Monday Briefing | February 10
Stories to Follow
President Trump Fires Impeachment Witnesses: Two key impeachment witnesses are now out of a job. On Friday, President Trump fired Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, and Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the top Ukraine expert at the National Security Council. Both served as key witnesses who testified during the House impeachment process, with Sondland saying that the president sought a “quid pro quo” with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky. A Trump advisor alleges that the firings aimed to send a message that those siding against the president will not be condoned.
Soldier Kills 29 in Bloody Mass Shooting in Thailand: Police say 29 people are dead and 58 are injured after Sergeant Jakrapanth Thomma opened fire in Nakhon Ratchasima, a city in northeastern Thailand, on Saturday. Investigators say Thomma initially shot and killed a soldier and a woman at a military barracks before opening fire at a Buddhist temple and then a shopping mall. Thomma allegedly had a dispute with his superior, whom police say he shot and killed, and then stole guns and a military Humvee. The gunman was killed by police around 9 a.m. local time Sunday.
Happening This Week
“Taking Shape: Abstraction from the Arab World, 1950s-1980s” | February 11| NYU Campus
NYU’s Grey Art Gallery is displaying an exhibit that traces “the emergence and development of abstraction in the Arab World through paintings and sculpture dating from the 1950s through the 1980s.” The exhibit is on view from January 14 through April 4.
Anti-Valentine’s Day Party | February 14 at 10:30 p.m. | Littlefield Performance + Art Space
Whether you’re single and ready to mingle or decidedly against the mushy-gushy of February 14, all are invited to an Anti-Valentine’s Day dance party at Littlefield in Brooklyn’s Gowanus neighborhood. Put on your best black clothing and dance the night away to DJ Ceremony spinning some heartbreaking tunes.
In Your Free Time
Last week’s RadioLab episode introduced us to a new five-part series in which Latif Nasser, the podcast’s director of research, investigates a man living on Guantanamo Bay who shares his exact name. Though the U.S. government claims the other Latif is working with al-Qaeda as a top explosives expert, his lawyer claims he was never part of the terrorist organization and is being wrongly detained. Over the next few weeks, RadioLab’s Natif will take us on a deep dive into the other Latif’s history in an attempt to discover which parts of his story are real and what this man did or did not do.
This week’s Monday Briefing was brought to you by Emmy Freedman.
