Three news stories summarized & contextualized by analytic journalist Colin Wright. Note: As I mentioned in yesterday’s OSN, this will be the last edition of the email and podcast for the foreseeable future, as I’ll be reinvesting the (substantial amount of) time and effort required to produce it each day in other things (including a new, news-related project called “Some Thoughts About”). If you’re a paying OSN subscriber, the balance of your payment will be refunded, and the OSN archive...

Three news stories summarized & contextualized by analytic journalist Colin Wright. Note: This is a difficult note to write, because I love OSN and I know there are a lot of people who read and listen to it, and who rely on it to help them maintain a situational awareness about the world. But I recently made the decision to put OSN on pause, indefinitely, so I can reallocate the (significant) time and energy required to produce it each day to other things, for the foreseeable future. I’m...

Three news stories summarized & contextualized by analytic journalist Colin Wright. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will plead guilty in deal with US and be freed from prison Summary: Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks who published a trove of classified US military documents in 2010 and has been on the run from the US Justice Department ever since—initially spending years living in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, before being locked up in a UK prison—has reportedly made a deal...

Three news stories summarized & contextualized by analytic journalist Colin Wright. Somalia asks peacekeepers to slow withdrawal, fears Islamist resurgence Summary: Somalia’s government has asked the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia, which is a peacekeeping force of about 4,000 troops, to slow their withdrawal from the country, which is currently expected to be completed on December 31 of this year; around half that force is scheduled to be withdrawn by June, and the government...

Three news stories summarized & contextualized by analytic journalist Colin Wright. Chad joins other countries in eliminating sleeping sickness Summary: Chad has become the 51st country to officially eliminate sleeping sickness from within their borders, marking the halfway point to a goal set by the World Health Organization in 2021 to eliminate it in 100 countries by 2030. Context: Sleeping sickness is a parasitic infection caused by the tsetse fly, and it’s only found in Subsaharan...

Three news stories summarized & contextualized by analytic journalist Colin Wright. Thailand passes landmark bill legalizing same-sex marriage Summary: The Thai Senate has voted, 130 to 4, to allow any two people, whatever their gender, to get engaged or legally married, putting the country on track to become the first in Southeast Asia to allow same-sex marriages. Context: This bill was approved by the country’s House of Representatives in March, and still has to be approved by the Thai...

Three news stories summarized & contextualized by analytic journalist Colin Wright. Nvidia eclipses Microsoft as world's most valuable company Summary: Just a few days after passing Apple, chip-maker Nvidia also surpassed Microsoft’s market valuation, attaining a value of more than $3.3 trillion and becoming the most valuable publicly traded US company. Context: Microsoft recently passed Apple as the most valuable publicly traded US company on the strength of its partnership with...

Three news stories summarized & contextualized by analytic journalist Colin Wright. US sues Adobe for ‘deceiving’ subscriptions that are too hard to cancel Summary: Software company Adobe, which sells digital tools like Photoshop and Illustrator, has been sued by the US Justice Department for allegedly harming consumers by engaging in manipulative practices, like making it difficult and costly to end subscriptions, and enrolling customers in more expensive plans than they wanted. Context:...

Three news stories summarized & contextualized by analytic journalist Colin Wright. Netanyahu disbands his inner war cabinet Summary: Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has disbanded his multi-party war cabinet, following the departure of two of its six members last week. Context: This cabinet advised Netanyahu on the invasion of the Gaza Strip, and was meant to serve as a symbol of solidarity in the country following Hamas’ sneak-attack on Israel—an attack that sparked the aforementioned...

Three news stories summarized & contextualized by analytic journalist Colin Wright. Panel says lawmakers colluded with foreign powers but won’t name names Summary: A new report about foreign interference in Canada’s government, which was recently made public by a committee of Canadian lawmakers, claims that several unnamed Canadian politicians “knowingly or through willful blindness” took money from foreign entities in exchange for interfering with government processes in such a way that...

Three news stories summarized & contextualized by analytic journalist Colin Wright. Officials overseeing Indonesia capital city project resign, raising questions Summary: Two of the people in charge of making Indonesia’s under-construction new capital, Nusantara, a reality have resigned and been temporarily replaced by the public works and housing minister, and the deputy agrarian minister, according to the Indonesian government. Context: This project, which is expected to cost something...

Three news stories summarized & contextualized by analytic journalist Colin Wright. Modi claims victory in India’s election but drop in support forces him to rely on coalition partners Summary: India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has won a third term in office following an election that was expected to be a landslide for his BJP party, but which ended up being a relatively close victory that will necessitate he rely upon allied parties to maintain a majority. Context: The BJP’s National...

Three news stories summarized & contextualized by analytic journalist Colin Wright. Power cut across Nigeria as workers go on strike Summary: Millions of Nigerians remain without electricity after a general strike over the cost of living in the country led to the shut-down of electricity substations by union workers. Context: Unions in the country are demanding a significant increase to the local minimum wage of 30,000 naira per month, which is about $22, saying they can’t survive on that...

Three news stories summarized & contextualized by analytic journalist Colin Wright. Claudia Sheinbaum claims sweeping mandate to become Mexico's first female president Summary: Nobel Prize-winning climate scientist and former mayor of Mexico City Claudia Sheinbaum has become Mexico’s first female president, pulling in somewhere between 58.3% and 60.7% of the vote. Context: Sheinbaum was supported in her campaign by her mentor, the outgoing President Obrador, and while this election is...

Three news stories summarized & contextualized by analytic journalist Colin Wright. Trump guilty on all counts in hush-money case Summary: Former President (and current Presidential Candidate) Trump was convicted of all 34 felony counts that he was charged with in a New York case that centered around falsifying business documents to conceal hush-money payments made in 2016, when he was initially running for President. Context: This is big news in part because this is the first time in US...

Three news stories summarized & contextualized by analytic journalist Colin Wright. Iran further increases its stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels, watchdog says Summary: The United Nation’s nuclear watchdog agency released a report on Monday indicating that Iran’s nuclear program has upped its stockpile of uranium enriched up to 60%, which is just a small, relatively simple step from 90%, which is weapons-grade, by around 45.4 pounds (which is about 20.6 kilograms)...

Three news stories summarized & contextualized by analytic journalist Colin Wright. Louisiana governor signs bill making two abortion drugs controlled dangerous substances Summary: Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry has signed a bill that will classify two drugs commonly used to induce abortions, mifepristone and misoprostol, as dangerous, controlled substances in the state; this new classification will go into effect on October 1. Context: This move is being criticized by the medical...

Three news stories summarized & contextualized by analytic journalist Colin Wright. Egyptian soldier killed in Israel border incident Summary: An Egyptian soldier stationed near the country’s border with Rafah was shot and killed during a cross-border exchange of fire between Egyptian and Israeli soldiers; both countries’ militaries are investigating what happened. Context: This is notable in part because it’s occurring at a moment in which much of the international community is turning...

Three news stories summarized & contextualized by analytic journalist Colin Wright. Saudi Arabia appoints first ambassador to Syria since 2012 Summary: Over the weekend, the Saudi government announced that it has appointed its first ambassador to Syria since it broke diplomatic ties with the country about 12 years ago. Context: This is of a kind with other efforts by the Saudi government to rebuild fraying relations with its regional neighbors, and follows a decision by the Arab League to...

Three news stories summarized & contextualized by analytic journalist Colin Wright. More than 670 feared dead in Papua New Guinea landslide Summary: Estimates from the UN’s International Organization for Migration indicate that more than 670 people have probably died in a massive landslide in Papua New Guinea that buried more than 150 houses last Friday—the true number is still in question, as unstable conditions in the afflicted region have made rescue efforts difficult. Update: The...

Three news stories summarized & contextualized by analytic journalist Colin Wright. China’s youth unemployment eased in April Summary: New data from the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics indicate that the jobless rate amongst the country’s 16-to-24-year-old demographic (excluding those enrolled in school) dropped to 14.7% in April, which is down from 15.3% in March. Context: Youth unemployment has been a persistent problem in China for years, and it’s being seen as both a consequence...

Three news stories summarized & contextualized by analytic journalist Colin Wright. Spain, Norway and Ireland recognize a Palestinian state Summary: On Wednesday, Spain, Norway, and Ireland announced that they would formally recognize Palestine as an independent state—a move that’s being seen as a statement against Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip. Context: Dozens of countries have long recognized Palestine as a sovereign nation, and this new wave of recognition, like those that came...

Three news stories summarized & contextualized by analytic journalist Colin Wright. Hims & Hers is now selling Ozempic-like weight loss drugs for $199 Summary: Hims & Hers Health, a telehealth company that specializes in providing everything from hair-loss to erectile dysfunction to skin-care products, online, announced on Monday that it is now offering a compounded version of semaglutide, which is the active ingredient in weight loss drugs like Ozempic and diabetes drugs like...

Three news stories summarized & contextualized by analytic journalist Colin Wright. Iranian President and Foreign Minister killed in helicopter crash Summary: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the country’s Foreign Minister, and seven other people have died in a helicopter crash in a remote and mountainous part of the country, seemingly due to bad weather conditions. Context: Raisi was sometimes called the “Butcher of Tehran” for involvement in the execution of thousands of Iranian...