2019
May
01
Wednesday

Monitor Daily Podcast

May 01, 2019
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Mark Sappenfield
Senior global correspondent

Is it right to require someone to take drugs to compete in international sports? On Wednesday the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport said yes, ruling that the world’s top middle-distance runner, South African Caster Semenya, must suppress her naturally high testosterone levels to run in women’s races.

The court, it must be said, didn’t appear overly pleased with its own decision. It fully admitted that the rule was discriminatory but said the discrimination was necessary to uphold the integrity of women’s events.

The ruling on one hand evoked outrage. “Shouldn’t Semenya’s physical abilities be celebrated the same way as Usain Bolt’s height and Michael Phelps’s wingspan are?” a BBC commentator argued. Yet the ruling is also a natural outgrowth of another trend: the increasing emphasis on biology in elite sports.

If testosterone levels or red-blood-cell counts are the ultimate arbiter of athletic achievement, then the discrimination against Ms. Semenya would seem to have some basis. But is that all there is to sport? Ms. Semenya is also just a woman who loves to run fast and who has become an inspiration in her homeland.

As this case shows, these issues can be difficult and nuanced. But the years ahead point to them becoming only more poignant.

Now for our five stories of the day. We examine how existential fears are changing the behavior of Iran’s regime, a more human look into the first days of slavery in America, and how geeks took over the entertainment world.


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Today’s stories

And why we wrote them

Ariana Cubillos/AP
A man walks his dog at the site of the previous day's clashes between anti-government protesters and security forces near La Carlota airbase in the Altamira neighborhood of Caracas, Venezuela, May 1, 2019. A new round of protests began Wednesday, after opposition leader Juan Guaido called for Venezuelans to fill streets to demand President Nicolas Maduro's ouster.

Opposition protests Tuesday turned to clashes with security, leaving demonstrators in little doubt of the risks if they stay in the streets. But they also are in little doubt of how much their presence matters.

We also want to highlight a few other stories we’ve written on the crisis, which further explain what’s at stake. Please click here to read.

Slavery tries to dehumanize, even in history. Four hundred years ago, the first African was sold into slavery in the American colonies. Research has already revealed an amazing story. It’s just the beginning.

Under pressure from all sides, Iran’s regime feels as if it is fighting for survival. One result appears to be the ramping back up of a long-dormant covert war in Europe.

Benoit Tessier/Reuters
Carpenter trainees work at the Les Compagnons du Devoir workshop in Gennevilliers near Paris on April 24. The head of Compagnons du Devoir alerted the French government that there was a lack of manpower, which could slowdown the reconstruction of Notre Dame.

The $1 billion in donations to rebuild Notre Dame cathedral have stirred a new sense of awareness across France. Perhaps the fire has awakened the need to preserve local history too.

Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
Brie Larson (r.), who stars as Captain Marvel, takes a selfie with a fan as she arrives at the premiere of ‘Avengers: Endgame’ at the Los Angeles Convention Center on April 22, 2019. The movie made a record $1.2 billion globally in its opening weekend.

Sci-fi and fantasy used to be the province of those who got their lunch money bullied out of them at recess. Now Hollywood can't get enough. Geek has gone totally mainstream. So now what?


The Monitor's View

Reuters
Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, right, shows the way to U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin as they proceed to trade negotiations in Beijing May 1.

Trade talks that began last year between China and the United States may finally be drawing to a close. A large Chinese delegation is due in Washington next week. While the world’s two leading economies have made much progress, a key missing part is any agreement to end Chinese theft of U.S. know-how.

This point was made very clear last week by FBI Director Christopher Wray. He should know. The FBI is in charge of stopping economic espionage in the U.S.

Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations, Mr. Wray said China has “pioneered a societal approach to stealing innovation in any way it can from a wide array of businesses, universities, and organizations.” The effort includes government spies, state-owned enterprises, private companies, and Chinese students and researchers in the U.S.

“At the FBI we have economic espionage investigations that almost invariably lead back to China in nearly all of our 56 field offices, and they span just about every industry or sector,” he said. The FBI chief charged China with stealing “its way up the ladder” and violating a rules-based world order that is based on fairness, integrity, and rule of law.

His strong words may reflect the frustrations of U.S. negotiators in striking a deal with China. They also reflect recent prosecution of several Chinese nationals and companies on such charges as patent infringement. In 2017, theft of U.S. intellectual property by China was valued at more than $600 billion.

The FBI can do only so much, however, without China itself deciding that it can be as inventive as any other nation in science and technology without stealing ideas. Perhaps it is because China has made some progress to honor and protect the creative works of inventors that it is difficult for negotiators to strike a final deal. China may be asking for time to improve itself.

The best indicator of a shift is an improved system in China for the protection of intellectual property, both for Chinese and foreign companies. Last year, about a quarter of U.S. companies in China reported “insufficient protection” of their copyrights, patents, and trademarks. Still, many foreign firms are now winning more cases in special courts set up in China to deal with intellectual property. And under a ranking of patent systems in 51 countries devised by the University of Liverpool and Copenhagen Business School, China has more than doubled its scores in some categories, such as speed in deciding a case, over the last few years.

China still has far to go. Its patent system is as weak as those in Russia, Indonesia, and Mexico. (The U.S. ranks 15th on the index, behind countries like Japan and Germany.) It is difficult being branded as a global thief. Any final U.S.-China trade deal will need to both recognize China’s progress and speed it along.


A Christian Science Perspective

About this feature

Each weekday, the Monitor includes one clearly labeled religious article offering spiritual insight on contemporary issues, including the news. The publication – in its various forms – is produced for anyone who cares about the progress of the human endeavor around the world and seeks news reported with compassion, intelligence, and an essentially constructive lens. For many, that caring has religious roots. For many, it does not. The Monitor has always embraced both audiences. The Monitor is owned by a church – The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston – whose founder was concerned with both the state of the world and the quality of available news.

Yearning to overcome the willful, impulsive tendencies that had plagued her for years, today’s contributor turned to God. The realization that goodness is the fundamental essence of all God’s children made a tangible difference in her perspective and behavior and resulted in the healing of a fever.


A message of love

Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters
Japanese strain to see Emperor Naruhito as he and members of the royal family leave the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Day One of his reign.
( The illustrations in today’s Monitor Daily are by Jacob Turcotte and Karen Norris. )

A look ahead

Thank you for joining us. Please come back tomorrow when correspondent Taylor Luck looks at how women’s push into the workforce in Jordan has dramatically changed how men view them.

More issues

2019
May
01
Wednesday

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