Amid the racial unrest currently plaguing America, the idea of paying reparations to black Americans to atone for slavery is, once again, gaining popularity.
5 Stories to Watch Next Week: White House, Senate GOP working on another COVID-19 rescue package; Democratic Party to amend, vote on 2020 platform ahead of convention; Trump cancels GOP convention events in Florida; House, Senate to begin reconciling their versions of defense policy bill; and US-China tensions escalate, with both sides shutting down consulates.
The Trump administration is considering withdrawing American soldiers from South Korea. This is a dangerous idea. Even a partial withdrawal — let alone the removal of all 28,500 troops stationed there — would be a grave mistake.
How can you possibly have a public policy for dealing with COVID if your data is eight weeks old? However, that understates the problem last week when the CDC reported 1,099 deaths. The World Health Organization estimated American deaths at 4,869. The Washington Post had a range between 4,900 and 6,300, and The New York times reported 5,379 for the week. Now, how can you possibly shape policy when you have a variance of 600 percent among the different estimates?
This week, however, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the UK is banning Huawei’s equipment from its network. British telecom operators must stop buying 5G equipment from Huawei by the end of the year and need to remove all of Huawei’s existing gear from the network by 2027. What explains the sharp reversal? To start, President Trump and his administration deserve credit.
5 Stories to Watch Next Week: Amid COVID-19 surge across US, states consider next steps; European leaders meeting to discuss COVID-19 rescue plan; US considers sweeping travel ban on Chinese Communist Party members; FBI investigates large-scale Twitter hack; and Biden to address nation’s largest Muslim American PAC.
China will likely defeat the US in a future war, if one erupts. That’s a difficult fact to accept for many Americans, but it’s the truth. America has a more powerful military now, to be sure. But mounting evidence points to a coming Chinese victory — unless Washington takes bold, aggressive steps today to maintain its dwindling edge. The foundation of these steps is to increase the Pentagon’s budget.
Five Stories to Watch: New coronavirus stimulus is in the works; Harvard, MIT sue Trump admin to block order revoking visas for foreign students; Trump admin seeking who leaked intel on Russian bounties in Afghanistan; Mystery continues to surround explosion at Iranian nuclear facility; and US, allies discussing how to respond to China’s aggression toward Hong Kong.
Years from now, when historians want to understand the presidency of Donald Trump — and scholars will no doubt be curious about our 45th president — they should study two speeches.
One speech is the president’s most recent, which he delivered at Mount Rushmore to celebrate Independence Day. The other speech dates back to July 2017, when President Trump spoke to the people of Poland in Warsaw.
One indicator of the wider effect of the economic shutdown is illegal poaching. Poaching has dramatically increased during the pandemic because tourism has declined precipitously.
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