It has been quite a week in our World as we begin September and what is bound to be a tumultuous month with a looming US Government Shutdown, the war in Ukraine, uncertainty in Europe, uncertainty in China, and the looming challenges in the UK with By-Elections.
We present a selected snapshot of the week that was with thoughts courtesy of our valued partners Crooked Media, 1440, Politico, The Economist, the Bulwark, Principles, and Truthout:
BY JULIA CLAIRE & CROOKED MEDIA
- A courthouse protester fending off former Trump aide Peter Navarro trying to snatch her “TRUMP LOST (And you know it!)” sign. Give that woman the keys to the city.
Editor's note: We'll be off on Monday for Labor Day, and right back in your inbox on Tuesday. Solidarity forever ;)
Trump aides and allies continue their hot streak of humiliations as dozens of federal and state-level investigations continue. Nice!
FBI agent Jonathan Buma says that his investigation of “America’s Mayor” Rudy Giuliani was stymied within the bureau, just the latest in a long string of “Hmmmm why did the investigation of this corrupt far-right person/group get pushed to the side for so long?” in recent FBI history. Buma says that Giuliani “may have been compromised” by Russian intelligence while working as a lawyer and adviser to disgraced former president Donald Trump during the 2020 campaign.
Buma sent a 22-page statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee in July full of extremely serious allegations, and the document leaked shortly thereafter. According to the account Giuliani was used as an asset by a Ukrainian oligarch tied to Russian intelligence and other Russian operatives for a disinformation operation that aimed to discredit Joe Biden and boost Trump in the 2020 presidential election. But what else is new?! Even more explosive, Buma says he was retaliated against within the bureau for investigating the matter.
A source familiar with Buma’s work told Mother Jones that other potential FBI whistleblowers who participated in the investigation involving Giuliani have consulted the same lawyer as Buma and could meet with congressional investigators in the coming weeks. Giuliani’s attempts to dig up and disseminate dirt on Biden in Ukraine is well-known by now. In particular, Giuliani pushed an unfounded allegation that when Biden was vice president he put the kibosh on an investigation of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma, for which his son Hunter worked as a director at the time. It turned out something close to the exact opposite was true—Biden got the corrupt prosecutor who wouldn’t investigate Burisma fired. But House Republicans are still hot on this dead-end trail to this day.
Giuliani isn’t the only Trump loyalist having a bad year.
Five more members of the far-right Proud Boys were sentenced in a Washington, DC, court on Friday. One of them yelled “Trump won!” as he left the courtroom after being sentenced to 10 years in prison. Enjoy the clink, my guy! Dominic Pezzola, who did not play a leadership role in the group, was the only defendant of the five to be acquitted of seditious conspiracy. He was convicted of other felonies, including obstructing an official police proceeding and assaulting police.
Thanks to amateur online sleuths known as “Sedition Hunters” who have helped authorities identify thousands of January 6 insurrectionists, the man shown in a newly released video telling Capitol police officers, “I want you to do me a favor right now and go hang yourself, because you’re a piece of shit,” has been identified as Dylan Quattrucci, who happens to be the deputy state director of Trump’s New Hampshire campaign operation. Four officers who responded to the insurrection later died by suicide. U.S. Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn—who testified in the Oath Keepers seditious conspiracy trial—praised his former colleagues and excoriated Quattrucci in a statement to NBC News on Thursday night, saying, “I hope Dylan Quattrucci will take the time to comprehend that 4 members of Capitol Police and Metropolitan Police Dept did die via suicide and that the efforts to stop the certification of duly elected President Biden failed in part because of their brave heroics…You are a failure. Those men will be remembered for service to their country. And you’ll be remembered as the guy in the cheap suit during the failed insurrection.”
Finally, there’s a new development in the Donald Trump criminal proceedings extended universe. Unlike his trials in Florida, New York, and Washington, DC, court proceedings in Fulton County, GA will be televised and streamed. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee announced on Thursday that cameras would be allowed in the courtroom and that the case would also be livestreamed on the court’s YouTube channel. Feels kinda weird that a district court has its own YouTube channel, but that’s a problem for another day.
How long until you die? You can find the answer on a map of the U.S.
That’s according to a fascinating set of data out of Nationhood Lab, a Salve Regina University project founded by Colin Woodard, author of this week’s Friday Read. Their research has found that where you live in the U.S. has an incredible impact on your life expectancy. And the connection between geography and longevity holds true even for similar places in different regions.
For example, take Lexington County, South Carolina, and Placer County, California. They have a lot in common: they’re big, wealthy, suburban counties with white supermajorities that border on their respective state’s capital cities, and both voted for Donald Trump twice. But Placer’s life expectancy of 82.3 rivals that of Scandinavian countries, whereas Lexington’s, at 77.7, is worse than China’s.
It’s not just a question of poverty, either. Washington County, Maine, is the poorest in New England, ravaged by the opioid epidemic. But its life expectancy of 75.5 still beats that of the equally remote and drug-battered Perry County, Kentucky, by a full six years.
So where do these disparities come from? To answer that question, we have to go back to before America’s founding.
“The reason the U.S. has strong regional differences is precisely because our swath of the North American continent was settled in the 17th and 18th centuries by rival colonial projects that had very little in common,” Woodard writes. “Those colonial projects — Puritan-controlled New England; the Dutch-settled area around what is now New York City; the Quaker-founded Delaware Valley; the Scots-Irish-dominated upland backcountry of the Appalachians; the West Indies-style slave society in the Deep South; the Spanish project in the southwest and so on — had different religious, economic and ideological characteristics.”
And those characteristics have echoed down through the ages to influence culture, politics and, consequently, health.
“Severe aging health issues and/or mental health incompetence in our nation’s leaders MUST be addressed.
Biden, McConnell, Feinstein, and Fetterman are examples of people who are not fit for office and it’s time to be serious about it.”
Can you guess who said this? Scroll to the bottom for the answer.**
POLITICO illustration/Photos by Hunter Abrams/BFA.com; Getty; iStock
Did Putin Kill a Man in Washington? … Yevgeny Prigozhin isn’t the first critic of Vladimir Putin to fall from the sky. A year ago, Soviet-born U.S. citizen Dan Rapoport, who made his fortune in post-Soviet Russia before souring on the regime, plunged from an M Street apartment building to his death. D.C. police almost immediately said there was no foul play — but Rapoport’s allies say something doesn’t add up. “Those who knew him — I’ve talked to a lot of venture capitalists — nobody is convinced he just up and decided to jump,” says Jason Jay Smart. In this week’s Capital City column, Michael Schaffer looks into Rapoport’s death — and why it hasn’t made a bigger splash in the Beltway.
Vivek Ramaswamy declared Richard Nixon his favorite foreign policy president in last week’s Republican presidential debate, calling Nixon’s “realism” foundational to his own view on how to deal with other nations. But the pitch was bunk. When your friends talk up Ramaswamy’s debate performance, hit them with these details. (From POLITICO’s Jack Shafer)
- Nixon, unlike Ramaswamy, was no foreign policy amateur, having served as U.S. ambassador at large in his eight years as vice president, and consulted with thinkers and policy makers.
- Ramaswamy proposed a worldwide military retreat, sounding more like former presidential candidate Republican Robert A. Taft and Democrat George McGovern than Nixon.
- Definitely do not parrot what Ramaswamy says about Russia: The candidate thinks that by giving Russia the chunks of Ukraine it currently occupies and barring that nation’s entry into NATO, he could convince Putin to break with China — Russia’s more stalwart ally. Point out how Ramaswamy doesn’t understand the Sino-Russian relationship, which is the best it’s been since the 1950s. As long as they see the U.S. as a common rival and share similar views of a post-American world order, the two will remain friendly neighbors.
- If all your friends are already dunking on Ramaswamy, here’s what to say to stand out. Sure, his foreign policy proposals are scattered, but he did push other candidates to expand the debate. Plus, he’ll likely fully pull back the curtain on how the “Vivek Doctrine” would work in the real world during his future campaign stops. Hint to your friends that there’s more to come.
Illustration by Chloe Zola for POLITICO
The Hunter Biden Fan Club … The laptop. The drug problem. The gun. Hunter Biden’s many scandals have lit up headlines and provided conservatives with a bludgeon to use against President Joe Biden. Even many Democrats see him as a liability. But to political junkies on the post-Bernie Sanders, irony-poisoned left, Hunter Biden isn’t a stain on the White House — he’s “based.” “The … love affair between Hunter Biden and leftists who have little love for his father might seem like a surprising pairing,” writes Calder McHugh. Yet “if you examine Hunter’s misdeeds and escapades from just the right angle, they can be viewed as illuminating the hundreds of little cracks in the foundation of the American empire. For people who aren’t buying what America has sold, that’s heartening.”
Possible Ukraine Breakthrough
Ukrainian forces appear to have pierced through sections of Russia's frontline defenses in southeastern Ukraine, according to reports. The development could mark a breakthrough in Ukraine's three-month-long counteroffensive and would be the first instance in which its forces have penetrated Russian defensive lines, riddled with minefields, trenches, artillery, and other obstacles.
Russia has three main defensive lines across southern Ukraine, including what's known as the Surovikin line outside of the village of Verbove in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast, once an agricultural area and home to roughly 1,000 people. The Surovikin line was constructed under the direction of and named after Russian Gen. Sergei Surovikin, who went missing after the short-lived Wagner rebellion and was later
Ukraine also appeared to break through a defensive line in the village of Novoprokopivka. Verbove and Novoprokopivka are both near the village of Robotyne, which Ukraine reclaimed Tuesday. See updates on the war here.
A Desert Burn
Burning Man 2023 officially started Sunday in the Black Rock Desert—100 miles north of Reno, Nevada—with tens of thousands already in attendance for the nine-day event, despite a small group of environmental activists staging a demonstration on the route to the gate.
The annual event, which blends art, self-expression, and communal living, originated in 1986 with the burning of a wooden effigy on a San Francisco beach, evolving into a temporary desert city centered around art installations, music, workshops, and the symbolic burning of a massive wooden sculpture. The “burners,” who build the approximately 7-square-mile temporary city from scratch each year, bring everything they need to survive in the desert. The event will conclude with the burning of the "man" statue tomorrow, the Temple burn Sunday, and a mass exodus Monday.
This year's theme is “Animalia,” officially described as celebrating the animal world, both real and imagined, and our place in it. See some of the large-scale art here, including a massive wooden box that revealed a steel phoenix when burned, representing war-torn Ukraine.
Proud Boys Sentencing
Two former leaders of the Proud Boys group were sentenced to more than a decade in prison yesterday, in two of the longest jail terms handed out related to the Jan. 6 storming of the US Capitol.
Prosecutors argued 39-year-old Joseph Biggs, who received a 17-year sentence, used his US military experience to organize and coordinate a group of people to enter the Capitol building. Separately, 37-year-old Zachary Rehl was handed down a 15-year sentence. Among other issues, Rehl was accused of firing pepper spray toward a Capitol officer during the crowd surge. The decision followed a jury conviction of the pair and two others in May.
Enrique Tarrio—the group's former chief and reported police informant—is due to be sentenced Tuesday.
Flip the script: Apple's upcoming iPhone is expected to come with a jaw-dropping $2099 price tag. Meanwhile, a mighty challenger aims to turn your phone from a cost to an income source. Intriguing idea, isn't it? This is why our eyes are on the launch of Mode Mobile’s Pre-IPO Offering. It’s the latest in a series of impressive raises among smartphone innovators, likely spurred by Apple’s recent $3T valuation.
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Business & Markets
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Politics & World Affairs
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In-Depth
> Winning Back Trust
Tangle | Isaac Saul. Bias is one of the top complaints of news readers about the news they consume. See a breakdown of bias in action and five suggestions to address it. (Read)
> Paragliding Disaster
Real Survival Stories | John Hopkins. (Podcast) The tale of paraglider Ewa Wiśnierska's harrowing excursion through a storm pushing her higher and higher into the atmosphere. (Listen)
> Shopping Cart Theory
Ringer | Nate Rogers. A profile of YouTuber Sebastian Davis, the so-called "Cart Narc," sparking debates about courtesy as he calls out shoppers who don't return their shopping carts to the corral. (Read)
> Why You Have an Accent in a Foreign Language
Economist | Staff. Differences in syllable stress, pronunciation, and rhythm make even fluent foreign language speakers talk with an accent. (Watch)
We’re going to touch on three ideas today that all tie into the same overriding problem:
Public opinion about America’s schools.
The proposal to use the 14th Amendment to keep Trump off of the ballot.
Trump’s strong general election polling against Biden.
Each of these comes down to the same reality: The stability of liberalism is like the stability of the free market. It’s based on the assumption that people are rational actors in a system without overriding externalities and that these people will, on balance, choose to preserve liberalism over the long run.¹
So let’s start with how people view America’s schools. Newsflash: Americans think our schools are terrible! Only 36 percent of Americans say they are satisfied with America’s K-12 schools.
For the uninitiated, the Kobayashi Maru is a test given at Starfleet Academy in Star Trek. In the test, cadets participate in a simulation where everything goes wrong; no matter what they choose, the simulation ends with their deaths. The point of the Kobayashi Maru is to impress on students that some games cannot be won, no matter what you do. In some situations every decision—either wise or foolish—leads to a bad outcome.
(1) A jury finds Trump guilty in the months before the general election. Trump’s support falls dramatically. Biden wins a safe re-election.
(1a) A jury finds Trump not guilty, Biden wins safely.
(2) A jury finds Trump guilty before the general election and even so, Trump wins a clean victory over Biden.
(2a) Trump is found not guilty and wins a clean election.
(3) Trump is found guilty, but the election results are contested as they were in 2020.
(3b) Trump is found not guilty, with contested results.
Of these six scenarios, all but one—Trump guilty/Biden safe win—lead to crisis.¹
And even that one outcome would be fraught. You saw how Republican voters and elites behaved in the aftermath of 2020. Do you think that if Trump is convicted and then loses the election these same people will say,
Well, daggum it. I guess the jury has spoken and people didn’t like us running a convict. We’ll have to try something else.
Because I do not. Instead, these people will think,
Thank God Jack Smith and Biden took care of Trump for us. Now we can complain about how unfair and corrupt they were without losing any of the MAGA mouthbreathers while we pivot to Youngkinism.
And that’s the best outcome for the best-case scenario.
The scenarios in which we do not have a verdict by Election Day all lead to crisis, because there is not a voting outcome Trump’s supporters will accept as legitimate while the legal process is ongoing.
This is why prosecuting a man running for president is so dangerous. Trump’s prosecutions:
The appeal of the former president’s mugshot and inability to stick to a script are all part of the fascination
SEPTEMBER 3, 2023by Jemima Kelly
Invite future “retaliation” from Republicans.
Delegitimize an electoral system already under active assault.
Undermine respect for the rule of law in a large minority of the population.
So here are the two points I want to hammer home for you today:
Prosecuting Trump is inherently dangerous and could result in breaking our constitutional democracy.
The institutional Republican party has behaved so irresponsibly over the last 7 years that it basically demanded these prosecutions.
In other words: We are caught in this Kobayashi Maru because Republicans thought they could be irresponsible in their pursuit of power and have someone else pick up the check.
There is increasingly serious talk in the bloc about all manner of far-reaching reform
SEPTEMBER 4, 2023by Martin Sandbu
Principles First Newsletter - August 31, 2023 - View in browser
“Some men change their party for the sake of their principles; others their principles for the sake of their party.” Winston Churchill (1874 – 1965) Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
CPAC vice chair resigns amid turmoil Charlie Gerow is calling for investigations into the group’s top leader and its financial practices. Politico Read
US will help train Ukrainian pilots on F-16s after all Flight training will begin in October at a base in Arizona. ABC News Read
Does a Good Debate Performance Even Matter in the Age of Trump? Mike Pence and Nikki Haley had solid showings in Wednesday's debate - but will it help them break through? The Messenger Read
Former GOP Aides to Current Leaders: Forget Impeachment, Focus on People-Oriented Policies Veteran Republican investigators say current leadership should tackle wasteful spending, rail safety, bank failures, other policies — not impeachment. The Messenger Read
Newly declassified US intel claims Russia is laundering propaganda through unwitting Westerners Russian intelligence is operating a systematic program to launder pro-Kremlin propaganda through private relationships between Russian operatives and unwitting US and western targets, according to newly declassified US intelligence. CNN Read
Blake Masters Plans to Enter Race for Kyrsten Sinema’s Senate Seat Arizona is seen as one of the most competitive states in 2024 The Wall Street Journal Read
How U.N. Peacekeeping Accidentally Fuels Africa’s Coups Foreign funds can produce stronger and less accountable militaries. Foreign Policy Read
Trump Remains Russia’s Favorite but This GOPer Is New No. 2 “The last time, we had installed President Trump for Americans, but our bet didn’t quite work out. Why not try again?” one Russian host said about Vivek Ramaswamy. Daily Beast Read
California judge shoots down Eastman bid to postpone disbarment proceedings It’s the latest setback for the attorney as he fights to preserve his law license while facing felony charges in Georgia. Politico Read
14th Amendment, Section 3: A new legal battle against Trump takes shape Efforts to disqualify Trump from state ballots are starting to materialize. ABC News Read
Lock Him Up? A New Poll Has Some Bad News for Trump A new POLITICO Magazine/Ipsos poll punctures some prevailing political narratives about the Trump indictments. Politico Read
The GOP’s Dispiriting Display The Republican debate was a mess. The Atlantic Read
Trump promised this Wisconsin town a manufacturing boom. It never arrived. A 30-minute drive from the site of this week’s Republican debate in Milwaukee stands a mysterious glass globe that has come to symbolize the failure of one of Republican front-runner and former president Donald Trump’s big promises. The Washington Post Read
The Fourteenth Amendment Fantasy The Constitution won’t disqualify Trump from running. The only real-world way of stopping him is through the ballot box. The Atlantic Read
Inside Matt Schlapp’s Offer to Settle the Sexual Battery Lawsuit Against Him American Conservative Union chairman Matt Schlapp has maintained that the sexual battery allegations against him are untrue. But he’s also offered to settle, sources say. Daily Beast Read
The U.S. is pumping oil faster than ever. Republicans don’t care. GOP presidential candidates are blaming pump prices on President Joe Biden’s clean energy policies, even though the U.S. is churning out record amounts of oil. Politico Read
GOP Primary Electorate Sees Trump as More Electable After Georgia Arrest, First Republican Debate 62% of potential Republican primary voters said Trump has the best chance of beating Biden, matching a tracking high. Morning Consult Read
Secretaries of state get ready for possible challenges to Trump's ballot access Arizona’s secretary of state is the latest to say his office is grappling with the potential effects of a move to block Trump from the ballot. NBC News Read
The World Is Contemplating a Second Trump Administration Possibility that former president will win next year’s election has capitals across globe on edge. The Wall Street Journal Read
Scoop: Trumpworld sees Haley surging toward DeSantis Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio is telling Republican donors that Nikki Haley "has surged" in Iowa since last week's GOP presidential debate — and that she and Vivek Ramaswamy are essentially tied with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in New Hampshire, according to a polling memo obtained by Axios. Axios Read
Donald Trump vows to lock up political enemies if he returns to White House Former president tells Glenn Beck he would have ‘no choice’ but to lock up opponents ‘because they’re doing it to us’. The Guardian Read
SPECIAL EDITION: UKRAINE
Ukrainian drone destroys Russian supersonic bomber. The latest in a series of drone strikes inside Russian territory has damaged a Tupolev Tu-22M3 bomber. The Tu-22М3 long-range supersonic bomber is designed to destroy targets using guided missiles and aerial bombs.
Russia destroys 13,000 tonnes of Ukrainian grain. The Danube River port of Izmail's export capacity has been reduced by 15% by the overnight strike, which damaged the terminal and warehouses.
Putin orders Wagner fighters to sign oath of allegiance.The decree, published on the Kremlin website, obliges anyone carrying out work on behalf of the military or supporting what Moscow calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine to swear a formal oath of allegiance to Russia.
POLITICS
BRICS admits 6 new countries into the economic bloc. BRICS has announced the admission of 6 new countries -Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and UAE into the economic bloc. The new countries are expected to officially join next year.
Srettha Thavisin becomes Thailand's new prime minister after three months of political deadlock. Property tycoon Srettha Thavisin has been elected as Thailand's next prime minister. The candidate from the Pheu Thai Party, backed by the powerful Shinawatra family, won the vote in both Houses of Parliament and is expected be sworn in soon.
Niger suspended from the African Union. Niger has been suspended from the AU until constitutional order has been restored in the country. The continental bloc has advised all other member states and the international community to refrain from engaging the country in a manner that may be seen as supportive of the coup.
Growing number of countries consider making ecocide a crime. Countries that have introduced ecocide laws include Vietnam, Russia and the Ukraine, while France is the first EU country to introduce the laws.
Central American parliament expels Taiwan and make China permanent observer. The Central American Parliament voted to expel Taiwan after more than two decades as a permanent observer and replace it with China, whose growing economic influence in Latin America has increasingly marginalised Taipei.
Cambodia: son of long-time ruler Hun Sen becomes PM. Cambodia’s newly elected parliament has endorsed military general Hun Manet as prime minister, completing a transfer of power in a country led by his father for nearly four decades.
Syria's Assad's ruling party shut by protests in rebellious Druze city. Protesters demanding an end to authoritarian rule shut down the ruling Baath party headquarters in the Syrian Druze city of Sweida as protests which entered their second week showed no signs of abating.
Sudanese paramilitary force backs ceasefire and talks on country's future. Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces said it was open to a long-term ceasefire with the army and presented its vision for a "Sudan Reborn", an initiative that could revive efforts to hold direct talks between the warring parties.
Islamic State insurgents double in numbers over the past year: UN. A UN expert has highlighted that ISIS has almost doubled in number over the past year in parts of Mali. This rise has been attributed to the delay in effecting the 2015 peace agreement.
Somali forces capture al-Shabaab’s main stronghold El Buur. Somalian forces launched an attack on al-Shabaab fighters who have been wreaking havoc in the country. They reported that they have managed to capture El Buur, al-Shabaab’s major stronghold in the central region.
ECONOMICS
India set to ban sugar exports for first time in 7 years. Following the rice ban, India's absence from the world market would be likely to increase benchmark prices that are already trading around multi-year highs, triggering fears of further inflation on global food markets. India's sugar production could fall 3.3% to 31.7 million tonnes in the 2023/24 season.
US SEC is overhauling the fund industry. The changes mark the biggest industry overhaul in living memory. The changes include private and hedge fund fees, pricing and liquidity rules for mutual funds, hedge fund disclosures and expanded definitions of constitutes a dealer.
Biden administration unveils new crypto tax reporting rules. Cryptocurrency brokers, including exchanges and payment processors, would have to report new information on users' sales and exchanges of digital assets to the IRS under a proposed US Treasury Department rule.
Pakistan rupee drops to record low as import restrictions ease. Pakistan’s rupee closed at a record low of 299 rupees against the dollar. The removal of import restrictions was a condition of a $3bn IMF loan programme to help the crisis-ridden economy.
Russia offers to swap frozen assets with the West. Moscow plans to allow Western investors to purchase assets of Russian firms immobilised in Europe. Russian Central Bank said they can use their own funds from restricted Russian accounts.
DEVELOPMENT
Europe moving too slowly in race to switch to electric cars. Despite progress towards a 2045 zero-emission goal, the high price of EVs has created a headache for governments with the take-up being too slow to meet the goals. The incentives to buy EVs is not enough due to high upfront prices.
Germany reforms citizenship law. The reforms will bring Germany in line with other European countries. Around 14% of the population, just over 12 million people, do not have a German passport. Immigrants legally living in Germany will be allowed to apply for citizenship after five years, rather than the current eight.
China to strengthen its aerospace sector with T1000 carbon fiber. Until now, China has been unable to produce the material because of US and Japanese bans on exporting the necessary resources to develop it. The nation was previously forced to settle for T300 and T700 materials which does not perform nearly as well as the T1000.
Investors see long wait for enlarged BRICS' economic boon. The expansion of the BRICS group of developing countries could provide a lifeline to capital-starved new entrants Iran and Argentina, but investors and analysts say a broader economic boon for the bloc's members is far from certain.
China says African countries want industrialisation over infrastructure. African countries want China to shift its focus from building infrastructure on the continent to local industrialisation.
SOCIAL
Pandemic and inflation push 68m more in Asia into extreme poverty. The Asian Development Bank says an estimated 155.2m people in developing Asia, or 3.9% of the region's population, lived in extreme poverty as of last year.
Guyana’s president asks European slave traders’ descendants to pay reparations. The president of Guyana has called on descendants of European slave traders to offer to pay reparations to right historical wrongs. Irfaan Ali demanded that those involved in the trans-Atlantic slave trade and African enslavement be posthumously charged for crimes against humanity.
France to spend €200m on destroying excess wine as demand falls. Several major wine-producing regions in France, particularly the Bordeaux area, are struggling because of multiple problems including changes in consumption habits, the cost of living crisis and the after-effects of Covid-19.
France to ban Muslim abaya dress in state schools. France will ban children from wearing the abaya, the loose-fitting, full-length robes worn by some Muslim women, in state-run schools, its education minister said ahead of the back-to-school season.
Scientists uncover complete Y- chromosome sequence. Research reveals the male sex chromosome comprises nearly 60m base pairs, the entire Y chromosome. This breakthrough will help decode conditions ranging from infertility to cancer.
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