海角大神

2024
March
22
Friday

Monitor Daily Podcast

March 22, 2024
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Mark Sappenfield
Senior global correspondent

One of my favorite words as a journalist is 鈥渘uance.鈥 If a story isn鈥檛 nuanced, it鈥檚 probably not true. Yet that鈥檚 not the trend in journalism today. The outrage machine wants to cast things in black and white.

The article today from Whitney Eulich and Alfredo Sosa adds nuance to the portrait of Mexico and immigration. Things are more complicated than we often acknowledge. But they鈥檙e also more interesting. And understanding the real story helps you move past shallow partisan talking points and be a more effective part of the solution.


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Today’s stories

And why we wrote them

Alfredo Sosa/Staff
Dales Louissaint poses outside the law school where he studied at Autonomous University of Baja California in Tijuana, Mexico, Feb. 25. Mr. Louissaint left Haiti in 2016 with his sights set on the United States.

For many migrants, the United States represents the promised land. But along the way, some have found home 鈥 and success 鈥 in Mexico.

Today鈥檚 news briefs

鈥⑻齊ussia attack investigated as terrorism:Russia鈥檚 Federal Security Service says at least 40 people were killed and more than 100 were wounded in an attack at a Moscow concert hall, which Russian authorities are investigating as terrorism.
鈥 House speaker faces motion to vacate:听Barely five months into the job, House Speaker Mike Johnson is at risk of the same conservative revolt that took down his predecessor.听Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene filed a resolution Friday to remove him from office.
Russia, China veto Gaza cease-fire:听The U.S.-sponsored United Nations resolution called for 鈥渁n immediate and sustained cease-fire鈥 in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza to protect civilians and enable humanitarian aid to be delivered.听
鈥 Tennessee AI bill:听Gov. Bill Lee signed legislation designed to protect songwriters, performers, and other music industry professionals against potential dangers of artificial intelligence, which makes Tennessee the first U.S. state to enact such measures.听

Read these news briefs.

Podcast

Reporting an immigration story that many have missed

The United States remains a magnet for those seeking better lives than can easily be forged elsewhere. But it鈥檚 not the only land of opportunity. Our Mexico-based reporter explains how she shaped the story that runs in today鈥檚 Daily. Then she reads aloud her story, in full.听

Writer鈥檚 Read: A Different Border Tale

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When Donald Trump makes incendiary comments, how do we assess the impact of the Republican candidate鈥檚 language 鈥 on voters, on the campaign, on the political environment?

Zohra Bensemra/Reuters
Senegalese presidential candidate Anta Babacar Ngom on the campaign trail. She is the first woman to run for president since 2012.

Women are playing an increasingly forceful role in Senegalese politics. As the country prepares to vote in its presidential election Sunday, women are making their voices heard as candidates, voters, and protesters.听

Books

Books we love this month include a legendary romance between two poets, a thrilling mystery set in Ireland, and a compelling biography of George C. Marshall, architect of the Marshall Plan.听 听 听听


The Monitor's View

Reuters
Maia Sandu, president of Moldova, attends a news conference in the capital, Chisinau, March 18.

For Ukraine, military victories against Russia have become harder to achieve since the 2022 invasion. Yet that is not the case on a less visible front against other types of Russian aggression 鈥 in nearby countries that also have a minority of Russian speakers.

From the Baltics to Central Asia, former Soviet states are seen by President Vladimir Putin as part of 鈥渢he Russian world,鈥 with supposedly a distinct civilizational identity that justifies Moscow鈥檚 meddling. Here are some recent victories by such countries as they choose an identity based on universal ideals, such as equality and freedom:

On Thursday, European Union leaders gave a thumbs-up to opening formal talks with Bosnia-Herzegovina on joining the 27-member EU and embracing its values. The offer was a major step toward preventing the kind of ethnic violence that engulfed southeast Europe in the 1990s after the Cold War 鈥 and that the world now sees in Ukraine.

Also on Thursday, Moldova鈥檚 Parliament agreed to press toward membership in the EU, saying integration with the bloc is now the country鈥檚 鈥渢op priority.鈥 The government plans a referendum later this year to gauge public support. Polls indicate it would win. As a neighbor of Ukraine with a sizable number of Russian speakers, Moldova has endured intense pressure from Moscow not to make the reforms necessary to join the EU, such as an independent judiciary.

In early March, Armenia hinted it was ready to distance itself from Moscow鈥檚 influence and embrace the EU. 鈥淢any new opportunities are largely being discussed in Armenia nowadays and it will not be a secret if I say that includes membership in the European Union,鈥 Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan told Turkey鈥檚 TRT news channel.

Russia鈥檚 invasion of Ukraine 鈥 the largest land war in Europe since 1945 鈥 has pushed the EU to overcome a reluctance to enlarge its membership. The EU is offering more 鈥渃arrots鈥 for nations to join and allowing candidate countries to enjoy some benefits of membership, such as visa-free travel within the bloc, as they make reforms.

Set up to suppress the kind of ethnic nationalism behind Europe鈥檚 20th-century wars, the EU again sees a need to ensure peace based on universal听ideals of democracy that embrace all ethnicities, religions, and races. The war in Ukraine isn鈥檛 the only battlefield to watch for progress these days.


A 海角大神 Science Perspective

About this feature

Each weekday, the Monitor includes one clearly labeled religious article offering spiritual insight on contemporary issues, including the news. The publication 鈥 in its various forms 鈥 is produced for anyone who cares about the progress of the human endeavor around the world and seeks news reported with compassion, intelligence, and an essentially constructive lens. For many, that caring has religious roots. For many, it does not. The Monitor has always embraced both audiences. The Monitor is owned by a church 鈥 The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston 鈥 whose founder was concerned with both the state of the world and the quality of available news.

When we listen for God鈥檚 voice uplifting and encouraging us, we find healing.


Viewfinder

Firdia Lisnawati/AP
Residents bathe in a dam of the Unda river in Klungkung, Bali, Indonesia, March 19, 2024. The Unda river, the second-largest river in Bali, is used for everything from water rafting to agricultural irrigation. Each year, on March 22, the United Nations marks World Water Day to draw attention to the importance of careful management of freshwater resources.
( The illustrations in today’s Monitor Daily are by Jacob Turcotte and Karen Norris. )

A look ahead

As we head into the weekend, we have a bonus story for you.听For an interesting perspective on why the GOP failed to rein in federal spending as it had promised, read today鈥檚 article on Rep. Thomas Massie. Wearing a national debt clock on his lapel, he walks our Christa Case Bryant through the speakership battles and spending fights and where things broke down. You can read the story here.

More issues

2024
March
22
Friday

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