Africa

[Erdogan:] Military Intervention in Niger Will Fuel Instability in Africa^TS^
Ex-Niger FM sees no alternative to military intervention in country^AM^
Power cuts in Niger threaten to spoil millions of vaccines as sanctions take their toll, UN says^AN^
African Union suspends Niger due to military coup^AN^
Algeria denies French planes passage to attack Niger^AM^
Crisis in Niger: Algeria begins mediation in three Ecowas countries^AN^

Algeria, firmly opposed to any military intervention in Niger, on Wednesday sent its Foreign Minister, Ahmed Attaf, on a tour of Nigeria, Benin and Ghana, to help find a way out of the crisis, Algerian diplomacy announced.

This crisis really swings between extremes. One day I'm sure an invasion will happen; the next, I'm sure it won't.

Russian army officials received in Libya after Khalifa Haftar invite^AN^

Russian military officials including Moscow's deputy defence minister arrived in Libya on Tuesday after receiving an invite from pro-Moscow military strongman Khalifa Haftar.

Zimbabwe: Polls open in crucial presidential and legislative elections^AN^

Egypt discovers new oil field in Gulf of Suez: Petroleum Ministry^AM^

Somalia orders ban on TikTok, Telegram^DW^

Somalia ordered a ban on TikTok, Telegram, and gambling site 1XBet to curb the spread of indecent images and propaganda, the communications minister said.

North America

Fed Ponders How Quickly to Try to Inflict More Pain on the Economy to Get Inflation to 2%^NC^

The Wall Street Journal, in its lead story, features various economists debating how how long the central bank should keep interest rates high in order to bring inflation from just over 3% to the Fed target of 2%. Most US consumers are likely to challenge the notion that inflation really is at that level, and as we’ll soon discuss, wage demands support the idea that the supposedly paramount factor of inflation expectations are higher than experts, or at least the ones the Journal consulted, believe.

Let us first point out that the Journal tacitly accepts the bad conventional wisdom that the Fed deserves credit for inflation falling from 9.1% to 3.2%. As we and others pointed out, the inflation resulted from supply constraints, particularly in key sectors like automobiles, and other Covid-related demand whipsaws, such as consumers spending what would have been vacation dollars on home improvement projects. The big accelerant of inflation was sanctions blowback, particularly increased in energy prices. Again, the Fed can’t take credit for them falling back in the US to something approaching old normal levels.

MAGA fascists are taking over sheriffs offices across the country^PW^

U.S. colleges spend like there is no tomorrow^PD^

"The spending is inextricably tied to the nation's 1.6 trillion U.S. dollars federal student debt crisis," said the report. "Colleges have paid for their sprees in part by raising tuition prices, leaving many students with few options but to take on more debt. That means student loans served as easy financing for university projects."

Latin America

Taiwan condemns China, Nicaragua over Central American body removal^AM^

Taiwan criticized Nicaragua and China on Tuesday after it was removed from the Central American Parliament and its observer status was given to Beijing.

Taiwan's foreign ministry issued a statement on Tuesday stating that Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega government was willing to align with China to further its interests and "manipulate the concept of the "one-China principle," thereby infringing on Taiwan's rights within Parlacen."

lol.

Argentine President not attending BRICS Summit^MP^

Argentine President Alberto Fernández called off his trip to Johannesburg after learning that his country would not be -at least for now- joining the BRICS (a trade bloc made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) during the ongoing XV Summit, it was reported in Buenos Aires.

Argentina: Sharp drop in mass consumption reported^MP^

Montevideo’s Freshwater Reserve Recovers From Historic Lows^TS^

Uruguay's main fresh water reservoir, Paso Severino, has reached 52 percent of its capacity as a result of the rains recorded in the last few days, whereas at the beginning of July it was barely 1 percent.

Unemployment keeps dropping in Uruguay^MP^
Uruguayan unions go on strike, again demanding shorter working hours and wage increases^MP^

Ecuadorians Vote Against Mining in Choco Andino^TS^

Ecuadorians reject Amazon oil drilling in historic referendum^CCN^

Oil makes up a solid quarter of their exports, for context.

The War Against The West

Prigozhin's dead.

Are US officials signaling a new ‘forever war’ in Ukraine?^RS^

Neocon Dark Money Front Launches Desperate Ad Blitz as Support for Ukraine Forever War Craters^SP^

A PR offensive to inundate the American public with pro-Ukraine war advertisements during the 2024 election is the latest initiative of neocon chickenhawk Bill Kristol. While targeted at GOP voters, the campaign appears to be another Democratic Party front.

Russia fires ‘General Armageddon’ in Wagner crackdown^FT^

Mozart Group training Ukrainian troops to 'kill Russians': CEO^AM^

Weren't you guys fucking owned in Bakhmut?

American F-35s not stealthy enough for Iranian radars^AM^

In another blow to the US military, an Iranian army official revealed that Iranian radars have been monitoring the 'stealthy' F-35s over the Gulf.

Poland suspends benefits for thousands of Ukrainian refugees who left^Euractiv^

China Schizophrenia: Jake Sullivan Makes Demands, Press Fulminates Its Ambitions as While Overhyping Current Economic Wobbles^NC^

I don't agree with the use of "schizophrenia" here, of course. But it's otherwise a decent summary of why China probably isn't going to collapse in 6 days, and the US's constantly contradictary messaging on China.

Retrospectives, Analysis, History, Theory, and Technology

1.2% of adults have 47.8% of the world’s wealth while 53.2% have just 1.1%^MichaelRoberts^

S&P Downgrades Credit Ratings on Five Banks, Puts Three Others on Negative Outlook^WSoP^ New Court Documents Suggest the Justice Department Under Four Presidents Covered Up Jeffrey Epstein’s Money Laundering at JPMorgan Chase^WSoP^

Nothing to lose but your supply chains: IPEF and the resilience agenda^Bilaterals^

This is a very good headline and I might steal it for a news megathread at some point.

How Rupert Murdoch Destroyed the News^CA^

Murdoch’s vast empire of toxic right-wing propaganda, from the British tabloids to the Wall Street Journal to Fox News, has poisoned the brains of millions and made the world dramatically worse.

‘Erasure of Content Can Be a Problem for the Public and for History’^FAIR^

Patrick Lawrence: Biden’s Pointless Asian Summit^SP^

Dipshittery and Cope

Correcting Mandel: Why arming Ukraine is the road to peace^CD^

This is a very long and very bad article.

LGBTQIA+

Ugandan Police Arrest Four People for 'Acts of Homosexuality'^Advocate^

In Uganda, which has one of the harshest anti-LGBTQ+ laws in the world, police arrested four people Sunday for “acts of homosexuality” at a massage parlor.

Uganda adopted the Anti-Homosexuality Act in May. It provides for the death penalty for what it calls “aggravated homosexuality,” including sex with a minor, sex while HIV-positive, and incest. Those convicted of having same-sex relations that are not of the “aggravated” variety can be imprisoned for life.

Climate and the Environment

Campaigners Sued an Oil Major For Climate Deception. Now the Company Is Preparing to Sue Them Back.^DeSmog^

The Water Transition: A Conversation with Author Peter Gleick^CoB^

Rich countries breach climate promises, increase fossil fuel spending^AM^

The world's richest countries breached their self-proclaimed climate commitment to limit fossil fuel investments and spent a record $1.4 trillion in subsidies on coal, oil and gas in 2022.