America China of November 19, 2019

One of them tells us, in a white T-shirt and beach shorts that he just called home with his smartphone: "I'm not arrested, I'm 17 years old. But they could incriminate me later, so they explained to me ». Others are escorted by policemen, their wrists are tied behind their backs and their heads are bowed: for them the next stop is not home, but prison. A pillory for everyone, organized by the Hong Kong Police Force, which feels it has won the Politecnico battle and now believes it is more useful to convince the tough to come out one by one rather than give the final assault.

(…) There are also Hong Kong citizens at the widening where the surrender of the last PolyU students is taking place. Cries of solidarity start from a lady with a face covered by a black mask: "Ga yau", which means add oil in Cantonese, hold on (here the video)! It has become one of the slogans of democratic protest. Night has now come to Hong Kong. A hundred kids are still on campus, unsure about the next move: surrender or desperate escape attempt? (read the report on the Corriere).

Constitutional law, said the High Court. Good sign, because as long as there is a judge in Hong Kong who can overturn a government decision, freedom still exists. But in Beijing the National People's Assembly (the Communist Parliament) has expressed "deep dissatisfaction" towards a legal judgment that "has seriously weakened the administrative powers" of the government.

Another court has prevented young democratic leader Joshua Wong, face of the 2014 Umbrella Uprising, from leaving Hong Kong because he is on bail. Wong should have come to Italy, to Milan and Rome in a few days (here the interview with Corriere). Perhaps a relief for the Italian government that has not yet taken a position on the Hong Kong crisis.

That voice is (also) his. Now one of the drivers of the mobilization campaign (with 45% of the world population, the US has 42% of firearms) is in difficulty. And it does leak out. Spizzichi di parole, in response to messages of encouragement and closeness that fall on the Net. You answer: "Anxiety n PTSD". Post-traumatic stress disorder is a serious matter. Soon many young people from Hong Kong will experience it.

It is not enough to be saved: this year two Parkland survivors committed suicide within a week. Emma4change sends a signal behind his cat's photo on Twitter. He needs help. In the noise of the world, in the ocean of posts and tweets, let us not forget the voices (now) dim like his. They must scream again.

Maximum transparency or trap? Certainly, in addition to defending themselves against conservative attacks, Pelosi is trying to bring Trump out in the open and disarm him, playing on his narcissism, that desire to always be the protagonist.

According to analysts, The Donald will not bite: tweets have become lethal political weapons in his hands. Why give it up? But above all, someone like him, accustomed to developing narratives that often stray far from reality, would risk a lot if he agreed to testify under oath.

But Trump, always unpredictable, could even deny them: "I didn't do anything wrong and I have no desire to give credit to this witch hunt, but I like the idea of ​​intervening in first person to explain things to the Congress. I will take this invitation seriously». If he accepted it, it would be the unprecedented case of an incriminating president who goes to the bar to defend himself.

In the meantime, as our Washington correspondent Giuseppe Sarcina tells us, public hearings on impeachment resume: nine witnesses will be present in Congress between now and Thursday. In the morning we start with the Colonel Alexander Vindam, who listened directly to the July 25 phone call, one in which Trump asked Ukrainian President Zelensky to reopen the investigation into Hunter Biden.

• THEThe Democrats' strategy is to arrive at an incontrovertible version of the facts, confirmed by multiple sources on how anomalous and out-of-control the role of Giuliani was, how much Trump's pressures on Zelensky were undue.
• Today the defense of the Republicans will try to enhance the version of Tim Morrison, former policy supervisor in Russia and Eastern Europe in the National Security Council.Morrison is the only one who found nothing (or almost) to object in the July 25 telephone call. Conservatives take it for granted that the House will postpone Trump's judgment and leader Mitch McConnell has begun to close ranks.

After two days of speculation, yesterday the White House, with an unusual release late in the evening, he explained that Trump "did not undergo any specialized cardiological or neurological evaluation", but simply to the annual routine assessments.

However, the latest analysis dates back to last February and the mystery, given the age of the president and his being overweight as well as a lover of a diet that is not exactly healthy, has only fueled the rumors.

• I Hmong, in fact, they helped the CIA during the Vietnam War participating in difficult operations in inaccessible areas.
• After the conflict, many of them were left to a tragic fate, luckier besides 30 thousand refugees, established in the United States, between Fresno, Minneapolis and Wisconsin. For years they were led into exile by a charismatic figure, General Vang Pao.
• Only recently in Wisconsin one was presented bill to grant veteran status to Hmong fighters, in this way they will be covered by a series of benefits. A late recognition for those who have been partners with the Americans.
• A detail that many will remember: Clint Eastwood, in "Gran Torino", addresses the issue of young Hmong as part of a gang.

The legislation was approved over a year ago when governor was still Jerry Brown, but its effects are beginning to be felt only now: the law, in fact, provides for high fines for those who at the end of 2019 will not have at least one woman on their board. In 2021, then, they must be at least two or more depending on the number of members of the organization that runs the business.

Now two complaints have left with the aim of blocking the law: one of the Pacific Legal Foundation, a politically libertarian non-profit that claims that the new norm humiliates women by building a fence for them and is unconstitutional because the US Constitution prohibits companies from taking or making careers decisions based on considerations of race, age or gender. The other complaint is from Judicial Watch, a conservative group according to which it is illegal, in contrast to the Constitution of the State of California, to spend taxpayer money to implement the new legislation.

Because it is important

• The goal is right and similar laws exist for some time in Europe (France and Norway) while in the US various states – from Massachusetts to Illinois via New Jersey and Washington – are moving in the same direction.
• But many people doubt that this law is the right tool to achieve the result of a greater diffusion of female managers. Almost all the big American corporations (the Fortune 500) have included women on their boards without the need for prescriptions. According to a survey, 83% of managers (and, among these, 54% of women) do not believe that gender balance must be imposed by law. In California, however, the number of women entering the boardrooms has grown very much in the last year, following the launch of the provision.

What's the problem? The United States is afraid that TikTok deliver user data to the Xi Jinping government and filter (read: censor) content based on the sensitivity of the Chinese Communist Party and are investigating through the American Committee for Foreign Investments. Europe has not moved yet, but the app has got its hands on by hiring lobbyists in London, Dublin, Paris, Berlin and now it is looking, says Politico, for a policy manager to be placed in Brussels.

What does TikTok answer? He immediately adopted a clear position, that the head of the app, Alex Zhu, reiterated to the New York Times: there is no data sharing with China and a request would be refused even if he were to arrive from Xi Jinping in person. TikTok data is used only for TikTok, says Zhu, and the parent company ByteDance cannot use them to improve its algorithms.

• The Chinese giant seems aware of the fact that verbal assurances are not enough – also because they arrive after unclear communications on internal rules, as highlighted by the Courier – and, according to Wall Street Journal, is reducing the amount of content coming from China on the app and would be thinking of a new brand to make people forget its Chinese roots and aim for an IPO in the States at the end of 2020.
• But be careful because Bytedance has everything but going to throw the oars in the boat: is talking to Universal, Sony and Warner to launch a subscription-based streaming music service, which would also facilitate dialogue for the use of songs on TikTok. In the same field, Monday pushed Amazon, announcing its anti-Spotify.

The story (with a happy ending) by Giannis Antetokounmpo, the phenomenal Greek player of Nigerian origins of the Milwaukee Bucks, will become a movie. And to take care of it will be Disney, not new to devote to the great basketball players: just think of Space Jam focused on the figure of Michael Jordan. Here the plot is different. But the parable of Greek talent is truly a worthy tale nominated last June best player (Mvp) of the NBA: it is a story of tenacity, courage and even a bit of luck.

From the streets of Athens, finding a way to make ends meet, up to the top of a league in which two of his brothers have also found space, namely Kostas and Thanasis: this is even more significant the fact that the film – a provisional title «Greek Freak» from the nickname of the player – is the Disney. In particular the new Disney + streaming service. The story will focus mainly on the early career of the number 34 of the Milwaukee Bucks. The script should be entrusted to Arash Amel, who has also signed "A private war", a 2018 film that has received two Golden Globes nominations.