🐾 Assassinated

Author

Geopolitics Hound
August 10, 2023

Good morning, readers!

Today, an emergency summit is being convened by ECOWAS to address the recent Nigerien coup. Further details will be provided tomorrow.

Now, let's turn our attention to the assassination that occurred a mere 12 hours ago.

Today’s geopolitics hotspots:

Assassinated: Ecuadorian presidential candidate

Ecuadorian presidential candidate, Fernando Villavicencio, was shot dead at a campaign rally on Wednesday, sparking outrage and fear in the country.

✍🏻 Quick Facts:

  • The candidate was shot multiple times in the head by an unidentified assailant outside a Quito high school after addressing young supporters.

  • A shootout between the attacker and the police followed, leaving nine others injured, including officers and a congressional candidate.

  • The assailant was captured but later died from injuries sustained.

  • The candidate had received three death threats before the shooting, which he reported to authorities, leading to one arrest.

📚 Background: 

  • Villavicencio was one of eight candidates running for president in the snap general elections on August 20, 2023.

  • He was a renowned investigative journalist who exposed corruption and human rights violations, especially in Ecuador's oil sector.

Biden declares tech war on China

Biden and Xi

President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Wednesday that will limit certain US investments in China’s technology sector due to national security concerns.

The order targets three areas:

  • semiconductors and microelectronics,

  • quantum information technologies, and

  • certain artificial intelligence systems.

✍🏻 Quick Facts:

  • The order goes into effect next year after a public comment period and a rule-making process by the Treasury Department.

  • The order restricts US investments in Chinese entities involved in sensitive tech development that could support China’s military modernization or undermine US national security.

  • The US government must be notified of specific US investments in other Chinese tech sectors.

  • The Treasury Department said it anticipates exempting “certain transactions, including potentially those in publicly-traded instruments and intracompany transfers from US parents to subsidiaries”.

💭 Reactions:

  • Some Republicans think Biden didn't go far enough.

“the failure to include existing technology investments as well as sectors like biotechnology and energy is concerning”.

House foreign affairs committee chairman Michael McCaul

  • A representative from the Chinese embassy in Washington said that Beijing is “very disappointed” by the move—accusing the US of undermining “the interests of Chinese and American companies and investors.”

Quick updates

📕 Note for the newcomers: 
Click on the country's name to read the full article.

🇰🇵 North Korea: Dictator Kim Jong-un sacks his top general and calls for war preparations in an "offensive" manner.

🇮🇶 Iraq: Iraq bans the word "homosexual" on all media platforms, including social media. Instead, the term "sexual deviancy" must be used in its place.

🇩🇪 Germany: A German citizen who works for the German armed forces has been arrested for allegedly spying for Russia—voluntarily.

🇧🇪 Belgium: A confidential EU government purchases second-hand Belgian Leopard 1 tanks to be sent to Ukraine.

🇳🇪 Niger: The country’s deposed president has been deprived of all human contact, reduced to surviving on dry rice, and is living without electricity and running water.

🌟Today’s gem

It’s rare to feel like you’ve learned so much about a topic you didn’t have much interest in. But this did it.👇🏻

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