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Vox Sentences: “We will not send anyone to die”

Jan 8, 2019, 1:00 AM UTC

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World Bank president resigns; Saudi woman gains temporary asylum in Thailand.

Tonight’s Sentences was written by Nicole Fallert.

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim steps down

Noam Galai/Getty Images for Global Citizen

Jim Yong Kim, the leader of the World Bank, is stepping down — and so far he hasn’t explained why he’s leaving the position for a role at an investment firm almost three years before his term was intended to end. [Associated Press]
The World Bank focuses on making loans for infrastructure and poverty reduction in the developing world. The United States is its largest shareholder, and typically picks the bank’s leader. But it’s not clear if that tradition will hold with Trump in charge. [Wall Street Journal / Josh Zumbrun]
As World Bank president, Kim, the former president of Dartmouth, had broken with tradition by courting private investors and Wall Street. [NYT / Landon Thomas Jr.]
Kim had proven controversial among World Bank staffers: Morale was low after a major reorganization and layoffs at the bank. [Vox / Dylan Matthews]
Other countries had already challenged the tradition of the US de facto choosing the next leader. With the Trump administration in charge of selecting a nominee, it’s far from clear if that tradition will remain. [Washington Post / Jeanne Whalen and David Lynch]

An asylum standoff ends in Thailand

A young Saudi woman who sought asylum in Thailand will be allowed to stay, for now, under the protection of the UN refugee agency. [Associated Press / Kaweewit Kaewjinda and Aya Batrawy]
Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, 18, feared she would be killed by her family for renouncing Islam if she returned to Saudi Arabia. She fled to Thailand and remained in a hotel room for 48 hours while officials considered deporting her. [Washington Post / Shibani Mahtani and Kareem Fahim]
Al-Qunun says she wants to ultimately seek asylum in Australia. Questions remain about whether she had travel documentation and what Saudia Arabia told Thai officials about her case. [Associated Press / Kaweewit Kaewjinda and Aya Batrawy]
The UN refugee agency will determine within 10 days whether al-Qunun must return home to her family. “We will not send anyone to die,” the head of Thailand’s immigration police said. [BBC News]

Miscellaneous

One theory for what happened to American diplomats under “sonic attack” in Cuba: conversion disorder, formerly known as “mass hysteria.” [Vanity Fair / Jack Hitt]
How Zuckerberg San Francisco General hospital leaves some patients with thousands of dollars of emergency room bills — even if they have insurance. [Vox / Sarah Kliff]
There’s a gender gap in leisure: TV is helping American men spend more hours relaxing than women do. [The Atlantic / Joe Pinsker]
Fish see you, too. Archerfish can visualize human faces, despite their really small brains. The ability to detect angles of the human face in 3D also helps the little swimmers visualize their distance from dangerous objects. [Scientific American / Megan Gannon]

Verbatim

“In the next two years, everything that I produce — I’m making a vow and it’s going to be tough — to make sure that everything that I produce is 50 percent women.” [Vox / Actress Regina King at the Golden Globes]