Hell or High Water
Floods have devastated infrastructure and killed at least 116 in India and Bangladesh. Israel will go to the polls for the fifth time in three years — unless Netanyahu gets his way. Moscow is losing its cool with Lithuania. And Trump’s flip-flopping endorsements have complicated an Alabama Senate primary. All this and more in today’s PDB.
IMPORTANT
Neck Deep
Floods, Lightning, Landslides Kill at Least 116 in Bangladesh and India
Record monsoon rains wreaked havoc across a region that’s still reeling from devastating floods in May. The flooding, which has been exacerbated by fatal lightning strikes and ruinous landslides, has killed at least 73 people in the Indian state of Assam and undone a decade of progress building roads, bridges and other infrastructure. The situation in neighboring Bangladesh is no less severe. “I am surrounded by water but I have no water to drink. I don’t have food. I have been starving for three days. What to do and where do I go?” pleaded 64-year-old Assam resident Siraj Ali. (Sources: NYT, BBC)
Knesset Chaos
Israeli PM Rushes to Dissolve Parliament Before Netanyahu Pounces
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid announced yesterday that they could no longer maintain their coalition government and would voluntarily dissolve the Knesset next week, a move that would trigger Israel’s fifth general election in three years. By late last night a government spokesperson was suggesting the dissolution vote might happen as early as Wednesday in a bid to prevent former PM Benjamin Netanyahu from forming a government without having to go to the polls. Netanyahu’s Likud party doesn’t have enough votes to form a government on its own, but he could attract disenchanted right-wing elements of Bennett’s coalition. (Sources: Times of Israel, AP)
‘Impotent Anger’
Russia Loses Cool With Lithuania, Bombs Ukrainian Food Warehouse
Moscow demanded that Lithuania immediately lift the transit ban it imposed on EU-sanctioned goods including coal, metals and construction materials. Lithuania, a member of the EU and NATO, offers the only rail route between mainland Russia and the Kaliningrad exclave on the Baltic Sea. With no apparent hint of irony Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the ban as “a violation of everything,” but Lithuania said it was simply implementing EU rules. Meanwhile, Russian forces fired 14 missiles at southern Ukraine, destroying a food warehouse in Odesa. Ukraine’s military blamed the barrage on “impotent anger at the successes of our troops.” (Sources: The Guardian, WaPo)
Redefining ‘Woke’
Trump Endorsement Flip Muddies Alabama Waters
Hours before the Capitol riot, Rep. Mo Brooks fired up the crowd, bellowing, “Today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass.” Barely a year later he was dumped by former President Donald Trump, who declared Brooks had gone “‘woke’ and decided to drop everything he stood for.” It’s a strange way to describe someone who opposes abortion, believes there’s a “war on whites” and reckons rising sea levels are caused by “the bottom … moving up. ” Trump has endorsed rival Katie Britt in today’s Alabama Senate primary. Brooks, meanwhile, says Britt is a RINO, or “Republican in name only.” (Source: AP)
Briefly
Here are some things you should know about today:
$103.5 million. Russian dissident journalist Dmitry Muratov auctioned his Nobel Peace Prize, raising millions for Ukrainian child refugees and shattering the previous auction record of $4.76 million. (Source: AP) Railing against authority. In the U.K.’s biggest rail strike in three decades, 40,000 employees are staying home in a bid to improve their pay and working conditions. (Source: The Guardian) The morning after. In the wake of the election “earthquake” that saw him lose control of France’s Parliament, President Emmanuel Macron is meeting opposition leaders to seek a way forward. (Source: France 24)
INTRIGUING
Smart Parks
They’re Finding High-Tech Solutions to Africa’s Conservation Problems
You can use technology to increase efficiency in a factory or to switch on your oven from your bedroom — so why can’t you use it to tackle Africa’s poaching problem or help game rangers turn on water pumps remotely? These are the kinds of questions that keep Tim van Dam, co-founder of Netherlands-based Smart Parks, up at night. In some of Africa’s remotest conservation areas, Smart Parks are using energy-efficient LoRa networks to paint detailed pictures of animal locations, fence voltages and vehicle movements to give poachers a seriously hard time. Next up: collars that also record animal sounds and motion. (Source: Mongabay)
It Was THIS Big
Cambodian Villagers Land Biggest Freshwater Fish Ever Recorded
This is not a fish tale. A 661-pound, 13-foot stingray was netted last week in the Mekong River and — after being electronically tagged — released back into the wild. The Mekong has one of the most diverse fish populations in the world, but overfishing, sediment depletion and pollution have caused stocks to plummet. The capture of the ray, which locals christened Boramy, or “full moon,” because of her almost perfectly circular shape, “means that this stretch of the Mekong is still healthy,” said conservationist Zeb Hogan. “It is a sign of hope that these huge fish still live [here].” (Source: Reuters)
Smoking Gun
Bullet That Killed Shireen Abu Akleh Likely Came From Israeli Convoy
Eyewitnesses and colleagues of the Palestinian-American TV correspondent have said it all along: She was deliberately killed by Israeli troops. The Palestinian Authority’s forensic investigation reached the same conclusion, that Abu Akleh was shot in the head while wearing a “press” vest. But Israel has disseminated alternative narratives. Hours after her death it circulated video suggesting she’d been shot by Palestinian gunmen. When that was debunked it said she might have been mistakenly killed by Israeli troops targeting Palestinians. Now a New York Times investigation has revealed she was almost certainly killed by Israeli troops who weren’t shooting at Palestinian fighters. (Source: NYT)
Monkey See, Monkey Do
Monkey in Bulletproof Vest Killed Alongside Its Narco Owner
In a sadly familiar scene in Mexico, 11 members of the infamous La Familia Michoacana cartel were killed in a gunfight with police. Among the bodies, officers found a spider monkey — wearing a tiny bulletproof vest, a camo hoodie and a diaper — who’d died with his arms outstretched. Those seeking further answers would find them on Twitter: A bizarre tribute featuring angel wings, doves and a smattering of sad emojis established that he was creatively named El Changuito, “the small monkey,” and that he was born just last year. “It wasn’t your turn, friend,” the tribute read. “Rest in peace.” (Sources: Daily Mirror, The Sun)
‘Biology Trumps Gender’
Coe Hints Track and Field Will Also Bar Transgender Women
A day after swimming’s governing body announced it would bar transgender swimmers who underwent male puberty from competing as women, the president of World Athletics hinted his sport would take similar measures to “protect the integrity of women’s sport.” Sebastian Coe added, “If we ever get pushed into a corner to that point where we’re making a judgment about fairness or inclusion, I will always fall down on the side of fairness.” Lauding the swimming federation’s pursuit of policies that are in the “best interest of its sport” he said “biology trumps gender.” Caster Semenya hasn’t commented yet. (Source: AFP)
