Donald Trump may be a world of chaos all by himself, but the world beyond Trump is changing in dramatic ways, often with little notice. We’d like to tell you about it and we’re keeping track of these global changes, from the incremental to the monumental, so that you don’t have to.This week: A gruesome week in Afghanistan’s endless war; U.S. faces an impossible situation in Syria; A presidential contender in Egypt is suddenly arrested; Ugandan sex workers are working without condoms because of Trump administration policy, and more.Afghanistan was marred by three deadly terror attacks in the span of one week. Last Saturday night’s gruesome Taliban siege on the Intercontinental hotel — a popular destination for diplomats and journalists — left 18 people dead, 14 of them foreigners. Gruesome Kabul hotel attack shows ugly reality of Afghanistan’s endless war/ Alexa Liautaud.By Wednesday, Afghans were again confronted by terror, when ISIS launched a 10-hour attack on the offices of international aid agency Save the Children in Jalalabad, eastern Afghanistan, killing five people and wounding 24 more. ISIS attacks Save the Children offices in Afghanistan/ Alexa Liautaud.Horror returned to Kabul Saturday morning when a suicide bomber detonated explosives inside the city’s security checkpoints, near the former office of the Interior ministry, killing at least 100 people and injuring 148 more. The attacker used an ambulance to bypass security. Taliban claimed the attack. 'It's a Massacre': Blast in Kabul Deepens Toll of a Long War/ NY TimesWithin days of his presidency, President Trump reinstated the global so-called “gag rule,” requiring foreign NGOs receiving U.S. support promise not to perform or promote abortions. The move alarmed experts who fear these cuts will undermine programs aimed at fighting HIV and AIDS. VICE News visited Kampala, Uganda, where 151 new infections of HIV and AIDS are logged each day, to see the impact of Trump’s policies firsthand. Ugandan sex workers are working without condoms because of Trump administration policy/ Gianna Toboni.That’s the number of people who died in a fire that tore through a hospital and nursing home in southeastern South Korea Friday. The death toll marked the country’s deadliest fire in a decade. More than 130 people were also injured in the blaze. Elderly patients die as blaze rips through South Korean hospital / Tim Hume.That’s how many studies China published in 2016, out-producing the U.S. by nearly 20,000 papers. The findings come from the National Science Foundation’s biennial Science and Engineering Indicators report,which tracks U.S. contributions to the sciences. The U.S. could soon fall behind China in scientific research/ Alex Lubben.That’s how much money 6,000 gamers risked in order to participate in a competition centered around online video game Eve Online. 6,000 gamers just risked $1M in a massive space fight/ David Gilbert.That’s the percentage of Brazilian voters that plan to vote for former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Brazil’s upcoming presidential election, a figure nearly double that of his closest rival. All is probably for naught, however, as a Brazilian appellate court upheld Lula’s corruption conviction Thursday, effectively barring him from running again. Judges Uphold Lula's Graft Conviction, Scrambling Brazilian Presidential Race / NPR.Egypt’s presidential elections don’t kick off until late March, but political machinations are already underway in Cairo, where potential challengers to President Abdel Fatah el-Sisi have been forced out of the race, or dropped out themselves, citing an environment of fear and loathing.The latest dramatic departure was retired general Sami Anan, who was dragged out of his car in the street by armed men and jailed just days after announcing his run. Dozens of his campaign staff, and even members of their families, were arrested, too.Anan’s lawyer says the former chief-of-staff of the Egyptian army has been detained in military prison. Egypt’s race for president kicks off with arrest of top challenger/ Greg Walters.
Turkish soldiers are pictured in a village near the Turkish-Syrian border in Hatay province, Turkey January 24, 2018. (REUTERS/Umit Bektas)
After years of battle, the U.S. is on the cusp of defeating ISIS in Syria, but the tactics it’s used to do so have left the military in a strategic hole of epic proportions. Case in point: the spiraling crisis in Northern Syria where the U.S. finds itself stuck in the middle of a turf war between two allies: Turkey and Syrian Kurds. Turkey to U.S. troops in Syria: Please move so we can attack your Kurdish allies/ Tim Hume.
And as this new conflict unfolds, Washington risks losing the little leverage it has to realize other goals it’s talked about but done little to achieve, analysts told VICE News, such as removing the dictator Bashar al-Assad, rolling back Iranian influence, and stopping Assad’s regime from deploying chemical weapons. The U.S. has put itself in an impossible position in Syria/ Greg Walters.
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Afghanistan: A horrific week in an endless war
Uganda: The real impact of Trump's global “gag rule”
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Some Numbers
37
426k
$1M
36%
Egypt: A one man presidential race
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