Author: CensorBiz

Fake news about the coronavirus can do real harm. Polygraph.info is spotlighting fact-checks from other reliable sources here​.Daily Debunk “Misleading claims about COVID-19 vaccine spread by ‘Plandemic’ video,” Agence France-Presse, August 20. Social Media DisinfoScreenshot Circulating on social media: Claim that CDC added flu and pneumonia cases to its COVID-19 death count.Verdict: FalseRead the full story at: USA Today Factual Reads on CoronavirusScientists see downsides to top COVID-19 vaccines from Russia, China
They are based on a common cold virus that many people have been exposed to, potentially limiting their effectiveness, some experts say.
— Reuters, August 31
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Liberty University is opening an independent investigation into Jerry Falwell Jr.’s tenure as president, a wide-ranging inquiry that will include financial, real estate and legal matters, the evangelical school’s board announced Monday.In a statement, the board said it had retained an outside firm to investigate “all facets” of the school’s operations under Falwell, and that it was “committed to learning the consequences that have flowed from a lack of spiritual stewardship by our former president.”Falwell recently resignedCalls for such an investigation had been mounting since Falwell’s departure last week from the post he had held since 2007.He officially resigned on Tuesday, after a confusing day of back-and-forths about whether or not he would be leaving. His departure came after a news outlet published an interview with Giancarlo Granda, a much younger business partner of the Falwell family. Granda said that he had a yearslong sexual relationship with Becki Falwell and that Jerry Falwell participated in some of the liaisons as a voyeur.Although the Falwells have acknowledged that Granda and Becki Falwell had an affair, Jerry Falwell has denied any participation. The couple allege that Granda sought to extort them by threatening to reveal the relationship unless he was paid substantial monies.’Nothing to hide’The couple said in a statement provided to The Associated Press late Sunday that they support Liberty’s board and “welcome any inquiry as we have nothing to hide.”Falwell took over as the president of Liberty after the death of his famous evangelist father, the Rev. Jerry Falwell Sr. He oversaw a period of expansive growth and transformation: Liberty’s online program exploded, as did its endowment, the campus underwent a massive transformation and the athletics programs improved.Falwell also stayed in the news for a series of divisive remarks as well as his vocal support of President Donald Trump, and was the subject of news stories that focused on his business dealings.Liberty’s statement acknowledged that Falwell’s sharpest critics have long been calling for a departure.”Some may say that all the signs were there for a long time before last week,” the statement said. “It’s certainly fair to say that there were questionable comments made, worrying behavior, and inappropriate social media posts, but all the signs were not there until the start of last week.”The statement also said the school is considering a separate move to reorient it toward its “spiritual mission” by establishing a post in the university leadership dedicated to spiritual guidance for other leaders, ensuring they “live out the Christian walk expected of each and every one of us at Liberty.”New ‘Spiritual mission’The school’s consideration of that new spiritually focused leadership post underscores its concern over the degree to which Falwell’s alleged personal conduct would have violated the behavioral codes the school sets for its own students. Falwell told the AP last week that “I never broke a single rule that applies to staff members at Liberty, which I was.”Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said in a Monday podcast that he didn’t see the school’s treatment of Falwell as a sign of “hypocrisy on the part of the evangelical movement” because once the school became aware of the full scope of Falwell’s behavior, he stepped aside.But, Mohler added, “There may well have been hypocrisy and a failure over time to apply moral standards to the president of the institution that were clearly applicable to students and to faculty. All of that remains to be considered by Liberty University.”
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China is opening another chapter in its bitter trade and diplomatic dispute with Australia with the launch of a second probe into Australia’s wine imports. China’s commerce ministry announced Monday that it will investigate over three-dozen government subsidy programs for the Australian wine industry.  The probe will last one full year. FILE – Bottles of Penfolds Grange wine and other varieties, made by wine maker Penfolds and owned by Australia’s Treasury Wine Estates, at a winery located in the Hunter Valley, Australia, Feb. 14, 2018.Australian Federal Trade Minister Simon Birmingham issued a statement pushing back against Beijing’s claims, saying the government’s research and development programs equate to subsidizing the country’s wine exports. “The government will work with our internationally renowned wine industry to mount the strongest possible case against these claims,” Birmingham said. The new probe comes nearly two weeks after the ministry said it was launching an anti-dumping investigation into Australian wine imports, alleging that winemakers have sharply cut the price of the products they were selling in China, subsequently damaging China’s domestic wine industry. China is the leading market for Australian wine exports with over $790 million in sales last year for a 37% market share, with France a distant second at 27%. The anti-dumping probe is the latest move in China’s apparent retaliation over Australia’s push for an independent probe into the origins of the novel coronavirus pandemic, which was first detected last year in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. A worker weighs beef products on sale at a food court in Beijing, Aug. 28, 2020. China blocked imports from an Australian beef producer on Friday after reporting a banned drug was found in its meat.Beijing has imposed heavy tariffs on Australian barley and suspended Australian beef imports, and has also advised its citizens and students to reconsider Australia as a destination for travel and education, citing racial discrimination. China is also Australia’s largest trading partner, with two-way trade worth $170 billion last year, according to Reuters.   
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 High-ranking U.S. and Israeli delegations flew from Israel’s Ben-Gurion Airport on Monday for a visit to Abu Dhabi, the first-ever commercial flight from Israel to the United Arab Emirates. The flight passed over Saudi Arabia’s airspace — another first for an Israeli commercial flight. Israel and the UAE agreed to establish diplomatic relations earlier this month, with the help of U.S mediation.    The UAE will become the third Arab nation to have normalized relations with Israel, after Egypt and Jordan.   The U.S. delegation includes President Donald Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, national security adviser Robert O’Brien, Mideast envoy Avi Berkowitz and envoy for Iran Brian Hook. Speaking to reporters before boarding the plane, Kushner said “while this is a historic flight, we hope that this will start an even more historic journey for the Middle East and beyond.” The Israeli delegation includes national security adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat, as the head, and the director generals of several ministries.   “This morning the traditional greeting of ‘go in peace’ takes on a special significance for us,” Ben-Shabbat said, adding the aim of the trip was to lay the groundwork for cooperation in areas of medicine, trade, technology and tourism. The U.S. and Israeli officials will have meetings with their UAE counterparts.     
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The job losses in Kenya that resulted from the COVID-19 lockdown have also hurt Kenyan artists, who are trying to find different ways to promote their craft and make a living.  Some are using their art to spread health messages about the coronavirus, as Lenny Ruvaga reports from Nairobi.
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The 2020 Tango World Cup, an annual event held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, was held virtually this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.For the champions of the stage category Valentín Arias Delgado and his dance partner, Diana Franco Durango of Colombia, training was a challenge because of COVID-19 restrictions.”For us it didn’t matter that it was virtual, but it was the world cup organized by the city of Buenos Aires so it was super important and worthy of respect,” he said. “Of course, we had to change a little our way of preparing because we had spent five months without dancing together due to the worldwide pandemic, but when we started training, we did it full speed.”Louise Junqueira Malucelli and Marcos Esteban Roberts of Argentina won the salon category.Instead of competing at the Luna Park stadium in Buenos Aires, where the event has been held each year since 2002, competitors were required to send a video of their dances to the organizers.Among the finalist were couples from Argentina, Colombia, the United States, Russia, Italy and Norway.More than 91,000 people from the general public voted online to crown the champs.
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Tens of thousands of Shiite Muslim pilgrims, some in masks and gloves, flooded Iraq’s Karbala on Sunday to mark Ashoura, in one of the largest religious gatherings of the coronavirus era.Ashoura, on the 10th day of the mourning month of Muharram, commemorates the killing of the Prophet Mohammed’s grandson Hussein at the Battle of Karbala in 680 AD — the defining moment of Islam’s confessional schism.Typically, millions of Shiites from around the world flock to the holy city’s golden-domed shrine where Hussein’s remains are buried, to pray and cry, shoulder-to-shoulder.But with coronavirus numbers spiking across the globe, this year’s commemoration has been subdued.”Honestly, this year is nothing like the millions-strong commemorations of other years,” said Fadel Hakim, who was out early in the streets around the shrine, a blue medical mask cupping his chin.  “It stands out because there are so few people.”  Shiite Muslim worshippers light candles outside the shrine of Imam Hussein during the festival of Ashoura in Karbala, Iraq, Aug. 30, 2020.Small clusters of pilgrims gathered in the vast courtyards outside the shrine, wearing the customary black mourning clothes along with less traditional masks and gloves.  To be allowed in, people had their temperatures taken at gray gates resembling metal detectors.Inside, signs indicated the required distance between worshippers as they pray and nylon sheets prevented people from kissing the walls, a traditional sign of reverence.Praying for a ‘miracle’But in the enclave where Imam Hussein is buried, pilgrims pressed their unmasked faces up against the ornate grille separating them from the mausoleum.  Many visitors were crying or sniffling, wiping their faces with bare hands, gestures which could help the virus spread.Despite directives by Iraq’s health ministry to keep apart, worshippers stood in tight-knit circles to vigorously beat their chests, self-flagellate or make small incisions on their foreheads as signs of grief at Hussein’s death.They put on a dramatic re-enactment of his killing at the hands of Sunni Caliph Yazid’s forces, then sprinted towards the shrine in the famed “Tuwairij run”.Some wore masks as they jogged under disinfectant mists, but otherwise no protective measures were taken.  Last year, a stampede broke out in Karbala that left at least 31 dead and dozens more wounded.”This year will prove to the whole world that a pilgrimage to the Imam Hussein shrine is like a miracle. God willing, there won’t be any new coronavirus cases,” said Mohammad Abdulamir, a mask-less pilgrim.  Karbala governor Nassif al-Khitabi defended the safety measures put in place and hailed Sunday as a “success.””Tens of thousands of pilgrims attended,” he told journalists, or about 65 percent of the normal volume.Authorities in Iraq, other Shiite-majority countries and the United Nations urged people to mark Ashoura at home.Neighbouring Iran, which usually sends tens of thousands of pilgrims to Karbala, is the hardest-hit Middle Eastern country with over 21,000 coronavirus deaths.It broadcast religious rituals on state television and even Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, prayed alone, according to images published by his office.In Sunni-majority Morocco, Ashoura is controversially marked as a celebration, not a day of mourning.Efforts to get worshippers to stay home, however, ended in riots that wounded more than two dozen police officers and led to over 100 arrests.   ‘An inferno’Afghanistan and Pakistan have reported a fall in new virus cases but security remained a top concern, as Ashoura has often been tainted by mass violence targeting Shiites.In the southern port city of Karachi, an estimated 10,000 took part in the largest ceremony, many flagellating their bare backs using multiple blades at once while a heavy security presence kept close watch.”It’s not possible that anyone would be infected with the virus,” said Israr Hussain Shah, a Shiite devotee in the Pakistani capital Islamabad.  “Rather people come to heal and protect themselves, whether that’s a virus of faith or a sickness,” he said.In many Shiite-majority countries, authorities have long urged their faithful to donate blood instead of self-flagellating.This year, Bahrain implemented tougher screening at their blood drive, with health workers meticulously disinfecting the site.  Organisers also swapped their traditional free food distribution with door-to-door delivery instead.In crisis-hit Lebanon, which has seen a severe coronavirus spike this month, powerful Shiite movements Hezbollah and Amal scrapped large Ashoura processions, although a parade was held in the southern town of Nabatiyeh.Iraq has the second-highest regional toll with close to 7,000 deaths.That kept Abu Ali home in the packed Baghdad district of Sadr City this Ashoura.”My children, grandchildren and I go to Karbala every year, but this year we were afraid of corona,” he said.”Imam Hussein wouldn’t want us to throw ourselves into an inferno.”
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The U.S. tallied nearly 6 million cases of the coronavirus Sunday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.Four Midwestern states recently reported record one-day increases in new cases: Iowa (about 785), North Dakota (about 375), South Dakota (about 425) and Minnesota (about 1,000), all according to Johns Hopkins data.Meanwhile Montana and Idaho say their numbers of hospitalized COVID-19 patients are also setting records.While the Midwest is the newest coronavirus hot spot, the nation as a whole is seeing declines in deaths, hospitalizations, positivity rates and new cases.The spike of new cases can be traced to large gatherings. In Iowa, the counties that are home to the University of Iowa and Iowa State University are reporting many of the new cases. Both schools are holding some in-person classes. Other infections have been traced to an annual motorcycle rally in Sturgis, South Dakota, including 88 cases in South Dakota alone.While the United States has the most recorded infections in the world, it ranks 10th based on cases per capita, with Brazil, Peru and Chile having higher rates of infection, according to a Reuters tally.An activist sits among flags placed near the Washington Monument to memorialize the 180,000 people who have died in from the Covid-19 pandemic in the U.S. Aug. 27, 2020, in Washington.The United States also has the most deaths in the world at nearly 183,000, but it ranks 11th for deaths per capita, exceeded by Sweden, Brazil, Italy, Chile, Spain, the United Kingdom, Belgium and Peru, according to Reuters.  On Tuesday, French children are to return to their classrooms, but the country’s education minister said Sunday that rising coronavirus infections is putting those plans in jeopardy.France is reporting several thousand new infections every day. With two days to go before classes begin, French doctors are calling for stricter measures, including masks for students as young as 6 and some online schooling.  Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper that some classes will remain closed Tuesday, but “as few as possible.”The plan is for French schools to resume classes with masks required all day for everyone 11 and older with some restrictions on movements and gatherings.Other European countries, such as Denmark, and many school districts in the U.S. are fully revamping the school day, with smaller classes, more teachers, more separation between students and classes and a mix of in-class and online learning.India reported 78,761 new coronavirus infections in 24 hours on Sunday, the highest single day rise in the world since the pandemic began, while the county is continuing to open its economy.A health worker takes a nasal swab sample to test for COVID-19 at a state bus station in Ahmedabad, India, Aug. 29, 2020.It was the fourth consecutive day that India has registered more than 75,000 infections.India reports about 1,000 COVID-19 deaths a day. So far, more than 63,000 Indians have died from the disease, the fourth highest in the world.While eight of India’s states contribute nearly 73% of the total infections, the virus is spreading fast in vast rural areas.With a population of 1.4 billion people, India is the third most infected nation in the world, behind the United States and Brazil, with 3.5 million cases and more than 63,000 deaths, according to official statistics provided by the country’s health ministry.Johns Hopkins University reports there are more than 25 million COVID-19 cases worldwide. The United States has almost 6 million infections, followed by Brazil with 3.8 million and India with 3.5 million.
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Lebanon’s ambassador to Germany Mustapha Adib is poised to be designated prime minister on Monday after winning the support of major parties to form a new government facing a crippling financial crisis and the aftermath of the Beirut port explosion.Adib is set to be designated just ahead of a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron, who is center stage in international efforts to press Lebanese politicians to address a crisis seen as the worst since the 1975-90 civil war.The previous government led by Hassan Diab quit on Aug. 10 over the port blast in which a massive amount of unsafely stored chemicals detonated.The post of prime minister must go to a Sunni Muslim in Lebanon’s sectarian system. Adib’s candidacy won vital political backing on Sunday from former prime ministers including Saad al-Hariri, who heads the biggest Sunni party, the Future Movement.President Michel Aoun, a Maronite Christian, is to meet with the parliamentary blocs on Monday in the official consultations to designate the new premier. He is required to nominate the candidate with biggest level of support among MPs.Lebanon’s dominant Shi’ite parties, the Iran-backed Hezbollah and the Amal Movement led by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, will both name Adib at the consultations, a senior Shi’ite source said.The Christian Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), a political ally of Hezbollah which was founded by Aoun and is led today by his son-in-law Gebran Bassil, will do the same, Bassil told Reuters.Adib has a doctorate in law and political science and previously served as an adviser to Najib Mikati, a former prime minister. He has served as ambassador to Germany since 2013.Once designated, the process of forming a new government will get underway. Until a new administration is agreed, the Diab government continues in a caretaker capacity.Lebanon’s financial crisis is seen as the biggest threat to its stability since the civil war. The currency has lost as much as 80% of its value since October and savers have been locked out their deposits in a paralyzed banking system. Poverty and unemployment have soared.Lebanon launched talks with the International Monetary Fund in May, after defaulting on its huge debt, aiming to secure financial support but these have stalled amid divisions on the Lebanese side over the scale of losses in the financial system.
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Malawi president Lazarus Chakwera has asked men in Malawi to strictly follow COVID-19 preventive measures.In his weekly national address, Saturday Chakwera said government statistics indicate that more men in the country are infected with the virus than women. Chakwera said this is largely because of the reckless behavior of many men in Malawi in observing measures aimed at stopping the spread of COVID-19. President Chakwera said such an attitude defeats efforts to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
Chakwera said he is deeply concerned that most men in Malawi feel they are very strong and cannot contract the coronavirus. “I am not concerned over this because I am a man, no. But the pandemic has shown that more people who are infected with coronavirus are men because in every 10 confirmed cases, seven of them are men,”  he said.FILE – Malawi Congress Party supporters celebrate Lazarus Chakwera’s win the country’s historic presidential election rerun in Blantyre, Malawi, June 27, 2020. (Lameck Masina/VOA)Recent statistics from the Public Health Institute of Malawi also show that 64 percent of confirmed COVID-19 cases are men.    Chakwera has therefore sent a special appeal to men in Malawi to start strictly observing measures against spread of COVID-19 which include the wearing of face coverings, washing hands with soap or applying hand sanitizers and observing social distance. Chakwera says “On behalf of all men, I should say all women should be reminding us men to follow these preventive measures because what we want is to successfully fight this pandemic to build the COVID-free new Malawi nation,” he said. Social commentator Humphreys Mvula told VOA that men in the country are at higher risk of contracting coronavirus because they are more libelous than women.   He says a large number of men in Malawi usually frequent drinking joints and are too adventurous despite the COVID- 19 threat. “Our women on the other hand conservatism in Malawians women is great. Generally whatever the age a Malawian woman will go from work to home; will go from school to home; will go from a specific undertaking back home. And they are also very fearful, look; most of them are more God fearing than men,” he said.   Dorothy Ngoma, a public health expert and a health rights campaigner in Malawi, spoke to VOA on the matter. “More men tend to smoke so their lungs are weaker,” she said. “They drink a lot more and also when they are sick or they have a fever if it’s not serious, it’s mild, they will still go to work unless they are very, very sick they cannot get up. As opposed to women, when women are sick, they say it loud that they are not feeling well, they will seek treatment and they will stay home.”   Ngoma said there is a need to put measures in place that would help men strictly follow COVID-19 preventive measures.   These measures, she says should include imposing an instant fine on those found ignoring the guidelines.   
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White House adviser Jared Kushner on Sunday trumpeted the recent agreement by Israel and the United Arab Emirates to establish diplomatic relations as a historic breakthrough and said “the stage is now set” for other Arab states to follow suit, but he gave no indication that any new deals were imminent. Appearing alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the U.S. National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien, Kushner spoke a day before he is to join a senior Israeli delegation on the first commercial flight from Israel to the UAE. The flight holds great symbolic value and is a key step in what is expected to be full normalization between Israel and the UAE. The Aug. 13 announcement makes the UAE just the third Arab country to establish full diplomatic relations with Israel, and the first to do so in over 25 years. It reflects a shifting Middle East in which shared concerns over Iran have overtaken traditional wall-to-wall Arab support for the Palestinians. “Today obviously we celebrate a historic breakthrough for peace,” Kushner said, adding that the deal will create “previously unthinkable” economic, security and religious cooperation. “While this peace agreement was thought by many to be impossible, the stage is now set for even more,” he said, claiming he has heard optimism throughout the region since the deal was announced. “We must seize that optimism and we must continue to push to make this region achieve the potential that it truly has,” said Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and chief Mideast adviser. Israel and the UAE have moved quickly to cement their ties over the past two weeks. Almost immediately, they opened direct phone lines, and Cabinet ministers have held friendly phone conversations.  On Saturday, the UAE formally ended its commercial boycott of Israel, although the two countries have quietly conducted business for years. Monday’s flight of an El Al plane from Tel Aviv to Abu Dhabi will be the first known flight of an Israeli commercial airliner from Israel to the Emirates. The two Mideast countries are expected to sign a formal agreement at the White House in the coming weeks. But so far, predictions by Israeli and American officials, including Kushner, that other Arab countries would follow the UAE have not yet materialized.  U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo toured the region last week, stopping in Sudan, Bahrain and Oman — three countries widely seen as candidates to establish ties with Israel — but appeared to leave empty-handed. The flurry of U.S. diplomatic activity comes as the Trump administration presses ahead with ambitious plans to promote Arab-Israeli rapprochement even in the absence of a settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which had long been seen as a prerequisite for Israel to reach peace deals with all of its Arab neighbors.  The UAE deal gave the Trump administration a welcome foreign-policy victory ahead of November’s presidential election. Facing a tough reelection battle, the White House is eager to build on that momentum. Gulf Arab countries, which like Israel share deep animosity toward Iran, have shown an increasing willingness to make back-channel ties with Israel public. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the agreement with the UAE would bring “unbridled” trade and opportunities.  “You will see how the sparks fly,” he said. Trump unveiled a Mideast plan in January that has been rejected by the Palestinians, who say it unfairly favors Israel. The Palestinians seek the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip — areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war — for an independent state. The Trump plan offers them limited autonomy in 70% of the West Bank, leaving Israel in overall control of the territory, and a symbolic presence on the outskirts of Jerusalem, while handing Israel control of the city’s sensitive holy sites. Netanyahu said the deal with the UAE proves the Palestinians no longer have a “veto” over regional peace. The Palestinians have accused the UAE of treason. “If we have to wait for the Palestinians, we will have to wait forever,” Netanyahu said. “As more Arab and Muslim countries join the circle of peace, the Palestinians will eventually understand their veto has dissipated and they will be hard pressed to stay outside the community of peace.”  
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Tens of thousands protested in the Belarusian capital of Minsk Sunday, the president’s birthday, demanding he resign. Alexander Lukashenko, who turned 66 Sunday, was declared the winner of an August 9 election, amid widespread allegations of voter fraud. Lukashenko, in power for 26 years, denies any election irregularities. The main opposition candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said she would never accept the elections results before fleeing to Lithuania for what she said was her children’s safety.    Protesters rally against elections results they say were rigged, in Independence Square in Minsk, Belarus, Aug. 27, 2020.Protests have rocked the country since the election results were announced. On Sunday, protesters convened around Lukashenko’s residence, facing security forces carrying shields and backed by prisoner vans and water cannons. At least 125 people were detained Sunday, Russia’s RIA news agency quoted the Interior Ministry as saying. Russian President Vladimir Putin called Lukashenko Sunday to wish him a happy birthday and invite him to Moscow. Putin has repeatedly offered support to Lukashenko as Belarus faces sanctions from the West. 
 
 
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It starts with a boat ride in, and for the lucky few, ends with a kiss on the side of the trophy.The Venice Film Festival is an early stop for many stars and filmmakers on the path to the Academy Awards. In normal years, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Scarlett Johansson, Lady Gaga and more actors would converge on Lido to the snap of camera shutters and cheers from fans.This, of course, is not a normal year. The photographers will be fewer in numbers and the fans will be gone. Many top actors are staying away too, leaving the Venice festival as a smaller, more European cinema gathering.Even that is an achievement.Italy was among the countries hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic — it has Europe’s second-highest confirmed coronavirus death toll after Britain with over 35,400 deaths. The festival, running Sept. 2-12, will serve as a celebration of its re-opening and a sign that the film world, largely on pause since March, is coming back as well.Despite virus precautions, some Venice mainstays will continue. Water taxis will deliver stars to press conferences and photo calls, where in years past actors like Ralph Fiennes have been compelled to dance and Johnny Depp gave giddy photographers a close-up shot.The red carpet will be rolled out and the Lido will once again play host to flashy premieres. At the end of it all, some actors and filmmakers will earn trophies.Whether they decide to kiss the cup remains to be seen. 
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On the March day that Italy recorded its single biggest jump in coronavirus fatalities, Pope Francis emerged from lockdown to offer an extraordinary prayer and plea to his flock to reassess their priorities, arguing the virus had proved they needed one another.Francis’ words from the rain-slicked promenade of St. Peter’s Basilica encapsulated the core messages he has emphasized during his seven-year pontificate: solidarity, social justice and care for the most vulnerable.But the dramatic moment also underscored how isolated the pope had become during the COVID-19 emergency and a sustained season of opposition from his conservative critics: He was utterly alone before an invisible enemy, preaching to a hauntingly empty piazza.During the virus crisis, Francis has become a 21st century “prisoner of the Vatican,” as one of his predecessors was once known, robbed of the crowds, foreign travel and visits to the peripheries that so defined and popularized his papacy. He will resume physical contact with his flock this week with revived Wednesday general audiences, but the meetings will be held in an internal Vatican courtyard before a limited crowd rather than the vast St. Peter’s Square.After weeks during which Italy brought the virus under control, the country’s caseload is rebounding — now adding more than 1,000 new infections a day — so there’s no telling when or how more ambitious public gatherings and travel might return.What does all this mean for a 83-year-old globe-trotting pope and his ministry to the 1.2-billion-member Catholic Church?Alberto Melloni, a church historian usually sympathetic to Francis, declared that the pandemic marked the beginning of the end of Francis’ pontificate. In a recent essay, he asserted that tensions that had percolated throughout the papacy came to the surface during the lockdown, and won’t fade even after COVID-19 is tamed.“In every papacy there’s a historic point after which the final phase begins, which can last years,” Melloni wrote. For Francis, “this point was the pandemic and his solitude before the virus.”Papal biographer Austen Ivereigh concurred that the pandemic was indeed “a before and after moment” for the papacy and humanity itself. But he disputed that Francis was isolated and said the crisis had offered him an unexpected opportunity to provide spiritual guidance to a world in need.The pandemic, he said in an interview, had given “a whole new impetus to the papacy” to double down on its core message, articulated most comprehensively in Francis’ 2015 encyclical “Praised Be.” In the document, Francis demanded political leaders correct the “perverse” structural inequalities of the global economy that had turned Earth into an “immense pile of filth.”“It is his conviction that this is a turning point, and that what the church can offer humanity could be very helpful,” Ivereigh said. “He is convinced that … in a crisis, and a major crisis like a war or a pandemic, you either come out better or you come out worse.”There are rumors Francis is writing a new encyclical for the post-COVID-19 world, but for now a key part of his message is embodied by a Vatican commission helping local church leaders ensure that the needs of the poorest are met now and after the emergency fades.The commission is providing concrete assistance — every month or so the Vatican announces a new delivery of ventilators to a developing country — as well as policy recommendations for how governments and institutions can re-think global economic, social, health care and other structures to be more equitable and sustainable.“The pope isn’t just looking at the emergency,” said Sister Alessandra Smerilli, an economist who is a key member of the commission. “He is perhaps one of the few world leaders who is pushing to ensure that we don’t waste this crisis, that all the pain that this crisis has caused isn’t in vain.”In recent weeks, Francis has also launched a series of new catechism lessons applying Catholic social teaching to the pandemic, reasserting the church’s “preferential option for the poor” by demanding that the rich don’t get priority in getting a vaccine and that political leaders address social injustices exacerbated by the crisis.“Some people can work from home, while this is impossible for many others,” Francis pointed out last week. “Certain children … can continue to receive an academic education, while this has been abruptly interrupted for many, many others. Some powerful nations can issue money to deal with the crisis, while this would mean mortgaging the future for others.“These symptoms of inequality reveal a social illness; it is a virus that comes from a sick economy,“ he said.Those words were delivered to a television camera from Francis’ library — hardly a headline-grabbing moment. It’s the setup the Vatican has used since March, when it suspended all nonessential activity and gatherings.More significantly, the pandemic has deprived Francis of one of his most potent tools: foreign travel. Ever since the celebrity-style, globe-trotting days of St. John Paul II, the Holy See has counted on foreign trips and the accompanying 24-hour media coverage to get the pope’s message out to a wide, international audience that might otherwise never pay him much heed.Francis used those trips to touch base with his far-flung priests and nuns, deliver tough-love messages to world leaders and provide pastoral care, often in forgotten corners of the planet. They also allowed him to push the envelope on issues close to his heart during free-wheeling news conferences upon returning home.What an extended absence of such travel will mean for the papacy remains to be seen. But Francis has willingly adhered to the Italian government’s lockdown, and even criticized priests who complained about such measures.Ivereigh said Francis has expressed his “spiritual closeness” in other ways, including his livestreamed morning Masses that were viewed by millions before the Vatican pulled the plug once Italian churches reopened.All summer there have been reports of priests, nuns and ordinary folk around the world receiving one of Francis’ famous “cold calls:” a bishop in Mozambique dealing with cholera and malaria outbreaks as well as a Muslim insurgency; an Argentine nun who cares for transsexual women.While such feel-good stories have occasionally leaked out during the Vatican’s typically slow summer, they haven’t drowned out the steady drumbeat of criticism in U.S. Catholic media from Francis’ conservative opponents, a small but vocal wing of the church.They have used his relative isolation to continue their attacks and demands for accountability in a two-decade cover-up of the actions of American ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, whom Francis defrocked last year after a Vatican investigation concluded he sexually abused minors and adult seminarians.Francis still hasn’t released a report into what the Vatican knew and when about McCarrick, two years after promising to do so.As evidence of the conservative wing’s desire to look beyond the Francis papacy, two books were published this summer by prominent Catholic authors. Both were titled “The Next Pope.”One provided character sketches of 19 papal candidates for the next conclave, the other a checklist of characteristics the next pope must have.They each pontificated about a future pontificate — typically taboo while the current pope is very much alive. But their publication suggests that at least some are thinking about what comes next, not just after the pandemic, but the papacy. 
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China’s new rules around tech exports mean ByteDance’s sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations could need Beijing’s approval, a Chinese trade expert told state media, a requirement that would complicate the forced and politically charged divestment.ByteDance has been ordered by President Donald Trump to divest short video app TikTok — which is challenging the order — in the United States amid security concerns over the personal data it handles.Microsoft Corp and Oracle Corp are among the suitors for the assets, which also includes TikTok’s Canada, New Zealand and Australia operations.However, China late on Friday revised a list of technologies that are banned or restricted for export for the first time in 12 years and Cui Fan, a professor of international trade at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, said the changes would apply to TikTok.”If ByteDance plans to export related technologies, it should go through the licensing procedures,” Cui said in an interview with Xinhua published on Saturday.China’s Ministry of Commerce added 23 items –- including technologies such as personal information push services based on data analysis and artificial intelligence interactive interface technology — to the restricted list.It can take up to 30 days to obtain preliminary approval to export the technology.TikTok’s secret weapon is believed to be its recommendation engine that keeps users glued to their screens. This engine, or algorithm, powers TikTok’s “For You” page, which recommends the next video to watch based on an analysis of your behavior.Cui noted that ByteDance’s development overseas had relied on its domestic technology that provided the core algorithm and said the company may need to transfer software codes or usage rights to the new owner of TikTok from China to overseas.”Therefore, it is recommended that ByteDance seriously studies the adjusted catalog and carefully considers whether it is necessary to suspend” negotiations on a sale, he added.ByteDance did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday.China’s foreign ministry has said that it opposes the executive orders Trump has placed on TikTok and that Beijing will defend the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese businesses.
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One person was shot and killed late Saturday in Portland, Oregon, as a large caravan of President Donald Trump supporters and Black Lives Matter protesters clashed in the streets, police said.It wasn’t clear if the shooting was linked to fights that broke out as a caravan of about 600 vehicles was confronted by protesters in the city’s downtown. An Associated Press freelancer observed police medics working on the body of the victim, who appeared to be a white man.“Portland Police officers heard sounds of gunfire from the area of Southeast 3rd Avenue and Southwest Alder Street. They responded and located a victim with a gunshot wound to the chest. Medical responded and determined that the victim was deceased,” the Portland Police Bureau said in a statement.Portland, the largest city in the Pacific Northwest state of Oregon, has been the site of nightly protests for more than three months since the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis. Hundreds have been arrested by local and federal law enforcement and, before the shooting, police made several arrests Saturday and advised residents to avoid the downtown.The chaotic scene came two days after Trump invoked Portland as a liberal city overrun with violence in a speech at the Republican National Convention as part of his “law and order” reelection campaign theme. The caravan marked the third Saturday in a row that Trump supporters have rallied in the city.The caravan of Trump supporters had gathered earlier in the day at a nearby mall and drove as a group to the heart of Portland. As they arrived in the city, protesters attempted to stop them by standing in the street and blocking bridges.Videos from the scene showed sporadic fighting, as well as Trump supporters firing paintball pellets at opponents and using bear spray as counter-protesters threw things at the Trump caravan.“There have been some instances of violence between demonstrators and counterdemonstrators,” Portland Police said via Twitter. “Officers have intervened and in some cases made arrests.”The Black Lives Matter demonstrations usually target police buildings and federal buildings. Some protesters have called for reductions in police budgets while the city’s mayor and some in the Black community have decried the violence, saying it’s counterproductive.Early Saturday morning, fires set outside a police union building that is a frequent site for protests prompted police to declare a riot.An accelerant was used to ignite a mattress and other debris that was laid against the door of the Portland Police Association building, police said in a statement. At least one dumpster had also been set on fire in the street nearby.The commotion followed a sit-in in the lobby of the Portland mayor’s condominium building Friday night.  
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Facebook made a mistake in not removing a militia group’s page earlier this week that called for armed civilians to enter Kenosha, Wisconsin, amid violent protests after police shot Jacob Blake, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said.The page for the “Kenosha Guard” violated Facebook’s policies and had been flagged by “a bunch of people,” Zuckerberg said in a video posted Friday on Facebook. The social media giant has in recent weeks adopted new guidelines removing or restricting posts from groups that pose a threat to public safety.Facebook took down the page Wednesday, after an armed civilian allegedly killed two people and wounded a third Tuesday night amid protests in Kenosha that followed the shooting of Blake, who is Black.”It was largely an operational mistake,” Zuckerberg said. “The contractors, the reviewers, who the initial complaints were funneled to, didn’t, basically didn’t pick this up.”Zuckerberg did not apologize for the error and said that so far, Facebook hasn’t found any evidence that Rittenhouse was aware of the Kenosha Guard page or the invitation it posted for armed militia members to go to Kenosha.Facebook is now taking down posts that praise the shooting or shooter, Zuckerberg said. Yet a report Thursday by The Guardian newspaper found examples of support and even fundraising messages still being shared on Facebook and its photo-sharing service, Instagram.Zuckerberg also contrasted the treatment of Blake, who was shot in the back by Kenosha police, and the white 17-year-old now charged in Tuesday’s slayings, Kyle Rittenhouse, who carried an AR-15-style rifle near police without being challenged. Zuckerberg also acknowledged the civil rights demonstration Friday in Washington, D.C.”There’s just a sense that things really aren’t improving at the pace that they should be, and I think that’s really painful, really discouraging,” Zuckerberg said.Zuckerberg also said the company is working on improving its execution, though he did not provide details. He acknowledged that the approaching presidential election would present greater challenges around polarizing content.”There is a real risk and a continued increased risk through the election during this very sensitive and polarized and highly charged time,” he said.
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