UN: Over 1M Have Fled War-Raged Sudan
In a joint statement released on Tuesday, UN agencies said that after four months of war, more than 1M people have fled Sudan to neighboring countries, as people in the East African nation are running out of food and dying from lack of medical care.
According to the UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than 3.4M Sudanese have also been internally displaced since fighting broke out between the army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on April 15, while reports of sexual assaults rose by 50%.
While the statement calls for an immediate ceasefire, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk condemned the "disastrous, senseless" war in Sudan, saying the forcible displacement and sexual violence "may amount to war crimes."
Pro-establishment narrative
The latest UN figures are a grim reminder to the world not to forget the civil war that has been raging in Sudan for the past four months. Both the army and the RSF are responsible for numerous war crimes and human rights violations, but what matters most to the people now is rapid emergency aid. The international community must live up to its humanitarian responsibility and finally provide sufficient funds to help the suffering population.
Establishment-critical narrative
The US and Saudi Arabia played a problematic role in the genesis of the conflict through their stance in the 2021 coup by the Sudanese army and the then-affiliated RSF. Despite protests against any kind of military rule, Riyadh and Washington helped legitimize the coup and the military takeover. The fact that millions of Sudanese are forced to flee is also a result of meddling by powerful international actors in the country's internal affairs.
Cynical narrative
What the Sudanese actually need now is a ceasefire and humanitarian aid — not arms supplies such as those recently provided by the United Arab Emirates to the RSF. As long as regional actors fuel the complex conflict for their own geopolitical interests while pretending to only want to "end the humanitarian suffering," there will be no peace in Sudan.
NKorea Says US Soldier Crossed Border to Flee Racism
North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency Wednesday claimed that a US soldier who defected to the North last month sought refuge from "inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination" in the US.
It was the first time North Korea acknowledged that it had detained the 23-year-old US Army private 2nd Class Travis King, who made an illegal crossing from South Korea on July 18 while on a guided civilian tour of the Joint Security Area.
North Korean media reports that during the North's investigation, King expressed his desire to seek refuge there or in a third country as he was disillusioned with the state of perceived racial inequality in the US. King developed ill feelings towards the US Army and has reportedly been under the control of North Korean soldiers since entering the DPRK.
Pro-establishment narrative
When authoritarian states like Russia, China, and Iran take American soldiers captive, they usually demand a price for their release. Washington is concerned that North Korea may capitalize on King's defection and set a price for his return. King may have entered the hermetic country because he was running away from his legal problems and concerns of systemic racism, but the most important task right now is getting him home safely.
Establishment-critical narrative
King illegally intruded into the territory of North Korea because of deep racial discrimination in the US Army. While Washington likes to judge other countries atop its pedestal, the US has many issues of its own that need to be addressed, including racial discrimination. A deep investigation into this case by the North's officials is well warranted.
NATO Official Suggests Ukraine Can Cede Territory for Membership
A NATO official has prompted ire from Ukrainian leaders after suggesting that the war-torn country could join the military alliance if it ceded some of its territory to Russia.
Stian Jenssen, who has been NATO Secretary Gen. Jens Stoltenberg's chief of staff since 2017, made the comments at a speaking event in Arendal, Norway. He said, "I think that a solution could be for Ukraine to give up territory and get NATO membership in return."
However, he stressed that "it must be up to Ukraine to decide when and on what terms they want to negotiate."
Establishment-critical narrative
Any talk of Ukraine giving up its territory to secure a peace deal is unacceptable. NATO should be working to ensure that Ukraine has all the weapons it needs to successfully repel Russia from all its territories — not making statements that favor the enemy.
Pro-establishment narrative
NATO fully supports Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. These were simply off-hand remarks that suggested a hypothetical of how the war may end, but the input to a solution is Ukraine's to make.
Nerd narrative
There is a 1% chance that Ukraine will join NATO before 2024, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
Former FBI Official Pleads Guilty to Helping Russian Businessman
Charles McGonigal, the former head of the FBI's counterintelligence division in New York, has pled guilty to one count of conspiracy — having worked for a Russian businessman under US sanctions.
McGonigal struck a plea deal with the US attorney's office for the Southern District of New York, officially admitting to violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and engaging in money laundering.
According to federal prosecutors, McGonigal investigated a rival businessman at the request of Oleg Deripaska for $17.5K. The Dept. of Justice (DOJ) has claimed that the money was laundered from the Russian Gazprom Bank to Cyprus and a business bank account in New York before being sent to McConigal's personal account.
Establishment-critical narrative
There is a deep irony that the FBI, as they desperately obsessed with the meritless task of discovering links between Trump and Russia, themselves were the source of a Russian conspiracy. The naked politicization of federal organizations continues to make a mockery of the US, and the current state of the FBI is nothing short of appalling.
Pro-establishment narrative
While McGonigal's behavior paints a problematic picture of the US intelligence community, these events are a stark reminder that the US continues to have adversaries throughout the world who seek to covertly undermine America. Despite this, it's also reassuring that the FBI was able to uncover the internal conspiracy. It's imperative that we strengthen the important institution that is the FBI — not try to tear it down with baseless conspiracies.
Nerd narrative
There is an 18% chance of a Russia-US war before 2050, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
Ukraine Claims Recapture of Town of Urozhaine
Ukraine claimed the recapture of the western Donetsk town of Urozhaine on Wednesday, marking its first substantial gains in weeks after retaking a string of villages from Russian troops in the middle of June.
Ukraine's Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar confirmed liberating Urozhaine in the occupied Donetsk region, adding the country's "defenders are consolidating their positions."
Oleg Chekhov, a military spokesman for Russia's Battlegroup East, didn't acknowledge Urozhaine's loss. Instead, he claimed that Russian forces damaged Ukrainian troops and armored vehicles near the village.
Pro-Ukraine narrative
While the recapture of Urozhaine doesn't represent a significant strategic gain, it shows that Ukrainian forces continue to drive forward. Regaining its territory is a step in the right direction and brings Ukraine closer to breaking through Russia's defenses.
Pro-Russia narrative
Russian forces continue to engage in battles for the village of Urozhaine. Over the past day, Putin's troops destroyed several Ukrainian vehicles while landing strikes at groups of Ukrainian personnel. This news of logistically significant Urozhaine's loss is false.
Nerd narrative
There's a 3% chance that Ukraine will have de facto control of at least 90% of the Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts by Jan.1, 2024, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
Report: Inflation Costs 3.5M Their 'Millionaire' Status Globally
According to the latest Global Wealth Report published by Swiss banks Credit Suisse and UBS on Tuesday, the number of adults with more than $1M in assets fell by 3.5M to 59.4M worldwide in 2022.
About 1.8M, or 51% of the people who lost their millionaire status, were in the US. However, it still has far more millionaires than any other country at 22.7M, or about 38.2% of the world's total.
The decline results from global wealth falling for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis, primarily due to high inflation and the collapse of global currencies.
Narrative A
For a small minority of the world's super-rich, 2022 was a year to forget, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine supposedly forced central banks across the globe to raise interest rates that caused high inflation. However, let's not forget that a new billionaire was born every 30 hours on average during COVID, while over 160M more people were forced into poverty. If the world's top 1% lost 99.99% of their wealth tomorrow, they would still be more prosperous than the remaining 99%. Redistribution through taxation is vital.
Narrative B
Taxing the overall wealth of the world's richest people won't actually help with redistribution, but would rather reduce the amount of capital available for investments and impede economic productivity. Instead, as has worked in Europe, rich countries should tax the consumption of these wealthy individuals. While it may be difficult to transition to such a system in a place like the US, it's a far better option than ruining economic opportunity for the middle and lower classes.
Nerd narrative
There's a 54% chance that the richest person in the world in 2033 will have a net worth equivalent to or greater than 2% of the United States' GDP at the time, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
Report: 25% of Global Population Faces Water Crisis
According to the Aqueduct Risk Atlas, published on Wednesday by the World's Resources Institute, 25% of the global population faces significant water scarcity and by 2050, another 1B people could experience the same.
Data shows that the 25 countries that house a quarter of the world's population are using more than 80% of their water supply annually and that the water demand has doubled since 1960. By 2050, water demand is expected to climb by 20-25%.
The study also suggests that at least 50% of the global population lives under "highly water-stressed conditions for at least one month of the year."
Narrative A
With the number of people facing water scarcity growing each year, the world is staring down a deadly crisis. The demand for water is skyrocketing and not just in rural communities but in cities and urban areas as well. Governments will have to start leveraging international coordination, flood and pollution control, and begin to share data and technology to increase efficiency as the demand continues to grow.
Narrative B
Even though the demand for water is increasing, the bigger underlying threat is climate change. As the climate changes it will increase the risk of drought but some areas will see an increase in floods. Flood waters and runoff carry sediment, fertilizers, and other pollutants that clog waterways and lead to rare and unnatural events like significant algae blooms that render water useless for drinking, cooling off, and irrigation. Every individual has a role to play in tackling climate change as a root cause of the water crisis.
Report: X May Have Delayed Access to External Sources
A Washington Post report said on Tuesday that Elon Musk’s social media company X, formerly known as Twitter, delayed access to links to news outlets such as Reuters and The New York Times as well as competitors Bluesky, Facebook, and Instagram.
The Post conducted a test showing that Twitter links to the affected sites would send users to a blank screen that lasted for up to five seconds before the linked webpage would open. Hacker News was the first to report the alleged delays.
The delays only involved t.co links, a service that processes and abbreviates links posted to X, and the problems were reportedly resolved by Tuesday afternoon with links to the sites in question opening within one second of clicking.
Narrative A
Elon Musk can be called many things, but “free speech absolutist” is definitely not one of them. It’s quite suspect how all the delays happen to affect competitor sites and news outlets that Elon Musk has publicly disparaged. This is another disturbing turn of events for the "Platform Formally Known as Twitter."
Narrative B
We only see legacy media and big tech outlets up in arms about censorship now that there are alleged reports of X delaying access to links for five seconds. It’s not even confirmed that there are any intentional delays to websites. Still, if that’s the case, it only shows the need for regulation that prohibits online favoritism coming from all sides. The internet is a public space, and we must give everyone equal access.
Nerd narrative
There is a 95% chance that Elon Musk will remain the owner of Twitter/X on Jan. 1, 2024, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
Mark Meadows Requests to Move Georgia Case to Federal Court
On Tuesday, former Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows petitioned the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia to transfer his charges in the Georgia 2020 election interference case to federal court.
The court filing argues that he is entitled to bring a federal immunity defense because the Georgia state charges against him stem from his behavior as then-President Trump's chief of staff.
Federal officers are generally allowed to transfer state charges to federal court if the alleged conduct falls under the official's duties, with Meadows' lawyers adding that this prosecution amounts to state interference with the federal government.
Pro-Trump narrative
Federal law leaves no doubt that criminal proceedings brought in state court must be moved to a federal court if the alleged crimes took place when the defendant was operating in a federal role. Given that the activities for which Meadows was indicted are within the scope of his duties as the White House chief of staff, this shift of venue is fully justified.
Democratic narrative
It's hard to believe that a court will be convinced that Meadows was acting under his official duties when he attempted to use his authority to try to illegally overturn the 2020 presidential election, particularly because his text message to the office of the Georgia Secretary of State Chief Investigator is enough evidence that his involvement in the plot was not part of his role.
Nerd narrative
There's a 25% chance that any US court will rule that Donald J. Trump is disqualified from holding the presidency before January 20, 2025, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
McCarthy Proposes Short-Term Funding Bill to Avert Govt. Shutdown
US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has proposed a stopgap funding package to avert a government shutdown by the end of next month. The proposal was made during a private call with House Republicans on Monday, as the House and Senate remain divided over a long-term agreement.
Sources that took part in the call report that the temporary funding measure, known as a continuing resolution, would not extend beyond early December. McCarthy has been hesitant to endorse the use of a continuing resolution in the past.
A resolution could give lawmakers more time to draft a fiscal deal for 2024 and continue funding the government at 2023 levels, set before the GOP took control of the House. Conservative figures in the House have already spoken out against any proposed continuing resolution.
Democratic narrative
The GOP's far-right is once again threatening a government shutdown if radical proposals on immigration, abortion, and LGBTQ+ rights are not appended to a spending deal, holding Congress hostage. Their irresponsible posturing resulted in a downgrade of the US sovereign credit rating, as McCarthy refuses to stand up to the radical wing of his party. Forcing a politically unpopular shutdown will only hurt the American people, as the GOP makes keeping the lights on in the federal government partisan.
Republican narrative
While the media overhypes internal discord in the GOP for clicks, the fact of the matter is that Kevin McCarthy has shown himself to be the most effective House GOP leader in decades. McCarthy's deft negotiating over the debt ceiling resulted in a deal more amenable to conservatives than liberals, proving himself to be a leader who can secure concessions from the Democrats. His prowess in Washington is not to be underestimated.
Narrative C
If Kevin McCarthy appeases the Democrats and keeps their reckless spending regime intact, the House will have no choice but to revolt and force a shutdown for the good of the American people. The GOP could take bold action against a weaponized federal government, wasteful spending, and the border crisis if McCarthy does not capitulate and pass a stopgap. The time for half-measures has passed, and it's time conservatives stand up and force the issues that matter most.