Sudan Strife: “Hemedti only appeared on the national political scene four years ago. In that short time, he has drawn the army, and all of Sudan, into an unprecedented confrontation – in which the country’s army, under Burhan, now finds itself at war with a large paramilitary force that it cannot dominate, under a leader that it cannot control. How did Hemedti, seemingly overnight, come to capture Sudan’s politics?” Sudan’s outsider: how a paramilitary leader fell out with the army and plunged the country into war. Meanwhile, things are getting more and more dangerous in Sudan. SEAL Team 6, Army special forces rescue US diplomats in Sudan; aid workers urged to ‘shelter in place.’ Here’s the latest from BBC.

+ The Bluest Sigh: “The American Library Association today released their list of the 13 most challenged books of 2022, the titles that have been the biggest targets of banning efforts in schools and public libraries.” (Some whack job on a local board is sitting in judgement of Toni Morrison. We’re living in the age of stupidity.) And just in case you think craziness is only on one side of the aisle: Identity Politics Comes for a Best-Selling Novelist. “As he describes in an email to the Bulwark, that novel ‘was repeatedly rejected by major publishers because as a white author I chose to write about some of our most vexing racial problems –voter suppression, unequal law-enforcement – through the prism of three major characters, two of them Black.'”

+ Red Math, and Beyond: “Bed Bath & Beyond enters bankruptcy distraught and turbulent, after several misfired turnarounds, abrupt leadership shakeups, a rise and crash as a meme stock, store closures, job cuts and numerous last-gasp financing deals. For months, the chain has been losing both money and shoppers, struggling to restock shelves as suppliers and banks cut off its tab.”

+ NBC Shell: NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell has been let go for inappropriate conduct with an employee.

+ Fired, Then Rehired? “Myles Cosgrove, a former Louisville police officer who shot and killed Breonna Taylor in March 2020, became a law enforcement officer again in a nearby county.”

+ Pop Rock: It’s “the first time since 1950, when the UN first began keeping global population records, that China has been knocked off the top spot.” India overtakes China to become world’s most populous country.

+ Faith Healing: “For many young people, the pandemic was the first crisis they faced. It affected everyone to some degree, from the loss of family and friends to uncertainty about jobs and daily life. In many ways, it aged young Americans and they are now turning to the same comfort previous generations have turned to during tragedies for healing and comfort.” The Surprising Surge of Faith Among Young People.

+ Get Wrexed: “Wrexham, the Welsh soccer club owned by Hollywood A-listers Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, secured promotion back to the English Football League system for the first time in 15 years.” And Ryan Reynolds fulfils fan Jay Fear’s dying wish.