Misleading
Sunday 12 July 2020
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![Carrie Lam]()
Carrie Lam
Chief Executive of Hong Kong
“[The national security law] will only target an extremely small minority of people who have breached the law, while the life and property, basic rights and freedoms of the overwhelming majority of Hong Kong residents will be protected.”
Read more...Lam minimized the potential impact of Hong Kong’s new Chinese-written security law before it took effect. Once it did, arrests and charges under the law were immediate. -
![Carlos Bolsonaro]()
Carlos Bolsonaro
Rio de Janeiro city council member, son of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro
"You won't see this type of information in most TV stations … and even less in the posts of the ‘journalists’ of the affiliates of those who always raped the country:"
Read more...On the defensive for mounting coronavirus cases in Brazil, President Jair Bolsonaro now has the virus himself. His son, the local politician Carlos Bolsonaro, promoted misleading data to argue that things are better than critics claim. -
![Fu Cong]()
Fu Cong
Director General of the Department of Arms Control, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, People’s Republic of China
“Some glaring omissions in the US Annual Arms Control Compliance Report: Withdrawal from ABM, JCPOA, INF, Open Skies Treaty …”
Read more...Fu Cong’s tweet, prompted by talks to extend a key U.S.-Russian arms treaty, is a mashup of misleading and partly true assertions about the Trump administration’s arms control posture. -
![Qatari Ministry of Interior]()
Qatari Ministry of Interior
“EHTERAZ is your trusted smart application to follow up on the latest updates of COVID-19 Coronavirus in Qatar.”
Read more...The Qatari government’s COVID-19 app has been named among the “most dangerous for privacy” by the Amnesty International Security Lab. It’s not alone. Bahrain, China, Iran, Kuwait, Norway and Russia have suspect apps, too. -
![Nicolás Maduro]()
Nicolás Maduro
President of Venezuela
"Every day we protect the health of our people, without slowing down for a second the production of goods and services, construction and renovation of important works and always in defense of the national peace. Venezuela moves forward!"
Read more...Maduro’s praise overlooks the widespread fragility in the country’s response to COVID-19, all intensified because of the chronic economic, political and humanitarian crises that have persisted under his government. -
![Dmitry Peskov]()
Dmitry Peskov
Russian presidential spokesman
“No, Russia doesn’t have any territorial claims against its neighbors.”
Read more...In 2014, Russia invaded the Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and, after a “referendum,” brought it into the Russian Federation. Moreover, Russia maintains effective control over separatist territories in former Soviet states without annexing them. -
![Global Times]()
Global Times
Chinese Communist Party's news agency
"Hong Kong's business tycoons have expressed their support of the national security legislation with a much firmer stance than they held during last year's violent protests. They have seen the Chinese central government's determination … And they know that this is the foundation of Hong Kong's long-term prosperity and stability."
Read more...The state-run, English-language daily’s reference to “tycoons” suggests business backing for Beijing’s proposed national security law. In an American Chamber of Commerce Abroad survey, 60 percent of Hong Kong member businesses said the law would cause harm. -
![Andrés Manuel López Obrador]()
Andrés Manuel López Obrador
President, Mexico
"We are leaving behind the most difficult stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is not to ring the bells, it is not to sing victory, but I consider that the worst is over."
Read more...President Andres Manuel López Obrador isn't alone in making optimistic statements in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Polygraph.info looked at five Latin American countries where case and fatality counts are anyone's guess as the virus spreads. -
![Mamuka Khazaradze]()
Mamuka Khazaradze
Lelo for Georgia party leader and businessman
“The rights of sexual minorities are very well protected in our country ... If some deviations happen, it means that the law is not observed and the rights of some people are violated. However, it does not mean that the minority must infringe on the rights of the majority.”
Read more...LGBT+ individuals in Georgia often experience abuse, intolerance, and discrimination, a United Nations report found. In a July 2019 poll by the National Democratic Institute, only 27 percent of Georgians agreed that protecting their rights is important. -
![Ri Yong-Chul]()
Ri Yong-Chul
“[President Moon] seemed more humane than previous leaders when he raised both of his hands high at Pyeongyang and Mount Baekdu. Having come into power as a result of citizen candle protests, we believed he would be different but now we believe he is not only the same, but actually worse than his predecessors.”
Source: Echo of Reunification (North Korean radio channel), June 11, 2020Read more...North-South tensions ebb and flow, but relations under President Moon Jae-In had seen improvement - notably, the historic signing of the Panmunjom Declaration on April 27, 2018. It was the first joint accord to be signed since 2000. -
![Jair Bolsonaro]()
Jair Bolsonaro
president of Brazil
"We are the country that most preserves the environment in the world. Unjustly, the most criticized."
Read more...Multiple sources contradict Bolsonaro. With its Amazon rainforest, Brazil has the second-largest forest area of any country. Deforestation hit a decade-high record during the first year of Bolsonaro's presidency. His tweet cited data from his predecessor’s term. -
![Donald Trump]()
Donald Trump
U.S. President
“The United States of America will be designating ANTIFA as a Terrorist Organization.”
Read more...There is no such thing as a designation for domestic terror groups, although the Justice Department and FBI can and do work with state and local law enforcement officials to investigate groups suspected of criminal activities.
