Global Headlines Express | Illegal Immigration Keeps Troubling the EU; How Is Technology Helping Athletes Break Their Own Limits?

Global Headlines is QDaily's new column for 2018, still in its trial run. It is here, as always, to help you understand more.

The Agenda Setters

National Geographic's July cover story: how technology and intelligence are helping athletes break their own limits

Jesse Owens won the 100-meter dash at the 1936 Olympics in 10.3 seconds. Usain Bolt ran the same event in 2009 in 9.58 seconds. Over those 64 years, what changed to move an athlete's times?

In a 2014 TED talk, sports journalist David Epstein gave away part of the secret: if Owens could race Bolt on the same surface, his best time would come close to what Bolt ran at the 2013 World Championships — 9.77 seconds.

Outside help matters to an athlete far more than we tend to think. Better technology and support services let athletes track their nutrition and their state of mind, and get medical attention in time, so they can perform at their peak.

Peter Weyand, who directs the Locomotor Performance Laboratory at Southern Methodist University, is one of the researchers behind the scenes. His lab uses high-speed video to study sprinters' technique and look for ways to add speed, trying to break the 100- and 200-meter records and to find the secret to running a marathon in under two hours. What they study includes psychology, nutrition, biomechanics, medical support, real-time monitoring and coaching methods.

Some sports already have training aids in common use. Soccer, for instance, has the Footbonaut, which fires balls at a player at varying speeds and rhythms, forcing him to control and pass within a fixed time.

Then there is the wind tunnel used to train disabled skiers. Danelle Umstead, a visually impaired American skier, has won the Paralympic title three or four times and taken bronze three more; in her event, racers have to average 70 miles per hour. Umstead's method is to practice in a wind tunnel, which lets her use aerodynamics to tell which way she is going.

Athletes in some sports have also started testing training methods built on evidence. Michael Andrew, a 19-year-old American swimmer who has long held 22 national records, uses an unorthodox regimen called Ultra-Short Race-Pace Training, or USRPT. Unlike the usual slow, long-distance swimming, it means an athlete keeps swimming fast over short distances even in everyday practice. The method is disputed, but Andrew insists the data backs it: "Our brains and bodies decode the small movements of daily training the way a computer does. If you want to swim fast in a race, you should swim that way in practice too."

Katie Ledecky, a five-time Olympic gold medalist in distance swimming, sticks with the more traditional training USRPT was meant to replace. But she reads her own nutrition and blood numbers regularly, and studies video of her training and races over and over, looking for ways to make her arms and legs work more efficiently, especially off the start and in the final sprint. In the three years before the Rio Olympics, she swam 60,000 to 65,000 yards a week, nine sessions in six days. Even the odd injury was no great worry: a few months before the Games she slightly hurt her ankle in training, and within two hours an ultrasound doctor, the treatment room staff, a strength coach, a swimming coach and several others had drawn up a detailed plan to get her fully healed before the competition without interrupting her regular training.

Where will technology and sport meet next? "I don't think we've tapped the brain's potential yet," said Gemmel, Ledecky's Olympic coach. "That may be the research frontier for the next 30 years: how to train the brain the way we train the body."

The 24-Hour News Makers

The EU's informal meeting on migration ends with nothing settled, and the member states plainly divided.

On June 24, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called leaders from 16 of the EU's 28 member states to an informal working meeting in Brussels to discuss illegal immigration.

The main split was between Germany and Italy. Italy's new government, in office since the 1st of this month, takes a hard anti-immigration line and wants the other member states to share the migrants and ease the pressure on Italy.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte objected to the Dublin Regulation, in force since 2013. Under it, an asylum application is normally handled by the first EU member state the asylum seeker enters. That has made Italy, Greece and Spain the three "gateway" countries for migrants coming into Europe. Over the past four years, more than 600,000 migrants have entered Italy illegally.

In a document he submitted, Conte set out a 10-point plan, including a shared responsibility among member states for migrants rescued at sea: "Every member state should set a quota for taking in economic migrants" — that is, migrants seeking a better life — "this must be a binding principle, and member states that do not welcome refugees must face adequate financial penalties." He also proposed setting up "protection centers" in "several European countries" and in the countries migrants come from and pass through, to process asylum claims and protect migrants' rights.

Merkel argued that, on one hand, the countries where migrants arrive should not have to handle everything alone; on the other, migrants should not get to choose which country they file their asylum claim in.

French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters that "the approach we will take 'includes' working face to face with the countries outside the EU that migrants come from and pass through" — countries such as Libya and others in Africa, and states in the Balkans.

The EU will hold a summit on June 28 and 29 to carry on the discussion of illegal immigration.

What Else Happened in the World

US Defense Secretary James Mattis begins a three-day visit to China today (June 26). Ren Guoqiang, spokesman for China's Ministry of National Defense, said on Monday that Chinese state and military leaders would meet Mattis, and that the two sides would exchange views on relations between the two countries and their armed forces and on "issues of common concern." Mattis told reporters on June 24 that, as China builds up military installations in disputed waters of the South China Sea, he hoped to use the visit to "take the measure" of Beijing's strategic ambitions. He added that he would go with an open mind and listen to what the Chinese side had to say. After China, Mattis will visit South Korea and Japan to meet their defense ministers.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Trump administration wants to block companies that are 25% Chinese-owned from buying US technology firms, and the US Treasury Secretary denies it. The Journal reported on June 24 that the US Treasury Department was drafting rules to bar companies at least 25% owned by Chinese investors from acquiring American firms involved in technology of "major industry significance." Bloomberg also reported that the Treasury was considering tighter scrutiny of Chinese investment in sensitive US technology. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Twitter on June 25 that those reports were wrong: "The statement that will be put out is not specific to China, but to all countries that are trying to steal our technology."

China's first lawsuit over smoke-free public space is decided: the smoking area on the train must go. On June 9 last year, a college freshman riding train K1301 (Beijing Station to Tianjin Station) smelled harsh cigarette smoke in his carriage. After getting nowhere with the National Railway Administration's transport supervision department, he sued the operator, the Harbin Railway Bureau. On June 25, the Beijing Railway Transport Court ruled at first instance that the bureau's practice of designating smoking areas on trains was unlawful, and ordered it to abolish the smoking area on K1301 and remove the smoking fixtures within 30 days.

One sexual harassment scandal after another in Hong Kong's Christian churches; a new survey reports 55 cases inside congregations. The survey was organized by the Hong Kong Christian Council and ran from last August to this April, using an online questionnaire and in-depth interviews. It found that 85% of cases were men harassing women and 11% men harassing men. The most common forms were "unwelcome physical contact" (33%), "coerced sexual acts, including rape or attempted rape" (17%), and "sexually suggestive remarks, jokes or questions" (5%). In these cases, 51% of the alleged offenders were church co-workers or lay leaders; about 56% of the victims have moved to another congregation or stopped going to church, while 29% remain in their original congregation.

Mumbai, India bans single-use plastics outright. From June 25, residents caught using plastic bags, cups or bottles face fines of up to £276 or three months in jail.

Thailand's general election may be pushed to May next year. Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam told Reuters the vote could be held between February 24 and May 5 next year. He also said the military government would lift its ban on political gatherings between September and December this year, letting parties campaign for the election. But he stressed that during that period the government would still forbid gatherings of more than five people.

Floods in northern Vietnam have killed 7 and left 12 missing. According to the Vietnam News Agency, steady heavy rain since the evening of the 22nd local time in the northern mountain and hill provinces of Lai Chau, Ha Giang, Thai Nguyen and Lao Cai set off landslides that destroyed houses, flooded farmland and fish farms and washed away roads and bridges in many places, with heavy loss of life and property. Lai Chau and Ha Giang were worst hit; in Ha Giang province alone more than 400 houses were flooded and 60 hectares of crops went under water.

Uruguay beat hosts Russia 3-0 in the last round of Group A at the World Cup, going through to the round of 16 as group winners.

Someone Said

"When I started out as a vlogger, being an influencer wasn't a job yet, and nobody was trying to use you. Now, when I see those young vloggers with huge followings, I worry. There are too many people in this business looking for a shortcut."

So said Conan Gray, who at 19 already has 750,000 followers on YouTube. Five lines of excited fans stretched out in front of him, each fan getting 30 to 45 seconds to shake his hand and talk; the meet-and-greet ran two hours.

VidCon, the three-day American influencer convention, wrapped up on June 23 in Anaheim, California. This year's edition drew 30,000 people, and most of the YouTubers who turned up were young. A travel company recently surveyed more than 1,000 children aged 6 to 17 about the job they dreamed of; 75% answered "YouTuber or vlogger."

Making money from video does look like a perfect way to keep a hobby and a living in the same place. VidCon also announced a prize fund of $104,000 this year, paying one up-and-coming YouTuber $2,000 a week for a year.

Alexis Cox is 12, and already worried about the competition coming up behind her. She started her YouTube channel at 10 and later published a book of her own poems, Let's Pretend. "When you see someone younger than you doing better than you, it's scary," Alexis told the Washington Post.

Conan Gray, meanwhile, no longer plans to be a professional YouTuber. He posted his first video at 9, started appearing on camera at 11, was making a steady $100 a month in ad revenue by 8th grade, became famous at 18 for his own song "Idle Town," and now studies at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

"I can't imagine doing this forever, and I don't think people will care about me forever. When this is over, I'll be glad to have a quiet, ordinary life," Gray said.

You Might Also Be Interested In

Nigeria overtakes India as the country with the most people in extreme poverty.

A new report from the Brookings Institution's World Poverty Clock project shows that although Nigeria's population is only a seventh of India's, it has passed India to have the largest number of people living in extreme poverty in the world: 86.9 million, close to half of its 180 million people. By 2050 Nigeria is expected to become the world's third-largest country by population, which means extreme poverty will go on troubling it.

According to the report, among the ten countries with the most people in extreme poverty, only Ethiopia is likely to meet the plan set out in the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Of the 15 countries worldwide where the number of extremely poor people is still growing, 13 are in Africa.

The World Poverty Clock project says that between January 2016 and July 2018, 83 million people worldwide climbed out of extreme poverty — 37 million fewer than the 2030 plan requires.

On June 26 the US Food and Drug Administration approved the first drug derived from cannabis, for treating severe epilepsy.

The drug the FDA cleared for sale is Epidiolex, an oral solution made by GW Pharmaceuticals, for two rare and severe forms of epilepsy: Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. The first appears in a patient's first year of life, bringing seizures accompanied by fever; as the child grows the symptoms worsen, and language and motor development may be impaired. The second also begins in childhood, with a rush of seizures between the ages of 3 and 5.

Epidiolex's main ingredient, cannabidiol (CBD), is one of the substances found in cannabis plants, but it does not produce the nervous-system high caused by tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Its potential against epilepsy was confirmed in three randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials.

"This approval shows that a properly evaluated research program into the active ingredients of cannabis can help advance important therapies. The FDA is committed to advancing this kind of scientific research and drug development," FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb said in a statement.

On This Day

June 26, 1892: Pearl S. Buck, the American novelist and Nobel laureate in literature, was born.

June 26, 1933: The celebrated Italian conductor Claudio Abbado was born.

June 26, 1960: Madagascar declared independence.

June 26, 1983: Deng Xiaoping first proposed "one country, two systems."

June 26, 1985: EU countries signed the Schengen Agreement.

June 26, 1997: The first book of the Harry Potter series was published in Britain.

Cover image from National Geographic.