Critics plan legal action against changes to campus sexual assault policies; Post says Trump paint job could add $500m to border wall; HRW profiles LGBTQ+ movement in Lebanon; CDC report gets shelved
NewsHero - May 7, 2020 - Issue 93
Welcome to today’s edition of NewsHero for May 7, 2020.
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NewsHero Notes
Astronomers - 🦸♀️🦸♀️🦸♀️
Astronomers have found the closest black hole to Earth yet—about 1,000 light-years away. European Southern Observatory astronomer Thomas Rivinius, who led the study published Wednesday in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, said that in terms of the cosmos the black hole is in our neighborhood.
Immigrant rights advocates - 🦸♀️🦸♀️🦸♀️
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Monday ruled against a presidential ban on immigrants without “approved” health insurance, Lawfare reports.
The exterior of The Egg, an unfinished cinema built in 1965, considered a landmark of downtown Beirut. “No Homophobia. No Racism. No! We just want peace.” “Mashrou’ Leila for Lebanon.” “You took everything, where is your humanity?” December 22, 2019. (Marwan Tahtah for Human Rights Watch)
Afternoon Brief
Women’s rights advocates - 🦸♀️🦸♀️🦸♀️
Opponents of a new Education Department policy that bolsters the rights of individuals accused of sexual misconduct and narrows the scope of cases colleges are required to investigate say the policy weakens protections for victims and will discourage many from reporting misconduct.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos issued the policy on Wednesday with changes taking effect Aug. 14.
The National Women’s Law Center promised to take legal action.
“We refuse to go back to the days when rape and harassment in schools were ignored and swept under the rug,” said Fatima Goss Graves, the group’s president and CEO. “We won’t let DeVos succeed in requiring schools to be complicit in harassment, turning Title IX from a law that protects all students into a law that protects abusers and harassers.”
Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., chairman of the House education committee, said the policy “creates new barriers to justice” for victims.
“While the department’s stated intent was to secure due process for those accused of sexual misconduct, the actual effect of its rule will be to erode protections for students, weaken accountability for schools and make it more difficult for survivors seeking redress,” he said.
Voices of reason at the border wall - 🦸♀️🦸♀️
A report from The Washington Post says that the cost of Donald Trump’s wall at the U.S.-Mexico border could increase $500 million or more as the president renews his interest in painting it black. Military commanders had previously talked Trump out of the paint job, saying they considered it unnecessary, costly and troublesome to maintain long term. Trump reportedly insists the dark color will add to the wall’s intimidating presence and also make the steel too hot to touch during the summer.
According to federal contracting officials’ estimates obtained by the Post, two coats of acrylic paint would cost $500 million, while a premium black “powder coating” would run at least $3 billion, notes The Daily Beast.
Officials working on the project have said the paint job would slow construction of the wall, while experts have pointed out that the paint likely won’t do much for heating the structure and that it would be more sensible (and cheaper) to paint parts of the wall before it’s built rather than after installation.
LGBTQ+ advocates - 🦸♀️🦸♀️🦸♀️
Human Rights Watch today published a report on Lebanon’s LGBT community, chronicling a movement in “If Not Now, When?” Queer and Trans People Reclaim Their Power in Lebanon’s Revolution.
“The October 17 uprising in Lebanon—fueled by rampant corruption and the country’s worst economic crisis since the end of the civil war in 1990—has sparked a newfound collective consciousness where the rights and identities of marginalized groups are part and parcel of the protests. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights, once considered taboo and excluded from the political terrain, have entered the mainstream as a pillar of resistance for the first time. They have become part of Lebanon’s revolution,” the report says.
Members of the LGBT community are profiled in the powerful HRW piece, sharing their stories and painting a picture of life in a changing country. “Sexual and gender diversity in Lebanon’s protests is part of an authentic representation of Lebanese society. It is no surprise that LGBT people have been at every protest and roadblock, objecting to the same injustices that everyone is revolting against—they have been there all along,” the report says.
CDC Guide For Re-Opening States Gets Shelved By White House
Women in Italy demand equality in virus response leadership
Game Changer by Banksy “Thanks for all you’re doing. I hope this brightens the place up a bit, even if (it’s) only black and white.”
A new work by the elusive street artist Banksy, titled “Game Changer,” honoring health workers, has been unveiled at a British hospital. Health officials said it was a “massive boost to morale” for everyone at the hospital, which has seen at least two members of staff die after contracting the coronavirus. The artwork will be auctioned later to raise money for national health charities, a spokeswoman for Banksy said.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to “High-Level Dialogue on Press Freedom and Tackling Disinformation in the COVID-19 Context” can be found here in full. “When journalists are attacked, societies as a whole pay a price. No democracy can function without press freedom, which is the cornerstone of trust between people and their institutions,” he said. Addressing misinformation and conspiracy theories, Guterres later added, “Blatant lies spread online at a terrifying rate. A recent analysis found that more than 40 percent of posts about COVID-19 on one major social media platform were posted by bots—automated programs disguised as people.”
A report from Axios says, as illustrated in the graph above, “The U.S.’ coronavirus recovery is way behind Europe’s.” New York state is visibly setting a good example, but the rest of the country shows a frighteningly different story.
A 17-page report by a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) team, titled “Guidance for Implementing the Opening Up America Again Framework,” researched and written to help faith leaders, business owners, educators and state and local officials as they begin to re-open, has been shelved by the Trump administration, reports the Associated Press in an exclusive.
Leana S. Wen, an emergency physician and visiting professor at George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, has written an op-ed for The Washington Post on how to protect yourself as states in the U.S. begin to reopen amid the pandemic. “Once social distancing is relaxed, COVID-19 will again spread with explosive speed,” Wen writes.
Babies in a Bangkok hospital are being given face shields in an effort to protect them from the coronavirus. (Getty Images)
Indignation over gender inequality has exploded in Italy, with some 70 female researchers and scientists signing a petition demanding the government include women in virus decision-making bodies as a matter of “democracy and civilization,” reports the Associated Press. More than half the country’s doctors and three-quarters of its nurses are women, many on the heroic front lines of the pandemic, and the three researchers who isolated the coronavirus in the first days of Italy’s outbreak were women.
Calls to domestic violence hotlines in Europe are up during coronavirus lockdowns, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today. “Although data is scarce, member states are reporting up to a 60% increase in emergency calls by women subjected to violence by their intimate partners in April this year compared to last,” said Hans Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe. Reports from many countries including Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Ireland, Russia, Spain and Britain showe increases in violence against women and men by an intimate partner and against children because of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
An opinion piece from Axios says that we aren’t all experiencing the same coronavirus, as a result of “preexisting political and economic divisions and tech and media bubbles that allow us to choose our own reality.” Bryan Walsh lands on the notion that while COVID-19 is our common enemy, “increasingly, the enemy seems to be each other.”
A team of Indonesian engineers working around the clock says it has produced in two months a compact ventilator to sell at around $1,000 (a fraction of the usual cost), hoping to accelerate the fight against east Asia’s second-deadliest COVID-19 outbreak. Using household materials to make parts, the 40 engineers from the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) developed the Vent-I ventilator, said team leader Syarif Hidayat.
“Re-opening fears and inequity beyond policy decisions” is the latest edition of the Corona Daily newsletter. Read it in its entirety here.
Extra! Extra!
No coronavirus buzzkill here!
“May is the month for the first of the annual Bavarian ‘Dults,’ Germany’s folk festivals where locals gather in beer tents to feast and drink on regional specialties,” Reuters reports.
Yet another event stifled by stay-at-home orders. While it might not be the Olympics, the festival is of no doubt less importance to many goers.
“Landshut pub-owner Patrick Schmidt,” the story says, “ took his tent, rolled up the sides and condensed the whole ‘Dult’ experience into a drive-thru culinary delight.”
In one pass “cyclists and drivers can pick up their roast pork and dumplings, stockfish, pretzels and beer, listen to some music and take home a gingerbread heart for loved ones.”
Is this the first time cycling has been so successfully paired with dumplings and beer? Who cares! It sounds delicious. (Just do it safely and responsibly please, friends.)
“Of course it’s not the ‘Dult’ its a completely different thing but it’s a nice idea and puts a smile on your face and that is the main thing at the moment,” said one visitor of the drive-thru.
Indeed. These days a smile on the face goes a long way. Cheers!
Sources:
Astronomers find closest black hole to Earth, hints of more - AP News
Immigration Update: Ninth Circuit Rules Against Trump Ban on Uninsured - Lawfare
New Title IX rules widen protections for accused students - Los Angeles Times
Betsy DeVos finalizes Title IX regulations that give more rights to those accused of sexual assault on college campuses - CNNPolitics
Betsy DeVos releases final changes to campus sexual assault policies - NBC News
New campus sexual assault rules bolster rights of accused - AP News
Trump Wants to Give His Border Wall a $500 Million Paint Job - The Daily Beast
Trump order to paint border wall black could drive up cost $500 million or more - The Washington Post
Trump Order to Paint Wall Black to Cost $500 Million: Report - New York
“If Not Now, When?” Queer and Trans People Reclaim Their Power in Lebanon’s Revolution - Human Rights Watch
New Banksy art unveiled at hospital to thank doctors, nurses - AP News
Secretary-General's remarks on Press Freedom - UN.org
The U.S.' coronavirus recovery is way behind Europe's - Axios
AP Exclusive: Admin shelves CDC guide to reopening country - AP News
As states reopen, here’s how you protect yourself from the coming surge - The Washington Post
Women demand voice in Italy virus response dominated by men - AP News
Calls to domestic violence hotlines soar amid lockdowns, WHO Europe says - Reuters
"we're not all experiencing the same pandemic, Bryan Walsh writes in his Axios Future newsletter." Why we can't agree on the true threat of the coronavirus - Axios
On the Same Day Sen. Richard Burr Dumped Stock, So Did… — ProPublica
Indonesia team says it has created $1,000 ventilator for COVID-19 fight - Reuters
Re-opening fears and inequity beyond policy decisions - Coronadaily
Bavarians defy coronavirus with drive-thru 'Dult' fair - Reuters