Hello again, Global Recap readers! 

On this day in 1941, Winston Churchill publicly acknowledged the infamous “V for Victory Campaign.” Just as it aimed to boost morale and provide hope during WWII, hopefully, the people of Ukraine can find hope and courage in their arduously long conflict with Russia.

📈 Top News

First, South Africa requested President Putin not to attend the BRICS Summit in August because his attendance could complicate South Africa’s position, given their obligation to the International Court of Justice to arrest him. Russia rejected the request.

Then, South African President Ramaphosa said in court papers that “Russia has made it clear that arresting its sitting President would be a declaration of war.” Russia denied this claim.

Today, Putin bailed on the BRICS summit. He has decided not to attend the Summit, citing “mutual agreement” with his South African counterpart. What’s he thinking?

🔥Wagner’s Yevgeny Prigozhin is being sued by a Libyan national who claims to have survived a summary execution by the Russian mercenary. The lawsuit, filed in Washington on Tuesday, also names Libyan warlord Khalifa Hifter, who brought the group to Libya in 2018. How practical is this lawsuit?

🧪 China denies supplying Mexican cartels with fentanyl precursors. The Chinese embassy in Mexico has rejected claims by US officials that precursor chemicals used by Mexican cartels to make fentanyl come from China. How are they so sure?

🔥 Kenya is burning: protests erupt over tax hikes and rising living costs. The opposition leader Raila Odinga has called for three days of demonstrations against President William Ruto, who has raised taxes and failed to curb inflation. Police have clashed with protesters, firing tear gas and arresting dozens. Mismanagement or inevitability?

🚀 North Korea fires two ballistic missiles, but no immediate threat to the US or its allies. Tokyo and Seoul confirmed the launch, with the missiles falling outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone. The US military reaffirmed that its commitment to Tokyo’s and Seoul’s defense remains "ironclad." What does Kim want?

✍🏻 In-Depth

South Korea
US Soldier Who Bolted to North Korea: Identified

🪖 Meet Private 2nd Class, Travis King. We reported yesterday that a Korean publication initially named him as the individual who willfully defected to North Korea, before later removing his identity. Well, it now appears that King is indeed the US soldier who defected.

🏃‍♂️ So why did he bolt to North Korea? King had recently been released from a South Korean prison and was supposed to board a plane back to the US.

• He was fined 5 million won (US$3,950) for damaging public property.

• He was accused of repeatedly kicking a police patrol car in Seoul last year, causing several hundred dollars in damages.

• He did not cooperate when apprehended by officers at the scene and was shouting profanities about Koreans and the Korean Army.

Instead, he joined a tour group of the Joint Security Area (JSA) and made a run for it.

Russia
Prigozhin Resurfaces

🇧🇾 Yevgeny Prigozhin has posted a new video from Belarus. In the video, Prigozhin tells his mercenaries that:

• what’s going on in the Russian army is a disgrace

• they will stay in Belarus for some time

• they will make the Belarusian army “second in the world”

• they will eventually move to Africa

• they may return for the “Special Military Operation.”

I am assuming that he doesn’t think the Russian army is the “first in the world” - since he just dunked on it. So, isn’t he saying that he will make the Belarusian army better than Russia’s? You can judge for yourself.

China
China’s Climate Ultimatum

🌏 China plays hardball. The world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter is willing to play ball with the US on climate change, but only if Washington respects its core interests and stops meddling in its internal affairs. That was the message from China’s VP Han Zheng to US climate envoy John Kerry, who visited Beijing this week to revive the bilateral dialogue on global warming.

🔥 Coal is still king. Despite its pledge to level off carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, China is still leading the world in the production and consumption of coal. In fact, China’s coal consumption amounted to ~86.2 exajoules, up from 82.4 exajoules in the previous year. China accounted for 54% of the world’s coal consumption and nearly half of the new coal plants approved last year.

🌞 Renewables are booming. On the bright side, China is also a global leader in clean energy development, investing nearly $250 billion a year in renewable energy between 2021 and 2023. China is expected to install 154 gigawatts of solar panels this year, accounting for more than half of the world’s wind power. China’s solar panel supply chain is already approaching the scale needed for the world to hit net zero.