proceeds from fundraisers and benefits for racial justice across Central Ohio.

Prior to the protests, the Freedom Fund had been excited to build on its largest donation to date a few thousand dollars from the funds fiscal sponsor, Women Have Options Ohio. We were working with what we thought was a huge amount of money, Little said. At the height of the uprising, a lot of these community bail funds weren't prepared for the large influx of money. A lot of us didn't have the structures in place. Not to say we werent ready, but we werent ready.

Initially the donations came through the groups PayPal account. We were getting so many donations that PayPal was like, 'Wait a minute. PayPal had to slow down for us and help us navigate through this whole process, said Little, who reached out to national bail funds for advice and leaned heavily on the groups fiscal sponsor for direction.

In early June, Columbus Freedom Fund posted data regarding protesters who had been arrested and jailed amid the uprisings. According to the group, CFF paid nearly $50,000 in bail money for seven black protesters.

The influx of money has also caused problems. People were like, Its a scam. Theyre not bailing people out, Little said. People thought we weren't moving fast enough for the amount of donations that were coming in and the rate at which people were getting arrested.

Those suspicions were compounded by the fact that CFF doesn't disclose how much money is in its accounts. We've agreed as an organization not to [disclose the amount] because of the ramifications of that. We're not trying to hide any information or do anything fraudulent with the donations that the community has given us. But the system will use [that knowledge] against us. They will set folks' bail high on purpose to deplete bail funds. We talked to other bail funds across the nation, and that is what they will do, Little said. We want the community to know that were doing what we said we were gonna do with the donations, but we also want to make sure that we're not put in a situation where the system sets these ridiculous bail amounts on folks and it depletes our funds."

Little also said the process of posting bailing for someone can sometimes take longer than people expect due to a lack of initial information. For example, if someone is arrested and a request is made to the CFF to cover the bail, in order for the Freedom Fund to attempt to help, the group has to know the persons first and last name and date of birth. It is going to be very difficult to bail out your friend if I only know his name is Derek, Little said.

Even though March marked the official beginning of Columbus Freedom Fund, Little and fellow organizers such as attorney Tabitha Woodruff are not new to the issue of bail reform. Last year, the pair led the charge in bringing the #FreeBlackMamas campaign to Columbus, hosting a Mothers Day Bail Out event at Ace of Cups. But even then, creating a community bail fund was always the goal.

Theres a localized learning curve in creating such a fund, because bail works differently depending on the city and county. Franklin County has specified bail amounts tied to the degree of the misdemeanor or felony charges, but a judge can also change those amounts.

There are several factors that they're supposed to take into consideration prior to setting the bail. [But] over the uprisings, we saw that bail was set differently for white folks and Black folks, said Little, who said that because of those inequities, the Columbus Freedom Fund focuses primarily on bailing out Black and brown citizens. These people have not even been convicted of a crime yet. They are literally locked in a cage, and it could be days or weeks ... before they even see a judge. Bail is not supposed to be a thing of punishment. This whole idea of innocent until proven guilty is hypocritical because you're deeming folks guilty by placing a ransom on their freedom.

Little said she has seen people sitting in jail for days because they couldnt afford the $100 bail. Plus, while waiting in pre-trial detention, citizens can lose their jobs or even have their children taken away. Yes, we are there for the protesters, but we also bail out people who have nothing to do with the protests, she said. It's really about people who were there before these uprisings and will be there after these uprisings.

Little also cautioned protesters to be smart and safe. Knowing that we exist is definitely a comfort to folks, she said. But just understand that sometimes our actions can put us in situations that we definitely don't need to be in.

Moving forward, its Littles hope that someday Franklin County wont need a community bail fund. Our goal is to end cash bail. We do not want a cash bail system. Freedom should not have to be paid for, said Little, who also wants the CFF to be nimble and ready to provide whatever is needed for the citys Black and brown citizens. We see ourselves being a safe space for people. We see ourselves being a resource and a place where you know that you're gonna get the help that you need, whether that's food, child care, or you just want to punch a pillow. Whatever the community needs. We want to be an organization that fills in the gaps.

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The Columbus Freedom Fund rose to prominence amid protests. What is it, and where will it go from here? - Columbus Alive

By now, the money should be in the proverbial till. As of the end of June, the City of Amsterdam was set to borrow $7.7 million to erase deficits in several city funds, the biggest of which being the general fund. According to the resolution that authorized the borrowing, the cash should be booked to the funds with negative balances, bringing each one back to zero.

Sounds easy right? Well, according to audit reports for the last several fiscal years, and according to Municipal Solutions, the citys financial advisors, the funds with negatives balances have all borrowed money from other funds to meet expenses over the years.

So it would seem logical that with this cash coming in, the funds which loaned money to others would then have to be paid back, right?

Only one problem. After over a year of questioning, no city official can tell me exactly how much each fund owes each other. We know the total amount each fund owes or is owed by other funds, and thats it.

A simple example of what I mean is to take a look at the general fund. It has the largest deficit with a negative balance of $3.37 million.

That means the fund has spent $3.37 million more over the years than it has taken in. Where did the cash come from to pay the expenses? The last audit report says that the general fund owes approximately $4.8 million to other funds. Its also owed $1.7 million from other funds.

But from which funds?

No one knows.

After nearly a year of questioning in person, by phone, by email, by Freedom of Information Law requests, former mayor Michael Villa could not tell me, current Mayor Michael Cinquanti could not tell me, Controller Matt Agresta could not tell me, the citys auditor EFPR Group could not tell me, and no current or former council member could tell me.

The only thing I have been told by Cinquanti and Agresta is that once the deficit financing funds are available, the city will then pay off in full a $2 million tax anticipation notice, a loan the city took out last year to ensure it could meet operating expenses. That payment will come out of the general fund, which may result in the fund remaining negative, although at a much smaller deficit than before. We wont know for sure until the annual update document or the audit report for the 2019-2020 fiscal year is available.

Beyond that, what will happen is anyones guess. When I asked Agresta via email for a comment as to how the money will flow through the various funds, his reply was We are working with the Comptrollers office to do this in an appropriate way in terms of the accounting.

Although I have spoken with Cinquanti earlier in the year about these concerns, I have not heard back from him since I emailed him about two weeks ago.

I dont mind telling you what I think should happen the deficit financing cash should be transferred back to the funds that are owed, regardless of which one owes which. $2 million to the water fund and $5 million to the capital projects fund, and each due from other funds line should be zeroed out. Similarly, the due to other funds lines in the funds with deficits should be zeroed out as well.

But the water and capital projects funds have positive fund balances, why should the cash go there?

Because those figures reflect ious, which are counted as assets. The water fund in particular, only had $154 in cash assets at the end of the 2018-2019 fiscal year. Its fund balance is almost entirely reflective of the ious from other funds.

Ious dont pay the bills, cash does. By paying back the inter-fund loans with cash, the water fund should have the same fund balances, but the figure will more closely reflect actual cash, rather than ious.

The capital projects fund is a different story. Its the only fund that reflects the liability of bond anticipation notices (BANs). So its fund balance reflects the balance of BANs owed by the city. However, this fund is the one that was borrowed from the most. The cash should be paid back and put toward the capital projects the way those dollars were originally intended.

Similarly, the due to other funds lines in each fund with a deficit should be zeroed out as well. In other words, no fund should owe any other any more.

Thats just an opinion from one armchair accountant.

I could be wrong, but then what? Well, we need to make sure our city officials give us a full accounting of how that $7.7 million is used. We need to see details and explanations.

And after that, we need to make sure the city starts documenting inter-fund loans properly. According to New York State Law, the council is supposed to approve all inter-fund loans just as it approves any other change to the budget.

A municipal corporation may temporarily advance moneys held in any fund to any other fund of the municipal corporation. Any such temporary advance shall be authorized in the same manner as prescribed by general, special or local law for making budgetary transfers between appropriations. Suitable records shall be kept of each temporary advance.

In my six years of covering the city council, Ive never seen a resolution authorizing an inter-fund transfer.

And yet, they obviously happened anyway.

This lack of accountability is one reason the deficits were able to accumulate over the years. If the public had known inter-fund loans were being made, that would have sent an alarm signal that revenues were not covering expenses. But instead, as long as city employees were paid and obligations were being met, there was not clear evidence of a problem.

City officials need to come clean on the inter-fund loan question and put procedures in place so that these loans are properly documented in the future. Its one of the last important changes the city still needs to make in order to ensure a problem like this never happens again.

Related

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Amsterdam's millions are here. Where will they go? No one knows! - mohawkvalleycompass.com

WEST HAVEN Protests related to the death of 19-year-old Mubarak Soulemane has cost the city more than $109,000 in police overtime, according to the city corporation counsel.

Protests and related events in West Haven incurred $107,117 to date, and on June 8, when city police provided standby support to the Milford Police Department, the overtime amounted to $2,243.72.

The Register requested the numbers through the Freedom of Information Act.

Soulemane was fatally shot by Connecticut State Police Trooper Brian North on Jan. 15 following a high-speed chase on Interstate 95 from Norwalk that ended off Exit 43 at Campbell Avenue. West Haven police were there as backup, and Soulemanes family and their attorney claim city police didnt do enough to deescalate the situation.

Mubarak is said to have suffered from schizophrenia.

There have been at least three protests in West Haven, as well as a vigil and birthday celebration for Soulemane, who would have turned 20 on June 24.

The case is under investigation by the states attorneys office in Rocky Hill.

Mark Arons, a civil rights attorney representing the Soulemane family, said police overtime for such events is literally the price thats paid for free speech, protection and defense of liberty and civil rights.

Many residents have expressed concern on social media that the city is incurring the costs of police overtime when taxes are high in West Haven.

These folks should applaud and salute the protectors who are doing their civic duty, Arons said. Instead, those who are upset should be more concerned about the fact that this (death) occurred in their town, with their police directly involved.

Corporation Counsel Tiernan, who did not complain about the costs, said the city so far can cover the costs without disturbing its budget. The citys finances generally are under strain, and are overseen by the states Municipal Accountability Review Board.

Although Soulemane lived in New Haven with his family, West Haven has become a focus of protest because it is where he was killed and the family believes West Haven police played a role in the death by failing to deescalate the situation.

Tiernan said overtime work done prior to the new fiscal year budget in July would be taken from last years budget that ended June 30.

The work this fiscal year would be billed to an extra duty account that has an annual budget allotment of $190,000, Tiernan said.

Tiernan said that because the citys annual fireworks were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, there were no extra duty costs incurred for that. Tiernan didnt have those numbers but past figures reported by the Register put those overtime costs for the fireworks at about $40,000.

We are not New York City, we dont have a budget for police to work to protect protesters and the public daily or even weekly, Tiernan said. Assuming the protests are over it should not be a problem.

Mariyann Soulemane, Mubarak Soulemanes sister and one of the leaders of the group Justice for Mubarak, has indicated there will be more protesting.

Arons said residents should be angry about the total lack of any response by the City of West Haven. The total lack of any investigation by the City. The total lack of transparency and accountability on the part of the City.

Their tax dollars are funding the mayor, the city counsel and the police chief, who are sitting on their hands. Be upset about that, Arons said.

Mayor Nancy Rossi and other officials did speak in support of the Black Lives Matter rally on June 6 on the West Haven Green. Police Chief Joseph Perno, in a Facebook post the day after a July 5 protest, wrote that the Police Departments primary function during events such as this is the safety of the demonstrators as well as the general public.

Police Commission Chairman Raymond Collins III has said police are investigating the case of a car driving through the crowd at the July 5 rally.

Soulemanes family has said he suffered from schizophrenia and they believe he was having a mental break the day he was shot. The incident began in Norwalk where Mubarak reportedly showed a knife when he couldnt get a phone at an AT&T store, then carjacked a rideshare driver. State police began a pursuit after reports that he was speeding on the highway.

Once he got off the exit in West Haven, Soulemane was surrounded by police officers. .

Despite orders by North to get out of the car, Soulemane did not. Police deployed a stun gun but it apparently was ineffective, part of the investigation.

Arons said police should have used tear gas or mace to get Soulemane out of the car, as he was probably frozen with fear. North fired seven shots after a West Haven officer said, hes reaching, referring to Soulemane reaching into his waistband, according to internal police reports obtained by Arons, the attorney has said.

Police knew Soulemane had a knife, but no gun was found. Arons said Soulemane may have been reaching to undo his seatbelt.

The rest is here:

Police overtime related to West Haven protests tops $109000 - CT Insider

Black lives matter. Of course they do. But it is now abundantly clear that the lives, safety and dignity of black men, women and children are not really what drives organizers of the Black Lives Matter movement. That is a shame.

The world has been fed a bill of goods about BLM's goals. Now we see they are about creating civil unrest and nothing more. We should have realized this after one of its co-founders proudly declared she is a "trained Marxist." Marxism, by definition, "argues for a worker revolution to overturn capitalism in favor of communism."

The BLM website says the group "builds power to bring justice, healing and freedom to black people." Really? Then why haven't they mobilized in hotspot neighborhoods where blacks are most frequently victimized?

In New York, BLM organizers concentrate on painting their name on streets yet do nothing to help stop the ever-increasing civilian slaughter of mostly black citizens. Shootings during the first six months of this year are up 46 percent, and homicides increased more than 20 percent. Yet BLM's cries for defunding the police continue, and the mayor's response was to cut $1 billion from the New York Police Department budget. The department's anti-crime unit focused on disarming criminals and curbing violent crime in mostly minority neighborhoods was disbanded.

In what world does that make sense?

The latest shock to New Yorkers came when a 22-month-old baby boy, Davell Gardner, was senselessly shot and killed at a Brooklyn barbecue. The shooting also left three adult men wounded. All of the victims were black, and police suspect the shooters were, too.

"They (are) talking about 'Black Lives Matter,'" Davell's grieving grandmother said, "but black lives don't matter because black people (are) trying to kill other black people." Samantha Garner added what we are all thinking: "It needs to stop! ... Catch the bastards!"

In Chicago, where more than 100 mostly black people were shot by civilians over a recent weekend, one local reverend said it's an "open season" killing field. Nearly 2,000 Chicagoans have been shot so far this year, hundreds fatally, and, yes, the majority of victims and known assailants are black.

So, where is the Black Lives Matter movement in Chicago to try to curb this trend? Has BLM piled into the Windy City to marshal local ministers, community leaders and concerned citizens to try to combat the carnage against black Americans? No.

In Minneapolis, authorities reported that at least 116 people were shot in the four weeks following the death of George Floyd. Recently, there were three gang-related shootings in one day, one in a majority-black neighborhood in north Minneapolis where 50 children (ages 5 to 14) were at football practice. One eyewitness, a mother, posted a chilling video saying the shooters obviously had "no regard for life." Luckily, no child was shot.

Did Black Lives Matter come in to help soothe the psychic wounds of those mostly black children or to mobilize grownups to guard against another incident? No.

In Atlanta, at the burned-out Wendy's restaurant where BLM gathered after police killed a black man who shot at them with a Taser, another tragedy took place. An 8-year-old black child was fatally shot as she rode by in a car. It was yet another mindless black-on-black shooting. Her father later told the criminals: "You killed a child. She didn't do nothing to nobody. Black Lives Matter? You killing your own."

The mantra of Black Lives Matter is now part of the American lexicon. All clear-thinking citizens embrace it and the idea that violent police tactics need to be abolished. Embracing those ideals and the BLM organization are two very different things.

The movement funded with multiple millions of dollars donated by well-meaning corporations, celebrities and concerned people is fatally flawed. BLM lacks true leadership, fiscal transparency and an explicit mission statement.

To be viable, the organization must condemn the violence perpetrated in its name, along with the illegal occupations, the burning and looting, and the vandalism so frequently seen. So far, we haven't heard a peep from their self-described Marxist leadership.

Remembering the lessons from the righteous civil rights era of the 1950s and '60s, I often wonder what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. or Rosa Parks would think about today's movement for racial justice. I believe they would be greatly disappointed.

Diane Dimond is the author of three books, including Be Careful Who You Love Inside the Michael Jackson Case, which is now updated with new chapters and is available as an audiobook. Contact her at [emailprotected], or click here to read previous columns. The opinions expressed are her own.

Originally posted here:

Diane Dimond: The Hypocrisy of the Black Lives Matter Movement - Noozhawk

I MUST say I was not surprised to see an attack by Robin McAlpine on Nicola Sturgeon in The National of July 18 (SNP defend FM after Common Weal chiefs blast). Mr McAlpine accuses Nicola of ignoring independence and just chuntering away to keep power. It perhaps has not dawned on him that the pandemic has not disappeared and is lurking in the wings to come back.

It might behove him also to think that what the people want is to know how an independent Scotland would behave, and thus the popularity of the SNP is evidence that Nicola is doing a decent job in difficult circumstances. I might add that I do not recall a worse time for health and the economy in my lifetime a mere 85 years (so far!).

READ MORE:SNP insists FM has priorities straight after fierce attack

I joined the SNP 54 years ago and have seen rises and falls in its popularity, various upsets in its members, but we are now in a far better position than I have ever known. Internal strife is never a unifying medium.

The lack of any movement in Westminsters attitude to a referendum is predictable, the Tory statement of now is not the time is shared by Labour and Liberal alike. After the Treaty of Union was signed in 1707 it was stated We have cotched Scotland and we will not let her go.

Democracy played no part in that Union. There were riots in the streets and the Treaty was signed in a cellar in Edinburgh away from the peoples eyes.

Jim LynchEdinburgh

IF Robin McAlpine is so sure of his rent-a-quote pronouncements, he can prove his rectitude by the simple process of standing for election. That would be a cold, draughty place compared to hiding in the safety of a think tank bunker sniping from cover, and I predict that he would lose his deposit.

Les HunterLanark

OUR First Minister entreats us daily to keep to the rules, and for the most part it seems as though the people of Scotland have done just that. So now Nicola Sturgeon has to keep her part of the bargain. If she really, really is working to eliminate the virus, rather than just suppress it, then she must massively ramp up testing capacity and increase the number of tracers in all our communities. She also needs to empower our local councils and public health officials so that they have the resources to pursue the virus effectively in every town or village where it appears. Once I see this happening then Ill certainly Clap for Nicola.

Jean KempSt Andrews

GORDON Brewer has risen immeasurably in my estimation by cutting off Alister Union Jack in full flow on Politics Scotland yesterday. Jack spent most of the interview not answering questions and instead parroting prepared statements until Brewer had had enough.

While saying that Jack could not be allowed to overrun the programme, he abruptly thanked the Cabinet minister then cut him off. For a UK Government minister to be perfunctorily dismissed on the BBC must have been humiliating. Coming after an articulate and well-thought-out performance from Mike Russell, Jacks car-crash interview was a classic example of supreme arrogance from a so-called Secretary of State for Scotland who will never comprehend the groundswell of opposition in Scotland to him and his government.

Mike HerdHighland

A MUST-READ by any standard, I feel compelled to extend the greatest respect to Margaret Little from Rhu for her long letter in yesterdays Seven Days supplement. Her calm and collected summary of our passage to this political crossroads is most informative, and the route we must follow from it in particular concurs exactly with my own eighth decade thinking. I urge all readers to seek it out, absorb and embrace. Healed wounds yield progress, unhealed, we are damned!

Tom GrayBraco

YET another accurate portrayal of events by David Pratt (Trump said jump over the Huawei deal ... Johnson asked how high, July 17). If anyone imagines that a Brexit future doesnt mean being a puppet state of USA then they are truly deluded! This will be hotly denied by the current chancers running Westminster, but as their track record of porkies clearly demonstrates, truth is an alien concept for them.

If we have to be a state of a larger bloc (not a given) then Id much rather be in a European one (with all its flaws and there are many) than a North American one.

Fortunately war and occupation by another country is a fairly fresh memory in Europe, which hopefully will help to avoid a recurrence. For the citizens of USA, wars have largely been something thats happened in a land far far away, which seems to have created a gung-ho attitude to military conflict. When (if) they finally wake up to the fact that most of their wars have had very little to do with anyones freedom and more to do with grabbing control of oil supplies, maybe attitudes will change. The biggest threats to modern societies arent fascism or communism, they are apathy, gullibility and ignorance!

Barry StewartBlantyre

THE Institute for Fiscal Studies confirms that very little new money has been allocated to Scotland out of the 30 billion UK new money to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. By my simple arithmetic I make that 1p in the 1 from scrooge chancellor Rishi Sunak is coming Scotlands way! Well after all the Cummings and goings and now a clear demonstration of the so-called broad shoulders of the UK Treasury, what more do the doubting Thomases need to vote Yes to independence? Well done Kate Forbes.

David Lowdenvia email

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Does Robin McAlpine think the pandemic has now disappeared? - The National

The report by think-tank Localis, commissioned and published by the Local Government Association (LGA), said that across the western world councils have been able to react with greater power and autonomy than in Britain.

Ahead of this autumns devolution and recovery White Paper, the LGA urged the Government to explore giving councils the power to raise more money locally, such as through a tourist or e-commerce levy, and giving local authorities greater control over how national taxation, such as income tax and fuel duty, is spent.

The LGA said this was crucial to ensure every part of the country bounced back from the economic shock of coronavirus.

Cllr Kevin Bentley, chairman of the LGAs People and Places Board, said: 'England is an outlier when it comes to fiscal devolution with international communities having much greater levels of financial freedom.

'As we look ahead towards the long process of economic and social recovery, this gap in local power and autonomy across England risks seeing our communities fall ever further behind.'

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Better response to pandemic from European councils, says think-tank - LocalGov

WASHINGTON: The US House Appropriations Committee has voiced its concern over the deteriorated human rights and religious freedom in India including in Indian-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJ&K) region.

In a detailed report, the committee highlighted that it was concerned over the deterioration of human rights and religious freedoms in India, including in IOJ&K, and the recent addition of religion as a factor in the naturalisation process.

The committee also directed the Secretary of State to submit a report, not later than 90 days after enactment of the Act, to the Committees on Appropriations on what steps the Department of State has taken to address the deterioration of human rights and religious freedom in India and a strategy to engage the government of India on these issues. "Such report shall also contain the extent to which the government of India is supporting human rights and implementing policies to protect freedom of expression, association, and religion, as well as due process of law," the committee said.

The report was submitted, accompanying a bill making appropriations for the Department of State, foreign operations, and related programs, for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2021, and for other purposes. The committee recommendation also included funding for Pakistan as well.

Meanwhile, the United States has also accepted Pakistan's accession to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. The Convention will enter into force between the United States and Pakistan on October 1, 2020, and will put in place an internationally recognised legal framework to resolve cases of parental child abduction between the two countries. "As partners, both countries will enhance shared commitment to protecting children and open a new chapter in the vibrant US-Pakistan relationship," the State Department said adding, "Preventing and resolving cases of international parental child abduction is one of the Department's highest priorities."

The convention is a vital tool to deter international abduction and secure the return of abducted children. "It provides a mechanism under civil law in either country or parents seeking the return of children who have been wrongfully removed from or retained outside of their country of habitual residence in violation of custodial rights," the department said.

The US now has 80 partners under the Convention. "We look forward to welcoming Pakistan as a new partner in this global effort to address international parental child abduction," the department said.

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US House Committee concerned over IOJ&K situation - The News International

Finance Minister Conor Murphy and his Scottish and Welsh counterparts have urged the Chancellor to hand them greater borrowing powers - a move a leading economist says should only be considered "very carefully".

longside Kate Forbes and Rebecca Evans, Mr Murphy yesterday pleaded with Rishi Sunak to end "rigid fiscal rules" and allow them to increase their borrowing levels, ahead of the Chancellor's summer statement today.

They argue that it will help regions to respond better to the Covid-19 pandemic.

All three finance ministers are calling for the freedom to switch capital funding to day-to-day revenue and put an end to arbitrary limits on borrowing.

Mr Murphy said it is "crucial" that devolved administrations are "equipped to respond swiftly and effectively to the challenges arising from Covid-19".

"More financial flexibility can help us deal with these challenges and use our budgets to support public services, protect the vulnerable, and deliver an economic recovery," he added.

Dr Esmond Birnie, a senior economist at Ulster University's Business School, said that it was important to recognise the task faced by the finance ministers in devolved administrations, as well as Mr Sunak, during the coronavirus crisis.

He said that during the course of 2020/21, total UK public borrowing - the gap between what the UK central government receives in the form of taxes and the amount spent - may be 250bn to 300bn compared to the roughly 50bn expected.

That extraordinary level of borrowing was the price paid to keep as much of the economy in cold storage ready to come back after the lockdown, said Mr Birnie. "That all said, rules relating to the behaviour of government have some value and shouldn't be torn up just because there may be some short term advantage," he added.

"In particular, rules relating to fiscal policy may have value in establishing the credibility of government in financial markets (hence, in the longer term, reducing the cost of borrowing by government).

"There may be a case to provide some short term easing of the rules relating to borrowing by the UK Government to cover the period of the virus but I think it would be reckless to throw away the rule book once we return to semi-normality."

He added that Northern Ireland has already been given around 1.3bn since March, as well as the finances for the Job Retention Scheme and income support for the self-employed.

Belfast Telegraph

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Caution urged after Northern Ireland Finance Minister Murphy calls for end to 'rigid fiscal rules' - Belfast Telegraph

Economic reforms are a matter of continuing interest in India. Only recently, marking the birth anniversary of former PM Narasimha Rao, decisions taken during his time to open the Indian economy were recalled. They were bold decisions taken under compelling circumstances. Even from 1989, the brewing balance of payments crisis was getting noticed. India had to undertake higher levels of borrowing, and correspondence with the IMF and World Bank had commenced by late 1990. Without the borrowing, India would have had to default on its external payment obligations.

The IMF pegged the release of the credit tranches to our quarterly performances based on specified criteria. The World Bank provided the structural adjustment loans linked to specified benchmarks. Their conditions were to work in tandem. India was to open its economy to be market driven and out of the licence quota raj. To dismantle the four-decade-old command and control model required immense political will, which despite running a minority government Rao had shown. After all, India had to be pulled out of a near bankruptcy.

However, several of the agreed conditions remained unfulfilled. A leadership and its vision for India adds strength to the required political will to undertake reforms which, post-Narasimha Rao, the Congress lacks. The finance minister of 1991 was the prime minister for a decade, but the Congress used its political will for itself rather than for India. Several observers called 2004-14 as Indias lost decade. It doesnt take a crisis to reform, nor should a crisis be allowed to overwhelm India.

The first NDA government (1999-2004) under Atal Bihari Vajpayee took the reforms forward. India had made commitments in 1991 on fiscal consolidation, as a part of those quarterly benchmarks to be fulfilled. However, it was PM Vajpayee who enacted the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management law. Another promise left unfulfilled was the rationalisation of state excise rates. In 1999, PM Vajpayee cleared the idea of a single goods and services tax. However, it was in 2017 under PM Narendra Modi that the Goods and Services Act came into force.

Within a year after forming the government in 2014, PM Modi held a two-day Gyan Sangam with PSBs. He spoke about addressing the NPAs, changes to recovery laws and mergers of PSU banks. Importantly, he spoke about giving operational freedom to PSBs. Keeping in mind Indias aspirational needs, there were benefits to be drawn from expanding the size and scope of our banks. A set of mergers took place in 2017. And a leap forward happened in August 2019. Old Indias 21 PSBs, after consolidation, today stand at 12. In addition we have a payments bank in the India Post Payments Bank.

In one of the volumes on RBI history, we find an interesting observation on the 1969 nationalisation of banks: single most important economic decision taken by any government since 1947. Not even the reforms of 1991 are comparable in their consequences political, social and of course economic. Post-nationalisation, several new branches of PSBs were opened in areas that were till then uncovered. Gross domestic savings doubled as a percentage of national income in the 1970s. However, political interference in banks was rampant in the 70s. It continued unabated through phone-banking in 2008-14.

As a result, that single most important economic decision couldnt achieve either financial inclusion or steady acceleration of growth even after four decades. The PM Jan Dhan Yojana launched in 2014 has provided over 39 crore poor people access to banks and their services. Together they have over Rs 1.32 lakh crore in these accounts. Over 10 crore farmers are beneficiaries of PM Kisan Yojana, which directly transfers monies into their accounts.

Equally, market access was critical to multiplying farmers income. A major step of giving inter-state market access to all farmers was taken recently. Farmers shall no longer be compelled to sell only to licensees within their areas. Using the electronic National Agriculture Market he can seek the place and price for his product to be sold. The recent steps to energise agriculture have resulted in amending the Essential Commodities Act. Together with changes in land leasing and terms of farming, agriculture is seeing major reforms. Incidentally, removal of administrative export controls on agricultural commodities remains an unfulfilled commitment of 1991.

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code and setting up of the National Company Law Tribunal in 2016 provide a major relief for companies looking for an exit policy. Long pending resolutions are happening now. The Code may be on insolvency but now resolutions most often are for going concerns. Speedy disposal also ensures reasonable value realisation.

Within one year of being re-elected in 2019, NDA brought in major reforms in taxation. Corporate tax was reduced to 15% for new manufacturing companies and for the old to 22%. Options were provided for those who wished to continue benefiting from accumulated exemptions to remain in the old scheme. So was personal income tax simplified and made exemption free. Here too, option to continue in existing/ old scheme was provided. To remove any perception of harassment, tax assessment and scrutiny were made faceless. Using technology, every correspondence with the assessee has a centralised Document Identification Number.

Modi invited private players to be co-travellers in the Indian space sector. Also, to strengthen existing indigenous capacities in defence production he has invited greater investment in the sector. Reforms have continued even as the necessary stimulus is being provided for restarting the Covid-hit economy. Reforms are sustained, deep and pronounced under PM Modi.

DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.

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Bold decisions, strong political will: Economic reforms are sustained, deep and pronounced under PM Modi - The Times of India Blog

David Carpenter, Kevin OHearn, Leah Juarez, Pat Sweeney, MIchael Pedry, Tom Walters, Steve Harshman, and Greg Flesvig (Oil City News)

CASPER, Wyo Candidates for contested seats in the Republican Primary for Wyomings State House of Representatives were featured at the second Politics in the Park event at the Washington Park Bandshell on Monday evening, July 13.The series is hosted every other Monday by the Republican Women of Natrona County.

Gregory Paul Flesvig is challenging House Speaker Steve Harshman, who has served 8 terms from District 37. Tom Walters has served 4 terms from District 38 and is being opposed by Michael Pedry. Patrick Sweeney, who has served 2 terms from District 58, is being opposed by Burton D. Schoenwolf, who was not in attendance. Kevin OHearn, Leah Juarez, and Dave Carpenter are running for the seat from District 59 previously held by Bunky Loucks, who is not running and who resigned his seat effective June 30, citing pressures on his business.

After introducing themselves, the candidates answered questions about their ideas for diversifying Wyomings tax base, supporting the oil and gas industry, helping businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and abolishing the death penalty.

Article continues below...

Todays tax base in the state of Wyoming is about 65% energy-related, said Walters. He added that another 20% is legacy investments in minerals. We have a recurrent $3 billion budget for the upcoming biennium, and were looking at maybe a third of that being reduced between the COVID crisis and the reduction in minerals.

We have one drilling rig working in state of Wyoming now, Harshman said. Thats the lowest I think since statehood.

To rectify the situation, Flesvig said the state needed to be a buffer between the overreach of the federal government and the oil and gas industry. We need to get out of the way of the private sector and let it do its job. Speaker Harshman said he supported a bill that would create a severance tax exemption on new oil and gas drilling when the price of oil fell below $40 per barrel. We could recoup that when we have $100-a-barrel oil.

Ohearn spoke to the point as well: We need to suck it up when its bad and give the [energy industry] a break, and incentivize them. during this bust.

Rep. Walters said that the permitting process for energy producers needed to be as expedient as possible at the state level. Juarez and Carpenter also voiced support for this position.

Unfortunately the federal government owns like 60-65% of the minerals here in Wyoming, and that is a major burden. Carpenter said. He said the the state needed to work with the Bureau of Land Management in reducing the time frame on permitting processes. Theres some leases that have been sitting idle for over ten years that are just now finally getting approved, he said.

Rep. Sweeney said improving Wyomings fiscal future would involve looking at efficiencies, reduction in staffing and programs, and yes, even [in] education, to make all of this work. But he added, We will also have to look at revenue, because we will not be able to cut our way out of this.

Rep. Walters said, We could pay 2 cents more in sales tax and still be in the middle of the road nationwide in what you pay in sales tax.

OHearn also added that a road-usage charge, which would help trafficability in Wyoming.

Attracting businesses and growing tourism were other strategies offered for diversifying Wyomings economy.

California has one of the highest tax rates in the country, and yet people are moving their businesses to California every single day, Rep. Walters said. Why is that?He added that Wyoming needed to do a better job advertising itself as a place to live, work and raise a family.

Speaker Harshman said expanding broadband connectivity was part of the answer. Flesvig agreed, and added that steep regulations were making it difficult for businesses to start. Carpenter said the intersection of I-25 and I-80 in Wyoming made it ideal for attracting manufacturing and bringing in new businesses.

The impact of statewide closures on businesses due to COVID-19 was also discussed.

Pedry said businesses themselves should decide whether to open. We call that freedom with responsibility. He said he didnt believe any business owner wanted to act recklessly with the life or health of anybody, but I also do not believe it is the role of government to decide if your business is important enough to stay open or not.

Carpenter added that reforms in tort law could help businesses operate with fewer liability concerns during the pandemic. Juarez said due to the statewide closures in March, her business went eight weeks without income. I want to make sure the next time [] something like this happens, that it doesnt affect our income and our way of life and we can still put food on our tables.

All people are essential and all businesses are essential, said OHearn. I think we need to get everyone back to work sooner than later, and that will fix 90% of it.

Candidates were asked finally what the most important lesson was that theyd learned in life.

Related Stories from Oil City News:

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Wyoming House candidates discuss the energy sector and diversification at Washington Park - Oil City News

Sanjeev Sanyal. File image 

The Covid Pandemic has caused the biggest economic shock since the great depression and second world war, but India has a plethora of tools to rebuild demand, said Sanjeev Sanyal at a panel discussion at the India Global Week. The Principal Economic Advisor in Finance Ministry also insisted that India has more ammunition, both from the fiscal front and the monetary front to alleviate the economic stress and would use them in a graded and calibrated fashion.

Lockdown & The Aftermath

Sanyal conceded that India went for a 'big' lockdown in March-end, but has gradually opened up sections of the economy from the end of April. The path of economic recovery has been a matter of elaborate discussion among experts. Sanyal asserted that the revival roadmap remained uncertain and simply throwing money at the problem may not lead to recovery. The noted economist said that Indian Government would not resort to re-inflate the economy to the pre-Covid levels because the fundamentals of the supply chains, geopolitics, technologies and consumer behaviour would be markedly different in the post-Covid world.

'Marathon, Not A Sprint'

Sanyal remarked that India from the very beginning of the Covid crisis focussed on specific ways to target demand and saw the whole situation as a marathon and not a sprint. He also differentiated India's policy measures on supply-side as well as the demand side from other countries including the likes of the US, UK and western European nations which implemented payouts to boost aggregate demand instantaneously.

Policy Making & India's Priorities

Sanyal quipped that policymaking in the aftermath of Covid is riddled with complexities due to the volatility and uncertainty about the future. He highlighted India's focus in providing a cushion to the most vulnerable sections of the society and the MSME sector. Sanyal detailed that Government intervened in multifarious ways, like using direct transfer of resources like food and money, utilising Unique Identification system to target the communities that needed the most support, 100 per cent guarantee in loans worth Rs. 3 Trillion to small industries.

More Government Support On The Way?

Defending India's approach to tackling Covid, Sanyal stressed that the country had more capability and room to use both fiscal and monetary tools contrary to opinion from several quarters. He pointed out that Indian Government still borrowed at 5.8% for 10-year papers unlike western European countries or the US as the interest rates in India remained significantly positive even at this juncture. On the fiscal front, Sanyal highlighted that India's debt to GDP is significantly lower than the rest of the world and there was still space to pump large infrastructure projects to rebuild demand as the economy opened up.

Sanyal also drew the US example of tackling the demand issue and pointed it as a proof to the view that large payouts need not provide second-order demand growth but could instead dry up the ammunition to provide help at a later stage. India has instead opted for several small packages, both monetary support from RBI and government's targetted, sector-specific measures. Sanyal hinted that more government support could arrive in the rebuild phase. India focused on freeing up agriculture, ringing in labour reforms, flexibility and emphasising privatisation and divestment in non-strategic areas to address the issue, the Principal Economic Advisor said.

2020 Another 1991?

Sanyal compared and contrasted the current situation with 1991 when India opened up its economy on the back of Balance of Payments crisis. While the country experienced a slow down now like in 1991, Sanyal highlighted the balance in macro-economy right now. Inflation remained close to zero while foreign exchange reserves stayed above half a trillion dollars of resources, asserted Sanyal while terming that the economy has stayed extremely stable on some fronts. This has opened up newer degrees of freedom on the supply side.

Turning Covid Crisis Into An Opportunity

Sanyal asserted that India remained prepared to bring in more reforms, both at the state level and the centre to turn the economic crisis into an opportunity of sorts. He also highlighted the efforts of several states which remained at the forefront of doing reforms in online and other areas.

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Covid crisis biggest economic shock since World War II, but India has the tools to rebuild demand - Times Now

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The Enrica Lexie case involving the fatal shooting of two Indian fishermen by two Italian marines appears to have come to a close. This incident not only raised tough questions for maritime law, but also resulted in political and diplomatic confrontation between India and Italy. Upon Romes request in 2015, the dispute was brought before an international tribunal constituted under the 1982 UN Convention for the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which released its final award (or decision) on 2 July 2020.

The tribunal said that though both countries have concurrent jurisdiction over the case, India must immediately cease the exercise of its criminal jurisdiction since the marines are entitled to immunity. The award also holds that Italy interfered with Indias freedom of navigation and must pay compensation for physical harm, material damage to property and moral harm caused to the captain and crew members of the fishing vessel. New Delhi, in a recent statement, has said that it will abide by the award.

The dispute is a complex one, and raises legal questions that have seldom been raised before. The incident took place on 15 February 2012, 20.5 nautical miles (nm) off the coast of Kerala. Two marines Sergeant Latorre and Sergeant Girone aboard a commercial Italian oil tanker, MV Enrica Lexie, shot and killed two Indian nationals, Valentine Jelastine and Ajeesh Pink, on an Indian fishing vessel (St. Antony). The Italian side argues that the marines sensed that St. Antony constituted a pirate attack, thus compelling them to respond with firearms. The Indian side refutes this and says that the crew aboard St. Antony was simply exercising its sovereign fishing rights in the Arabian Sea (extending up to 200 nm from the shore). Criminal proceedings against the marines first began in India in 2012, until the international arbitral tribunal was seized of the matter in 2015.

Two contentious legal questions were raised in this case: the first is whether the marines were entitled to immunity for their acts, and the second, whether India could exercise its criminal jurisdiction, when the incident took place beyond its territorial waters.

International law confers immunity to state officials for acts performed in official capacity (known as functional immunity). Italy argued that the marines were entitled to functional immunity; they were members of the Italian navy and part of a Vessel Protection Detachment (VPD) deployed according to government directives (Law No. 130/2011) and international commitments to protect the vessel from piracy. The mechanism for VPDs was operationalised through a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Italian Ministry of Defence and the Italian ship-owners association. The MoU specifically defines VPD as a military unit composed of military personnel, preferentially from the Navy, embarked on trading vessels. The military personnel on VPD duty must comply with rules of engagement and guidelines issued by the Italian Ministry of Defence.

International Law Commission reports (here and here) on functional immunity identifies criteria for who are officials: that the official should have connection with the state (constitutional, statutory or contractual); the official acts internationally as a representative of the State; and that the official exercises elements of governmental authority, acting on behalf of the State. At this stage, the connection of VPD to the Italian state is fairly straightforward: they are members of the Italian Navy, were deployed according to government laws, and functioned under a framework of rules established by the Italian Ministry of Defence.

Elsewhere, it has been argued (here and here) that UNCLOS has its own provisions for sovereign immunity, which only extends it to warships, naval auxiliary and other vessels owned and operated by the state. Since there is no provision for immunity for state officials here, the same cannot and should not be given to the marines. However, nothing in the convention suggests the exclusion of customary rules of international law such as sovereign immunity for officials in matters of law of the sea. What this does indicate is that there is a need for greater clarity on the application of multiple legal frameworks to complex cases.

Another counter-argument is that Italian ship owners who placed VPDs on their vessels had to cover costs for such an attachment. This creates a clear financial link between the VPDs and ship owners, raising questions if they indeed performed government functions or commercial ones. However, it is unclear if this is sufficient to erase the sovereign nature of their duties and sever their ties from the state. Further, Italys laws also draw a distinction between VPDs and private armed security guards, where the latter who are not military personnel and operate entirely on private payroll would not be entitled to immunity.

A more difficult contention is the grant of immunity when the Indian position believes that the use of firearms against St. Antony a mere fishing vessel was disproportionate and excessive. Scholars acknowledge that actions that are careless, reckless, involved excessive force, or was contrary to instructions, do not negate the application of sovereign immunity. As a result, the tribunal award has decided that the marines are entitled to immunity. However, by acknowledging that Italy violated Indias freedom of navigation and by directing payment of compensation to New Delhi, it ascribed responsibility to Rome for the marines actions.

The second question raised in this dispute was whether India could exercise its criminal jurisdiction, given that the incident took place beyond its territorial waters (which extends to 12 nm from the shore). Exercise of criminal jurisdiction in territorial waters is mentioned explicitly in the UNCLOS (Article 27). The place where the incident took place at 20.5 nm is what the convention terms as the contiguous zone.Here, a state can only exercise necessary control for violation of customs, fiscal, immigration and sanitary laws. The convention is silent if criminal laws can be extended to the contiguous zone. For India, the 1976 Maritime Zones Act and a 1981 Home Ministry notification extends Indias criminal jurisdiction all the way up to 200 nm. When the matter was raised before the tribunal, Italy argued that Indias laws were contrary to the provisions of the UNCLOS.

Because of the ambiguity of the UNCLOS on criminal jurisdiction, a reading of the Lotus case, a seminal judgment of the Permanent Court of International Justice (the precursor to the International Court of Justice) becomes essential. Its findings can be described as follows: an offence commenced on a vessel of flag State A which has fatal consequences aboard the vessel of flag State B can be subject to the criminal law of both A and B. This gives both India and Italy concurrent jurisdiction. The UNCLOS did carve an exception to such exercise of dual jurisdiction for matters of collision or any other incident of navigation; in these specific circumstances, only the flag state (Italy, in this case) could exercise jurisdiction. Rome relied on this very provision to assert that because of this, the matter should be handed over to its courts. Analysts refuted that a fatal shooting could simply be considered as any other incident of navigation. It appears that the tribunal must have adopted this reasoning as well, and thereby relied on the Lotus case to find that both Italy and India had concurrent jurisdiction over the matter. However, given that the marines were entitled to immunity, India was directed to cease its criminal jurisdiction over the matter.

This development was deemed as a loss for India and has enraged fishermen. However, there is one positive aspect to the award. The tribunal did not adjudge the legitimacy of Indias extension of its criminal laws up to 200 nm (the exclusive economic zone), and has not disturbed our legal framework in this regard. It has in a way acknowledged the concurrent jurisdiction of both India and Italy, which indicates that if the shooting had been carried out by private personnel, India may have retained jurisdiction. Currently, only excerpts of the award have been released for advance publication and the full award is not available yet. A reading of the entire decision can perhaps support a more nuanced analysis of the legal and political questions at hand.

In practice, exercise of foreign criminal jurisdiction over state officials as India attempted to do so is successful in very few cases, and depends on the consent of the other state for it to proceed. Without such consent, attempts to exercise jurisdiction can worsen relations between states. The extensive media reporting of the case and its high profile nature resulted in posturing of both the Indian and the Italian government.

In India, Keralas political leadership and the fishing community closely followed the case, while Kerala MPs protested when the marines were allowed to return to vote in Italys general elections. At the national level, efforts to engage in diplomacy did not yield positive results. Both the Manmohan Singh government and the Modi government continued to have differences with their Italian counterparts. On two occasions Italy recalled its envoy to India, while in 2013 India restrained Italys then Ambassador Daniele Mancini from leaving the country. A 2016 visit to Rome by then External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj provided some course correction and reset ties between the two countries.

These developments not only affected diplomatic relations with Italy, but with the European Union as well. Indias decision to invoke a 2002 Act for this case which contained a death penalty provision was explicitly condemned by the EU. Later in 2015, the India-EU summit was called off, while Italy also blocked Indias entry to the Missile Technology Control Regime.

The fallout of this dispute has shown that apart from sound diplomatic strategy, multilateral efforts also need to be taken to interpret and clarify contentious provisions in international legal instruments. This is particularly important for largely unregulated areas, such as the placement of state officials on commercial shipping vessels. As an aftermath of this incident, in March 2015, Italy announced that it would end the employment of VPDs aboard Italian merchant vessels. For now, New Delhi must negotiate an appropriate compensation package from Italy, closely follow developments in Italian courts and ensure that justice is secured for the death of its two nationals.

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Choppy waters: On the Italian marines decision - Observer Research Foundation

(Photo by Ryan McGuire, gratisography)

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the first quarter of 2020 put an end to a decade of global economic recovery. Governments have stepped in to help stabilize things; in the United States alone, the monetary and fiscal stimulus stands at more than $6 trillion and counting. But we entered the COVID-19 crisis with global debt over 322 percent of gross domestic product (GDP)thats 40 percent, or $87 trillion, higher than at the onset of the 2008 financial crisisand well need to return to sustainable spending eventually.

Meanwhile, the full extent of the pandemics tragic human impact isnt yet known, but we can already see dramatic implications, particularly for low-income communities. In the social sector, the public eye is mostly on the nonprofits that support emergency health response and offer services to the many populations that fall through the cracks of standard public servicesincluding elderly people and minorities; people experiencing poverty, unemployment, or homelessness; and asylum-seekers.

Amid these economic, human, and institutional pressures, the need for philanthropy has increased, but its plain to see the crisis is shaking the sector. From March to May 2020, US nonprofits cut 1.6 million jobsthats 13 percent of all nonprofit jobs in America. Funders are trying to ease the blow; the Ford Foundations call to action during the pandemic, for example, exemplifies the type of grantor commitment every philanthropic foundation should aspire to, and foundations like the ones I serve have worked quickly to establish a dialogue with grantees on current and future needs, relaxed restrictions on current grants, reduced reporting burdens, and designed a dedicated COVID-19 initiative to make targeted new grants. But not all nonprofits have this kind of support. Whats more, established fundraising channels such as events arent currently viable, and donors are harder to mobilizeand will continue to be until the economy recovers. By managing their liquidity, cutting costsand non-core programs, appealing to important donors, and accessing lines of credit, many nonprofits will succeed in leaning against the wind. But the unfortunate fact is that many others wont.

When the dust settles, the social sector will need to take strategic steps to restore its capacity and strength, and to effectively contribute to a post-COVID-19 social contract.

When the sector eventually turns its attention to rebuilding, an important part of the way forward will be revisiting how to create systems change. When foundations review how COVID-19 has affected grantees operating models, as well as their ability to deliver impact, liquidity, and solvency, it will become clearer than ever that viewing social change from a single-organization perspective is insufficient. To create change will require that foundations fund a set of organizations that act on different levers, including direct service, research into new solutions, capacity building, and advocacy. Indeed, starting now, funders and nonprofits need to begin thinking about what a vibrant, post-COVID-19 civil society could look like; which actions are conducive to (re)building it; and how to finance its different elements, including research and development, capital investment in nonprofit upgrading, and operating support. The role of civil society and science in forging the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate offers an example from which to learn.

The sector will also need to revisit its legitimacy. Already before the pandemic, big philanthropywhich Stanford professor Rob Reich has defined as an exercise of power by the wealthy that is unaccountable, non-transparent, donor-directed, perpetual, and tax-subsidizedwas beginning to come under pressure. Indeed, voices that accuse philanthropy of being secretive, undemocratic, and often unable to show its value are multiplying. While these voices are finding less of an audience during the pandemic, they are sure to come back with a vengeance once the emergency need for stimulus gives way to concern for balancing budgets. At some point, philanthropy will need to more clearly demonstrate its value to society, show greater inclusivity and transparency, and prove that its using scarce resources effectively. Emerging narratives questioning the value of philanthropy will be compounded by major economic-institutional collapse, but there are multiple paths forward. One leads to a philanthropic sector diminished by the crisis, and one to a sector with the necessary legitimacy, resources, and freedom needed to drive social change.

Before devising ambitious plans for how to build a better philanthropic sector, its worth taking stock of the factors that influence it and identifying strategic opportunities to enhance its dynamism. A useful concept here is philanthropic vitality, or what makes the sector efficient, impact-focused, and trustworthy. Gauging the philanthropic sector in any given region by its vitality can help us identify whats working and whats not, and then create a strategy for achieving vitality.

My colleagues and I defined the sectors core vitality dimensions in a recent pilot study as including adequate financial capital, a robust regulatory context and accountability practices, talent and human capital development, and high levels of public trust. We believe good collaboration practices, as well as a well-developed network of intermediaries that connects funders with nonprofits and provides professional services, also enhance vitality.

Based on this, the pilot study set out to assess the vitality of the philanthropic sector in Switzerlands Lake Geneva regionhome to more than 2,500 public utility foundations, and 450 international organizations and NGOs. The regions philanthropic sector showed strong vitality in its core dimensions, including a robust regulatory context and significant financial capital. In addition, foundations in the region benefitted from high levels of public trust, ahead of government, business, and the media.

But while there was a healthy intermediary sector, we found that public utility foundations need to make more progress on factors such as human capital development and diversity, accountability practices and transparency, and local collaboration to increase their value to society. To systematically improve these conditions and, thus, the sectors ability to drive change, we recommended that the sector establish a coalition of funders interested in promoting the regions philanthropic vitality, and align local and regional government best practices and procedures.

As explained above, when the emergency stage of COVID-19 has passed, the sector will face massive additional social need, depleted government coffers, a reduction in total donations, and additional uncertainty in financial markets. It will also likely face greater need for systems-level work, and renewed scrutiny over its legitimacy and effectiveness. However, the rebuilding phase also offers four opportunities thatif approached holistically and strategicallycan enhance the vitality of philanthropy and civil society. These opportunities include rethinking fiscal incentives, improving transparency, investing in technology, and taking collaboration to the next level.

First, the sector needs to draw in more philanthropic capital through well-targeted fiscal incentives and tax exemptions of philanthropic foundations. This will motivate institutions to invest in social impact. Some philanthropic foundations may even choose to pay taxes in exchange for greater freedom to select who they invest in and how (via grants or for-profit investments). In cases where a foundation already co-finances projects with the public sector, providing direct support to government is another motivation.

As one example, Genevas largest foundationthe Fondation Hans Wilsdorf, whose primary asset is ownership of the luxury watch brand Rolexrecently shared its philanthropic footprint for the first time publicly. It pays out 250 million Swiss francs per year (approximately $260 million), exclusively dedicated to public interest projects in the Canton of Geneva. The foundation also announced that as of fiscal year 2020, it would give up its charitable tax exemption and pay an estimated additional 30 million Swiss francs ($31 million) per year in taxes. (Rolex already pays company taxes.)

Second, the sector needs to improve transparency about what works. Using data to ground decision making has become foundational to strategy and operations in most industries. The social sector similarly needs easily available, high-quality, machine-readable data so that it can quantify issues and understand what drives outcomesat reasonable cost.

For example, the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research, an international consortium of nearly 800 institutions, runs the Measures of Effective Teaching (MET) project with 3,000 teacher volunteers and independent research teams. It builds and tests effective teaching methods to help teachers develop their practice and thereby improve student success. Though some consider a methodology that assesses teacher effectiveness through the lens of student test scores too narrow, the consortium nevertheless believes test scores codetermine students life prospects. Systematically identifyingand sharinghow teaching can improve them across a variety of subjects offers a way forward. Offering free access to published findings and reports, as well as researcher access to data sets, democratizes insight and enables testing alternative research assumptions.

Third, the sector needs to invest in technology. COVID-19 is accelerating the transformation of nonprofits into digital knowledge organizations that collect and process valuable information about projects, funding, and partners. Nonprofits need to promote data gathering on social issues and projects, as well as be ready to use the data and handle it according to cybersecurity and privacy requirements.

A 2016 survey of nonprofits in Los Angeles, California, found that 95 percent of the organizations were aware that technology was important to their work and future. Notwithstanding, 60 percent did not have the staff in place to support their technology needs. Moreover, 54 percent believed their staff were not trained well enough to use technology effectively in their day-to-day work. The big five tech companiesAlphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Microsoftalready run pro-bono programs to help nonprofits integrate digital technology and data-driven decision-making. Funders have the opportunity to use their money and influence to secure in-kind and pro bono support (including product license donations, platform development, and staff training) for nonprofits, enabling them to digitize and automate business processes, use digital platforms, and leverage data and analytics in new ways that enhance their efficiency and social impact.

Finally, the sector needs to approach collaboration with a new level of ambition. Take the issues of habitat loss, wildlife trade, clean air, agriculture, sustainable food systems, and climate change. In thinking of them altogether, it becomes clear that health and the environment are interdependent, and that we need to tackle all of them at the same time. Collaboration pools knowledge and resources in an otherwise fragmented philanthropic landscape, enabling greater impact. And again here, its important to develop strong, explicit incentives to working together.

For example, few programs that address violence against women in the Global South have formed partnerships to transfer the most effective intervention models. To help stimulate the spread of high-impact approaches and adapt them to new local contexts, the Womanity Foundation created an award to encourage collaboration between an innovation partner (a nonprofit that has developed a successful program) with a scale-up partner (a nonprofit that contextualizes, adapts, and rolls out the approach in a new location). By providing funding, capacity building, and access to networks, the award provides an incentive to replicate proven intervention models in new geographies. The partners of the awards most recent edition, My Safetipin in India and Soul City Institute for Social Justice in South Africa are working on making a free application that provides geospatial data and information to make public spaces safer, more accessible, and more relevant to women in South Africa.

Although the sector is still responding to the emergency, it behooves us all to start preparing to rebuild. Here are eight things funders can do now to lay the groundwork for future philanthropic vitality.

There will be no one-size-fits-all solution, but collectively, philanthropy will be judged not only on the contribution it makes now to solving the COVID-19 crisis, but also on how it rebuilds itself after the emergency and whether it can ultimately create systemic change. By measuring and optimizing the conditions that contribute to philanthropic vitality and by taking advantage of the opportunities that lie ahead, forward-thinking funders and nonprofit leaders can meaningfully improve the sectors ability to drive change.

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Reestablishing Philanthropic Vitality After the Emergency - Stanford Social Innovation Review

Coronavirus-related losses are continuing to swell across Iowas public universities, surpassing previous estimates and prompting difficult decisions and extreme measures including at Iowa State University. The school is cutting pay, nixing raises, halting construction and offering early retirement incentives.

ISU President Wendy Wintersteen, in announcing deeper across-campus budget reductions, recently reported shes taking a 10 percent salary cut for the budget year that started July 1. Now earning base pay of $590,000, her cut amounts to $59,000.

University of Iowa President Bruce Harreld whose campus also is facing tens of million in COVID-19 losses recently announced hell take a 50-percent base pay cut for the rest of this budget year, amounting to a one-time savings of $270,416, which hell funnel into a Student Emergency Fund.

In addition to their base salaries, the presidents who received contract extensions last summer get annual deferred compensation contributions scheduled to pay out in 2023 in the amount of $2.33 million for Harreld and $1 million for Wintersteen. The state Board of Regents annual performance reviews of its presidents and executive director are scheduled for next week.

Earlier this year with much still unknown about how long the pandemic would persist and how the virus would progress in the summer Iowas public universities projected losses through August reaching $89 million for Iowa State, $28 million for University of Northern Iowa, and $76 million for UI excluding its Hospitals and Clinics operation.

Wintersteen in her recent campus communication updated the ISU budget picture calculated to address unprecedented revenue losses from COVID-19, expected enrollment drops, state funding cuts, curtailed indirect cost recovery and new expenses involved in keeping campus safe this fall.

Now revenue losses projected for ISUS educational fund in the new budget year top $41 million. In addition, revenue losses and costs since the pandemics onset in Iowa through Aug. 23 are estimated at $73 million, according to Wintersteen.

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In light of those earlier projected losses in the tens of millions, Wintersteen in April asked campus units to trim 5 percent from their budgets for the 2021 budget year and plan for an additional 5 percent cut for fiscal 2022.

In her new message, Wintersteen confirmed the 5 percent cut in 2021 including to administrative costs in academic affairs, operations and finance, student affairs, and presidential divisions and units and the loss of performance-based pay raises for faculty and non-unionized staff.

She confirmed the need for another across-campus 5 percent cut in fiscal 2022; a 2 percent reduction in its retirement match for 10 months; a temporary freeze on renovation and capital projects except if they involve donor funding or safety needs; a new senior administrative approval process for all faculty and staff job postings; and a change to the employee tuition reimbursement program.

That program now only will support courses taught at Iowa State.

We have heard feedback from employees currently taking courses outside of ISU and are evaluating other interim options for support, Wintersteen said in her message.

In hopes of avoiding layoffs, ISU later this month will ask the Board of Regents to approve a voluntary retirement incentive program that could give units another budget-cutting tool and empower employees to make their own personal decisions.

More details of that program are expected July 20.

Iowa State also is reviewing its health benefit costs in that premium costs in its ISU Plan have remained stagnant for six years, while health costs have climbed.

I have instructed the university benefits committee to review the health benefit plans and other benefits and to provide recommendations on how these costs can be reduced for the university during calendar year 2021, Wintersteen wrote, noting more budget-cutting measures could become necessary if unforeseen circumstances arise.

We recognize that budget planning will continue to be impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and must be aligned with the universitys expected future enrollment, since 70 percent of our educational financial resources come from tuition revenue, she wrote. We will need to ensure that programs, administration, and services are sized appropriately relative to projected enrollment.

On the UI campus, President Harreld in announcing his pay cut and widespread hiring and salary freezes last week revealed a three-year plan to make Hancher Auditorium self-sustaining like the universitys housing and dining operation and athletics department.

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In that those entities dont receive general fund support, they too are facing massive budgetary blows right now from spring and summer sport losses to fall unknowns and expansive housing and dining refunds afforded students sent home in the middle of the spring semester.

Those entities have imposed temporary layoffs and salary cuts across athletics.

Wintersteen in her recent message acknowledged challenges facing Iowa States self-supported entities and the freedom department heads and other administrators have in trimming their budgets.

They may need to consider whether layoffs and other actions are necessary to meet specific budget-reduction targets, she said. But our leaders should use every tool at their disposal, and take an all-funds budgeting approach, to maintain our mission of excellence in teaching, research and extension and outreach, and benefit from the innovation of our faculty and staff in the planning process.

Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com

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Iowa State to trim presidential pay, offer 'voluntary retirement' amid budget cuts - The Gazette: Eastern Iowa Breaking News and Headlines