Informing, engaging & connecting the people of the world. JULY 14, 2020

To view this newsletter online, please click here .

EDITOR'S NOTE: A previous version of this newsletter incorrectly stated that Gerald Ford was President Richard Nixon's running mate in the 1972 election.  Spiro Agnew was on the Republican ticket with Nixon in 1972.  Agnew resigned in 1973 and was replaced by Ford.

Anthropologist Lawrence Kuznar  isn’t a fan of Confederate statues, but he feels Americans have a lesson to learn from them. He says tearing them down “absolutely does nothing to address a deep racial and political divide,” and even if they are lawfully removed, it “should be done in a thoughtful way.”

ON THIS DAY IN AMERICAN HISTORY   On July 14, 1913, former president Gerald R. Ford, née Leslie Lynch King Jr., is born in Omaha, Nebraska. After a stellar career in college football, a stint as a male model and military service in World War II, he became involved in Republican politics. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives for 25 years before his appointment as President Richard M. Nixon’s vice president following the resignation of Spiro Agnew in 1973. After Nixon resigned in 1974 amid the Watergate scandal, Ford took office on Aug. 9. He was defeated by Jimmy Carter in the 1976 election. Ford died in 2006 at the age of 93.

VIDEO: It’s still unclear if many U.S. students will head back to schools and universities at the beginning of the school year. But the situation is more complicated for international students, due to new visa rules.

Nearly 3,000 civilians, around 16 per day, have been killed or wounded in the conflict in Afghanistan in the first six months of this year, according to the country’s official human rights body.

The United States said Monday  China’s claims to offshore resources across most of the South China Sea are “completely unlawful,” as is Beijing’s campaign of bullying to control them.

VIDEO: In Ghana and West Africa, organic food is growing in popularity, as people try to stay healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic. But organic produce is not easily regulated, and some consumers are paying extra for dubiously certified organic food. Farmers across the region are creating their own system, with support from international bodies, to certify organic produce.