• The Chinese navy vessel Yuan Wang 5 arrived at a southern Sri Lankan port built by Beijing on Aug. 16. Senior Sri Lankan and Chinese officials welcome the ship with a massive banner that read: “Long Live Sri Lanka-China Friendship.”
(“Chinese Naval Vessel Arrives at Sri Lanka Port to Security Concerns from India,” Guardian, Aug. 16, 2022; “Chinese Military Ship Docks in Sri Lanka over India, US Objections,” Washington Post, Aug. 16, 2022)
• In mid-July, Nicolas Niarchos, a journalist on assignment for The Nation magazine, along with his colleague and translator Joseph “Jeef” Kazadi, were extrajudicially detained in Lubumbashi, in the southern Democratic Republic of the Congo. They were reporting on links between separatists in the region and mining for rare earth minerals including cobalt, a key ingredient in the manufacture of lithium-ion batteries. Both reporters are fully accredited and had been engaged in normal journalistic activities.
(“Free Jeef Kazadi,” The Nation, Aug. 2, 2022; “DRC Journalist Joseph Kazadi Remains Behind Bars after Release of US Reporter Nicolas Niarchos,” Committee to Protect Journalists, July 20, 2022)
• Four years ago, a group of University of Connecticut students protested as defense contractor Lockheed Martin celebrated a special day on campus by landing a Black Hawk and Sikorsky S-76 helicopters next to the student union. The students were angry that weeks earlier a Saudi-led air strike in Yemen had killed 40 children in a school bus. One year prior, Lockheed Martin had sold the Saudis $110 billion in precision-guided munitions in a deal brokered by the Trump administration.
(“A Bachelor’s in Bombmaking,” In These Times, Aug. 11, 2022)
This week’s News Summary was narrated by Anna Manzo.
