Following Sunday’s referendum, Venezuela’s Maduro government de facto “annexes” the oil-rich Essequibo region. Guyana calls for help from friends, including US Southern Command. Military exercises are already under way.More
Pfizer and BioNTech Are Suing Poland Over Its Refusal to Pay for More COVID-19 Vaccines. Are They Also Suing Hungary?
Even by the normal standards of investor-state dispute settlements (ISDS), Pfizer and BioNtech’s lawsuit against the government of Poland for refusing to take delivery of more unwanted vaccines is especially egregious.More
The Drums of War Are Growing Louder in South America
As tensions rise in the Essequibo territorial dispute, Brazil sends reinforcements to its northern border, Venezuela holds a referendum on whether to annex the region and Guyana mulls hosting US military bases. More
Spanish Government Threatens to Break Ranks With EU and Unilaterally Recognise Palestine. What Gives?
If Pedro Sánchez were to actually deliver on his word (which is a pretty big “IF”), Spain would become only the second country to recognise Palestinian statehood while being an EU Member State.More
Quelle Surprise! UK Government Hands Management of NHS Patient Data to CIA-Linked US Spyware Firm, Palantir
The company that aspires to be inside “every missile,… every drone,” including, it seems, those belonging to the Israeli Defence Forces, is now running the patient data platform of the world’s second largest public health care system. More
The Far-Reaching Implications of Javier “the Wig” Milei’s Election Victory in Argentina
Clearly, a majority of voters have had enough of the status quo. What they want is a seismic shift in the underlying political and economic dynamics. And that is what they will get, for better or worse (my money is on the latter).More
Oh, the Irony: IMF Chief Touts Benefits of Cashless Future In Singapore, Just After a Major Bank Outage Shook the Island Nation
“This is not the time to turn back on central bank digital currencies,” Kirstalina Georgieva said. At the same time, Singapore’s central bank is advising the public to “carry some cash” as a contingency for further outages.More
Will the Next Geopolitical Flash Point Be a Centuries-Old Border Dispute in an Oil-Rich Corner of South America?
Ominously, both the US and the UK are deeply involved in Venezuela’s escalating face-off with neighbouring Guyana, one in the present, the other in the past.More
Brazil’s Lula Government Just Mandated COVID-19 Vaccines For All Children Over 6 Months of Age
The Minister of Health, Nísia Trindade, claims that all COVID-19 vaccines have proven to be both effective and safe, and that COVID-19 is a vaccine-preventable disease.More
The World’s Largest Biometric Digital ID System, India’s Aadhaar, Just Suffered Its Biggest Ever Data Breach
In one fell swoop, roughly 10% of the global population appears to have had some of their most valuable personal identifiable information (PII) compromised. Yet Aadhaar continues to receive plaudits from Silicon VallMore
Nick Corbishley 