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Monday, August 31, 2020 | | *available from 8 am et |
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| | | 1. Right, Left Clash Over Portland Killing“It’s you who have created the hate and the division.” That was Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler’s charge against President Donald Trump, after an unbroken 90 days of protests in the Oregon city came to a head Saturday. Pickup trucks waving Trump flags drove through protests firing paintballs at demonstrators. Now police are investigating the fatal shooting of a man still officially unidentified — though Trump retweeted a post naming him as Jay Bishop, a member of right-wing group Patriot Prayer. Meanwhile, Gov. Kate Brown announced a plan to bring law enforcement and the community together, blaming “armed right-wing vigilantes” for the violence. Sources: CNN, Reuters, USA Today, SPLC, Twitter |
| 2. Democrats Decry End of Election Intel Briefings The presidential election is in 63 days. That’s the wrong time, distraught congressional Democrats argue, to ease up on foreign threats to the electoral process. They’re calling it “outrageous” that the administration is stopping lawmakers’ in-person election security briefings with intelligence officials. John Ratcliffe, President Trump’s new national intelligence director, said that limiting the briefings to written reports ensures that they’re “not misunderstood nor politicized.” Meanwhile, The New York Times reports that in 2017, Justice Department officials stymied efforts to investigate the president’s long-standing ties to Russia, which meddled in the 2016 election to help him win. Sources: NPR, NYT |
| 3. Tanks on Minsk Streets as Protesters Persist “Happy birthday, you rat.” Thus was the 66th anniversary of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s birth marked yesterday by chanting protesters, as tens of thousands assembled in Minsk seeking the autocrat’s ouster. But Lukashenko also received “warm wishes” from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who’s said he’d be happy to assist his embattled counterpart militarily if requested. Meanwhile, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, urged sanctions — and not simply condemnations — in a French newspaper op-ed, saying the EU does not recognize the result of the Aug. 9 election, which was widely believed to have been rigged. Sources: Sky News, CNN, Politico |
| 4. New Chinese Restrictions Slow TikTok Sale Can they dance around this? U.S. firms trying to buy TikTok’s American operations to ward off President Trump’s threat to ban it are facing a new obstacle. On Friday Beijing added “personalized information services based on data analysis” to technologies it must review for export, and TikTok’s parent, ByteDance, said Saturday it’s bound by that. The new rule came just as the video-sharing app was expected to choose between Oracle and a team of Microsoft and Walmart. While the change doesn’t prevent an acquisition, it does mean China may get the last word in this international trading game of chicken. Sources: CNBC, WSJ (sub) |
| 5. Also Important ... President Trump is planning to visit Kenosha, Wisconsin, where Jacob Blake was shot by police and two protesters were subsequently killed, though Gov. Tony Evers has urged him not to. Montenegro’s pro-Western ruling party appears to have fallen short of winning enough seats in yesterday’s election to easily form a new government. And U.S. officials say the Taliban were responsible for recent rocket attacks on American bases, violating a peace accord. Can't get enough of OZY's surprising insights and smart takes?Follow us on Instagram @OZY to stay up to date with the latest and greatest from across OZY TV, podcasts and news. And don’t forget to check out OZY’s CEO and host of The Carlos Watson Show, Carlos Watson, on Instagram and TikTok too! Fan of ‘OZY Confidential’? It's OZY's edgiest podcast, and every room deserves to have its own special ambience, so check out our supreme-quality print posters in various sizes. Each one is sure to serve as a unique, thought-provoking statement piece. Get it today from the OZY Store. |
| | 6. Today on ‘The Carlos Watson Show’You know Tomi Lahren as a political firebrand who's great at nailing conservative talking points on Fox News. But Carlos gets the young South Dakotan to open up about her past, her political future and her surprising liberal friends. Subscribe to the OZY YouTube channel to be notified when it's live, and remember — new subscribers will be entered for a chance to win an invitation to a Zoom taping with a celebrity guest! |
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| | | | 1. Boseman RIP Is Most-Liked Tweet EverRest in power. The announcement of Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman’s death Friday of colon cancer, from his official account, received more than 7 million likes by Saturday. That tops 4.3 million for former President Barack Obama’s 2017’s tweet about a deadly Charlottesville, Virginia, white supremacist rally, quoting South African leader Nelson Mandela. Meanwhile, L.A. Lakers star LeBron James began Saturday night’s game against Portland with the Black Panther crossed-fists “Wakanda Forever” salute, and last night’s MTV Video Music Awards show was dedicated to Boseman. Sources: Time, Twitter, ET, Today |
| 2. India Nabs French Woman After Nude Bridge Video Was she a bad influencer? Indian authorities say they’ve arrested a French tourist after she appeared nude on a sacred bridge in an advertising video. Police allege the 27-year-old was promoting her beaded necklace business by appearing “semi-naked” with another woman on the Laxman Jhula footbridge in the northern city of Rishikesh. As the spot overlooking the Ganges River is a Hindu holy site, the video was considered “deeply offensive” — and now the unnamed woman, who claims she didn’t know her actions were illegal, faces charges of “transmitting obscene material” online. Sources: New Zealand Herald, RFI |
| 3. Coronavirus Infections Top 25 Million As the world reached a new coronavirus infection total of 25 million, India became the nation with the fastest-growing number of cases Sunday. The country’s health ministry says it added 78,761 infections in 24 hours, a global record. India’s 3.6 million total known cases trail just Brazil, at 3.9 million, and the U.S., now past 6 million. Those three nations also lead in deaths, with some 368,000 between them. Meanwhile, new infection waves are hitting Europe, where thousands of people in Berlin protested pandemic restrictions on Saturday. Sources: Al Jazeera, DW, The Week, WHO |
| 4. She’ll Make You Laugh — and Squirm Her awkward truths are hard to ignore. Michaela Coel, 32, is conquering Hollywood, bringing the pain, intrigue and humor of Black women’s experiences to the small screen in a way the world really craves. Her hit HBO show, I May Destroy You, follows three best friends enduring different gradations of sexual assault and deception. Coel’s one of the subjects of this week’s OZY Sunday Magazine: Black Women Own the Moment. For her, ownership is important: She even turned down a $1 million offer from Netflix that would have deprived her of a cut of the copyright. Sources: OZY |
| 5. Novak Djokovic Forms Breakaway Pro Players’ GroupNot a lot of love in this match. The No. 1 tennis star, who heads into the U.S. Open today as a favorite to win, split men’s tennis this weekend by forming the Professional Tennis Players Association to represent male pros. He aims to supplant the established Association of Tennis Professionals — which also represents tournament bosses — and get players, currently independent contractors, a bigger slice of the pie. Still, Djokovic’s main on-court rivals, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, who are skipping the U.S. Open, rejected the new group as divisive to the sport amid an already destabilizing pandemic. Sources: The Guardian, ESPN, AP, Deadspin |
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