What We’re Following
IG Report: A newly released internal-watchdog report from the inspector general of the FBI states that no evidence has been found to support President Trump’s claims that the bureau was politically biased in its handling of the probe into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server. The report also condemns decisions by former FBI Director James Comey, whose announcements to the public and to Congress about the probe broke protocol—and may have been less selflessly motivated than he’s claimed.
Trump’s Foreign Policy: The president’s nationalist and isolationist tendencies contradict the attitude to world affairs that conservatives developed during the Cold War, recalling instead the “America first” approach of the 1920s. This worldview is also dividing the Republican Party, and could redefine it for years to come.
Pandemic Prep: In the event of a global disease outbreak, isolationism isn’t a wise policy. As Ed Yong explains in this animated video, it takes a massive, collaborative international effort to stop a virus from spreading. In a feature story for our forthcoming issue, Ed reports on whether America is ready for the next plague.
Snapshot
Evening Read
Laurent Dubois on what soccer promises would-be players:
Soccer is the most popular sport on the planet, a universal language like no other. Billions of people play and watch the game. Many of its greatest players, like those in other sports, have come from the margins of society. Part of what draws multitudes is that soccer is a place of possibility, where even those born into the most difficult of circumstances can become global icons, celebrated for playing a game that explodes with joy and creativity.
Yet the men’s side of professional soccer has given rise to a merciless process of talent identification and development that operates on a global scale … For top players, as well as the clubs and intermediaries involved in the soccer market’s chains of speculation, there are fortunes to be made. For the masses of aspiring players, whose chances of succeeding are infinitesimal, the costs are human and in many cases quite brutal.
Keep reading, as Dubois unpacks the ethical questions raised by the sport’s selection system.