The Global Fight for Press Freedom

Coming up on today’s show:

• The most destructive wildfires in Northern California history are now close to being completely contained. Later this week, schools in Santa Rosa City — the largest district in the Sonoma county — are expecting to reopen. Lesson plans will now include new support systems, both for students and teachers who lost homes in the fires. Diann Kitamura,superintendent for Santa Rosa City Schools, explains. 

• This weekend, the Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced that he would evoke article 155 of the Spanish Constitution, implementing direct rule over Catalonia and taking steps to replace Catalonia’s democratically elected government. An estimated half million people protested in the streets after the announcement. Becquer Seguin, an assistant professor of Iberian studies at Johns Hopkins University, looks ahead to what may happen next. 

• Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl pleaded guilty to two charges of desertion and endangering troops last week, which carry the possibility of a life sentence. Today, Bergdahl’s pre-sentencing trial begins in a military court in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Richard Oppel, a domestic correspondent for The New York Timeswho has been following the story, has the details. 

• More than 40 people have been reported dead in recent wildfires in Portugal, and Prime Minister Antonio Costa’s administration is facing heavy scrutiny for its response. Alison Roberts, Portugal correspondent for the BBC News, joins The Takeaway to discuss the government’s efforts to take on the fires. 

• Daphne CaruanaGalizia was one of Malta’s top investigative journalists. She exposed high-level corruption in government, business, and criminal enterprises, and was murdered in a car bomb explosion last week. Crispian Balmer is Reuters chief correspondent for Italy.  His recent article details the shady side of Malta, and what Galizia was trying to expose.    

• Kathryn Steinle’s murder trial is set to begin today in San Francisco. Steinle was killed on July 1, 2015, and the man standing trial for her death is an undocumented immigrant named Jose Inez Garcia Zarate. Steinle’s death played a major role in the 2016 election — it became a rallying cry on the right for those who oppose sanctuary cities and seek tougher immigration laws. Marisa Lagos, politics reporter at KQED, has been following the case and explains what we can expect to see at trial. 

• The Committee to Protect Journalists awarded their International Press Freedom Award to Yemeni journalist Afrah Nasser. In 2011, she sought political asylum in Sweden. But, despite having a Swedish passport, the United States had barred her from traveling to New York to receive the award due to the Trump Administration’s travel ban. She shares her story today on The Takeaway. 

This episode is hosted by Todd Zwillich.