“If we win this state, we win it all,” U.S. President Donald Trump declared Monday at a political rally in the state of Arizona, which has 11 electoral votes out of the 270 needed to win the presidency.  Trump won the state by 4 percentage points in 2016.  “We’re in first place in Arizona,” Trump said at the political rally in Prescott, his first of two during the day in the southwestern state, two weeks before the general election.  An average of major polls that have been released this month shows Democratic Party nominee Joe Biden leading in Arizona by about 3 percentage points — within the margin of error for most surveys, meaning that political observers regard the race as virtually tied. Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden waves as he arrives at The Queen theatre in Wilmington, Del., Oct. 19, 2020.“It’s not a typical red (Republican) state,” explained Fred Gonzalez, an assistant professor in the School of Government and Public Policy at the University of Arizona. “It has sort of its own culture. Arizonans pride themselves on not just following what the other red states are doing.”  Trump’s image as a political outsider and his maverick approach appealed to Arizonans in 2016. Since then, his image is more akin “to the sort of spirit Arizonans reject, which is like this cult mindset of just follow the leader,” Gonzalez told VOA on Monday.  Meanwhile, COVID-19 has disproportionately affected the state’s Latino and Indigenous populations.   “The Trump campaign has not figured out how to get Trump to be winning on that issue, or on education or health care, which are big priorities for Arizonans,” Gonzalez said. “And it’s two weeks out, and tons of people have already voted.” A former attorney general of Arizona, Grant Woods, is critical of Trump holding Monday’s outdoor rallies without social distancing at a time when the number of coronavirus cases in the state is going up.“What is the point of packing 1,000 people into a confined space without masks? The point is to make him feel better about things. But it’s not lost on people that is reckless behavior only to stroke his ego,” Woods, a Republican-turned-Democrat, told VOA.  Supporters attend a campaign rally held by U.S. President Donald Trump at Tucson International Airport in Tucson, Arizona, Oct. 19, 2020.Trump, at the Prescott rally, criticized the media for continuously focusing on the coronavirus, contending that Americans have tired of cable news coverage of the pandemic and that it is an attempt to suppress voting.  “People aren’t buying it, CNN, you dumb bastards,” the president said.  Arizona, the last of the contiguous states to enter the union in the 1912, has not selected a Democrat for president in 24 years. Republicans still dominate among registered voters.   There is little likelihood of Trump winning reelection without Arizona, according to Ruth Jones, a professor emeritus at Arizona State University’s School of Politics and Global Studies.  “If the tide is going against him in Arizona, it probably is going to trend against him in one or two of the other swing or must-have states,” Jones told VOA. “What state could he pick up to balance out Arizona?”  Arizona was the home of the late Sen. Barry Goldwater, who lost the 1964 presidential election to Democratic Party nominee Lyndon Johnson and who was the ideological forebearer to the Republican Party’s Ronald Reagan revolution of the 1980s.  Over the years, the border state’s demographics have changed. It has become increasingly urban, and the electorate is trending toward the college-educated and Latinos — two groups that tend to favor the Democratic Party.  Biden stayed in his home state of Delaware on Monday where he taped a (CBS News “60 Minutes”) television interview set to air on Sunday. He is also preparing for his second debate with Trump scheduled for Thursday in Nashville, Tennessee.  Biden’s campaign released a statement criticizing Trump’s visit to Arizona.  “President Trump is spending the final days of his campaign trying to sow division and distract the American people from his failure to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. He wants to sell Arizona families more of the same reckless leadership that has devastated the state’s economy, shuttered thousands of small businesses, and threatens protections for the 2.8 million Arizonans living with a preexisting condition,” Biden said in the statement. “He’s insulted our heroes like my friend Senator John McCain by calling them ‘losers’ and ‘suckers.’” FILE – Cindy McCain, wife of former Arizona Sen. John McCain, waves at the Capitol in Phoenix, Jan. 13, 2020.McCain’s widow, Cindy McCain, has endorsed Biden.    “It (Cindy McCain’s endorsement) kind of gives permission to an awful lot of Arizonans, and in particular Arizona women — who traditionally might have voted for the Republican candidate — that it’s OK to vote for the Democratic candidate, because that candidate is Joe Biden,” Woods said.  Regardless of party affiliation, voters in the state have long identified themselves as moderates. Democrats are hoping to use the state’s middle-of-the-road approach and independent streak to help them take control of the U.S. Senate.  Republican Sen. Martha McSally is running behind her general election challenger, Mark Kelly, a retired astronaut and husband of former Democratic Party Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who survived an assassination attempt near Tucson in 2011.  “Kelly is running essentially as a moderate. He would very easily be a Republican in some other states,” Gonzalez said.  Trump’s appearances in Arizona likely will not give McSally much of a boost, as the president’s focus on his base is not the voting bloc the incumbent senator needs to motivate to overcome Kelly.  “It might help nudge a few more Trump supporters to turn out and provide some down-ticket support, but it will be minimal,” according to Jones. “More likely to have some impact is the avalanche of new money that has been pouring in for more targeted ads and social media messages.”  
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China appears to be strengthening its censorship controls over Christian religious publications that are approved for distribution by the state.While the Chinese Communist Party outlaws many religious texts and other books considered subversive, it does allow some Christian groups to distribute religious literature that meets the requirements of the country’s censors.However just recently, according to Chinese Christians attend Christmas Eve mass at a Catholic church in Beijing, on Dec. 24, 2016.All-round suppressionThe Chinese authorities’ controls over Christians go beyond censoring religious publications. In recent years, there have been an increasing number of churches and large crosses that have been demolished by the state for alleged regulatory violations.Xu Yonghai, a pastor at a family church in Beijing, told VOA that since 2014, the Chinese Communist Party has been targeting government-approved churches.“During former President Jiang Zemin’s term, all the official churches are the Party’s assistants and had never been under pressure. But since 2014, the government starts to restrict both underground churches and official churches,” he said, adding that this shows China is tightening religious control and pushing communism.Pope Francis kisses a child with a group of faithful from Shanghai during his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s square at the Vatican, May 22, 2019.Meanwhile, as the Vatican continues its engagement with the Chinese Communist Party, there are some Catholics who say the Church’s willingness to work with the authorities has not improved their own religious freedom, especially for believers who attend underground churches.This month the Vatican confirmed that the Holy See had approved an agreement with China on a process, which remains secret, for approving bishops in the country. The Vatican has defended the measure as necessary to growing the church there.But in China, there are Catholics who object.Mr. Zhang, a Catholic in China’s southwest Yunan Province, told VOA it is a betrayal on the part of the pope and that he believes it is a sin to negotiate and compromise on holy matters such as the appointment of bishops with the Chinese Communist Party.Pastor Xu said he understands the dilemma the Vatican faces.“I think they are well-intended because engagement means that more Chinese people will know about Christ,” he said. “Yet the situation in China is just so special.”Mr. Wang, a Catholic from China’s central Sha’anxi Province, said the pope’s action is “a betrayal to God.”FILE – In this Dec. 3, 2018, residents line up inside the Artux City training center in western China’s Xinjiang region. A U.S. envoy on religion has described China’s internment of 1 million Muslims as a “horrific situation.”Hajj travel restrictionsChina has been roundly condemned for its repressive crackdown on Muslims in Xinjiang province, where at least 1 million Uighurs are being held in government detention camps. But the crackdown on Muslims goes beyond Xinjiang.This month, Beijing announced stricter rules for all Muslims in China who wish to visit Saudi Arabia for the hajj pilgrimage. The National Religious Affairs Administration issued a new set of rules last Monday, stating that all trips to Saudi Arabia must be arranged by the Islamic Association of China, an organization controlled by the communist party’s international outreach arm, the United Front Work Department.Independent personal pilgrimages are not allowed.The rules state “the association should educate hajj attendees on patriotic and safe behavior, strengthen the management of attendees, and prevent the infiltration of religious extremist thinking and behavior that endangers national security.”Meanwhile, some traditional temples are also being swept away by the CCP’s promotion of atheism.The Italy-based publication Bitter Winter, an online magazine that focuses on religious freedom and human rights in China, reported that in China’s Linzhou City in its central Henan Province, more than 90 folk temples were demolished and more than 100 temples rebuilt in a month.These temples of folk beliefs have been changed into elderly activity centers, farmers night schools, and volunteer service centers, etc.The city’s actions to rectify places of folk beliefs are considered a sign of local government’s political achievements.Netizens mocked that Chinese people are now living in the “Red Dynasty.” The prerequisite for all religious beliefs is to believe in the Red Religion first. “Regardless of Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, or Taoism, they are all a “red family,” one netizen said.
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North Korea’s pretrial detention system is characterized by systemic torture, degrading treatment and rampant corruption, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch.The New York-based group shed light on the secretive country’s criminal justice system in an 88-page report released Monday, based on accounts by former detainees as well as former government officials who fled the country.Former detainees described that they were forced to sit still on the floor for days, heads down and with their eyes directed to the floor. They said if a detainee moved, guards would punish that person as well as give a collective punishment to all the detainees in a cell.Some female detainees reported sexual harassment and assault, including rape.’System is arbitrary, violent, cruel and degrading’“North Korea’s pretrial detention and investigation system is arbitrary, violent, cruel and degrading,” said Brad Adams, Human Rights Watch’s Asia director.“North Koreans say they live in constant fear of being caught in a system where official procedures are usually irrelevant, guilt is presumed, and the only way out is through bribes and connections,” he added.There has been no comment from Pyongyang, and the North Korean government has repeatedly denied committing human rights abuses.The report was based on interviews with eight former North Korean government officials who fled the country and 22 former detainees — 15 women and 7 men — all who were in detention after 2011, when current leader Kim Jong Un took power.No names, just numbersFour government officials told the rights group that North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party of Korea considers detainees to be inferior human beings and refers to them by numbers instead of their names.Those interviewed described degrading treatment and unhygienic conditions, including very little food, insufficient floor space to sleep, and little opportunity to bathe. They said guards would demand bribes to unofficially allow family members to bring food.The report called on the North Korean government to “end endemic torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment” in pretrial detention and interrogation facilities.“The North Korean authorities should bring the system out of the dark ages by asking for international assistance to create a professional police force and investigative system that relies on evidence instead of torture to solve crimes,” said Adams.
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U.S. prosecutors have charged six Russian military intelligence officers in connection with a global computer malware campaign that struck the 2017 French presidential election and the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea among other targets.  The cyber campaign represented “the most disruptive and destructive series of computer attacks ever attributed to a single group,” said John C. Demers, head of the Justice Department’s national security division. “No country has weaponized its cyber capabilities as maliciously or irresponsibly as Russia, wantonly causing unprecedented damage to pursue small tactical advantages and to satisfy fits of spite,” Demers said Monday at a news conference. The six hackers, all officers of the Russian military intelligence service known as GRU, “engaged in computer intrusions and attacks intended to support Russian government efforts to undermine, retaliate against, or otherwise destabilize” targets around the world, the Justice Department said.    TargetsThese included Ukrainian government and critical infrastructure; Georgian companies and government entities; the elections in France; an investigation into Russia’s poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal in Britain; and the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, the Justice Department said.In addition, the hackers, using the NotPetya malware, struck hospitals and medical facilities in the Heritage Valley Health System in Pennsylvania, a FedEx Corporation subsidiary and an unidentified U.S pharmaceutical manufacturer.   The Justice Department had previously indicted GRU officers with hacking Democratic emails during the 2016 presidential election.  The latest charges do not allege election interference on the part of the GRU.The six defendants were identified as Yuriy Sergeyevich Andrienko, Sergey Vladimirovich Detistov, Pavel Valeryevich Frolov, Anatoliy Sergeyevich Kovalev, Artem Valeryevich Ochichenko, and Petr Nikolayevich Pliskin They face charges of conspiracy, computer hacking, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and false registration of a domain name. 
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A look at people coming up with new ideas to help their community.  
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Officials in Australia’s Victoria state, once the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the country, began loosening lockdown restrictions Monday as new and active cases continued to decline.As of Monday, residents of the state — which includes Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city — will no longer face limits on the time they can spend away from their homes for education or recreation and will be allowed to travel up to 25 kilometers from their homes. Parks, golf courses and beauty salons are also open, but are subject to mask and social distancing requirements.  Outdoor gatherings of up to 10 people from two households will be allowed and golf and tennis games can resume.Residents and some lawmakers said they felt the region waited too long to loosen the restrictions, but State Premier Daniel Andrews defended them, saying every one of them was about safety and keeping virus case numbers low.  Regulations will be further loosened on Nov. 2 with the partial reopening of shops, bars and restaurants.Victoria state reported only four new cases of the coronavirus on Monday and one death.
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Vote counting is underway in Guinea to determine who will be the west African nation’s new president.   Sunday’s election, which pitted incumbent President Alpha Conde against opposition leader Cellou Dalein Diallo, was the culmination of months of political unrest over a controversial new constitution that allowed Conde to bypass the two-term limit for the president’s post.  Conde became Guinea’s first democratically elected president in 2010 after decades as an opposition activist. The new constitution prompted mass protests and harsh criticism by right groups about democracy backsliding in the country.  At least 50 people have been killed in the past year during mass protests of the new constitution.     On the eve of the elections, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres issued a statement calling on “all national stakeholders to ensure that the polls are conducted in an inclusive and peaceful manner.”    Guterres urged all political leaders and their supporters to refrain from “acts of incitement, inflammatory language, ethnic profiling and violence” and also “to resolve any disputes that may arise through legal means.”    Conde faces 10 other contenders besides Diallo, a former prime minister who finished second to Conde in 2010 and 2015 elections.     Diallo, a former prime minister who finished second to Conde in 2010 and 2015 elections, has warned about voter fraud and has said he will challenge any irregularities.  The final results are not expected for several days. 
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China scored points in Southeast Asia against the United States, a rival superpower trying to curtail Chinese influence abroad, through a slate of ministerial visits last week, analysts in the region believe. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi saw officials in Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia and Thailand from October 11-15, media outlets in China say. His visit followed FILE – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks to reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York, Aug. 20, 2020.The foreign minister’s visits were designed to help China and the host countries discuss details of Asia’s economic recovery, production and supply chains, the Beijing-based, state-controlled Global Times news website reported. Wang’s tour would also catalyze talks on a code of conduct in the South China Sea, the news outlet said. The negotiating bloc Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) wants that code in place in case of new mishaps in the sea where China has expanded its hold on tiny, disputed islets over the past decade. Four bloc members contest China’s maritime claims.   “The U.S. has seen the region as an important anchor to strategically and tactically put China in check,” the Global Times says. “Where there is suppression, there are countermeasures. From this point of view, Beijing’s strengthening ties with Southeast Asia (are) related to Washington’s containment policies against China.”   Southeast Asian states such as smaller, poorer Cambodia and Laos traditionally look to China for infrastructure investment. Chinese investment in Southeast Asia topped $10 billion per year in 2016, though debt issues have slowed projects under China’s $1 trillion-plus Belt and Road Initiative that extends across Eurasia.   Now much of the region is seeking catalysts for economic recovery after shutdowns earlier this year to contain COVID-19. China reopened factories and services in March, earlier than most other countries, after more than a month of lockdowns and has promised to share vaccines with developing countries.  In Laos, to name one example, Wang pledged to provide vaccines and said China would waive tariffs on some goods shipped from Laos to China. “It’s an easy sell for Wang Yi if you look at the U.S. on COVID handling and the economy,” Thayer said. The U.S. COVID-19 caseload exceeds China’s by more than 95 times. “In other words, China’s going to be around. Its economy is recovering. It’s in the lead of developing vaccines.”   China is probably looking for a stronger victory in Cambodia, said Nguyen Than Trung, Center for International Studies director at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Ho Chi Minh City. The nation of 16 million has been allied with China since the 1960s and its current prime minister, Hun Sen, leans against the United States. Cambodia as an ASEAN member can influence decisions by the whole bloc, including whether to engage or criticize China’s maritime expansion, especially in years when it’s the chair. “If they can have an impact on the Cambodian decision-making process within ASEAN, I think China can undermine the solidarity of ASEAN countries,” Nguyen said.   Visits to Cambodia and Laos dent the Mekong-U.S. Partnership that launched in September, Thayer added. Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam hatched the partnership last month to let in U.S. aid for projects ranging from COVID-19 relief to anti-drought measures. China has rattled those countries, all dependent on the Mekong River, by controlling water flows from within its borders.   Wang visited Europe in August to discuss the pandemic and economic recovery with leaders there, indicating a wider Chinese push to counter U.S. influence, said Oh Ei Sun, senior fellow with the Singapore Institute of International Affairs.  Sino-U.S. relations have spiraled downward this year on a list of trade, technology and consular issues as well as older geopolitical disputes. “I think he’s going around the world in groups of countries, so now it’s the turn of these nearby Southeast Asian countries,” Oh said. “If the U.S. is going all out, then China is going all out. Both sides would like to have more countries allied to its side.” 
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President Donald Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden campaigned Sunday in swing states they are trying to flip during the Nov. 3 election that is just more than two weeks away. Trump began his day in Nevada, making a visit to church before a fundraiser and an evening rally in Carson City. Once considered a battleground, Nevada has not swung for a Republican presidential contender since 2004. The rally drew thousands of supporters who sat elbow to elbow, cheering Trump and booing Biden and the press. The vast majority wore no masks to guard against the coronavirus, though cases in the state are on the rise, with more than 1,000 new infections reported Saturday. The president warned that a Biden win would lead to further lockdowns and at one point appeared to mock Biden for saying he would listen to scientists. “He’ll listen to the scientists. If I listened totally to the scientists, we would right now have a country that would be in a massive depression,” Trump said. Biden, a practicing Catholic, attended Mass in Delaware before campaigning in North Carolina, where a Democrat has not won in a presidential race since Barack Obama in 2008. Both candidates are trying to make inroads in states that could help secure a path to victory, but the dynamics of the race are remarkably stable. Biden enjoys a significant advantage in national polls, while carrying a smaller edge in battleground surveys. Earlier in the day, Trump sat in the front row at the nondenominational International Church of Las Vegas as the senior associate pastor, Denise Goulet, said God told her early that morning that the president would secure a second term. “At 4:30, the Lord said to me, ‘I am going to give your president a second win,'” she said, telling Trump, “you will be the president again.” Trump spoke briefly, saying “I love going to churches” and that it was “a great honor” to attend the service. He dropped a handful of $20 bills in the collection plate before leaving. The message was far different later in the day, when Biden attended a virtual discussion with African American faith leaders from around the country. Biden held up a rosary, which he said he carries in his pocket every day. “I happen to be a Roman Catholic,” Biden said. “I don’t pray for God to protect me. I pray to God to give me strength to see what other people are dealing with.” Earlier, at a drive-in rally in Durham, North Carolina, Biden focused heavily on promoting criminal justice changes to combat institutional racism and promised to help build wealth in the Black community. He noted that Trump had said at one of his rallies that the country had turned the corner on the pandemic. “As my grandfather would say, this guy’s gone around the bend if he thinks we’ve turned the corner. Turning the corner? Things are getting worse,” Biden said. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. recorded more than 53,000 new cases of the coronavirus Sunday. In addition to public polling that indicates Biden has an edge, the former vice president enjoys another considerable advantage over Trump: money. Trump raked in $12 million during a fundraiser Sunday afternoon at the Newport Beach home of top GOP donor and tech mogul Palmer Luckey, which also featured a performance by the Beach Boys. But over the past four months, Biden has raised over $1 billion, a massive amount of money that has eclipsed Trump’s once-overwhelming cash advantage. Trump’s visit to Nevada is part of an aggressive schedule of campaign events, where he has leaned heavily into fear tactics. Trump’s Carson City rally was held at an airport where he relived fond moments from his 2016 campaign against Hillary Clinton, revisited his long-running feud with NFL players and went on an extended rant about water management policy, which he blamed for people having to “flush their toilet 15 times.” He also added to his litany of attacks against Biden, claiming that, if Biden were elected, he would mandate new lockdown measures that would make Carson City “a ghost town” and “the Christmas season will be canceled.” Biden started his day with Mass in Delaware at St. Joseph’s on the Brandywine, as he does nearly every week. He and his wife, Jill, entered wearing dark-colored face masks. She carried a bunch of flowers that including pink roses. The church is a few minutes’ drive from Biden’s home. Biden’s son Beau, who died of brain cancer in 2015, is buried in the cemetery on its grounds. Joe and Jill Biden visited the grave after the service. Trump attends church far less often but has drawn strong support from white Evangelical leaders and frequently hosts groups of pastors at the White House. Trump often goes to the Church of Bethesda-By-The Sea near Mar-a-Lago in Florida for major holidays, including Easter, and he attended a Christmas Eve service last year at Family Church in West Palm Beach before the onset of the pandemic. 
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Dr. Scott Atlas is a neuroradiologist, a fellow at a conservative-leaning think tank, a science adviser to President Donald Trump and a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force. He is also the latest person in Trump’s world to have a tweet blocked by Twitter. Facebook to Ban Anti-Vaccine AdsThe social media giant says the efforts are part of an attempt to support vaccinesOver the weekend, Atlas tweeted “Masks work? NO,” and said widespread use of masks is not supported, according to the Associated Press. Twitter told the AP that the tweet violated its policy that prohibits false and misleading information about COVID-19 that could lead to harm. The “This Tweet is unavailable” label was put on Atlas’ Twitter feed where his tweet once was.Atlas followed up with another tweet, which remained on the site as of Sunday night. He praised what he called Trump’s “guideline,” which is to “use masks for their intended purpose – when close to others, especially hi risk. Otherwise, social distance. No widespread mandates.” That means the right policy is @realDonaldTrump guideline: use masks for their intended purpose – when close to others, especially hi risk. Otherwise, social distance. No widespread mandates. #CommonSensehttps://t.co/GZpBZxfNYa— Scott W. Atlas (@SWAtlasHoover) October 17, 2020The deletion of Atlas’ tweet is the latest in what has become an ongoing battle between Trump and internet companies. Twitter has blocked or put warnings on Trump’s tweets regarding COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, as well as vote-by-mail. Last week, Twitter temporarily blocked the Trump campaign’s ability to share a story about his presidential challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden. Some congressional leaders accuse Twitter, Facebook and other internet companies of bias and say they are unfairly limiting speech close to the U.S. election. Some have called for the leaders of Twitter and Facebook, which has also taken action on some of Trump’s posts, to testify in front of Congress as soon as the coming week. Twitter told the AP it relies on public health authorities to determine whether a statement is false or misleading.In September, Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention testified at a congressional hearing that masks are “the most powerful public health tool” against the coronavirus.Atlas, a fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, joined the White House task force in August. A medical doctor, Atlas does not have a background in infectious diseases or public health. He is reportedly helping to shape the White House policies about how to handle the virus, including policies about masks and other issues. Atlas told the AP that Twitter’s actions were censorship. “General population masks and mask mandates do not work,” he said.
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U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday said that an agreement with the Trump administration on a new coronavirus relief package would have to be reached within the next 48 hours or it won’t get done before the national presidential election on Nov. 3.Pelosi has engaged in weeks of talks with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, representing President Donald Trump, but the two officials have been unable to reach a deal even as the number of coronavirus cases is surging again in the U.S. and the economic recovery has slowed.Pelosi and Mnuchin are negotiating on a package that could cost between $1.8 trillion and $2.2 trillion but have not agreed on specific terms of a national strategic testing plan, among other issues. Even if they do reach an accord, some Republican senators say they are opposed to spending such a sum in addition to the $3 trillion approved months ago by Congress for coronavirus relief.   Pelosi, on ABC’s “This Week” show, said whether she reaches a deal with Mnuchin by Tuesday “depends on the [Trump] administration” and the commitments it makes.“We’re saying to them we have to [decide] on some of these things (in the legislation). Are we going with it or not, and what is the language,” she said.Mnuchin said last week he would accept Pelosi’s demands for a national strategic testing plan, subject to minor edits.But Pelosi said Sunday she considered Mnuchin’s edits to be significant, including changing “shall” to “may,” “requirements” to “recommendations” and “a plan” to “a strategy, not a strategic plan.”Pelosi said the word changes would give the White House too much flexibility in overseeing coronavirus relief. Mnuchin has said that he does not believe Democratic lawmakers want to hand Trump a legislative victory two weeks before the election.Aside from the legislative language, Pelosi and Mnuchin have yet to agree on funding for cities and states, child care, tax credits for lower-income Americans, liability protections sought by Republicans and other issues. Both sides want to send a new round of $1,200 stimulus checks to most Americans and restore some level of federal unemployment benefits for jobless workers.  Federal unemployment payments totaling $600 a week on top of less generous state benefits expired at the end of July.
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Thousands of demonstrators continued to protest Thailand’s prime minister in Bangkok Sunday, defying a ban on gatherings of more than four people.Protests, largely led by students, have persisted in the capital for months, calling for the resignation of Prayuth Chan-O-Cha, who seized power in a 2014 military coup.Demonstrations also were held in 18 cities around Thailand, the Bangkok Post reported.The movement suffered multiple setbacks over the past week, with dozens arrested after they flashed a pro-Democracy salute at the Thai queen’s motorcade. Authorities used water cannon to disperse crowds outside Bangkok’s central shopping district Friday, sparking outrage across the country.Emergency measures were put in place over the weekend to ban gatherings of more than four people, but protests have persisted.Demonstrators gathered near Bangkok’s Victory Monument Sunday, carrying signs and photos of those who were arrested. Protests were largely peaceful, but some reported that, upon trying to return home, they were barred from entering the central Asok sky train station. BTS Sky Train later confirmed that all its stations had been reopened.Prayuth won an election last year, but protesters say the vote was rigged in his favor due to constitutional laws drafted by the military.   In addition to demanding reform of the country’s constitution, the demonstrators are seeking to reduce the influence of the Thai monarchy. The institution maintains divine-like status among Thailand’s elite, and it is protected by strict “lese majeste” laws that impose prison sentences on anyone convicted of insulting the institution.
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Voters in Guinea went to the polls Sunday to cast ballots for a president, as incumbent Alpha Conde seeks a controversial third term. Conde, a member of the Rally of the Guinean People party, was the country’s first democratically elected leader since the country’s liberation from France in 1958. He came to power in 2010. Conde faces opposition leader Cellou Dalein Diallo, who served as prime minister under authoritarian leader Lansana Conte. In March, President Conde pushed through a new constitution, arguing that it would modernize the country. But the move allowed for him to bypass a two-term limit for president, sparking protests throughout the country and warnings from international rights groups that the 82-year-old leader may be veering toward authoritarianism. According to rights group Amnesty International, at least 50 people were killed and 200 injured in protests in the country since the beginning of this year. If neither candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, a runoff election will take place.      
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Ever since Russian agents and other opportunists abused its platform in an attempt to manipulate the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Facebook has insisted — repeatedly — that it’s learned its lesson and is no longer a conduit for misinformation, voter suppression and election disruption.But it has been a long and halting journey for the social network. Critical outsiders, as well as some of Facebook’s own employees, say the company’s efforts to revise its rules and tighten its safeguards remain wholly insufficient to the task, despite it having spent billions on the project. As for why, they point to the company’s persistent unwillingness to act decisively over much of that time.“Am I concerned about the election? I’m terrified,” said Roger McNamee, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist and an early Facebook investor turned vocal critic. “At the company’s current scale, it’s a clear and present danger to democracy and national security.”The company’s rhetoric has certainly gotten an update. CEO Mark Zuckerberg now casually references possible outcomes that were unimaginable in 2016 — among them, possible civil unrest and potentially a disputed election that Facebook could easily make even worse — as challenges the platform now faces.“This election is not going to be business as usual,” Zuckerberg wrote in a September Facebook post in which he outlined Facebook’s efforts to encourage voting and remove misinformation from its service. “We all have a responsibility to protect our democracy.”Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies remotely during a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on antitrust on Capitol Hill, July 29, 2020, in Washington.Yet for years Facebook executives have seemed to be caught off guard whenever their platform — created to connect the world — was used for malicious purposes. Zuckerberg has offered multipleapologies over the years, as if no one could have predicted that people would use Facebook to live-stream murders and suicides, incite ethnic cleansings, promote fake cancer cures or attempt to steal elections.While other platforms like Twitter and YouTube have also struggled to address misinformation and hateful content, Facebook stands apart for its reach and scale and, compared to many other platforms, its slower response to the challenges identified in 2016.In the immediate aftermath of President Donald Trump’s election, Zuckerberg offered a remarkably tone-deaf quip regarding the notion that “fake news” spread on Facebook could have influenced the 2016 election, calling it “a pretty crazy idea.” A week later, he walked back the comment.Since then, Facebook has issued a stream of mea culpas for its slowness to act against threats to the 2016 election and promised to do better. “I don’t think they have become better at listening,” said David Kirkpatrick, author of a book on Facebook’s rise. “What’s changed is more people have been telling them they need to do something.”The company has hired outside fact-checkers, added restrictions — then more restrictions — on political advertisements and taken down thousands of accounts, pages and groups it found to be engaging in “coordinated inauthentic behavior.” That’s Facebook’s term for fake accounts and groups that maliciously target political discourse in countries ranging from Albania to Zimbabwe.It’s also started added warning labels to posts that contain misinformation about voting and has, at times, taken steps to limit the circulation of misleading posts. In recent weeks the platform also banned posts that deny the Holocaust and joined Twitter in limiting the spread of an unverified political story about Hunter Biden, son of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, published by the conservative New York Post.All this unquestionably puts Facebook in a better position than it was in four years ago. But that doesn’t mean it’s fully prepared. Despite tightened rules banning them, violent militias are still using the platform to organize. Recently, this included a foiled plot to kidnap the governor of Michigan.In the four years since the last election, Facebook’s earnings and user growth have soared. This year, analysts expect the company to rake in profits of $23.2 billion on revenue of $80 billion, according to FactSet. It currently boasts 2.7 billion users worldwide, up from 1.8 billion at this time in 2016.Facebook faces a number of government investigations into its size and market power, including an antitrust probe by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. An earlier FTC investigation socked Facebook with a large $5 billion fine, but didn’t require any additional changes.“Their No. 1 priority is growth, not reducing harm,” Kirkpatrick said. “And that is unlikely to change.”Part of the problem: Zuckerberg maintains an iron grip on the company, yet doesn’t take criticism of him or his creation seriously, charges social media expert Jennifer Grygiel, a Syracuse University communications professor. But the public knows what’s going on, she said. “They see COVID misinformation. They see how Donald Trump exploits it. They can’t unsee it.”Facebook insists it takes the challenge of misinformation seriously — especially when it comes to the election.“Elections have changed since 2016, and so has Facebook,” the company said in a statement laying out its policies on the election and voting. “We have more people and better technology to protect our platforms, and we’ve improved our content policies and enforcement.”Grygiel says such comments are par for the course. “This company uses PR in place of an ethical business model,” she said.Kirkpatrick notes that board members and executives who have pushed back against the CEO — a group that includes the founders of Instagram and WhatsApp — have left the company.“He is so certain that Facebook’s overall impact on the world is positive” and that critics don’t give him enough credit for that, Kirkpatrick said of Zuckerberg. As a result, the Facebook CEO isn’t inclined to take constructive feedback. “He doesn’t have to do anything he doesn’t want to. He has no oversight,” Kirkpatrick said.The federal government has so far left Facebook to its own devices, a lack of accountability that has only empowered the company, according to U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Washington Democrat who grilled Zuckerberg during a July Capitol Hill hearing.Warning labels are of limited value if the algorithms underlying the platform are designed to push polarizing material at users, she said. “I think Facebook has done some things that indicate it understands its role. But it has been, in my opinion, far too little, too late.”
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