Important | 1 | | “They’re going to basically take over.” That’s what U.S. national security adviser Robert O’Brien said of Beijing’s new security law, which sparked fresh protests — in spite of pandemic restrictions — in Hong Kong over the weekend. It’s prompted worldwide concern that the territory’s autonomy, promised in the 1997 handover from Britain to China, is doomed. Pro-democracy demonstrators said they’d performed “miracles” before, like stopping last year’s extradition law. But with the U.S. threatening sanctions and China warning of a “new Cold War,” investors are wary, sending shares lower in Hong Kong while other Asian markets rose. OZY looks at Taiwan’s Hong Kong involvement. | |
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| 2 | | They heard the call. As President Donald Trump banned most travelers from Brazil, now the world’s second-most infected country, Americans gathered for Memorial Day festivities in alarming numbers. After restrictions were loosened in some states, Florida’s Daytona Beach and Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks were two glaring examples of large groups celebrating with little heed for social distancing. Trump has encouraged ending lockdowns, tweeting Sunday for schools to reopen “ASAP.” Meanwhile, The New York Times filled its front page with the names of the departed as the U.S. death toll nears 100,000. Follow OZY’s coverage of the pandemic. | |
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| 3 | | It was a first for Israeli governance. The country’s sitting prime minister appeared in court Sunday to face felony corruption charges, specifically one count of bribery and three counts of fraud and breach of trust. Netanyahu once again characterized the charges as a political “stitch-up” by his enemies, saying that after the “whole truth” is exposed, “the cases will crumble.” Chief among the accusations is that he altered communication regulations in exchange for favorable media coverage. The trial, taking place with all participants masked to prevent infection, is expected to last a year or more. | |
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| 4 | | Calling it a “brazen power grab,” three major Republican groups are suing Gov. Gavin Newsom to block his order allowing all Californian voters to cast ballots by mail. Newsom says postal voting is necessary to limit the spread of coronavirus, claiming “public health is a nonpartisan issue.” But the GOP suit argues he overstepped his authority and violated state law and the Constitution. Meanwhile, a federal judge ruled that Florida cannot require ex-felons, granted suffrage in a 2018 ballot measure, to pay all of their fines before registering to vote. Read OZY’s story about how Colorado fostered higher voter participation. | |
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| 5 | | New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was giving a live TV interview today when she had to pause for a 5.8 magnitude earthquake. A White House official has compared China’s handling of the pandemic to the Soviet Union withholding information about the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident. And Russian combatants appear to be retreating in Libya after the renegade general they’re supporting suffered a series of losses. Coronavirus update: Russia’s known infections have surpassed 350,000, with a reported death toll of 3,633. Settle in: This Memorial Day, treat your curiosity to a brand-new podcast. Flashback, from OZY and iHeartRadio, is that cool history course you wish you could have taken in college. Learn about history’s craziest connections and wildest turning points. The first four episodes are available to binge now — subscribe here. |
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| Intriguing | 1 | | How could Dominic Cummings, top aide to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, travel 260 miles from his London home to visit relatives in March, despite showing COVID-19 symptoms? That’s what Britons demanded to know, and Johnson said yesterday that Cummings had acted “legally and responsibly.” But a survey shows 68 percent of the public disagrees and more than half want him to resign. Meanwhile, as lockdowns ease in Austria, President Alexander Van der Bellen has apologized for keeping a Vienna restaurant open past the 11 p.m. curfew, saying he “lost track of time chatting.” Follow this OZY writer’s quarantine-dodging adventure. | |
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| 2 | | It’s not a pretty picture. A Dutch woman is facing daily fines after a court ordered her to remove photos of her grandchildren from Facebook. While the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation privacy rules don’t usually apply to personal content, in this case the defendant’s estranged daughter wanted her children’s images removed. The court wrote that such photos “may end up in the hands of third parties,” and thus violate the family’s privacy. The GDPR has generated $126 million in fines so far, but the grandmother in question only has to pay about $55 a day until she complies. | |
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| 3 | | It’s an idea whose time has come, especially while the world’s second-largest economy isn’t booming. A growing number of cities in China are throttling down the pace of life and joining an international movement of slow cities, OZY reports. Italy-based Cittaslow has accredited 12 towns in the Middle Kingdom since 2010, and is considering 120 more applicants. It started with Yaxi in northeastern Jiangsu province. There, a giant snail sculpture signals to visitors that this is a place where produce is local, traffic isn’t dangerous and slow food is served in abundance — if not in a hurry. | |
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| 4 | | Pixar has released Out, its first film with a gay main character, as part of its SparkShorts series on Disney+. The nine-minute movie follows a man named Greg struggling with coming out to his parents while he packs to move in with his boyfriend. He’s helped by a magical body-swap with his dog that shows Greg he doesn’t need to hide who he is. The film, which comes after a series of blink-and-you-miss-it LGBT characters in Disney titles, has been met with enthusiasm from queer advocates — and boycott threats from conservative critics. OZY examines the rise of homophobia in Britain. | |
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| 5 | | It’s not unusual for fans to doze through late innings, so why not? For $1,500, the Double-A Pensacola Blue Wahoos are offering an “intimate, behind-the-scenes ballpark experience” on Airbnb, renting the entire pandemic-idled stadium. But you don’t have to sleep in one of its 5,038 seats or use second base as a pillow. Admiral Fetterman Field has a suite that sleeps 10 with plenty of amenities. And if you get tired of taking batting practice, there’s a ping-pong table and flat screens. It’s booked through August, but other revenue-starved teams may follow suit. OZY wonders if sports can recover. | |
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| caught up? now vault ahead ... | To get more fresh stories and bold ideas in your inbox, check out The Daily Dose. | | The New + the Next A rejection of the high-speed, high-intensity life is picking up steam in the world's second-largest economy. | READ NOW |
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