To Capitol Off
September 17, 2021
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“There are no military solutions – dialogue and diplomacy are the only guarantee of lasting peace.” — Martin McGuinness
“Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.” — Theodore Roosevelt
An Explosive New Partner-ship
President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson appeared together (virtually) on Wednesday to announce the formation of a new defense partnership. It includes the U.S. sharing its “extremely sensitive” nuclear-powered submarine propulsion technology with Australia. America has divulged such information only once before — in 1958, with Great Britain.
Advanced propulsion technology would allow Australian submarines to travel faster, farther, and stealthier. Biden was quick to emphasize the new nuclear-powered submarines, which will be built in Adelaide, would be conventionally armed. “I want to be exceedingly clear about this: We’re not talking about nuclear-armed submarines,” he said. “These are conventionally armed submarines that are powered by nuclear reactors.”
The agreement is seen as a major step in Biden’s vow to form a grand alliance to curb China’s economic and military influence in the Indo-Pacific region. In recent years, tensions over territorial disputes in the South China Sea — a major shipping lane with oil and natural gas resources — have escalated, with China building military outposts on several small reclaimed islands. The U.S. and other regional partners have stepped up their military presence in the region. During Wednesday’s announcement, the three leaders talked about shared values and the need to secure peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific without ever mentioning Beijing.
Even so, the fallout was swift and angry. On Thursday, the administration was fielding not only fury from rival China, but also from close ally, France. Beijing expressed predictable outrage at the deal, criticizing it for embracing a Cold War mentality that will stoke an arms race, damage international nonproliferation efforts, and threaten regional peace and stability. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the pact wasn’t “aimed at any countries” but was about “upholding the rules-based international order that both Australia and the United States deeply believe in.”
On the other hand, French leaders said they’d been completely blindsided by the submarine deal. The pact could empty France’s wallet by scuttling a $66-billion deal Paris won five years ago to supply Australia with less powerful conventional submarines. In an interview with a French radio station Thursday, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian complained bitterly about the “brutal decision,” which he suggested was more typical of actions that took place under the Trump administration. “This is not done between allies,” Le Drian said. Adding insult to injury, Blinken is known to be a Francophile. (NPR, LA Times)
France Confirms ISIS Leader’s Death
- On Thursday, French officials confirmed the militant leader killed in a strike by France’s Barkhane military operation “a few weeks ago,” was Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi, the leader of the Islamic State group in Greater Sahara. Authorities were waiting to be sure of his identity before making the announcement.
- According to President Emmanuel Macron’s office, al-Sahrawi personally ordered the killing of six French aid workers and their Nigerien guides in 2020. Al-Sahrawi had claimed responsibility for a 2017 attack in Niger that killed four U.S. military personnel and four people with Niger’s military. His group also has abducted foreigners in the Sahel and is believed to still be holding American Jeffrey Woodke, who was abducted from his home in Niger in 2016.
- ISIS is active along the border between Mali and Niger. Rumors of the militant leader’s death had circulated for weeks in Mali, but were previously unconfirmed. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian urged African governments to fill the void and retake ground seized by the extremists. (NBC News, Guardian)
No Rub Of The Green Here
- Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson is reshuffling his cabinet. Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the former Energy, Clean Growth, and Climate Change Minister is being promoted to International Trade Secretary. This is interesting why? Because Conservative Party member Anne-Marie Trevelyan sure sounds like a climate denier.
- The opposition Labor Party has unearthed a series of tweets by Trevelyan sent between 2010 and 2012 that explicitly reject the science of global warming. One tweet read: “Clear evidence that the ice caps aren’t melting after all, to counter those doom-mongers and global warming fanatics.” Another tweet sent in support of a campaign against wind farms read: “We aren’t getting hotter, global warming isn’t actually happening.” Trevelyan approvingly shared an article by the explicitly climate-emergency-rejecting Twitter account, Climate Realists.
- She has also embraced the views of longstanding climate change denier Nigel Lawson over those she accused of having an “ideological obsession with human-made climate change.” Last week, green campaigners criticized Johnson’s government for removing references to the temperature goals of the Paris Climate Accord from a prospective trade deal with Australia. (Energy Live News, Guardian)
Additional World News
- British woman files appeal against Cyprus ‘fake rape’ conviction (Reuters)
- Southwest China earthquake collapses homes, kills at least 3 (AP)
- Indonesian President Found to Be Negligent Over Jakarta Pollution (NYT, $)
- Germany compensates 249 persecuted over homosexuality law (ABC)
- Most plans for new coal plants scrapped since Paris agreement (Guardian)
- International Criminal Court authorizes investigation into bloody Philippine drug war led by Duterte (WaPo, $)
- Kim Jong Un’s sister threatens ‘complete destruction’ of relationship with South Korea (The Hill)
Arizoning In
- Arizona became the first state to file a lawsuit seeking to invalidate President Biden’s latest COVID-19 vaccine requirements for federal workers and large private companies. In a 14-page complaint filed in a federal district court Tuesday, Arizona’s Attorney General Mark Brnovich alleges Biden’s new vaccine requirements unconstitutionally discriminate against U.S. citizens and legal residents because undocumented immigrants apprehended by federal law enforcement are not subject to a federal vaccination requirement.
- Brnovich argues the differing standard is an “egregious” violation of the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause, and because Arizona is a border state, it “suffers disproportionately from immigration-related burdens.” Texas can’t be far behind. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Haitian migrants have crossed the Rio Grande recently and are sleeping outdoors under a border bridge in South Texas, creating a humanitarian emergency and a logistical challenge U.S. agents describe as unprecedented. Illegal border crossings have reached a 20-year high, even while Department of Homeland Security officials are straining to accommodate and resettle more than 60,000 Afghan evacuees. (CBS News, WaPo)
To Capitol Off
- Security preparations for Saturday’s “Justice for J6” rally at the U.S. Capitol are nothing like what Trump-supporting rioters encountered on January 6. This time, a tall security fence surrounds the grounds of the Capitol complex, and a beefed-up Capitol Police force will be joined by National Guard troops.
- It’s unclear how many far-right demonstrators will show up Saturday to protest the arrests and criminal charges filed against some 600 people accused of illegal activity while attacking the Capitol at the behest of the former president. Trump has defended the violence in which five people died and hundreds more were injured, many of them police.
- In a brief statement Thursday, Trump claimed (without providing evidence) that the arrests of people who were seen attacking Capitol Police officers have “proven conclusively that we are a two-tiered system of justice.” Without mentioning Saturday’s rally, Trump offered sympathy to the rioters: “Our hearts and minds are with the people being persecuted so unfairly relating to the January 6th protest concerning the Rigged Presidential Election. In the end, however, JUSTICE WILL PREVAIL!” (Yahoo News, The Hill)
Additional USA News
- Dan Crenshaw is building a young activist army, one summit at a time (Politico)
- US sending $64M in humanitarian aid to Afghanistan (The Hill)
- More kids hospitalized with Covid, but experts aren’t sure if they’re sicker, too (NBC)
- Police looking for missing woman Gabby Petito ask for her boyfriend’s cooperation (CNN)
- Massachusetts Calls On The National Guard To Mitigate A School Bus Driver Shortage (NPR)
- Biden dials top Democrats as shutdown countdown begins (Politico)
- Alex Murdaugh, South Carolina Lawyer, Turns Himself In (NPR)
Snap Back To Reality
They’re singing, they’re naked (and afraid), they’re finding love with strangers and voting each other off the island. Now, they’re clamoring for their cause, pitted against other wide-eyed activists in an X-Factor-style competition complete with celebrity judges. It’s just the latest offering from Reality TV land.
“The Activist” was due to air in the U.S. in late October on CBS. The plan was for six activists to champion their causes, and singer Usher, actor Priyanka Chopra, and dancer Julianne Hough would judge them. But after the show’s format was revealed last week, incredulous campaigners and others labeled it a “tone-deaf” distortion of true activists’ values. There was so much backlash that Hough joined in on the criticism and admitted she was “not qualified” to judge. After that, the producers agreed they needed to rethink the whole thing.
A joint statement from the CBS network and its production partners Global Citizen and Live Nation read: “The Activist was designed to show a wide audience the passion, long hours and ingenuity that activists put into changing the world, hopefully inspiring others to do the same. However, it has become apparent that the format of the show…distracts from the vital work these incredible activists do in their communities every day. The push for global change is not a competition and requires a global effort.”
The concept has now morphed into a primetime documentary that “showcases the tireless work of six activists and the impact they have on advocating for causes they deeply believe in.” Each activist will be awarded a cash grant for the organization of their choice. Somewhere, Oprah is thinking, “You get a grant, and you get a grant, and…” (Guardian)
Additional Reads
- NASA converted a star’s corpse to sound and the result is surprisingly lively (CNET)
- Scientists find evidence of humans making clothes 120,000 years ago (Guardian)
- SpaceX launches four people to orbit in company’s first-ever tourism mission (CNN)
- The James Webb Space Telescope Promises Celestial Images Rivaling Hubble (NPR)
- Moderna’s COVID vaccine may have the effectiveness edge over Pfizer (Axios)
- Philip Morris International takes control of asthma inhaler maker Vectura (CNN)
- How 13 Reasons Why sparked years of suicide-contagion research (Ars Technica)