The post A tale of two presidents: Echoes of history in the Tunisian ambassador’s dismissal appeared first on Center for American Progress.

The economic challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic make it an especially crucial time for community college leaders to address the needs of these students. Unemployment has reached historic levels across the country among people of color and those without college credentials. People with criminal records — who are more likely to be people of color and have less education, and who already experience employment discrimination — face particular hardships during this time. Like other out-of-work Americans, they may turn to community colleges to reskill and improve their job prospects, and colleges must be ready to serve them.

The post 4 Key Steps to Support Justice-Impacted Students appeared first on Center for American Progress.

The post Tunisia: What’s next? appeared first on Center for American Progress.

Though the COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective at protecting against severe illness and transmission, including against virus variants, insufficient vaccination allows pockets of high transmission to persist and spread, endangering the health of those unvaccinated and immunocompromised.

The post FORMER BIDEN HEALTH ADVISOR: We’re running out of time. American businesses should start requiring vaccinations for their workers. appeared first on Center for American Progress.

The CCP and World Political Parties Summit targets foreign political parties, whether in power or not. Attendees included former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, and Argentine President Alberto Fernández. This effort to engage at the national and subnational political level is a potentially potent tool for the CCP. The annual summit—with representatives from more than 600 political parties and organizations around the world—provides the CCP a venue where it can control the agenda, discourage foreign criticism of the party, and establish and deepen connections on its own terms with international political parties. Xi’s personal participation and the summit’s institutionalization demonstrate the importance the CCP places on the meeting

The post Xi Jinping Is Using Party Outreach to Build an Anti-U.S. Bloc appeared first on Center for American Progress.

In April, South Korea said it would stop funding new overseas coal projects. In May, Japan signed on to a statement stating that Group of Seven members will phase out direct government support for unabated overseas coal by the end of 2021, with the exception of “limited circumstances at the discretion of each country.”

The post What Tokyo and Seoul must do to meet their coal pledges appeared first on Center for American Progress.

Renters have been strung along during the pandemic by unreliable protections and aid, and overall renter confidence in being able to pay rent and stay housed remains low. At both local and federal levels, piecemeal actions that provide protections and aid have often been decided or extended at the 11th hour, leaving no time for renters to prepare and no clarity on whether they will be able to maintain housing or have just a few days before being kicked out of their home.

The post With eviction moratoria expiring, we need permanent housing solutions appeared first on Center for American Progress.

Biles, who posted to Instagram earlier in the competition that she felt the “weight of the world” on her shoulders, showed significant strain during her most recent performance. But, along with all the achievements and medals she’s acquired during her legendary career, this moment — the best in the world putting her mental wellbeing first, saying openly “It’s been really stressful these Olympic Games” may be her most defining one, showing others the importance of self-care.

The post I used to be an elite athlete. I relate to Simone Biles’s struggle appeared first on Center for American Progress.

Biden has proposed an American Jobs Plan that calls for a $2.6 trillion investment over ten years to rebuild our nation’s infrastructure and economy in ways that will protect the climate, clean up local pollution, and create millions of good jobs. The bipartisan infrastructure deal struck last month makes some important investments to upgrade our crumbling infrastructure, but falls far short on the president’s commitments to achieving environmental and climate justice so that all communities have equal access to clean air, clean water, and economic opportunities. It simply does not meet the scope and scale of the climate and justice crises.

The post A path to climate, economic and environmental justice is finally on the horizon appeared first on Center for American Progress.

However, when the Tokyo Olympics finally opened on Friday — a year later than planned due to the Covid-19 pandemic — the games will not be the showcase for the new Japan that Abe had hoped for. With Japan’s borders mostly closed and Tokyo under a state of emergency amid another spike in cases, athletes will compete in empty venues. The resignations of the president of the organizing committee and several creative directors for the opening ceremony, to say nothing of the vast cost overruns, point to rampant mismanagement by the organizers. And there are widespread concerns that the games could lead to not only an increase in Covid-19 cases locally but also become a global “superspreader” event. Abe, no longer prime minister, did not even attend the opening ceremony. His successor, Yoshihide Suga, will be gritting his teeth for the duration, hoping to fulfill his promise of a “safe and secure” games without taking serious political fallout.

The post Japan’s Leaders Worry the Olympics Could Hurt Their Global Brand. They’re Wrong. appeared first on Center for American Progress.