👋 Guuten takh!*
Welcome to Friday, where Israel launches a new assault on Khan Younis in southern Gaza, Donald Trump changes his mind and agrees to debate Kamala Harris on September 10, and athletes from Botswana and Pakistan make Olympic history. Meanwhile, Francesca Mannocchi in Italian daily La Stampa tells the story of Israeli activists risking it all to help out Palestinians in the West Bank.
[*Cimbrian, northeastern Italy]
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🗞️ FRONT PAGE
The front page of Gaborone-based newspaper Mmegi celebrates sprinter Letsile Tebogo, who made history at the Paris 2024 Olympics. On Thursday, the 21-year-old became the first African to win the men's Olympic 200 meters title, claiming Botswana's first-ever Olympic gold medal. “TeboGold” crossed the line in 19.46 seconds, making him the fifth-fastest man in history in that distance. Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi declared Friday afternoon a public holiday in honor of Tebogo’s feat.
🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
• Israel launches new assault on Khan Younis as mediators call to resume talks. Israeli forces have launched a new assault on Friday into the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis after issuing new evacuation orders. The attack comes as the United States, Egypt and Qatar have renewed their push for Israel and Hamas to reach a cease-fire deal. In a joint statement, the meditators call for Israel and Hamas to restart talks on Aug. 15 “to close all remaining gaps and commence implementation of the deal without further delay.” Follow the situation in the Middle East through our international coverage here.
• Russia struggles to repel Ukraine incursion in fourth day of attack. Russia’s military said it was “continuing to repel” a Ukrainian cross-border incursion into the western Kursk region, with reports suggesting Kyiv’s troops are operating about 10 km inside Russian territory. Ukraine’s military said in a statement on Friday its forces have hit the military Lipetsk airfield, more than 350 km (217 miles) from the country’s border.
• Trump and Harris agree to presidential debate on Sept. 10. Former U.S. president Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are set to debate on September 10, ABC announced, after Trump reversed course. The Republican candidate said he had proposed three debates with three television networks in September. Read more on the two candidates’ communication styles in this article translated from Italian by Worldcrunch: How Kamala Harris Could Crush The Machismo Of Political Communication — With A Laugh.
• Venezuela’s Maduro blocks access to X for 10 days over Musk row. President Nicolás Maduro has signed a decree to ban the social media platform formerly known as Twitter for 10 days following a public spat with owner Elon Musk. Both have traded barbs since the Venezuelan leader was declared the winner of last month's disputed presidential election, with Musk describing Maduro as a “dictator” and a “clown.”
• Philippine court overturns Maria Ressa’s Rappler news website shutdown. The Philippines’ Court of Appeals has ordered the country’s corporate regulator to restore the media license of Rappler, a prominent news outlet co-founded by Nobel laureate Maria Ressa, a critic of former President Rodrigo Duterte. The website had documented abuses of power and extrajudicial killings during Duterte’s infamous war on drugs. Rappler said in a statement on Friday that the overturn of the 2018 ruling was “a vindication after a tortuous eight years of harassment.”
• “Super Syd” shatters world record, Pakistan wins first Olympic gold in 32 years. U.S. athlete Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone improved her own world record to 50.37 seconds and retained her Olympic title from Tokyo in the women's 400 meter hurdles. Meanwhile, Arshad Nadeem made history by winning Pakistan’s first-ever track and field medal at the Olympics, claiming gold in the men’s javelin final and breaking the Olympic record. Indonesia also celebrated its first Olympic gold outside badminton when speed climber Veddriq Leonardo beat his Chinese rival by just two-hundredths of a second. Read more about the Paris 2024 Olympics here.
• Spicy banned South Korean noodles are back in Denmark. Three variants of South Korean Samyang Foods’ Buldak instant ramen line had been removed from the country’s stores in June for being “too spicy” as they contained a high capsaicin level, posing serious health risks, according to the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration. Samyang contested the band and celebrated the noodles’ return in central Copenhagen on Thursday.
💬 LEXICON
нетрадиционната
Bulgarian members of parliament recently approved an amendment proposed by Vazrazhdane, the pro-Kremlin nationalist party, to prohibit mentions and discussions — or what they claim is “propaganda” — of LGBTQ+ and so-called нетрадиционната sexual orientation (netraditsionnata, Bulgarian for “non-traditional”) in schools. The text precisely bans the "promotion, popularization and support of ideas and opinions related to non-traditional sexual orientation or sexual identification other than biological." The vote prompted protests outside Bulgaria’s parliament on Thursday, with feminist, LGBTQ+ and other rights groups calling for a reversal of the amendment. Stay tuned with the latest on LGBTQ+ issues here.
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📰 STORY OF THE DAY
West Bank human shields? The Israelis risking their lives to help Palestinians
For years Israeli activists have been helping securing water for Palestinians in the West Bank and recording abuses they suffered at the hands of radical Jewish settlers. The stakes, and risks, have never been higher, reports Francesca Mannocchi in Italian daily La Stampa.
🇵🇸 It’s five o’clock in the afternoon when the Palestinian herders head out from their town of Al-Auja by tractor, carrying large steel containers. They are headed to the nearest water source, but they are not alone. Escorting them are a group of Israeli activists who have been accompanying them for years. Their role is as a “protective presence,” aimed at discouraging radical Jewish settlers from attacking Palestinians and their livestock, as has happened too often in the West Bank over the years.
✊ Providing such "protective presence" has been part of the activism opposing the occupation of the West Bank since the early 2000s, when organizations such as Ta'ayush and the International Solidarity Movement started bringing in International and Israeli activists to help Palestinians resist land expropriation. For years the activists have been recording all the abuses they witness and handing out cameras and recorders to the shepherds.
💧 The fight for access to water resources in this area reflects a broader conflict for control of the entire West Bank. Palestinians see the Jordan Valley as the breadbasket of a future state, while to Israelis its control is fundamental for the protection of the Eastern frontier. Last year, Israeli human rights organizations released alarming figures: according to Btselem, in the West Bank, Israelis consume an average of 247 liters of water per person per day, or three times the amount used by Palestinians, 82.4 liters.
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📹 THIS HAPPENED VIDEO — TODAY IN HISTORY, IN ONE ICONIC PHOTO
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📣 VERBATIM
“Russia brought the war to our land and should feel what it has done.”
— In his evening address on Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia needed to "feel" the consequences of its war. Although he did not refer to it directly, his declaration has been understood as an explanation of Ukraine’s major incursion across the Russian border into the southwestern Kursk region on Tuesday morning. “Ukrainians know how to achieve their goals. And we did not choose to achieve our goals in the war,” he added. Read more about this attack and what it could mean for Ukraine’s long term strategy in this Die Zeit article, translated from German by Worldcrunch.
👉 MORE FROM WORLDCRUNCH
• Iran, Israel, Hamas: Act II Of A Middle East Tragedy — LES ECHOS
• The "Vicarious Violence" Plague, An Insidious Way To Target Women And Their Children — ETHIC
• Next On Netflix: At 60, Mafalda Is Just As (Im)Pertinent As Ever — WORLDCRUNCH
✍️ Newsletter by Anne-Sophie Goninet and Laure Gautherin
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