BLUF: Recent Stories You May Have Missed
If you’ve been a BLUF subscriber for more than a few weeks, you’ve probably heard us make the case that everything is national security and that’s because, well, it really seems like it. This week, however (and the past few weeks for that matter), it’s feeling more like everything is politics. Escaping the unrelenting barrage of political advertisements, social media opining, and awkward dinnertime conversation (this oughta be a fun Thanksgiving) is gameshow worthy.
With so much of your screen time hijacked by political news, we thought we’d share a few stories you might have missed:
A German-national was executed by the Iranian government after being falsely accused of committing “multiple terrorist acts at the direction of his masters in the intelligence services of the U.S. and Israel.” Jamshid Sharmahd, a longtime U.S. resident, was an Iranian dissident whose death is being described as an act of political violence as retribution for Israel’s attacks on Iran. Germany and the U.S. have vowed swift punishment upon the regime.
The Cuban government announced a state of emergency on October 18 after a collapsed power grid plunged the island nation into darkness. The electrical outage has left people without running water or power to cook food. While Cuban natives are accustomed to random, rolling power outages of up to a few hours a day, this is the most comprehensive blackout in over three decades, since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Democratic governments around the world are criticizing the recent Georgian parliamentary election in which election observers noted irregularities and possible tampering. The ruling Georgian Dream party has been accused of flipping votes in individual precincts that, when aggregated, give the impression of a sweeping victory. According to a POLITICO article, European Commission spokesperson Nabila Massrali said the EU “is closely following developments” in Georgia and reiterated the bloc’s call for an investigation into alleged interference.
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