World Tourism Lost $320 Billion

important

1. Fires Blaze After Kenosha Police Shooting

Since police shot a Black man repeatedly in the back Sunday in this small Wisconsin city, it’s become the nation’s new focal point for social justice — and social order. Jacob Blake, 29, was reportedly intervening in a domestic confrontation when police arrived. Video shows him moving away from them when he was wounded, putting him in intensive care. Yesterday demonstrators set cars on fire and chanted, “We won’t back down” while attempting to storm a public safety building and courthouse. The situation has left Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, a Democrat, expressing support for protesters while calling in National Guard troops to restrain them.

Sources: BBCCNN

2. RNC Nominates Trump, Warns of ‘Mob’

He’s the “Loch Ness Monster of the Swamp.” That was Donald Trump Jr.’s take on Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on the first day of the Republican National Convention, which voted to nominate President Donald Trump, who gave a short preliminary acceptance speech. The main messages warned of a “vengeful mob” against a “silenced majority,” while extolling the president’s record of fighting the pandemic and promoting racial harmony. Among the speakers were a couple that pointed rifles at civil rights protesters, who warned that Democrats want to “abolish the suburbs” — by rehousing disadvantaged inner-city inhabitants.

Sources: Fox NewsNYTABC

3. Despite Arrests, Lukashenko Hasn’t Stopped Protests

Will the “rats” win? That’s what Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko calls protesters demanding his resignation after what they believe was his fixed Aug. 9 reelection. Despite the new detentions Monday of Svetlana Alexievich, who won the 2015 Nobel Prize for literature, and top opposition figures, he seems unable to stem the anti-government tide. He even brandished a rifle after flying over many thousands of demonstrators in a helicopter on Sunday, but dissent appears to be growing, even to the point where government broadcasters are relying on Russian replacement newscasters.

Sources: ReutersCNNRFE/RL

4. World Tourism Lost $320 Billion, UN Chief Says

The industry’s on holiday. A very grim one, that is, with COVID-19 restrictions and travelers’ fears combining to throttle virtually any business that depends upon travel or hospitality. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said today that the downturn puts 120 million jobs at risk in a sector that amounted to 7 percent of the world’s trade last year. Many see hopeful signs in the emergence of new treatments like convalescent plasma given emergency approval by U.S. regulators, but experts warn that so far, nothing has been proven to stop the coronavirus.

Sources: Al JazeeraNYT

5. Also Important …

After eradicating the disease from Nigeria, an international body of experts plans to declare Africa polio-free. U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy insisted to a House hearing yesterday that he’s not trying to help reelect President Trump by slowing voting by mail. And evangelical leader Jerry Falwell Jr. has reportedly agreed to resign as the head of Liberty University following a sex scandal.

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intriguing

1. Berlin Doctors Confirm Navalny Poisoning

It’s “no longer a hypothesis, but a fact.” That’s how a spokesperson for Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny characterized Berlin doctors’ assessment of the comatose activist. Flown from Russia Saturday after associates feared for his safety, Navalny fell ill Thursday after drinking tea suspected to have been poisoned. Berlin’s Charité medical center cited lab tests pointing to a cholinesterase inhibitor poison and said that while Navalny remains in a medically induced coma, he’s expected to recover, albeit with possible long-term health effects — conditions shared by multiple other foes of the Kremlin, which denies involvement.

Sources: NPRPolitico

2. Can KFC Be Hand-Sanitizing Good?

After 64 years, Kentucky Fried Chicken is putting its iconic slogan “Finger lickin’ good” into cold storage. Because people around the world are being urged to keep their fingers disinfected — to say nothing of licking things — the slogan “doesn’t quite fit in the current environment,” the fast-food company announced Monday. While the slogan will be deleted from U.S. ads, those in Ireland and the U.K. will simply blur the offending tagline. The wording will return when the pandemic lets up; but until then, KFC will be seeking ideas for a less virulent replacement.

Sources: TMZHuffPost

3. He’s Tackling Philanthropy’s Race Blindness

Their hearts are in it. But charities with the heft to address racial disparities have a glaring divide, OZY reports. Some 83 percent of foundations’ full-timers are white, working for presidents who are nearly all white — it’s therefore unsurprising that Black-led groups get 91 percent less funding than white-run counterparts. So Aaron Walker, founder and CEO of accelerator Camelback Ventures, which nurtures startup founders of color, is also training those white philanthropists with the Capital Collaborative, addressing various systems that “have their knee on our neck.” And amid the current social justice awakening, it’s getting attention from some very well-heeled donors.

Sources: OZY

4. CNN Beats Fox as RNC-Friendly Network

They’re paying attention. In the words of key Trump campaign aide Brad Parscale, “I can’t believe I have to watch the convention on CNN.” As other observers noted, Fox News, the president’s favorite cable news network, did more interrupting of Republican National Convention speakers than Trump’s enemies over at CNN. Even liberal-tilting MSNBC was more continuous in its coverage. One of Fox’s faux pas featured two men talking about the event including more women — silencing Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel’s speech. But Fox did stick with the president’s Monday speech, while CNN, ABC and CBS broke away.

Sources: Washington PostAP

5. Goodell: Should’ve Listened to Kaepernick

I’m right here. Maybe that’s how Colin Kaepernick will respond to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s declaration that “I wish we had listened earlier” to the ex-San Francisco 49ers quarterback who pioneered national anthem protests over police violence against Black Americans. Claiming in an interview that he’d never had the opportunity with Kaepernick, who’s been excluded from playing since kneeling in 2016, Goodell said he’s been schooled by other players and “didn’t know what was going on.” Now, amid outrage over Sunday’s Kenosha shooting, many athletes and even the NFL’s Green Bay Packers organization have expressed solidarity with such activism.

Sources: Washington PostESPNGreen Bay Packers