This week, the world breathed a collective sigh of relief after all 12 boys and their coach were rescued from a flooded cave in Thailand.
In the midst of celebration, anger brewed over the handling of another incident in Thailand that captured less attention. Following a huge storm, two boats carrying Chinese tourists sank off the resort island of Phuket, leaving more than 40 dead and many missing.
World leaders convened a two-day NATO summit in Brussels as President Trump upped the tension with his rebukes of U.S. allies. He privately called on his counterparts to increase their defense spending from 2 percent to 4 percent of gross domestic product. Shortly before the president’s departure from Brussels, he said:
The people have stepped up today. Everyone in the room thanked me. There was a great collegial spirit in that room … Very unified, very strong. No problem.
Trump also promised to address Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election at an upcoming summit with President Vladimir Putin, according to The Washington Post. Of his upcoming meetings in Europe, the president anticipates that the Putin summit “may be the easiest of them all”.
Brexit turmoil dominated the UK this week. Boris Johnson resigned as foreign secretary and U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May sought support for a proposal for UK-EU relations post-Brexit.
Also in the UK, protestors prepared for Trump’s meeting with Theresa May, a British woman died after exposure to the nerve agent Novichok, and England lost to Croatia in the World Cup semifinals, 2-1.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo returned from a trip to Pyongyang, which went “as badly as it could have gone,” according to a source close to the White House. President Trump seemed more hopeful, sharing a note from Kim Jong-un on Twitter:
A very nice note from Chairman Kim of North Korea. Great progress being made! pic.twitter.com/6NI6AqL0xt
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 12, 2018
Next up, Pompeo will travel to Mexico to meet with President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
In India, seven people have been arrested after a 15-year-old girl alleged she was raped repeatedly over a period of six months. The allegations are the latest in what has been called an ‘epidemic’ in India.
Finally, France and Croatia will face off in the World Cup finals on Sunday.
*Text by Kathryn Fink*.
GUESTS
Mark Landler, White House correspondent, The New York Times; author of “Alter Egos: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and the Twilight Struggle Over American Power”; @MarkLandler
Nancy Youssef, National security reporter, The Wall Street Journal; @nancyayoussef
Edward Luce, Chief U.S. columnist and commentator, Financial Times; his latest book is “The Retreat of Western Liberalism”; @EdwardGLuce
Roger Bennett, Soccer journalist, podcast host of “American Fiasco” from WNYC, and Men in Blazers.
For more, visit https://the1a.org.
© 2018 WAMU 88.5 – American University Radio.
Copyright 2020 WAMU 88.5. To see more, visit . 9(MDAxMzY2MjQ0MDEyMzcyMDQ5MzBhZWU5NA001))