Populist Political Outsider Wins | Obsessing Over Parenting | Our Dying Oceans

“You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is like an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.” – Mahatma Gandhi

“For most of history, man has had to fight nature to survive; in this century he is beginning to realize that, in order to survive, he must protect it.” – Jacques-Yves Cousteau

Pakistan’s Populist Outsider Wins: Pakistan’s former international cricket star, Imran Khan, known to many as their “blue-eyed boy, has won Pakistan’s general election. The 65-year-old, who spent most of his political career on the fringes of Pakistani politics, described the election as the fairest in his country’s history. His political opponents beg to differ, alleging that the voting process was rigged and Kahn had help from the military. Kahn’s win marked a stunning success for the charismatic anti-corruption crusader and his Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, which was projected to claim about 120 of the 272 contested seats in the national assembly, only a few seats shy of a majority coalition. The leader of the liberal Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Bilawal Bhutto, came in third place in the election. Bhutto is the son of assassinated two-time prime minister, Benazir Bhutto. Election results are expected to be finalized late Thursday or Friday.

Many people had expected an “obnoxious victory speech” from Kahn. Instead he spoke in a calm, unifying manner in his televised address to the nation, delivered from his home in a wealthy suburb of Islamabad. He pledged to rise above personal attacks and lift up the poor. He also promised to improve Pakistan’s governance, widen the tax base, and shun the lavish lifestyle of former rulers. On foreign policy Kahn said he would work for stronger relations with Saudi Arabia and China. He’s also called for open borders and trade with Afghanistan. This position appears to conflict with Pakistan’s ongoing, military-led construction of a fence along the Durand Line, the 125-year-old, 1,600 mile international border which separates the two nations. Former Afghan president Harmid Karzai had said his country would never recognize the Durand Line.

– New research published in the journal Current Biology finds that just 13% of all the world’s oceans remain undamaged by human impact. Only 5% of the remaining ocean wilderness is within existing marine protection areas. Scientists say the remaining wildernesses, mostly in the remote Pacific and at the North and South poles, urgently need passage of a high seas conservation treaty to protect them from fishing and pollution. Kendall Jones, at the University of Queensland, Australia, and the Wildlife Conservation Society, who led the new research, said “We were astonished by just how little marine wilderness remains. The ocean is immense, covering over 70% of our planet, but we’ve managed to significantly impact almost all of this vast ecosystem.” (Guardian)

– The Solomon Islands are comprised of around 900 islands and about 570,000 people. They’re also a global hotspot. In the past 25 years, the seas surrounding these South Pacific islands have risen 7 to 10 millimeters per year, roughly three times today’s global average. In the past few years five reef islands, which supported dense tropical vegetation at least 300 years old, were completely lost due to sea-level rise. A further six islands have seen severe coastal erosion. Long-time residents of many small villages on various islands have been forced to pick up and move. It is what scientists expect will happen across much of the Pacific by the second half of this century. (NYT)

– The Jakarta city government attempted to hide the infamous “black river” (Sentiong River) before the 2018 Asian Games by covering it with a giant nylon net.Rather than cleaning up the waters, the government opted to cover and hide the mess, which has many civilians outraged as they were promised cleaner water projects and technologies. (Guardian)

– In the wake of stiff tariffs imposed by the US, which have hurt both foreign and domestic markets, President Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker met at the White House Wednesday to discuss trade. Afterward the two gave a joint statement in the Rose Garden, saying they had reached an agreement to work toward removing all trade barriers between the two sides. Trump said the EU had promised to buy US soybeans, and also become a “massive buyer” of US liquefied natural gas. The statement came a day after Trump announced a $12 bill-ion bailout package for US farmers. (NPR)

– China is going tit for tat with the United States as the trade war continues to heat up. A recent announcement by Xi Jinping and Beijing shows that despite Trump’s approval of ZTE in the United States, China won’t pull its punches and has effectively vetoed Qualcomm’s forty-five billion dollar bid for NXP. No retaliation has been made by Trump yet, but some expect another review or blocking of ZTE’s business in America or deeper relations with Taiwan. (Reuters)

– Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government is apparently signaling growing confidence in its conquest over the final pockets of rebel-held territory, by releasing death notices for political detainees at an unprecedented rate. Many of the notices report that prisoners have been dead since the early years of the conflict. Experts say the move indicates Syrian authorities no longer fear they will provoke fierce resistance by revealing the multitude of deaths of people held by the regime. (WaPo)

China’s Appalling Pharma Scandal: Chinese parents are up in arms over China’s latest pharmaceutical scandal. On July 15 government inspectors found that China’s second-largest maker of rabies vaccines, had forged reports and violated regulations while producing 250,000 doses of rabies vaccines for humans. Even though the company suspended production of the vaccine and recalled the product from disease-prevention organizations, within days the news had gone viral on Chinese social media. By Monday a hashtag on the scandal had been read over 600 million times despite apparent attempts to censor related posts. President Xi Jinping, traveling on a state tour through Africa, called the situation “appalling.”

Regulatory violations are neither new nor rare in China’s scandal-ridden pharmaceutical industry. This one struck a chord because it threatened what many Chinese value most: their children. Rabies had been endemic throughout most of China until the 1990s. The country still has the second highest number of reported rabies cases in the world, but the government has worked hard to expand the immunization program. A public health professor at Yale University said while people are angry at “every part of the (public health) chain,” they’re particularly bitter about regulatory bodies and government leaders who have a poor record of keeping companies in line. Fortunately, as of Thursday, no injuries or illnesses associated with vaccine shots has been reported.

A Russian Femme Fatale Political Bombshell: In 2016, during the US presidential campaign, senior members of the National Rifle Association (NRA) travelled to Moscow, where they met with the wife of Russian billionaire Konstantin Nikolaev. Nikolaev is believed to have given financial support to Maria Butina, who is accused of operating in the US as a secret agent for the Kremlin. Prosecutors allege Butina’s activities were directed by senior Russian state banker and NRA member, Alexander Torshin. Those activities included working to infiltrate the NRA in an attempt to influence the Republican party and, ultimately, the US government.

– “Welcome to Suburbia, The Millennials Done With City Life – and City Prices: Despite their urban image, millennials are looking to suburbs and the country for a quieter, and cheaper, lifestyle.” (Guardian)

– One of the reasons millennials leave cities is because cities are not very child friendly. And as children become scarcer in the West and the United States, parents become more obsessed about parenting: “The ‘Overparenting’ Crisis In School And At Home.” (NPR)

– “Empowering Kids In An Anxious World: In most cases, kids should be in the driver’s seat, learning to manage their work, their time and, ideally, being able to pursue their own interests.” (NPR)

A lot of expecting mothers take many vitamins including Omega-3. Maybe to probably they shouldn’t. “Fool’s gold: what fish oil is doing to our health and the planet: Omega-3 is one of our favourite supplements – but a huge new study has found it has little or no benefit for heart health or strokes. How did it become a $30bn business?” (Guardian)

– “Chemicals in Food May Harm Children, Pediatricians’ Group Says: Eat more fruits and vegetables, don’t put plastic containers in the microwave or dishwasher and check recycling codes to reduce exposure to chemicals.” (NYT)

– Once kids become teenagers, they might not even land the typical teenager job as “No Teen Lifeguard On Duty, Summer Jobs Are No Longer An Attraction: In today’s economy, there are more jobs than there are applicants, and employers aren’t confident that teenagers can fill the gaps.” (NPR)

– “Google and Facebook are Strangling the Free Press to Death. Democracy is the Loser: As gatekeepers to the news, Google and Facebook pose dangers to even the most successful outlets. Legislators need to speed the process of bringing them to heel.” (Guardian)

“There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age.” – Sophia Loren

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