Several years ago, Texas had a brilliant idea: take the millions of illegal immigrant that were flooding its territory as a result of policies adopted in faraway places like DC, and bus them to places like New York and DC, other so-called sanctuary cities and, best of all, Martha’s Vineyard where those who run New York and DC tend to go on vacation. The result was an immediate revulsion by the false virtue-signaling NIMBY crowd, which cried foul at having to suffer the consequences of its actions.

Turns out Texas’ idea was so good it is now being adopted across the Atlantic, where another illegal alien invasion has been taking place for the past decade, slowly replacing the indigenous population with millions of immigrants from northern Africa and the middle east.

Now, one European country has decided it also has had enough: Hungary suggested that it might – like Texas – start transporting migrants who show up at its border straight to Brussels, unless it can resolve a dispute with the European Union on penalties for its asylum policies, Bloomberg reported.

The European Court of Justice has slapped a €200 million ($223 million) penalty, plus an extra €1 million daily fine, on the country for Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s non-compliance with the court’s earlier judgment on the protection of asylum seekers. Orban already promised retaliation in June for the ruling, one of several issues clouding the start of his stint in the rotating presidency of the EU in the second half of 2024.

Negotiations with the European Commission will start in September, Gergely Gulyas, the minister in charge of the prime minister’s office, told reporters in Budapest Thursday. Should those talks fail, Hungary will start handing migrants “one-way tickets to Brussels,” Gulyas said.

“We should find an agreement as soon as possible because we wouldn’t like to pay large amounts on a daily basis,” Gulyas said. “But if Brussels wants to take in migrants, we can help.”

Though Gulyas provided no details on how such a scheme would work, the idea echoes disputes not only among US states over migrants – like those being bused to New York from the Texas border – but also elsewhere in Europe. In the UK, socialist Prime Minister Keir Starmer has vowed his new Labour government would scrap predecessor Rishi Sunak’s plan to deport asylum-seekers to Rwanda.

Separately, Hungary was criticized by human rights groups this week for withdrawing state-funded shelter from Ukrainian refugees arriving from regions not directly affected by the fighting on the frontlines with Russia. A group of Hungarians from Ukraine’s western Transcarpathia region temporarily became homeless after the move, though Gulyas said aid groups helped provide accommodations for them.

The EU’s executive arm is looking into the decree, according to a spokesperson but said the EU is united in providing protections, including accommodation, for those fleeing the conflict.

Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack,

Ukrainian officials have urged locals in and around the town of Pokrovsk to evacuate within the next two weeks as Russian forces rapidly approach this pivotal military logistics hub.

The head of neighboring Mirnograd’s military administration bluntly said:

“Don’t wait. It will not get better, it will only get worse. Leave”, and then admitted that “The enemy is advancing faster than expected.”

The Associated Press cited local commanders who blamed Russia’s swift gains on their side’s poorly trained conscripts.

One of them claimed that “Some people don’t want to shoot. They see the enemy in the firing position in trenches but don’t open fire. … That is why our men are dying…They don’t receive even the lowest standard of training required for our (combat) actions.” An unnamed soldier also lamented that “The main problem is the survival instinct of newcomers. Before, people could stand until the last moment to hold the position. Now, even when there is light shelling of firing positions, they are retreating.”

The poor quality of Ukraine’s recruits casts doubt on whether the whopping 120,000 troops that Belarusian President Lukashenko claimed had been deployed along his border could make much of a difference if some of them are sent to Donbass out of desperation to halt Russia’s advance. They’d more than likely participate in “meat waves” like those before them did in Artyomovsk/Bakhmut and Avdeevka, and just like their predecessors, they’re also destined to sacrifice themselves in vain.

Russia’s capture of Pokrovsk, however long it might take, could reshape the conflict’s dynamics due to this town’s strategic significance for Ukraine’s military logistics. Beyond it are just a few lightly defended towns and then vast expanses of grassland that could become the scene of maneuver warfare. Ukraine’s US-backed invasion of Kursk reminded observers that maneuver warfare isn’t dead like some had earlier claimed, and it might soon make a major comeback in the fields past Pokrovsk.

Ukraine’s successes in Kharkov, Kherson, and most recently Kursk over the past two and a half years were the result of missteps on Russia’s part, not examples of Ukrainian “military genius” like its supporters in the media misportrayed them as. It either exploited overstretched and undermanned supply chains in the first two cases or took advantage of a poorly defended border in the second. None of these three precedents suggests that Ukraine is capable of beating Russia head-to-head at maneuver warfare.

It’s therefore possible that Russia could quickly capture broad swaths of Donbass once maneuver warfare begins to be fought along that front upon its capture of Pokrovsk, which could then improve its position for assaulting the heavily defended Kramatorsk-Slavyansk agglomeration in northern Donbass. In that event, Russia might also take advantage of its post-Pokrovsk maneuver warfare successes (assuming that they’re achieved as expected) to branch out in other directions.

Capturing Pokrovsk would enable Russia to move north into southern Kharkov, west into eastern Dnipro (neither of which it has any territorial claims to), and southwest into Zaporozhye (all of which it claims). Opening up a third front in Kharkov to complement the northern and eastern ones from Belgorod and Lugansk could be seen as revenge for Kursk as could opening one in Dnipro. The Kharkov vector could also help cut off supply lines to Kramatorsk-Slavyansk and thus facilitate the full capture of Donbass.

Moving into southeastern Dnipro could be a shortcut for launching operations in northern Zaporozhye so it also can’t be discounted due to the possibility that this could lead to a siege of the latter’s namesake administrative center. Observers can only speculate which vector(s) Russia would move into after Pokrovsk and when that might be, but the point is that maneuver warfare might play a large role in its forthcoming operations after that tow is captured.

Ukraine’s poorly trained conscripts and its lightly defended towns beyond Pokrovsk increase the odds of a partial Russian military breakthrough up to the next heavily defended localities further afield, and this could result in serious changes to the way in which Ukraine fights this conflict. It could either stay the course by doubling down on Kursk (and potentially opening new fronts in Belarus and/or Russia’s other border regions) at the expense of Donbass or decisively shift back to the latter at the former’s expense.

Either way, it’ll be forced into a dilemma, especially if Russia opens up new fronts in Kharkov and/or Dnipro in parallel with putting maximum pressure upon Donbass’ Kramatorsk-Slovyansk. Ukraine thus stands to lose more ground, or it could explore whether Russia would be willing to swap whatever Kiev controls in Kursk for whatever Moscow controls in Kharkov (and possibly also Dnipro by then). The possibility also exists that Ukraine could become hellbent on crossing Russia’s non-negotiable red lines.

About that, this could take the form of a nuclear provocation (such as that which could be caused by a crippling attack against its nuclear power plants or spent nuclear fuel storage sites there), a high-level assassination, or a terrorist attack even worse than the recent Crocus one. The purpose would be to provoke Russia into using nuclear weapons just like Lukashenko warned last week that Kiev wants to do, which could then serve as the tripwire for a conventional NATO intervention in Ukraine’s support.

All told, Russia’s capture of Pokrovsk might still take a while since Kiev could decide to turn this town into the next Artyomovsk, but the conflict’s dynamics will likely be reshaped once that happens if Russia can employ maneuver warfare against the lightly defended towns in the fields beyond. Any subsequent breakthrough would force Ukraine into the dilemma of prioritizing some fronts and the expense of others, but it might try to cut the Gordian knot through a series of swaps or escalations instead.

It’s anyone’s guess what it would do in that scenario, but those are the three most likely options: sacrifice one front to save another; swap land with Russia; or try crossing Russia’s non-negotiable red lines as part of a dangerous gamble to “escalate to de-escalate” up to the brink of provoking World War III. In any case, all eyes will be on Pokrovsk as Russia inches towards this pivotal military logistics hub and inevitably begins battling for control of it, so everyone will eventually see what Kiev ultimately does.

Authored by Jeff M. Smith via RealClearWorld,

When the Heritage Foundation released its comprehensive report on the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic, headlines tended to focus on the cost to the U.S. That’s not surprising: At an eye-popping $18 trillion, it’s almost 10 times the projected 2024 budget deficit.

Arguably, however, the Commission’s most infuriating conclusion was this: The global pandemic was “totally preventable,” in the words of Commissioner Dr. Robert Redfield, an experienced virologist who headed the CDC during the outbreak.

Had the Chinese government been more transparent and cooperative at the outset of the pandemic, millions of lives and trillions of dollars could have been spared. The pandemic’s “proximal origin,” the Commission found, was the Chinese government’s “aggressive opposition to honesty, transparency, and accountability” along with its “systemic cover up.”

The Cover-Up

The Commission—a blue-ribbon team of experts led by former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe and supported by data scientists, economists, and lawyers—concluded that the SARS-CoV-2 virus began circulating months before Beijing warned the world, likely in August-September 2019. The Chinese government then not only withheld key details, it engaged in an elaborate and deadly coverup.

Dr. Jamie Metzl—one of the Commission’s Democrats who served at the National Security Council, U.S. Senate, and State Department—condemned Beijing for having “destroyed samples, hidden records, imprisoned Chinese citizen journalists, gagged Chinese scientists, blocked any meaningful international investigations, and cynically sandbagged the World Health Organization.”

Ratcliffe described China’s behavior during this period as “frankly inexcusable.”

Added Metzl: “There can be, in our view, little doubt that China’s government is primarily responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. But for the unique pathologies of the Chinese state, there very likely would have been no pandemic at all.”

The Cost

Worldwide, the COVID-19 pandemic is considered one of the seven deadliest plagues in human history, with excess deaths topping 28 million, according to some estimates. The World Bank has characterized the economic upheaval caused by the pandemic as “the largest global economic crisis in more than a century,” with low-income countries hit the hardest.

The Commission’s assessment that the pandemic cost the U.S. alone $18 trillion includes $8.6 trillion in “excess deaths,” $1.8 trillion in income lost, $6 trillion in chronic conditions like “long COVID,” $1.1 trillion in mental health costs, and $400 million in education losses.

The Origin

While the origin of the pandemic wasn’t the focus of the Commission, notably all nine Commissioners concluded, without dissent, that the pandemic “very likely stemmed from a research-related incident in Wuhan.”

Indeed, evidence continues to emerge further strengthening the “lab leak” theory and casting greater doubt on the “natural spillover” theory. The Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) was at the time conducting dangerous gain of function experiments to make coronaviruses more transmissible to humans, and it was doing so in alarmingly unsafe conditions.

The WIV experienced an unspecified “incident” in 2019, when several lab workers fell sick, the Chinese military abruptly assumed control of the lab, the lab mysteriously deleted its online database of over 10,000 bat virus samples at 2:00am, and ordered an expensive new air incinerator. A Chinese military scientist then produced a vaccine with logic-defying speed before suddenly going missing and being scrubbed from government records.

In recent months, new details have emerged about a 2018 grant proposal that sought funding to manipulate coronaviruses at the WIV in very specific ways—ways that exactly match the highly unusual features of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that have never been seen in nature.

At the event unveiling the Heritage report, Dr. Redfield contended SARS-CoV-2 shows “clear signs of engineering” and its origin “had nothing to do with” a natural spillover event at a Wuhan animal market. The full Commission report concludes that despite four years of extensive hypothesis testing, today “there is no evidentiary basis” for the theory of natural spillover. The handful of early pandemic academic papers advancing the natural spillover theory have since been hollowed out by fatal challenges to their underlying methods and conclusions.

Rather than a viral leap from animal to humans, Dr. Redfield contended that the pandemic was “a direct consequence of scientific arrogance, with the scientists that were intentionally teaching this virus how to infect humans never recognizing something would ever go wrong. And, in fact, unfortunately this virus did escape.”

Preventing Another Pandemic

To avoid a future pandemic and hold the Chinese government accountable, the Commission report concluded with several practical recommendations for the U.S. government:

• Establish a bipartisan national COVID commission to conduct “a review of China’s negligence and cover-up as well as an evaluation of domestic policies that were implemented” in response to the pandemic;

• Create a bipartisan reparations or compensation task force to cover claims against the Chinese government;

• Facilitate the filing of civil claims against China to allow civilians harmed by COVID to receive compensation by amending the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act;

• Decouple U.S. government and commercial supply chains from Chinese state-backed companies;

• Audit all U.S. government funding for biomedical research and related research activities in China;

• Impose economic sanctions on Chinese officials and entities who were complicit in or supported the “distortion and concealment” of information related to the COVID pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic was almost certainly the deadliest and costliest event of the 21st century. Beijing’s ability to escape virtually any accountability—and the global media’s relative disinterest in the pandemic’s origins, cost, and China’s culpability—are equal parts confounding and infuriating.

“China’s response to SARS1 20 years ago was abysmal,” Dr. Metzl argued at the Heritage event. “China’s response to SARS2, 20 years later despite all these international processes, was even worse. And the reason…is there was no accountability for all the obfuscation in the first case. With 28 million people dead as a result of COVID-19 and tens of trillions of dollars in damages it simply unacceptable, and frankly unimaginable, that every stone should not be overturned examining what went wrong.”

Central banks hold gold reserves due to their safety, liquidity, and return characteristics.

They are significant owners of gold, accounting for approximately a fifth of all the gold mined throughout history.

The country with the most gold is the United States, with 8,133 tonnes, which has a value of $579 billion.

The top ten countries in total gold reserves (tonnes) as of May 2024.

These figures come from the World Gold Council.

Amid escalating geopolitical tensions, increased sanctions, and discussions around de-dollarization, interest in gold purchases is rising.

But which countries are leading the charge in increasing their gold reserves?

This graphic, via Visual Capitalist’s Bruno Venditti, ranks the top 10 countries by the change in gold reserves over the past decade (2013-2023).

The figures, measured in tonnes, were compiled by the World Gold Council.

Russia and China Lead in Gold Purchases

Central banks, particularly those of Russia and China, have bought gold at the fastest pace as countries seek to diversify their reserves away from the dollar.

Russia’s reserves jumped from 1,035 tonnes in 2013 to 2,333 in 2023. China’s reserves rose from 1,054 tonnes to 2,235 in 2023.

In third place in our ranking of central bank gold additions, Türkiye increased its reserves from 116 tonnes in 2013 to 540 tonnes in 2023.

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Exposing children to high levels of fluoride is “consistently associated” with lower IQ, and potentially other neurodevelopmental issues, according to a report by the National Toxicology Program (NTP).

In 2016, NTP started a systematic review of scientific literature to ascertain links between fluoride and cognition. On Aug. 21, it published a report detailing its findings. A total of 72 studies reviewed in the report examined how fluoride exposure affected children’s IQ. Sixty-four of these studies found an “inverse association between estimated fluoride exposure and IQ in children,” meaning higher exposure was linked to lower IQ and vice versa.

“This review finds, with moderate confidence, that higher estimated fluoride exposures … are consistently associated with lower IQ in children,” the report stated. NTP is a unit of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

NTP defined high exposure as drinking water with fluoride concentrations that exceed the 1.5 mg/L limit set by the World Health Organization.

The allowable limits in the United States are different. While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has set a threshold of 0.7 mg/L for fluoride presence in drinking water (including naturally occurring and added fluoride, or fluoridation), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has a limit of 2 mg/L.

As of April 2020, community water systems in the United States supplied water containing 1.5 mg/L or more of naturally occurring fluoride to 0.59 percent of the country’s population, which comes to approximately 1.9 million people, NTP stated. Around 1 million people were supplied water with 2 mg/L or more of naturally occurring fluoride.

“There is also some evidence that fluoride exposure is associated with other neurodevelopmental and cognitive effects in children; although, because of the heterogeneity of the outcomes, there is low confidence in the literature for these other effects,” the report stated.

The studies on children’s IQ reviewed in the report were conducted in 10 countries, including Canada and Mexico. No studies from the United States were included in the review.

Fluoride is a mineral that prevents and repairs damage to the teeth caused by bacteria. In 1945, the United States introduced a community water fluoridation program, which has been considered a successful public health measure.

However, there were concerns that children and pregnant women may ingest fluoride in excess amounts due to exposure to the mineral from a variety of sources, including water, beverages, toothpaste, and teas, the NTP said. This led the program to conduct the current study.

Fluoride Debate

The NTP report follows a study published in May that looked at mother-child pairs from Los Angeles and concluded that prenatal fluoride exposure was associated with “neurobehavioral problems” among children.

Lead investigator of the study Ashley Malin said the results suggest fluoride may negatively affect fetal brain development. She pointed out that there is “no known benefit” of fluoride consumption for fetuses.

“We found that each 0.68 milligram per liter increase in fluoride levels in the pregnant women’s urine was associated with nearly double the odds of children scoring in the clinical or borderline clinical range for neurobehavioral problems at age 3, based on their mother’s reporting,” she said.

In a May 22 statement, the American Dental Association (ADA) said the study was not “nationally representative” and that it did not measure the “actual consumption of fluoridated water.”

“The JAMA study should be considered exploratory. To date, the ADA has seen no peer-reviewed research that would change its long-standing recommendation to the public to brush twice a day with fluoride toothpaste and drink optimally fluoridated water,” the group said.

“Tooth decay is one of the most common chronic diseases among children. There are decades of research and practical experience indicating community water fluoridation is safe and effective in reducing cavities by 25 percent in both children and adults.”

It endorsed community water fluoridation as a “safe, beneficial, and cost-effective” way to prevent dental cavities.

Another study from January found that many parents were exposing children to high amounts of fluoride. When parents used toothpaste for their children aged under 24 months, the fluoride dose was 5.9 to 7.2 times higher than what was recommended, the study found.

Russian authorities have confirmed that on Friday there was a major, violent uprising at a maximum security prison in the country’s south. It appears unrelated to the ongoing Ukrainian invasion of Russia’s southern border regions, and reportedly involved Islamist prisoners affiliated with ISIS.

Several officers at the penal colony in the town of Surovikino were killed, and several staff were taken hostage by the rebelling inmates, before it was put down by an elite Russian commando team. The location has been identified as IK-19 Surovikino facility in the southwestern Volgograd region.

The National Guard of Russia, also known as the Rosgvardia, announced in a Telegram statement: “Snipers from the special forces of the Russian National Guard in the Volgograd Region neutralized four prisoners who had taken prisoner employees hostage with four precise shots; the hostages were freed.”

Videos from the scene which emerged on social media and showed the hostage-takers waiving ISIS flags. State media sources say that at least eight prison officers had been taken hostage during the ordeal. Other sources say a dozen total people were held hostage, which included some inmates who weren’t among the attackers.

Russia’s RT reports the following details:

According to the WarGonzo Telegram channel, one of the hostage-takers was wearing a purported suicide belt which failed to detonate.

The identities of the attackers have been confirmed, according to media reports citing court records. One of the four was a convicted murderer while the other three were serving time for drug trafficking charges. All were reportedly natives of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

Another regional outlet reported the following:

Photos shared by the pro-Kremlin Telegram news outlet Mash showed prison inmates with knives standing above bloodied guards. In unverified videos shared on Telegram, the alleged attackers said they were affiliated with the Islamic State militant group and taking revenge for the Crocus City Hall terror attack in March.

The assailants stabbed the employees, including some who tried to resist. At least three were killed, and there were conflicting reports from officials over the fate of a fourth prison guard.

The uprising involved crude weapons, and the deceased guards reportedly died due to stab wounds. Two of the attackers later succumbed of their wounds at a hospital after being shot by sniper teams.

CNN comments on some of the disturbing images as follows: “Graphic footage circulating on social media showed three uniformed prison staff members lying motionless in pools of blood, one with his throat slashed. A fourth staff member is seen on his knees in a doorway.”

Authored by Zrinka Peters via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Curcumin is well known for its widespread health benefits, particularly for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. A polyphenol (a chemical compound in plants that offers specific health benefits) found in turmeric, curcumin is primarily responsible for its vibrant yellow color and is widely used in Indian and Asian cuisines.

Despite the many claims of curcumin’s ability to help alleviate health concerns, including a variety of skin conditions, arthritis, metabolic syndrome, heart disease, depression, and more, obtaining its full benefits can be a challenge. Curcumin has poor bioavailability and solubility and is rapidly eliminated from the body.

Curcumin’s potential health benefits, along with advances in research exploring ways to increase the bioavailability of curcumin, inspired Thai researchers to study the effect of curcumin on atherosclerosis in patients with Type 2 diabetes and obesity.

Atherosclerosis is a hardening of the arteries as a result of plaque build-up, and complications resulting from atherosclerosis (e.g., heart attacks and strokes) are the leading cause of death worldwide.

The Study

The randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial, published in Nutrients last month divided 227 participants into two groups of roughly equal size. One group took six capsules of curcumin per day (two 250 milligram (mg) capsules after meals, three times per day, for a daily total of 1500 mg), while the other took a placebo.

The participants were tested at zero, three, six, nine, and 12 months for indicators of anti-atherogenic activity, including pulse-wave velocity (PWV), as well as several cardiometabolic risk factors including total cholesterol, triglycerides, and uric acid. Levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines were recorded, as well as high-sensitivity C-reactive protein levels (to evaluate systemic inflammation).

The results showed significant improvements for the curcumin-supplementing participants in each of the areas in which data was collected. Pulse wave velocity, which measures arterial stiffness and is considered to be a predictor for adverse cardiovascular events, was significantly lower in the curcumin-treated group at three, six, nine, and 12 months than in the placebo control group.

Levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, small dense low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, and uric acid were likewise all significantly lower in the curcumin-treated group at three, six, nine, and 12 months.

Measurements of waist circumference, total body fat, and visceral fat were significantly lower in the curcumin group than in the placebo group at the six-, nine-, and 12-month visits. Insulin resistance was also significantly lowered in the curcumin-treated group.

The study authors concluded, “[C]urcumin significantly reduced the PWV, substantiating its role in mitigating arterial stiffness and potential cardiovascular disease risk.” They also recorded a reduction in high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, “a marker associated with inflammation and cardiovascular risk,” after three months. The positive results across multiple risk factors highlight curcumin’s potential role in cardiometabolic health.

The researchers went on to say, “These multi-target effects and historical usage underscore the importance of natural products in creating effective, holistic treatments for metabolic diseases.” No serious adverse effects were noted among the curcumin-treated group.

Finding the Right Measure

As a natural, easily accessible, and inexpensive supplement with a strong safety profile, curcumin offers possible support in maintaining or improving cardiometabolic health. Though the dosage used in this study was 1500 mg per day, other studies have demonstrated that dosages as high as 8000 mg per day have been well-tolerated. However, some people need to exercise caution when considering whether curcumin supplements may be helpful for them.

Cardiologist and cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Bhaskar Semitha told the Epoch Times, “It’s crucial to discuss curcumin supplementation with your doctor before starting, especially if you have CVD [cardiovascular disease] and take medications. While curcumin generally has a good safety profile, there are some considerations for patients with CVD taking medications.”

“Curcumin can interact with certain medications, including blood thinners (e.g., Warfarin) and anti-platelet medications (e.g., Clopidogrel). This could increase bleeding risk. Curcumin might [also] interfere with the absorption of some CV medications, potentially reducing their effectiveness,” Semitha said. “If your doctor approves curcumin, it’s advisable to begin with a low dose and monitor for any side effects.”

How is wealth distributed across countries, and what is the scale of these disparities?

This graphic, via Visual Capitalist’s Kayla Zhu, shows wealth inequality by country in 2023, based on data from UBS.

How Wealth Inequality Compares Globally

One common way of measuring wealth distribution in a country is the Gini coefficient. In this index, scores closer to zero indicate more equal wealth distribution, while a score of 100 indicates that one individual holds all the wealth.

Here are Gini index scores across select countries, highlighting how they have changed over time:

South Africa ranks highest overall, with 10% of the population controlling approximately 80% of the country’s wealth.

Over the last 15 years, wealth inequality has increased. Unemployment has surged to 32%, up from 20% in 2008, while inflation-adjusted GDP per capita has declined. Even though apartheid took place three decades ago, race remains a key factor in income disparities.

Ranking in second is Brazil, a country where the richest 10% control half of the nation’s wealth. Between 2023 and 2024, the number of billionaires in the country jumped from 51 to 64, making Brazil home to the tenth-highest number of billionaires in the world.

Despite being a socially democratic country, Sweden ranks fifth overall. The country has one of the highest billionaires per capita, at one per 250,000 people. By comparison, the U.S. has roughly one per 500,000 people. Driving this concentration of wealth is the country’s thriving tech sector, which has produced over 40 unicorn companies, such as Spotify and Skype, over the last two decades.

We can see that the U.S. follows next, a country whose wealth inequality has fallen marginally since 2008. A similar trend of declining wealth inequality can be seen across other European nations including Germany, Switzerland, and Austria in addition to South Korea and Hong Kong.

Particularly in developed countries, the wealth gap has narrowed since 2008 as the middle segment experienced faster wealth gains than those in higher wealth brackets.

To learn more about this topic from a U.S.-based perspective, check out this graphic on wealth distribution by income group in America.

Via Middle East Eye

Dozens of prisoners in Saudi Arabia are facing the death penalty for drug offences, as rights groups warn of a surge in executions despite authorities’ pledges to stop the punishment. 

The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR) said on Thursday that there has been a sharp increase in the use of the death penalty between May and August, with executions reaching 30 by August 22.

In Tabuk General Prison alone, at least 50 people are facing execution. According to ESOHR, 34 Egyptians are among those sentenced to death in the prison, along with other foreigners, including Jordanians and Syrians.

Two Egyptian nationals, Walid al-Baqi and Youssef Khudair, were executed on August 13 on charges of smuggling marijuana and amphetamines, the rights group said. 

ESOHR also documented abuses faced by Egyptians on death row in Tabuk prison, including a lack from the Egyptian embassy in the kingdom, denial of their right to adequate defense, failure to appoint lawyers for them and instances of torture and ill-treatment.

Between 2020 and 2022, Saudi Arabia halted executions for drug offences. However, they resumed in December 2022, provoking an outcry from campaigners.

The kingdom has executed hundreds of people in recent years for various offences, including political dissent.

In 2023, a joint report by ESOHR and Reprieve revealed that Riyadh’s execution rate has almost doubled since King Salman and his son, Mohammed bin Salman, came to power in 2015. Between 2015 and 2022, executions surged by 82 percent.

In February this year, seven Saudi men were killed in a mass execution, the highest number put to death in one day since 81 were killed in March 2022.

🔴 #MBS must be proud of #SaudiArabia‘s new historical record!
In 20 years, executions have never reached 150 at this time of year.#StopTheSlaughter pic.twitter.com/g1HRoE6gLz

— ESOHR (@ESOHumanRightsE) August 22, 2024

According to Reprieve, foreign nationals, including female domestic workers and drug offenders, are “disproportionately” targeted.

Despite the crown prince’s pledge in a 2018 interview to minimize executions, Saudi Arabia remains one of the world’s most prolific executioners.

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times,

The amount of money required to be seen as rich has risen over the past years amid inflation, with younger people having a lower wealth benchmark, according to a recent survey by financial services company Charles Schwab.

“Americans now think it takes an average of $2.5 million to be considered wealthy—which is up slightly from 2023 and 2022 ($2.2 million),” reads an Aug. 21 statement by the company.

“By generation, Boomers have the highest threshold of what it takes to be considered wealthy, at $2.8 million, while the younger generations, Millennials and Gen Z, have lower thresholds of what is considered wealthy” at only $1.2 million, it adds.

California had the highest wealth expectations, with respondents from San Francisco saying it takes $4.4 million to be considered rich. Southern California was at the second spot with $3.4 million. Dallas, Phoenix, and Houston had the lowest thresholds at $2.2 million to $2.3 million.

The jump in the level of what is considered wealthy has happened amid a period of surging inflation, which has raised the overall cost of living. As living expenses rise, so does people’s estimate of how much money is required to live a wealthy life.

The survey’s $2.5 million wealth threshold is nearly 14 percent higher than the 2022 level.

During this period, the cost of living rose by more than 11 percent, according to data from the St. Louis Fed.

Despite facing the challenge of high inflation, more than one in five Americans said they were “on track to be wealthy,” with optimism highest among Generation Z and lowest among baby boomers, according to the statement.

Moreover, nearly a third of respondents said they were on track to be in control of their finances, with millennials and Gen Z more optimistic in this regard.

“Wealth means different things to different people, whether it’s financial freedom, enriching experiences with friends and family, or a certain dollar amount,” Rob Williams, managing director of financial planning at Charles Schwab, said in the statement.

“Our survey reinforces that people with a written financial plan are more confident about achieving their personal financial goals. Financial planning helps people understand where they are today and create a roadmap to get where they want to be.”

Inflation Eroding Wealth

The Schwab survey comes amid concerns about rising prices negatively affecting people’s lifestyles.

In May, the Federal Reserve published its report on the state of finances in U.S. households in 2023, finding that nearly two-thirds of Americans felt they were financially worse off than the previous year due to “changes in the prices they paid.” This included “19 percent who said price changes had made their financial situation much worse.”

The report points out that “inflation continued to be the top financial concern, despite the inflation rate falling over the prior year.”

Increasing costs not only affects the current financial situation but future planning as well. A May survey by asset management firm Schroders found that the possibility of rising prices lowering the value of savings was “weighing heavily on the minds of retirees.”

Less than half of Americans in retirement believed they had saved enough, with a significant share convinced they did not accumulate necessary savings. Almost 90 percent expressed worries about inflation reducing the value of their assets, according to the survey.

“Whether it’s a trip to the gas station, grocery store, or pharmacy, prices in the U.S. have increased noticeably in recent years, and that is particularly challenging for retirees living on fixed income sources,” Deb Boyden, head of U.S. defined contribution at Schroders, said in a statement.

However, higher inflation does not always translate into eroding asset values all the time. The effect on investments is largely dependent on the type of assets an individual owns, notes financial services firm Western & Southern Financial Group.

For instance, investments with a fixed return, such as certain bonds or certificates of deposits, usually are a bad choice. The fixed interest amount received annually would be worth less and less with each passing year as inflation erodes the value of cash.

When it comes to stocks, the effect can be mixed, depending on the nature of the business.

“Value stocks (companies that investors think are undervalued by the market) tend to perform better than growth stocks when inflation is high,” a post by U.S. Bank states.

Investments in commodities such as oil, precious metals, or agricultural goods do well during periods of high inflation, according to Western & Southern Financial Group.