Doctor’s death from coronavirus sparks a digital uprising, rattling China’s leaders

Doctor’s death from coronavirus sparks a digital uprising, rattling China’s leaders

The Washington Post reports: China’s streets were quiet and its neighborhoods sealed, but grief and rage against the government poured onto social media on Friday as the country confronted the death of the “whistleblower doctor” whose story was seen as a parable for the Communist Party’s failings. Within hours of Li Wenliang’s death, millions of Chinese, homebound in the coronavirus crisis, tried to bypass censors to post the hashtag “We demand freedom of speech” in a remarkable but short-lived digital…

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Response to coronavirus exposes history of racism and ‘cleanliness’

Response to coronavirus exposes history of racism and ‘cleanliness’

Vox reports: The coronavirus outbreak has created global anxiety since the first cases were reported in Wuhan, China, late last year. So far, over 30,000 illnesses and 635 deaths have been reported in mainland China, with cases in the double digits found throughout Asia, parts of Europe, Australia, and beyond; in the US, 12 people have been found to have the pneumonia-like virus. In response, Chinese cities have been quarantined, borders have been sealed, and travel has been banned. The…

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Journalism under attack

Journalism under attack

Mathew Ingram writes: The United States is not the only country where journalists work in a toxic political environment, in which the leader of the nation routinely attacks and demonizes them. A recently published report from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University in the UK describes how similar patterns can be seen in a number of other countries in central and eastern Europe, including Hungary—where leader Viktor Orbán has centralized control of the press—and Turkey,…

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In the U.S. embargo on Venezuelan oil, Russia is a clear winner

In the U.S. embargo on Venezuelan oil, Russia is a clear winner

The Washington Post reports: In the year since the Trump administration declared what amounted to economic war against the Venezuelan government of President Nicolás Maduro — an oil embargo that cut it off from its biggest petroleum buyer, the United States — the move has yielded some clear losers, including U.S. investors now shut out of the market. It has also produced one clear winner: Vladimir Putin’s Russia. U.S. officials, oil industry insiders and analysts say secret deals between Moscow…

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Bumblebees’ decline points to mass extinction, scientists say

Bumblebees’ decline points to mass extinction, scientists say

PA Media reports: Bumblebees are in drastic decline across Europe and North America owing to hotter and more frequent extremes in temperatures, scientists say. A study suggests the likelihood of a bumblebee population surviving in any given place has declined by 30% in the course of a single human generation. The researchers say the rates of decline appear to be “consistent with a mass extinction”. Peter Soroye, a PhD student at the University of Ottawa and the study’s lead author,…

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Brazilian judge declines — ‘for now’ — to move forward with charges against Glenn Greenwald

Brazilian judge declines — ‘for now’ — to move forward with charges against Glenn Greenwald

The Intercept reports: A judge today declined to proceed with cybercrime charges lodged against Intercept co-founder Glenn Greenwald for his reporting on prosecutorial and judicial misconduct in Brazil. In a decision announced Thursday, Judge Ricardo Augusto Soares Leite ruled that Greenwald’s prosecution would not go forward, but only on account of a previous finding by the Brazilian Supreme Court that The Intercept’s reporting on Operation Car Wash had not transgressed any legal boundaries. In the absence of the injunction issued…

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The billion-dollar disinformation campaign to reelect Trump

The billion-dollar disinformation campaign to reelect Trump

McKay Coppins writes: One day last fall, I sat down to create a new Facebook account. I picked a forgettable name, snapped a profile pic with my face obscured, and clicked “Like” on the official pages of Donald Trump and his reelection campaign. Facebook’s algorithm prodded me to follow Ann Coulter, Fox Business, and a variety of fan pages with names like “In Trump We Trust.” I complied. I also gave my cellphone number to the Trump campaign, and joined…

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We mustn’t allow this to become a country where standing up to the government is a dangerous act

We mustn’t allow this to become a country where standing up to the government is a dangerous act

Marie L. Yovanovitch writes: After nearly 34 years working for the State Department, I said goodbye to a career that I loved. It is a strange feeling to transition from decades of communicating in the careful words of a diplomat to a person free to speak exclusively for myself. What I’d like to share with you is an answer to a question so many have asked me: What do the events of the past year mean for our country’s future?…

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At the heart of Iraq’s uprising

At the heart of Iraq’s uprising

France 24: On Wednesday evening, at least seven protesters were shot dead in the southern Iraqi city of Najaf, sparking fresh anti-government rallies across the country. Since the start of the protest movement in October, several hundred people, mostly demonstrators, have been killed in clashes, while tens of thousands more have been injured. Our reporters Cyril Payen and Amar Al Hameedawi travelled to the south of Iraq to get to the heart of the protests.  

Despite his impeachment trial acquittal, Trump is clearly guilty of a high crime

Despite his impeachment trial acquittal, Trump is clearly guilty of a high crime

Judge Andrew P. Napolitano writes: The Senate impeachment trial of President Trump ended not with a bang but a whimper. What different outcome could one expect from a trial without so much as a single witness, a single document, any cross-examination or a defendant respectful enough to show up? Law students are taught early on that a trial is not a grudge match or an ordeal; it is a search for the truth. Trial lawyers know that cross-examination is the…

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In the end, Trump succeeded in doing precisely what he wanted in the first place: tarring a leading Democratic rival

In the end, Trump succeeded in doing precisely what he wanted in the first place: tarring a leading Democratic rival

Peter Beinart writes: The impeachment struggle is now over. Historians may one day vindicate Democrats for exposing Donald Trump’s abuse of power. But as of now, they have lost. Not only will Trump remain president, and not only does he appear stronger politically than before the impeachment battle began, but he has succeeded in doing precisely what he wanted in the first place: He tarred Joe Biden, who last year looked like Trump’s most formidable Democratic rival, with the kind…

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Ukraine says the U.S. is holding up $30M worth of guns and ammo — and it wants its money back

Ukraine says the U.S. is holding up $30M worth of guns and ammo — and it wants its money back

BuzzFeed reports: At the heart of the impeachment saga that ended on Wednesday in Donald Trump’s acquittal was $391 million in US military assistance for Ukraine that the president ordered be withheld. But that aid package, which was eventually released last September, wasn’t the only US arms transfer meant for the war-torn country that was held up. Several direct commercial sales of arms and ammunition to Ukraine faced significant delays at the same time — and they remain mysteriously frozen…

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The internet is invading the night sky

The internet is invading the night sky

Marina Koren writes: Last year, Krzysztof Stanek got a letter from one of his neighbors. The neighbor wanted to build a shed two feet taller than local regulations allowed, and the city required him to notify nearby residents. Neighbors, the notice said, could object to the construction. No one did, and the shed went up. Stanek, an astronomer at Ohio State University, told me this story not because he thinks other people will care about the specific construction codes of…

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Romney votes to convict Trump on abuse of power

Romney votes to convict Trump on abuse of power

Politico reports: Mitt Romney brought a stunning twist to the end of President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial: A bipartisan vote to convict the president on charges of abuse of power. The Wednesday announcement by the Utah Republican made him the only member of the GOP to break with the president and his party on the crucial question of whether Trump deserved to be removed from office. The 2012 Republican nominee said he was left with no other options, regardless of…

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