We are here for this–to make mistakes and to correct ourselves, to stand the blows and hand them out. ~ Primo Levi, The periodic table
Covid-19 Bankruptcies Bleeding Out Jobs, Economic Capacity
Covid-19 bankrupties show how the disease is draining the economy.
LET THEM EAT CAKEIvanka tells 18 million out-of-work Americans: "Find something new!"
CARLA SINCLAIR
Zuck the Butcher
In an opinion piece for the NY Times, Kara Swisher argues that Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg “cannot hold on to such enormous power and avoid responsibility when things get tough”. She uses an analogy about a butcher shop to explain the problem at the heart of Facebook:
This week, I finally settled on a simpler comparison: Think about Facebook as a seller of meat products.
Australia’s courts and senators are not of an accountability mind
What would happen if an Australian senate committee, dominated by Labor and the Greens and an independent, decided by majority to demand the tax return of a coalition minister, perhaps in pursuit of allegations of abuse of power for some personal gain?
Is financial secrecy always bad?
Coronavirus deaths take a long-expected turn for the worse AP
COVID-19 Cases Are Rising, so Why Are Deaths Flatlining? Atlantic
US withdrawal from WHO is unlawful and threatens global and US health and security The Lancet
Bill Nye Makes A PSA On TikTok About How Effective Different Face Masks Are, Goes Viral BoredAirAsia’s future in doubt as share price tumbles Asia Times
Bar Harbor Closes its Port to Cruise Ships for 2020 The Maritime Executive
Chinese Travelers Will Be Ready, Will You? Jing Travel
American Passports Are Worthless Now (Map) India Samarajiv
via ICIJ -"Our board member Dapo Olorunyomi has been recognized by the Committee to Protect Journalists’ International Press Freedom Awards for his impressive and courageous work holding the powerful to account despite facing years of harassment. He is the CEO and publisher of the Nigerian newspaper Premium Times, which is also an ICIJ partner. And, as our reporter Will Fitzgibbon put it, Dapo “inspires all who meet him.” Follow Dapo on Twitter.
CASE ON ICE
Our Malaysian member Steven Gan was prepared to go straight from
court to jail on Monday night, but instead a panel of judges reserved its
decision in a contempt case against his news organization,
Malaysiakini. The case against ICIJ’s media partner, sparked by readers’
comments left on the outlet’s website, adds to a concerning pattern of official
attacks on free press in Malaysia.
‘FRAUDULENT’ DEAL
An Angolan court says a deal between the country’s state-owned diamond company, Sodiam, and Sindika Dokolo, Isabel dos Santos’ husband, was “fraudulent.” It was never “an opportunity for Angolans as it was made to be believed,” the court said. Under the arrangement, revealed in detail by Luanda Leaks, Sodiam borrowed $98 million to fuel an investment into Swiss luxury jeweler de Grisogono. The deal gave control of the jeweler to Dokolo. Both dos Santos and Dokolo adamantly deny wrongdoing. Dos Santos has never had connections to, invested in or managed or controlled de Grisogono, London lawyers Schillings said on her behalf.
CHINESE SANCTIONS
The United States has sanctioned four Chinese officials for human rights abuses against the Uighur Muslim minority in Xinjiang. One of the officials, Zhu Hailun, had his signature on five of the six leaked documents at the heart of our China Cables investigation. Zhu was the region’s second-most-powerful official; his boss was also sanctioned. In response, China said it will sanction three U.S. lawmakers, saying the move “seriously damaged China-U.S. relations.”
DUBIOUS QUESTIONS
Dubai is one of the world’s worst dirty money hotspots, according to a new report. The city has become a global trade, travel and finance hub. And part of that success is because authorities “ask fewer questions about the sources and destinations of trade and finance that courses through it,” Jodi Vittori, co-author of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace report, told us. Many of the offshore specialists exposed by our investigations, including Mossack Fonseca, Conyers and Asiaciti, have or had offices or representatives in Dubai.
