2019
May
28
Tuesday

Monitor Daily Podcast

May 28, 2019
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Laurent Belsie
Senior Economics Writer

I’ve witnessed the power of music. The performer begins to play and a hush falls over the audience. There’s a sense of soulfulness, deeper than beauty, that in that moment unites people in rapt attention, because they know they are witnessing something extraordinary.

On Sunday, before an exhibition match of the U.S. women’s national soccer team, World War II veteran Peter DuPré accomplished that with “The Star-Spangled Banner” and his harmonica.

Sporting a cap boldly emblazoned “World War II Veteran,” playing a slow rendition that added color and notes to the familiar version, the nonagenarian transcended the moment.

On the eve of Memorial Day and less than two weeks from the 75th anniversary of D-Day, he was playing to honor the country he served all those years ago. And for a nation that sometimes seems at war with itself, the former U.S. Army medic was reminding us of another era when everyday people served and sacrificed with a unity of purpose that would seem surprising today. Behind all those chants of USA, do we remember that’s shorthand for the United States of America?

It turns out the women’s soccer team had met Mr. DuPré before, when he and they were at Normandy Beach in January. By this morning, accolades for Sunday’s performance were pouring in on social media. “Made me cry tears of joy and gratitude for your service and every other individual who decides to wear a uniform to put America’s safety and the safety of those around the world first,” tweeted former star Brandi Chastain.

Now, onto today’s lineup of stories, which includes a look at the challenges of Afghan peace talks, what it’s like to report from Capitol Hill, and the work of a bridge-builder between Mexicans in the U.S. and their home country.


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Today's stories

And why we wrote them

After years of treating the environment as a secondary concern when it comes to politics, many Europeans are now bringing their worries about climate change into the voting booth.

In Afghanistan, escalation on both sides calls into question the sincerity of peace talks even as it reinforces their imperative. ‘Peace should come at whatever price,’ the emotional brother of a Taliban victim told our reporter.

A deeper look

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff
Monitor congressional correspondent Francine Kiefer (center on l.) joins other journalists interviewing Missouri Republican Sen. Roy Blunt at the Capitol on March 26 in Washington.

Congressional correspondent Francine Kiefer is moving on to a new beat as the Monitor’s West Coast bureau chief. Here she shares some of what she learned during her more than five years on Capitol Hill. 

Those who have lived through part of history can offer valuable insights years later. They can also reveal the range of perspectives on a subject, as shown by reactions to this TV dramatization of the 1986 nuclear disaster.

Difference-maker

Ginnette Riquelme/Special to The Christian Science Monitor
Patricia Mercado Sánchez poses for a photograph in Mexico City on May 9. Ms. Mercado Sánchez is founder and director of Conexión Migrante, which provides services and information to Mexicans living in the United States and their families in Mexico.

When Patricia Mercado Sánchez left an elite job to found a news site for Mexican migrants, she helped build much-needed bridges between Mexicans on both sides of the border, all while rebuilding trust in journalism. 


The Monitor's View

Nothing unites Europe more as a universal culture than Eurovision, an annual singing competition in May between single entrants from each nation. This year, the singer from Britain came in last. That triggered angry demands from many in the U.K. – home of the Beatles, Elton John, and Adele – to withdraw from the contest forever.

Alas, such nationalist self-isolation is unlikely to happen. Good songwriting and singing are too borderless in their appeal. And Eurovision has long been popular on TV in Britain.

This tale is helpful in understanding another Europewide event in May, the election last week of a new European Parliament. Pundits had predicted euroskeptic nationalists would ride to power in a legislature that represents more than a half-billion people in the 28-nation European Union. After a decade of deep challenges in Europe, they said, voters would opt for inward-looking domestic interests rather than shared solutions based on common values across the Continent.

That prediction did not happen. While political parties with an anti-EU narrative did mark gains in four of the six most populous countries, the big surprise was an upsurge for smaller parties reflecting issues such as climate change, migration, trade, and corruption that cross borders – and require cross-border compromises. Meanwhile, Europe’s traditional parties, which reflect mainly left-right differences over each nation’s economy, did not do well.

“This was in fact the first European Parliament election with genuinely European themes,” concluded Princeton University professor Harold James.

Voter turnout for the parliamentary contest was the highest in a quarter century, reversing a 40-year decline. This reflects a new intensity of interest in Europe itself.

Even the biggest winner among nationalist parties, Italy’s Five Star Movement, fashions itself as a reformer of the EU. Party leader Matteo Salvini says he wants other European countries to take on more of the burden of dealing with migrants crossing from Africa. He promises to change EU rules on fiscal austerity in member states that overspend.

The EU was set up to ensure prosperity but also to shave off the kind of nationalist impulses that had led to two wars in the 20th century. Its politics may be complex, aloof, and prone to setbacks, such as in the case of Brexit. But its transnational project endures. Some values and solutions – like a good song – are just too universal.


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.

For today’s contributor, chaperoning a school trip became an occasion to not only learn about her nation’s capital, but experience God’s love and care in a tangible way.


A message of love

John Minchillo/AP
After the roof was torn off in a severe storm, residents sorted through apartments May 28 at the Westbrooke Village Apartments in Trotwood, Ohio. A cluster of more than 50 tornadoes hit eight states overnight.
( The illustrations in today’s Monitor Daily are by Jacob Turcotte. )

A look ahead

That’s it for today. Check in tomorrow when we look at the cutest dog race you can imagine. 

More issues

2019
May
28
Tuesday

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