When Hillary Clinton became the first woman to win the presidential nomination from a major party, the historic moment got a rather lukewarm response. Many young women who had grown up taking gender equality as a given were unmoved. One twentysomething concluded that Clinton’s nomination was “greeted with a collective millennial yawn”. Was there really a need to celebrate gender milestones in what’s often described as a post-feminist society?
The latest news from the presidential campaign would decimate any such assumptions about gender equality in the U.S. On Friday, a leaked video from 2005 surfaced where Donald Trump can be heard bragging about being able to kiss and grope women without their consent because of his celebrity status. At last night’s second presidential debate, he brushed off his comments as “locker room talk.”
That comparison is perhaps more apt than he realizes. In the U.S., high-profile cases involving male athletes are part of an epidemic of sexual assaults on college campuses. After Trump’s remarks, the hashtag #NotOkay started trending in the U.S. as women shared stories of being sexually assaulted.
With his campaign reeling, Trump’s strategy included dredging up accusations against Clinton’s husband, underscoring the sexist idea that a woman should be judged solely by the men she’s related to. Trump, of course, has been making demeaning comments since he entered the race 16 months ago, insulting fellow Republican Carly Fiorina’s face and implying debate moderator Megyn Kelly’s tough questions were due to her menstrual cycle. Despite all that, enough Republicans voted for Trump to give him the nomination.
This campaign is reflecting that in the U.S., women can be judged by their appearance, that their professional accomplishments can be dismissed in a cavalier fashion, that the language used to refer to them can be sickeningly derogatory. And violent.
What strides in gender equality has the U.S. really made if this is what the pinnacle of its democratic process sounds like? As we’re dragged through this nauseating spectacle until voting day on Nov. 8, it’s clear that when it comes to the role of women in society, Americans need to rethink how far they’ve come.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR TODAY
- North Korea commemorates 71st anniversary of the founding of the Korean Workers’ Party amid fears of more Pyongyang provocations.
- Eurozone finance ministers decide whether to release the next payment from Greece’s third bailout package.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin travels to Turkey to meet with President Erdogan and attend 23rd World Energy Congress.
FAMINE, CHOLERA THREATEN HAITI
The death toll in Haiti continued to rise over the weekend, as the Caribbean island assesses the devastation caused by Hurricane Matthew. Some 900 people are now believed to have died and Haiti, one of the world’s poorest countries, now faces the double threat of starvation and cholera, the Miami Herald reports. The storm’s death toll in the United States stands at 17.
UN SECURITY COUNCIL STALLS ON SYRIA
The United Nations’ Security Council voted on two competing resolutions on Syria on Saturday — one from France, the other from Russia — but both failed, Russia applying its veto to the first, while the second failed to gather enough votes, AP reports. Tensions are high between Washington and Moscow over the situation in Syria, and Russia moved nuclear-capable missiles to its Kaliningrad enclave, near Poland. Germany’s foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier told Bild that “the current times are different and more dangerous” than the Cold War.
— ON THIS DAY
London opened its “Eye” 17 years ago on this day. That, and more, in your 57-second shot of history.
YEMEN AIRSTRIKES KILL SCORES
Airstrikes on a funeral hall in Yemen from the Saudi Arabia-led coalition on Saturday killed more than 140 people and left more than 500 wounded. The air raids, which were widely condemned by the international community, “unleashed political forces that could drastically change the course of Yemen’s war,” The New York Times reports.
NOBEL PRIZE IN ECONOMICS
The Nobel Prize in Economics Sciences 2016 was awarded jointly to British-born Oliver Hart and Finnish-born Bengt Holmström “for their contributions to contract theory.”
TERROR SUSPECT ARRESTED IN GERMANY
German police arrested early this morning a Syrian terror suspect, after a two-day manhunt that followed the discovery of explosive material in the 22-year-old’s apartment, Deutsche Welle reports.
— WORLDCRUNCH-TO-GO
Wissam lives with his wife in rebel-held eastern Aleppo, which has been under government siege since July. Violence is escalating in his neighborhood, but the teacher and activist wouldn’t want to be anywhere else, Syria Deeply writes:
“Day after day, life is becoming ever more difficult under the burden of siege and heavy shelling in eastern Aleppo. Food is getting more and more scarce. There are a few kinds of vegetables still available, but no more gas with which to cook. An airstrike targeted and damaged the main water plant so now we have no supply of drinking water. There is no electricity, either, so getting water from wells has become very costly. The fuel used to run bakeries and operate local electricity generators is running out and becoming more expensive.”
Read the full article, I’d Rather Live Under Siege In Aleppo Than Leave Her Behind.
SOUTHEAST TURKEY HIT BY CAR BOMB ATTACK
At least 10 soldiers and eight civilians were killed on Sunday in a massive suicide car bomb attack in Turkey’s Hakkari province, near the border with Iraq. According to Hürriyet, the bomber was a Kurdish militant with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
— MY GRAND-PERE’S WORLD
European Timber — Aarhus, 1967
SAMSUNG HALTS NOTE 7 PRODUCTION
Samsung has temporarily halted the production of its smartphone Galaxy Note 7, amid serious battery issues that have reportedly also affected replacement devices, South Korean news agency Yonhap reports, quoting an official at the Seoul-based company.
FILMMAKER ANDRZEJ WAJDA DIES
Oscar-winning Polish film director Andrzej Wajda has died at the age of 90. Wajda made more than 40 films, including Academy Awards-nominated The Promised Land, The Maids of Wilko and Katyn.
MORE STORIES, EXCLUSIVELY IN ENGLISH BY WORLDCRUNCH
- Danish Island Takes Tourists On Journey Into Middle Ages — Süddeutsche Zeitung
- DRC, Environmental Costs Of Congolese Wood Industry — Syfia
- How One Immigrant Adapted To Germany, And Why So Many Don’t — Die Welt
MURRAY’S NOTES
You can be ranked No. 2 in the world and still need to take a look at your cheat sheet to defeat your opponent. On his way to winning yesterday’s China Open final, British tennis champion Andy Murray was literally studying up on Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov.
