The three things for the week of July 31st, courtesy of The Corners magazine (www.thecorners.pl)

Welcome back to The Three Things with Preston Smith, which covers politics, current affairs, crime, spy/intrigue and all things in between in Central Europe. Each section of the Three Things runs approximately 15-20 minutes, and we have provided markers to help you get where you need to go.

This week's topics include:

00:00 A brief introduction to the photos of Patrick Patterson, a Texas photojournalist who spent a year in Ukraine and has a point-of-view worth reading (and check out that story on www.thecorners.pl)

6:16 Cocaine and the Albanian Mob (Kompania Bella), cocaine trafficking in Europe and how the various gangs in organized crime actually treat their own people/nationalities.

25:56 A quick update on the war in Ukraine. It's tough going, and we'll pull no punches. But still Slava Ukraini!

43:40 Detective work, child custody fights and how even with children possession is 99 percent of the law. And what does this mean when it comes to Belarus, the Belarussian Red Cross and Ukrainian children illegally transported there?

Also, be sure to check out www.thecorners.pl, where the quarterly magazine is available, and where updates appear daily on the site and also on the paid-for Patreon site, accessible from the main site, that offers just a bit more. Although much, much more is coming soon.