While the U.S. presidential election was garnering much of the world s attention, another acrimonious election was roiling the Pacific, causing the entire Micronesian bloc of nations to exit the region s leading policy-making body, the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF). This is an opportune time to re-think the PIF and possibly realign Pacific regional architecture in preparation for future challenges.
The Republic of Palau left the Forum on February 5, followed three days later by the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Nauru, and Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). That all five countries chose to leave the PIF was an act of remarkable Micronesian solidarity. The immediate reason for their departure was the February 4 election of a non-Micronesian as the PIF s new secretary-general.
You don t have to be a US citizen living in America to get a third stimulus check
More people could be eligible for the third round of stimulus checks, including mixed-status families and non-US citizens who live and work in America. Here are all the rules and what changed after the first two checks. Listen - 08:58
If you re a US citizen who lives outside the country, you would likely still be eligible to receive a third stimulus payment. Angela Lang/CNET
Do I have to be a US citizen to receive a stimulus check?
Not necessarily. Under the March 2020 CARES Act, all US citizens and non-US citizens with a Social Security number who live and work in America were eligible to receive stimulus payments. That includes people the IRS refers to as resident aliens, green card holders and workers using visas such as H-1B and H-2A. This rule was the same in the December stimulus bill that gove
Extend the Compacts, Strengthen U.S. Security in the Pacific | Opinion Alexander B. Gray and Douglas W. Domenech On 2/26/21 at 5:30 AM EST
In mid-January, the White House declassified the United States Strategic Framework for the Indo-Pacific, a document which had guided U.S. policy toward the region over the past several years. The strategy began the long and laborious but crucial bureaucratic process of adjusting to an era of renewed great-power competition, principally with the People s Republic of China.
As then-national security adviser Robert O Brien stated at the time, robust American leadership is required to maintain and grow the free and open Indo-Pacific a goal conducive to American values as well as U.S. economic and security interests.
The programâs funding source is the federal Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act. We should not have any issues issuing money to the landlord,â Cabrera added. âWe are poised to roll out this program. We are not going to take our time on this.â
Cabrera said the only issue that OGM might face is the lack of documentation from either the tenants or the landlords.
He said some landlords are operating their rental properties without a business license or are not paying taxes.
Approval will only be made after the tenant and landlord have certified the required documents, Cabrera said.
$1.3 billion in Community Development Block Grants from the
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to help
Puerto Rico rebuild infrastructure destroyed by Hurricane Maria and the removal of restrictions on another
$4.9 billion established by the Trump administration.
Grijalva said the Natural Resources Committee plans to hold a hearing this spring on the impacts of territories unequal access to federal resources and a separate hearing on the pace of reconstruction in
Puerto Rico. The Trump administration s disregard for the residents of
Puerto Rico made far too many Americans vulnerable and led to a serious population decline on the island, Grijalva said today. The Biden administration recognizes that ending this cycle is a national priority and a fundamental question of justice. Removing restrictions and releasing federal disaster aid for infrastructure, economic development, and capacity building for NGOs and municipalities on the island is the right thin