Buongiorno! We begin the week with Italy’s Prime Minister at the White House. In welcoming Giuseppe Conte on Monday, President Trump will find himself in the company of another world leader who campaigned on a populist anti-immigration platform. Conte also has criticized NATO, another frequent target of the US President. Sure to come up are the Afghanistan conflict (Italy is a key US partner) and Trump’s push to bust trade barriers with the European Union. Also on Monday, Zimbabwe holds its first national election since the army forced Robert Mugabe out of office last year in an apparent coup. It's the first time in a generation the strongman won’t be on the ballot, though his influence still looms over a vote that could be among the closest in the nation’s history. More than 20 candidates want to replace interim President Emmerson Mnangagwa. He’s a frontrunner, along with opposition leader Nelson Chamisa. Seats in parliament also are in play. All eyes shift Tuesday to Virginia, when jury selection is due to beginin the trial of ex-Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. He has pleaded not guilty to federal charges of bank fraud and tax crimes. Prosecutors plan to call as many as 25 witnesses, and testimony could last two weeks. While the case has only a loose connection to the Trump campaign, the Manafort storyline definitely adds to White House drama. Manafort also faces federal charges, including money-laundering conspiracy, in a case due for trial in September. As his former go-to guy sits in court, the President hits the road for rallies ahead of the November midterms. He’ll be in Tampa on Tuesday to tout the strong economy and GOP Gov. Rick Scott, who’s vying to unseat Democratic US Sen. Bill Nelson, then head Thursdayto Pennsylvania for his 22nd rally in the key swing state since 2015. Meantime, voters in Tennessee head to the polls Tuesday for a match-up between GOP US Rep. Marsha Blackburn and Democratic ex-Gov. Phil Bredesen for an open US Senate seat. Wednesday could prove to be a landmark day in the gun debate. That's when people can start legally downloading blueprints for 3D-printable guns. The implications of this could be historic. Do-it-yourself firearms don't have serial numbers and are untraceable. Supporters say the ability to build unregulated and untraceable guns makes it much harder, if not impossible, for governments to ban them. Others fear the technology will make it easier for terrorists and people who can't pass background checks to get guns. With gun violence front and center in some of Chicago's poorest neighborhoods, protesters on Thursday plan to take their calls for peace -- and more economic investment in their communities -- to a more affluent part of town. They plan to shut down part of Lake Shore Drive, then march to Wrigley Field, where the Cubs play a night game. Demonstrators with similar demands shut down part of a downtown interstate earlier this month. |
Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves in the world. But in the last three years its economy has collapsed. Hunger has gripped the nation for years. Now, it’s killing children. The Venezuelan government knows, but won’t admit it. For five months, The New York Times tracked 21 public hospitals in Venezuela. Doctors are seeing record numbers of children with severe malnutrition. Hundreds have died. By MERIDITH KOHUT and ISAYEN HERRERA Photographs by MERIDITH KOHUT Dec. 17, 2017 LEER EN ESPAÑOL SAN CASIMIRO, Venezuela — Kenyerber Aquino Merchán was 17 months old when he starved to death. His father left before dawn to bring him home from the hospital morgue. He carried Kenyerber’s skeletal frame into the kitchen and handed it to a mortuary worker who makes house calls for Venezuelan families with no money for funerals. Kenyerber’s spine and rib cage protruded as the embalming chemicals were injected. Aunts shooed away curious young cousi...
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