World roundup: August 7 2024

Stories from Iran, Russia, Brazil, and elsewhere

Hey folks, I’m still not feeling super hot so tonight’s roundup is coming out a bit early and with apologies we’re going to forego the voiceover for a second day. Thanks for indulging me.

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.

Venezuelan painter Martín Tovar y Tovar’s The Battle of Boyacá (Wikimedia Commons)

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

ISRAEL-PALESTINE

The Israeli military (IDF) issued new evacuation orders for parts of Gaza city on Wednesday, as its one step forward, nine steps back approach continues to pay major dividends in the form of higher civilian casualties and extended humanitarian suffering. According to Israeli media the IDF intends to undertake a “large-scale” offensive in the city, which you may recall it declared free of militants back in January. Meanwhile, in spite of, um, pretty much everything, the Biden administration is still insisting that a Gaza ceasefire is “closer than ever.” This is probably a lie—Haaretz cites anonymous “Western diplomats” who say they have no idea what the administration is talking about—but in fairness it’s a lie in service of calming tensions in the Middle East so telling it is far from the worst thing the administration has done over the past ten months.