Prologue Journal – Page 36026 – Understanding current events through the lenses of the past and future.

A building boom fueled by corruption is changing the face of Baghdad

Washington Post It is a lucrative time for Iraqi developers, hailed by politicians as a sign of Baghdad’s revival. But the real estate market is also a magnet for dirty money. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/06/29/iraq-baghdad-real-estate-corruption/

Chinese Containers Clogging Russian Rail Depots – VPost

Moscow Times Managers at Russian shipping companies said the build-up had reached “almost critical” levels in the Moscow region and across central Russia. https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/06/29/chinese-containers-clogging-russian-rail-depots-vpost-a81689

Meet the ‘Bo Jackson’ of the Tour de France

Wall Street Journal Belgium’s Wout van Aert won’t win the overall race—but the powerful 28-year-old can do almost anything else on a bicycle. https://www.wsj.com/articles/cycling-wout-van-aert-tour-de-france-33b854ed

Financiers bought up anesthesia practices, then raised prices

Washington Post Created 10 years ago by a private-equity firm, USAP is now one of the largest in the U.S., with more than 4,000 doctors and spanning nine states. As it gobbled up existing practices, substantial price hikes followed. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/06/29/private-equity-medical-practices-raise-prices/

Press review: Moscow wants international Nord Stream probe and US to limit AI chip exports

Disclaimer: TASS is Russian government propaganda, and not a reliable news source. Top stories from the Russian press on Thursday, June 29th https://tass.com/pressreview/1640171

Forecast: High Heat Index Expands Across Texas, Tennessee and Southern States

New York Times Dangerously high heat indexes will expand across the South this week. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/29/us/weather-forecast-heat-temperatures-south.html

National Guard of Ukraine fires on Ukrainian troops attempting to desert in DPR — expert

Disclaimer: TASS is Russian government propaganda, and not a reliable news source. Andrey Marochko surmised that the National Guard, by firing on the Ukrainian soldiers, was attempting to prevent them from “abandoning their positions without authorization” https://tass.com/politics/1640249

Waiting for Wagner mercenaries: Satellite images show that a tent camp is being built in Belarus

Pravda Ukraine A combination of factors suggests that a military camp for Russian mercenaries is being built in Belarus. Source: Belaruski Hajun [an independent Belarusian military monitoring media outlet], Radio Liberty, The New York Times Details: Currently, work is underway on the territory of the former military base No 61732 in the village of Ceĺ…

Regional Kaohsiung-Tainan-Pingtung TPass to launch July 1

Kaohsiung, June 29 (CNA) The southern Taiwan version of the TPass scheme, which offers unlimited use of public transport in Kaohsiung, Tainan and Pingtung, will launch on July 1 at a price of NT$999 (US$32.14) per month, according to the Kaohsiung City government. https://focustaiwan.tw/society/202306290011

Hong Kong attitudes to mental illness: hide it and fear it

Hong Kong Free Press Two stories on the same day nicely illustrated Hong Kong’s attitude to mental illness. One concerned a legislator (no names or party affiliations, not to protect the guilty but because I have sworn off politics) who suggested that “recovering mental patients” could be shipped across the border to the Greater Bay…