After nearly a decade of construction and threats of a looming water war, Ethiopia is in the final stages of building Africa’s largest dam on the Blue Nile River. The $4.8 billion, 500-foot-high dam, largely financed by poor Ethiopians, would enable the country to bring electricity to 65 million of its people. The dam will divert water from the Blue Nile River, the main feeder for the Nile River as it flows north into Sudan and Egypt.
(“Showdown on the Nile,” The Economist, July 4, 2020; “Nile Dam Row: Egypt and Ethiopia Generate Heat but No Power,” BBC, July 10, 2020)
Just two months ago, Donald Trump was attacking “bailouts” for Democratic-run states that were grappling with the financial fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. But just two months later, the U.S. map of new coronavirus outbreaks looks entirely different. Republican governors that reopened their states quickly, following Trump’s lead and ignoring public health guidelines, are now seeing a catastrophic surge in confirmed coronavirus infections, rising hospitalizations and a tragic increase in the death toll. States that Trump won in the 2016 election now account for about 75 percent of all new coronavirus cases in the U.S.
(“Swing States May Be Up for Grabs As Covid19 Hits GOP Strongholds,” The Guardian, July 6, 2020)
For decades, Native American children were forced to attend Indian day and boarding schools often paid by tuition from poor native families. The historic legacy of these schools led to cultural abuse and debasement as these schools, often run by the Catholic Church, led to cases of sexual abuse, use of corporal punishment and a ban on speaking indigenous languages.
(“The Catholic Church Siphoned Away $30 Million Paid to Native People for Stolen Land,” In These Times, July 7, 2020)
This week’s News Summary was narrated by Anna Manzo.
