Monday Sunrise Briefs: Hong Kong and Portland protests, Venezuela
We protest in peace.
Perhaps the biggest 鈥� and most peaceful 鈥� pro-democracy protest in Hong Kong this summer occurred Sunday. By one estimate, 1.7 million people (1 in every 4 residents) endured heavy rains while Beijing watched and warned. Earlier in the week, protesters shut down the city鈥檚 airport. But they didn鈥檛 provoke police Sunday, and they sent a deliberate message: 鈥淭hey鈥檝e been telling everyone we鈥檙e rioters. The march today is to show everyone we are not,鈥� one of the protesters told Reuters.听
Crafting an exit plan:聽Members of embattled Venezuelan President Nicol谩s Maduro鈥檚 inner circle are in secret talks with U.S. officials to remove the president, according to The Associated Press and Axios. Diosdado Cabello (and major power broker within Venezuela鈥檚 political and military elite), as well as the defense and interior ministers, is among those in indirect contact with the Americans. The communications suggest Mr. Maduro鈥檚 support is weakening, even after an opposition-led military uprising in April was easily quashed.听
Why We Wrote This
Good morning! Welcome to your Monday, Aug. 19, 2019, sunrise briefing.
Here are three news events that happened this weekend (while you were kayaking, attending a lawn concert, and enjoying an offline life).
Rejecting peace? Historically, when the prospects for peace rise, extremists opposed to peace increase their attacks. The Islamic State took responsibility Sunday for a Pakistani suicide bomber who killed 63 people at a wedding in Kabul Saturday. In recent weeks, Taliban and U.S. officials have been negotiating over a possible end to the 18-year war in Afghanistan. The Islamic State is not allied with the Taliban.
Provocateurs and peacemakers: In Portland, Oregon, both far-right and far-left demonstrators claimed victory. So did Portland鈥檚 mayor and police, relieved that a gathering Saturday of more than 1,000 far-right protesters and anti-fascist counter-demonstrators wasn鈥檛 as violent as feared. Small groups clashed, but police kept the sides separated so there was no major melee.听The politically liberal city has been deliberately chosen for free-speech rallies by 鈥渁lt-right鈥� groups.听Meanwhile, in three separate cases in Ohio, Florida, and Connecticut, white men, each in their 20s, were arrested after allegedly聽.听
Look ahead
Monday, Aug. 19
Thank an aid worker: World Humanitarian Day pays tribute to global aid workers who risk their lives in humanitarian service, and to rally support for people affected by crises around the world. On Aug. 19, 2003, the United Nations headquarters in Iraq was hit by a terrorist bombing, killing 22 people.听
Wednesday, Aug. 21
Look Ma, no gravity:聽Astronauts Nick Hague and Andrew Morgan are scheduled for a spacewalk to attach聽the new International Docking Adapter 3 (IDA-3) to the Harmony module to facilitate docking by Boeing and SpaceX crew ships. The 6 1/2 hour job will be starting at 6:30 a.m. ET.听
Saturday, Aug. 24
G-7 equality summit: Leaders from聽France, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Italy, and Canada as well as the European Union gather in Biarritz, France, for three days. Expected topics include making capitalism fairer, reducing environmental inequality, countering terrorists, and improving partnerships with African nations.听
Pigskins and higher ed: The college football season begins Saturday night with the Florida Gators versus the Miami Hurricanes, with kickoff at 7 p.m. ET, and Arizona versus Hawaii at 10:30 p.m. ET.听聽
Generosity watch
A seed of kindness grows: At a refugee camp in the Netherlands, a 5-year-old Iraqi girl was given a red bike.听
Mevan Babaker never forgot that bike. And 24 years later, she wanted to find and thank the man who had given her an enduring gift of self worth.听鈥淎s a refugee child, moving from place to place, not really knowing whether you鈥檙e going to have any safety that night, what you鈥檙e going to be eating that evening, if you鈥檙e going to be eating at all,鈥� Ms. Babaker told The Washington Post. 鈥淚t was a magical thing to be gifted something that I thought was just too big for me. And I think聽鈥�
She posted her story and old photos on Twitter. Within hours she found him. The next day, Ms. Babaker聽met up with Egbert, a now 72-year-old man in Germany. 鈥淢ore than anything, I remember ,鈥� she wrote.
Hidden gem
Start your week with a recent story that inspired Monitor editors and readers:
Coddling our children:聽How 鈥榮afety first鈥� ethos is destabilizing US society
Sneak preview
In tonight鈥檚 Daily Edition, watch for our story about reviving the lost art of Islamic wedding contracts, and their new role in strengthening Muslim marriages.
Finally, the Monitor鈥檚聽five best stories聽in Friday鈥檚 subscription-only Daily Edition:
- Low interest rates are often a cure. Now they鈥檙e also a symptom.
- Rashida Tlaib, Israel, and what her district wants
- So many guns, so little data: An economist on US gun violence
- Watershed moment: How Chesapeake Bay turned its H2O around
- 鈥極ne Child Nation鈥� lays bare China鈥檚 population choices
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