👋 Timbaya!*
Welcome to Wednesday, where the U.S. approves a $95 billion military aid package, the UN calls for a probe of mass grave reports in Gaza and Athens is shrouded in orange Saharan dust clouds. Meanwhile, Samer al-Mahmoud in Arabic-language independent digital media Daraj reports on the plight of Syria’s child soldiers, who have no choice but to fight to feed their families.
[*Cebuano, Philippines]
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🗞️ FRONT PAGE
Argentine daily Diario Río Negro lends its front page to the “million voices in the streets” to protest on budget cuts to higher public education in the country, gathering hundreds of thousands of citizens. President Javier Milei's austerity measures, aiming to reduce the budget deficit, have led to significant cuts in subsidies and public spending. Led by students, teachers, parents, and alumni from state-run universities and backed by labor unions, opposition parties, and private universities, the protests occurred in major cities like Buenos Aires and Cordoba.
🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
• The U.S. Senate gave final approval to a $95bn foreign aid package. It encompasses military support for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan and President Joe Biden is expected to sign the legislation into law on Wednesday. It includes $61 billion in military aid for Ukraine, which the Pentagon says can start being delivered to the war-torn nation “within days.”
• The UN's human rights chief calls for probe into destruction of Gaza hospitals and reports of mass graves. Palestinian officials said they had exhumed 283 bodies at Nasser hospital, some with their hands tied. It is not clear how they died or when they were buried. Israel's military said claims that it buried bodies there were “baseless.”
• Deputy Russian Defense Minister was arrested on corruption allegations. Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov was detained by the Federal Security Service (FSB) on suspicion of taking bribes. Meanwhile, Russian missiles damaged residential buildings and injured six people in Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, early on Wednesday.
• Antony J. Blinken arrived in China amid growing tensions between the two countries. The U.S. Secretary of State landed on Wednesday just hours after the Senate passed a bill that provides $8 billion to Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific region, and could also lead to a nationwide ban on the Chinese-owned app TikTok. This law, which President Biden is expected to sign today, further increases clashes over trade, territorial disputes and national security. Read more on China in this analysis translated from French to English: Power, Wealth, Ambivalence — How China's Contradictions Weigh On The World.
• Tesla reported a 55% drop in profit amid fierce electric vehicle competition. The Austin, Texas-based company reported profits of $1.1 billion in the first quarter, down from $2.51 billion a year ago. But shares of Tesla soared by 11% after CEO Elon Musk said that production of new, more affordable vehicles would begin in the second half of next year “if not late this year.”
• Haiti police bolster security around the National palace ahead of a government transition. Soldiers armed with rifles also patrolled the international airport's diplomatic entrance. The palace has come under repeated fire from gangs that have paralyzed the capital Port-au-Prince. A nine-member presidential transition council is to be sworn in at the palace, and although no date has been announced, rumors circulated that it could happen this week. What If Haiti Can't Be Saved?, asked France Inter’s Pierre Haski in this recent piece, translated from French by Worldcrunch.
• A Belgian man was acquitted of drunk driving due to auto-brewery syndrome (ABS). This rare condition makes the body produce alcohol on its own. On top of this, the man coincidently works at a brewery, but three doctors who independently examined him confirmed he suffered from ABS.
#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS
$139 million
The United States Justice Department has agreed to pay nearly $139 million to victims of Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics team doctor convicted of sexually abusing hundreds of individuals over nearly two decades. The settlement addresses 139 claims and aims to provide support for Nassar's victims, including top Olympic gymnasts like Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, and McKayla Maroney. This agreement follows criticism of the FBI's handling of complaints against Nassar, which allowed him to continue his abuse unchecked.
📰 STORY OF THE DAY
Syria's child soldiers: Armed factions are sending kids to the front lines
After more than a decade of war in Syria, where some 90% of the population now lives in poverty, children are working as fighters for the armed factions to help feed their families, reports Samer al-Mahmoud in Arabic-language independent digital media Daraj.
🇸🇾 To feed his family, Marwan Qaiquni had no other option but to have his two children, Rabah and Shehadeh, to work as day soldiers with the armed opposition groups in northwestern Syria. Rabah and Shehadeh, who earn up to $4 a day, guard Turkish military points or are stationed on the first and second front lines. With no guarantees or compensation in the event of death or injury, the brothers are among hundreds of children and adults who have resorted to such work in the war-torn country in recent years.
📈 A UN report last June said that armed groups have recruited children throughout the conflict and civil war in Syria. And that the number of children recruited has risen steadily over the past three years — from 813 in 2020 to 1,296 in 2021 and 1,696 in 2022. Many of these children have died on the front lines. The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) reported in November that at least 12 children were killed while fighting alongside the factions allied with the opposition forces in 2023.
⚠️ These children are exposed to harsh and traumatic experiences that affect their psychological and social development, said psychological researcher Ahmed Jumaa. Child soldiers suffer from serious psychological disorders, including psychological trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, psychological tension, sleep problems and hostile behavior, he added.
📹 THIS HAPPENED VIDEO — TODAY IN HISTORY, IN ONE ICONIC PHOTO
➡️ Watch the video: THIS HAPPENED
📣 VERBATIM
“It was just an agreement among friends.”
— During the second day of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s criminal hush money trial, former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker testified that a meeting between Trump, himself, and attorney Michael Cohen at Trump Tower lasted 20 to 25 minutes and concluded with a verbal agreement. Pecker stated that this agreement, aimed at aiding Trump's campaign, was informal and not documented in writing, emphasizing its confidential nature.
✍️ Newsletter by Emma Albright and Cory Agathe
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