• Citing emergency powers, the Trump administration authorized $8 billion in new arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, bypassing Congressional review. During the Saudi-led war, major U.S. arms manufacturers including Raytheon, General Dynamics, Boeing and Lockheed Martin have won $30 billion in contracts, prior to the Trump emergency order. According to In These Times magazine, U.S. law prohibits arms sales to nations that indiscriminately kill civilians, as the Saudi-led bombing of Yemen has in several documented cases.
( “Trump allows arms sales to Arab allies,” New York Times, May 24, 2019; “The bombs we’ve sold to Saudi Arabia,” In These Times, May 20, 2019)
• Riding a wave of young supporters, the Green Party made unexpected gains in elections for the European Parliament, as established center-right and center-left parties, including Social Democrats in Germany faltered.
(“European Greens surge as voters abandon old parties over climate,” Washington Post, May 27, 2019; “EU Election: Germany’s youth wield their political power,” Deutsche Welle, May 27, 2019
• U.S. government researchers have found high levels of radiation in clams in the Marshall Islands, a former nuclear weapons test site during the 1940s and 1950s. A nuclear cleanup of the area, including the Enewetak Atoll, was undertaken in the late 1970s and waste was buried in a giant containment vessel, known as “the tomb.”
This week’s News Summary was narrated by Nigel Victor Reese.
