Who’s nyet planning on coming back anytime soon… Edward Snowden. Yesterday, Russian President Vladimir Putin granted the former National Security Agency contractor (turned self-proclaimed whistleblower) Russian citizenship. Reminder: back in 2013, Snowden was granted asylum in Russia after leaking hundreds of thousands of classified docs that exposed the NSA's massive phone data collection program. Two years ago, he was granted permanent residency in Russia. Now, Moscow has granted him and 75 other foreign nationals citizenship.
Who’s calling for accountability… Some UN countries. Yesterday, the US and countries like Sweden, Canada, and Denmark called on the UN Human Rights Council to debate China's treatment of its Uyghur population. Saying the UN “must not, cannot, stay silent.” Since 2017, the Chinese gov has detained more than 1 million Uyghurs and other ethnic minority groups in the northwest Xinjiang region. And has reportedly kept them in forced labor camps and forcibly sterilized women. The call to action comes a month after the UN released a long-awaited report accusing China of committing human rights violations. The debate apparently needs to be approved by a majority vote in order to happen next year. It would be the first time that alleged human rights abuses in China would appear on the UN’s agenda. But China is also one of five permanent members of the UN Security Council — meaning, it has veto power, including over resolutions to suspend or expel members for human rights abuses.
What's roaring... The Dow. Yesterday, it became the last big US stock index to fall into a bear market. Think: when prices drop (usually at least 20% from a recent high) for a sustained period of time, and investors get nervous. Its tumble is adding to concerns about a potential global recession.
Who did a ‘lightsaber’ drop... James Earl Jones.
What’s rocking our world… NASA’s crashing spacecraft.
What we could all use a bit more of... Good news. | 
