The stories that matter.
The ballots haven’t been counted yet, but Trump is already trying to obstruct justice.
1.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions has resigned today, “at Trump’s request.” Matthew Whitaker, Sessions’ chief of staff, will take over as acting AG. Sessions was a favorite target of Trump’s attacks due to his recusal from overseeing Robert Mueller’s investigation. He deserves no one’s sympathy, though, given his record on the job, which includes a ramping up of mass incarceration efforts of people of color. Sessions’ removal leaves Mueller’s investigation under some uncertainty, as the new AG has made no secret of his view of it. Indeed, we may be seeing obstruction of justice before our eyes.
More on this story from Editor-in-Chief Ahmed Baba here.
2.
The State Department is reporting that a high-level meeting between Secretary Mike Pompeo and a high ranking North Korean official has been canceled. This underlines the stalled progress in talks towards denuclearization, after North Korean threats to resume building its nuclear arsenal if sanctions are not lifted. Questions will also be raised as to whether the planned second summit between President Trump and Kim Jong-un will proceed as planned.
3.
A report has found that Facebook did not do enough to prevent its platform from being used to spread hatred and violence against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. This is yet another example of the social media’s involvement in the spread of political divisions, this time ones with a very bloody outcome. Facebook has vowed to clean up its act. As many as 43,000 Rohingya are presumed dead in conflicts last year, and more than 700,000 have been displaced.
4.
Brazil’s President-elect Jair Bolsonaro has wasted no time in his aspirations towards authoritarianism, vowing attacks on the country’s press. Specifically, he has threatened to withdraw public sector marketing funds from outlets that criticize him. Journalists have been facing increased harassment in Brazil, mostly from Bolsonaro supporters.
5.
Antibiotic resistance could kill 2.4 million people in the West alone by 2050, according to a report by the OECD. The costs for this creeping health crisis also stand to be huge; they could total $65 billion by 2050. The report finds that self-prescription, misdiagnosis by doctors, and, most concerningly, doctors prescribing antibiotics under pressure from patients, as the main culprits. Unless measures are taken, we could see antibiotics, one of modern medicine’s most valuable tools, become obsolete within our lifetimes.
