China: Security Tightened Amid Widespread COVID Protests
Police on Monday were out in force across China in an attempt to quell protests against COVID restrictions that rocked the nation over the weekend, in what is being characterized as one of the largest acts of civil disobedience in decades.
This comes as, on Saturday, China reported a record high of 39,791 new COVID infections. Despite the spike in infections, protests erupted against the country's "zero-COVID" policy — which includes prolonged lockdowns and quarantines.
Anti-China narrative
China's fixation with its zero-COVID policy has triggered historic discontent among its residents, who grapple with skyrocketing inflation, employment uncertainties, and rising fears of a global recession. The rise in COVID infections proves the zero-tolerance approach has failed to contain the virus. The PRC must ease restrictions, spend resources on intensive care hospitals, and stop upending its citizens' normal lives. This will help ease dissent and bring the economy back on track.
Pro-China narrative
It's imperative for China to stick to zero-COVID measures to save lives, stabilize the economy in the long term, and achieve a balance between virus control and socioeconomic development. This has been a challenging road for the PRC's citizenry, but solidarity against the virus will help enhance safety and economic security.
Somalia: At Least 14 Killed in Al-Shabab Hotel Siege
At least 14 people were reportedly killed and dozens more injured after al-Shabab militants armed with explosives and guns laid siege to a hotel popular with government officials in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu. Somali forces ended the siege after a more than 20-hour battle.
The attack began when al-Shabab fighters stormed the Villa Rose hotel in the Somali capital on Sunday. While fighting between CIA- and Turkish-trained Somali troops and the militants continued on Monday, security forces reportedly rescued dozens of civilians and officials, including the fisheries minister.
Establishment-critical narrative
The recent string of devastating al-Shabab attacks proves that the new government's military approach to defeat the group with the help of Western allies, African Union troops, and local militias don't promise success. Moreover, the weak federal government lacks public legitimacy. What is needed now are direct talks between Mogadishu and al-Shabab, and political power sharing to consolidate the government's authority.
Pro-establishment narrative
The latest terrorist attacks are indeed a setback for the Mohamud government and its allied clan militias. But that doesn't diminish the fact that the offensive against the Islamists has recently yielded a number of successes, with al-Shabab being driven out of key regions of Somalia with US military support. Even if victory isn't yet within reach, and further military and political efforts are necessary, the government is on the right track.
US Allows Chevron To Pump Oil In Venezuela
On Saturday, the US Dept. of the Treasury granted Chevron Corp. a six-month license authorizing the US company to resume oil extraction and exports from its oil fields under joint ventures with Venezuela's state-owned company, Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PdVSA). The license prevents PdVSA from receiving profits from Chevron's oil sales.
The relaxation of oil sanctions represents a departure from the Trump-era policies against Venezuela's leader Nicolás Maduro. Since 2019, Chevron was allowed to maintain its assets in Venezuela but not to export crude oil or expand operations in the country with the world's largest known oil reserves.
Republican narrative
It's a bad policy for the Biden admin. to allow other companies to pump oil in Venezuela amid its efforts to push the US oil industry offshore. Domestic shale oil is much more environmentally friendly than heavy Venezuelan crude oil, yet Washington prefers to favor an authoritarian regime over allowing new drilling leases in the US.
Democratic narrative
While solving Venezuela's complex crisis still requires a lot of effort, recent developments show that all parties are finally moving in the right direction. Allowing Chevron to resume pumping oil in Venezuela isn't related to soaring energy prices as the US is focused on restoring democracy — this is why the US can revoke it if Maduro breaks his commitments.
Nerd narrative
There's a 50% chance that Venezuela will produce at least 821k barrels of oil in 2022, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
Trump Criticized for Meeting with Far-Right Nick Fuentes
A number of prominent Republicans have joined Democrats in criticizing former Pres. Donald Trump for meeting with Nick Fuentes, a political commentator accused of being a white nationalist and anti-Semite, at his Mar-a-Lago residence.
The meeting occurred last week during a dinner Trump was hosting between himself and Kanye West, who has generated controversy recently due to comments that have largely been perceived as anti-Semitic. According to Trump, Fuentes accompanied West without his prior knowledge.
Pro-Trump narrative
This dinner was a mistake, but Trump simply didn't realize that Fuentes would be attending. Trump and West have had a strong relationship for years, and the former president just wanted to help a friend who is clearly going through an episode of bad mental health. Trump doesn't endorse the views of people like Fuentes.
Democratic narrative
Trump is yet again flirting with white nationalism. Though he and his supporters are claiming that he didn't know that Fuentes would be attending the dinner, meeting with West after his recent anti-semitic remarks was a bad move anyway. Republicans need to disavow people like Fuentes and West, and make clear that racism and antisemitism have no place in the GOP.
Nerd narrative
If the 2024 US Presidential Election is Trump vs. Biden, there is a 38% chance that Trump will win, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
Day 278 Roundup: US Mulls Arming Ukraine with 100-Mile Range Weapons, Report Says
According to reporting from Reuters, the Pentagon is considering a Boeing proposal to arm Ukraine with Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bombs (GLSDB) — munitions capable of traveling a 94-mile (150 km) range.
While the US has reportedly rejected proposals for the 185-mile (297 km) range ATACMS missile, GLSDBs — produced jointly by Boeing and Saab — would allow Ukraine to hit targets previously out of reach and disrupt Russia's supply lines near the rear. The Pentagon and Boeing declined to comment on Reuters' report.
Anti-Russia narrative
The only way Ukraine can conduct meaningful negotiations is if Russia loses this war and loses decisively. The West must help Kyiv achieve this outcome as it would would prevent countries like China from having imperial ambitions of their own and further threatening world peace.
Pro-Russia narrative
Russia welcomes the efforts of the Vatican and some other countries to be intermediaries in the war. However, Kyiv has not fundamentally changed its position of trying to defeat Russia on the battlefield, so such negotiations are not possible at this stage.
Nerd narrative
There is a 2% chance that Putin and Zelenskyy will meet to discuss the peaceful resolution of the Russian-Ukraine conflict before 2023, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
US Official: China Posing Increasing Military Space Threat
On Monday, Nina Armagno, the director of staff of the US Space Force, stated that rapid advancements in China's military capabilities pose growing threats to American dominance in outer space.
Admitting that the progress Beijing had made was "stunningly fast," Armagno revealed at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute that it was "entirely possible" China could catch up with and overtake the US in space capabilities.
Pro-China narrative
China is at the start of a new operational stage in space. The near-final construction of the state-of-the-art China Space Station shows China's growing strength in the field. Despite this, as seen through joint projects with the UN and the European Space Agency — alongside the fact that the new Space Station is open to all UN member states — China is more than willing to engage in international cooperation as Beijing's presence continues to grow.
Anti-China narrative
Today the US is in a new space race, but this time against China, and experts are rightly worried. If China becomes the dominant space power in the next two decades, economic and national security will be at serious risk. Whoever dominates space will determine the future and we must abandon the fantasy that all nations will work together. Given what we know of China's behavior in differing circumstances, the space race must be won by the US to ensure the future of freedom in the 21st Century.
News Groups Urge US to Drop Assange Charges
Twelve years on from publishing the “Cablegate” disclosures alongside WikiLeaks, The New York Times, the Guardian, Le Monde, Der Spiegel, and El País on Monday issued a joint letter urging the US government to drop its prosecution of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.
Assange has been incarcerated in Britain since 2019. Before that, he spent much of the past decade under house arrest or as a political asylee in Ecuador's London embassy. He is wanted in the US on 17 charges of spying and on an allegation of conspiring to commit computer intrusion. If extradited, he could face up to 175 years in a maximum security penitentiary.
Narrative A
Assange is a journalist and should have the protections journalists possess in any functioning democracy to reveal corruption and deceit at the highest levels of government. The attempted prosecution of Assange is not only a grave injustice, but a serious threat to press freedoms more broadly.
Narrative B
Assange is not a journalist, he is a spy leading an intelligence agency that has provided sensitive information to enemies of the US. He doesn't care about national security or about the lives he has put at risk, even having deemed them "collateral damage." Suggesting constitutional rights should protect his un-American and illegal activities is a gross misrepresentation.
Nerd narrative
There's a 50% chance that Julian Assange will be extradited to the US before June 2023, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
WHO Renames Monkeypox to "Mpox"
The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that "monkeypox" will now be referred to as "mpox," amid controversy that "monkeypox" is racist and stigmatizing. For the next year, both names will be used before "monkeypox" is phased out.
Scientists and experts have encouraged the name change since the beginning of the most recent outbreak — fearing that the stigma from the name would discourage people from getting tested, vaccinated, and seeking treatment. Stigmatization has reportedly particularly impacted men who have sex with men, as well as Black and Hispanic people.
Narrative A
Monkeypox should be renamed for two reasons. First, the long history of the world referring to Black people as "monkeys" creates a dangerous racist stigma that undermines public health initiatives. Second, the current name makes the virus sound like transmission only occurs between monkeys, which is factually incorrect. This hampers the world's ability to control and respond to the outbreak.
Narrative B
The obsession with renaming monkeypox has detracted from the world's ability to combat the virus and snuff out the outbreak. The concerns about the virus' name and the history of racial stereotyping are well intended, but there has been no evidence that stereotyping in connection with the outbreak is taking place. The use of images showing Black people with lesions, for example, does not create a stigma, and obsessing over the virus name draws more attention than is warranted.
Buffalo Mass Shooter Pleads Guilty to Murder
On Monday, Payton Gendron pleaded guilty to all charges filed in a grand jury indictment against him. Gendron, a white man, is accused of opening fire at a grocery store in a predominately Black neighborhood, killing 10 people and injuring three others in May.
Gendron was indicted on 25 counts, including murder, and one count of domestic terrorism motivated by hate, which carries a penalty of life in prison without the possibility of parole. He will also face federal hate crime charges led by the US Dept. of Justice.
Democratic narrative
Congress needs to step up for the American people and enact legislation that will strengthen efforts to stop domestic terrorism. It starts by expanding gun background checks and passing common-sense gun reforms to prevent tragedies like the Buffalo shooting from happening elsewhere.
Republican narrative
This is no time to be talking about gun control or anything political. This is a time to allow the families to heal and for the shooter to be brought to justice. Democrats should speak out against all acts of deadly violence — including the Waukesha tragedy that saw Darrell Brooks kill six people with a car. No form of gun control could stop an act of crime like that.
Narrative C
Irresponsible social media platforms allowed radicalizing videos to be viewed and permitted like-minded individuals to communicate. In addition, those who sold and manufactured his weapon and body armor should be punished. The circle of responsibility should be extended to all stakeholders.
Police Bust Cocaine 'Super-Cartel' in Dubai, Europe
At least 49 people have been arrested across Dubai and Europe as a result of an international operation aimed at dismantling a drugs "super-cartel." According to Europol, who conducted the investigation, the group controlled a third of Europe's cocaine trade.
Known as "Operation Desert Light," the two-year-long investigation reportedly resulted in the seizure of more than 30K kilos of drugs, and the collaboration of authorities in Spain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and the UAE.
Pro-establishment narrative
The execution of this operation shows that drug lords cannot continue to illicitly accumulate wealth and power unchecked in today's Europe. Europol have pulled off an astounding victory and dented the illegal drugs market irreparably in the process.
Establishment-critical narrative
Tackling organized crime is certainly part of the solution to the drug problem, but the legalization of illicit substances would be a far more effective way to undermine their power and profits. Politicians and government agencies need to stop thinking so much about their public image and more about effective policy.
Musk Says He'll Back DeSantis in '24 Presidential Run
Elon Musk, billionaire owner of Twitter, and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, tweeted on Friday that he would support Republican Ron DeSantis if the Florida governor were to run for president in 2024.
He wrote, "My preference for the 2024 presidency is someone sensible and centrist. I had hoped that would the case for the Biden administration, but have been disappointed so far.” When asked if he’d support DeSantis, Musk wrote “Yes.”
Republican narrative
Musk’s Twitter takeover has been a boon for Republicans, who were too often silenced under previous management. It’s great to see him involving himself in the party’s politics with his endorsement of DeSantis, even after showing his support for Trump by ending the former president’s egregious ban. Democrats will soon regret their efforts to drive Musk away.
Democratic narrative
Musk, who seems to have completed his rightward political turn, isn’t being shy about his preferences. But this revelation isn’t about Democrats, it’s about Trump. Musk knows Trump’s to blame for the wave of Republican losses in the midterms and the Twitter owner wants to send a message to the party to split from the losing formula and former president.