‘Crazy’ beekeepers determined to make it in tough times
By MARTHA IRVINE and CARRIE ANTLFINGER

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Beekeeper James Cook works on hives near Iola, Wis., on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020. Cook and his wife, Samantha Jones, have worked with honey bees for several years but started their own business this year — and proceeded with plans even after the coronavirus pandemic hit. (AP Photo/Carrie Antlfinger)

IOLA, Wis. (AP) — They wrote it right into their business plan -– an expectation that, each year, at least half the stock on which their livelihood depends would die.

Building a business around bees is not for the faint-hearted. “You have to be a little crazy,” says James Cook, who, with wife Samantha Jones, started beekeeping eight years ago. They knew well the challenges their bees face –- parasites and the impact of pesticides among them.

Even so, they were hopeful. 2020 was to be their year to go off on their own, after working several years for another beekeeper. They and their bees spent the past winter in California’s massive almond orchards, full of white blossoms that turn into nuts, thanks to the many beekeepers who travel extensively with their hives to pollinate many of the nation’s crops.

Then the coronavirus hit and, for a moment, Cook and Jones panicked.

“Do we stay? Do we go?” they asked each other. By that time, they had packed up their tent and trucked their hives from California’s San Joaquin Valley to another temporary home in the state’s foothills, where the bees could “detox” from the agricultural work.

There, they raised “nucs” — hive starter-kits, of sorts, with new queens — which they sell to other beekeepers to replace bees that inevitably die over the course of a season. This work and the almond pollination each represent about a third of their business.

But they didn’t want to get stuck in California’s pandemic shutdown. The other third of their business was in their permanent base of Wisconsin, where they own a farmhouse and spend the summer honey season.



Deemed essential agricultural workers in a line of work that’s generally quite solitary, they decided to wait it out. Then they and the bees trekked back to Iola, Wisconsin. There, marshaling their 750 bee colonies, they would set out to create their brand, Bird and the Bees Honey.

The bird in the title is Kat, their free-ranging parrot who often rides in the cab of their truck and who also happens to like honey.

This summer, Cook and Jones and their small crew worked day and night to build an extraction and bottling facility out of old semi trailers.

They were exhausted and in debt, having taken on loans to get the business up and running – but also excited.

Jones, 38, noted how much of the honey available in grocery stores is blended and cooked. “It would lose all those fine, delicate flavors that honey has,” she says. “And I thought that people deserved good honey.”

Unlike other agricultural crops, honey also can be stored indefinitely. That’s fortunate since the pandemic has left them fewer outlets for sales; farmers’ markets have been limited and restaurants and breweries have cut back, as well.

Cook, 35, says the experience of starting a business in these challenging times will make them more resilient.

“I think beekeeping sort of taught me (that) inside of this space of sheer chaos and uncertainty and fear and danger, in a lot of ways, you kind of need to look for the optimism and the beauty that you can find,” he says. “Because otherwise, it’s really hard to wake up in the morning.”

__

Antlfinger reported from Wisconsin and Irvine from Chicago. Terry Chea, an AP reporter based in California, also contributed to this report.

Women's marches protest Trump's Supreme Court nominee

Oct. 17 (UPI) -- Women marched in Washington, D.C., and hundreds of cities across the country Saturday to protest President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett.

Women's March leaders said they also hope to build momentum to vote Trump out of office, and energize women to get involved in activism and politics.

"Everything we've been doing has been leading up to this," said Caitlin Breedlove, deputy executive director of organizational advancement for the Women's March. "We're not only in resistance. We're actually fighting for what we need to build."

Saturday's tent-pole event in Washington was permitted for 10,000 attendees, and organizers said some 380 events were planned throughout the country.

The Women's March nearly four years ago attracted millions of people to protest in cities nationwide against Trump and for women's political activism. Organizers this year said more than 116,000 people have pledged to participate nationwide amid concerns about lower turnout due to COVID-19.

The marches are being held days before the Senate is set to hold its first vote to confirm Barrett to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a liberal justice and feminist icon. Barrett would cement a 6-3 conservative advantage on the court.

The D.C. rally began around 11 a.m. Saturday at Freedom Plaza with hundreds of women urging people to vote and call on Congress to suspend the Supreme Court confirmation. Participants planned to later march down Pennsylvania Avenue and Constitution Avenue to the Supreme Cour

About a dozen women lined up a in a row were clothed in red dresses and white bonnets -- a nod to The Handmaid's Tale -- with signs hanging from their necks, which read "Trump Pence OUT NOW!"

The costumes also were a reference to Barrett's leadership role in the Christian group People of Praise, a position called "handmaiden" until 2017.

"Women are threatened in a world where a Christian theocracy is threatening to take over," Kelsey Weir, a 29-year-old demonstrator holding a sign with the words, "Women Against the Patriarchy" said, as she pointed to the women in the handmaiden costumes. "This is the crisis for our world. The next few weeks are going to decide so many things for women."

Critics of Barrett fear she will cast a deciding vote that will threaten the reproductive rights of women and the Affordable Care Act.

Whatever happened to Deborah Birx?
BY BRETT SAMUELS - 10/18/20 

Deborah Birx is nowhere to be found at the White House these days.

Though she retains the title of coordinator of the White House coronavirus response, Birx has not attended any of President Trump's press briefings on the pandemic since he started them anew in late July, nor was she at a recent event to tout the administration's advances in testing.

Instead, Birx has been on the road, visiting 36 states and 27 different colleges and universities since the end of June to meet with state, local and university leaders to advise on best practices for containing the coronavirus and to gather information on what's been working in each place.

Olivia Troye, a former coronavirus task force adviser who worked with Birx and is now a Trump critic, said White House officials grew irritated by Birx's detailed and data-heavy presentations in the early summer that showed emerging hot spots and difficulties getting the virus under control. Some officials rolled their eyes as Birx delivered a message that clashed with the administration's preferred narrative that things were improving, Troye said.

The frustration preceded a push to get Birx out on the road to meet with state and local leaders, multiple officials familiar with the discussions said. She last appeared publicly alongside Trump in an early August Oval Office meeting with Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R).

"It’s convenient because they don’t want her at the White House and don’t want her at the podium,” Troye said. “But in many ways it probably ended up being better for her."

Administration officials and those who have met with Birx recently say she remains a vital resource and argue that she may be more comfortable being away from Washington, D.C., where she had to navigate the politics of the White House. She often drew criticism for praising Trump publicly while attempting privately to impress upon others the seriousness of the situation.

But her absence is a sign of how Trump has spurned the same doctors who were the face of the coronavirus response in the early months of the pandemic in favor of advisers who align with his views.

She has joined the likes of Anthony Fauci, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield, and Surgeon General Jerome Adams as fixtures of White House briefings from February to April who have since been relegated to the background, while Scott Atlas, who is not an epidemiologist and has pushed the controversial herd immunity theory, has gained the president's ear.
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Unlike Fauci, Birx no longer appears on Sunday morning shows or cable news. Those appearances proved problematic at times for Birx, as she would often be pressed to contradict or call out the president's latest misleading or questionable comments about the pandemic.

“She navigates the political atmosphere much better than a lot of the doctors at times, but it’s exhausting, and I’ve certainly seen it firsthand, and I’ve certainly seen it weigh on her,” said Troye, who left the White House in July.

The White House coronavirus task force provides tailored recommendations to governors and health commissioners, and Birx’s travel has been a key component of understanding their problems and offering guidance, an administration official said.

“Dr. Birx continues to lead the Task Force and travel the country working hand-in-hand with Governors and local health officials to ensure we are defeating this virus at the local level with federal support,” White House deputy press secretary Sarah Matthews said in a statement.

Birx did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

Vice President Pence tapped Birx in late February to coordinate the White House coronavirus response when there were just 60 known COVID-19 cases in the United States. Birx was appointed by former President Obama in 2014 as an ambassador-at-large to lead the country’s global efforts to combat HIV/AIDS.

She became a fixture at press briefings early in the coronavirus pandemic. Her scarves spawned parody Instagram accounts, and she and Fauci emerged as authoritative voices at the White House. But as Trump and others in the building pushed for states to lift restrictions and insisted the country was rounding the turn on the pandemic, Birx appeared less frequently.

Since then, cases have spiked around the United States. The country recorded more than 60,000 new infections on Thursday. Officials in Wisconsin, Montana and other states have raised concerns that their hospital systems could soon be overwhelmed.

Those who know Birx or who have met with her in recent weeks have universally praised her professionalism and helpfulness. They say she is simply looking for ways to be most effective in an administration where the president has repeatedly contradicted and ridiculed his own top health officials.

"It is really, I would say, close to impossible to do anything reasonable with this White House. And she tried initially inside, and now what I think she's trying is she's trying outside," said Carlos del Rio, an infectious disease expert at Emory University who has worked with Birx through her role in the State Department.

"I think she’s trying to figure out how can she do the best in, quite frankly, a very complicated environment," he added.

Birx has recently visited states such as Alabama, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Texas. Birx told one university president she met with that she’d traveled more than 16,000 miles over the last few months.

Birx typically meets with college and university leadership during those stops and occasionally with governors and local officials. Each visit tends to include press briefings with local media. She discusses the importance of masks and physical distancing, and she has urged students to be mindful of the risks when they return home for Thanksgiving and interact with family.

“It was a very buttoned-up visit, I would say,” said Max Reiss, communications director for Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D). “It had a very clear public health focus the entire visit. She met with the governor one-on-one. She met with the heads of the [University of Connecticut] system one-on-one.”

Birx last week visited Stony Brook University in New York to meet with school leaders, researchers and students. She also met with leaders of the university’s hospital, which was inundated in the early months of the pandemic.

Stony Brook President Maurie McInnis said Birx was interested in how the school had maintained such a low case load during the fall semester and had gotten widespread compliance from students to wear masks.

“We were all really just both enormously appreciative and learned so much from her visit, and I think it sharpened our thinking about winter and the important messaging that we are going to need to follow,” McInnis said.

Even hundreds of miles away, though, it’s impossible for Birx to completely separate herself from the latest White House controversies.

During a recent trip to New Jersey, Birx danced around a question about the president attending a fundraiser the same day he tested positive for COVID-19. In Connecticut, local media asked her about Trump’s claim that Americans shouldn’t be afraid of the virus. And during her stop at Stony Brook, reporters asked what Birx made of Trump’s treatment when he had the virus, McInnis said.

“At the press briefing, she got several questions from reporters [about Trump], and she very deftly did not answer them,” McInnis said. “She was very focused on her message, which is the public health message, what we all need to be doing to be safe and keep coronavirus at low levels.”

‘I was afraid I would die’: Hong Kong activist ‘Grandma Wong’ says she was held 14 months in China

by AFP 17 OCTOBER 2020

An elderly woman who disappeared midway through Hong Kong’s democracy protests last year resurfaced in the financial hub on Saturday after 14 months away, saying she had been detained on the Chinese mainland.

Alexandra Wong said she was forced to renounce her activism in writing, record a video statement saying she was not tortured, and sent on a “patriotic tour” of the country’s north.

Grandma Wong. Photo: Chu Hoi Dick.

Dubbed “Grandma Wong” by her comrades and often spotted waving a British flag, the 64-year-old attended virtually every rally during the early days of the movement for greater democracy and police accountability, which kicked off in June 2019.


She disappeared last August and maintained only sporadic contact with local media in the former British colony.

On Saturday she held a press conference in Hong Kong and said that, after joining an August protest, she was detained by Chinese police at the border with Shenzhen, the mainland metropolis where she has lived for 14 years.

Her testimony was a vivid illustration of the opaque, party-controlled judicial system on the mainland that many Hong Kongers fear is one day coming to their restless city.

Wong said she was held by Shenzhen authorities for “administrative detention” and “criminal detention” for a total of 45 days, without knowing what charges she was facing.

“I was afraid I would die in the detention centre,” she said.

When her stay in custody was over, she was asked to declare into a camera that she had not been tortured by mainland authorities, and promise not to take media interviews or protest again.

She was asked to confess in writing that her activism had been wrong.

“The worst thing I did in my life is to write that confession… but I had nothing to bargain with,” she said.

Protester Grandma Wong. Photo: Isaac Yee/HKFP.

The confessions did not win her freedom immediately. She was later sent on a five-day “patriotic tour” of Shaanxi province, where she had her picture taken holding the Chinese flag, and sang the national anthem.

After that, she was told she would be released on bail pending trial for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” — a catch-all term used by the government to target dissenters.

But she was given no written documents on the charges.

For a year after her release on bail, she was only allowed to go back to her home in Shenzhen, and could not return to Hong Kong. Those conditions lapsed in late September.

Grandma Wong waves a British flag at a protest on July 7, 2019. Photo: Studio Incendo.

“I have no courage to step in Shenzhen again, at least for now, unless there is a radical change in the political situation,” Wong told reporters.

After huge and often violent democracy protests that convulsed Hong Kong last year, Beijing launched a clampdown on its opponents in the semi-autonomous city.

In late June, it also imposed a broadly worded security law that, among other restrictions, outlawed the expression of certain views.

“I won’t give up fighting,” Wong said. “After all, there will be sacrifice, otherwise… the authoritarian system wouldn’t be changed.”

Hong Kong democrats rally in support of Thailand protests as activists barred from consulate entry


by RHODA KWAN 19 OCTOBER 2020

A group of prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy figures on Monday held a rally in solidarity with Thailand’s pro-democracy protests outside of the Thai Consulate in Central.

Those present included democrats Ted Hui and Kalvin Ho, as well as activists Joshua Wong and Figo Chan. The group held a banner reading: “Condemn violence against protesters. Stand with Thailand.”

Photo: Rhoda Kwan/HKFP.

Fresh protests against the Thai monarchy and government erupted in Bangkok four days ago. The Thai capital has seen pro-democracy street demonstrations since July, with thousands on its streets calling for political reform. The protests ran into their fourth consecutive day on Sunday despite Thai authorities banning gatherings of more than five people.

Photo: Rhoda Kwan/HKFP.

Speaking to reporters, Hui expressed support for Thai protesters who have been arrested over the last four days: “We are here to support them and ask the Thai government for their immediate release. It breaks our hearts to see that many young people are injured, that many young people are facing arbitrary arrest.”

Hui also called on support from the international community: “We are here to ask the international community to support the freedom movement, the democratic movement that is happening now in Bangkok and in other places in Thailand.”
Photo: Rhoda Kwan/HKFP.

Referring to similar struggles in Belarus, Hui said the group wanted to “send a signal” to the international community about the collective fight against authoritarian regimes across the world: “We are fighting against tyrannical governments… people from different parts of the world we are one. Against tyranny. Against totalitarianism.”

#MilkTeaAlliance pic.twitter.com/hQOYbX0Qlc— Joshua Wong 黃之鋒 (@joshuawongcf) October 17, 2020
Joshua Wong 黃之鋒 (@joshuawongcf) October 17, 2020

Pro-democracy figures took turns in fours to speak to the press, in keeping with a government-imposed gathering limit related to the coronavirus pandemic.

Standing outside the Consulate building, the activists chanted “Stand with Thailand” and “Democracy Now.” The group also raised three-fingers, used by Thai protesters to signal their three demands: the dissolution of the government, an end to police violence, and for the drafting of a new constitution

.

Photo: Rhoda Kwan/HKFP.

Police were also at the scene. Officers repeatedly cautioned the crowd against violating the four-person gathering limit.

The group then attempted to enter the building to present their demands to the Thai Consul, however, officers and the building’s security personnel blocked them.

Police later set up a cordon around the entrance.

Breaking: #Thai police now uses water cannons to attack and disperse unarmed citizens, elderly and kids! #Hongkongers and the world please #standwithThailand and spread the news!pic.twitter.com/O9xmhcrMa8#ม๊อบ16ตุลา #16ตุลาไปแยกปทุมวัน #WhatsHappeningInThailand #MilkTeaAliance— Joshua Wong 黃之鋒 (@joshuawongcf) October 16, 2020

Unable to gain entry, the activists taped banners reading “Stand with Thailand,” “Release detainees,” “Hongkongers support Thais” and “Condemn violent crackdown” in Thai, Chinese and English on the front entrance of Fairmont House.

Speaking to reporters after their failed entry, Hui urged “freedom-loving” people from around the world to petition their Thai Consul for the release of protesters and to accede to demands for reform: “Thailand, Hong Kong, Belarus. We inspire each other.”
‘Our responsibility’

Chan told HKFP that he wanted to show mutual solidarity with Thais: “The situation in Thailand now is very similar to the situation during Hong Kong’s movement last year,” he said.

“They want democracy and freedom, like everyone else. These are things that everyone should have, regardless of nationality.”


“We are here to show our support, and we hope that the Thai government will value its people. A state exists because of its people. If the government doesn’t respect its people and their demands for freedom, how can the people, in turn, respect its monarch?” he asked.

There was an outpouring of support for Thailand’s protest movement from Hong Kong netizens over the weekend, with many referring to a “Milk Tea Alliance” – an informal, online coalition of pro-democracy supporters from Hong Kong, Thailand and Taiwan.

Photo: Studio Incendo.

On Sunday, graffiti reading “#Stand with Thailand” appeared on an overpass in Hong Kong.

UPDATES
Belarus: Demonstrations Against Lukashenko Continue
Politics | October 19, 2020, Monday



In Belarus during the weekend continued the protests against the newly elected “old” president Lukashenko and another 200 people were detained by the police reported France-Presse.

Most arrests were made in the capital Minsk. The downtown was blocked by armored vehicles.

Over 50 000 people took part in demonstrations according to AP. The protesters shouted “ Lukashenko – go away”

Police used rubber bullets against the protesters who threw stones.

Mass protests in Belarus started after the presidential elections on August 9th, which were won by current president Lukashenko with over 80%, according to officials. Many people in Belarus,opposition leaders and most European countries does not recognize the official results.

Belarus: Thousands turn out for protests despite police threat to open fire

For the 10th straight weekend, anti-Lukashenko protesters marched through Minsk despite threats from police to fire live ammunition. Police reportedly fired rubber bullets into the air to disperse demonstrators.


For the 10th weekend rally in a row, tens of thousands of protesters opposing long-time President Alexander Lukashenko marched through the capital despite threats of force from authorities to open fire.

Protesters were heard chanting "Strike!" and "You and your riot police get out!"

Crowds of demonstrators waved red-and-white opposition flags, marching through Minsk amid a heavy security presence.

"There's no way back," protester Anzhela Krasovskaya told French news agency AFP. "If they start shooting then there would be even more people in the streets," she added.

Over 200 protesters were arrested during Sunday's protests, Belarusian Interior Ministry spokeswoman Olga Chemodanova told AFP, adding that most of the detentions were in Minsk.

Read more: Belarus leader Lukashenko could face sanctions, EU warns

Protesters were largely undeterred by threats from police to open fire

Water cannon and rubber bullets

Images from social media showed security forces deploying water cannon and blockading streets with barbed wire and heavy machinery.

A local media reported that security forces fired rubber bullets into the air in response to demonstrators throwing stones.

An Interior Ministry spokesperson later confirmed the reports, telling AFP the rubber bullets were fired as a warning to protesters who threw stones at police.

Minsk authorities have also shut down a number of underground metro stations as well and decreased mobile internet coverage in an attempt to limit protests.

Security forces used water cannon and rubber bullets, but largely refrained from using riot control equipment on Sunday

Over two months of protests

Demonstrators in the former Soviet republic have been demanding Lukashenko's resignation for weeks.

After more than two decades in power, Lukashenko claimed another round of victory in the country's August 9 elections over popular opposition candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.

Tsikhanouskaya, who fled to neighboring Lithuania after the vote, has called on Lukashenko to step down before October 25, warning he would otherwise face a nationwide general strike that would paralyze the country.

Ahead of Sunday's protest, Tsikhanouskaya urged Belarusians to continue their calls for justice.

"We will stop only when every political prisoner walks free, when members of law enforcement begin to defend the people, and rule of law and honest elections return to Belarus," she said.

Belarus security forces have so far arrested more than 13,000 people.

VIDEO https://p.dw.com/p/3k6mC

Belarus warns protesters they may face live fire, as elderly women pepper-sprayed
12 Oct, 2020 

Elderly women hold flowers during an opposition rally to protest against the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Photos / AP

Daily Telegraph UK
By: Nataliya Vasilyeva

Belarusian authorities threatened to shoot protesters with live ammunition, as the regime of Alexander Lukashenko tries to put a stop to relentless demonstrations.

Gennady Kazakevich, a deputy interior minister, dismissed anti-Lukashenko protesters in televised remarks as "militants, radicals and anarchists" and said that law enforcement agencies were prepared to use live rounds against them.

"Police as well as internal troops will use crowd control measures and live ammunition if necessary," he said.

Belarusian police killed a man in the western city of Brest in August using live ammunition, but officials claimed at the time they had acted in self defence.

"People like that should resign," Andrey Fedorovich, an IT professional from Minsk who often goes to opposition protests, said of Kazakevich.

"Demonstrators have been as peaceful as can be," said Fedorovich. "Authorities are doing their best to radicalise the protest."

An elderly woman argues with plainclothes policemen during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk.

Tens of thousands took to the streets of Minsk and other Belarusian cities yesterday and more than 700 people were arrested, according to the Belarusian Interior Ministry, in often violent scenes.

Today elderly women rallied in the capital carrying posters declaring: "Grandmas are with you!"

Footage from the protest showed plain-clothed police officers pepper-spraying and using stun grenades against the women.

A pensioners march against the President in Belarus. https://t.co/XzZYlCpGnj— Jonah Fisher (@JonahFisherBBC) October 12, 2020

Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus since 1994, has described the demonstrators as paid agents and their leaders as criminals.

However, the threat of live ammunition was preceded by signs of increased diplomatic engagement, with Lukashenko meeting with dozens of opposition figures at a notorious KGB prison on Sunday.

Speaking to the visibly frail prisoners, Lukashenko said that "the constitution can't be written in the street" and urged them to "convince" their supporters to back down.

A day later, Belarusian authorities unexpectedly released two jailed businessmen with links to the opposition who were present at the meeting.

AUSTRALIAN STATE CAPITALI$M

Employers will have a new $4 billion wage subsidy backdated to budget day
PICKING WINNERS AND LOSERS

By David Crowe October 19, 2020 — 

Employers will have a new $4 billion wage subsidy backdated to budget day to overcome a logjam in Parliament that will delay the new law until next month as a political dispute over who can qualify for help continues.

The "hiring credit" for younger workers will start from October 7 and last for a year under federal government rules to make sure employers gain the payments of up to $200 per week.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg plans to backdate the JobMaker credit to October 7 once it passes Parliament.CREDIT:ALEX ELLINGHAUSEN

Labor has pledged to pass the law but is warning the conditions could be too tight for some workers, given that those who receive the JobKeeper payment cannot also receive the JobMaker hiring credit.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the new help added to "unprecedented" assistance, including the $101.3 billion JobKeeper scheme, to deal with a "once in a century" economic shock.

"That is why we have put in place the job making hiring credit to support 500,000 jobs of young people aged 16 to 35 who may have been unemployed in one of the last three months," he told Parliament.

RELATED ARTICLE
JobKeeper losers could win from JobMaker

Labor leader Anthony Albanese welcomed the new hiring credit but said it failed to help 928,000 people who were over the age of 35, the threshold for eligibility.

Mr Albanese used Question Time to challenge the government on support for families, arguing the Coalition was wrong to cap its childcare subsidy at household income of $189,000.

The questions set up a debate over whether families earning more than $189,000 were considered "rich" by the government, but were offered greater childcare support from Labor.

The government introduced the JobMaker hiring credit bill into Parliament on Monday but the draft law is only eight pages long, leaving the conditions to be applied by Mr Frydenberg by regulation.

With the Senate engaged in estimates hearings this fortnight, the earliest date to pass the bill through the upper house would be the week starting November 9.

The hiring credit is worth $200 per week for employers who take on previously unemployed workers aged from 16 to 29, and $100 per week when the workers are aged from 30 to 35.

To be eligible, the workers must work for at least 20 hours per week on average over a quarter, and they must have received the JobSeeker, Youth Allowance (other) or Parenting Payment for at least one month out of the preceding quarter.

Because it is paid in arrears at the end of each quarter, employers could lodge applications in early January for the three months starting on October 7, the first business day after the federal budget.

Labor employment spokesman Brendan O’Connor said the Opposition would back the bill but would scrutinise it in a Senate inquiry and was concerned about the conditions on the payments.

RELATED ARTICLE

RETAIL
Bunnings owner won't rule out using $4b JobMaker scheme

"You can’t receive both JobKeeper and the JobMaker hiring credit," Mr O’Connor said.

"I imagine there’ll be a lot of small businesses who will listen to the announcements by the Treasurer on budget night and the comments subsequently by the Prime Minister about this initiative.

"And [they will] not fully understand that they’re not going to get a cent unless they get off JobKeeper and then they’re not going to get a cent unless they can employ additional staff or increase their payroll."

Mr O’Connor said he backed the use of conditions to limit programs in conventional times but questioned whether that should apply during the recession.

"I’m just worried that there’ll be those businesses who will not be able to get to that point [of qualifying] and they’ll be consigned to the dustbin, because they will not be able to recover. Yet with support they would."

Black police officers break from unions over Trump endorsements
18 Oct, 2020 

Video 'What they're not going to continue to do is endorse a racist bigot' - Black police officers breaking from police unions over endorsements of Trump. Video / AP

Police unions across the United States have largely supported President Donald Trump's re-election, amid mass demonstrations over police brutality and accusations of systemic racism — but a number of black law enforcement officers are speaking out against these endorsements, saying their concerns over entering the 2020 political fray were ignored.

Trump has touted his support from the law enforcement community, which includes endorsements from national, city and state officers' unions — some of which publicly endorsed a political candidate for the first time. He's running on what he calls a "law and order" platform and tapping into a strain of anger and frustration felt by law enforcement who believe they are being unfairly accused of racial discrimination.

There are more than 8,000 law enforcement agencies in the US, with large departments holding sway nationally. The number of minority officers in policing has more than doubled in the last three decades, but many departments still have a smaller percentage of black and Hispanic officers compared to the percentage of the general population those communities make up.

Philadelphia Sheriff Rochelle Bilal, left, talks to reporters during a press conference.

 Photo / AP

Many fraternal black police organisations were formed to advocate for equality within police departments but also to focus on how law enforcement affects the wider black community. There have often been tensions between minority organisations and larger unions, like in August, when the National Association of Black Law Enforcement Officers issued a letter condemning use of deadly force, police misconduct and abuse in communities of color.

While support for the Republican incumbent does not strictly fall along racial lines, many black officers say the endorsements for Trump don't fairly represent all dues-paying members.

"We are members of these unions, and they don't take into consideration our feelings about Donald J. Trump, then they don't care about us and ... they don't care about our dues," said Rochelle Bilal, the recent past president of the Guardian Civic League of Philadelphia, calling the National Fraternal Order of Police's Trump endorsement an "outrage."
Philadelphia firefighter John Elam talks to reporters during a press conference. Photo / AP

Bilal, who was elected as Philadelphia's first black female sheriff last year, spoke at an early October news conference with other black law enforcement groups in Philadelphia to condemn Trump endorsements and the process they say ignored their concerns over what they perceived to be racist remarks, support for white supremacist groups and a lack of respect for women from Trump.

But national union leaders say the process is designed to give everyone a voice and the endorsement represents the majority of officers. The Fraternal Order of Police represents close to 350,000 officers nationally, but does not track racial demographics.

"I am a black American and a black law enforcement officer," said Rob Pride, the National Fraternal Order of Police chair of trustees. "It's been emotionally a rollercoaster ride for me since the George Floyd incident. It was horrific."

Pride, who oversees the vote that leads to the organisation's presidential endorsement, says the May 25 police killing of Floyd in Minneapolis and the political climate "is tearing America apart" and having a similar effect on the FOP.

Pennsylvania State Senator Sharif Street talks to reporters during a press conference. 

Photo / AP

National FOP leaders said they have heard from members who don't agree with the Trump endorsement — and they're open to talking over concerns — but that all 44 state Fraternal Orders of Police chapters that cast a ballot voted for Trump. Pride said the whole process starts locally, with lodges passing out candidate survey answers and ballots and then voting at a statewide meeting. State delegates then voted at the national meeting.

"We could probably have an hour-long conversation about why some folks feel President Trump is racist and why others disagree," he said. "But there are a lot of officers of all races of all backgrounds who feel he best represents and supports the interests of law enforcement."

On the local level, police reform bills driven by protests against police brutality in the wake of Floyd's killing have also stoked local unions' endorsements of candidates for state offices at higher rates this year — some issuing endorsement for the first time in decades. While many union leaders say the endorsements aren't based on political parties, they have largely been for Republicans challenging candidates who have voted for what unions call "anti-police" reform bills.

Philadelphia's FOP Lodge 5 President John McNesby said in a statement that the group, which represents 6,500 members, did not make an endorsement in the presidential race, and deferred to its parent union's endorsement. But members said that despite being the largest lodge in the state, they weren't given a chance to vote or be counted by the state or national delegates.

Denouncing the endorsement processes, The Guardian Civic League has asked its about 1,200 members to be prepared to withdraw their dues from the national FOP, as has the Club Valiants of Philadelphia — an organization of more than 500 minority firefighters — from the Local 22 of the International Fire Fighters and Paramedics Union. In endorsing Trump, Local 22 broke from its parent organization, which endorsed Democrat Joe Biden.

Valiants leaders said the Local 22′s endorsement was based on survey responses from about 500 of the union's nearly 5,000 members. Local union leaders said a redo survey is being sent to members in response to the backlash and its endorsement will be revised if necessary by the end of the month.

"The election is November 3, and people are out there voting now. What is it going to do to rescind the endorsement days before the election?" said John Elam, a Philadelphia firefighter and Valiants member. "We want a fair process. We wanted a fair process from the beginning."

In New York City, Patrick Lynch — the head of the Police Benevolent Association that represents about 24,000 officers — announced the union's endorsement of Trump at August's Republican National Convention, something members said they had no warning would happen. An unsigned letter from the Guardians Association said the black and minority officers the group represents felt blindsided by Lynch's endorsement and wished the union had stayed neutral.


Lynch said it was the union's first presidential endorsement in at least 36 years.

"That's how important this is," Lynch said to the crowd during an event at Trump's golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, telling the president: "You've earned this."

During September's presidential debate, Trump ticked off the locations where he felt he had support from law enforcement. "I have Florida, I have Texas, I have Ohio," he said. "Excuse me, Portland, the sheriff there just came out today and said, 'I support President Trump.'"

That sheriff — Multnomah County Sheriff Mike Reese — quickly took to Twitter to deny any support.

Terrance Hopkins, president of the Black Police Association of Dallas, said a handful of officers left the Dallas Police Department's largest union, partly driven by its support for Trump, and had joined his organisation.

"A lot of these officers feel like they aren't being considered. A lot of the issues that push them to that point border along racial lines," Hopkins, a 30-year veteran officer, said. "And it's not just here. I got a call from some black officers in Kansas City, Missouri, who wanted to join my organisation because they don't have any other outlet and they don't feel like they are being represented."


- AP

China approves new law to protect whistleblowers and prevent epidemics

After months of international backlash, Chinese lawmakers have approved new biosecurity legislation to implement disease and risk prevention systems. Health workers are encouraged to report any imminent health risks.


Beijing passed a new law on Saturday to protect whistleblowers who disclose information about public health emergencies as part of wider efforts to improve its handling of disease outbreaks.

Chinese lawmakers said it also hopes that the new biosecurity law fixes systemic flaws such as those that hampered China's initial response to the coronavirus outbreak.

The new law, which takes effect from April 15 next year, calls on citizens to report "acts that endanger biosecurity."

"Any work unit or individual has the right to report acts that endanger biosecurity," the regulation states.

"When a report is required according to the law, no work unit or individual shall conceal [it] ... or hinder others from making a report," the law adds, referring to infectious diseases and epidemics.

Read more: Coronavirus: China detains professor who criticized President Xi Jinping

Watch video https://p.dw.com/p/3k6KT
Tourism and the virus in China

What does the new law entail?

Under the new biosecurity law, anyone who conceals information, fails to file reports or prevents others from reporting infectious diseases could be given warnings or suspended.

In the case of an emergency, health workers can under the new legislation report health risks directly to the local government and would not be punished if information turned out to be false.

The law also calls for the tracing of outbreak origins as well as the development of systems to regularly monitor biosafety risks.

Lawmakers also appealed to disease prevention agencies to help predict the occurrence and prevalence of emerging diseases and announce warnings and adopt prevention measures accordingly.

In September, the Beijing city government said it would give rewards to health workers who disclose important information about any looming health emergencies, and said it would guarantee that their safety and legal rights are protected.

Watch video  https://p.dw.com/p/3k6KT

Wuhan returns to normal as COVID rages around the world

Cleaning-up public image

The new biosecurity law follows months of criticism over China's initial response to the coronavirus outbreak and international accusations of an early cover-up in Wuhan.

Provincial authorities were criticized for delays in announcing the public health emergency as well as for their perceived incompetence.

The death of doctor and whistleblower Li Wenliang of COVID-19 in February after alerting colleagues of the virus triggered nationwide frustration over Beijing's handling of the outbreak, prompting China to step up efforts in cleaning up both its domestic and international image.

In February, President Xi Jinping urged lawmakers to speed up establishing the new law, calling for reforms of mechanisms to prevent major outbreaks.

mvb/rs (AFP, Reuters)


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Estonian president slams interior minister over homophobic interview

In an interview with DW, Estonia's far-right Interior Minister Mart Helme made disparaging remarks about the LGBT+ community. The Estonian president and the prime minister have both decried Helme's stance on gay people.


Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid heavily criticized Interior Minister Mart Helme on Saturday over homophobic comments Helme made in a DW interview.

Helme told DW's Russian service that he was really "not friendly" to gay people and told them to go to Sweden.

The far-right politician's comments came in response to questions from DW's Konstantin Eggert on plans for a referendum excluding gay people from marriage. Below is an excerpt from the interview:

Helme: "[The referendum] is important for all people, because without marriage, without women and men having children, there is no future (...) We want the state to be preserved, and it cannot be preserved without children and without morality."

DW: What, will gay people attack and flood the Estonian nation?

Helme: "Let them run to Sweden. Everyone there treats them more politely."

DW: And you treat them rudely?

Helme: "I really am not friendly to them."

DW: Today this is called homophobia.

Helme: It is not homophobia. I would say that those people who call our referendum unnecessary are heterophobes. They are getting into the bedrooms of heterosexuals. They do it, not us. If they can do their homo propaganda, we can do other propaganda as well.

Read more: European LGBT+ equality survey shows east-west divide

'Our own people'

President Kaljulaid, a liberal conservative without official party affiliation, condemned the comments from Helme, the founder and leader of the far-right populist Conservative People's Party (EKRE) that forms part of the three-party ruling coalition in Estonia.

Kaljulaid said Helme was "not suitable" to be a Cabinet member.

"A minister with such views is not suitable for the government of the Republic of Estonia," said Kaljulaid, adding that she had expressed her position to Prime Minister Juri Ratas.

"I do not understand the overt hostility of Marth Helme against our society. We are talking about our own people — our policemen and teachers, our creative people and builders, our neighbors, colleagues and friends," she said.

Prime Minister Ratas, of the more centrist Estonian Centre Party, also condemned his comments in a post on Facebook.

Ratas said the Estonian constitution made it clear that all people were equal in the eyes of the law and that no one should be discriminated against. He said it also forbids incitement to discrimination or hatred.

In light of this, and the promise of the coalition agreement to follow these values, he said his comments were "unequivocally reprehensible."

In an interview with public broadcaster ERR, Ratas he said the coalition would meet early next week to discuss the matter.

Estonia's opposition has called for Helme to resign.

The above story has been updated with a more precise translation of Helme's remarks.


VIDEO CONFLICT ZONE https://p.dw.com/p/3k510

aw/rs (dpa, Interfax)