Dear Global Recap readers,

I hope this email finds you well. The reason I am reaching out to you today is to extend my heartfelt congratulations on successfully making it through the week. 👏

Oh, and also to tell you about today’s news.

Let’s get into it.

📈 Top News

🔥 Zelensky fires corrupt military officials. Actually, he fired ALL the heads of the regional military recruitment centers in Ukraine. These officials were accused of taking bribes from people aiming to evade frontline service. Zelensky called their acts “treason.”

Click here for more.

🇮🇳 India proposes legislation to overhaul colonial-era criminal laws, including the sedition law. During the colonial-era, the British used the law to penalize Indian leaders who were striving for independence. But after India’s independence, it was used by Indian governments to silence opponents!

The proposed bills also contain provisions allowing capital punishment for perpetrators of mob lynchings and prescribe minimum sentences of 20 years for gang rape.

Click here for more.

🔥 Poland is sending 10,000 additional troops to its border with Belarus as fears of war continue to escalate. The Polish defence minister, Mariusz Blaszczak, cited alleged violations of Polish air space by two military aircraft as one of the reasons for the move.

Click here for more.

🇺🇳 UN saves the day. The UN has successfully transferred all the oil from a decaying tanker located off the Yemeni coast, eliminating a threat previously characterized as a "ticking time bomb."

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🪖 Things are getting really complicated in West Africa. Just yesterday, ECOWAS activated their standby force to restore democracy in Niger. Then reports have emerged indicating that Niger's junta had previously issued threats to murder the ousted president Bazoum if any intervention took place.

Are we close to seeing a full-blown war in West Africa?

Click here for more.

✍🏻 In-Depth

Belarus
Lukashenko Bussing Wagners Out

🚌 Mercenaries are being “bussed” back to Russia for a “vacation.” Reports have emerged suggesting Lukashenko has begun to kick all Wagner Group men out of the country. It supposedly began earlier in the month, with a second phase to remove the rest going into effect on August 13.

🇱🇾 The men en route to Russia are known to be those who turned down the option to be reassigned to Libya. According to a source of the Cheka-OGPU Telegram channel, after a meeting held by Wagner PMC, those who didn't agree to go on a work assignment to Libya were “urgently sent on vacation to Russia.”

⛱️ But is this really a vacation? There are also reports indicating that some of the returned Wagner mercenaries are being stoned to death for their involvement in the unsuccessful mutiny.

🇧🇾 So why is Lukashenko “bussing” people out of Belarus? They are expensive to keep around. Putin spilled the beans on shelling out around $1 billion for the PMC in the past year. With that kind of a price tag, I almost feel a little bad for the dictator.

🌈 But here's the silver lining. Poland and Lithuania can breathe a sigh of relief. They were starting to get very anxious about the Wagner buildup around the Suwalki Gap. Is this problem solved?