Buzz
Keeping up with the news can be quite challenging. So much so, that we've decided to save you the trouble by curating the most impactful, unexpected, or simply mind-blowing stories for you every week.
After a two-week break, Morris M. returns to guide you through the headlines as we reach the middle of September. From intense tropical storms to historic elections and escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula, here’s what’s been happening across the globe.
10. Mexico Was Struck By The Largest Earthquake In A Century
Last Friday, while most of us were starting our typical workday and browsing through list-based websites, Southern Mexico was experiencing a nightmare. At midnight the night before, the most powerful earthquake in almost a century struck off the coast of Chiapas state.
With a magnitude of 8.1, the quake caused buildings to tremble as far away as Mexico City. Hundreds of thousands were forced to evacuate, and thousands of homes were destroyed. By the beginning of this week, nearly 100 lives had been lost.
Despite its seismic strength and the devastation it caused in Chiapas and Oaxaca, this earthquake was far from the deadliest on record. A smaller quake in 1985 wiped out half of Mexico City, killing at least 5,000 people. By comparison, the death toll from the Chiapas quake was, fortunately, much lower.
The quake also sparked a diplomatic dispute between Mexico and the US. Mexico had previously pledged financial aid to help Texas recover after Hurricane Harvey. However, when the White House declined to offer support following the Chiapas earthquake, Mexico decided to withdraw its aid.
9. Hurricane Irma Devastated The Florida Keys
While Mexico was reeling from its earthquake, Florida found itself under the wrath of a fierce hurricane. As mentioned in last week's column, Irma had already wreaked havoc across the Caribbean. There were genuine concerns it could bring unparalleled devastation to the Southern United States.
Fortunately, Irma’s destructive force weakened shortly after making landfall—but not before it could wreak havoc on the Florida Keys. According to FEMA, 90 percent of homes in the Keys have sustained damage, with a quarter of them completely destroyed. The death toll stands at 24 in Florida, with an additional seven fatalities in Georgia and South Carolina. While Irma’s impact could have been worse, the damage it caused was still catastrophic.
In a particularly heartbreaking turn of events, the most tragic aspect of the disaster emerged on Wednesday. After days without power in sweltering heat, eight patients at a care home in the Florida Keys perished before they could be evacuated. The haunting images of their bodies being quietly wheeled away symbolize the immense suffering caused by Irma across multiple nations.
8. Georgia’s Former President Entered Ukraine By Force
Mikheil Saakashvili has a knack for annoying governments. The former president of Georgia is wanted in his homeland on criminal charges. Ironically, his adopted home of Ukraine doesn't want him either. In November 2016, President Poroshenko revoked Saakashvili's citizenship (which had been granted when he became governor of Odessa) and expelled him from the country.
On Sunday, Saakashvili decided to show the Ukrainian government just how much of a nuisance he could be. Along with a group of supporters, he gathered at the Polish border. After delivering a series of passionate speeches, they bypassed the guards and crossed into Ukraine. Fortunately, the Ukrainian border guards refrained from using force.
Saakashvili is an anti-Kremlin, pro-democracy activist who aligns well with Ukraine’s pro-Western aspirations. However, during his time as governor of Odessa, he claimed to have uncovered evidence that President Poroshenko was involved in corruption. He argues that Poroshenko’s decision to strip him of his citizenship was unlawful and has demanded reentry into Ukraine. This weekend, he briefly got his way.
7. Moscow’s Voters Dealt Vladimir Putin A Surprising Blow
Shifting back to Eastern Europe, the weekend also brought an unexpected development in Moscow. Muscovites went to the polls to decide who would control the city’s district councils—a mostly ceremonial task, as Putin allies traditionally dominate all 1,502 seats.
But this year, things were different. In an unexpected twist, a coalition of opposition parties managed to secure 250 of the available seats. This marks the first time in years that left-wing, anti-Putin factions have had any official presence on Moscow’s councils.
For Russia, this was as close to a political revolution as it has seen in recent years. The parties Yabloko and Parnas, alongside independents and first-time candidates, came together under the leadership of Kremlin critic Dmitry Gudkov. They launched mass voter registration campaigns (much harder in Russia than in the US) and engaged in vigorous grassroots organizing. The outcome exceeded all expectations.
That said, it’s important not to exaggerate the significance. Putin’s United Russia party still dominated the election, securing more than 75 percent of all votes cast. Nevertheless, the results were a surprising blow to a leader unaccustomed to facing opposition.
6. South Korea Created Its Own Suicide Squad To Take Out Kim Jong-Un
South Korea’s progressive President Moon is opposed to having nuclear weapons in his country. However, this poses a challenge, as his northern neighbor is a volatile dictator bent on turning the world into a radioactive wasteland.
This week, Seoul unveiled its solution to the issue. Instead of relying on nuclear deterrence, they’ve opted for a more targeted—and possibly more effective—approach. Spartan 3000 is an elite South Korean suicide squad with a singular mission: infiltrate North Korea and do whatever it takes to eliminate Kim Jong-un.
This squad is part of South Korea’s new ‘Decapitation strategy’ designed to counter the North’s nuclear threats. Moon has reasoned that Kim is less concerned about his population perishing in a nuclear holocaust than he is about being quietly assassinated in the dead of night. As a result, he may find Spartan 3000 more intimidating than South Korean missiles.
Interestingly, this isn’t South Korea’s first attempt at such a strategy. In the 1960s, a team of criminals, reminiscent of a Dirty Dozen–style operation, was assembled to eliminate Kim Il-sung. Now, there’s hope that Spartan 3000 will succeed where they fell short.
5. New Zealand Has Accused One of Its Own MPs of Being a Chinese Spy
Jian Yang, a Member of Parliament in New Zealand’s ruling National Party, has long been skilled at raising large amounts of money. But this week, New Zealand’s own intelligence agency accused him of secretly living a double life as a Chinese spy. If the allegations are true, it would mean Beijing succeeded in placing an agent at the heart of the Five Eyes intelligence network without anyone catching on.
Yang is well known for supporting stronger ties with China and for taking positions that often mirror Beijing’s policies. However, this is the first time anyone has suggested that he’s actually on the Chinese government’s payroll. The allegations stem from a decade Yang spent teaching English to cadets at Chinese military academies, some of whom were tied to China’s intelligence services. Allegedly, this was all part of his covert operations.
It's worth noting that Yang denies the accusations, and New Zealand's Prime Minister, Bill English, has stated that the MP was cleared prior to joining the government. It's possible that the allegations are nothing more than New Zealand intelligence jumping to conclusions.
4. The Absurd Monkey Selfie Lawsuit Finally Came to a Close
Perhaps no case in US court history has been more ludicrous than the one surrounding the monkey selfie. Captured by a macaque in Indonesia using photographer David Slater's equipment, the photo went viral online. Slater, upset that he was not receiving any compensation, attempted to claim royalties for the image. A lawsuit ensued, with a judge ultimately ruling that Slater could not copyright the photo since it was taken by an animal.
If you think that was bad for Slater, wait until you hear what happened next. PETA filed a lawsuit on behalf of the monkey, arguing that any profits Slater made from the photo should belong to the macaque and its descendants. The case reportedly left Slater emotionally devastated and penniless.
This week, the absurdest case in US copyright history came to a close with a settlement between Slater and PETA. Under the terms of the deal, Slater will now contribute 25 percent of his revenue from the infamous selfie to the protection of macaques in Indonesia. The outcome of this case could have a lasting impact on American law, as both PETA and Slater have reportedly requested that a lower court ruling stating animals cannot hold copyrights be overturned.
3. Russia Kicked Off Its Biggest War Games in Years
Some estimates have called this the largest Russian military exercise since the Cold War. On Thursday, thousands of Russian and Belarusian troops began a multi-day war simulation along their western borders. Known as Zapad-2017 (meaning 'West' in Russian), the war games were not only logistically impressive but also strategically alarming.
Russia’s own estimates put the number of soldiers involved at around 13,000, but NATO believes the real number is closer to 100,000, citing Russia's history of underreporting troop numbers. This has raised concerns in NATO’s eastern members, as the last few major military exercises hosted by Russia have led to real military conflicts.
Back in February 2014, Russia used military drills as a cover to deploy troops along the Ukrainian border. Just a month later, they annexed Crimea. A similar pattern occurred in 2008, when the South Ossetia War between Russia and Georgia was preceded by comparable exercises. Some of NATO's more nervous members are concerned that these current drills might be a precursor to Russia’s invasion of the Baltic states.
While such a scenario seems unlikely, there are key differences from previous instances. In both of those cases, Putin already had a pretext for intervening in Ukraine and Georgia, something he doesn't possess when it comes to NATO countries. That being said, the war games are still causing plenty of anxiety in cities like Warsaw, Vilnius, Riga, and Tallinn.
2. Singapore’s First Female President Was Elected (Without a Vote)
Well, that's one way to break the glass ceiling.
On Wednesday, Halimah Yacob made history by surpassing several significant milestones in Singapore's history. She became the first female president of the small Asian nation and also the first to come from the ethnic Malay minority. By all accounts, progressives around the world should have been celebrating her achievement.
But there was one major issue: Yacob ascended to the presidency without an election. None of the other candidates were allowed to run.
Singapore has some of the strictest criteria for presidential candidates. This year, only individuals from the Malay minority were eligible to run, in an effort to promote racial harmony in the predominantly ethnic Chinese state. Furthermore, longstanding rules meant that anyone not already holding a government position had to prove they were the leader of a company with shareholder equity of at least $500 million. Unsurprisingly, no one met these criteria, and Yacob became president by default.
This isn’t the first time a Singaporean president has taken office without facing an election. S.R. Nathan, the country’s sixth president, won twice without a vote. Before Ong Teng Cheong’s election in 1993, all Singaporean presidents were appointed by the government.
1. Bell Pottinger Crumbled
The name Bell Pottinger might not instantly evoke thoughts of ‘morally bankrupt,’ but in a perfect world, it would. The London-based PR firm made its name through creating fake grassroots campaigns, even supporting figures like Chile’s brutal dictator Augusto Pinochet. However, their most infamous moment came with their work for the Gupta family in South Africa.
In 2016, the Gupta family found themselves under intense media scrutiny for receiving political favors from President Jacob Zuma. Instead of addressing the accusations, they hired Bell Pottinger to create a diversion that would shift the focus away from them. The firm decided that the best approach was to stoke racial tensions.
For several months, Bell Pottinger used fake social media profiles, targeted advertising, and hired protestors to fuel resentment against wealthy white South Africans. Their so-called ‘economic emancipation’ campaign sowed violence towards white businesspeople while protecting the Guptas from criticism. The campaign was condemned by former anti-apartheid leaders, who described it as ‘divisive and dangerous.’
The scandal came to light in July, but it wasn’t until last week that Bell Pottinger finally collapsed under the weight of their own misdeeds. The company’s downfall will not be mourned.
