BLACKWATER USA | DAILY BRIEF - Blackwater Worldwide

Posted by BW Actual on Sep 2nd 2025

Afghanistan

The death toll from Sunday's devastating earthquake in eastern Afghanistan has risen to 1,124 and is expected to rise far higher once updates trickle in from the remote mountainous areas that were hit hardest.
Afghanistan's Taliban leaders have called for international help for relief efforts, but many of the donors who aided pre-Taliban Afghanistan are in no rush to help the current government.
The U.S. has cut foreign aid across the board, and so far has offered just "heartfelt condolences to the Afghan people."
The UK - like many other Western donors - cut aid to Taliban Afghanistan because of its repression of women and girls, and pledged a paltry £1 million ($1.3 million) in earthquake relief that will be selectively distributed by the UN and Red Cross / Crescent.
India sent 1,000 tents and 15 tons (or about one truck) of food aid.
China - which has fewer qualms about working with human rights abusers - was less restrained and promised to help "according to Afghanistan’s needs and within its capacity."

Brazil

Former President Jair Bolsonaro's trial starts today before Brazil's Supreme Court. Bolsonaro faces criminal charges for allegedly plotting a coup to stay in power after losing his bid for re-election in 2022.
Bolsonaro denies all charges against him, and his supporters - along with some impartial legal experts - say the Supreme Court overstepped its authority in the way it brought the case about. The trial is sure to stir division.

Russia

Bulgarian authorities accused Russia of jamming European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen's plane as she arrived in Plovdiv on Sunday. Moscow didn't bother denying the accusation: when the Financial Times inquired about it, a Kremlin spokesman told the reporter: "your information is incorrect."
Von der Leyen's plane ultimately landed safely and faced no issues taking off again after her brief stopover, but the incident raised European Union awareness about Russian jamming. The European Union said it would devote more of its low-earth satellites to detecting future interference attempts.

Sudan

The Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) - an armed faction - said a devastating landslide killed over 1,000 people in parts of North Darfur's Marra Mountains under its control. The UN confirmed the disaster but estimated a more conservative death toll of 370.
Some SLM/A factions back Sudan's military against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), but the SLM/A as a whole isn't firmly allied with either side in the war. Rather, regions under SLM/A control - including the Marra Mountains - host vast numbers of Sudanese displaced by ongoing fighting between the army and the RSF in other parts of Darfur and broader Sudan.

Guyana

Nearly 750,000 Guyanese voted in yesterday's presidential election. Observers were cautiously positive about how the poll was carried out, and results are expected by Thursday at the earliest.

Venezuela

The U.S. naval buildup in the Southern Caribbean and Latin Pacific is clearly bothering Venezuela's Pres. Maduro. Yesterday, Maduro called it "the biggest threat that has been seen on our continent in the last 100 years," and vowed to declare "a republic in arms" if "Venezuela were attacked."