Nicaragua Orders Closure of Red Cross
On Wednesday, Nicaraguan lawmakers voted to dissolve the local branch of the Red Cross, a nonprofit humanitarian organization, as part of an alleged clampdown on groups seen as hostile to the government of Daniel Ortega.
The National Assembly voted to shut down the Nicaraguan Red Cross, accusing it of "attacks on peace and stability" during antigovernment demonstrations in 2018. The local Red Cross says it merely helped injured demonstrators.
The Nicaraguan legislature, dominated by Daniel Ortega's Sandinista party, has ordered the country's Health Department to create a new Red Cross by seizing their properties. The current Red Cross was founded in 1958 and is largely funded by domestic donations.
Pro-establishment narrative
Nicaragua is a dictatorship and emblematic of a broader trend of democratic backsliding across Latin America that likely spells trouble to the US in the form of political upheaval and increased migration. The Ortega-Murillo regime continuously dishonors past commitments to democracy, and shutting down civil society is an act of an increasingly paranoid and corrupt government.
Establishment-critical narrative
Ortega has more than one reason not to trust the US and the US-backed opposition. As the leader of Nicaragua's left-wing Sandinista revolution, Ortega brought down the dictator Anastasio Somoza García and the then US-sponsored rebels, the Contras, who tried to block his move into legitimate power. The impact of the Contra war and subsequent US sanctions has made the economic reconstruction of Nicaragua impossible.
Israeli Strike Kills Another High-Level Islamic Jihad Commander
An Israeli strike early on Thursday reportedly killed the head of Palestinian Islamic Jihad's (PIJ) rocket launching force and two other militants in an apartment in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis. The Israeli military said his deputy was also killed in a separate strike.
The deaths of the commander, identified as Ali Ghali, and his deputy are the fifth high-level PIJ senior leaders to be killed since Tuesday. Thursday's strikes reportedly killed 10 civilians, including six children.
PIJ stated that Ghali was in charge of the group's rocket squad and a member of its paramilitary wing's decision-making body. The group has said it will only accept a cease-fire if Israel agrees to halt targeted killings of its fighters.
Pro-Israel narrative
Unfortunately, it seems that another Gaza war is on the horizon. Israel, which has always restrained itself to avoid unnecessary death, will respond aggressively if Palestinian Islamic Jihad attacks Israeli civilians and cities. Those killed in the recent strikes were high-ranking PIJ terrorists, and their elimination was necessary to ensure Israeli security. Indeed, Israel has the right to defend itself from Palestinian terror.
Pro-Palestine narrative
Yet again, it looks like Israel is preparing for another ruthless war on Gaza as it seeks to engage in conflict by recklessly murdering Palestinians. Israel not only killed PIJ commanders, but their families as well, not to mention an innocent doctor and his family. Emboldened by international silence after killing more Palestinians last year than in any other calendar year since the Second Intifada, the occupation is becoming even more violent.
House GOP Releases Memo on Biden Family Foreign Deals
US House Republicans on Tuesday released alleged records of $10M in payments received by members of the Biden family from foreign entities, with Oversight Committee Chair James Comer claiming they used the family name to enrich themselves and that the president was "involved."
Weeks after then-Vice President Joe Biden met with Romanian Pres. Klaus Iohannis in 2015, Rob Walker, Hunter Biden's business partner, received $3M from Romanian business executive Gabriel Popoviciu. He reportedly then wired $1M to Hunter, his business associate James Gillian, and his brother's widow Hallie, with whom Hunter had a romantic relationship.
Hunter and James Biden also allegedly received at least $4.8M from Chinese company CEFC, which played a role in China's "Belt and Road" initiative in 2017 and 2018. The former foreign minister of Serbia and president of the UN General Assembly, Vuk Jeremic, appears to have helped connect the Biden family with the company.
Democratic narrative
In Romania, Hunter Biden, a lawyer, was paid for legal services to defend Popoviciu but was unsuccessful. Furthermore, none of this money went to Joe Biden himself, and no evidence of any quid pro quo has been revealed. After all the hyperbole from the GOP, what we know is that some Biden family members pursued international business deals, which is not illegal in the slightest. This is what the GOP would say is a "political witch hunt."
Republican narrative
If these deals had nothing to do with now-President Joe Biden, then why would Chinese businesses make million-dollar deals with Hunter, someone with no business knowledge whatsoever? Foreign companies and governments wanted access to American money and political influence. The government needs to dig deeper into this issue because there is no way Joe Biden wasn't in on these shady deals.
Cynical narrative
The tidal wave of dark money and thorny foreign business dealings has washed over both Democrats and Republicans and has debased American democracy as a whole. Both sides are fully culpable, and both parties have shamefully put US national security at risk. It's time to clean up this mess once and for all.
Texas BLM Protest Shooter Sentenced
US Army Sergeant Daniel Perry has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for the murder of Garrett Foster at a Black Lives Matter (BLM) demonstration in Austin, Texas in 2020. The defense had requested a sentence of 10 years because of Perry's personal circumstances.
On July 25, 2020, Perry, an Uber driver, turned onto a street during a BLM demonstration and ran a red light before stopping his vehicle. Foster, carrying a legal rifle, was among multiple protesters who approached the vehicle, at which point authorities claim Perry rolled down his window and shot Foster five times before driving off and calling 911.
Foster attended the July 25 protest while Perry was driving. Per investigators, Perry stopped and honked at the protesters. Seconds later, he drove his car into the crowd according to police. Both Perry and Foster are white men.
Democratic narrative
Daniel Perry is a violent man who overtly fantasized about shooting peaceful protesters. Although the evidence of his guilt is overwhelming, as a conviction affirmed, conservatives are using him as a political prop to justify vigilante justice and their animus against those protesting for civil rights. Abbott pardoning Perry would trample on the rule of law and further show that the GOP's commitment to "law and order" is wholly fraudulent.
Republican narrative
A Democratic district attorney subjected Daniel Perry to legal hell to make an example out of anyone who challenges the narrative of "peaceful" BLM protests. Perry had mere seconds to react in a life-or-death situation, and the attorney general is more concerned about protecting the rights of a lawless mob than those of a law-abiding citizen. The right to self-defense is inalienable, and Abbott needs to step in to untangle this miscarriage of justice against an innocent man.
US Transfers Seized Russian Funds to Ukraine
US Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday approved the transfer of millions of dollars worth of assets seized from Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev to aid war-ravaged Ukraine. In a statement, he said: "While this represents the United States' first transfer of forfeited Russian funds for the rebuilding of Ukraine, it will not be the last."
The Justice Department last April charged Malofeyev with violating sanctions imposed on Russia after it invaded Ukraine, saying he was one of the primary sources of funding for pro-Russian separatists in Crimea. In February, Garland authorized Malofeyev's funds for use in Ukraine to "remediate the harms of Russia's unjust war."
The Russian government criticized the move, saying the US had illegally "stolen" the money and that the decision would backfire on Washington. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the move undermined "the confidence of investors and owners of assets" that were "connected with America," adding that the US should face "consequences" for the decision.
Anti-Russia narrative
Sanction evasion is a crime, which is why the US is right to prosecute Russian oligarchs helping Putin continue the illegal war. Using frozen Russian assets to counter the costs of Moscow's destruction would show Putin he cannot economically ruin Ukraine and the West.
Pro-Russia narrative
US sanctions against Russia are illegal. The transfer of funds to Ukraine is a high-profile political stunt to suppress Russia, the US de facto enemy in the economic sphere, and is aimed at forcing Ukraine to buy weapons from the US to feed America's military-industrial complex.
Establishment-critical narrative
It's hypocritical to impose sanctions on Russia for invading Ukraine, but not on the US for invading Iraq for equally unjustified reasons, or on Israel for invading and annexing Arab lands.
Nerd narrative
There's a 5% chance that Russia will use nuclear weapons against Ukraine before 2024 if the US provides Ukraine with any fighter aircraft, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
Report: 71M Internally Displaced by War, Disasters Worldwide
According to the Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre on Thursday, the number of people internally displaced by conflicts and natural disasters has risen 20% since 2021, hitting a record high of 71M people fleeing in search of safety and shelter in 2022.
The nonprofit’s secretary general, Jan Egeland, said the global food crisis — worsened by the war in Ukraine — mixed with natural disasters and the ongoing effects of the pandemic created a "perfect storm."
Increases in displacement due to war include 5.9M people forced to move inside Ukraine because of Russia — which brought the total to 62M. In Syria, 6.8M were displaced by conflict after more than a decade of civil war.
Pro-establishment narrative
Military conflicts, droughts, and poverty have wreaked havoc on the most vulnerable countries in the world, and the problem is only getting worse. It is up to individual governments to find peaceful solutions to war and the global community as a whole to join hands to find solutions to both climate change and the dangerous migration routes taken by refugees. This complex global issue must be dealt with through multifaceted plans of action led by the international community collaborating together.
Establishment-critical narrative
Since launching its so-called "war on terror," the US government has ignited devastating — and unnecessary — wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, the Philippines, Libya, and Syria. Furthermore, the estimated 37M displacements are actually a lowball if you include the US-backed rebel groups in Syria. US military hegemony bears a great deal of responsibility for global displacement.
Nerd narrative
There's a 50% chance at least 182k refugees will be admitted to the US from 2021 to 2024, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
Google Unveils AI-Powered Search Engine
Google on Wednesday announced plans to infuse its search engine with more advanced artificial intelligence (AI) technology, three months after Microsoft’s Bing search engine began using similar technology.
Google, whose shares jumped 4% Wednesday, unveiled the Search Generative Experience (SGE) at its annual I/O conference in Mountain View, California. It can respond to open-ended questions while still listing links to websites.
SGE will still look and act like Google’s usual search bar, but if it detects that AI can be used to answer a question, that response will be at the top of the page. For example, if searching what the weather is in a city, it will show the forecast while also recommending clothing to wear and the links to sites where it found such information.
Narrative A
Google, which has already been using AI technology to bolster many search functions, is now breathing life into its widely popular search engine. Best of all, Google has decided to increase its focus on providing factual answers over having users interact with a gimmicky chatbot. It’s going to be difficult to cut into Google’s share of the search market.
Narrative B
Don’t celebrate the continuation of Google’s reign over the search world just yet. First, Google must figure out how to maintain its revenue flow if it’s going to be pushing down the paid-for text responses in favor of its AI response. Second, Google suffered a wonky rollout of Bard in February, which cost it big time. So we don’t know how well SGE is going to perform until it’s put into action.
Nerd narrative
There's a 50% chance that Google will be supplanted as the top search engine in the US by market share by April 2041, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
Turkey Elections: Ince Withdraws Last-Minute
Just days before Turkey’s Sunday elections, presidential candidate Muharrem Ince announced he was dropping out of the race in a move that many believe will benefit Pres. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s main challenger, Kemal Kilicdaroglu.
Ince was one of the four candidates on the presidential ballot, but he was never considered a legitimate threat to win the office, with polls showing his support hovering around 2-4%. His name will still remain on the ballot since most have already been printed.
Ince ran for president in 2018, losing to Erdoğan as a member of Kilicdaroglu’s Republican People’s Party (CHP). After twice failing to become CHP chair, Ince formed his breakaway Homeland party in 2021.
Narrative A
Ince made the right decision to withdraw from Sunday’s crucial presidential election. He knows how important this race is for the future of Turkey, and he seems to be putting grudges aside for the greater good. Ince withstood false attacks and acted with grace amid a slanderous campaign. This move will be a major boon for Kilicdaroglu in this election and for Turkey.
Narrative B
Ince’s withdrawal from the race comes at a very peculiar time with the election just days away as he deals with multiple scandals. He wasn't a popular candidate, and people on both sides of the political aisle had negative feelings toward him. It's likely that he decided to try to save face by withdrawing his candidacy to avoid taking any votes away from Erdoğan’s opposition.
Nerd narrative
There is a 60% chance Kemal Kilicdaroglu will win the 2023 Presidential Election in Turkey, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
Trump's CNN Townhall Stirs Controversy
Former Pres. Donald Trump attended a CNN townhall in New Hampshire on Wednesday night in which he took questions from the public and rhetorically sparred with the moderator, Kaitlan Collins.
The townhall covered a wide range of topics, including his claims of voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election, the Jan. 6 riots, a civil court ruling that he battered and defamed author E. Jean Carroll, the economy, energy independence, the debt ceiling, the Second Amendment, the border, abortion, and the war in Ukraine, among others.
In the first minutes of the townhall, Trump again claimed that ballot boxes were stuffed and voter fraud was widespread, calling it a "rigged election," which generated pushback from Collins, who said that such claims lacked hard evidence.
Democratic narrative
Trump is continuing his past policies and strategy, which hinges on deflection, lies, and rhetorical aggression. The former president showed off all of his unpresidential qualities, such as his tendencies toward racist and sexist remarks. What is truly worrisome is that Trump's crude rhetoric is still palatable to some voters, and that could mean he has a decent chance in 2024.
Pro-Trump narrative
Trump's townhall appearance was a fantastic opportunity for the former president to show off that he's still got it. Besides the fact that he completely dominated the event, he was able to broadcast his message to a wide audience. Trump, who was both on the defensive and the offensive, did an amazing job of fielding questions and pushing back against CNN's woke agenda.
Nerd narrative
There's a 67% chance that Donald Trump will be the Republican nomination for the 2024 US Presidential Election, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
Pakistan Ex-PM Khan Granted Bail
On Friday, Pakistan's Supreme Court granted former PM Imran Khan two weeks' bail after finding that his arrest on corruption charges by paramilitary troops — which prompted protests and deadly clashes — was unlawful.
A three-judge panel ruled that Tuesday's arrest was invalid as it was conducted inside a court complex while he underwent biometric tests. Video footage showed paramilitary forces seizing Khan and dragging him from inside court premises, and whisking him away in an armored vehicle. He told reporters he was hit in the head and bled.
In addition to bail, the high court also ruled that authorities aren't permitted to arrest him before Monday on charges related to any other cases against the former cricket star, including any that stem from the clashes following his arrest that reportedly left at least nine dead and over 4K arrested.
Narrative A
Khan has been mired in controversy and scandals for years, and the mounting evidence is too much to ignore. Khan has used his power to subvert democracy, including his attempt to dissolve parliament to escape the no-confidence vote that ousted him. Now, he's using his platform to bring Pakistan to the brink of civil war by urging his supporters to commit violence. Khan is a danger to Pakistan, and his corruption is finally being exposed.
Narrative B
While in office Imran Khan tried his best to support the military while also ridding the government of its corrupt ruling elites. Unfortunately, when he started to notice that the armed forces were embedded in the toxic system, Pakistani troops quickly turned against him in the form of Tuesday's arrest. This is a small win for Khan, his supporters, and democracy, but the opposition leader is still fighting an uphill battle against a dangerous ruling class.