The Sentry

🏀 NBA cancels Abu Dhabi preseason games due to Mideast war, not Sudan The NBA will not hold its annual preseason games in Abu Dhabi this year because of the risks from the ongoing Middle East war, CBS reported. The UAE has faced hundreds of Iranian missile and drone attacks since the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began February 28. Abu Dhabi has hosted NBA games every year since 2022. The league says it still plans to return and is expanding the partnership by moving its Global Academy there. The relationship has drawn scrutiny as the UAE arms Sudan’s genocidal Rapid Support Forces militia, which the U.S. and rights groups determined committed genocide and mass ethnic cleansing massacres in Darfur.

Exclusive: United Nations experts have found that Boeing 727s linked by Reuters to a US military contractor's business network transported mercenaries, weapons and drones for Sudan's Rapid Support Forces, according to a draft UN report due to be published in September reut.rs/45y7GAA

Learn more in our recent essay in Common Dreams: commondreams.org/opinion/jalen-…

Jalen Brunson’s Game 1 NBA Finals jersey featuring the “Experience Abu Dhabi” patch sold for more than $1 million at auction, the highest price ever paid for a jersey through NBA Auctions. The proceeds go to the NBA and the New York Knicks to support league operations and business growth. The NBA should instead donate that money, along with the additional $800,000 raised from the jerseys of Brunson’s teammates, to children starving in Sudan at the hands of the RSF, a militia that the United Arab Emirates is supporting. The NBA and the Knicks both maintain lucrative commercial branding deals with Abu Dhabi. Let the #Knicks and #NBA know that they should donate the money and find another commercial sponsor. Learn more and sign the petition here: bloodontheball.org.

What does the patch on an NBA jersey have to do with one of the world's deadliest conflicts? In a new op-ed, The Sentry’s co-founder John Prendergast explores the connection between the New York Knicks' "Experience Abu Dhabi" sponsorship and the humanitarian catastrophe in #Sudan, and calls for sports partnerships to reflect accountability, not impunity. commondreams.org/opinion/jalen-… #KeepEyesOnSudan

Sudan conflict gold update: the EU recently announced an import ban on all gold from Sudan. The EU’s concern is laudable, but the ban may largely be counterproductive and should be followed by other, more targeted policy measures. Read our full statement here:

4/ The political signal matters too. Backing the AES means aligning US power with three military juntas that seized power in coups, silence political opponents, and are withdrawing from the ICC together. That's legitimacy for coup leaders, granted free of charge.

3/ Washington appears to be looking to Nigeria's model: airstrikes that killed an ISIS commander. But decapitation isn't a strategy. France tried targeting armed group leaders for a decade. Russia is failing at it now. Better options: restore aid, demand accountability, support accountable and locally rooted governance, and sanction the war economy sustaining the conflict.

2/ Killing commanders doesn't end insurgencies like this. The Wagner Group killed an IS Sahel leader in 2024, and is still losing the war. Our Mercenary Meltdown investigation showed Wagner's brutality became one of JNIM's strongest recruiting tools. Experts warn US strikes could chiefly strengthen IS Sahel, JNIM's rival. thesentry.org/reports/mercen…

The Trump administration is weighing strikes on JNIM in Mali (@washingtonpost), months after ending every US aid program in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, including programs its own officials deemed lifesaving. You can't bomb a crisis after you've stopped funding the response. washingtonpost.com/national-secur…

My piece examines the risks associated with with #gold in #SouthSudan, its geopolitical dimensions, why the issue should matter to policymakers in #Washington, & actionable recs @TheSentry_Org #Sudan justsecurity.org/146977/gold-th…

@just_security Read the full article: justsecurity.org/146977/gold-th…

Gold could help build South Sudan's future… or finance its next conflict. In a new @Just_Security article, Brian Adeba examines how weak oversight, politically connected elites, and conflict-linked mining threaten to turn gold into another driver of violence.

Our co-founder John Prendergast is a big basketball fan. He deeply admires NBA star Jalen Brunson, but John also has a question for him. Hey @jalenbrunson1: Do you know what the “Experience Abu Dhabi” patch on your jersey means? In a new @CommonDreams op-ed, John urges Jalen and the New York Knicks to reconsider their partnership with the United Arab Emirates in light of the UAE's alleged support for the RSF in Sudan. Learn more: commondreams.org/opinion/jalen-…

Russia resupplying the Africa Corps by sea through West African ports is a pattern we documented in our recent report, "Doubling Down." At least three major convoys reached Bamako in early 2025, with Conakry serving as the maritime hub. Now, Lomé appears to be a second Atlantic entry point. @jeune_afrique reports that more than 300 Africa Corps personnel have been in Togo since January. This defense agreement gives Russia's navy access to Togolese ports, possibly on a more permanent basis. Watch this corridor. Explore the findings in "Doubling Down": thesentry.org/reports/doubli…

In March, Russian Defence Minister Belousov met with Faure Gnassingbe, Togo's President of the Council of Ministers. Now the sanctioned Russian cargo ship Britnev has docked in Lomé. It carried dozens of armoured vehicles (BMPs, BTR-82s, MRAPs), the first major Russian arms delivery to #AfricaCorps forces in #Togo. jeuneafrique.com/1811457/politi…

The Sentry has reported extensively on several of these illicit actors in our investigations, particularly in our October 2025 Alert "The RSF’s Business Network in the UAE." Holding the spoilers of war to account is a critical step toward incentivizing peace, and today's step by the UK should be followed up by the United States and European Union so that these war entrepreneurs are fully cut off from accessing the global financial system. All sanctions must also be fully enforced and implemented by the private sector and government agencies. thesentry.org/reports/sudan-…

While over 12 million people are displaced in Sudan because of war, The Sentry applauds this important step by the UK to hold facilitators of the war in Sudan accountable, including network sanctions against Rapid Support Forces (RSF) companies and conflict gold traders in both Sudan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). gov.uk/government/new…

Rwanda has spent over $200M on sponsoring sports teams and leagues to sportswash its image. Learn more: bloodontheball.org

In Sudan, the brutal RSF militia is besieging the city of El Obeid. It may be repeating its siege last year of El Fasher where it slaughtered 60,000 people. World leaders warn of mass atrocities but won't name the country behind this mass murder and mass rape. So I will: It's the UAE. Neither the Biden nor Trump administration was willing to offend the UAE by holding it accountable for what Washington described as the genocide unfolding in Sudan. Trump, whose family is enriched by business dealings with the UAE, is silent. So the slaughter continues. The UAE even has a candidate for UN Secretary General, and people are too polite to point out that a country empowering mass atrocities might not be ideal for that role. I write: "We should have the fortitude to speak up about human rights outrages whether the responsible party is Russia, China, Israel, America or the Emirates; if you care about human rights in only some places, you don’t actually care about human rights." A gift link to the column: nytimes.com/2026/07/11/opi… Thoughts?

Russia is replacing the Wagner Group with the Kremlin-controlled Africa Corps. This is not a shadow operation; it is a deliberate expansion of Russian power. Our investigation reveals that the Africa Corps is leveraging Russian and Guinean businesses for military purposes. And we found evidence that the Guinea Conakry port terminal, operated by two Russian-Guinean companies, is a major hub. Civilians are paying the price: Russian fighters perpetrate rape, torture, beheadings, mutilation, and summary executions. Read our report to learn more about why this change is important: thesentry.org/reports/doubli…