👋 Agoo!*
Welcome to Wednesday, where Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has been assassinated In Tehran, the death toll from India’s landslides is rising and Olympic triathletes finally get the greenlight to swim in the Seine. Meanwhile, Ayar Abdel-Karim Ahmed in Arabic-language news website Al-Manassa looks at why cyber blackmail targeting women is so prevalent in Egypt.
[*Twi, Ghana]
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🗞️ FRONT PAGE
The Indian daily newspaper Vartha Bharati dedicates its front page to the deadly landslide in the Kerala region. “More than 150 lives have been lost,” and the region will observe two days of mourning as rescue operations continue to save hundreds of people trapped under the rubble.
🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
• Hamas’s political chief Ismail Haniyeh has been assassinated in Tehran. The group that governs Gaza blames Israel for his death. Iran's Revolutionary Guards confirmed the death of Haniyeh, hours after he attended a swearing in ceremony for the country's new president. The killing risks a region-wide escalation of the war.
• Ukraine says it repelled one of Russia's largest drone attacks of war. Ukraine's air force said it repelled one of Russia's largest long-range drone attacks of the war overnight, shooting down all 89 drones launched in the early hours of Wednesday. The attack primarily targeted Kyiv and the surrounding region where local authorities said more than 40 drones were shot down.
• Lula and Biden call on Venezuela to release full presidential election results. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and U.S. President Joe Biden have jointly called for the complete publication of the Venezuelan presidential election results, which are being disputed by the opposition and parts of the international community. On Tuesday, thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets for a peaceful show of support for the opposition, a day after 11 people died and dozens were wounded in protests against Maduro.
• Death toll from the landslides that have hit southern India exceeds 150. Officials are saying more than 220 people are still missing. Rescue workers say they are searching under collapsed roofs and debris of destroyed houses for possible survivors. Thick torrents of mud and water swept through the Kerala region early Tuesday morning.
• At least 50 police officers injured in Southport unrest. Unrest broke out in the Merseyside town hours after a vigil to honor the victims of Monday's knife attack at a dance school in which three young girls were killed. Police officers were pelted with bricks and a van was set on fire. Merseyside Police Federation's Chris McGlade said more than 50 police officers were hurt in a “sustained and vicious attack.” “Thugs” who traveled to Southport to use the deaths of three children “for their own political purposes” were to blame for the violence, the town's member of Parliament said.
• Myanmar junta extends emergency rule amid escalating conflict. Myanmar's embattled military government has extended a state of emergency for another six months, as the junta struggles to maintain its grip on power with fighting flaring on multiple fronts and the economy in crisis. Army-run Myawaddy media said Wednesday the military-controlled National Defence and Security Council extended emergency rule to give the junta more time to put together population data for voter lists.
• Constantin Brâncuși's ensemble in Romania has made UNESCO World Heritage List. An ensemble of monuments by Romanian sculptor Constantin Brâncuși, including “The Endless Column”, are the newest additions to UNESCO’s World Heritage List. The group of five monuments, located in Romania and commonly referred to as the Targu Jiu Ensemble, have been collectively given this status.
#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS
+0.25%
Interest rates in Japan were increased one-quarter of a point, only the second time since 2007 that rates were boosted, as the country unveiled a plan to slow its massive bond buying program. The Bank of Japan said real interest rates will remain “significantly negative” and forecasts an inflation rate of 2.5% by the end of the year.
📰 STORY OF THE DAY
Why online extortion against women is so pervasive in Egypt
In Egypt, some 90% of cyber blackmail victims are women; yet only 10% of victims report these incidents for fear of social stigma or what they call “scandals” for their families. Expecting a lack of support from their families, they also turn to community initiatives, reports Ayar Abdel-Karim Ahmed in Egypt-based news website Al-Manassa.
💻 There are no official statistics on the rate of cyber blackmail. But some 1,038 cybercrimes, including blackmail, were reported to Egyptian police in September and October 2018. Another study by Speak Up Initiative, which encourages women to speak about and report such crimes, found that cyber blackmail is the most serious cybercrime committed against women in Egypt; 90% of cyber blackmail victims were women. Such crimes are usually conducted through emails, text messages, phone calls, social media and digital games.
⚖️ Egyptian law provides protection to the perpetrator in cases known as honor crimes. This encourages blackmailers knowing that their acts will remain unpunished if it is not covered up by the family for fear of scandal, according to the Speak Up study. "The patriarchal system always gives these blackmailers entitlements and justifications to those blackmailers to commit all kinds of cyber violence against women and girls without accountability or punishment," said Mai Saleh, a researcher in gender and social issues, said.
🤝 In parallel, many civil society groups and initiatives provide assistance to victims and cyber violence, including training courses on digital safety. The state-run National Council for Women also established a specialized unit to combat violence against women. Such initiatives include Qawm, meaning Resist, which was established in mid-2020 to fight cyber crimes including defamation, blackmail and insults, according to Qawm founder Muhammad Al-Yamani. “The initiative encourages women to break their silence and report any incident,” he said.
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📣 VERBATIM
“The criminal and terrorist Zionist regime martyred our dear guest in our home and made us sad, but it also prepared a harsh punishment for itself.”
— Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reacted to the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was in Tehran for Tuesday’s swearing in of the country’s new president. The Iranian Defense Minister has released a statement saying that Iran does “not want war” but is “preparing for all possibilities,” as the attack threatens to worsen tensions in the region.
✍️ Newsletter by Emma Albright and Chloé Touchard
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