| Important | | 1 | | | A letter from 239 scientists is asking the World Health Organization to advise wearing masks in all indoor settings, citing evidence that coronavirus lingers in tiny airborne particles. The WHO has so far suggested it’s primarily spread by larger respiratory droplets. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump bragged Saturday that after testing 40 million Americans they’d shown 99 percent of cases “are totally harmless.” While federal experts say that proportion doesn’t need hospitalization, local authorities noted that new cases have climbed for 27 days. Trump’s own FDA chief said he didn’t want to address “who’s right and who’s wrong,” noting that any case is “tragic.” Follow OZY’s pandemic coverage. | | |
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| | 2 | | | In a sign of curtailed freedoms under China’s new national security law, libraries in Hong Kong began removing books by pro-democracy activists from their shelves this weekend. The territorial agency that runs libraries said it would review the books to see if they comply with the law, which came into force Tuesday. Legal experts don’t expect they’ll pass that test, as the law bans any encouragement of greater autonomy. Meanwhile, the first protester arrested under the law — 23-year-old Tong Ying-kit, charged with inciting secession and terrorist activities — was denied bail. OZY’s John McLaughlin outlines a strategy for containing China. | | |
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| | 3 | | | | Dozens of Americans were killed by gunfire over the weekend as the nation celebrated its 244th birthday. In Chicago, 77 people were shot, 14 of them fatally. Five people died in Philadelphia, including a 6-year-old boy, and in Atlanta, near the site of Rayshard Brooks’ killing by police, a 9-year-old girl died after a crowd of armed people opened fire on her mother’s car. In Washington, D.C., 11-year-old Davon McNeal was struck by a stray bullet and killed after a peace-building cookout organized by his mother, a “violence interrupter” who mediates disputes and persuades people to put down their weapons. | | |
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| | 4 | | | The Atlantic Coast Pipeline, an $8 billion joint project between Dominion Energy and Duke Energy under development since 2014, was meant to snake 600 miles beneath the Appalachian Trail. But it has now been scrapped over what the companies call regulatory delays — a sign, industry experts say, of trouble for future fossil fuel infrastructure projects. Dominion’s also selling its natural gas business to Berkshire Hathaway, which seems to be betting that traditional energy has a future even as many companies turn toward renewables. Environmental groups praised the pipeline collapse as a victory for cleaner energy technologies. | | |
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| | | | | | Intriguing | | 1 | | | After a 95-day battle against coronavirus, the Tony-nominated Canadian actor died of COVID-19 complications in a Los Angeles hospital yesterday at the age of 41. His wife, Amanda Kloots, said she was “in disbelief and hurting everywhere.” She’d captured hearts around the world with her regular reports of his struggle, which included a leg amputation. Cordero received a 2015 Tony nomination for his Bullets Over Broadway performance. Actor Zach Braff mourned his friend and warned, “Don’t believe that Covid only claims the elderly and infirm.” Other friends urged fans to honor Cordero by wearing masks. OZY profiles a doctor bringing testing to a forgotten neighborhood. | | |
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| | 2 | | | This could be the gold standard of climate research — with actual gold. Recent research in the U.S., India, Germany and Australia has found that nanoparticles of gold or carbon-metal compounds can convert carbon dioxide into fuels like methane and ethanol. That means fossil fuels could be converted back from CO2 without adding to atmospheric carbon, OZY reports. Researchers say the nanoparticles, 1,000 times smaller than the width of a strand of hair, can be produced sustainably at low temperatures, which could make them the inexpensive, eco-friendly energy source of the future. | | |
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| | 3 | | | The world will little note nor long remember their clash of arms — but it was quite the kerfuffle. Believing they’d be doing battle with Antifa, far-right militias, bikers and white nationalist groups descended upon the Pennsylvania site of the pivotal Civil War battle on Saturday — just after its 157th anniversary. They’d been tricked by a Facebook post promising a Gettysburg event featuring “peaceful flag burning to resist police” and Antifa face painting for kids. Eighty miles south, members of Refuse Fascism and a communist group were actually burning flags near the White House. Read this OZY look back at America’s first neo-Nazi. | | |
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| | 4 | | | | Arguments over the potential removal of a Washington, D.C., statue of President Abraham Lincoln with an emancipated slave have led to the discovery of a forgotten description of the statue by civil rights pioneer Frederick Douglass. Carnegie Mellon history professor Scott Sandage searched historical newspapers for the word “couchant” — one of Douglass’ favorite adjectives — and found an 1876 letter to the editor decrying the Emancipation Memorial’s portrayal of a Black man on his knees “like a four-footed animal.” The fate of the statue, which was funded largely by African Americans, is still not set in stone. | | |
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| | 5 | | | The skipper has spoken. Yesterday Cleveland manager Terry Francona lent his weight to sports branding’s biggest debate. He maintained the team’s name and mascot were “never trying to be disrespectful,” but Francona said he didn’t think that’s “a good enough answer today.” Cleveland dropped its longtime Chief Wahoo logo in 2019. A resurgent civil rights movement — and demands from corporate sponsors — are pushing Native American-themed teams toward rebranding. In the NFL, reports suggest the Washington Redskins will finally bow to pressure and change their name. Read OZY’s coverage of the truth behind baseball’s creation myth. | | |
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