“For most of the four-year war in Ukraine, Russia’s trading partners in Africa have maintained a studied silence on the issue. These nations rely on Russia for crucial imports – especially the oil that fuels their modernization and the wheat that feeds their burgeoning populations. But recently, civilians in several of these trade-dependent countries have pushed their governments to speak up about a much different, much murkier type of trade with Russia – the deceitful trafficking in humans who are forcibly thrown into the Russian battlefront in Ukraine. Last month, families of Kenyan men allegedly duped into fighting for Russia held protests in Nairobi, as the government revealed that more than 1,000 citizens had been so recruited. ‘These are … matters of human rights, national responsibility, and continental dignity,’ declared the Centre for Investigative Journalism in Zambia.” (03/17/26)
“A judge in the US has ruled that the effective closure of the Voice of America (VOA) last year was ‘illegal’ and that hundreds of its journalists should be reinstated. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth has given authorities one week to put the international broadcaster back on air. The VOA was set up during World War Two to counter Nazi propaganda. Just weeks after returning to office as president, Donald Trump issued an executive order to close the broadcaster which his officials accused of left-wing bias.” (03/18/26)
“Over the next several days, perhaps even stretching into next week, the United States Senate, that grave and august deliberative body, will performatively waste time with impassioned speeches over the SAVE America Act, which they all know will never pass. There may, however, be an off ramp to this Mobius loop of legislative futility: A proposal from Sen. John Fetterman [D-PA] would have the upper body vote on a clean, simple, voter ID bill, without provisions regarding mail-in ballots or citizenship. Make no mistake, President Donald Trump is correct that all the provisions of the SAVE America Act, including one banning men from women’s sports have broad popular support, and are of vital importance. But if the bill cannot pass, then so what?” (03/18/26)
“Two Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday introduced legislation that would prohibit online prediction markets from allowing bets on government actions that could be easily gamed by insiders. The proposed Banning Event Trading on Sensitive Operations and Federal Functions (BETS OFF) Act, unveiled by US Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Rep. Greg Casar [D-TX], would ban ‘wagering on government actions, terrorism, war, assassination, and events where an individual knows or controls the outcome.’ The lawmakers said the legislation was necessary due to suspiciously timed bets that were placed on the cryptocurrency-based prediction platform Polymarket related to imminent US military actions in Venezuela and Iran, raising concerns that Trump administration officials were using insider information to profit from life-or-death policy decisions.” (03/18/26)
“India could soon get a lot thinner – at least in theory. On Friday the patent on semaglutide – the molecule behind Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk’s blockbuster weight-loss drugs Wegovy and Ozempic – expires in the country. This will allow domestic pharmaceutical companies to release cheaper copies or generics, triggering a rush of competition that could slash prices by more than half and rapidly expand access for people in India, and eventually in other countries too. Investment bank Jefferies has called it a potential ‘magic-pill moment’ for India, predicting the semaglutide market could eventually reach $1bn domestically with the right pricing and uptake. Analysts expect around 50 branded semaglutide generics to enter the market within months – a familiar pattern in India’s fiercely competitive pharmaceutical industry. When the diabetes drug sitagliptin went off patent in 2022, about 30 branded versions appeared within a month and nearly 100 within a year.” (03/18/26)
“It’s increasingly difficult for U.S. political commentators to neglect the centrality of socialism to the country’s affairs. We now see a spate of polling results and other commentary testifying to the popularity of socialist ideas, if not the label, as well as to the prospects of rising political stars like Mayors Zohran Mamdani in New York City and Katie Wilson in Seattle, as well as State Senator Omar Fateh in Minneapolis. Whenever democratic socialism has a moment in the mainstream media, as it is having now, pundits and reporters ponder what ’democratic socialism’ really means. Those on the Left speculate on how, if at all, it differs from ‘social democracy’ — generally taken to refer to the more egalitarian economic arrangements observed in the Nordic countries, and to a lesser extent across Western Europe.” (03/17/26)
“Steve Hilton, a legal immigrant and political newcomer running as a Republican for governor of California, said the ‘absolute failure on every front’ by current Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democrats means the GOP has a real shot at pulling off an upset in the Golden State. Though California has long since been written off by many as a progressive stronghold, the most recent polling indicates Hilton may be right. On Wednesday, Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies released a poll showing Hilton leading California voter preferences at 17 percent. Another Republican, Riverside Sheriff Chad Bianco, follows at 16 percent. Both Republicans are ahead of the two top Democratic names, Rep. Eric Swalwell [D-CA] and former Rep. Katie Porter, who are each at 13 percent.” (03/18/26)
“Susan Rice, who played leading roles in the Obama and Biden administrations, has broken a Washington code of silence by threatening that anyone who plays ball with the Trump administration will suffer payback the next time Democrats take control. ‘When it comes to the elites, you know, the corporate interests, the law firms, the universities, the media, it’s not going to end well for them,’ she said on a podcast. ‘They’re going to be held accountable by those who come in opposition to Trump and win at the ballot box,’ she added. She is no stranger to dirty tricks, having been involved in the Obama administration’s spying on Trump’s 2016 White House campaign. And she was in the top ranks of the Biden White House when its Justice Department broke with two centuries of history by indicting and trying to convict Trump …” (03/17/26)
“A Chinese man and his Kenyan associate have been charged with illegally dealing in wildlife species after they were caught trying to smuggle more than 2,000 live queen garden ants out of Kenya. Zhang Kequn was arrested at the international airport in the capital Nairobi last week after authorities discovered the large consignment of ants in his luggage – each of them either stashed in a test tube or wrapped in tissue. On Tuesday, a court in Nairobi heard that Zhang bought the ants from Charles Mwangi at 10,000 Kenyan shillings ($77; £58) for every 100 of them. Kenyan authorities have been warning about of a growing demand for garden ants in Europe and Asia, where collectors keep them as pets. Officials have not said if this were the case for the insects Zhang tried to bring out of the country, but his luggage was bound for China.” (03/18/26)
“A Brazilian police operation in Rio de Janeiro favelas on Wednesday killed seven presumed drug traffickers, including a gang chief, as well as a local resident caught in the crossfire, law enforcement officials said. Claúdio Augusto dos Santos, a drug-trafficking boss and member of the notorious Red Command criminal organization, was among those killed in the operation in central Rio, Secretary of the Military Police Col. Marcelo de Menezes said in a press conference. In retaliation, police said ‘criminals’ set fire to a bus and blocked roads in Rio’s central zone, leading to four arrests. Márcio Sousa, the driver of the bus set alight, reported that the attackers boarded the vehicle with two bottles of gasoline.” (03/18/26)
