| | | House Judiciary Committee ranking member Rep. Doug Collins listens to legal scholars on Capitol Hill Wednesday. Source: Getty |
| IMPORTANT | 01 | Considering whether to draft articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, the House Judiciary Committee turned to four legal scholars yesterday for help. But there wasn’t a consensus: Three experts called by Democrats said Trump’s pressure campaign against Ukraine was an impeachable offense, but a fourth, called by Republicans, warned there wasn’t enough evidence for an airtight case. GOP members of the committee, meanwhile, blasted the Democrats’ witnesses for what they called anti-Trump bias. What’s the White House up to? Bracing for an impeachment trial in the Senate, administration officials say they’ve begun work on a legal strategy. | |
| 02 | As their two-day meetup wound down, the leaders of 29 member countries decried Russian aggression and reaffirmed their commitment to collective defense. Yet the joint declaration belied the drama that plagued the 70th anniversary meeting — with President Trump calling Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “two-faced” for gossiping about him with other leaders. Trump also canceled his final press conference. Are there any outstanding issues? Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg signaled that Turkey’s purchase of anti-aircraft missiles from nonmember Russia remains problematic. Read this OZY op-ed about why Russia is arming the Philippines. | |
| 03 | Hundreds of thousands of French workers are expected to march through Paris today in the biggest public sector strike to hit the country in 25 years. They’re demanding changes to pension reforms advanced by President Emmanuel Macron that would see retirement ages pushed higher. Flights are canceled and most trains and subways are shut down in what’s seen as a major test for Macron’s resolve to make changes. How long will it last? The strike is open-ended, meaning that much depends on which way public opinion swings. | |
| 04 | The Chinese telecom giant has filed a motion in a Louisiana court against a recent Federal Communications Commission ban on U.S. firms using a $8.5 billion federal fund to buy Huawei gear. The “petition for review” argues the measure is unconstitutional because it unfairly characterizes the company as a national security threat. “They’ve really gone too far,” said Huawei USA’s chief security officer. Where else are they going to court? In Texas, Huawei is challenging a U.S. ban on federal agencies using its equipment, and in France and Lithuania the company’s suing a researcher and a newspaper, respectively. | |
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| | INTRIGUING | 01 | George Zimmerman, who killed the unarmed Black 17-year-old in 2012 but was acquitted of his murder, is now suing Martin’s family, their lawyer and the lawyer’s book publisher for $100 million. His lawsuit accuses the defendants of using false witnesses to bolster the case against him. High-profile conservative attorney Larry Klayman, who represents Zimmerman, says the allegations are based on a new documentary, The Trayvon Hoax: Unmasking the Witness Fraud that Divided America. Does Zimmerman have a case? Martin family lawyer Ben Crump — now a defendant himself — called the lawsuit a “shameless attempt to profit off the lives and grief of others.” | |
| 02 | The business of data is growing, with U.S. firms spending $20 billion in 2018 to collect third-party information about users — a 17 percent increase from the previous year. Now, OZY reports, states like California and Nevada are trying to give consumers more say in how their data is collected and sold. The first state to enact new data privacy legislation limiting the sale of personal information, Nevada could even serve as a model for federal law. Is your state next? Similar efforts elsewhere have failed, though privacy experts emphasize that without federal or even international rules, it’ll be hard to protect anyone. | |
| 03 | The Pacific island nation has begun a two-day lockdown as authorities launched a door-to-door vaccination campaign to stem a deadly measles outbreak. Roads are closed to nonessential vehicles, travel between islands is banned and residents have been ordered to stay home. Unvaccinated locals have been asked to fly a red cloth in front of their homes to alert authorities that they remain vulnerable. What’s the toll? At least 62 people have died so far — 54 of them children under the age of 5 — after Samoa’s childhood vaccination rate plunged from 80 percent in 2015 to just 34 percent in 2018. Read OZY’s Special Briefing on whether measles is poisoning religious freedom. | |
| 04 | In the first-ever look at the population’s sexual viewing habits, authorities reported that non-consensual behavior is featured in more than one-third of the online pornography New Zealanders watch. The analysis, based on the country’s top 200 videos on Pornhub last year, also revealed that nearly half depicted sex between members of step families. “That was surprising and a little bit shocking,” Chief Censor David Shanks said. Why does it matter? While the government considers new ways to regulate online porn, Shanks said such content “provides a very poor model” for youngsters still learning what healthy relationships look like. | |
| 05 | After 10 weeks on the bench, the 38-year-old quarterback is “very likely” to start in Monday’s game against the Eagles, subbing in for an injured Daniel Jones. These last few games of the season could be Manning’s final ones with the Giants, his team for 16 years: His contract expires at the end of the season, and it’s unclear if he’ll retire or try to move on to another team. Is he up to the task? Manning hasn’t started a winning game in a year, and lost nine of his last 10 starts against the Eagles. | |
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