OSINTSUM: Friday 19 July 2024

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OSINTSUM
Global Situation Update
Friday 19 July 2024

International

Technology: A widespread IT outage caused by a defect in a software update by cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike has impacted Microsoft Windows operating systems. It has caused 1,400 flights to be cancelled as well as having a major impact on the banking, healthcare, and retail sectors.
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Africa

Kenya: A Kenyan court has suspended an attempt by the police to ban protests in the capital of Nairobi and surrounding areas until further notice. The police said the ban was necessary as the protests had been “infiltrated by criminals”, but the court has suspended the ban pending the hearing of an opposition suit filed by a civil rights organisation.
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Sudan: Food supplies into Darfur have been constricted due to one of the key supply routes into the region being cut off due to heavy rainfall according to a World Food Programme official. The region is deemed at risk of famine, and a UN official said some refugees there had been driven to eating grass.
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Americas

Argentina: President Javier Milei has promised to get justice for the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires which killed 85 people. The attack was blamed on Hezbollah militants acting on behalf of Iran by Argentina’s top court in April.
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Canada: General Jennie Carignan has taken over command of the Canadian Armed Forces at a ceremony at the Canadian War Museum in Ottowa, and in doing so has become the first woman to command the country’s military.
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Chile: An earthquake in the Atacama desert of northern Chile - which holds 90% of the country’s lithium reserves - has caused the price of the metal in China to increase by 2.9% after previously hitting a seven-month low. Chile has the world’s largest reserves of lithium.
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Peru: Peruvian authorities have extended the pre-trial detention of former President Pedro Castillo an additional four months while an investigation into charges of his alleged rebellion remains underway. His detention had already been extended by 14 months last month.
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US: Leading Democrats are thought to be privately discussing the need to prevent incumbent Joe Biden from standing for a second term as president after polling data shows he is behind former President Donald Trump in key battleground states.
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US: Facebook owner Mark Zuckerberg will not endorse either incumbent Joe Biden or challenger Donald Trump in the upcoming US presidential elections. His statement comes after several influential Silicon Valley figures, including Elon Musk, said they were backing Trump’s campaign.
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Asia/Oceania

Bangladesh: Police have banned all protests in the capital city of Dhaka after a series of increasingly deadly days of demonstrations stemming from student opposition to quotas for government jobs. At least 39 people have died in the protests so far this week, with 32 of those yesterday alone.
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China: The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) reiterated its wide-ranging economic policy goals, including modernising industry, expanding domestic demand, and reducing property sector risks, at a key meeting of its central committee - known as a plenum.
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China: China has named Danish, Dutch, and Spanish pork firms as targets in its anti-dumping probe into EU pork imports in a move widely seen as retaliation for the bloc’s tariffs on imports of Chinese electric vehicles.
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North Korea: Leader Kim Jong Un met with Russia’s Deputy Defence Minister Aleksei Krivoruchko to discuss the importance of closer cooperation between the two countries’ militaries according to North Korean state media. No other details of the purpose of Krivoruchko’s visit were disclosed.
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Pakistan: Counter-terror authorities have arrested Amin ul Haq, an al-Qaeda leader who features on a UN sanctions list and is thought to have been a close associate of the late Osama Bin Laden, who masterminded the 9/11 attacks on the US.
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Taiwan: Taiwan’s Premier Cho Jung-tai said his country was willing to shoulder more responsibility for its self-defence in response to concerns that the potential election of Donald Trump as US president may see a reduction in support from their major ally.
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Vanuatu: The US has opened an embassy on the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu in a move which will be seen as a great success for the West in its long-running competition with China for influence in the region.
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Vietnam: The leader of Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party, Nguyen Phu Trong, has died after a period of illness and days after handing over duties to President To Lam. He had been the general secretary of the party since 2011, and was seen as one of the country’s most powerful leaders in decades.
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Europe

Russia: A Russian court has jailed US journalist Evan Gershkovich to 16 years in a high-security penal colony after finding him guilty of espionage in a trial described as a “sham” by his family and the Biden administration. It is possible Gershkovich will be used as a bargaining chip in a prisoner swap to secure the release of a Russian being detained by the US.
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France: French security services are undertaking a drive to address an intelligence blind spot ahead of the upcoming Olympics by building relations with Tajiks and other Central Asians in the country in the wake of two major attacks carried out this year by Tajiks on behalf of ISIS-K.
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France: Lawmakers have re-elected a member of President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist bloc as president of parliament’s lower house in what could be a possible breakthrough in attempts to form a majority amid an ongoing deadlock.
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Poland: Prosecutors in Poland are investigating a crime which targeted Belarusian opposition figure Pavel Latushka under legislation covering homicide and the activities of foreign intelligence networks. No specific details of the investigation have been released.
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UK: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky attended a UK cabinet meeting and addressed UK government ministers today in a move UK Prime Minister Kier Starmer hopes will underline London’s support for Kyiv.
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Middle East

Gaza: The UK is to resume its funding of the UN’s Palestine relief agency UNRWA in a reversal of the previous Conservative government’s suspension. The move leaves the US as the only country not to have resumed its funding of the agency.
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Israel: Yemen’s Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for a UAV attack near the US embassy in Tel Aviv which left one person dead. The Israel Defence Forces said they believe the UAV was Iranian-made and launched from Yemen.
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