A genuine post-coup conduct downgrade sits in the same pending queue as a routine arithmetic correction.
“Guinea-Bissau's published score sits 0.3 points above the Critical boundary, while a coup-era review proposes 13.1 with Accountability and Integrity near zero. What additional ECOWAS, African Union, or CPLP action on detained political figures would need to occur before this band crossing resolves?”
Guinea-Bissau's published score remains 20.3 out of 100, in the Developing band. On November 23-26, 2025, the country's Military High Command seized power before election results were announced, and the country was suspended from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union, and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP).
Why it matters
A country's government seized power by force and jailed its opposition leader. A lower score reflecting that has been proposed, but it has not taken effect, so the public score is unchanged for now.
The natural seasonal peak for the current Ebola outbreak runs through July 31; documented government obstruction of WHO response corridors is the next trigger toward the absolute floor.
A coordinator-level comparison of Mali's score against Burkina Faso's for comparable government conduct. Now roughly thirty days open with no set date.
A coordinator-level comparison of Baxter's proposed reading against the Fortune-500 medical-device placeholder cohort, or a second Baxter recall.
How to read this briefing— Bands, scores, and terms
Schema guide
The 5 performance bands
critical0–20
developing20–40
functional40–60
established60–80
exemplary80–100
Two scales
Each of the 8 dimensions is scored 1.0–5.0; these combine into a 0–100 composite score, mapped to the 5 bands above.
Key terms
Band crossing
A score change large enough to move an entity from one performance band into an adjacent one — the most structurally significant finding in a given cycle.
Boundary watch
An entity whose current score is within 3 points of a band threshold, flagged for priority reassessment in the next cycle.
Carry-forward
A dimensional credit retained from a prior assessment when new evidence is insufficient to revise a specific dimension; disclosed explicitly.
First baseline
An entity's inaugural composite score — no published score exists to compare against, so delta is not shown.
Floor designation
The most serious finding: all 8 dimensions resolve at the lowest behavioral anchor (1.0/5.0) across multiple cycles, yielding a composite of 0.
Forward trigger
A scheduled future reassessment event (e.g., a policy implementation date or legislative deadline) that may materially change an entity's score.
A company's posted score did not match its own underlying data. Fixing an arithmetic mistake like this is bookkeeping, not a verdict on how the company is treating patients or workers this month.
Becton Dickinson's published score remains 54.1 out of 100, in the Functional band.
Where this sits
Read the full signal
A review found that this number does not add up correctly from Becton Dickinson's own eight underlying category scores, which produce 42.2 under the benchmark's standard formula, an 11.9-point gap confirmed by the benchmark's own data-checking tool. The category scores themselves are unchanged; only the combined total was wrong. A July 9, 2026 FDA alert on Becton Dickinson's recall of more than 970 lots of ChloraPrep and FREPP surgical-prep applicators, prompted by wrinkled packaging that risked contamination, is a single data point consistent with the existing scores, not the cause of the 11.9-point gap. Becton Dickinson stays in the Functional band under both the old and the corrected number. The correction has not been applied to the public score.
A near-bottom score for the Democratic Republic of the Congo held steady, not because nothing is wrong, but because a record-fast epidemic confirms a capacity gap the score already reflected.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo's score held near the bottom of the scale at 1.3 out of 100, close to its published 2.3. By July 23, 2026, the country's Bundibugyo-strain Ebola outbreak had reached 1,033 deaths and 2,536 cases, crossing 1,000 deaths faster than any Ebola outbreak on record.
Where this sits
Read the full signal
The outbreak is spreading amid ongoing armed conflict, which this review found compounds rather than excuses the state's inability to contain it. No evidence of effective containment or reform was found this cycle, so the near-floor score was confirmed rather than lowered further.
The DRC's Bundibugyo-strain Ebola outbreak reached 1,033 deaths / 2,536 cases as of Jul 23, having crossed 1,000 deaths faster than any prior recorded Ebola outbreak.
This benchmark scores what a government does, not what is done to it. Being attacked does not lower a score; only a government's own actions do, and that rule was tested across six countries at once tonight.
Russia and Israel both held at the benchmark's absolute floor of 0 out of 100. A UN report attributed a 37 percent rise in Ukrainian civilian casualties to escalating Russian long-range strikes, which is Russia's own conduct and confirms its floor score.
Where this sits
Read the full signal
Iran's score held near the floor at 2.5 after Iranian strikes hit a Kuwaiti desalination and power plant, killing a civilian, and a Jordanian air base, in July 2026 -- also Russia and Iran's own actions. By contrast, Ukraine's score held at 50 and Palestine's held at 25, even though both face rising casualties, because that harm is being done to them by others rather than by their own governments. Gaza's post-ceasefire death toll reached 1,185 as of July 23, and OCHA documented new displacement and shelter-aid shortfalls in the Palestinian territories, but under the benchmark's rules, harm inflicted on a population does not by itself lower that population's own government's score.
One extreme storm is a single data point. Ahmedabad's low score reflects thin, reactive disaster planning built up over time, not this one flood.
Ahmedabad's score held at 18.8 out of 100, in the Critical band. On July 23-24, 2026, 177 millimeters of rain fell in two hours, prompting a red alert, school and college closures, and more than 100 cancelled trains.
Where this sits
Read the full signal
Separately, after a fatal firecracker-factory explosion, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation inspected 300 units in a two-day fire-safety enforcement drive -- a response this review found reactive rather than a sign of sustained proactive inspection. Both events were weighed against the city's broader 40-part record rather than treated as the whole score, and the published score was confirmed.
A new state lawsuit over long-lasting industrial chemicals adds one more data point to a company's already-known liability history; it confirms rather than resets DuPont's score.
DuPont's score held at 29.4 out of 100, close to its published 29.7, in the Developing band.
Where this sits
Read the full signal
On July 9, 2026, New York's attorney general sued DuPont, along with 3M, Chemours, and Corteva, alleging the companies knowingly sold PFAS-containing "forever chemicals" in consumer products despite known links to cancer and developmental harm. The suit seeks cleanup funding and consumer warnings. These allegations have not yet been decided in court. This review found the suit reinforces, rather than newly establishes, DuPont's existing weak Awareness and Accountability scores, which already reflect a long PFAS liability history, so the published score was confirmed.
Countries -- A Coup-Era Downgrade Is Proposed, and a Conflict Cluster Holds at the Floor
Guinea-Bissau's published score holds at 20.3 while a coup-era review proposes 13.1; five other countries confirmed at or near the benchmark's floor on their own conduct.
Read the full signal
Guinea-Bissau (20.3 published, 13.1 proposed): a November 2025 military coup and the July 10 re-jailing of the opposition leader triggered a proposed move into the Critical band, not yet applied.
Russia (0.0) and Israel (0.0): both held at the absolute floor on continuing conduct.
Iran (2.5) and Democratic Republic of the Congo (1.3 assessed against 2.3 published): both held near the floor.
Ukraine (50.0) and Palestine (25.0): both held steady despite rising casualties, because that harm is inflicted by others.
8 signals shown
Risk signals
Developments that may affect future scores. Watch items from the Jul 23 briefing.
Risk
Guinea-Bissau continues to accumulate coup-era evidence -- a regional-bloc suspension, a freedom-index downgrade, and a re-jailed opposition leader -- that together propose a move into the Critical band.
Risk
Several active conflicts and famine-risk countries have ranked below routine corporate and city stories for four consecutive review cycles, based on how recently each was reviewed rather than how severe the underlying harm is.
Risk
The Democratic Republic of the Congo's Ebola outbreak already holds the record for the fastest path to 1,000 deaths; further spread without documented containment would test whether its near-floor score can fall further.
Risk
Becton Dickinson's data correction is one of several composite-arithmetic mismatches now surfacing across the benchmark's records, alongside similar drift flagged elsewhere in the registry.
Risk
Mali and Burkina Faso's relative scores remain an open question after roughly a month, with neither country reviewed this cycle to test whether their scores reflect comparable government conduct.
Score movements
Entities with score changes this cycle, followed by confirmed positions.
Next signal: — The natural seasonal peak for this outbreak runs through July 31; documented government obstruction of WHO response corridors would be the next trigger toward the absolute floor.
Further ECOWAS or CPLP action on detained political figures, or additional documentation of the transitional government's conduct, is the next event to watch.
A worsening of the UN-backed hunger alert without a matching expansion of health-insurance or school-enrolment coverage would be the next event to move this score down.
A documented own-conduct deterioration in epidemic response, such as government obstruction of WHO response corridors, would be the next event that could push Uganda back into the Critical band.
A coordinator-level comparison of Baxter's proposed reading against the Fortune-500 medical-device placeholder cohort, or a second Baxter recall, is the next event that would test this finding.
A second undisclosed telemetry episode, evidence the removed tracker was broader or retained longer than stated, or a regulator or court finding of deceptive practice would each independently move the score toward a change.
A documented change in Egypt's refugee-deportation practice, or a further Human Rights Watch or UNHCR finding, is the next event that would test this score.
Documented government obstruction of World Health Organization response corridors would be the trigger to move toward the absolute floor. The outbreak has already crossed 1,000 deaths, the fastest pace on record.
Independently documented deliberate targeting of Palestinian civilians by Palestinian authorities themselves, or systematic diversion of aid, would move the score down.
A coordinator-level review comparing Mali's conduct against Burkina Faso's (6.3 of 100) is the next scored event needed to resolve this gap. No review date has been set.
A coordinator-level review comparing Bolivia's conduct profile, as an elected government under economic and civil-unrest strain, against Critical-band peers facing state collapse or mass atrocity is the next event needed. No review date has been set.
methodology-evolution
Evidence ledger
Primary sources reviewed in this briefing cycle. 15 sources linked.
guinea-bissauTier 4 · Journalism2026-03-19
a military coup in late 2025 thwarted efforts to restore regular political order by holding overdue elections
The DRC's Bundibugyo-strain Ebola outbreak reached 1,033 deaths / 2,536 cases as of Jul 23, having crossed 1,000 deaths faster than any prior recorded Ebola outbreak.
Israeli strikes and shootings continued almost daily in Gaza despite the October 2025 ceasefire, with the cumulative toll reaching 1,185 killed and 3,816 wounded as of July 23.
177 millimeters of rain fell on Ahmedabad in two hours on July 23-24, 2026, prompting a red alert, school and college closures, and more than 100 cancelled trains.
New York's Attorney General sued 3M, DuPont, Chemours, and Corteva, alleging they knowingly sold harmful PFAS "forever chemicals" in consumer goods despite known cancer and developmental-harm links.
Becton Dickinson's published composite (54.1) does not reconstruct from its own stored category scores, which produce 42.2 under the benchmark's standard formula, an 11.9-point gap confirmed by the benchmark's own data-checking tool.
Twenty-six current and former Meta employees sued, alleging its AI-assisted layoff system discriminated against workers on medical or family leave, with disabilities, and pregnant employees during an 8,000-person reduction in force.
The ICC confirmed war-crimes and crimes-against-humanity charges against a Mitiga prison official, the first Libya case to move to trial after 15 years of investigation.
Poland appointed a new human rights commissioner in late July 2026, who raised concerns about the Belarus-border asylum ban, in place more than a year; reported hate crimes against Ukrainians rose about 30 percent year to date.
PalestineTier 1 · Gov/Court2026-07-16
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)2026-07-16
OCHA documented new displacement, a 37 percent drop in shelter-assistance reach, and journalist killings as serious violations of international humanitarian law.
HaitiTier 1 · Gov/Court2026-07-19
United Nations2026-07-19
UN reporting confirmed 1.5 million people displaced by gang violence and 1,600 killed over three months, with criminal groups controlling 70 to 75 percent of the capital.
Floor designations
·8 entities at composite 0 with documented evidence pattern
Composite scores resolving at zero — methodology disclosure
These entities consistently score the worst result across all 8 dimensions of compassionate conduct — the benchmark's most serious classification.
What “floor” means: every one of the 8 dimensions (Recognition, Response, Reduction, and 5 others) resolves at the lowest behavioral anchor (1.0/5.0) across multiple assessment cycles, yielding a composite score of 0. Full methodology.
Democratic Republic of the Congo(2026-07-31) — The natural seasonal peak for the current Ebola outbreak runs through July 31; documented government obstruction of W…
Guinea-Bissau — Further ECOWAS or CPLP action on detained political figures held by the military government is the next event to watch.
Becton Dickinson — A coordinator-level reconciliation of the composite-arithmetic mismatch, alongside similar drift flagged elsewhere in…
We reassess nightly.
Special Briefings
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