‘With his marathon speech, Cory Booker showed us how to fight’
Karen Attiah at The Washington Post
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) “displayed a historic level of legitimate cardio — stamina — speaking on the Senate floor,” says Karen Attiah. To “stand for 24-plus hours is an honorable display of physical and mental strength,” and we “need to see way more fighting spirit from the Democrats.” This is “where Booker’s spectacle and persuasion matter the most: to stir the masses.” What he did “will live on for the history books, but we need bodies on the line.”
The “current cultural climate is filled with historical consciousness, but also with widespread misunderstandings and misrepresentations of history,” says Thomas A. Hill. Historians are “often distanced from this sensation because we know how past events turned out,” but “living through history in real-time makes that sense of unpredictability palpable in a way that is rarely captured in historical narratives.” Adding to this “uncertainty is the intense battle over our national narratives and historical identity.”
’50 years after fall of Saigon, Vietnam can’t heal by erasing half its past’
Nghia M. Vo at USA Today
April “marks 50 years since the fall of Saigon, and the wounds of the Vietnam War remain open — not just for Americans who fought there, but also for those who lost everything when the war ended,” says Nghia M. Vo. For “those who fought alongside the United States, the past five decades have been defined by discrimination and erasure under Vietnam’s communist regime.” The “Vietnamese government must acknowledge the suffering of those who had fought for South Vietnam.”
Many “people believe that natural ingredients are always preferable in beauty products,” but this “ignores fundamental truths about the toll of global ingredient harvesting,” says Joshua Britton. Earth “cannot keep up with consumer demand for natural ingredients in beauty,” as its “cultivation is hugely water and energy-intensive, necessitating pesticides and other agrochemicals.” We “need to find another way and biotechnology offers a solution. It “reduces our dependence on unsustainable ingredient extraction and addresses our enduring love of naturals.”
South Korea’s Constitutional Court Friday morning unanimously upheld the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol and removed him from office. Yoon’s Dec. 3 declaration of martial law was a “grave betrayal of the people’s trust” and a “serious challenge to democracy,” acting Chief Justice Moon Hyung-bae said from the bench. The National Assembly had quickly quashed the decree and impeached Yoon Dec. 14.
Who said what
When the verdict was announced, protesters supporting Yoon’s ouster “reacted with hugs and screams,” The New York Times said. At a rally of his supporters, “there was loud booing.” The court “removed a major source of uncertainty,” and “not a moment too soon,” Leif-Eric Easley of Seoul’s Ewha University told Reuters. The next president “must navigate North Korea’s military threats, China’s diplomatic pressure and Trump’s trade tariffs.”
Yoon’s conservative People Power Party said it “humbly” accepted the verdict. Yoon said he was “regretful and sorry that I could not live up to your expectations.” Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, the acting president, said he would do his “utmost to manage the next presidential election” and ensure a “smooth transition to the next administration.”
What next?
“Deeply divided” South Korea “must now hold a presidential election within 60 days,” The Associated Press said. Yoon, barred from office for five years, “may refuse to be ignored,” as he would “strongly prefer a conservative president who could pardon him if convicted” of insurrection charges in a separate criminal trial.
President Donald Trump reportedly fired Gen. Tim Haugh, head of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command, Thursday and sacked at least five National Security Council officials, a day after far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer had recommended the firings in a closed-door Oval Office meeting, according to Loomer and multiple White House officials.
Who said what
Trump confirmed Wednesday’s meeting Thursday but “downplayed Loomer’s influence on the firings,” The Associated Press said. Loomer later “appeared to take credit.” Haugh and his civilian deputy, Wendy Noble, “were “fired” because they “have been disloyal to President Trump,” Loomer said on X. “The NSC officials I reported to President Trump are disloyal people.”
Loomer brought to the Oval Office a “sheaf of papers attacking the character and loyalty of numerous NSC officials” and “vilified” several “by name,” The New York Times said. Remarkably, Loomer, “viewed as extreme” even by some of Trump’s “far-right allies,” apparently wields “more influence over the staff of the National Security Council” than their embattled boss, Michael Waltz.
What next?
Lt. Gen. William J. Hartman, Haugh’s deputy at Cyber Command, will reportedly serve as acting NSA director. Trump told reporters Thursday, en route to a golf gala in Miami, that “we’re letting go” of “people that we don’t like or people that we don’t think can do the job or people that may have loyalties to somebody else.”
Stock markets in the U.S. and around the world plummeted Thursday in response to the steeper-than-expected universal tariffs President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday.
“Virtually every sector suffered big losses as U.S. financial markets closed with their biggest one-day drop since Covid-19 flattened the global economy five years ago,” The Associated Press said. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 1679, or 4%, while the Nasdaq fell 6% and the S&P 500 tumbled 4.8%. U.S. stocks “lost roughly $3.1 trillion in market value,” The Wall Street Journal said.
Who said what
Trump told reporters Thursday he thought the tariff rollout was “going very well” and “the markets are going to boom.” He suggested he would add new import taxes on pharmaceuticals and semiconductors. The tariffs Trump has already announced would “lift the average duty above the previous peak of 1930,” making it “by far the most disruptive component of an agenda that may be one of the most disruptive of any new president since the 1930s,” the Journal said.
Trump also “contradicted his top aides on the purpose” of the tariffs, “adding to the uncertainty over the trade war,” The Washington Post said. Top trade advisers and White House internal talking points insisted the tariffs are not a starting point for negotiations, but Trump told reporters Thursday evening that “the tariffs give us great power to negotiate,” adding, “Every country is calling us.”
What next?
Wall Street traders “voted with their dollars” but “Republicans on Capitol Hill — who could use their own votes to stop the new tariffs cold — made clear they had no intention of acting anytime soon,” Politico said. The bulk of the new tariffs take effect April 9, and “grocery shoppers are likely to feel the impact of the Trump administration’s sweeping new tariffs before April is over,” The New York Times said, starting with fresh produce, then “staples like sugar and coffee, which is already priced at a historic high,” and clothing, electronics and cars.
