Your Thursday Briefing:

Putin has said during the G20 online summit:

“The injection of trillions of dollars and euros into the economy, into the banking system, ultimately provoked a surge in global inflation, a rapid increase in food and energy prices. This is precisely what lies at the heart of the events that I mentioned [turbulence in the global economy], not our actions and our attempts to achieve justice in Ukraine, no,”

Erdogan continues to do a little trolling by not ratifying Sweden’s accession to NATO in time for a meeting of NATO foreign ministers next week. Meanwhile, an intern at Baykar, producer of the eponymous and rather lackluster drones, was caught stealing four hard disks in Istanbul - possibly to sell them.

The EU is overhauling its environmental laws covering crimes, criminalizing illegal logging, the introduction of invasive species, and illegal water withdrawals. Individuals can face at least ten years in prison, while companies might get a minimum of 5% of their total reveneues fined.

The fascist PVV party in the Netherlands achieved a plurality of votes, with 37 out of 150 seats in parliament, thus needing a coalition with parties worth a further 39 seats to achieve a majority. The Labor-Green bloc won 25 seats and outgoing PM Mark Rutte’s party won 24 seats. The party wants to halt all immigration and is generally anti-EU.

Finland has closed all but one of its border crossings with Russia in an attempt to stem the flow of hundreds of Middle Eastern asylum seekers sent nefariously by the scheming Kremlin to destabilise Finland. Finland will not fall for Putin’s evil ruse, and will valiantly let them die in the winter cold instead of give in to terrorist regimes.

Disinformation experts in Slovakia’s new government have been leaving their posts after it has been posting pro-Russian propaganda, such as that Ukrainians are fascists and that the US is to blame for the war.

The DPRK has suspended its 2018 military accord, which was signed to de-escalate tensions along the border, with its US-occupied lower half. This comes after the DPRK launched its military reconnaissance satellite. Kim Jong Un has already viewed photographs of US military facilities.

Russia and China have been angling for the best position on the Akkas gas field in Anbar province, Iraq, as the country remains very geopolitically important due to its position and resources. The gas field contains 5.6 trillion cubic feet of proven reserves.

Iran has been de-designating (that is, telling to fuck off, as is their legal right) several highly-knowledgable IAEA nuclear inspectors, with has prompted concerns by Rafael Grossi, suspecting Iran of getting up to some sussy stuff. Given the constant fearmongering over the years about how Iran is a mere 9 nanoseconds from possessing nukes, if it ever does happen it’ll be a “boy who cried wolf” incident.

40% of African financial institutions want a single African currency akin to the euro, and a similar number want a more open pan-African banking system. Business leaders are generally upbeat on African economic prospects but wary of inflation and debt.

The French foreign minister has said: “Contrary to what some media outlets, and social networks in particular, are saying, France is absolutely not being driven out of Africa, and we’re not in decline at all.”

The UN stabilisation mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has agreed to withdraw its 15,000 peacekeepers (though without a firm timeline) after President Tshisekedi called for them to accelerate the withdrawal in September, due to a lack of real protection against rebel groups.

Conflict in Sudan continues, with refugees streaming out of the region. Chad, a country of 17 million people that was already struggling, has had to take in over one million refugees, with malnutrition affecting many. The World Food Programme is aiding all they can. Meanwhile, the Rapid Support Forces in opposition to the Sudanese government have made advances in Darfur, a region in western Sudan, with four out of Darfur’s five states now in RSF hands. Former rebel groups that previously opposed the government are now stepping out of neutrality and deciding to fight alongside the government. The RSF is accused of having supply lines from Chad, Libya, and CAR, which all border Darfur.

After in an extended drought season marked by five failed rains which caused 15 million people in East Africa to descend into food insecurity, flooding in Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia is happening on a wide scale, with 1.5 million hectares submerged in Somalia, or over 2% of the country. This has impacted 1.7 million in Somalia (10% of the population), and overall 3.1 million across the region. Food sources like livestock are under threat due to diseases.

Gay furry hackers have hacked the Idaho National Laboratory, with employee addresses, social security numbers, bank account information, and other data posted online. The hackers said that if the INL researched creating catgirls irl, they would take down the leak.

In the Dominican Republic, 27 people have died and over 7000 homes affected in torrential rains that broke records, with 431 millimeters in recent days.

President Lula said on Tuesday that “Brazil had to play a very strong role to not allow Africa to continue being held hostage by colonizers or by very strong interventions from China, which was seeking to buy the food they needed so much,” in a public critique of Chinese policy.

Milei’s office mistakenly identified the UK foreign secretary, David Cameron, as instead James Cameron, the Chapo-endorsed film director.