Spokojnie, Kielce: Fwd: The Presidential Daily Brief

09 kwietnia 2016

Fwd: The Presidential Daily Brief - 04/09/2016

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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: OZY <Admin@email.ozy.com>
Date: Sat, Apr 9, 2016 at 1:16 PM
Subject: The Presidential Daily Brief - 04/09/2016
To: pascal.alter@gmail.com


April 9, 2016

Important

Pope Francis, who's set to visit refugees next week, hugs a Vatican visitor. Source: Getty

Pope Heads to Greece as Migrant Relocation Plan Plows Ahead

He's going to the front lines. Next week, Francis will visit the island of Lesbos, showing support for Europe's refugees in the face of an ongoing EU program of deporting undocumented migrants en masse to Turkey. The new plan seems to be deterring refugees from making their way to Europe. But there are troubling rumors that Turkey has been forcing Syrian refugees back over the border into their homeland. Some hope the pontiff's visit will focus international attention on the migrants as people, rather than as roots of a crisis.

Sources: VOA, DW, Der Spiegel, Reuters

'Panama Papers' Give Us a Peek at Hidden Billions

The realm of offshore tax havens sprang a leak this week. Mossack Fonseca, a Panamanian law firm specializing in global tax avoidance, claims it was hacked in the world's biggest-ever data leak, shedding light on hidden overseas investments. The 2.6 terabytes' worth of documents uncovered shell companies and offshore accounts linked to associates and relatives of Russian, British and Chinese leaders, as well as to Iceland's prime minister, who stepped down for an "unspecified" period after his dealings were exposed. With the data still being studied, many expect the fallout to continue.

Sources: TIME, Washington Post, The Guardian, NYT

Prosecutors: Former House Speaker Abused Students

He's had his day in court. Three decades after he allegedly touched five young wrestlers inappropriately, Dennis Hastert pleaded guilty yesterday to failing to report major cash transactions feds say were used to silence a young man he'd abused as a Yorkville, Ill., high school coach. When banking irregularities surfaced, the former Republican leader claimed he was an extortion victim, but the payment recipient's demeanor in recorded phone calls reportedly told another story. The guilty plea carries a potential five years in prison, but leniency is expected at the 74-year-old ex-congressman's sentencing April 27.

Sources: CNN, Chicago Tribune, Politico

Subprime Auto Loans Fuel Investment, Misery

They were driving a hard bargain ... for cars you can't afford, with credit terms tilting toward repossession and bankruptcy. This system, developed decades ago, "helped" poor, high-risk and often minority auto buyers. By 2009, investors owned $3 billion worth of subprime auto loan bonds, and as subprime mortgages flatlined in the financial crisis, the auto version ballooned, hitting $22 billion by 2014. Industry leader Credit Acceptance had a profit margin that even outstripped Google's. Critics say regulators need to take action to protect borrowers caught up in the loans fueling this frenzy.

Sources: Mother Jones

Briefly

Belgians may have arrested hat-wearing terror suspect. (WSJ) sub
Ted Cruz wins most of Colorado GOP delegates. (NYT)
Homeless teen charged in Texas U. shooting death. (AP)
North Korea claims to have ICBM engine technology. (CNN)
Mexican police make arrest in Kendra Hatcher slaying. (NBC)

INTRIGUING

Narcos vs. Chocolate: A Bittersweet War on Drugs

Call them growing pains. Colombia has been trying to sweeten the deal for farmers to move away from illegal coca production by pushing crop substitution in favor of ... chocolate? Cocoa bean production is indeed up, but these experiments tend to be in undeveloped areas - narco-trafficking rebels used remote areas to control the drug trade - making it hard to get legal products to market. Meanwhile, the coca business is seeing a resurgence, with the promise of fatter profits, which is stirring doubts about whether farmers will choose to go drug free.

Sources: OZY

New App Tackles Schizophrenia Head On

It's a new kind of touch therapy. Researchers at the University of California-San Francisco, hoping to help those suffering from the severe brain disorder, have developed PRIME, an app tooled with counseling, goal-oriented reminders and a social network of peers with the condition. On-demand clinician "coaches" provide feedback, while a "goals" feature includes daily motivational challenges and suggestions for healthy social interactions. Average users are logging on four times a week and achieving their objectives more than 80 percent of the time - boosting hope for a holistic approach to schizophrenia.

Sources: Pacific Standard

Will Success Spoil Broadway's 'Hamilton'?

He's the toast of the town ... two centuries later. He helped create the world's richest nation and the New York Stock Exchange, so why shouldn't Alexander Hamilton be a boffo box-office hit? Scalped seats for the award-winning musical can fetch upwards of $2,000, and producer Jeffrey Seller, of Rent fame, is putting together touring Hamilton companies to circle the globe. But like Wall Street, there's a downside: Seller must now manage the show - and expectations - so its coveted tickets don't become another entitlement separating the governed from their founding father.

Sources: NYT Magazine

How European Babies Get Squared Away

Jack really is in the box. Few Britons had heard of baby boxes before Finland gifted one to the expectant Duchess of Cambridge in 2013. All Finnish moms, regardless of income, receive cardboard bassinets packed with diapers, clothing and hygiene supplies - a tradition the government started in the 1930s that's credited with nearly ending infant mortality in the country. The royal gift sparked a movement stretching as far as India, South Africa and Texas, with box-makers and donors - teamed with Finnish consultants - working to eliminate preventable infant and maternal deaths.

Sources: BBC Magazine

Baseball Is Struggling to Embrace Diversity

America's pastime is fading to white. That's the message from columnist Jay Caspian Kang, who notes there are half as many Black players - 8 percent - as there were in 1981. Revenue is up, but World Series ratings are down, and baseball's cultural relevance has been in a "steady decline." MLB's hope may lie in a burgeoning 30-percent roster of Latino players, but commentators and coaches must embrace the changes brought by stars like José Bautista, shunned for celebratory bat-flipping, for the sport to keep hitting it out of the park.

Sources: NYT