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Overnight News Digest July 11, 2022 [1]

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Date: 2022-07-11

NPR

A new bill could help protect the census after Trump-era interference

A bill introduced Monday in the U.S. House of Representatives could help the 2030 census and other upcoming national head counts avoid the years of meddling by former President Donald Trump's administration that dogged the country's most recent tally. If it becomes law, the bill would put up additional roadblocks against any attempt by an administration to interfere with the next once-a-decade census, which is used to divvy up political representation and federal funding to communities across the U.S. The proposal led by Rep. Carolyn Maloney — a Democrat from New York who chairs the House Oversight and Reform Committee that helps oversee the Census Bureau — comes after the Trump administration raised the risks of an incomplete and inaccurate count of the country's population in 2020 with its failed push for a previously untested census question about U.S. citizenship status and installation of political appointees with no obvious qualifications at the bureau, among other extraordinary moves.

The Guardian

Victoria defies health advice for mask mandate as new Covid wave worsens nationwide

The Victorian government has ignored health advice calling for mask mandates in schools, early childhood and retail settings amid a warning that hospitalisations during the current wave of Covid and flu infections may exceed earlier peaks. As Covid reinfection rates rise nationwide, Victoria on Tuesday joined Queensland in encouraging residents to don masks without requiring them to do so. Meanwhile, residents in Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia who test positive to Covid will now be exempt from testing and isolating for only four weeks rather than 12, following Australian Health Protection Principal Committee advice delivered on Friday. The federal health minister, Mark Butler, on Tuesday said Covid cases were unlikely to peak nationally for at least four weeks during this third wave of infections. “All of the modelling indicates that case numbers and hospitalisations have further to go over probably the next four to six weeks,” he told Melbourne’s Radio 3AW on Tuesday.

The Guardian

Iran to supply Russia with hundreds of combat drones, US says

Iran is planning to supply Russia with hundreds of weapons-capable drones for use in Ukraine, according to a top US official. Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser, said the information received by the US supported views that Russia’s heavy bombardments in Ukraine, which have led it to consolidate gains in the country’s east in recent weeks, were “coming at a cost to the sustainment of its own weapons”. “The Iranian government is preparing to provide Russia with up to several hundred UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles], including weapons-capable UAVs, on an expedited timeline,” Sullivan said. “Our information further indicates that Iran is preparing to train Russian forces to use these UAVs, with initial training sessions slated to begin as soon as early July.” Sullivan said it was not clear whether Iran had delivered any of the drones to Russia yet. He noted that Iran’s drones had been used by the Houthi rebels in Yemen to attack Saudi Arabia.

The Guardian

US tourist injured falling into Mount Vesuvius crater after taking selfie

An American tourist sustained minor injuries after he fell into the crater of Mount Vesuvius as he scrambled to retrieve his phone. The 23-year-old and his family reached the 1,281m-high (4,202ft) summit of the volcano towering over the southern Italian city of Naples after bypassing a visitor turnstile and proceeding along an out-of-bounds path. The man was taking a selfie, according to local press reports, when his phone slipped out of his hand and into the mouth of the volcano. He then descended into the crater in an attempt to get his phone back, only to fall several metres after losing his balance. Vesuvius guides were first on the scene and abseiled into the crater to pull him out. Police attended the scene and a mountain rescue helicopter was launched to assist the rescue operation. The man was treated for cuts and bruises on his arms and back. The tourist and his three relatives face charges after being reported by police for the invasion of public land.

Reuters

Failure to implement Russian oil price cap could jack up oil prices

TOKYO, July 12 (Reuters) - The global price of oil could surge by 40% to around $140 per barrel if a proposed price cap on Russian oil is not adopted, along with sanction exemptions that would allow shipments below that price, a senior U.S. Treasury official said on Tuesday.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will discuss implementation of the U.S. price cap proposal and global economic developments with Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki when they meet later on Tuesday, the official said.

Al Jazeera

Putin expands fast-track Russian citizenship to all of Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree expanding a fast track to Russian citizenship to all citizens of Ukraine, a document published on the government’s website showed. Until recently, only residents of the self-proclaimed breakaway territories of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) in eastern Ukraine, which Russia seeks to “liberate” from Kyiv’s control, as well as the Russian-occupied regions of Kherson and Zaporizhia, were eligible for the simplified procedure. Between 2019 – when the procedure was first introduced for the residents of Donetsk and Luhansk – and this year, more than 720,000 residents of the rebel-held areas in the two regions – about 18 percent of the population – have received Russian passports. In late May this year, three months after Russia invaded Ukraine, the fast-track procedure was also offered to residents of the Zaporizhia and Kherson regions. A month ago, the first Russian passports were reportedly handed out there.

New York Times

Most Democrats Don’t Want Biden in 2024, New Poll Shows

President Biden is facing an alarming level of doubt from inside his own party, with 64 percent of Democratic voters saying they would prefer a new standard-bearer in the 2024 presidential campaign, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll, as voters nationwide have soured on his leadership, giving him a meager 33 percent job-approval rating. Widespread concerns about the economy and inflation have helped turn the national mood decidedly dark, both on Mr. Biden and the trajectory of the nation. More than three-quarters of registered voters see the United States moving in the wrong direction, a pervasive sense of pessimism that spans every corner of the country, every age range and racial group, cities, suburbs and rural areas, as well as both political parties. Only 13 percent of American voters said the nation was on the right track — the lowest point in Times polling since the depths of the financial crisis more than a decade ago.

Deutsche Welle

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