World roundup: August 7 2023

Stories from Niger, Spain, Brazil, and elsewhere

TODAY IN HISTORY

August 7, 1819: Simón Bolívar’s victory over colonial Spanish forces at the Battle of Boyacá allows his army to seize Bogotá and secure the independence of the colony of New Granada (roughly Colombia, Ecuador, and Panama). It’s considered one of the first key battles in Bolívar’s campaign to liberate the whole of northern South America.

August 7, 1946: The Soviet Union informs the Turkish government that its management of the Dardanelles and the Bosporus has been detrimental to other Black Sea countries (i.e., the Soviets themselves) and that it would seek to reopen international negotiations on the subject. This was the main event of the Turkish Straits Crisis and pushed Turkey to drop its neutrality and align itself with the US/NATO. It was also a key factor in the development of the Truman Doctrine, about which FX subscribers can read more here.

MIDDLE EAST

SYRIA

An apparent Israeli missile strike hit targets near Damascus early Monday morning, killing at least four Syrian soldiers and wounding four others according to Syrian media. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported six dead, the other two being members of government-aligned militias.