Lockdowns in Germany; Trump considering moving US troops from Germany to Poland; The Democratic Republic of Congo declares Ebola outbreak over
A banner reading “Entering only with a face mask please — only 4 clients are allowed in the pharmacy” is pictured in front of a pharmacy during new outbreak of the coronavirus in downtown Wildeshausen, Germany, June 24, 2020.
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Germany’s populous Guetersloh and Warendorf regions became the first in the country to return to strict restrictions against the coronavirus, angering many residents. The lockdown measures enacted yesterday are meant to halt an outbreak in the northwest of Germany after more than 1,500 workers at the Toennies meatpacking plant tested positive for the virus. Another outbreak at a meat-processing factory in Wildeshausen alarmed health authorities with 23 people testing positive. Bavaria announced a ban on the roughly 640,000 residents from Guetersloh and Warendorf from entering the southern German state and Austria has issued a travel warning.
News of the lockdown in Germany comes as US President Donald Trump announced he’s considering moving some of the 9,500 US troops he’s pulling from Germany to Poland. Trump previously blindsided US allies in the region in announcing the withdrawal of troops from Germany. Yesterday’s comments from Trump came during a visit with Polish President Andrzej Duda at the White House — a meeting with no clear official purpose that appeared aimed at boosting Duda’s chances to win in Poland’s Sunday elections.
What The World is following
The Democratic Republic of Congo said today that the Ebola outbreak in the east of the country is over. The outbreak, which killed 2,280 people over nearly two years, is the second deadliest Ebola outbreak on record. The end of the epidemic there may offer lessons as the world grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sergei Khrushchev, the son of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, died on June 18 at his home in Rhode Island at the age of 84. The former Soviet rocket scientist moved to the US before the collapse of the Soviet Union to lecture at Brown University and became a naturalized US citizen in 1999. The World spoke to Khrushchev last year about the US-Soviet space race.
And while Germany is facing a new test to contain an outbreak of the coronavirus, France and the UK are starting to loosen restrictions. The Eiffel Tower and the Louvre are set to reopen after lockdown, and pubs in England will open their doors — though likely not to Americans.
Black history is ‘integral part’ of British culture, says Black Curriculum founder
What do students learn in the classroom about race and history? In the UK, an organization called The Black Curriculum has been pushing for Black history to be taught nationwide.
How Russia laid the groundwork for future disinformation campaigns
In one chapter of her new book, “How to Lose the Information War,” Nina Jankowicz describes how relocating the Bronze Soldier statue in Tallinn, Estonia’s capital, exposed divisions between Russian speakers and Estonians. The Bronze Soldier was a controversial Soviet World War II memorial, which also served as a reminder to many of the 50 years Estonia spent under Soviet occupation.
Jankowicz spoke with The World’s Marco Werman about how this controversy made Estonia vulnerable to a cyberattack over a decade ago that laid some of the groundwork for Russia’s future disinformation campaigns.
Morning meme
Following the restoration work to Elías García Martínez’s Ecce Homo resulting in the infamous Monkey Jesus at a church in Borja, Spain, the country now has another painting debacle on its hands.
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