NEWS
TICKER
El Salvador
rape survivor
acquittedA 21-year-old
Salvadoran woman
who served 33 months
of a 30-year prison
sentence for homicide,
after giving birth to a
stillborn child she said
was conceived when
she was raped, was
cleared of all charges
at a retrial on Aug. 19.
The case drew
international attention
to El Salvador’s strict
abortion laws.CDC probes
lung illnesses’
link to vapingThe CDC said Aug.
it was investigating a
mysterious “cluster of
pulmonary illnesses
linked to e-cigarette
use,” with 94 possible
cases reported
recently across
14 states. Symptoms
include chest pain and
difficulty breathing; the
CDC says there is no
evidence of links to an
infectious disease.Secret Chinese
social-media
accounts axed
Hundreds of Twitter
accounts with
suspected links to the
Chinese state were
suspended in the days
leading up to Aug. 19,
as the platform said
the accounts had
been “deliberately and
specifically” spreading
disinformation about
pro-democracy
protests in Hong Kong.
Facebook took
similar steps.a fighT is brewing over The lungs of
the planet. Since taking office in January,
Brazil’s far-right President Jair Bolsonaro
has overseen a surge in logging in the vast
Amazon rain forest—and on Aug. 15, Nor-
way suspended a $33 million donation to
a Brazilian sustainability fund because
Bolsonaro had interfered in it; Germany
froze its payment five days earlier. Bolsonaro
responded with mockery, telling the Euro-
peans to go “reforest Germany” instead, but
what may lie ahead is no laughing matter.
UNDER SIEGE Bolsonaro has delivered on
campaign promises to weaken protections
for the environment and indigenous com-
munities, freeing up more land for cattle.
Over 870 sq. mi. of the Amazon was cleared
in July—a 278% increase from July 2018—
according to satellite monitoring by Brazil’s
space- research agency. Scientists say the
rain forest, which helps slow climate change
by absorbing massive amounts of carbon
dioxide, is nearing a “tipping point” after
which its ecosystems cannot recover.
GREEN INTENTIONS The governors of
Brazilian states that contain the rain forest
have vowed to bypass Bolsonaro and nego-
tiate directly with European embassies to
save the Amazon funding. But the rapid de-
forestation is also fueling European opposi-
tion to a long-awaited trade deal between
the E.U. and a South American trade bloc of
which Brazil is the largest member. The deal
would need to be ratified by the E.U.’s mem-
ber states and Parliament, where green par-
ties won a significant 69 seats in May.CLIMATE DIVIDE Europe’s environmental-
ists hope their leaders will use “climate di-
plomacy” to force Bolsonaro to protect the
Amazon. But it’s unclear if he’d listen. On
July 29, he canceled a climate-policy meet-
ing with France’s Foreign Minister in order
to get a haircut. The next day, President
Donald Trump—who is trying to free the
U.S. from its climate obligations—said he’d
pursue a Brazil trade deal. Unlike the Ama-
zon, the obstacles to climate action show no
sign of shrinking. —ciara nugenTTHE BULLETIN
Tensions simmer between Brazil and
Europe over Amazon deforestation
IN THE STREETS Demonstrators flash defiant hand signs despite a water-cannon blast in the
Turkish city of Diyarbakir. Police also used tear gas and struck fleeing protesters with batons during
Aug. 20 rallies against the ouster of three Kurdish mayors. Amid a crackdown on opposition, Ankara
alleged that the mayors— members of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party—have ties to the
banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which Turkey and the U.S. designate a terrorist organization.