Each week, BIV staff will share with you some of the interesting stories we have found from around the web.
Timothy Renshaw, managing editor
A 94.3% drop in revenue passenger kilometres and other telling stats on how deep the pandemic devastation has been for the global airline industry – International Air Transport Association
International Monetary Fund insights on how the Great Lockdown has saved lives during the 2020 pandemic
https://blogs.imf.org/2020/06/02/how-the-great-lockdown-saved-lives/?
Meanwhile, back when the universe was a mere 500 million years old, some eyebrow-raising discoveries from the European Space Agency about Population III stars and other members of the 500 million club
http://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2020/06/Hubble_makes_surprising_find_in_the_early_Universe
Mark Falkenberg, deputy managing editor
Some eloquent and principled voices raised this week against Donald Trump’s abuses, especially the attack on peaceful protesters outside the White House as part of a photo-op stunt by the president at a nearby church. Among them is former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Mike Mullen, who wrote: “Whatever Trump’s goal in conducting his visit, he laid bare his disdain for the rights of peaceful protest in this country, gave succor to the leaders of other countries who take comfort in our domestic strife, and risked further politicizing the men and women of our armed forces.” – The Atlantic
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/06/american-cities-are-not-battlespaces/612553/
The photo-op debacle prompted former U.S. under secretary of defense for policy James N. Miller to resign from the Defense Department’s Science Board. His scathing resignation letter calls on Defense Secretary Mark Esper to quit:
“It appears there may be few if any lines that President Trump is not willing to cross, so you … may be asked to take, or to direct the men and women serving in the U.S. military to take, actions that further undermine the Constitution and harm Americans.” – Washington Post
Emma Crawford Hampel, online editor:
The cleanest pocket of air on Earth? It's in the Southern Ocean, between Tasmania and Antarctica. - The Edmonton Journal
