What Actually Mattered This Week: Hong Kong, Social Media Fact Checks, Brazil Travel Ban
Let the GZERO newsletter help you make sense of global news
WHAT ACTUALLY MATTERED THIS WEEK
My thoughts on some of this week’s biggest news stories:
China Approves Plan to Rein In Hong Kong, Defying Worldwide Outcry
Incredibly sad day for democracy.
China’s behavior on Hong Kong is going a long way to vindicate Trump’s hawkishness towards Beijing.
It’d be hard to find many members of Congress on either side of the aisle that would take issue if Trump ends their special trade status. US allies would be on board too.
After Twitter fact-checks Trump's tweet, Mark Zuckerberg says social media companies shouldn't be "the arbiter of truth"
Avoiding fact checking:
Useful for social media business models
Harmful to civil society
But what’s good for civil society is irrelevant to social media business models.
White House imposes coronavirus travel ban on Brazil
Brazil’s daily coronavirus death toll has surpassed that of the US, and it’s on pace to be the next global epicenter of covid-19 cases.
A travel ban is the right move.
Scandal escalates over top U.K. official Dominic Cummings' coronavirus lockdown travel
Cummings admitted he did everything he was accused of. Didn’t apologize. Isn’t resigning.
On brand for 2020.
TRUTHS, DAMNED TRUTHS, AND STATISTICS
Approval ratings of world leaders & change since coronavirus
(from mid-March, as of May 19)
Modi 82% (+8)
Merkel 56% (+13)
Trump 43% (+1)
Bolsonaro 41% (-17)
Macron 33% (+4)
Abe 31% (-4)
THE GZERO WORLD WE’RE JUST LIVING IN
More from GZERO Media (subscribe here)
GRAPHIC TRUTH
YOUR GZERO WORLD
I talk to acclaimed foreign policy expert Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations and author of "The World: A Brief Introduction." Haass explains that while the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted every aspect of life as we know it, the major issues confronting geopolitics in the 21st Century already existed.
We discuss U.S./China relations, the weakening of the European Union, nuclear threats from North Korea and Iran, and the approaching U.S. election as unemployment soars into double digits.
For a longer, more in-depth version of my interview with Haass, check out the GZERO World podcast.
WORLD IN 60 SECONDS
As economies reopen, what is the update with the pandemic?
As protests resume, what is happening in Hong Kong?
What does a Dominic Cummings scandal mean for the UK and Boris Johnson?
Find out in this week’s World in 60 Seconds!
Do you like what you’ve seen? Subscribe and stay informed.
BECAUSE THE INTERNET
The best part is when the bear realizes that’s not his car.
DEEP THOUGHTS
“Small deeds done are better than great deeds planned.” – Peter Marshall
Thanks for reading! Please subscribe for more analysis from GZERO Media.
Ian Bremmer is president of Eurasia Group and GZERO Media and foreign affairs columnist at TIME. He currently teaches at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs and previously was a professor at New York University. You can follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Surgeon & Attorney at 2nd Municipal Hospital
4 年The cartoon uploaded by Ho, wife of the PM of Singapore, bats away Trump's blatancy in word of democracy to Hong Kong protesters while riot to US protesters. But historically, Hilter and Martine Luther King were protesters. Were they same? Absolutely not.
Sales manager
4 年If you saw what the "protester" done, you will definitely support police.
Global Talent Acquisition Leader
4 年US Police : Let's knee on black people's necks and make America Great Again. ????