Weekly Roundup

Justin Long’s

Weekly Roundup 497

7 August 2026

Nota Bene

Everyone knows China watches foreigners, and here’s a link that shows a bit of how: an unsecured police dashboard was a rare window into how China’s authorities track foreigners by collecting and aggregating vast amounts of private data. “It looked like a futuristic dashboard… out of Minority Report… But suddenly, Mr Hofer saw his own face… next to it his passport number and the cellphone he had used in China.” It’s not just China: similar tech is being exported elsewhere. NYT

The Sudan war feeds a gold trade to the UAE that was worth $1 billion in 2025, an Emirati official told the FT (paywalled). $100 million of that was illicit trade. That is a strong incentive for the UAE to keep backing the war, and gold has become how wars are financed (both here, and across all of Africa). No one has sufficient incentive to stop the war that exceeds the gold trade’s incentive to continue it; Sudanese are speaking of a “Somalia-length war” (that is, decades). In parallel, The Economist has a long read, “The ruin of Sudan.” As long as foreign money keeps backing both sides, they probably aren’t wrong. Churches and ministries should plan for a generational impact, not “a few more years”: think Libya and Somalia, not Ethiopia & Tigray. FT, Economist

Also

22 million Shiite Muslims went on the Arbaeen pilgrimage this year, growing in numbers despite the looming threat of war in the region. It’s one of the biggest pilgrimages in the world, roughly 10X bigger than the hajj. AP

Fighting flared once more between Ethiopia’s army and the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front. This is “the most serious confrontations since the end of the civil war,” raised fears of a renewed war, and sent hundreds across the border into Sudan fleeing the violence. More seriously, there are accusations that Sudan’s SAF and RSF are backing opposing sides in Ethiopia’s violence. My read: it will probably settle down. BBC

Nigeria’s president has a new plan to tackle jihadists, separatists, and bandits:

a) The proposal: a $3 billion expansion of the Nigerian army: 8 → 12 divisions, +28k troops, three new army HQs.

b) One reason why: Nigeria’s brutal kidnap-for-ransom crisis has become one of the country’s most lucrative industries. A new deep dive follows “the man who was kidnapped twice.” In part: “Kidnapping is now so rampant in Nigeria that it seems as if everyone knows someone who has been taken… while driving on interstate roads, worshipping at church, sleeping in their homes.” Though this is getting attention from the USA, it isn’t exactly persecution of Christians for their faith, but Christians and churches are “easy targets.” New Yorker

c) The increased military spend might help, but “many of the issues stem from … corruption, judicial failure, and so kinetic approaches will not quell those aspects of the problem.” Telegraph

d) Nigerian Christians are taking a different approach, joining attempts to deradicalize terrorists. CT

Quick Links

Record-breaking heat (~108 F) gripped North & South Korea, Japan: highest in 122 years. CBC

People think it’s safe to come back to Dubai: the population has grown back to pre-war levels. AGBI