2024
February
12
Monday

Monitor Daily Podcast

February 12, 2024
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Amelia Newcomb
Senior editor

They’re called “wealth stripping” policies – government and private fees that hit struggling families hard. Some are relatively small, such as a citation for an expired license plate. Others, like fees that follow people out of prison, are not. Their impact can snowball because of inability to pay.

Our cover story today dives deep into an issue that often hides in plain sight. You’ll learn about troubling practices. You’ll also see what can happen when individuals decide to take action. The people in our story aren’t all famous or powerful. But they’ve seen opportunities for progress and reform – and cities and states are responding. 


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Today’s stories

And why we wrote them

Ukraine and Europe have been closely monitoring the internal Republican debate over funding for Ukraine’s war effort, long before former President Donald Trump’s weekend remarks on Russia and the NATO alliance. Is GOP isolationism here to stay?

Today’s news briefs

Trump appeals to Supreme Court: Former President Donald Trump asked the U.S. Supreme Court for an emergency stay in the Jan. 6 election interference trial after his appeals court loss. His lawyers maintain he has near absolute immunity for actions taken while president.

Pakistan protests: Supporters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan blocked highways and started a daylong strike to protest alleged vote-rigging in Feb. 8 elections. Allies of Mr. Khan won more seats than the political parties that ousted him nearly two years ago.

Finland’s election runoff: After a narrow win, former Prime Minister Alexander Stubb will take up the powerful post of president in March. Mr. Stubb’s responsibilities will include integrating the NATO newcomer into the military alliance. 

Migratory animals struggling: Nearly half of the world’s migratory species are in decline, according to a United Nations report. They are imperiled by habitat loss, illegal hunting and fishing, pollution, and climate change.

Read these news briefs.

Experts caution against reading too much into special elections. But both parties will be watching the vote in former Rep. George Santos’ district for what it signals about campaign messaging and voter engagement. 

A deeper look

Angela Hollowell/Special to The Christian Science Monitor
Daryl Atkinson poses at the Forward Justice office Jan. 10 in Morrisville, North Carolina.

On paper, court fees and ticket fines help balance local budgets. But a deep dive suggests the harm they cause far outweighs any revenue raised.

Would no public art be better than art someone found objectionable? In New Hampshire, a town has been roiled for months over that question. 

Books

Kevin White/America's Test Kitchen
Jeffrey Pang (left) shows his son, Kevin Pang, how to form a shumai, a traditional Chinese dumpling. The Pangs collaborated together on “A Very Chinese Cookbook."

Food can bridge divides within families. Cooking dishes from their Chinese heritage, a father and son discover a shared language, and pass on that enthusiasm – with recipes! – to home cooks. 


The Monitor's View

Reuters
Volunteers for former Prime Minister Imran Khan's party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) watch election results on TV screens in Islamabad, Pakistan, Feb. 8.

A little over a year ago, the departing head of Pakistan’s military, Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, closed out a long career on a rare note. “The time has come for all political stakeholders to set aside their ego” and take responsibility for their part in the country’s history of instability and corruption, he said. “We need to reject this behaviour.”

That call for humility and integrity in public service may have planted a mental seed that is now germinating in the outcome of last week’s national elections. Voters defied the military’s efforts to bar politicians and parties it opposed. They are demanding the courts investigate evidence of ballot fraud. Women and youth in particular put individual agency and dignity before cynicism and despair.

“As a Pakistani, it was profoundly empowering to witness the collective outcry against injustice manifested through the ballot,” Hashim Ali Doger, a young voter from Lahore, told CNN. Another voter, Manahil Ahmed, said Pakistanis “have come to the one realization [they] previously had always struggled with, which is that all [political] power truly only rests in their will.”

Pakistan has a long history of democracy interference marked by corruption, family dynasties, and the military’s constant meddling in politics. Days before the Feb. 8 vote, former Prime Minister Imran Khan – already incarcerated on corruption charges widely held as politically motivated – and his wife were sentenced to 14 years in prison. The military’s favored candidate in 2018, he turned critical of the army’s influence in foreign policy and was ousted in 2022.

Mr. Khan and his party were barred from the elections last week. But he remains highly popular. Candidates from his party, running as independents, unexpectedly won 97 seats in parliament – well below the number needed to form a government outright, but significantly more than the military’s preferred parties.

Voter turnout was marginally lower than in 2018, according to official results released today. But of roughly 60 million who cast ballots (48% of all voters), 44% were under the age of 35. Mr. Khan’s party fielded 53 female candidates, the most of any party. 

The rise of civic participation among younger and female Pakistanis coincides with other trends reshaping a society striving for economic stability and accountable governance. Innovation is booming. The country’s technology sector posts record growth year after year, driven by a population in which more than 64% are under the age of 30. Social media enabled Mr. Khan to boost voter enthusiasm from prison and were a bulwark against campaign disinformation. 

On the governance side, constitutional reforms enacted in 2018 to empower local government have nurtured greater public confidence in democracy at the grassroots through transparency, improved services, and funding for civil-society groups.

The surprise outcome of last week’s vote has added momentum to that entrepreneurial and civic ferment. Pakistan’s political parties must now forge a new government through consensus and compromise. “Voters have upset the games and the calculations of Pakistan’s political managers,” political analyst Nasim Zehra told the Monitor, referring to the military and its preferred political figures. They are insisting on a future built on unity and integrity.


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.

God has given all of us divine authority over the temptation to sin.


Viewfinder

Ashley Landis/AP
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes holds the Vince Lombardi Trophy after the NFL’s 2024 Super Bowl football game against the San Francisco 49ers, Feb. 11, in Las Vegas. The Chiefs won in overtime, 25-22.
( The illustrations in today’s Monitor Daily are by Karen Norris. )

A look ahead

Thank you for joining us as you start your week. Tomorrow, please come back for a close look at the many serious considerations swirling around Israel’s stated intention to invade Rafah, in the Gaza Strip. 

More issues

2024
February
12
Monday

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