• While leaders of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates came to the White House last week to formalize their nation’s normalization of relations with Israel, the heart of the deal appears to be the Trump administration’s pledge to sell advanced F-35 stealth fighter jets to the UAE.
(“Stealth Diplomacy,” Economist, Sept. 12, 2020; “Peace Deal or Arms Race? Proposed Sale of F-35’s to UAW Prompts Fear in Israel,” Washington Post, Sept 15 2020)
• According to a report by the National Campaign Against Torture, an Indian rights group based in New Delhi, more than 1,700 people were killed while in police custody last year. The majority of the victims, the report said, were Muslims and lower-caste Hindus, frequent targets of discrimination and violence.
(“Hundreds of Police Killings in India, but No Mass Protests,” New York Times, Sept. 20, 2020)
• In the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, the meatpacking industry was facing a rising number of public health orders to shutdown plants in order to protect workers from contracting the coronavirus. But under pressure from meatpacking companies, President Trump issued an executive order to keep the meatpacking plants open to secure America’s food supply.
(“Emails Show the Meatpacking Industry Drafted an Executive Order to Keep Plants Open,” Pro Publica, Sept. 14, 2020; “More Than 200 Meatpacking Workers Died of Covid19,” Washington Post, Sept. 13, 2020)
This week’s News Summary was narrated by Anna Manzo.
