Today, Ukraine strikes a warship near a crucial port. Two US Navy sailors are charged with spying for China. Niger's ousted leaders appeal for help, and global sea temperatures hit a record high. From tail to the unused, this is your daily briefing for Friday the 4th of August, 2023.
Russia's Defense Ministry said today that Ukraine had launched an overnight attack with two unmanned sea drones on the Russian Black Sea port at Novarossisk, a key hub for Russian exports. Russia claims they've detected and foiled the attack. However, Ukrainian intelligence sources have told various outlets that the attack was successful in hitting and damaging a Russian warship. Multiple, as yet unverified videos shared on social media show a Russian ship, identified as the Olegorsky Gornyak, listing heavy to one side and being towed by other boats.
A Ukrainian intelligence source said the ship received a serious breach and currently cannot conduct its combat missions. CNN quotes a source as saying a sea drone carrying 450 kilograms of TNT attacked the ship as part of a joint operation between the Ukrainian Security Service and Ukrainian Navy. The nearby civilian port, which according to Reuters, handles 2% of the world's oil supply, as well as exporting large amounts of grain, briefly suspended all ship movements following the attack, but later resumed normal operations. Since Russia pulled out of the Black Sea grain deal, there's been an increase in clashes in and around the Black Sea.
Russia just recently struck the Ukrainian port cities of Odessa and Chornomorsk, as well as Ismail, which sits just across the Danube River from NATO member Romania. There's more on the way, but be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to make the daily briefing part of your daily routine, or just search for us on your podcast app to listen along. Today, two US citizens have been arrested on charges of providing sensitive military information to China. Both men were arrested on Wednesday in California, and prosecutors announced the charges leveled against them on Thursday.
The first individual, Jin Xiaowei, served as a machinist's mate on the amphibious assault ship the USS Essex. In this role, he held security clearance and had access to sensitive information about the ship. It's alleged that he was approached by a Chinese agent in February 2022, while he was on the path to becoming a US citizen, and ended up paying way thousands of dollars for photos, videos and blueprints of the ship. The second individual, Wen Heng Zhao, worked at a naval base in Ventura County, near Los Angeles.
He was approached slightly earlier in 2021 by a Chinese agent, allegedly the agent paid nearly $15,000 for photos and videos of a radar system in a US military base. If convicted, Mr Wei could face between 20 years and life imprisonment, and Mr Zhao faces up to 20 years in prison. We'll update you when the case develops. So that's what's been happening in the US today.
Let's move and discuss what's been happening in Niger. The arrested president of Niger, Mohammed Bosum, has written an op-ed in the Washington Post, urging the United States and the international community to act to restore constitutional order in the country, saying that if July's coup succeeded, it will have devastating consequences for our country, our region, and the entire world. Bosum's call for help comes just days before a deadline set by the regional West African body, Ecoass, is reached. Ecoass has demanded that the military junta in Niger restore constitutional order and cede power back to the elected government by Sunday the 6th of August, or else they will take all measures necessary, which may include the use of force.
Meanwhile, the block has imposed sweeping sanctions on Niger, as have Western partners, in the hope that this will be enough to force the military to back down. An Ecoass military intervention in Niger could result in a full-on interstate conflict in West Africa. As Niger's military junta has vowed to fight back, and the coup leaders in neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso have voiced support for the junta, saying that they would consider any intervention as an act of war against themselves. Meanwhile, Western countries have been evacuating their nationals from Niger amid fears for their safety.
Shortly after the government was overthrown on July the 26th, supporters of the coup attacked the French embassy in Niamé. On Thursday, Niger's junta scrapped a number of military cooperation agreements with France, which has between 1,000 and 1,500 troops in the country to assist the fight against al-Qaeda and I guess linked insurgencies. In bad news for humanity, it's been reported today that the average daily global sea surface temperatures has reached an all-time high, beating the previous sea surface temperature record set in 2016. The temperature was recorded at 20.96 degrees Celsius, which is far higher than what it ordinarily would be at this time of year.
The reason this is significant is that oceans are what's known as a climate regulator, meaning that they soak up heat and produce about half the Earth's oxygen. The warmer the oceans are, the less able they are to absorb carbon dioxide. This in term means that more carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere, thus heating up the planet. It's also bad news for marine species.
As in warmer waters, they have to move to cooler ones to hunt instead. This upsets the food chain. Additionally, more aggressive animals, such as sharks, can become even more aggressive as they get confused in warmer water. On all, it's yet another sign this summer that climate change is happening and is having a very real and very negative impact on the world around us.
The prime ministers of three Baltic nations, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, have agreed to speed up the disconnection of their power grids from Russia by almost a year, with the goal of integrating into the continental European grid by early 2025. Currently, the three countries are still part of the Soviet-era IPS UPS power grid, which includes Belarus and Russia. Back in 2018, the Baltic nations agreed to decouple from this grid and join the continental European grid by the end of 2025. On Thursday, the three prime ministers signed an agreement to accelerate the transition by almost a year, with a statement saying, achieving energy independence from Russia is a fundamental goal tied to our security and continuous economic development, adding that it holds strategic importance not only for us, but for the entire European Union.
We end the main section with some uplifting news from Spain, where scientists have discovered a naturally occurring bacteria strain, which can help stop the transmission of malaria from mosquitoes to humans. The scientists at the GSK lab found the bacteria accidentally drew in their research. Thomas Brewer, GSK's chief global health officer, called it an entirely novel approach for controlling malaria, a disease which kills more than 600,000 people a year. Their research revealed that the TC-1 bacterial strain, which occurs naturally, has stopped malaria parasites from developing in the guts of mosquitoes.
Further trials are taking place, and if successful, it could be another tool alongside things like vaccines in the fight against malaria. That's all the time for on YouTube, but the briefing isn't over. That's because Rory quizzed me and Jack on this week's news. In the extended and free edition of the Daily Briefing only on Nebula.
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