A Real Life Game of Risk in Mosul and a Lose-Lose Battle in Russia

PNUT GALLERY

Thank you to those who signed up to be paid subscribers to the Pnut!

Help us continue making the news great again by committing to a monthly subscription. You could learn fun facts like this: the late President of Turkmenistan renamed September after his favorite book… that he wrote. When you drop that tidbit at a fancy dinner party, think of how valuable the Pnut is to you. Priceless? We thought so.

Be a Pnut patron.

 IN A NUTSHELL: MUST READ

 The Battle Of Mosul: A Real-Life Game Of ‘Risk’

Iraqi government forces are making huge gains in their operation to take back Mosul from ISIS, having launched a campaign early Monday morning. The joint operation involves over 30,000 troops from the Iraqi army, a Shia paramilitary force and the Kurdish peshmerga, along with 600 troops from the United States. At the time of writing, Kurdish tank units were advancing from the east and within 1,000 feet of ISIS positions. This is a big one, guys. Mosul was at one point Iraq’s second-largest city and one of its most diverse before it became a seat for ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and the place where he declared a “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria. Today, it’s the terror group’s last major stronghold, so an Iraqi victory is not only a symbol of ISIS’ waning influence, but a major step in ensuring it.

But not so fast–

There’s always fine print. As mentioned earlier, Mosul used to be a diverse city that included Arabs, Kurds, Assyrians and Turkmens across various religious communities. Most of these groups fled upon the arrival of ISIS, though some local Sunni Arabs welcomed the militants because they were resistant to the sectarian policies of the previous government led by Shia Arabs. Because of this, there is some concern over the involvement of a Shia militia during the offensive, who have already been accused of sectarian abuses in other cities after they were recaptured. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is trying to offset that concern, reassuring civilians in Mosul that only Iraqi security forces would be allowed to enter the city. Still, with so many civilians trapped in Mosul, there are major humanitarian concerns surrounding the operation, which could last for months.

 Royal Bank Of Scotland Engages In Lose-Lose Battle With Russia Today

The week started off quite suddenly for Russia Today (RT) who were informed that the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) would no longer be providing banking services to the english-language Russian “news” site. The decision kicked off fury in Moscow with some politicians calling for retaliatory banking bans against the BBC. The UK treasury denied that it had asked RBS to stop banking with RT. Now look, we don’t agree with most of what RT publishes: stuff which plays it fast and loose between what’s considered news and propaganda. And its connections to the Kremlin are suspect. But the whole debacle raises questions about how powerful yet private groups – like banks – can muzzle media companies that they disagree with. Some other examples include how Peter Thiel funded the lawsuit that shut down Gawker or how Donald Trump threatens the press during the campaign trail.

 NUTS AND BOLTS: SHOULD READ

 One Of The Largest Prison Strikes Ever Is Happening And Nobody Knew

Maybe if we all weren’t so captivated by Donald Trump’s conspiracy theories, we would have known that tens of thousands of prisoners around the country are staging one of the largest prison strikes in U.S. history. The strike began in September on the 45th anniversary of the Attica prison uprising and is primarily in response to the forced labor inmates must do for little or no pay. The strike, which has taken place in prisons in over a dozen states, includes peaceful marches, refusal to work, hunger strikes and in some cases, violence. Earlier this month, the Department of Justice announced that it would investigate conditions in Alabama’s prisons. You know the conditions in prisons must be bad when even some prison guards have begun sympathizing with the inmates.

GOOD READ: The Constitution Allows Prisoners To Be Forced To Work Without Pay 

Dutch Ambassador Finds Love, Loses Job

An inquiry has begun into Ambassador Ron Keller, the Dutch liaison to China, amid reports that he had a special liaison all his own. Keller is an experienced diplomat, having worked in Russia and Turkey for years, but is now being accused of having a secret love affair with a local Beijing employee. It’s highly frowned upon for foreign diplomats to fraternize with local staff because of the so-called “honey trap,” whereby local women act as agents for the Chinese government. Sounds like a ’60s spy movie but it’s common enough to strike fear into the Dutch Embassy. Keller is suspended and it’s unlikely he’ll be able to return to China, so we’ll never know if his forbidden love was the real thing or not.

#Pnut4prez: A Quick Check-In On The Campaign Trail

With the election exactly three weeks away, we are going to give you some more frequent updates on the campaign trail.

• A State Department official was accused of offering a “tit for tat” exchange with the FBI. Patrick Kennedy is accused of asking the FBI to not deem an email classified in return for the Department of State posting FBI agents in more countries. The State Department denies that a request took place and says that it did deem that email classified.
• Donald Trump still thinks the election is rigged and is confused as to why other Republicans don’t buy into his theory. Perhaps the absence of facts might have something to do with it.
• Democrats raised money and offered to repair a North Carolina GOP office that was firebombed and vandalized with hate speech over the weekend. The gesture was a rare moment of solidarity in this poisonous election and indicates that perhaps – on the state level – things aren’t as polarized.

Sign up to our #pnut4prez edition for a weekly email with in-depth coverage of the campaign trail.

PNUT READ: 6 Things To Help You Make Sense Of The Election

 KEEPING OUR EYE ON

Yemen: Well, this was fast. Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire and plans to meet with UN special envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, who had been working with the US and UK on brokering a ceasefire. They will discuss the terms of de-escalation and a possible truce between the government and the Houthi rebels.

Austria: Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka announced that the house where Adolf Hitler was born will be demolished. Unfortunately, in 2016, it was becoming a focal point for neo-Nazis. After much debate, and trouble with an owner who was reluctant to sell, the home will be destroyed and replaced with a building used for charitable purposes.

Netflix: The company definitely isn’t chilling, adding 50% more subscribers than expected in the last quarter. Their shares are up 20%. Time to binge-watch Narcos again…

 PNUTTY VIDEOS

John Oliver said this election is about choosing the lesser of 4 evils. Spoiler alert: he doesn’t like the third party candidates.

 LOOSE NUTS: FOR YOUR ENJOYMENT

 Julian Assange: No Internet, But At Least There’s Pam Anderson

Wikileaks tweeted yesterday that Ecuador shut down internet access for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. The internet activist has been staying at London’s Ecuadorean Embassy since 2012, claiming asylum. But Quito just acted like an angry dad after opening his internet bill, grounding Assange from his favorite past time. But it wasn’t all bad. He did receive a visit for former Baywatch star Pamela Anderson, who arrived with a vegan lunch and plenty of snacks. Anderson, who argues for Assange’s innocence, commented that she worried about his diet and commented that he looked pale but that could just be from living in London for awhile. With his internet being down, he was probably relieved to have someone to talk to. Then again, Anderson joked, “he said I tortured him with bringing him vegan food,” and coming from a guy desperately trying to escape extradition, that really says something.