2019
September
06
Friday

Monitor Daily Podcast

September 06, 2019
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Welcome to your Daily. Today we have stories addressing the relics of hate, an African leader’s complex legacy, one man’s alternative to violence, and rising women in both chess and tennis.

But first, one state governor this week took action on a topic of growing public concern. Gretchen Whitmer ordered an emergency ban on flavored electronic cigarettes, making Michigan the first state to take that step

Two recent deaths in the U.S. have been linked to vaping. Federal and local officials are investigating a possible link to e-cigarettes in more than 200 reports of pulmonary disease from 25 states. In just the year from 2017 to 2018, the share of 12th graders who reported vaping in the past 30 days doubled, to 1 in every 5

The surge in teenage use is fueled partly by companies pitching candy or fruit flavors that Governor Whitmer alleges aim to “hook children on nicotine.”

A ban is controversial. In this case it applies to adults as well as kids. It brings on a familiar debate over the boundaries between public health regulation and freedom of consumer choice. And the industry has blamed recent illnesses on illegal vaping pens that contain a marijuana-derived compound. 

But some say the larger question behind this debate is how society will face up to the addiction risks of a product that’s often billed as safer than smoking. “Kids have such a poor understanding of vaping products ​– it’s extraordinary,” Michael Blaha, a professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, said in a recent online post. “They’re not trying to quit smoking ​– they’ve never smoked before.”


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Today’s stories

And why we wrote them

Alexis Aubin
Ferley Vargas, a TV cameraman, interviews local people about the state of the roads in Montañita, Caquetá, Colombia, on July 11, 2019.

Points of Progress

What's going right
Noah Robertson/The Christian Science Monitor
Carissa Yip – seen here outside a chess club in Somerville, Massachusetts, on Aug. 10, 2019 – is already a top-ranked chess player. She’s one of a growing number of girls and women who are succeeding in the traditionally male-dominated world of chess tournaments.
Adam Hunger/AP
Bianca Andreescu defeated Belinda Bencic of Switzerland in New York on Thursday to advance in the U.S. Open tennis championships. She will play Serena Williams in the final on Saturday.

The Monitor's View

Reuters
Scrap metal collectors prepare to transport a car after it was burnt during xenophobic attacks that took place earlier this week in Johannesburg, South Africa.,

A Christian Science Perspective

About this feature

A message of love

Michael Probst/AP
Photojournalists strive to capture moments that tell a full story, bringing news from the remotest corners of the globe in an instant. Through them we learn more about the world, and ourselves. Here is a roundup of photos from this week that Monitor photo editors found the most compelling.
( The illustrations in today’s Monitor Daily are by Jacob Turcotte and Karen Norris. )

A look ahead

Join us again Monday, when we’ll feature a report from Uganda on what a promised influx of Chinese investment really means for Africa.

More issues

2019
September
06
Friday
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