Today, Poland and Ukraine fall out over grain. North Korea responds to a request from the UN about Travis King, a UK cabinet office document lays out the worst-case scenario of another pandemic, and Georgia Maloney sues over being called a racist and a fascist. From till the R-News, this is your daily briefing for Thursday, 3 August, 2023. Poland has been one of Ukraine's staunchest allies since Russia invaded in February last year, but the two countries are currently in the midst of a diplomatic spat after a top Polish official suggested that Ukraine should show them a bit more gratitude.
In an interview with Polish media, the head of the Polish President's International Policy Office said that he favored extending an EU ban on a range of Ukrainian exports, including grain, saying that defending the interests of the Polish farmer was essential. He added Ukraine has really received a lot of support from Poland. I think it would be worth them starting to appreciate the role that Poland has played for Ukraine in recent months and years. His statement did not go down well in Kyiv, and the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Poland's ambassador to emphasize that the statements about the alleged ingratitude of the Ukrainians for the assistance of the Republic of Poland do not reflect reality, and as such are unacceptable.
The Deputy Head of the Ukrainian President's Office also hit back, saying we categorically reject the attempts by some Polish politicians to impose on Polish society the baseless idea that Ukraine does not appreciate the help from Poland. Then, on Tuesday, Polish authorities said that they had summoned the Ukrainian ambassador in connection with the statements made by representatives of the Ukrainian authorities, though no further details were given. The whole dispute is centered on grain. Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the EU lifted tariffs on imports from Ukraine in order to assist its war efforts.
Five EU countries, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania, complained that this resulted in a huge increase in imports of grain and other products from Ukraine, which undercut their own farmers. In response, these five countries banned the domestic sales of Ukrainian wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seeds. The EU authorized this ban, but said it would be phased out by September the 15th. Poland has said that it will not lift its individual ban, even if the EU decides not to extend its authorization.
This story is not the first time that suggestions of gratitude have strained relations between Ukraine and an ally. British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace suggested this summer that Ukraine needed to show gratitude to maintain long-term support from its allies. Ukraine's President Zelensky responded by saying that Wallace can write to me about how he wants to be thanked, so we can fully express our gratitude. We can make a point to wake up every morning and thank him.
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. Last month, on July the 19th, US soldier Travis King crossed the border into North Korea, having been on a guided tour. Little has been known about his whereabouts or motives ever since.
Today, though, North Korea acknowledged a United Nations command request for information about private king, although they have refused to give any details so far on his whereabouts. Prior to his move into North Korea, King had served two months' detention in South Korea on assault charges and was released on the 10th of July. He was also supposed to fly back to the US to face disciplinary proceedings. King is a reconnaissance specialist who's been in the army since January 2021 and has been sent to South Korea on placement.
Right now, it's believed that King is the only American in North Korea. This incident is likely to cause problems for President Biden, who is now going to have to try and secure his release. In recent years, there's been a number of American citizens who have illegally entered North Korea. Those that have not been convicted of criminal activity there have often been released within six months.
So that's what's been happening in North Korea today. Let's move on to discuss news from the UK. A new UK cabinet office document has, today, one that there is up to a one in four chance that a catastrophic pandemic will hit the UK in the next five years. This comes as a result of the government planning for possible future eventualities in something called the National Risk Register.
They claim that a reasonable worst-case scenario is a future pandemic where about 50% of the population fall ill and around 840,000 lose their lives. The Telegraph, who reported on the story, claimed that the document is being seen inside the cabinet office as a wake-up call to businesses and organizations who need to prepare for this possibility. It should be noted that the reason this document is produced is so that a variety of organizations, including the government itself, are able to prepare for different eventualities. Just because something has been highlighted as a reasonable worst-case scenario doesn't mean that it's going to happen or it's even likely to happen.
The document's actually highlights a huge range of these worst-case scenarios, covering topics from space weather to domestic terrorism. The document itself has been linked down below. Italian Prime Minister George Maloney is suing the frontman of British band Placebo for calling her racist and fascist during a concert near Turin in July. Shouting an Italian in front of 5,000 people, Brian Molco called Maloney a piece of shit, racist and a fascist and also called for greater protection for the rights of transgender and non-binary people.
Italian media has reported that Maloney's lawyers have taken legal action against Molco for defamation, but this isn't the first legal trouble that the singer's words have gotten into. Shortly after his anti-Moloney tirade, prosecutors in Turin opened an investigation into him for potential contempt of institutions. As a teenager in the early 90s, she joined the youth wing of the neo-fascist Italian social movements, which had been founded by supporters of Mussolini shortly after the war. That party was succeeded by the post-fascist national alliance, of which Maloney became the leader of its student wing.
Years later in 2012, she was involved in the formation of the Brothers of Italy, the party she now leads. Her government has been described as the most right-wing Italian government since the Second World War. In the final uplifting story today, we discuss singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. Swift has recently finished the US leg of her eras tour, and is a thank you to the people that did a lot of the both literal and metaphorical heavy lifting, Swift gave each of the truck drivers for the tour a bonus of $100,000.
Typically, the drivers are given a bonus of between $5,000 and $10,000. One of the drivers described this bonus as unbelievable and life-changing. He said that many of the drivers have had to live on the road, sleeping in the day and working all night, and being away from home for 24 weeks. Clearly, this bonus has been very well received.
Rock on Taylor. That's all we have time for on YouTube today, but the briefing isn't over. That's because I sit down with Zach and discuss the raising of interest rates yet again in the extended ad-free edition of The Daily Briefing, only on Nebula. That's the streaming service we're building with a bunch of our creator friends, many of whom you're likely to be already watching.
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