Comment on In Thailand, Popular Temple Draws Protests

For President Jimmy Carter, morality was a personal obligation that became a national calling. A deeply religious man, he taught Sunday school for most of his adult life until the point in 2020 when he physically couldn’t anymore, and he projected that same moral leadership from his entry into politics through his ascendance to the presidency.

Moo Deng might seem to most people like just an adorable viral baby hippo, but to the government of Thailand, where she’s from, she’s a cultural ambassador and shining example of the country’s push to boost what it calls its “soft power.” The term soft power was coined at the height of the Cold War by American political scientist Joseph Nye, who used it to describe “when one country gets other countries to want what it wants” without the use of force, in contrast to the hard power “of ordering others to do what it wants.” [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] But in the last year and a half, since the Pheu Thai party came to power in August 2023, Thailand has sought to redefine soft power instead as getting others to want what it has—with a particular emphasis on highlighting the country’s cultural prominence to attract tourists and foreign investment. Moo Deng isn’t alone.

SEOUL, South Korea — A passenger plane burst into flames Sunday after it skidded off a runway at a South Korean airport and slammed into a concrete fence when its front landing gear apparently failed to deploy. Most of the 181 people on board died in one of the country’s worst aviation disasters. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] The Jeju Air passenger plane crashed while landing in the town of Muan, about 290 kilometers (180 miles) south of Seoul.

Bird flu virus likely mutated within Louisiana patient who became severely ill, CDC says PBS NewsHourGenetic Sequences of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) Viruses Identified in a Person in Louisiana CDCWe ‘have our head in the sand’: Health experts warn US isn’t reacting fast enough to threat of bird flu CNNBird Flu Samples From Very Ill Patient Had ‘Concerning’ Mutations The New York TimesBird flu virus shows mutations in first severe human case in US, CDC says Reuters

More illnesses and deaths reported in Democratic Republic of Congo outbreak involving malaria CNNMystery Disease In Congo Caused By Acute Respiratory Infections, Says WHO ForbesDRC: a mysterious epidemic puts Kwango on high alert SenenewsInfections, malaria, malnutrition behind DR Congo deaths: WHO Medical Xpress