Vox Sentences: NATOhhh no…

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Trump starts off the NATO summit with fists swinging; India’s highest court is hearing a challenge to its ban on gay sex.

Trump just came to fight

Geoffroy Van Der Hasselt/AFP/Getty Images

• A two-day North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit is off to the races. And it’s not really had a diplomatic start, to say the least. [NYT]
• This will likely be “the most divisive” NATO summit in its 69-year history. [The Guardian / Ewen MacAskill]
• Leading up to the summit, Trump allegedly told members of the G-7 that “NATO is as bad as NAFTA.” [Axios / Jonathan Swan]
• President Trump publicly told NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg that the US’s defense spending for the organization was too high. Though certainly brazen to bring it up in this manner, Trump’s not exactly wrong (he’s not exactly right either). [Vox / Alex Ward]
• Trump wants to take credit for increasing other countries’ defense spending. European officials “would love nothing more” than for Trump to take the credit too. [Axios / Jonathan Swan]
• Trump isn’t wrong that the US shouldn’t be spending more on defense than other members of NATO. But the US shouldn’t be spending more on defense in general. [The Atlantic / Peter Beinart]
• Trump criticized Germany for a slew of reasons. In particular, he said that Germany was “a captive of the Russians” for their dependence on Russian energy supplies. German Chancellor Angela Merkel quickly debunked those claims. [Reuters / Jeff Mason, Robin Emmott, and Alissa de Carbonnel]
• Trump’s shot at Germany was considered a “‘No puppet, you’re the puppet’ routine.” Trump’s words highlight his insecurity about his close relationship with Russia. [Twitter / David Frum]
• Neither Democrats nor Republicans are pleased with Trump’s behavior. [NPR / Brian Naylor]
• But there is an obvious strategy behind Trump’s chaos. [Washington Post / Aaron Blake]

India may decriminalize gay sex

• India’s Supreme Court is hearing arguments for a challenge to the country’s ban on gay sex. [Reuters / Suchitra Mohanty and Sai Sachin Ravikumar]
• Section 377, which criminalizes “carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal,” has been in place for 157 years. [CNN / Swati Gupta]
• Activists argue that the law is unconstitutional and leads to the blackmailing, intimidation, and monetary extortion of India’s LGBTQ. [Al Jazeera / Zeenat Saberin]
• Chief Justice Dipak Misra indicated the apex court would likely decriminalize the law. Misra said “discrimination will vanish” and members of the LGBTQ community will be able to “live life to the fullest.” [The Times of India / Dhananjay Mahapatra]
• Same-sex intercourse was previously decriminalized in 2009; however, the Supreme Court reinstated the ban in 2013. [Pink News / Nick Duffy]

Miscellaneous

• A representative from Staten Island has introduced an “Unmasking Antifa” act to the US House of Representatives. There are concerns that the act is “pro-fascist” as it targets anarchists and members of anti-fascist organizations who wear masks while they protest the alt-right. [Vice / Allie Conti]
• A five-month-old baby was found face down under sticks and debris in the mountains of Montana. The infant is alive, safe, and in good condition. [Facebook / Missoula County Sheriff’s Office]
• Forbes anticipates that within the next year, Kylie Jenner — of the Kardashian clan — will be the “youngest self-made billionaire” ever at 21 years old. [Forbes / Natalie Robehmed]
• Zsa Zsa, the 9-year-old bulldog who snatched the crown for World’s Ugliest Dog last month, died in her sleep last night. [Today / Scott Stump and Gina Vivinetto]

Verbatim

“England hovers this week between national euphoria, in celebration of last Saturday’s victory, and national pandemonium, as the Prime Minister faces the possible collapse of her government.” [Rebecca Mead on the duality of celebrating the national cup and the madness of Brexit deals and a Trump visit / New Yorker]

Watch this: !, explained

Do we overuse exclamation points!? Linguists and copy editors look at how the punctuation has adapted across history, literature, and internetspeak in this week’s episode of Explained, now on Netflix. [Netflix]

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