ExxonMobil announces 1,900 layoffs


The brand Exxon Mobil and price of Energy are on a display at the New York Stock Exchange on August 17, 2018. The oil giant said Thursday it plans to layoff 1,900.

 Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

Oct. 29 (UPI) -- Oil industry giant ExxonMobil announced Thursday it will be laying off about 1,900 workers through layoffs and voluntary programs, blaming the reductions on the continuing coronavirus pandemic.

The Texas-based company said in a statement the decision came from a "global review" of the oil industry, which has been rocked hard by travel restrictions brought on by the spread of COVID-19 around the globe.

"These actions will improve the company's long-term cost competitiveness and ensure the company manages through the current unprecedented market conditions," ExxonMobil said in a statement. "The impact of COVID-19 on the demand for ExxonMobil's products has increased the urgency of the ongoing efficiency work."

ExxonMobil had previously announced 1,600 layoffs in Australia and its European operations.

"The company recognizes these decisions will impact employees and their families and has put these programs in place only after comprehensive evaluation and thoughtful deliberation," ExxonMobil said. "Employees who are separated through involuntary programs will be provided with support, including severance and outplacement services."

Exxon CEO Darren Woods told workers who attended a town hall meeting last week in the Houston suburb of Spring that it could not hold off layoffs much longer because of the crumbling oil industry.

"ExxonMobil's announcement about thousands of job cuts is another log on the bonfire that's been oil and gas employment in 2020," Jeff Bush, president of CSI Recruiting, said.

ExxonMobil, once of the world's largest publicly traded company at $136 billion, was surpassed by Zoom ($140 billion) in market value this year

Boeing to slash 7,000 jobs due to pandemic, 737 Max crisis



Boeing's shares dropped 5.23% as of Wednesday afternoon announcing third-quarter results and a cut of 7,000 jobs. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

Oct. 28 (UPI) -- U.S. aeronautical company Boeing announced Wednesday it's slashing more than 7,000 jobs as it deals with the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing disruptions caused by malfunctions with the 737 Max aircraft.

Boeing announced the cuts as part of its third-quarter results, which showed a net loss of $466 million, a sharp decrease from its $1.2 billion profit the same time last year. Sales were down 29% at $14.1 billion, with the biggest drop among commercial aircraft -- from $8.2 billion in 2019 to $3.6 billion in 2020.

"As we share our third-quarter financial results today, the deep impacts of COVID-19 on the commercial aviation market and our business are reflected in lower revenue, earnings and cash flow compared to this time last year," Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said.

"As we align to market realities, our business units and functions are carefully making staffing decisions to prioritize natural attrition and stability in order to limit the impact on our people and our company. We anticipate a workforce of about 130,000 employees by the end of 2021."
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The Chicago-based company has seen a drop in new plane orders as airlines worldwide adjust to reduced travel since the start of the pandemic earlier this year.

But even before travel restrictions in response to the novel coronavirus, Boeing was dealing with the fallout of two crashes in its 737 Max within six months, which killed 346 people.

Investigators determined both flights showed problems with their maneuvering characteristics augmentation system, which affects the pitch of the aircraft. Boeing 737 Max planes were grounded worldwide in March 2019 as the company worked to fix the error.

RELATED EU regulator says Boeing 737 Max safety 'high enough' for return

Calhoun said he expects federal regulators to lift the grounding on the plane after testing the newly fixed aircraft, but the pandemic delayed its return to the skies.

Boeing's shares were down 5.34% Wednesday afternoon after news of the job cuts.

Higher COVID-19 deaths could strip some support for Trump, study says

President Donald Trump holds a campaign rally at the Waukesha County Airport in Waukesha, Wis., on October 24. Photo by Alex Wroblewski/UPI | License Photo

Oct. 30 (UPI) -- Voters who live in areas with more COVID-19 deaths are at least somewhat less likely to support President Donald Trump and other Republican candidates in the 2020 election, according to a study published Friday.

Researchers said the findings provide the first "clear causal evidence" that the rise in COVID-19 deaths have turned some Americans away from Trump.
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Using "granular" data sources such as local-level information on deaths and voter attitude surveys, the researchers concluded that higher death counts are translating into softer support for Trump and other GOP candidates.

"States and local areas with higher levels of COVID-19 fatalities are less likely to support President Trump and Republican candidates for House and Senate. Our results show that [they] would benefit electorally from a reduction in COVID-19 fatalities," wrote authors Christopher Warshaw of George Washington University and Lynn Vavreck and Ryan Baxter-King, both of the University of California, Los Angeles

"This implies that a greater emphasis on social distancing, masks, and other mitigation strategies would benefit the president and his allies."

The study found that Americans who live in counties where COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 residents had doubled in the previous 30 days were 0.14% less likely to support Trump. Where deaths doubled at the on a statewide level, voters were almost 0.4% less likely.

The researchers tapped data compiled by The New York Times to measure variations in the magnitude of the pandemic across the United States, as well as more than 300,000 survey responses gathered by the Democracy Fund + UCLA Nationscape Project, between mid-2019 and this summer, to measure how attitudes have shifted.

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While the difference might seem small and perhaps insignificant, Warshaw said history indicates that the COVID-19 effect could have some impact.

"The margin between Trump and Clinton in the state of Michigan in 2016 was 0.23%," he noted.

100,000 demonstrate for abortion rights in Poland



People take part in the 'March on Warsaw' protest against the tightening of the abortion law in Warsaw, Poland, Friday. Photo by Radek Pietruszka/EPA-EFE

Oct. 31 (UPI) -- Tens of thousands of women converged on Warsaw Friday to protest a court decision that would ban nearly all abortions in Poland.

Crowds of women flooded the streets, wearing the red lightning bolt that has become the icon of the movement and playing music that included Darth Vader's theme from Star Wars.

Friday's demonstrations were the culmination of more than a week of protests believed to be the largest since the Solidarity movement in the 1980s that led to the collapse of communism.

Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski estimated that more than 100,000 people rallied Friday, while protest organizers said the number of demonstrators was closer to 150,000.
RELATED Polish protesters block roads, storm churches over abortion ban



Demonstrators also marched in Gdańsk, Białystok, Poznan, Kraków, Wroclaw, Torun, Sczescin, Myślenice, Gorlice and Jasło Friday.

Thousands of men marched alongside women in the demonstrations, as well as coalition groups worried that hard-won freedoms from the post-communist era are slipping away under the rule of the Law and Justice Party.

Police flanked demonstrators amid concerns that violence could break out with right-wing activists.

So far the protests have largely been peaceful, but Bartosz Bekier, head of the right-wing Falanga, gave an interview this week in which he said thousand of nationalists would be going to the protests and that they were "trained in combat tactics."

Police detained about 37 people Friday, saying most were right-wing "soccer hooligans" who threw flares at demonstrators.

On Oct. 22 a court ruled that abortions due to fetal defects would be unconstitutional, making abortion almost completely illegal in the country, though it is still permissible if the mother's life and health is at risk or in cases where the pregnancy was caused by rape or incest.

Halloween weekend's Blue Moon to last through Sunday
By
Jean Lotus
OCT. 31, 2020 

A Blue Moon rises behind One World Trade Center and the Manhattan skyline shorty after sunset on Halloween Night on Saturday, October 31, 2020 in Green Brook Township, New Jersey. A blue moon only happens on Halloween approximately every 19 years. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

Oct. 31 (UPI) -- October will have its second full moon -- a rare Blue Moon -- beginning Saturday and lasting through Sunday.

The moon appears at its fullest, opposite the sun in earth-based longitude, at 10:49 a.m. EDT on Saturday, according to NASA. It should appear full through Sunday night.

The first full moon after the Harvest Moon -- which appeared Oct. 1 this year -- is also called the Hunter's Moon, according to the Farmer's Almanac, a moniker that appears in the Oxford English Dictionary dating back to 1710.

This full moon will appear smaller Saturday night because it occurs nearest to the time when the moon is farthest in its orbit from the Earth, at its apogee, so NASA calls it a "Micro Moon" as opposed to a Supermoon.

In astronomical terms, Blue Moons occur with a regular pattern about once every two and a half years. After October 2020, the next Blue Moon will take place in August 2023. A full moon will occur on Halloween once every 19 years in the 21st century.

The Native American name for the second full moon of autumn is the Beaver Moon, also called the Frost or Frosty Moon, or the Snow Moon, NASA says.

In North America, the deer rut mating season is in full swing and snow geese arrive at the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland and southern Delaware. The Old Farmer's Almanac says it's best to plant garlic and dig up sweet potatoes during the Hunter's Moon.

In the Indian subcontinent, this full moon coincides with the end of monsoon rains, and is called the Sharad Purnima, coinciding with Hindu festivals marking the end of the rainy season.

Bhuddist names for the full moon mark the end of Vassa, or the three-month retreat also called the Bhuddist Lent.

The full moon falls near the end of the Buddhist Hpaung Daw U festival in Myanmar and Indochina which lasts between Oct. 17 and Nov. 3. In Thailand, this full moon coincides with the Loi Krathong festival, in which decorated baskets are floated in rivers.

OPINION: A plea from the Scottish island Donald Trump's mother Mary called home - Let this be the end of our disgrace

The word on the pews and the surf beaches of the Isle of Lewis is – please let this be an end to the disgrace of Trump.

By Ian Stephen
Sunday, 1st November 2020

Favourite son?: Donald Trump visited the home in which his mother grew up on the Isle of Lewis

Church groups on this Island, birthplace of the current President’s mother, spoke out against Trump last week in an article in the Scottish edition of ‘The Times’, not normally the most radical of newspapers.

Churchgoers are now united in this stance with surfers, artists and pretty much everyone else on ‘the rock’.

I live by the shores of Broad Bay, the waters fished by Trump’s Lewis grandfather. This is a few miles along the shore from the village of Tong. These were very productive fishing grounds for past generations. The Donald did once make a much publicised visit.

Point of view: Writer Ian Stephn was born and raised on the Isle of Lewis

The seconds he spent on scene at the family croft were squeezed between the real purpose of the visit – golf course ‘development’ on mainland Scotland.

In the past the Island has had a reputation for extremes – a hard version of Presbyterian Christianity and a vibrant tradition of oral culture in songs and stories.

Several of the strongest figures in twentieth century Scottish literature, notably the Lewis-born poet Iain Crichton Smith, spoke of island religion as a force that would stamp on creativity.

Yet in recent years we have seen collaborations between communities of psalm singers and cutting-edge musicians. These include a collaboration between the psalm singers of Back Free Church (also up from Broad Bay) and gospel choirs from the States.

A documentary film of the sharing and a published CD probed musical affinities across oceans and across race.

When you see the winds speed down from the Northeast you know they’ve come all the way from the Arctic. I used to joke that this was what caused that trademark sweep of hair on the head of cousin DJ Trump.

Of course we now know from the elusive tax returns that it was not the Arctic wind but 70,000 dollars worth of hairdressing. I’ve also had to revise what I’ve learned of the secret of success from The Donald. I thought he had proved it was losing half of your father’s money. Now, if you believe the figures, it seems he lost all of it and a lot more.

If ‘The Apprentice’ wasn’t enough to save the show, maybe a couple of cracks at the Presidency would do it….

The sad thing now, looking at the disaster of Trump’s presidency, is that all the signs were clear in his previous dealings with a community in Scotland.

I happen to be a Hybridean rather than Hebridean, with one side of my family from the Moray Firth coast of Scotland. In fact an uncle of mine lived for some time just up from the beach at Balmedie, now a battleground between a world ranking nature reserve and, yes, another Trump golf course.

In 2011 Anthony Baxter (Journeyman Pictures) dramatised the conflict between a mighty corporation and the families who would be forcibly displaced from their long established and modest settlements. At the time the Scottish establishment didn’t find a long enough spoon to sup with the Trump devil. As so often happens, colossal changes to the environment are presented as necessary to provide jobs, jobs, jobs

These are of course never guaranteed. What really happened? Molly, a widow aged 86 at the time, had her water cut off and world-ranking wetland walks were fenced-off. A unique habitat of shifting wetland was changed forever. Residents who dug their heels in were contained by high fences.

I saw the documentary along with a live link with Baxter at the Stornoway arts centre, an Lanntair. A packed audience was visibly moved at the injustice of it all. The film includes footage of its director being arrested as business interests exert pressure on civic powers. It’s a bit like ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ in a cooler climate.

In 2020 Baxter released his follow-up. ‘You’ve been Trumped Too’ which won a rare four star rating from the film critic Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian. It returns to the scene to probe what happened at Balmedie since the first film.

By 2016 Molly still had not got her water back. A son got the tools out and did the job himself. There might be gold taps at Trump Towers but how can we believe the empire couldn’t fix one water supply?

So how come you’ve not seen these films sweep across the far less revealing political ‘debates’?

The film-maker and distributors were subject to the enormous legal pressure applied by Trump’s corporate might. The real-life story is the sad tale of a big bully targeting those who do not have the wealth to fight back with like power.

I was complacent at the time of the last USA presidential election. Then I was a bit worried when some friends said they could not see much difference between the candidates. The result caused countless deaths. Let’s take just one example. One mad phone call to Turkey and the results of years of foreign policies are reversed, either from spite or self interest. Troops are mobilised, previous allies abandoned and innocent lives are lost.

Now there is the privileged Superman’s response to Covid 19. Trump came off more lightly than most but thanks to help not available to most.

Barrack Obama is the Lewisman we would like to claim, if Ireland had not got in there first. Respect for the USA returned for a time. Now is the chance to begin restoring that. From the pews to the surf beaches, most folk on the Island where Mary Trump was born are holding their breath.

We’re depending on you guys to do your bit to rid us of our disgrace. Republicans, if you really can’t bring yourself to vote for the Democrat who at least is rational, please abstain. Disillusioned Democrats, please don’t feel it makes no difference. If you haven’t yet cast your vote do it now for the sake of the planet, as well as the USA.

The You’ve been Trumped trailer can be viewed at:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z83Uhje_D0c

The author of this opinion piece, Ian Stephen was born on Lewis and lives there still. He is the author of many books including the novel ‘A Book Of Death and Fish’ (Saraband, 2014).

State of the nation: how the electoral college map looks for Trump and Biden with three days to go

It would take a series of unforeseen events for Republicans to win, but 2020 has been a year for the unprecedented, writes Lorcan Nyhan

Joe Biden and Donald Trump


Lorcan Nyhan, November 01 2029

"Election Outcome Highly Uncertain" - New York Times headline, US election day, 1952.

Back in 1952, Republican candidate Dwight D Eisenhower was on the ballot against the Democratic Party's liberal champion Adlai Stevenson.

Burned by inaccurate polls in 1948 and the subsequent erroneous election night prediction on the Chicago Tribune's front page - "Dewey defeats Truman" - the press were wary to predict the result.

The former Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, Ike Eisenhower, won that election in a landslide, capturing 55pc of the popular vote, 39 states and 442 out of 538 Electoral College votes.

The Republican dominated in the fast-growing suburbs and even flipped the city of Chicago - a Democratic stronghold.

Accepted wisdom points to a similarly comfortable Joe Biden victory this Tuesday. Biden is all but certain to win the popular vote by a considerable margin.

The final YouGov poll has him with an 11-point lead over Donald Trump; 54pc to 43pc. Their corresponding final 2016 poll had Hillary Clinton four points ahead; only two points off her eventual popular vote figure.

Biden's average lead with FiveThirtyEight is nine points. The polling site's electoral model has him with an 89pc chance of an Electoral College victory, while The Economist is even more bullish, giving Biden a 97pc chance.




Donald Trump pitches ‘back to normal’ as Joe Biden warns of tough days for pandemic

The certainty of these models is driven by his national lead but also his strength across swing states. Biden has a commanding lead in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania - an average of 8.1, 8.5 and 5.2 points respectively.


The former vice president also has slimmer but stable polling leads in Arizona (up 3.5), Florida (up 2.1) and North Carolina (up 2.3).

Democratic insiders are loath to admit it publicly, but Biden also has a chance in Republican strongholds like Georgia (where he's up 1.7) and Texas, where Trump is just one point ahead, despite carrying the state by nine in 2016.

The final campaign stops of the Biden-Harris ticket reveal they think they're on the road to a special victory.

Biden is solidifying his vote with visits to Wisconsin but is also including a final stop in Georgia.

Kamala Harris is spending time in Arizona and Texas, hoping to boost turnout in key areas.

You don't spend time in states like Georgia and Texas in the final week if you don't feel they are in reach.

Democrats have good reason for optimism. The US is heading for a historic turnout, and high voting numbers traditionally leads to Democratic success.

Trump was a transformative candidate, but his total vote was similar to that of previous Republican candidates. Since 2000, the Republican candidate, from Bush through to Trump, has always won about 60 million votes. Democrats win when they massively boost turnout on their side.

Early voting figures in America, driven by increased access, have been staggering - 82 million people have already voted.

Given that polling tells us half of voters intend to cast their ballots in person, the eventual turnout could reach 160 million or higher. The total electorate in 2016 was 136 million.

It would take a series of unforeseen and unprecedented events for Trump to win - but 2020 is the year for unforeseen and unprecedented events.

Unshakable confidence in a prediction when faced with several unknowns is rash. Just as rational analysis plots a path toward a dominant Biden victory, a path to a narrow Electoral College victory for Trump can still be found. Taken state by state, and assuming a polling error greater than 2016, successful voter suppression tactics and a turnout boost for Republicans, you can make an argument for Trump holding Texas, Arizona, Georgia, Florida, Iowa, Ohio, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

Positive results in these states would get him to 270 Electoral College votes. Not a likely result, but a possible one.

Of these swing states, four should demand your attention - Florida, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Texas - as having the potential to encapsulate the story of the election.

With a tradition of postal voting, Florida will declare its result relatively early. If Biden wins the Sunshine State, the race becomes extremely difficult for Trump and so the election narrative would be cemented early.

Pennsylvania, meanwhile, was key to Trump's 2016 success. A Republican win here would sow doubts in the accuracy of state-level polling and mean Biden would have to secure states where his polling is tighter.

Florida and Pennsylvania were always going to be battleground states. Arizona and Texas are more interesting.

Since it went for Eisenhower in 1952, Arizona has voted Republican in every election except when it broke for Bill Clinton in 1996.

Biden is likely to win Arizona. As a traditionally Republican state, no history for Democratic bias in polls exists and so his lead should be borne out. And if the Democrats are even close to carrying Texas for the first time since 1976, it's a sure sign we have a landslide on our hands and a stunning rebuke of Trump-ism across America.

Like 1952, many are reticent to call the election. And a Trump victory is obviously still possible. But, given the information to hand, this election result is far from uncertain.

Biden is heading for an Eisenhower-esque election - a 55pc+ popular vote victory, a comfortable Electoral College win and the potential for a party to make inroads into the traditional heartland of its opponents.

Anything else would be a historic surprise and a Democratic failure.

Lorcan Nyhan is head of training at The Communications Clinic

THE INDEPENDENT, IRELAND 

Halloween ‘SNL’ cold open features Joe Biden spoofing ‘The Raven’

Saturday Night Live delivered a politically-charged performance yet again in its final cold open before the U.S. presidential election.

The skit, which featured Jim Carrey reprising his role as Joe Biden, had the presidential candidate reading a spooky bedtime story to the audience on Halloween night.

"Greetings, America. It's a spooky time filled with demons and darkness, also it's Halloween," said Carrey's Biden amid a room full of spooky decorations he would later describe as borrowed from First Lady Melania Trump's Christmas display.

"For some Trump voters, it's the only time they'll wear a mask," he said.

Carrey, attempting to take people's minds off the election with a scary story, takes out a book by Donald Trump Jr., which he then says might be "too scary."

Carrey then launches into a parody of Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven.

"Once a upon a midnight dreary, while Trump retweeted QAnon theories and rifled through his Adderall drawer, I was writing my acceptance speech, when something stopped me with a screech — it was a knock upon my chamber door. It was someone still a little sore," Carrey said as a vampire Hillary Clinton played by Kate McKinnon walked in.

The skit also featured Mikey Day playing statistician Nate Silver, Kenan Thompson as Ice Cube and Chris Redd as Lil Wayne. Beck Bennett and Maya Rudolph also reprise their roles as U.S. Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell and vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris, respectively.

"So whatever happens, America, know that we'll be OK. Our nation will endure, we will fight another day. I'm sure it will be peaceful, no matter who has won, though it's never a good sign when Walmart stops selling guns. Use your voice and use your vote, democracy will represent. This daylight savings time, let's gain an hour ... and lose a president," said both Carrey and Rudolph for the poem's final rhyme.

Saudi Twitter users grapple with 'digital authoritarianism'

The former Saudi official's tweet expressing condolences over an activist's death seemed benign, but his mysterious disappearance soon afterwards highlighted what observers call the state's "digital authoritarianism".

© Lionel BONAVENTURE Saudi Arabia, which accounts for the most Twitter users in the Arab world, has sought to harness the power of the platform to promote its ambitious reforms while also aggressively seeking to tame free expression

Abdulaziz al-Dukhail, who had served as deputy finance minister, went missing in April along with at least two other public intellectuals also believed to be in detention for their implied criticism of the state.

In the following months, separate claims surfaced that a Twitter data breach by Saudi infiltrators in 2015 resulted in a wave of "enforced disappearances" of regime critics, many with anonymous accounts on the social media platform.

The cases illustrate how Saudi Arabia, which accounts for the most Twitter users in the Arab world, has sought to harness the power of the platform to promote its ambitious reforms while also aggressively seeking to tame free expression.

The three public figures dropped from view after expressing sympathy over the death of jailed activist Abdullah al-Hamid, according to family members and two campaign groups including the London-based ALQST.

Hamid, a veteran activist, died after suffering a stroke in detention while serving an 11-year sentence, sparking a torrent of criticism from international campaigners.

Dukhail's exact whereabouts are not known and authorities have not revealed any formal charges, his son Abdulhakim al-Dukhail told AFP.

"Why was he taken? What was his crime?" said Abdulhakim, currently based in Paris.

"Is he in jail just for a tweet?".

Saudi authorities did not respond to AFP's request for comment.

- Crackdown -

The detentions mirror an offline clampdown on dissent, with activists, bloggers and even royal family members arrested in recent years as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bolsters his grip on power.

Saudi Arabia has stepped up arrests under a loosely worded anti cyber-crime law, which campaigners including Amnesty International say criminalises online criticism of the government.

"A simple tweet can land you in jail in Saudi Arabia with no access to a lawyer for months, maybe years," said Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty's Middle East research director.

Further raising concern is a 2015 Twitter data breach by Saudi moles, which led to the unmasking and arrests of anonymous critics of the government on the platform, according to family members and two lawsuits against the company.

The US justice department has charged two former employees with spying for the Saudi government as they accessed data on more than 6,000 accounts while looking for users "critical of the regime".

"Such private user information included their email addresses, phone numbers, IP addresses, and dates of birth," the justice department said last year, warning the data may have been used to locate the users.

One of those unmasked was Abdulrahman al-Sadhan, a 36-year-old employee of the humanitarian group Red Crescent who voiced opinions over human rights and social justice issues on an anonymous Twitter account, according to his family.

He was picked up from his Riyadh office by Saudi Arabia's secret police in March 2018, said his San Francisco-based sister Areej al-Sadhan.

Two years after he disappeared, he was allowed a brief call to a relative and revealed he was being held at the high-security Al-Ha'ir prison near Riyadh.

"It was his first and only call -- it lasted less than a minute," Areej told AFP.

"Someone behind him said 'your minute is up'. There was no goodbye, no 'talk to you later', no closure. The line was cut."

- Social media weaponised -

Two Saudi dissidents based in North America claimed in separate lawsuits against Twitter that their accounts were targeted in the breach, which endangered the lives of their associates in the kingdom.

One of them, Ali al-Ahmed who heads the Washington-based think tank Institute for Gulf Affairs, filed an amended complaint in August lashing out at Twitter over its "abject failure" to protect his account.

Ahmed's lawyer provided AFP with a list of eight Saudis who were in contact with him through anonymous Twitter accounts, claiming they ended up jailed, missing or dead after the breach.

Twitter did not respond to a request for comment.

In recent years, the online giant has deleted thousands of "state-backed" Saudi accounts, citing a violation of the platform's manipulation policies.

Saudi Arabia, which market research firm Statista says has around 12 million Twitter users, has seen a growth in online armies of self-styled patriots who cheerlead government policy and attack critics.

They rose as part of a policy driven by former royal court advisor Saud al-Qahtani, who earned nicknames such as "lord of the flies" for managing an electronic army.

"Saudi's digital authoritarianism... is egregious in its audacity," said Marc Owen Jones, author of the upcoming book "Digital Authoritarianism in the Middle East".

"Over the past few years, Saudi-connected entities have successfully utilised and penetrated Twitter to the extent that Twitter itself has become a weapon of authoritarian rule."

ac/sls/hkb

China starts once-a-decade census of world's largest population

Millions of census-takers began knocking on doors across China on Sunday for a once-a-decade head count of the world's largest population that for the first time will use mobile apps to help crunch the massive numbers.

© STR China conducts the census every ten years to determine population growth

Around seven million community workers and volunteers will drive the two-month data-collection effort, visiting homes ranging from residential skyscrapers in downtown Shanghai to remote Tibetan mountain villages.

China conducts the census every ten years to determine population growth, movement patterns and other trends, using the findings to apportion resources for education, health, transportation, labour, elderly care and other services.

The previous tally in 2010 counted 1,339,724,852 persons, an increase of 5.83 percent, or 73,899,804 people -- equal to adding more than the population of France over 10 years.

Much of the attention on this year's census -- expected to take two years to fully compile -- will focus on whether it indicates any population bump from China's relaxation of its former "one-child policy".

The policy was introduced in the late 1970s to slow rapid population growth amid concerns over too many mouths to feed, but was relaxed four years ago to allow two children due to fears over China's fast-ageing society and shrinking workforce.

But the change has not yet resulted in a baby boom.

The national birth rate last year was the slowest since the founding of Communist-ruled China in 1949, with many Chinese today choosing smaller families amid rising living costs.

The government estimates the 2020 census could update the population to 1.42 billion, a 5.99 percent increase.

A research institute affiliated with real estate giant Evergrande Group last week issued a study saying the government figure was an overestimate, and recommended that three children be allowed.

"If adjustments are not made, it will seriously affect national rejuvenation and (China's) rise as a great power," the researchers said, citing two of the stated goals of powerful President Xi Jinping.

- 'Big Brother' fears -

The study sparked a passionate online discussion, with many saying the real curbs on childbirth are rising costs and insufficient policy support for families.

"Even a ten-child policy is useless until we create a society that is childbirth-friendly and childrearing-friendly," said one widely "liked" comment on the WeChat platform of Chinese internet giant Tencent.

Demographic experts have estimated it could take 15 years for the two-child policy to have any noticeable effect as other modern factors mitigate against rapid growth, including increasingly empowered Chinese women delaying or avoiding childbirth, and the slower population growth that comes with rising national affluence.

Despite the door-to-door visits, most citizens are expected to enter their information via a smartphone app, adding to rising concerns about privacy protection.

Vast amounts of Chinese economic activity and payments are handled through digital apps such as WeChat and its rival Alipay, offered by Alibaba-affiliated Ant Group.

Many consumers accept the resulting surrender of data on their buying habits, travel, and other personal information as a small price to pay for digital conveniences.

But others increasingly worry over privacy and data security, heightened further this year with China's introduction of a nationwide system of digital "health codes" that score citizens on whether they pose a potential coronavirus threat and which must be shown to enter many public venues.

The National Statistics Bureau, which oversees the census, vowed in May that all personal data gathered during the process will be kept strictly confidential and used for no other purpose than the census.

The government in mid-October also separately unveiled a draft personal data protection law, which outlines stiff punishments for violators.

jya-dma/je