On The Grid: This Week in Headlines
Mark your bingo cards.
The Republic of Korea spent three surreal hours under martial law this week as President Yoon Suk Yeol sought unsuccessfully to enact strict authoritarian control, an episode one Korean-American in Seoul wryly described as “martial LOL.” In an emergency session, South Korea’s parliament voted unanimously to overrule the president and end the brief period of military control, and calls for President Yoon’s removal have begun. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has cancelled his plans to visit the country.
In the United States, where an annual open enrollment season highlights the nation’s status as the only G20 economy without universal healthcare despite spending the most on healthcare and achieving the worst outcomes, the public debate over the country’s for-profit health insurance industry escalated after two major events:
The CEO of UnitedHealthcare, which is notorious for denying one-third of the claims it receives, was assassinated on the street in midtown Manhattan at point-blank range. The killer is still at large.
Rival insurer Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield faced intense backlash after announcing it would end anaesthesia coverage in three states for surgeries deemed “too long,” leaving patients to pay all anaesthesia costs for any overlong procedure. Following public outrage and criticism from state regulators, Anthem rescinded the policy 24 hours after the assassination in New York.
The government of France has collapsed. President Emanuel Macron expects to appoint a new prime minister very soon. Ousted PM Michel Barnier did outlast the UK’s short-lived PM Liz Truss, but not by much. Tensions faced by France’s parliament over budgetary pressures, including pension crises and fiscal deficit, led to Barnier’s short tenure.
Last week, Turkish-backed rebel forces in Syria captured the city of Aleppo over the American Thanksgiving holiday. Ministers from Iraq, Iran, and Assad’s Syrian government meet today to discuss renewed efforts to defeat opposition forces.
Romanian courts nullified the presidential election results after it was discovered that support for the far-right victor was inflated by foreign interference via social media campaigns, and himself spent nothing on his campaign. Romania was due to have a runoff election on Sunday, but will instead have a new first-round election.