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 political prisoners in the late 1980s, and he was a reliable ally of the country’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, in the country’s non-religious political structure; many of Iran’s allies and neighbors have expressed condolences and declared periods of mourning, and new presidential elections will take place within 50 days, Iran’s vice president stepping into the role of president in the meantime.
—The Wall Street Journal
International Criminal Court prosecutor requests warrants for Netanyahu and Hamas leaders
Summary: Karim Khan, the prosecutor for the International Criminal Court, has announced that he’s requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, Israel’s defense minister, and three Hamas leaders for war crimes and crimes against humanity, related to the attack on Israel on October 7, and the subsequent attacks on Gaza by Israel.
Context: This request still has to be approved by judges before those warrants are issued, and Israel doesn’t recognize the ICC’s jurisdiction, nor is Hamas likely to care overmuch about what the Court has to say, but this is still embarrassing for Netanyahu in particular, and could complicate travel for those who are being targeted by these warrants, if they’re issued, as it means they could be arrested if they travel to one of the 124 countries that are members of the Court, which doesn’t include the US, but does include most European nations.
—The New York Times
New Taiwanese president calls on China to stop its threats
Summary: In his inauguration speech, the new president of Taiwan, Lai Ching-te, said that peace was the only choice in the region, and asked China to stop making military and political threats against the island, which China claims as its own, but which operates independently.
Context: Lai’s accession to the presidency has been a cause for concern amongst some of Taiwan’s allies, as he’s been a proponent for formal, overt independence for the island, which China has signaled could trigger some kind of attack; Taiwan currently operates in a sort of superposition enabled by a lack of clarity about its status, most of its allies assuming it to be independent, but seldom saying it outright, to avoid triggering a response from China, while China says it belongs to them, but doesn’t do much beyond posturing to show that this is the case; there are concerns that Chinese leader Xi could be planning to more formally claim Taiwan sometime this decade, and that too much talk about independence, especially from Taiwan’s government, could provide justification for such an attack.
—Reuters
New research shows that around 38% of all webpages that existed in 2013 were no longer accessible in 2023, and that this has led to a lot of dead links and missing references and research across journalistic and government websites, among others.
—Pew Research
$73 million
Sum laundered (“at least”) from defrauded victims by two Chinese nationals who were charged by US authorities last Friday.
These fraudsters were arrested at the Atlanta airport in April and allegedly engaged in a type of crypto scam called “pig butchering,” which involves manipulating targets into depositing money into accounts set up for the purpose before laundering it into bank accounts in the Bahamas.
—Reuters
One Sentence News / May 21, 2024