👋 Bone die!*
Welcome to Friday, where Joe Biden’s shaky debate performance has Democrats wondering whether he should step aside, Iranian voters go to the polls to pick a successor for Ebrahim Raisi, and South Korean hikers are warned not to drop their broth in mountain streams. Meanwhile, for Chinese-language media The Initium, Fan Yuxin offers a deep dive in the forced closure of Beijing’s indie rock bar that served as a haven for the LGBTQ+ community.
[*Sardinian, Italy]
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🗞️ FRONT PAGE
Brussels-based daily Le Soir reports on the security agreement signed by European Union leaders and Ukraine, underlining the bloc’s support for Kyiv in the fight against Russia’s invasion. With this deal, the EU commits to help Ukraine in nine areas of security policy, including arms deliveries and military training. “Each step we take brings us closer to our historic goal of peace and prosperity in our common European home,” said Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, referring to the country’s EU accession talks, which began this week.
🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
• Democrats question whether Biden should renounce candidacy after weak debate showing. After a dismal performance by President Joe Biden in his face-to-face with former President Donald Trump, Democrats are openly questioning whether they need a new candidate in November. Biden struggled to articulate his points at several moments, appearing to fumble for his words. Meanwhile, Trump took the opportunity to redirect the conversation at several points to Biden’s perceived weaknesses, drumming up fears about immigration and the state of the economy.
• Palestinians flee Gaza City's Shejaiya area amid heavy bombardment. Palestinians have been fleeing Gaza City's eastern Shejaiya district amid intense Israeli bombardment and a reported incursion by ground forces. Gaza’s civil defense agency says three of its medics were killed by Israeli aircraft and 12 others wounded while they carried out rescue efforts in central Bureij refugee camp. This comes days after Israel’s prime minister said that “the intense phase” of the fighting against Hamas was “about to end.”
• Voting starts in Iran’s snap presidential election. Iranians are voting for a new president following the death of Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash, choosing from a tightly controlled group of four candidates loyal to the supreme leader at a time of growing public frustration. A recent Kayhan-London article translated from Persian by Worldcrunch argues that the lack of voter interest amounts to a virtual boycott in the election.
• Von der Leyen nominated to stay on in top EU job. The current European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen appears headed for a second five-year term in the bloc's top job, with the nomination coming at a summit in Brussels. Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas was picked as the EU's next foreign affairs chief and former Portuguese prime minister António Costa was chosen as the next head of the European Council, to succeed Belgium’s Charles Michel.
• Argentina passes economic reform bill in Milei's first big legislative win. Argentina's Congress early on Friday approved economic reform measures proposed by President Javier Milei, giving him his first big legislative win six months after taking office. The final discussions regarding Milei's primary reform bill and its fiscal counterpart began on Thursday in the lower Chamber of Deputies. For more on Javier Milei, we offer this recent piece from Argentine daily Clarin, translated from Spanish by Worldcrunch.
• One dead as roof collapse smashes cars at Delhi airport. The collapse came after heavy rain, killing one person and injuring four others. Videos online show huge pillars supporting the roof smashing into cars parked along the airport's Terminal 1.
• Soup broth is damaging South Korea’s highest mountain. Environmental damage is coming to Mount Halls from a very unexpected source — instant noodles, which are popular among hikers to stay nourished through long treks. The National Park Office has started a campaign to encourage hikers not to dump ramyun broth on the mountain or in its streams, in order to preserve a “clean environment.”
#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS
7 minutes
Serbian-born conceptual artist Marina Abramović will take to the Pyramid Stage of the Glastonbury festival in the UK on Friday evening for seven minutes of silence. With a crowd of up to 200,000 people, this will be the 77-year-old artist’s largest participatory work. “Silence is a powerful tool that allows us to connect with ourselves and each other in ways words cannot,” says Abramović.
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📰 STORY OF THE DAY
Last call: Behind the shuttering of Beijing’s expat-owned, LGBTQ-friendly indie spot
David Carey, an Irish musician who lived in China for nine years, built an independent record label and a thriving cultural space that was appreciated by foreigners and locals alike. But the screening of a film that included LGBTQ+ elements brought an end to all that, reports Fan Yuxin in Chinese-language media The Initium.
🇨🇳 In 2015, David was studying music at a university in Ireland and dreamed of becoming a musician. But the Irish stage seemed too small; new artists seem to have no choice but to go to the United States or attract fans on YouTube in order to build a career and be loved by local Irish audiences. At the suggestion of a professor of ancient Chinese music, David applied for a six-month student visa to China and went to Beijing, which was said to have a thriving music scene.
🏳️🌈 In 2019, David and his colleague Alice, a illustrator, started the independent music label Nugget Records, out of their common interest in tape music. As two cassette tape lovers, David and Alice had been working with musicians since the end of 2019 to make music tapes and sell them online. Then they opened the Nugget café, creating an environment to share music and art. Nugget was also a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community. Every Tuesday night, they would host drag variety shows or show LGBTQ+ movies.
🚨 But then David and Alice were investigated by the police for hosting a film screening that included LGBTQ+ elements. They were called to the police station and questioned for about eight hours, asking David if he was a spy. After this experience, David and Alice decided to close the bar and leave China. "All the progress I saw from 2015 to 2019 disappeared, and people became selfish, cruel and paranoid. People told me to leave their country. Every day I feel like an outsider. These things keep reminding me that I don't belong here and never will," he said.
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📣 VERBATIM
“We were surprised.”
— Bolivian President Luis Arce called accusations that he was behind an attempted coup against his government “lies,” after the general involved, Juan José Zúñiga, alleged the president had ordered him to carry out the mutiny to boost his decreasing popularity. “We were never informed about his intentions,” said Arce during a press conference on Thursday. The government announced the arrest of 17 people, who are all facing charges of armed uprising and attacks against government infrastructure. Marcelo Cantelmi of Buenos Aires-based Clarín asks whether this week’s events may pave the way for the return of former Bolivian President Evo Morales.
👉 MORE FROM WORLDCRUNCH
• Bullying, Feet-Dragging, Gaslighting: How Israel Uses Negotiations As A Weapon — AL-MANASSA
• Will Evo Morales Use Bolivia's Failed Coup As A Path Back To Power? — CLARÍN
• A Trillion Rubles Of Microloans: How Household Debt Is Pushing Russia Into Recession — HOLOD
✍️ Newsletter by Emma Albright and Anne-Sophie Goninet
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