Welcome to the weekly world briefing, a Tuesday feature to help you stay up to date with major happenings around the globe. It’s part of our effort to help our readers #BeaBetterTraveler. Come across something you think should be added to next week’s briefing? Send it to us on Twitter.
North & Central America
Two weeks after proposing the relaxation of fuel standards for American vehicles, the Trump administration is rolling back many aspects of the Clean Power Plan. Coal plants that were to be pushed into retirement will be aloud to continue operating with some minor modifications. Critics say that Trump is propping up a dying coal industry at the expense of the environment.
Microsoft Corp. warned that Russian hackers targeted the U.S. Senate and Conservative American think tanks ahead of November’s congressional elections. The software company took control of six web domains hackers had created to mimic those belonging to the think tanks and the Senate for the purpose of stealing user information.
Ahead of U.S.-China trade talks, many business leaders and lobbyists are making their third trip to Washington to argue against raising tariffs. The proposed plan would put tariffs as high as 25 percent on $200 billion of imported Chinese goods. While leaders have been able to get some items removed from the list, such as shipping containers and snow blowers, the vast majority of testimonies have been unsuccessful. “It doesn’t give me a whole lot of confidence going into the third round,” said Ed Brzytwa, director of international trade for the American Chemistry Council.
“Truth isn’t truth” is the latest head-turning, meme-worthy statement to come out of the Trump administration. In an interview with NBC’s Chuck Todd, Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani argued against Todd’s assertion that truth is in fact truth. Later, Giuliani clarified his statement on Twitter: “My statement was not meant as a pontification on moral theology, but one referring to the situation where two people make precisely contradictory statements, the classic ‘he said, she said’ puzzle. Sometimes further inquiry can reveal the truth other times it doesn’t.” But his statement follows an administration-wide pattern of blurring the line between truth and fiction. (Or facts and “alternative facts” as Kellyanne Conway calls them.)
Across the United States, prisoners are striking in what could become the largest prison strike in the country’s history. The strike, which began today and is expected to last three weeks, will include work strikes, sit-ins, boycotts, hunger strikes, and more. Prisoners are striking in response to the riot in Lee Correctional Institution, where seven prisoners died. They are demanding improved conditions, higher wages, a proper channel to address rights violations, prison parole reform, and end to racial overcharging, more rehabilitation programs, and pell grants, among other things.
South America
On Thursday, the Argentinian upper house rejected a bill that would have legalized abortion in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy. Though the bill failed, it marks the first time abortion legislation has reached Argentina’s upper house. Throughout South America, abortion is increasingly discussed, but in this extremely Catholic continent, resistance to abortion rights is strong.
In Venezuela, president Nicolas Maduro has announced his plan to pull the country out of economic turmoil. The plan involves slashing five zeros from the currency’s valuation and raising the minimum wage by 3000 percent. It also pegs prices and the exchange rate to a cryptocurrency, the petro. Despite earlier threats to raise the price of fuel, gas will stay cheap throughout the country. Economists predict the plan will only deepen Venezuela’s troubles.
Peruvians have been farming and eating quinoa for thousands of years, but a recent worldwide craving for the plant has changed the lives of many farmers. Between 2005 and 2014, the price of quinoa rose more than 500 percent, improving the livelihood of rural farmers. Since then, competition has increased and scientific discoveries have enabled quinoa to be grown outside of the Andes. Still, Peruvian farmers are confident they can continue to compete in this growing market.
Europe
Greece has officially graduated from its bailout program, but a daunting task remains for the country and the EU as a whole. Greece’s debt still stands at 180 percent of annual economic output. It must run surpluses of between 2.2-3.5 percent a year to repay the debt by 2060. Many economists fear this is impossible. It remains to be seen if Greece can maintain the spending cuts that have been mandated for the past eight years.
Following a catastrophic bridge collapse in Genoa, serious questions are being raised about bridge infrastructure across Europe. In Italy, 300 more bridges may be at risk of failure, while 841 bridges in France pose a potential risk. From Bulgaria to the Netherlands, European Union nations are reassessing their bridges.
In Poland, judges are boycotting 44 Supreme Court vacancies, refusing to fill the seats that are normally considered a prestigious, powerful position. There are around 10,000 judges in Poland, and very few are applying for the vacancies, mainly out of opposition to what many see as the ruling party’s takeover of the judiciary. “They’ll be able to reorganize the entire country,” judge Igor Tuleya told the Washington Post. “One party will be running Poland until the end of the world.”
In the 1600s under the rule of Ferdinand II, Czechs were forced to speak German. Read how traveling puppet masters helped keep the Czech language alive.
The Middle East
Last week, we talked about the pastor at the center of an economic standoff between Turkey and the U.S. Turkey is not backing down this week, and Trump has vowed to give “no concessions.” However, the two sides avoided a larger conflict by standing together when shots were fired at the U.S. embassy in Ankara Monday morning. Meanwhile, the decline of the Turkish lira has contributed to shaky markets worldwide.
Last week’s briefing also touched on a Saudi airstrike that killed dozens of Yemeni children. An investigation found that the bomb used in the airstrike was supplied by the United States as part of a Saudi-U.S. arms deal. This feature focuses on the schoolchildren who never made it to their field trip destination: a ninth-century al-Hadi mosque.
Today is Eid al-Adha, the Festival of Sacrifice honoring Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his son Abraham to God. Every year to celebrate, millions of Muslims take part in the Hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca. This photo essay takes a look at some of 2018’s participants.
Central & South Asia
More than one million people sought shelter in camps after a massive flood hit the state of Kerala in southern India. The disaster has been declared a “calamity of severe nature,” a categorization which allows expedited monetary assistance. Thousands of doctors, army personnel, and volunteers are working to mitigate the effects of the disaster, which has so far claimed at least 216 lives.
In a rejection of a proposed ceasefire, the Taliban took 190 bus passengers hostage on Monday. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani offered a ceasefire to celebrate the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha, but Taliban officials said a truce would only strengthen the Afghan government. Last week, the Taliban attacked the city of Ghazni, sparking Afghanistan’s deadliest week of fighting in years. Earlier this summer, a ceasefire coupled with a direct meeting between the U.S. and the Taliban spurred hope for continued peace, but those hoped have been dashed in recent weeks.
East & Southeast Asia
Countries such as Malaysia and Sri Lanka used to welcome Chinese investments, but now fear they are racking up debt they cannot pay back while completing projects that only help China. Malaysia’s new leader, Mahathir Mohamad, is pushing back against this “new version of colonialism.” This piece examines the shortfalls of Chinese projects and how Malaysia is reconsidering them.
Earthquakes continue to tremor around the Indonesian island of Lombok after a disastrous August 5th quake killed at least 460 people. Ten more people are dead after another earthquake Sunday evening. Fifteen earthquakes have been reported in the area since Sunday.
On Monday, a group of South Koreans crossed into North Korea for a brief family reunion. Opportunities for reunion are rare, and even in this case only 93 of the more than 57,000 people who had hoped to take part were granted permission. Many of the family members had not seen each other since the beginning of the Korean War.
Africa
In South Africa, public hearings began in a case against former president Jacob Zuma, who is accused of influence-peddling. He allegedly allowed the wealthy Gupta brothers to influence political appointments and government contracts. These allegations and others forced Zuma out of office in early February.
Mali has reelected president Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta in an election marred by violence. Threats from extremist groups kept over 500 polling locations from opening, but the election was still regarded as mostly fair by international observers. The continuing threat of extremists and armed militants was the central issue of this year’s election.
Oceania
Human rights groups are calling for an end to the detention of migrant children on the pacific island nation of Nauru. For years, Australia has redirected asylum seekers to a center in nearby Nauru to the dismay of human rights advocacy groups. A hunger strike by a 12-year-old Iranian boy has fueled fresh outrage. The #KidsOffNauru coalition is calling for the children to be resettled in Australia by November.
Other
In a letter to 1.2 billion Catholics, Pope Francis said the church had “showed no care for the little ones.” The letter follows a report detailing abuse by 300 priests across eight decades in Pennsylvania. Since the Boston Globe uncovered widespread sexual abuse throughout the church in 2002, allegations have continued to emerge. The pope urged “accountability for both abusers and those who permitted abuse to occur.”
Kofi Annan, the seventh secretary general of the United Nations and the man known for redefining the organization, died on Saturday. Annan was the first black African to lead the United Nations and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001. His two five-year terms as secretary general saw some of the world’s worst international conflicts, but was also known for shaping what he called the “norm of humanitarian intervention.”
British chef Jamie Oliver created controversy with his new “Punchy Jerk Rice” product, which includes none of the ingredients used to make a jerk marinade, like brown sugar or allspice. Critics say Jamaican food can modernize, but Oliver’s dish is pure cultural appropriation. “Oliver’s product is, at best, Caribbean-influenced seasoned rice, and at worst, false advertising,” wrote one critic in The Independent. “There is an underlying arrogance from Brits towards Caribbean culture, wherein it is often suggested – often nonverbally, as with Oliver’s minute rice – that it stands to benefit from the “superior” knowledge of white Brits.” Learn more about Jamaica’s history, including British involvement, here.
