A Grave Feud In Africa

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August 19, 2025

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Good Tuesday morning. A historic wooden church in Sweden will be moved about three miles starting today; it is at risk of falling into an iron-ore mine in its current location. Have a great day!

In Today’s Brief

  • Baltimore: Ship explosion

  • Hamas: Ceasefire deal

  • Mail-in voting: Trump claim

  • SoftBank: Intel investment

  • MSNBC: New name

... and more

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The Top Tip

Eternal beef

A legal battle has broken out between Zambia and the family of its late head of state over funeral plans.

  • The background: Edgar Lungu was Zambia’s leader from 2015-21. He defeated political rival Hakainde Hichilema in a special election before winning a full term in 2016. Hichilema then defeated Lungu in the nation’s 2021 presidential election. Lungu died in June at age 68 after seeking medical treatment for an undisclosed illness in South Africa after the country’s high court said his first year in office counted as a full term, making him ineligible to run for re-election.

  • The issue: Hichilema’s government offered to repatriate Lungu’s body and hold a state funeral. But Lungu’s family eventually rejected the offer and said Lungu instructed them to never let Hichilema near his body. Zambia then got the Pretoria High Court to postpone a funeral for Lungu in South Africa before eventually ordering his body be returned to Zambia. The case has now been adjourned while South Africa’s constitutional court decides whether to hear an appeal, leaving Lungu’s final resting place still in limbo.

  • Big picture: Hichilema says it is national law that a state funeral must happen if Zambia declares national days of mourning, which it did for Lungu. Leaders of Lungu’s former political party have countered it is possible to have a state funeral without Hichilema presiding over it. Both Hichilema and Lungu experienced alleged political persecution under the other’s regime.

Quick Tips

U.S. News

  • A cargo ship suffered an explosion in Baltimore, but no one was hurt. The vessel was carrying coal near the site of last year's Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse; the cause of the blast is under investigation (More)

  • Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey will become the FBI's co-Deputy Director. The move casts new doubt about ex-Secret Service agent and conservative podcaster Dan Bongino's future in the role (More)

  • Texas health officials said a measles outbreak in the state is contained. Over 700 people became ill and two children died; most patients were unvaccinated or had unknown vaccination status (More)

World News

  • Hamas agreed to a Gaza ceasefire-hostage release deal presented by Egyptian and Qatari mediators. Israel indicated it still plans to follow through with its plan to occupy Gaza City (More)

  • President Donald Trump said the U.S. will help provide Ukrainian security guarantees if a peace deal is reachedwith Russia. Yesterday's White House summit set the stage for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to have direct talks in the coming days (More)

  • Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said he will activate over 4.5M militia members. The move is a stated response to U.S. "threats" with a $50M federal bounty for the strongman's arrest (More)

Political News

  • President Trump said he will "lead a movement" to end mail-in voting before next year's midterm elections. Newsmax reached a $67M settlement deal with Dominion Voting Systems, ending a defamation lawsuit regarding its 2020 election coverage (More | More)

  • Stacy Gerrity, Pennsylvania's elected state treasurer, will run for governor. The Republican is serving her second term; failed 2022 GOP candidate Doug Mastriano has hinted at another bid against Gov. Josh Shapiro (More)

  • The Justice Department will share information regarding Jeffrey Epstein with Congress. Kentucky Rep. James Comer said documents related to the late pedophile financier will start to be turned over to the House Oversight Committee this week (More)

Business & Markets

  • Major indexes closed mixed yesterday to kick off a critical week ahead of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's policy speech at the central bank's annual symposium (Dow -0.08%, S&P 500 -0.01%, Nasdaq +0.03%).

  • SoftBank Group will invest $2B in Intel. The move makes the Japanese multinational corporation a top-10 shareholder in the struggling computer chip maker; the federal government is also reportedly interested in taking a stake (More)

  • Soho House is going private in a $2.7B deal, just four years after its IPO. MCR Hotels will lead the acquisition of the private member club operator, which has experienced financial woes amid expansion (More)

Entertainment & Sports

  • MSNBC will change its name to MS NOW and lose its iconic peacock logo. The cable news network is among the assets NBCUniversal is spinning off into Versant, a new publicly-traded company (More) 

  • A Maryland ticket resale is accused of illegally buying over 380K concert tickets. A lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission alleges Key Investment Group used deceptive tactics to bypass limits for Taylor Swift's Eras Tour and other top shows before scalping them above face value (More)

  • Sabrina Carpenter will perform at next month's MTV Music Video Awards. J Balvin, Sombr and Alex Warren are also among the announced acts for the Sept. 7 event in New York (More)