Sudan

• Media reports out of Sudan portray a chaotic melee, and it's unclear which of the two allies-turned-rivals vying for power is coming out on top.
• Some sensational reports draw a link between the military government's arrest of a Russian (and suspected Wagner hire) for gold smuggling a few days ago and the new round of fighting, but it seems like a tenuous link.
• Russia's Wagner Group is active in Sudan - it's been plundering Sudan's gold under an agreement facilitated and protected by the Rapid Support Force (RSF) for years - but it's also unclear whether Wagner personnel are helping their benefactors in the RSF now.

• Russia sentenced Vladimir Kara-Murza - an opposition activist with UK citizenship - to 25 years in prison for "treason" for speaking out against the Kremlin.
• The NYT pointed out that 25 years is longer than the typical sentence for murder in Russia. On top of that, Kara-Murza has already been poisoned twice.
• Separately, Russia's foreign minister - Sergey Lavrov - is on Brazil on a visit to celebrate and solidify Pres. Lula's somewhat neutral stance on the Ukraine war. Lula has opposed sending weapons to either side, which frustrates the U.S. and its allies but pleases Russia.

• Slovakia became the third EU country to ban Ukrainian grain imports, after Poland and Hungary.
• Ukraine and the EU are scrambling to work out a solution that slows the flow of cheap Ukrainian grain into neighboring markets - especially those with upcoming elections, where leaders are trying to appease voting farmers.

• U.S. prosecutors charged two men with conspiring to act as Chinese agents for helping to run an unauthorized Chinese police post in Chinatown, New York City. The two allegedly intimidated Chinese dissidents on behalf of Beijing.

• Islamic State (IS) militants massacred at least 26 people - including civilians and pro-government fighters - who were truffle hunting in Hama, Syria.
• It's not that IS takes issue with decadent truffles or truffle hunting; more likely, the militants made off with truffles they wanted to sell for profit.