After rebranding, X took @x from its original Twitter owner and offered him merch (apple.news)
Gene X Hwang knew his days on Twitter as @x were numbered....
El Salvador’s Congress votes to allow mass trials in gang crackdown (www.aljazeera.com)
China's judiciary, conviction rate in 2022 reaches 99.975% while criminal justice data culled from official reports and database (safeguarddefenders.com)
Some 1,430,000 criminal verdicts at court of first instance were issued in 2022. Of those, 354 were not guilty judgments, the NGO Safeguard Defenders says.
Utopia to blight: Surviving in Henry Ford’s lost jungle town (wapo.st)
Police are not primarily crime fighters, according to the data (www.reuters.com)
To the surprise of no one, California cops spend most of their time harassing taxpayers via traffic stops instead of work on solving actual crimes.
US to announce $345 million military aid package for Taiwan (ground.news)
Could be a huge deal.
Niger general Tchiani named head of transitional government after coup (www.aljazeera.com)
Chinese foreign minister’s mysterious fall from grace: Qin Gang, China’s ousted top diplomat, has not been seen in public for over a month (novayagazeta.eu)
On 25 July, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang was removed from his position and replaced by his predecessor, Wang Yi. No official reason is provided by Chinese authorities for the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress’s decision to replace Qin following his vague, “health-related” absence from his official...
Putin rules out rejoining Black Sea grain deal, despite famine fears (www.politico.eu)
Trump charged with additional counts in Mar-a-Lago documents case (www.npr.org)
A grand jury in the Southern District of Florida has charged former President Donald Trump with a new count of willful retention of National Defense Information in the case related to his handling of classified documents. The new charge stems from a top-secret presentation Trump waved at aides at his Bedminster, N.J., resort....
Hong Kong judge defies government’s bid to ban pro-democracy protest song, saying it could undermine freedom of expression (www.theguardian.com)
The government had sought the injunction banning online publication or distribution of the song, arguing it insulted China’s national anthem and could give people the impression that Hong Kong was an independent country.
Taiwanese citizens take the nation's defense into their own hands: Interview with scholar Wen Liu (globalvoices.org)
For people in Taiwan living under regular military threats from China, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the West’s responses to it have prompted queries about the Taiwanese military forces’ own readiness and resilience. In the early days following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Taipei quickly...
Third defendant charged in classified documents case, Trump faces new charges (www.msnbc.com)
A third person has been charged in the classified documents case in addition to Donald Trump and Walt Nauta....
‘Era of global boiling has arrived,’ says UN chief as July set to be hottest month on record (www.theguardian.com)
Niger coup: Ruling party HQ attacked after President Bazoum ousted (www.bbc.co.uk)
COVID symptoms seem to never touch certain people — and researchers may have finally figured out why (www.cbsnews.com)
Here is the study the article references:...
Darkening Tibet: Satellite Imagery Reveals Increased Detentions by Chinese Authorities (bnn.network)
A recent study conducted by the Rand Europe research institute utilizes satellite imagery and night-time lighting data to suggest an increase in activity within high-security detention facilities in Tibet. The increased activity could potentially indicate an escalation in the severity of imprisonments imposed by Chinese...
Over 230 people get puzzling neurological disorder in Peru; emergency declared (arstechnica.com)
Niger soldiers announce coup on national TV (www.bbc.co.uk)
Should Trump be allowed to run for office? (www.rawstory.com)
Raw Story is running a poll on if Trump should be allowed to run for office....
Hunter Biden guilty plea in doubt over immunity questions (www.washingtonpost.com)
Even if the legal turmoil that has surrounded Hunter Biden for years is wrapped up, the political battle will continue.
Kevin Spacey cleared of sexually assaulting four men (www.theguardian.com)
Jury at Southwark crown court finds Oscar-winning actor, 64, not guilty after four-week trial
Hamburg: Climate activists let air out of tyres of 33 cars (mainly SUVs!) again (www.ndr.de)
From the article: *Large SUVs were particularly affected. According to the police, notes were attached to the cars indicating that they were harmful to the climate. The tyres were not punctured, but merely deflated. The cars were parked in the area between the S-Bahn line and Elbchaussee around Kanzleistraße. *...
Cambodia's Hun Sen to resign and appoint son as PM (www.bbc.com)
Gulf Stream current could collapse in 2025, plunging Earth into climate chaos: 'We were actually bewildered' (www.livescience.com)
A vital ocean current system that helps regulate the Northern Hemisphere’s climate could collapse anytime from 2025 and unleash climate chaos, a controversial new study warns....
