EMMERSON’S VIEW
of household wealth is in the hands of the top percentile according to conventional statistics
Golf: Kiwi golfer Danny Lee will have to complete his first round at golf’s Players Championship before getting underway in his second. Lee was one-over through 15-holes when play was suspended due to bad light at TPC Sawgrass in Point Vedra Beach, Florida. The 2008 winner, Spaniard Sergio Garcia, leads after finishing with birdie-birdieeagle for a 7-under 65.
Traditional 9/11 tribute again
A year after a disagreement over coronavirus protocols spawned competing September 11 ceremonies in New York, the 20th anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks will be marked with the traditional reading of victims’ names at the World Trade Centre’s memorial plaza, officials announced yesterday. Commemorations will also again include the Tribute in Light, the art installation consisting of two beams of light evoking the twin towers destroyed in the attack. In an effort to comply with coronavirus protocols banning large gatherings, museum officials announced last year a recording of the nearly 3000 victims’ names would be played over speakers at the memorial plaza in lower Manhattan instead of family members gathering to read the names.
Arafat’s nephew ousted
The nephew of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has been ousted from the ruling party after criticising its leadership in an interview with the
Daily Telegraph and announcing plans to form a new political movement. Fatah announced yesterday Nasser al-qudwa, who represented Arafat at the United Nations in the ’90s had been stripped of his membership of the party’s powerful central committee. Qudwa is believed to have angered Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, by proposing his own list of candidates before elections. The polls, due to take place in May and July, will be the first presidential and parliamentary elections in Palestine for 15 years.
Calls for Cuomo to go
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s grip on power appeared increasingly threatened yesterday as a majority of state legislators called for his resignation and police in the state capital said they stood ready to investigate a groping allegation made by an unidentified aide. A group of 59 Democratic state legislators, including 19 senators and 40 Assembly members said in a letter yesterday it was time for Cuomo to go. While Cuomo has denied inappropriately touching anyone, he has apologised for comments he made to women staffers. He has said that he was engaging in what he thought was playful banter.
Dr Seuss books bonanza
Oh, the books that sold last week by Dr Seuss. More than 1.2 million copies of stories by the late children’s author sold in the first week of March — more than quadruple from the week before — after news his estate was pulling six books because of racial and ethnic stereotyping. For days, virtually every book in the top 20 on Amazon’s bestseller list was by Dr Seuss. According to NPD Bookscan, the top sellers weren’t even the books being withdrawn.
Mexico passes legal cannabis bill
Mexico has passed a bill to legalise recreational cannabis use, putting it on the path to being the world’s biggest cannabis market and potentially triggering conflict between growers and the notorious drug cartels that will attempt to capitalise on the industry. The bill must be approved by the Senate before becoming law by an April 30 deadline. It has been criticised for containing no measures to counter organised crime and failing to specify how licences would be allocated to the many cannabis farmers in the poor, rural areas most affected by drugs gangs.