Evening rises, darkness threatens to engulf us all
But there’s a moon above it’s shining and I think I hear a call
It’s just a whisper through the trees, my ears can hardly make it out
But I can hear it in my heart, vibrating strong as if she shouts
Oh Ariadne, I am coming, I just need to work this maze inside my head
I came here like you asked, I killed the beast, that part of me is dead
Oh Ariadne, I just need to work this maze inside my head
If only I’d have listened to you when you offered me that thread
Everything is quiet and I’m not exactly sure
If it really was your voice I heard or maybe it’s a door
That’s closing up some hero’s back, on his track to be a man
Can it be that all us heroes have a path but not a plan?
Oh Ariadne, I’m coming, I just need to work this maze inside my mind
I wish I had that string, it’s so damn dark, I think I’m going blind
Oh Ariadne, I just need to work this maze inside my mind
For the life of me I don’t remember what I came to find
Now tell me princess are you strolling through your sacred grove?
And is the moon still shining? You’re the only thing I’m thinking of
The sword you gave me, it was heavy, I just had to lay it down
It’s funny how defenseless I can feel here when there’s nobody around
Oh Ariadne, I’m coming, I just need to work this maze inside my heart
I was blind, I thought you’d bind me, but you offered me a chart
Oh Ariadne, I just need to work this maze inside my heart
If I’d known that you could guide me, I’d have listened from the start
Somewhere up there there midnight strikes, I think I hear the fall
Of little drops of water, magnified against the barren wall
It’s more a feeling than a substance, but there’s nobody around
And when I’m in here all alone, it’s just enough to let me drown
Oh Ariadne, I was coming, but I failed you in this labyrinth of my past
Oh Ariadne, let me sing you, and we’ll make each other last
Oh Ariadne, I have failed you in this labyrinth of my past
Oh Ariadne, let me sing you, and we’ll make each other last
Yeah
12AM in ATL, I’m laid up at the doubletree
Ashley and Stephanie keep sayin’ that they lovin’ me
I like bitches that get money, I guess I am picky
Told her can kiss on me ’cause I can’t get no hickey
I f*ck with the ass, but I like titties, boy like 2Chainz
I got fifty thousand, I won’t f*ck it off in blue flames
I want permanent teeth, so I can feel like Stunna
I bought Birkens for my bitch, so I can feel like Gunna
She want brand new Dior, she said, "Can she get the runners?"
I feel that she been loyal, she might make it to the summer
What you keep blowin’ up my number for?
You at Mickey D’s, you want a number 4, oh
This thing is spacey, you ain’t drove the Wraithy, oh
f*cked this little thing that work at Macy’s, eww (Yeah)
What you keep blowin’ up my number for?
You at Mickey D’s, you want a number 4, oh
This thing is spacey, you ain’t drove the Wraithy, oh
f*cked this little thing that work at Macy’s, eww (Yeah)
Then we hit the Waffle House
Twenty sauce ya bitch, she run the Waffle House (Waffle House)
I f*cked you and your friend, hell you talking bout? (Talking bout)
40 Glock like DJ, uh, it walk ’em out (Walk ’em out)
12AM in ATL, yeah we kiki (Yeah, we kiki)
She got that lil condo right out Peachtree (right out Peachtree)
Rollie on me, I feel just like Big Meech (Like Big Meech)
All these percs gon’ f*ck up lil kidneys (My kidneys)
The way I smoke the GT, need a chimney
I’ve been mixin’ red with the simply
I just got some head in the Bentley
I just got some head in the Bentley
What you keep blowin’ up my number for?
You at Mickey D’s, you want a number 4, oh
This thing is spacey, you ain’t drove the Wraithy, oh
f*cked this little thing that work at Macy’s, eww (Yeah)
What you keep blowin’ up my number for?
You at Mickey D’s, you want a number 4, oh
This thing is spacey, you ain’t drove the Wraithy, oh
f*cked this little thing that work at Macy’s
We weary deer live in fear, weary deer
For we fear that we hear the hunters near
With a tag for the toe of dear John and Jane Doe
Oh, no, we’re wary, weary deer
Hunt the moose or the goose, but please turn the poor deer loose
For our families would miss us if we’re not here
We stay up all the night in a terrible fright
Pity us, bleary, wary, weary deer
Oh, the foot of the hare brings good luck beyond compare
And the hair of the bear is more impressive
That space on your wall could use a nice trophy trout
Think about it, think about it
While we weary deer live in fear, weary deer
Hiding down in the deep, damp, dark, dank den, in the gloom
How we long for a day with the antelope to play
Oh, surely some sunshine shall shine soon
Hunt big game if you must, they’re more glamorous than us
Or a feast of feathered fowl is delicious
The elk stand so tall and so proud that they must
Present a target that’ll make you want to skip us
Steer clear of the deer, we live in fear, weary deer
For we fear that we hear the hunters near
With a tag for the toe of John Deere and Jane Doe
We’re leery, bleary, wary, weary deer
[Verse 1]
Yeah
When you needed help with finding yourself
Then I had you solve
When you were alone and you needed friends
I gave you them all
Now you’re talking shit ’bout whatever I did
Guess I’ll be alone
Now you play yourself looking away
But I know you’re bored
I was the light burning your fire
Would I leave you alone
‘Cause you’re talking shit ’bout things I never did
Go be on your own
[Pre-Chorus]
And now I see you’re feeling bad, bad, bad about it
Don’t even care you’re feeling sad, sad, sad about it
Yeah, now you want me I ain’t gonna let you have it
[Chorus]
Now I’m glad you gave me up
I never wanna feel a nothing
No, you never believed in us
I tried, I tried, I tried
Now I’m glad you gave me up
I never wanna feel a nothing
No, you never believed in us
I tried, I tried, I tried
[Verse 2]
Yeah
When I wasn’t high spreading the vibes
Then you had me fall
Down in your pit where I wound up in bits
Then you carried me home
Now you’re talking shit ’bout things you never did for me
Go be on your own
[Pre-Chorus]
And now I see you’re feeling bad, bad, bad about it
Don’t even care you’re feeling sad, sad, sad about it
Yeah, now you want me I ain’t gonna let you have it
[Chorus]
Now I’m glad you gave me up
I never wanna feel a nothing
No, you never believed in us
I tried, I tried, I tried
Now I’m glad you gave me up
I never wanna feel a nothing
No, you never believed in us
I tried, I tried, I tried
[Bridge]
I tried (I tried), I tried (I tried), I tried (I tried, I tried)
I tried (I tried), I tried (I tried), I tried (I tried, I tried)
I tried (I tried), I tried (I tried), I tried (I tried, I tried)
I tried (I tried), I tried, I tried (I tried, I tried)
[Chorus]
Now I’m glad you gave me up
I never wanna feel a nothing
No, you never believed in us
I tried, I tried, I tried
Now I’m glad you gave me up
I never wanna feel a nothing
No, you never believed in us
I tried, I tried, I tried
[Outro]
Now I’m glad you gave me up
You never believed in us
I tried, I tried
I tried (I tried, I tried)
Lo primero que mire
Nomas al cruzar las puerta
Aquel hermoso par de piernas
Cubiertas con medias negras
Desde el banco de la barra
Lanzaba miradas tiernas
Prometiendo con sus ojos
Noches de pasion eternas
Era una mujer extraña
Se veia cara su ropa
Me acerque y le dije hola
Puedo invitarte una copa
Ella dijo al cantinero
Un champaña por favor
Y yo dije a mi un telquila
Pero que sea del mejor
Ella llebaba medias negras
De eso bien me acuerdo yo
Cuando le dije bailamos
Dijo claro porque no
Su cuerpo pegado al mio
La sangre me alvoroto
Y despues de dos canciones
En la boca me beso
Alla en un hotel de paso
Las negras medias volaron
Tambien volaron mis ancias
Y en su cuerpo aterrizaron
En sublime comunion
Nuestros cuerpos se juntaron
Quisimos amarnos mas
Pero las fuerzas nos faltaron
Desperte como a las nueve
No se a que hora se marcho
Solo aye las medias negras
Que me dejo en el buro
La he buscado en aquel bar
Pero ella nunca volvio
Me dejo sus medias negras
Pero mi alma se llebo
[Verse 1]
Honestly
There’s a little part of me that wants to wake up
And be a better me
I tried a bit of therapy, it wasn’t enough
[Pre-Chorus]
I used to think that growing up
I could be anything
Yeah, I said
I used to think that growing up
I could be anything
[Chorus]
But I didn’t get smarter like mama said
‘Cause I didn’t go to college like all my friends
And I still don’t have a dollar to pay my rent
But everything’s good, yeah, everything’s good
[Verse 2]
Equality
I just want to feel the way that everyone should
Yeah, aren’t you proud of me? (proud of me, proud of me)
I can fake a smile just like you said that I would
Oh, yeah (oh, yeah)
[Pre-Chorus]
I used to think that growing up
I could be anything
[Chorus]
But I didn’t get smarter like mama said
‘Cause I didn’t go to college like all my friends
And I still don’t have a dollar to pay my rent
But everything’s good, yeah, everything’s good
And I can barely focus for ten minutes
And I guess nobody noticed when I was six
Yeah, I’m a little broken and can’t be fixed
But everything’s good, yeah, everything’s good
[Chorus]
But I didn’t get smarter like mama said
‘Cause I didn’t go to college like all my friends
And I still don’t have a dollar to pay my rent
But everything’s good, yeah, everything’s good
And I can barely focus for ten minutes
And I guess nobody noticed when I was six
Yeah, I’m a little broken and can’t be fixed
But everything’s good, yeah, everything’s good
Johnny don’t say goodbye
Johnny do as he like
Johnny, hey man, alright
He say, “Hey man, alright”
Let it ride
Let it ride
Let it
‘Cause if it moves you, it moves you
Let it ride
Let it ride
Let it
‘Cause if it moves you, it moves you
Johnny don’t walk away
Johnny he like to stay
He say, “Hey man, okay”
Oh Johnny, oh Johnny
Go Johnny go
Let it ride
Let it ride
Let it
‘Cause if it moves you, it moves you
Let it ride
Let it ride
Let it
‘Cause if it moves you, it moves you
One for the money
Two for the show
Three to get ready
Four to go
One for the money
Two for the show
Three to get ready, alright
Four, go get dead
Let it ride
Let it ride
Let it
‘Cause if it moves you, it moves you
Let it ride
Let it ride
Let it
‘Cause if it moves you, it moves you
Let it ride
Let it ride
Let it
‘Cause if it moves you, it moves you
Let it ride
Let it ride
Let it
‘Cause if it moves you, it moves you
Well I guess I’ll have to fall in love with strangers
Go ride through New York City like I’m famous
And if our lives don’t work then we can change ’em
Lord knows we’ll change, love will rearrange us, like
If you want freedom, you better free someone
Better not run when I’m hanging on, like
If you want freedom, you better free someone
Better not run when I’m blind
Cause I am over you, I am over you
And I am over you, I am over you
I am over you, and I am over you
Flesh wound, little flesh wound
I guess I’ll have to fall in love with strangers
Go ride through New York City like I’m famous
And I did not want our love to be erased, but
Lord knows we chased it, love just rearranged us
I’m everything I thought I was, even if I don’t have much
My blue side, my fire eyes, my heart keeps me in the fight, like
If you want freedom, you better free someone
Better not run when I’m blind
Cause I am over you, I am over you
And I am over you, I am over you
I am over you, and I am over you
Flesh wound, little flesh wound
Solo, other side now
I will be alright
Solo, other side now
I will be alright
I guess I’ll have to fall in love with strangers
Go ride through New York City like I’m famous
And I did not want our love to be erased, but
Lord knows we chased it, love just rearranged us
Sweet mountain river, come take me away
Way out west of the prairies, is where I’m gonna stay
Sweet mountain river, I’m gonna make you my home
Because you fill me with that sweet sweet joy
And I’m never gonna leave you alone
I, Haven’t felt home, In this city, For so long
For so long yeah (x2)
Sweet mountain woman, I’m gonna take you with me
I’m gonna give you everything you want,
And you’re never gonna wanna leave
Sweet mountain woman, I’m gonna show you my way
I’m gonna see you at the break of dawn,
I’m gonna see you when the light goes away
I, Haven’t felt home, In this city, For so long
(Solo)
I, Haven’t felt home, In this city, For so long (x4)
For so long yeah (x4)
Well you’re the real tough cookie with a long history
Of breaking little hearts, like the one in me
That’s okay let’s see how you do it
Put up your dukes, let’s get down to it
Hit me with your best shot
Why don’t you hit me with your best shot?
Hit me with your best shot
Fire away
You come on with a come on, you don’t fight fair
But that’s okay, see if I care
Knock me down, it’s all in vain
I’ll get right back up on my feet again
Hit me with your best shot
Why don’t you hit me with your best shot?
Hit me with your best shot
Fire away
Well you’re a real tough cookie with a long history
Of breaking little hearts, like the one in me
Before I put another notch in my lipstick case
You better make sure you put me in my place
Hit me with your best shot
Come on, hit me with your best shot
Hit me with your best shot
Fire away
Hit me with your best shot
Why don’t you hit me with your best shot?
Hit me with your best shot
Fire away
I want to move from this world of fear
Kinda getting tired of living here
I want to go home where the winds of sorrow never blow
Far from the shadow of the doom
Far from the sadness and the gloom
Want to go home with every man’s unfettered soul
Getting ready today
Moving out tomorrow
Gonna say good bye
To earthly sorrow
I’m looking for a mansion fair
I see the lights I’m almost there
I want to go home
When life is through
Moving up to heaven where dreams come true
I can get through just thinking about the glory we will share
Gonna see loved ones who are gone
Gonna see the king upon his throne
And never return to this old life when I get there
Getting ready today
Moving out tomorrow
Gonna say good bye
To earthly sorrow
I’m looking for a mansion fair
I see the lights I’m almost there
Getting ready today
Moving out tomorrow
Gonna say good bye
To earthly sorrow
I’m looking for a mansion fair
I see the lights I’m almost there
I see the lights I’m almost there
I see the lights I’m almost there
I see the lights I’m almost there
b639pvfxKk0 1497851102
FnZ, oh damn
First off, rest in peace to my dawgs
You can’t feel the pain inside of my heart
I was just a boy inside of the dark
I grew up and now I see through the fog
Think you bulletproof (Ayy) ’til my shooter shoot (Yuh)
Think you bulletproof (Ayy) ’til my shooter shoot (Yuh)
Think you bulletproof (Ayy) ’til my shooter shoot (Yuh)
Think you bulletproof (Ayy) ’til my shooter shoot
Please don’t make him pull up with that Draco (Brra, brra)
Aim it at your noggin, give you halo (Fly, fly)
Give him twenty bands under table (Right)
He gon’ paint his face like it’s Maco (Yeah)
The shooter, he on payroll (Okay)
I break it down like LEGO (Uh-huh)
That boy the type to spin the nigga block like a [?] (Right)
And you know he ain’t tellin’ (Yeah), he always been a felon (Felon)
His hammer got him dancin’ up and down like they Ellen, uh (Shh)
Now a nigga Margielin’, uh
New chain every time he send a nigga goin’ up to live in Heaven, uh
Four shots to the melon, uh
Circle back if he ain’t get him, uh
More shots, now he got him, uh
If you see a nigga talkin’, uh
Pop the trunk, is there a problem? Uh
First off, rest in peace to my dawgs
You can’t feel the pain inside of my heart
I was just a boy inside of the dark
I grew up and now I see through the fog
Think you bulletproof (Ayy) ’til my shooter shoot (Yuh)
Think you bulletproof (Ayy) ’til my shooter shoot (Yuh)
Think you bulletproof (Ayy) ’til my shooter shoot (Yuh)
Think you bulletproof (Ayy) ’til my shooter shoot
We all off the Matrix, Maxo, Young Dolph bulletproof
Trigger Maxo, Waka Flocka Draco choppa aim at you
This nigga actin’ like he trappin’, real-life cappin’, he a ho
For all that actin’, get to clappin’, shoot a nigga like B-roll
You niggas straight bitch, fake hard, handicap crip
Set trip, we gon’ reach hard, lil’ nigga only six
Can’t count, don’t know the alphabet but he could load a hundred clip up in the AR
Stevie Wonder, walk with sticks like Ray Charles
First off, rest in peace to my dawgs
You can’t feel the pain inside of my heart
I was just a boy inside of the dark
I grew up and now I see through the fog
Think you bulletproof (Ayy) ’til my shooter shoot (Yuh)
Think you bulletproof (Ayy) ’til my shooter shoot (Yuh)
Think you bulletproof (Ayy) ’til my shooter shoot (Yuh)
Think you bulletproof (Ayy) ’til my shooter shoot
Can’t fake the fizzle be it is in your skin
3 Rizla sheets to the wind
When you fail they rejoice
When you fail they rejoice
Falling down is an accident
Staying down is a choice
Took a little trip, slip, miss
Geezer this is it, misfits
See all the lip, check this
Geezer please me with all of it
Tequila at the bar last night
Reason why I look like flippin’ shit
Reason why I’m questioning all of it
Cause cor blimey she was fit
Took a little trip last year
What a brittle trip, rasp gear
Met about a baker’s dozen of cynical little pricks
Geezer this is me mate, and what you see mate
Is what you get, yep, no fantasy
I got my East End gang with me
A bunch of cunts in all honesty
The Monday will be solemn
Could do with a little trip to Holland or Tulum
But see me cash flow’s a travesty
And reason why I’m nickin’ these bag of peas
Oi oi oi
Can’t fake the fizzle be it is in your skin
3 Rizla sheets to the wind
When you fail they rejoice
When you fail they rejoice
Falling down is an accident
Staying down is a choice
She walked with me to the place
But she won’t let me try and act up
She talked shit to my face
But compliments me behind my back
Text messaging like I
Shoot from the hip in a western movie
Everyone who comes into your life
Is a blessing or a schooling
Fall in love with the girl who makes you love the guy that…
Under a little blem of weed
Just learning the ropes of it
Come to see the film, please
But don’t turn off your phone in it
When you fail they rejoice
When you fail they rejoice
Falling down is an accident
Staying down is a choice
Yo when we all fall we’ll be dead
Brown bread discomposed in the depths
Yo, falling down is an accident
But see staying down is for plebs
C’mon
Can’t fake the fizzle be it is in your skin
3 Rizla sheets to the wind
When you fail they rejoice
When you fail they rejoice
Falling down is an accident
Staying down is a choice
(Chorus – Mike Dreams)
I ain’t really come to play with y’all, naw
I ain’t really come to play at all, naw
I’m on my job until they lay me off, huh
But first, they gotta pay me, dawg
Cuz everyday’s a workday, workday
Cuz everyday’s a workday, workday
Don’t even take off on my birthday, birthday
That’s cuz everyday’s a workday, workday
(Verse 1 – Mike Dreams)
Everyday I go to work
I’m out here grindin’
‘Til I’m in the dirt
Putting my time in
Or rhyming a verse
I need everything
That I’m worth
I got a daughter to feed
Know that she all that I need
And she depending on me
360 degrees
That’s by any means
I’m bodying beats
I’m punching the clock
Like I’m in the streets
And pumping the block
Ducking police
And dumping at opps
Cuz I’m on my beast
No matter the cost
I gotta eat
The life of a boss
‘Til rocks in my watch
When it’s time to floss
I got the gloss
The juice and the sauce
I whip it together
Like it’s in a pot, yeah
Either you get it or nah, yah
Either you it or not, yah
Hustle I get from my pops, yah
Learn how to flip it or flop, yah
24/7/365, I’ma pull up like I’m
Making a drop, ay
I’m never taking a loss
But that’s what you get when you
Aim for the top
Ballin, I been on my business
They callin’, I been on a mission
All of that show money’s cool
But I’m out here plottin’ on billions
‘Til money stack to the ceiling
‘Til it get higher than buildings
All these empires I’m building
Why not make a killing
While you make a living?
(Chorus – Mike Dreams)
I ain’t really come to play with y’all, naw
I ain’t really come to play at all, naw
I’m on my job until they lay me off, huh
But first, they gotta pay me, dawg
Cuz everyday’s a workday, workday
Cuz everyday’s a workday, workday
Don’t even take off on my birthday, birthday
That’s cuz everyday’s a workday, workday
(Verse 2 – Tha Rift)
I went in
Just put in the work
A 9 to 5 don’t even work
We live in a world full of demons
Ride with that Nina
In case it get worse
Cut through that plastic, got work
She swiping that plastic, it work
Now that my pockets got greener
She on my penis
Hoping she worth it
No, baby
You don’t deserve it
I know I ain’t home with no virgin
But I’ll cut that p*ssy like a surgeon
Kill it, insurgent
Now I be nervous
I don’t be trusting a lot of these people
Was using these bitches
I know that it’s evil
Was trapping at my job illegal
Was scaling shit out in the parking lot Regal
How comes niggas so deceitful?
That’s what the Pump in the seat for
Can’t f*ck with you lames
Put a lock on the game
45 barrel to the keyhole
(Chorus – Mike Dreams)
I ain’t really come to play with y’all, naw
I ain’t really come to play at all, naw
I’m on my job until they lay me off, huh
But first, they gotta pay me, dawg
Cuz everyday’s a workday, workday
Cuz everyday’s a workday, workday
Don’t even take off on my birthday, birthday
That’s cuz everyday’s a workday, workday
'American exceptionalism': EU travel bans show US is abdicating global leadership, former CDC head says
Producer
Christopher Woolf
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Listen to the story.
A member of a ground crew walks past American Airlines planes parked at the gate during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, DC, April 5, 2020.
Credit:
Joshua Roberts/Reuters
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As countries around the globe start to reopen, the big question is how to do it safely.
The European Union is set to reopen its borders starting July 1. Visitors from the US and Russia are among those that are restricted from entering Europe, The New York Times reported on Friday.
Earlier reporting this week from The New York Times that alluded to that prompted Dr. Tom Frieden, the former head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to tweet, “This is not what American exceptionalism is supposed to mean.”
This is not what American exceptionalism is supposed to mean. Until the US gets control of this virus, we will face barriers to travel and economic recovery. https://t.co/et7Dn7tdcC
— Dr. Tom Frieden (@DrTomFrieden) June 23, 2020
Frieden headed the CDC from 2009 to 2017. He’s now president and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives, which focuses on preventing deaths from cardiovascular disease in low- and middle-income countries. Frieden joined The World’s host Marco Werman from New York to talk about the Trump administration’s handling of the pandemic.
Related: Nicholas Burns: US’ ‘unusual absence’ from world stage is bad for Americans
Marco Werman: Dr. Frieden, an interesting way to frame American exceptionalism. What did you mean in your tweet when you said that this is not what that’s supposed to mean?
Tom Frieden: Well, there’s debate about what American exceptionalism is and different visions of it. But it was never supposed to mean that we continue to have tens of thousands of cases of COVID-19 disease every single day while Europe has essentially beaten the curve, and countries around the world are doing much better than we are. The key point here is that it’s not a question of health versus economics. The only way we’re going to get our economy back is to be guided by and fully support public health, so we can keep COVID-19 in its place and we can have more space in society.
What do you make of the fact that this list puts the US in the same company as Russia and Brazil? Does that mean the US, Brazil and Russia, we’re all at the bottom of the barrel?
There are a lot of countries that aren’t doing a good job, and there are a fair number of countries that are doing a really good job. I think the key is for us to continuously improve our response. We have great health departments around the country. We have very committed public health professionals. Congress has provided substantial resources. Now, we need to scale up our programs and show that we, too, can turn the tide and make huge progress against this pandemic.
In parts of this country, we’ve done it. If you look at New York, New Jersey, many other places in the US, we have seen a huge decrease in cases. Now, we have to keep that up so we don’t have large spikes. We know there are going to be clusters. That’s inevitable. That’s why we need really good public health systems to find those clusters early and stop them before they become outbreaks. That’s what has to happen for us to be safer and for us to get our economy back.
When you speak with colleagues overseas dealing with the pandemic, what do they say about how the US has handled the crisis?
I get emails and text messages from all over the world just kind of shaking their head. What is happening? Why has the US response been so ineffective? Why isn’t contact tracing scaled up? Why in the world has mask-wearing become a political statement in some places and for some people? I would say there’s a kind of sadness and disbelief when people look at what’s happening in the US now.
The US has for decades been a leader in global health. And now it’s seen — unfortunately, accurately — as a laggard. I point out the need for federal leadership. I point out that public health has not failed in this pandemic. What has failed is the politicians’ willingness to listen to public health advice and be guided by and support public health, because everywhere in the world where that is done, their communities do better. Fewer deaths and less economic destruction and devastation.
How do you think the US handling of the pandemic is changing the way this country is seen around the world?
Well, I think it’s done a lot of damage to our reputation as a leader, to our reputation as a country that could not only handle things here, but be relied on globally. When I think back to Ebola, the US led the global charge to protect the countries of West Africa and stop the epidemic there successfully. Now, the US is really not in that role.
Saying that we’re going to leave WHO in the middle of a pandemic is not a sensible thing to do. Certainly, WHO needs to be better, but they’re essential. And turning our backs on them is not going to help at this time. The US has a wonderful history of pragmatic, effective public health and political leadership. And if we get back to that, we can control this pandemic and the next one that comes along as well.
I mean, you look at China, they recently had a cluster of more than 150 new COVID cases in Beijing. Officials sealed off neighborhoods, they launched a mass testing campaign, imposed travel restrictions. In the meantime, here in the US, we’re getting reports that President Donald Trump wants to close 13 federally run testing centers just as infections are spiking in several states. Again, maybe the answer is obvious, but how does the US emerge from this and get on the list of responsible countries?
If we do the right thing, we’ll get on the right list. I got an email this morning from a colleague in Australia. Incredibly impressive. They’ve got a cluster. They’re ramping up testing. They’re doing very intensive work. And really, the tale of two countries is the United States and South Korea. We’ve both had our first cases on Jan. 20.
If you had moved from the US to South Korea on that date, you would have been 70 times less likely to get killed by COVID-19. And these days, Korea is having 30 cases a day and they’re really concerned about it. They’re ramping up their efforts to clamp down on the virus. We have 30,000 cases, and there’s still debate about whether people should wear masks. It’s a little mind-boggling.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
As more journalists stand trial in Turkey, the truth becomes more elusive
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For nine hours on Wednesday, Özge Terkoğlu sat in the gallery of a Turkish courtroom hearing testimony against her husband, Barış Terkoğlu, the news director of OdaTV, an online TV channel.
Watching her husband take the stand, she fretted about his weight loss over the past three months he spent in prison.
Barış Terkoğlu is one of seven journalists from various media outlets facing charges over their coverage of the deaths of Turkish intelligence officers in Libya. An eighth defendant, a municipal worker in the western Turkish town of Akhisar, is accused of supplying pictures to the journalists of the funeral of one of the dead intelligence officers.
Related: Maria Ressa: Duterte’s ‘weaponization of the law’ is a threat to democracy
The deaths weren’t a secret — it was discussed in Turkey’s parliament and on social media. But these writers were accused of breaking state secrecy laws; the charges were deemed so serious that even during the pandemic, the journalists could not be released. Instead, they languished alone in their cells.
It’s just the most recent example of how freedom of the press continues to shrink in Turkey — and the intense political pressure facing journalists to toe the line.
“He’s very courageous in terms of writing on topics that are very hard to touch, that disturb people that have power. All those things that we have to go through as a family, we can handle it. But we don’t deserve it.”
Özge Terkoğlu, wife of jailed journalist
“He’s very courageous in terms of writing on topics that are very hard to touch, that disturb people that have power,” Özge Terkoğlu said of her husband. “All those things that we have to go through as a family, we can handle it. But we don’t deserve it.”
Turkey is often cited by the Committee to Protect Journalists as the world’s largest jailer of media personnel in the world, alongside China and Egypt.
Just this week, 19 Turkish journalists and media workers were scheduled for hearings for various offenses (including those on trial for breaking state secrecy laws), according to Expression Interrupted, a free speech tracking project. If things go as usual, some reporters will be released, others will pay fines and some cases will drag on for years.
Related: How Turkey’s Erdoğan went from populist hero to strongman
In Terkoğlu’s case, the judges returned on Wednesday with a decision around 10 p.m. Three of the journalists, including Terkoğlu, were released while their trial continues. The others will likely remain in prison until the next hearing, which is scheduled for September.
Özge Terkoğlu and her husband, Barış Terkoğlu, are pictured with their young son.
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Courtesy of Özge Terkoğlu
The ambiguity of the law and irregularity of how it is imposed is enough to make anyone rethink the work they do. Some reporters leave the industry or move abroad. Others establish alternative outlets online, like OdaTV.
Little by little, political influence is reshaping how Turkish readers understand news about Turkey and its relationship with the world.
“Maybe 95% of national media, especially newspapers and TV stations, are owned by media companies that are close to the government,” said Eylem Yanardağoğlu, an associate professor of New Media at Kadir Has University in Istanbul. “What we call ‘mainstream media’ has almost disappeared.”
On any given newsstand in Turkey, a casual reader will find several national newspapers with various political bents. On TV, viewers can flip through multiple news channels, including CNN’s Turkish affiliate. It’s easy to get the impression that Turkey has a healthy, diverse media environment, but this does not reflect reality, Yanardağoğlu said.
This media consolidation ramped up as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan began to crack down on political rivals after the Gezi Park protests in 2013. At the time, network TV stations famously showed nature documentaries to avoid covering the events. Journalists who did venture out to cover the protests suffered injuries by police and threats from government officials, according to Reporters Without Borders.
Three years later, following a bloody coup attempt on July 15, 2016, media arrests reached a nadir. At least 81 journalists were jailed in retaliation for their work the highest number in any one country counted at any time, according to CPJ.
“Using your pen to serve international smear campaigns is not journalism,” Erdoğan claimed in 2017, after coming under fire for the number of reporters languishing in Turkish jails.
Traditional media used to protect the public’s right to reliable information in Turkey, said Yanardağoğlu. Today, journalists who don’t toe the political line get pushed to alternative websites and social media, where the pay is lower, but there’s more freedom.
“This is creating new debates: Whose job is it to tell the truth? And is it the truth?”
Eylem Yanardağoğlu, Kadir Has University
“This is creating new debates: Whose job is it to tell the truth? And is it the truth?” Yanardağoğlu said.
As Turkey’s digital news organizations jockey for flashy news that gets clicks, the reliability of online content suffers. Dedicated fact-checking organizations try to create some semblance of order, but it has become more challenging for everyday readers to discern truth from propaganda. Even a Turkish-language news service funded by the Russian government has attained a level of popularity, due to its ability to freely criticize Erdoğan.
Outside the courthouse, a group of colleagues and supporters of journalists on trial stood in the sun under a banner that depicts portraits of the six arrested writers with a cartoon of pencils turned into cell bars.
“Every single morning, believe me, you wake up at 4 in the morning listening to the door and wondering if [the police] are about to come to get you.”
Zafer Arapkirli, journalist
“Every single morning, believe me, you wake up at 4 in the morning listening to the door and wondering if [the police] are about to come to get you, said Zafer Arapkirli, a former BBC presenter who now hosts his own online news program.
He wears a face mask with the phrase “susmayacağız” written over his mouth, which means “we will not be silent.”
“I’ve been working as a journalist in this country for 43 years now. And we’ve gone through these sorts of stages … where journalists were … silenced, where all sorts of democratic institutions were … crushed. But in the end, democracy will win,” he said. “We believe in democracy.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
The makings of modern conservatism in the US
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Sarah Leeson
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A farmer plowing badly eroded fields in the upper Tennessee Valley, in the southeastern United States, in the 1930s. Poor farming techniques had damaged much of the farmland in Southern Appalachia by the time of the Great Depression.
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The Republican Party has a reputation for being the party of small government — of keeping bureaucrats out of our lives, homes, and churches. Indeed, President Donald Trump has spent several weeks advocating for the end of the government-sanctioned quarantine in order to reopen the economy. However, the Republican party didn’t always embrace the idea of a whittled-down state.
According to Kathryn Olmsted, professor of history at the University of California Davis, and author of “Right Out of California: The 1930s and the Big Business Roots of Modern Conservatism,” up until about a century ago, conservative business owners saw themselves as allies with the government. The relationship was symbiotic, and corporations viewed the federal government as beneficial to business.
“Corporate agribusiness was used to relying on the government to help it control its workers,” Olmsted said. “And it was very much in favor of a strong government because it was a strong government that built the dams and irrigation canals and tunnels and roads that it needed.”
Related: ‘Farming While Black’: Cultivating justice in upstate New York
In the 1930s, though, a shift began. As Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal began encouraging the formation of unions, the government suddenly became the enemy.
There was an irony to this: Despite misconceptions in the fields, the federal government did not actually aim to extend union protections to farm workers. Instead, they got a helping hand from somewhere else.
“The more conventional union leaders, the American Federation of Labor, they were not interested in trying to organize the farm workers,” Olmsted said. “So, who was left to organize them? It was the Communist Party, which had an ideological commitment to the idea of organizing the least privileged members of society in hopes of turning them into a revolutionary force.”
Agribusiness watched their workers go on strike and saw their positive relationship with the government crumble.
Related: How immigrant workers are preparing for automation in agriculture
“The corporate growers in California began to sort of wake up and say, ‘This whole program, which at first we thought was fine because we were getting agricultural subsidies and we were getting more infrastructure projects, we see the government now as a force for evil instead of a force for protecting the markets,’” Olmsted said.
With this realization, California conservatives began to organize against the labor movement to great effect. Some of the tactics that were created in this era are still employed today. There was fake news, a brand-new political consulting firm, and even dark money at play. Olmstead said that conservatives claimed that FDR was a threat to traditional gender and racial hierarchies, that he was “friendly to communistic ideas,” and that he would destroy the family and the church as they knew it.
Despite these new political maneuvers (which did win big elections for conservatives at the time), Olmsted said that modern historians have largely thought the “Old Right” of the 1930s, which championed isolationism and nationalism, had lost. But today, the echoes of the “Old Right” aren’t hard to find in our politics. While there’s been a split in conservatism, where neo-conservatives are largely divorced from the anti-semitic and nationalist roots of the 1930s, there are also paleo-conservatives who stay closer to the original Great-Depression approach.
Related: US migrant farmworkers deemed essential but lack protections
“The ‘Never Trump’ conservatives, I think, oppose Trump now because they see him as the direct heir of the conservatives that I write about in the 1930s. That he’s more of a paleo-conservative than a neo-conservative, and he’s not a betrayal of the conservative movement; he’s a betrayal of the neo-conservative movement,” Olmsted said.
Today, there are some who see “big-government conservatives” gaining power in the party, but it may be that the current White House shows the impact of the past.
Sarah Leeson is associate producer on Innovation Hub. Find her on Twitter at @sarahbration.
As Lebanon’s financial crisis worsens, migrant workers are being dumped on the streets like ‘trash’
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Ethiopian domestic workers wearing masks sit together with their belongings in front of the Ethiopian consulate in Hazmiyeh, Lebanon, June 8, 2020.
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Outside the Ethiopian Embassy in Beirut, a dozen women gather under a small overhang to shelter from the sun. Their suitcases and bags are stacked against the wall. On the ground sits a piece of cardboard with “we want to go home” written in their native Amharic.
Until a few weeks ago, most of the women were living and working inside Lebanese homes as cleaners or caretakers of children and the elderly. But in recent weeks, as Lebanon’s economic crisis worsens, around 100 Ethiopian women have been dumped at the Ethiopian Embassy by their Lebanese employers.
Human rights advocates say these women have little to no recourse, and that the situation is bound to deteriorate further as more people in the country cannot afford to pay domestic workers. The coronavirus restrictions also complicate matters.
For the past two years, Masaret Shefara, who is from Ethiopia, has been working in the home of a family in Beirut. She made just $150 per month before the crisis. A few months ago, the family said they could no longer pay her and dropped her off at the embassy with no money and no way home.
Related: Lebanon’s ‘two crises’: coronavirus and financial collapse
“I just want to go to Ethiopia,” she said, washing her feet and a pair of white socks with a bottle of water while other women rifled through their luggage nearby.
Most of the women have little or no cash. Some don’t even have their passports: Under a sponsorship system for migrant workers, which is known in the Middle East as kafala, employers in Lebanon often take the women’s passports away. Many have been sleeping outside the embassy.
There are around 250,000 domestic workers in Lebanon, which has a population of 6.8 million. Foreign workers from Africa and Asia have long traveled to Lebanon to do domestic jobs, lured by the promise of US dollars — hard and valuable currency that most workers send home to their families. The artificial peg of the Lebanese pound to the US dollar allowed even middle-class Lebanese with relatively low salaries to afford live-in, domestic help.
An Ethiopian woman looks through her bags outside the Ethiopian Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon.
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But now, the Lebanese pound has lost three-quarters of its value against the US dollar.
That has sent the price of imported goods — which was already high — rising quickly. And it also means that employers like Shefara’s would now have to pay four times the amount in Lebanese pounds to get the US dollars they need to pay foreign staff. Lebanese pounds are useless in Ethiopia.
Employers say they simply can’t afford that.
Related: Foreign domestic workers stuck in Lebanon as economy spirals
Farah Salka, executive director of the Anti-Racism Movement in Lebanon, said the financial crisis has just brought attention to kafala, a racist system under which foreigners have been employed here for decades. Salka likens it to slavery.
“The sponsorship system allows you to employ a worker, they say, but basically it allows you to own a person in your house,” Salka said. “To make them work in whatever conditions you see fit.”
The kafala system ties a migrant worker’s immigration status to their employers as their sponsors.
Lebanese labor laws do not apply to foreigners hired under the kafala system, said Salka. That has left them vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.
“Most of these sponsors are getting rid of their workers literally as though they are trash.”
Farah Salka, Anti-Racism Movement in Lebanon
“Most of these sponsors are getting rid of their workers literally as though they are trash,” Salka said.
Many women are owed months of wages, and they have little recourse because they are in the country under the kafala system. Others have suffered forced confinement, physical and mental abuse — even rape. A 2008 Human Rights Watch report found that a domestic worker was dying every week in Lebanon — with suicide being the leading cause of death.
“Falling from high buildings,” a separate category, was the second.
“They need their money and they need to go back home,” Salka said.
But the Beirut airport is closed to regular traffic, due to COVID-19 measures. The women are stuck.
The World was not able to reach anyone at the embassy for a statement.
The Ethiopia Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on June 12 saying “making the recent surge in the number of COVID-19 patients in Ethiopia, attendees come to understand that Ethiopian migrants should be helped where they are to minimize the risk of infection,” but advocates say there has been little help.
Related: How Lebanon’s ‘WhatsApp tax’ unleashed a flood of anger
Other women outside the embassy say they weren’t dropped here. Instead, they escaped from their employer’s house.
“I ran away here,” Asnagas Lelitho said. “I have my passport but no money.”
Lelitho hadn’t been paid in four months when she escaped and, like Shefara, she was only earning $150 per month. Minimum wage for Lebanese workers is around $450 per month.
Occasionally, people come by to try to lure the women to work in their homes, promising to pay in US dollars. No one is interested.
“I don’t want anything,” Lelitho said. “I just want to go to Ethiopia.”
Other Lebanese employers stop at the embassy to inquire about how they can send their domestic workers home. Some say they would never leave them outside the embassy.
“It’s terrible,” said one man stopping to inquire. “They’re not animals.”
Former domestic workers from Ethiopia wait outside the Ethiopian Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon.
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Rebecca Collard/The World
Under increasing pressure, Lebanon’s Ministry of Labor has promised to prosecute the employers who left women in front of the embassy. Employers “who left migrant workers stranded in front of the consulate will be punished by law and will be placed on a blacklist that prevents them from hiring foreign domestic workers again,” Labor Minister Lamia Yammine said in early June.
Ethiopian Airlines have organized repatriation flights, but most have simply no way to get the money. And the women would have to self-quarantine for two weeks once they reach Ethiopia, likely at a hotel — another monumental challenge.
“It’s a disaster. They can’t stay. They can’t leave. They can’t work. They can’t pay.”
Farah Salka, Anti-Racism Movement in Lebanon
“It’s a disaster,” Salka said. “They can’t stay. They can’t leave. They can’t work. They can’t pay.”
Salka said it’s difficult to know how many women have been discarded by their employers with no way home, but it’s been hundreds this month alone. The majority are Ethiopian, but Lebanon also hosts tens of thousands more workers from Sri Lanka, the Philippines and other African and Asian countries.
As the financial crisis worsens, more and more workers will be abandoned.
“What we are seeing at the Ethiopian consulate is only the tip of the iceberg of what is to come,” Salka said. “We are just at the beginning of the crisis. We haven’t even gotten midway yet.”
Former US ambassador: Israel would be 'making itself an international outlaw' with West Bank annexation
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Ariel Oseran
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Israel continues to push forward with plans to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.
Israel has occupied the territory on the west bank of the River Jordan since 1967. Decades of talks between Israelis and Palestinians have left the territory’s status unresolved.
The annexation process could start as soon as next week, despite widespread condemnation from Palestinians, US-Arab allies and numerous foreign governments. But the Israeli government’s plan is bolstered by the Trump Administration’s peace plan released earlier this year, which indicates that the United States would be supportive of annexation.
At a UN Security Council meeting Wednesday, Secretary-General António Guterres called on Israel to abandon its plans, calling this “a watershed moment.”
“If implemented, annexation would constitute a most serious violation of international law, grievously harm the prospect of a two-state solution and undercut the possibilities of a renewal of negotiations,” said Guterres.
Related: Palestinian analyst says Trump’s Middle East peace plan is a ‘scam’
Martin Indyk, former US ambassador to Israel and US special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, is currently a distinguished fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. He spoke with The World to discuss the urgency behind Israel’s push for annexation.
Marco Werman: What exactly is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu considering here?
Martin Indyk: Starting on July 1, according to the government agreement that he signed with his partner, alternate prime minister Benny Gantz, he can bring to the cabinet a decision on annexation. [He] doesn’t have to do it on July 1, but that opens the door to him doing it. Under the Trump plan, Israel would be able to annex 30% of the West Bank, which would include all of the Israeli settlements and the Jordan Valley. That has never been proposed in any peace plan up till now.
Related: Israeli plans for annexation weigh heavily on Jordan Valley residents
The territory that Israel intends to annex is mainly in areas with Jewish settlements. But these areas also include Palestinian populations, so what would be their legal status?
It’s unclear. It hasn’t been specified as to what would happen to them. If he does the full annexation, then he would absorb something like 10,000 Palestinians who would be in those areas. There’s talk about him doing a partial annexation, which could be all of the 131 settlements, but not the Jordan Valley.
Why now? What’s the rush?
The rush is determined by the fact that there’s an election in the United States. And if Israel goes ahead, Trump has indicated that he would recognize that annexation. The fear is that Trump will no longer be president after November and [former] Vice President [Joe] Biden [the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate] has already made it clear that not only would he not recognize it, but he might well withdraw the recognition.
Related: Israel’s Arab citizens contemplate their future under the Trump peace plan
If Israel does end up going ahead with its annexation, what would be the international response?
Well, we’ve already heard from some European states, in particular British, French and Germans, that there will be consequences. They’re not saying sanctions, but they are indicating that there will be consequences. The international community could, of course, try to pass resolutions in the Security Council. But as long as the United States is opposed to that, it would exercise its veto and protect Israel. It could go to the UN General Assembly, that’s a much more difficult process. Overall, though, Israel will be in effect, making itself an international outlaw.
Related: Jared Kushner’s peace plan that nobody loves
When you scrape away all the diplomacy, what is the American interest here? I mean, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said yesterday it was up to Israel to decide, even though it was the Trump plan that set things in motion. Why should this matter to Americans?
Secretary of State Pompeo’s statement is, I think, a trick designed to suggest that the onus is on Israel when this wouldn’t be happening if the United States wasn’t prepared to green light it, and indeed under the agreement between Netanyahu and Gantz, they can’t go ahead unless the United States green lights it. So it will very much be a Trump decision, not just an Israeli decision. Donald Trump is doing Israel no favor by encouraging it to go down this path, the path of annexation rather than separation from the Palestinians.
You were deeply involved in pursuing the two-state solution and keeping it alive personally. How would you feel about annexation and essentially the end of the two state solution?
After the last negotiations that I was responsible for under President [Barack] Obama, I could say that there was no way that a two-state solution is going to come about in my lifetime. So I’ve kind of come to terms with that. But I have felt very strongly that it’s important, as I say, for Israel’s future, that the option of a two-state solution be kept alive. For me, that is not just a sad moment, it’s a tragic moment. Tragic for the Palestinians as well.
This interview has been condensed and edited.
As Poland’s Duda seeks election ‘Trump bump,’ Putin looks to revise history
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Joyce Hackel
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US President Donald Trump holds a joint news conference with Poland’s President Andrzej Duda in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, DC, June 24, 2020.
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US presidents don’t usually meet with world leaders days before a presidential vote. But this week, President Donald Trump welcomed President Andrzej Duda of Poland to the White House just ahead of Poland’s national election this Sunday, in which the conservative Duda is running a tough reelection bid.
From the Rose Garden, Trump, a Republican, did his best to give Duda a “Trump bump.”
“I do believe he has an election coming up and I do believe he’ll be very successful,” Trump said.
Related: Young people in Poland are rediscovering their Jewish roots
From her vantage in Warsaw, author Anne Applebaum says Duda’s photo-op with Trump might have gained him points at home. Or it might be a gamble that doesn’t pay off.
“… it was a kind of clear intervention in the election.”
Anne Applebaum, historian and author
“Those in his party thought that this meeting would be a kind of slam dunk reason to vote for him, and they played it up as a great diplomatic success,” Applebaum said. “Those who aren’t going to vote for him thought it was a very strange thing for the American president to do. I mean, it was a kind of clear intervention in the election. There was no other purpose to the meeting. There was nothing achieved. There were no documents signed. It was a long trip to get a photograph.”
Applebaum is a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and expert on central and Eastern Europe. Her forthcoming book is called “Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Allure of Authoritarianism.” Applebaum spoke with The World’s Marco Werman about the presidential meeting and Trump’s indication he may move US troops out of Germany to Poland — and how Russian President Vladimir Putin’s efforts at historical revisionism play into security considerations on NATO’s eastern flank.
Related: How Russia laid the groundwork for future disinformation campaigns
Marco Werman: The two presidents have met one-on-one five times in recent years, three times at the White House. How do you understand their alliance? What can they actually do for each other?
Anne Applebaum: [From] Trump’s point of view, Duda is useful because he’s one of the few European leaders who openly admires him and openly wants to be around him and be seen with him. Most of the others have now become pretty wary. From Duda’s point of view — look, the United States remains very popular in Poland. NATO is very popular. And so from Duda’s point of view, it makes him seem like he’s close to the United States. Of course, this is incredibly risky from Duda’s point of view, because the next president, if it’s not Trump, might feel very differently about Poland.
Duda has also been pushing for additional US troops in Poland. He’s offered to build a Fort Trump in Poland. And just this week, President Trump confirmed he has plans to move more than 9,000 US forces out of Germany, sending some — not clear how many — to Poland. So if that does happen, what will be the upshot for NATO and security on Europe’s eastern flank?
Everybody in Europe would like to see the US commit more troops and be more present. The disturbing piece of the story is that it seems as if Trump’s reasoning for moving troops out of Germany isn’t to do with security or to do with calculations about where those troops would best be placed. It seems like it’s some kind of revenge against Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, who refused to come to Washington recently, saying that she didn’t think the timing was good and it wasn’t a good moment to have an international meeting in the middle of the pandemic.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu leave after the Victory Day Parade in Red Square in Moscow, Russia, June 24, 2020. The military parade, marking the 75th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, was scheduled for May 9 but postponed due to the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
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Ekaterina Shtukina/Sputnik/Pool via Reuters
So from the West, Trump talks about pulling out of NATO. In the east, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has been offering up a revised history lesson. Putin just published in a conservative magazine a 9,000-word essay on World War II, defending the Soviet non-aggression pact with Hitler. He describes the occupation of Baltic states as “with consent.” How is it going over in Eastern Europe?
What he’s referring to is the Hitler-Stalin Pact. The two dictators actually divided Europe up between them. And so Hitler invaded western Poland. The Soviet Union invaded eastern Poland. And Putin now wants to rewrite that piece of history and somehow imply that it was Poland’s fault, that Poland got invaded and that it was somehow the Baltic states agreed to be invaded. There is no historical justification for it at all. Nobody is sure why it is that Putin has chosen to make this argument right now. I think it’s part of a bigger effort that he’s been making in recent years to rewrite the history of the 20th century in order to make the Soviet Union more heroic and to make our memories of it more heroic and triumphant.
Related: This pact between Hitler and Stalin paved the way for WWII
Putin’s essay was being pushed precisely during this week of the annual Victory Day parade in Moscow, which was postponed because of the coronavirus. Is Putin in a position to celebrate “great power status” at this moment?
The kind of argument he’s been making to the Russian people over the last several years is, “OK, your wages are not going up. The economy is not great. There’s a lot of corruption. But I’m making Russia great again. I am restoring Russia. I’m putting her back in the center of world politics where she belongs. And you should keep me in power for that reason.” But the point of your question is correct. Russia remains a very dangerous, but medium-sized power. The Russian economy is weak, and it’s weakened partly by low oil prices. But it’s also weakened by really profound corruption and very profound inequality as well, which has caused a lot of discontent. There have been, just under the radar, on and off over the last couple of years, quite a lot of protests and a lot of dissent, not just in the big cities, not just in Moscow and St. Petersburg, but all over the country. And he’s very anxious to damp that down.
Related: Coronavirus postponed Russia’s Victory Day. For Putin, it’s a problem.
I’m just curious. In Warsaw, is talk of this revisionist history making Poles at all nervous?
So whenever the Russians start to revise history, Russia’s neighbors become nervous because Russia has used historical revisionism as an excuse to invade its neighbors in the past. Right now, that seems unlikely. It doesn’t seem that Russia wants to pick a fight with the United States and with NATO at this exact moment. But, you know, we began this conversation by talking about the American president’s weak commitment to NATO. Maybe this is something that Putin sees in the future he’ll be able to take advantage of.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
China flexes its muscles; US, India hit single-day COVID-19 case highs; Evil Corp targets corporate America
Riot police disperse pro-democracy demonstrators as they take part a singing song protest at Mong Kok, in Hong Kong, China June 12, 2020.
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Top of The World — our morning news round up written by editors at The World. Subscribe here.
As the pandemic has grasped the world’s attention, China has been testing boundaries — both geographically and legally. Submarines in Japanese waters, incursions into Taiwanese airspace and deadly clashes with Indian soldiers in the Himalayas have been displays of China’s military assertiveness that are raising alarms in Washington.
In Hong Kong, Chinese lawmakers are keeping the details of a controversial national security law under wraps, possibly to avoid provoking additional outrage over the legislation. The law targets secession, subversion and collusion with foreign forces, and has been widely criticized as eroding Hong Kong’s autonomy. The full text is likely to remain secret until it goes into effect. It is expected to be approved next week.
Father afield, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he will not release Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in exchange for two Canadians who were detained in China weeks after Meng’s arrest in Vancouver. And in Australia, a lawmaker is facing an investigation by national security agencies into alleged influence by China.
What The World is following
The US hit a record single-day high of 40,000 reported coronavirus infections Thursday. More than 2.4 million people in the US have contracted the virus. India also experienced a record 24-hour spike, as infections there close in on half a million. In Brazil, which is second to the US in case numbers, President Jair Bolsonaro says he may have previously contracted the disease.
Joyous news for sports fans in New Zealand and Australia, as they learned the Oceanic countries have won a joint bid to host the Women’s World Cup in 2023.
A Russian ransomware group is launching sophisticated attacks on corporate America as employees have shifted to remote work, The New York Times reports. Officials now worry about threats to election infrastruture. You’d be forgiven for thinking the hacking group took their name right out of the movies: They call themselves Evil Corp.
From The WorldIn Thailand, posting a selfie with a beer is a potential crime
A man drinks beer at a restaurant in Hanoi, July 20, 2009. In smaller markets in Southeast Asia such as Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, drinking beer is becoming a popular pastime due to rising disposable income and relatively young populations who are embracing the party scene.
Credit:
Kham/Vietnam Food Society/Reuters
Under a sporadically enforced law in Thailand, it is risky to say anything flattering about alcohol on social media. You can’t hold up a bottle of bourbon in a selfie and grin. Or show off a pint glass with a Heineken logo. All of that runs afoul of a very vague crime: “Encouraging people to drink.”
Centuries ago, Spanish writers challenged gender norms and barriers
Portrait of Sor Inés de la Cruz (1648-1695), a nun of New Spain (Mexico) and contributor to the Spanish Golden Age.
Credit:
Miguel Cabrera/Wikimedia Commons
Think “Spanish literature” and you might come up with “Don Quixote” by Miguel de Cervantes. But there’s so much more to classic Spanish lit than the “Man of La Mancha.”
That’s the focus of an exhibition at the Cervantes Institute in Madrid, which looks at some of the most important — but largely ignored — women writers of Spain’s 16th and 17th centuries. Many of the women writers of Spain’s Golden Age were nuns, and some, like Catalina de Erauso, “The Lieutenant Nun,” challenged norms around gender expression.
Morning focus
Two US Navy ships have broken the 161-day record for the most consecutive days at sea. The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and the USS San Jacinto have gone 23 weeks without a port call in an effort to skirt the coronavirus pandemic — talk about a lockdown.
161 Days and Counting! USS Dwight D. Eisenhower @TheCVN69 and the guided-missile cruiser USS San Jacinto (CG 56) go into the @USNavy’s history book today as record-holders of spending the most consecutive days at sea – without one single port call #ForgedByTheSea #CSG10 pic.twitter.com/I4u4o1fWqO
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) June 25, 2020
In case you missed itListen: European Union set to reopen, but likely not to Americans
A police officer looks on as people enjoy the sunny weather on the beach, as Spain officially reopens the borders amid the coronavirus outbreak, in Barcelona, Spain, June 21, 2020.
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Nacho Doce/Reuters
The European Union is getting ready to reopen to international travelers after months of restrictions as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. But draft plans are expected to maintain limitations on travel from countries that have failed to bring the virus under a certain degree of control — including the United States. And, Russians began casting ballots on Thursday at the start of a week-long vote that could clear the way for President Vladimir Putin to stay in the office until 2036 if re-elected. Plus, the Eiffel Tower has reopened to visitors after being closed for three months amid the pandemic.
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Car crashes deadlier as drivers speed during lockdowns
A cyclist rides up 7th Avenue past the West Village neighborhood as streets remain less busy due to the continuing outbreak of the coronavirus in Manhattan, May 5, 2020.
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The lockdowns in cities around the world because of the coronavirus led to huge reductions in traffic and fewer car crashes this spring, but as drivers sped up on quieter roads, the collisions became deadlier.
In New York City, the ratio of fatal crashes to all collisions rose 167% in April from a year ago. The increase was 292% in Chicago and 65% in Boston. Across the ocean, in Madrid, Spain, the rate of fatal collisions was 470% higher.
Even as traffic plummeted across the United States, roads became more lethal, with a 37% increase in fatality rates per miles driven in April, compared to the same month last year, the National Safety Council said this week. Last month, the group said in a statement that the lockdowns and reduced road congestion had created an “apparent open season on reckless driving.” In Britain, police documented instances of people driving at what they described as exceptionally high speeds of over 130 miles (209 km) per hour.
In the US state of Ohio, researchers found that while average speeds were up only slightly from March 28 to April 19 in Cleveland, Cincinnati and Dayton, the amount of extreme speeding increased dramatically.
“The level of extreme speeding is really shocking,” said Harvey Miller, professor of geography and director of the Center for Urban and Regional Analysis at The Ohio State University. “What we’re seeing here — the fact that there’s less traffic and more speeding — I think that’s evidence that traffic is a great controller of speed.”
Similar increases in speeding have been reported in Australia, Belgium and Denmark, according to reports compiled by the European Transport Safety Council.
Lessons learned
The road death toll, to be sure, has fallen as traffic ebbed in many places. In New York City, collisions plummeted in April to 4,103 from 16,808 a year ago, a 76% drop. During the same period fatal collisions decreased from 20 to 13, a smaller 35% decrease. But the number of fatal collisions per 1,000 crashes increased from 1.2 per 1,000 crashes to 3.2 per 1,000 crashes.
“When two vehicles collide at 20 miles per hour, that results in a fender-bender,” said Joe Cutrufo, a spokesperson for Transportation Alternatives, a group that advocates for safe streets and better biking, walking and public transit options in New York City. “When two vehicles and a pedestrian collide at 40 miles per hour, that results in a funeral.”
Cutrufo said the lessons learned during lockdowns should be used to rethink street design. Wide streets that look like highways attract fast driving, and more streets should be closed for cars so that people can use that space to safely bike, walk, sit and run.
Police in New York said they were aware of the increased speeds and had deployed additional patrols. Data from traffic analytics company INRIX shows speeds in New York City increased 44% from 28 miles per hour in April last year to 41 miles per hour this April.
In London, nine people died in traffic collisions in April, about the same as past years, according to data from Transport for London, a government body responsible for the city’s transport system. Collision counts are not yet available, but the number of fatalities remained steady even as the number of miles traveled in the British capital declined 69% from February to April, according to data provided by INRIX, which collects information on traffic and speed from fleet trucks, car manufacturers, GPS, loop detectors, parking meters and other sources.
Andy Cox, a detective superintendent who investigates fatal and serious road collisions for London’s Metropolitan Police, has taken to social media to implore drivers to slow down and not risk crashes that could put pressure on Britain’s National Health Service.
“They don’t think anything will happen to them and they are not considering their fellow road users and the wellbeing of them,” he told Reuters of drivers who speed. “It’s totally unacceptable. We need to recognize that speed is the biggest factor in fatal collisions and serious, life-changing collisions.”
Speeding offenses increased 187% in London during the lockdown compared to the same period a year ago, Cox said, but extreme speeding offenses increased even more — by 236%. Police documented speeds of 134 miles per hour in a 40-mile-per-hour zone, 110 miles per hour in a 30-mile-per-hour zone and 73 miles per hour in a 20-mile-per-hour zone.
Across the English Channel, collisions across mainland France fell from 4,234 in April 2019 to 1,099 in April this year, a 74% drop. During the same period, fatalities decreased from 233 to 103, a 56% drop.
Despite the overall drop in collisions and fatalities, the fatality rate among crashes was 70% higher.
By Lena Masri/Reuters
In Thailand, posting a selfie with a beer is a potential crime
By
Patrick Winn
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A man drinks beer at a restaurant in Hanoi, July 20, 2009. In smaller markets in Southeast Asia such as Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, drinking beer is becoming a popular pastime due to rising disposable income and relatively young populations who are embracing the party scene.
Credit:
Kham/Vietnam Food Society/Reuters
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It was the sort of letter no one wants to receive: a government summons, alleging an offense against public morality.
The recipient was Niks Anuman-Rajadhon, a bar owner in Bangkok.
“They were basically asking me to come in for interrogation,” he said.
So, he obeyed, agreeing to meet with a panel of bureaucrats on the assigned date. His crime? They told him he’d been inducing people to drink alcohol online.
Related: Thailand’s beauty craze: ‘Milking’ snails to make facial creams
This was hard to dispute. Niks owns two cocktail bars and an import business called Vice Versa that specializes in boutique gin. Inducing people to drink is his job. His companies talk about their wares on Instagram and Facebook, as you do in 2020.
Pressing the officials for specifics, they told him: “you’ve been saying your alcohol, your gin, is ‘renowned,’” Niks said. “And that means you’re telling everyone how good your products are.’ They hate this.”
In Thailand, under a sporadically enforced law, it is risky to say anything flattering about alcohol on social media. You can’t hold up a bottle of bourbon in a selfie, and grin. Or show off a pint glass with a Heineken logo.
Related: They were CIA-backed Chinese rebels. Now you’re invited to their once-secret hideaway.
All of that runs afoul of a very vague crime: “Encouraging people to drink.”
“It’s quite universal, isn’t it? To have a beer, and post a photo, and invite your friends to come have a drink with you? That shouldn’t be illegal. We’re not selling drugs over here.”
Niks Anuman-Rajadhon, bar owner, Bangkok
“It’s quite universal, isn’t it? To have a beer, and post a photo, and invite your friends to come have a drink with you?” Niks said. “That shouldn’t be illegal. We’re not selling drugs over here.”
To many around the world, the word “Thailand” invokes a freewheeling place where you can down cocktails in the sand or indulge in a wild, neon-lit bar crawl. It can be that sort of place, especially for travelers.
But few tourists realize that there is a countervailing force in government that seeks to tone down boozy fun.
This faction has notched some major wins lately, thanks in large part to the coronavirus pandemic. Thailand recently joined South Africa, as well as parts of Greenland and India, in temporarily banning alcohol. The crackdowns were meant to keep everyone healthy and alert.
In Thailand, starting in April, bars were shuttered and 7-Eleven shops taped off their beer shelves. Teenagers caught boozing by the roadside were fined. The prohibition only lasted about three weeks, though conservatives pushed for more than 50 days. (The overall ban has been lifted, although bars and nightclubs must remain closed.)
This seems to have emboldened the anti-drinking faction, embodied in an agency called the Thai Health Promotion Foundation. It’s perhaps best known for using alcohol taxes to finance guilt-inducing videos.
Related: Thailand is betting big on cannabis. Visit its first legal lab.
In one fairly typical ad, a man — red-faced and wasted — pressures a passerby to drink during a period called Vassa or “Buddhist Lent.” This is a time when Buddhists are meant to forsake all vice.
The drunken man cries out that drinking is “not a sin!” as his skin begins to sizzle and he is plunged into a Buddhist conception of fiery hell.
Screenshot of Thai ad
In recent weeks, riding high on their brief-but-successful prohibition, the anti-alcohol set has summoned hundreds of people for inducing the public to drink on social media. These crackdowns tend to come in bursts, levying fines on bar owners, beer importers and celebrities. (A petition condemning the law has racked up nearly 5,000 signatures.)
First-time offenders are typically fined the equivalent of $1,600. But a repeat offender can potentially face fines of $15,000 and even one year in prison.
A single word can trigger a summons.
Related: Your ‘recycled’ laptop may end up in an illegal Asian scrapyard
Another person charged under the same law — Chen Leu-Shyue, managing director of a craft beer importer called Beervana — was hit for using the word “refreshing” to describe beer on social media.
Chen was startled to learn the nature of his offense. If a beer distributor can’t claim his products are refreshing on Instagram, what else can he say?
“When we tried to ask why that was wrong, we were kind of shut down. From their perspective, anything we’re trying to do is considered illegal.”
Chen Leu-Shyue, managing director, Beervana
“When we tried to ask why that was wrong, we were kind of shut down,” he said. “From their perspective, anything we’re trying to do is considered illegal.”
“It’s getting to the point where people have to demand freedom of speech,” Chen said. “It’s a personal right for people to talk about things they like. So, why is alcohol considered not OK?”
So far, Thailand’s alcohol control board hasn’t targeted everyday drinkers — mostly models, singers and those immersed in the alcohol trade. But there’s nothing stopping officials from hitting a regular person with a huge fine just for posting a selfie with a bottle of beer. That seems unlikely — and charging a random tourist is even more improbable.
But Thailand is one of the most touristed places in Asia and every day (before the pandemic, at least) some uncountable number of travelers in Thailand post selfies with drinks in hand, oblivious that they are flouting the law.
For now, Niks said, the alcohol board’s agenda remains “so unclear. Anyone can get fined … and they can abuse this law so easily.”
This Latina teen says the pandemic will mark her generation — and shape her vote
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Marlene Herrera, 18, is a first-time voter in San Diego County.
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This story is part of “Every 30 Seconds,” a collaborative public media reporting project tracing the young Latino electorate leading up to the 2020 presidential election and beyond.
“Dale, dale, dale no pierdas el tino …”
About 20 friends and family members surround Marlene Herrera in her aunt’s yard in northern San Diego County. They’re mostly social distancing. The crowd sings in Spanish, urging her to not lose momentum.
“Go, go, go, don’t lose your aim …”
Herrera wears a graduation cap and gown and swings a bat at two piñatas in the shapes of the numbers one and eight. She’s celebrating her 18th birthday and her high school graduation. Both events fell the week San Diego county began to relax its coronavirus restrictions on gatherings.
Finally, the piñatas break from their strings. The crowd cheers.
Like many teenagers, Herrera has worked through a lot of frustration over the past few months. First, the pandemic hit. Then, she had to complete her senior year from home. During that time, she’s been living in a crowded house with five cousins under the age of nine, along with her younger sister, mother, and aunt. It’s hard to find space for herself or to do her work.
In this new reality, Herrera said, she and many of her friends feel powerless. She’s been thinking a lot about mental health — and when she starts college this fall at San Francisco State University, she plans to major in psychology.
“A lot of us were like, ‘I can’t believe this is happening,’” she said of the pandemic. “A lot of us got to the point where we burst into tears when we were picking up our cap and gowns. Even my mom, she was crying. She told us, ‘This is not what I expected for you, what I planned for you.’”
Related: Coronavirus upended her family. But this Latina teen is determined to make her vote count.
The mental health impacts of the coronavirus pandemic will be felt for years — especially by young adults, according to experts. And the stress they experience will impact their political behavior in the US presidential election this November, and for elections to come.
“We’re going to be paying for this for a long time, because of the betrayals or the feelings of being left behind. Those are going to last for people.”
Tina Casola, family therapist
“We’re going to be paying for this for a long time, because of the betrayals or the feelings of being left behind,” said Tina Casola, a San Diego-based family therapist who specializes in trauma and the long-term impacts of stress. “Those are going to last for people.”
For Herrera, the pandemic means no graduation ceremony. No prom. After her preferred presidential candidate, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, dropped out of the race in April, she was undecided on who she would vote for in November. But with the protests over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and other acts of police violence against Black men and women, Herrera says she’s made up her mind.
“I think I’m leaning towards Biden,” she said in a whisper. “Not that I’m entirely happy with him either.”
To her, President Donald Trump crossed a line when he sent in the National Guard during the Black Lives Matter protests.
“You’re just adding to the fire. You’re fighting fire with fire. How is that OK?” she said. “I want a change.”
Related: Can Biden turn out Latinos to vote? Advocacy groups aren’t sure.
A pile-on of stress — and bills
Meanwhile, the stress piles on. Due to the pandemic, Herrera’s mother was briefly laid off this spring from her job at a law office. With many family members now living under one roof, the stimulus check her mother received from the government was a huge help.
“It’s a big family here. We needed that,” Herrera said. “Especially the kids, because they are small. They have a very big appetite and a very fast metabolism.”
Her mother was eventually rehired after her office got a government loan. Still, Herrera wishes federal and local governments had done more during the stay-at-home order to prepare businesses to reopen safely.
“For us, you can’t afford to not work,” she said. “We still gotta pay rent. That’s not going to stop. You can’t stop paying for food. You can’t just stay home. I don’t want to come home and be the one that infects my family for some reason.”
While young people in Herrera’s age group — known as Generation Z — are far more supportive of one another than previous generations, Casola said, they’re still looking to older people as models on how to get through the crisis brought on by the pandemic.
“We have to figure out ways of getting into our communities and giving them support during this time. Even though none of us have the answer. We don’t have a blueprint for this,” Casola said. “But they need to benefit from some of the seasoning that we’ve had, in order to pull these things together and be able take care of themselves.”
The pandemic and its mental health toll are not the only things on Herrera’s mind.
She grew up always worried about her family’s finances. She also grew up in San Diego, a US-Mexico border region. And as a Latina from a low-income family, Herrera feels tremendous pressure from the US government. Though Herrera’s family members are all US citizens, the heavy presence of Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with uncertainty surrounding friends without permanent immigration statuses, have influenced her political perspective.
“I just don’t want a government that is working against me. Like, I don’t want to feel like I’m fighting the government. They should be there for me.”
Marlene Herrera, 18, first-time voter
“Not even from a Mexican point of view, just talking as a person of color point of view. There’s been so much oppression we’ve had. And we’re seeing it right now,” she said, referring to the government’s response to protests against police brutality. “I just don’t want a government that is working against me. Like, I don’t want to feel like I’m fighting the government. They should be there for me.”
According to Casola, life as a Latina in a border town can both narrow one’s worldview, by limiting access to outside perspectives, and make it seem like this type of pressure is typical elsewhere in the country.
“Living in San Diego, it’s definitely different than if we go to other places and we have conversations about that,” she said. “Perspectives are so important.”
The government’s response — or lack of response — to the pandemic has Herrera thinking about how politics directly impact her life.
“As much as people want to say Trump is good, and that he did all these changes and I’m grateful for any changes he’s made, I think it’s time for someone new,” she said. “You can’t be living in the time of like, oh my God, what is he going to do now. What’s he tweeting? We’ve had so many scares with him.”
Looking ahead to a long summer of helping take care of her cousins and trying to safely see friends when she can, Herrera thought about what she would change about this year if she had a magic wand.
“We didn’t get a graduation, we never got a normal graduation ceremony. No one got to get their yearbooks signed either. The last hurrah — you’re not going to get that.”
Marlene Herrera, 18, first-time voter
“Just my senior year,” she said. “We didn’t get a graduation, we never got a normal graduation ceremony. No one got to get their yearbooks signed either. The last hurrah — you’re not going to get that.”
Herrera thinks missing prom, not having a chance to say goodbye to her classmates, and facing deeply uncertain job prospects will forever mark her generation.
Still, she was happy with what she could piece back together over the last few weeks. After her joint birthday-graduation party, Herrera said the best part of the day was finally being with her family and friends again in one place.
“It’s been over two months. I was like, ‘I get to see you again, I get to hug you. Wait, are you OK with hugging?’” she said, laughing.
SCOTUS rules some rejected asylum-seekers can't challenge decisions
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Amulya Shankar
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A general view of U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, U.S., June 25, 2020.
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Centuries ago, Spanish writers challenged gender norms and barriers
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Portrait of Sor Inés de la Cruz (1648-1695), a nun of New Spain (Mexico) and contributor to the Spanish Golden Age.
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Miguel Cabrera/Wikimedia Commons
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Think “Spanish literature” and you might come up with “Don Quixote,” by Miguel de Cervantes. But there’s so much more to classic Spanish lit than “Man of La Mancha.”
That’s the focus of “Both Wise and Valiant,” an exhibition at the Cervantes Institute in Madrid, which looks at some of the most important — but largely ignored — women writers of Spain’s 16th and 17th centuries. The exhibit opened in March but closed due to COVID-19. Now the exhibit has reopened and will be on display through September.
“What is surprising is that we haven’t known many of these female writers until very recently.”
Ana Rodríguez-Rodríguez, curator
“What is surprising is that we haven’t known many of these female writers until very recently. They are better known now, in the academic world, but not so much for the greater public. I think that’s something we have to keep working on, and that’s the idea of this exhibition,” said curator Ana Rodríguez-Rodríguez, who is also a professor at the University of Iowa.
Related: In a new MoMA audio guide, security guards are the art experts
Catalina de Erauso, a writer known as “The Lieutenant Nun.”
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Attributed to Juan van der Hamen/Wikimedia Commons
Rodríguez-Rodríguez explained that many of the women writers of the 16th and 17th centuries in Spain were nuns.
“In the convent, which you usually see as a space of confinement and lack of freedom — which it was, in many occasions for many of these women — at the same time, it opened up the opportunity to be in touch with books, in touch with time,” she said.
Life in a convent could provide surprising privileges often not accessible to other women.
“If you’re a woman who has to get married and is a mother or a wife, it’s not proper that you spend a lot of time writing, on reading and thinking about culture…” Rodríguez-Rodríguez explained.
Related: Barcelona opera reopens to full house — of plants
Some of the featured figures in the exhibit challenged norms around gender expression. Rodríguez-Rodríguez points to a writer known as ”The Lieutenant Nun,” Catalina de Erauso. De Erauso was born a woman in Spain and was confined at a young age to a convent, but escaped to the American colonies to live as a man — and as a soldier.
“Catalina de Erauso is one of these fascinating characters that we still need to keep thinking about and discussing because I think this person teaches us many different lessons, that they are good for our understanding of gender, even nowadays,” Rodríguez-Rodríguez said.
María de Zayas, novelist of the Spanish Golden Age
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Also featured in the exhibit is the friendship between novelist María de Zayas and playwright Ana Caro. Both were successful writers of the Spanish Golden Age who, nevertheless, faced many barriers because of their gender. To overcome those limitations, they promoted each other’s work in their own writing.
“I think that that’s a wonderful example of female solidarity in the middle of oppression — which is what they really had to go through,” Rodríguez-Rodríguez said.
Rodríguez-Rodríguez hopes the exhibit will help people rediscover these writers outside of academia.
Related: Art, poetry and … zombies? The surprising cultural contributions of the 1918 influenza pandemic
“The canon has been very male-oriented for forever … or until very recently. It’s really time to make these women known — not only because they are women, but because they offer us wonderful texts, high-quality texts we have been missing since we have studied this time period,” said Rodríguez-Rodríguez. “This is a way we can make some change and give them the fair treatment they have been missing for centuries.”
Trump, Poland's Duda discuss sending some US troops to Poland from Germany
US President Donald Trump holds a joint news conference with Poland’s President Andrzej Duda in the Rose Garden at the White House, June 24, 2020.
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Lockdowns in Germany; Trump considering moving US troops from Germany to Poland; The Democratic Republic of Congo declares Ebola outbreak over
A banner reading “Entering only with a face mask please — only 4 clients are allowed in the pharmacy” is pictured in front of a pharmacy during new outbreak of the coronavirus in downtown Wildeshausen, Germany, June 24, 2020.
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Top of The World — our morning news roundup written by editors at The World. Subscribe here.
Germany’s populous Guetersloh and Warendorf regions became the first in the country to return to strict restrictions against the coronavirus, angering many residents. The lockdown measures enacted yesterday are meant to halt an outbreak in the northwest of Germany after more than 1,500 workers at the Toennies meatpacking plant tested positive for the virus. Another outbreak at a meat-processing factory in Wildeshausen alarmed health authorities with 23 people testing positive. Bavaria announced a ban on the roughly 640,000 residents from Guetersloh and Warendorf from entering the southern German state and Austria has issued a travel warning.
News of the lockdown in Germany comes as US President Donald Trump announced he’s considering moving some of the 9,500 US troops he’s pulling from Germany to Poland. Trump previously blindsided US allies in the region in announcing the withdrawal of troops from Germany. Yesterday’s comments from Trump came during a visit with Polish President Andrzej Duda at the White House — a meeting with no clear official purpose that appeared aimed at boosting Duda’s chances to win in Poland’s Sunday elections.
What The World is following
The Democratic Republic of Congo said today that the Ebola outbreak in the east of the country is over. The outbreak, which killed 2,280 people over nearly two years, is the second deadliest Ebola outbreak on record. The end of the epidemic there may offer lessons as the world grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sergei Khrushchev, the son of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, died on June 18 at his home in Rhode Island at the age of 84. The former Soviet rocket scientist moved to the US before the collapse of the Soviet Union to lecture at Brown University and became a naturalized US citizen in 1999. The World spoke to Khrushchev last year about the US-Soviet space race.
And while Germany is facing a new test to contain an outbreak of the coronavirus, France and the UK are starting to loosen restrictions. The Eiffel Tower and the Louvre are set to reopen after lockdown, and pubs in England will open their doors — though likely not to Americans.
Black history is ‘integral part’ of British culture, says Black Curriculum founder
A teacher reads children a story on the grounds of St. Dunstan’s College junior school as some schools reopen following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in London, Britain, June 1, 2020.
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What do students learn in the classroom about race and history? In the UK, an organization called The Black Curriculum has been pushing for Black history to be taught nationwide.
How Russia laid the groundwork for future disinformation campaigns
Russian BMPT armored fighting vehicles drive during the Victory Day Parade in Red Square in Moscow, Russia, June 24, 2020. The military parade, marking the 75th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, was scheduled for May 9, but postponed due to the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
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Ramil Sitdikov/Reuters
In one chapter of her new book, “How to Lose the Information War,” Nina Jankowicz describes how relocating the Bronze Soldier statue in Tallinn, Estonia’s capital, exposed divisions between Russian speakers and Estonians. The Bronze Soldier was a controversial Soviet World War II memorial, which also served as a reminder to many of the 50 years Estonia spent under Soviet occupation.
Jankowicz spoke with The World’s Marco Werman about how this controversy made Estonia vulnerable to a cyberattack over a decade ago that laid some of the groundwork for Russia’s future disinformation campaigns.
Morning meme
Following the restoration work to Elías García Martínez’s Ecce Homo resulting in the infamous Monkey Jesus at a church in Borja, Spain, the country now has another painting debacle on its hands.
Experts call for regulation after latest botched art restoration in Spain.
Immaculate Conception painting by Murillo reportedly cleaned by furniture restorer. https://t.co/YjtgTSohWB pic.twitter.com/iIkBDsKEkm
— Ticia Verveer (@ticiaverveer) June 23, 2020In case you missed itListen: Trump’s visa ban has technology companies worried
US President Donald Trump talks to reporters before boarding Marine One helicopter from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, June 23, 2020.
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Tom Brenner/Reuters
US President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order targeting several visa programs for foreign workers, including programs US tech companies rely on to hire highly skilled foreign workers. Experts say changes to the H-1B and other programs will push those workers, and potential innovation, to other parts of the world. And, the Lebanese economy is tanking, which has put tens of thousands of domestic workers in a tough situation. Also, a new exhibit at Spain’s Cervantes Institute looks at some of the most important — but largely ignored — women writers of Spain’s 16th and 17th centuries.
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Black history is ‘integral part’ of British culture, says Black Curriculum founder
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Last Friday, the US celebrated Juneteenth — the day in 1865 when the news that slavery had ended finally reached Texas, over two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued.
Many Americans probably did not learn the history of June 19 in school. But the protests that came together after George Floyd’s killing in Minneapolis have brought attention to the way racism impacts every aspect of society — including what students learn in the classroom about race and history.
This reexamination isn’t just happening in the US. In the UK, an organization called The Black Curriculum has been pushing for Black history to be taught nationwide, as well as creating lesson plans and leading student workshops and teacher trainings.
“In schools currently, the teaching of Black history is limited to Black History Month, which in the UK is in October,” said Lavinya Stennett, founder of The Black Curriculum.
“What we see is a lack of narratives around Black people in Britain. That fundamentally is presenting a very false view of British history because we know Black people have been here since Roman times.”
Lavinya Stennett, founder, The Black Curriculum
“What we see is a lack of narratives around Black people in Britain. That fundamentally is presenting a very false view of British history because we know Black people have been here since Roman times,” she continued.
The Black Curriculum has created lessons around a number of topics in Black history, including arts and culture, migration, law and the environment.
A post shared by The Black Curriculum (@theblackcurriculum) on May 5, 2020 at 9:53am PDT
Stennett says some of those were inspired by things she learned from her own culture but were never discussed in a school setting. She points to the Notting Hill Carnival, one of the largest street parties in Europe, which was created by a Black woman named Claudia Jones who was born in Trinidad and Tobago.
“I’m from a Jamaican background, and every year we have Notting Hill Carnival, and at home, we would play reggae music. So there were certain introductions in my personal life that I knew, in terms of my history and where it came from, but in terms of learning it at school there was no kind of introduction to that at all,” Stennett said. “That’s what our syllabus is about: It’s about bridging history with contemporary themes today.”
Related: Police reform requires culture change, not just diversity, advocates say
Stennett says learning this history in the classroom not only empowers students but also makes them excited to learn.
“When you’re confronted with new knowledge it can make you uncomfortable. But at the same time if you’re learning about your own identity and your own culture, it’s really powerful.”
Lavinya Stennett, founder, The Black Curriculum
“When you’re confronted with new knowledge it can make you uncomfortable. But at the same time if you’re learning about your own identity and your own culture, it’s really powerful,” she said.
A post shared by The Black Curriculum (@theblackcurriculum) on Feb 4, 2020 at 8:27am PST
Part of The Black Curriculum’s work recently has been to campaign for Black British history to be a nationwide requirement in schools. But Stennett says the organization received a response from the government Tuesday arguing that the national curriculum already provides teachers with the flexibility to teach Black history if they wish.
Stennett said the response was disappointing, but that The Black Curriculum’s work would continue.
“It just takes us back to why we’re doing what we’re doing,” Stennett said. “It’s really important that Black history’s not seen as an addition, but as an integral part of our culture. It’s British history. It’s not just for Black people and it’s not just about Black people. It’s about the nation and the future of Britain as well.”
EU may ban US travelers; Latin America sees COVID-19 surge; Palestinian officials call for probe into killing of youth
A man sits on his rickshaw waiting for clients, as Spain officially reopens the borders amid the coronavirus outbreak, in Barcelona, Spain, June 21, 2020.
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Nacho Doce/Reuters
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Top of The World — our morning news round up written by editors at The World. Subscribe here.
Backpacking through Europe will likely not be an option for US travelers this summer. As the European Union looks to reopen in July, the bloc is working to prevent additional outbreaks of the novel coronavirus by blocking entry from countries that have had unsuccessful or haphazard responses to the pandemic — including the US. Visitors from China, however, are likely to be welcomed.
Travel bans have become synonymous with the Trump administration. The president sparked ire in March after announcing a ban against most European travelers, though that move did not prevent the US from becoming an epicenter of the virus, with more than 2.3 million cases reported.
On the EU’s draft list of banned travelers, the US keeps company with Brazil and Russia, which are also deemed unsafe by the EU’s epidemiological criteria. In all three of these countries, leadership downplayed the virus and responses have been chaotic. This week, a Brazilian judge ordered President Jair Bolsonaro, known for his blasé attitude about COVID-19, to wear a mask in Brasília or risk fines, reminding the president that he is not above the law.
What The World is following
The novel coronavirus is accelerating in Latin America and the Caribbean; official deaths surpassed 100,000 Tuesday, though the true number is likely much higher. The virus is plunging millions into poverty, and criminal corruption scandals are threatening more lives. And as the virus surges in impoverised regions, aid agencies are scrambling to deliver a lifesaving resource: oxygen.
Palestinian officials have called for an international probe into the killing of Ahmed Erekat after Israeli soldiers shot the 27-year-old man and prevented medical aid from reaching him for more than an hour. Israeli officials say they suspected Erekat to be involved in a car-ramming attack. His family disputes the allegations, and human rights groups have condemned Israel’s excessive use of force.
Tennis star Novak Djokovic tested positive for the coronavirus after organizing a tournament in Croatia. And, Major League Baseball announced plans to open the 2020 season in late July.
From The WorldAmid global protests, Jamaicans confront their own problems with policing
People hold posters as they take part in a demonstration against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, at the Emancipation Park in Kingston, Jamaica, June 6, 2020.
Credit:
Gilbert Bellamy/Reuters
Jamaica shares the United States’ history of colonialism and slavery, and now has one of the highest rates of fatal police shootings. Activists there are thinking about what the global moment of police accountability could mean for their country.
The World is hosting a Facebook Live on the Latino conservative vote titled. “The Latino Republican: Issues and influence in the 2020 election.”
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Graphic by Maria Elena Romero/The World
In the 2018 midterm election, about 30% of Latinos in the US backed a Republican candidate. But conservative Latinos are not a monolithic group, and they do not vote as a bloc.
The World’s Daisy Contreras will moderate a Facebook Live conversation on Latino conservatives today, June 24 at noon Eastern time. Join us for the discussion: “The Latino Republican: Issues and influence in the 2020 election.”
Morning meme
Yesterday, we noted that in Spain, plants filled an opera house. In France? Minions take to the cinema. We assume Kevin, Stuart and Bob are watching “Despicable Me.”
Minions toys are seen on cinema chairs to maintain social distancing between spectators at a MK2 cinema in Paris as Paris’ cinemas reopen doors to the public following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in France, June 22, 2020.
Credit:
Benoit Tessier/Reuters
In case you missed itListen: Trump celebrates the border wall
US President Donald Trump arrives aboard Air Force One to visit a nearby US-Mexico border wall site in Yuma, Arizona, June 23, 2020.
Credit:
Carlos Barria/Reuters
President Donald Trump visits Arizona on Tuesday where he will make a stop in Yuma to celebrate the 200th mile of construction of the US-Mexico border wall. Most of the construction has been replacement segments. And, a monument to Winston Churchill in central London has become a flashpoint between Black Lives Matter demonstrators and far-right protesters. Also, after three months of darkness, the stage lights at a Barcelona opera house were flipped back on, suggesting a return to normalcy. But as musicians took the stage for a live concert, they looked out at an audience filled with potted plants.
Don’t forget to subscribe to The World’s Latest Edition podcast using your favorite podcast player: RadioPublic, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Soundcloud, RSS.
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