👋 হ্যালো!*
Welcome to Thursday, where tensions are high between Lebanon and Israel, Tim Walz accepts the Democratic Party nomination for VP, and a Navy ship chooses the dark side on the Thames. Meanwhile in Die Zeit, German journalist Laura Ewert recounts her journey of reckoning and atonement upon discovering her grandfather’s Nazi crimes.
[*”Hyalo”, Bengali - Bangladesh and India]
💡 SPOTLIGHT
How taxing the super-rich can calm global tensions
The biggest firms and richest people in the world have the money states need to invest in services that can improve the lives of billions of people. That could help stop a collective slide into acute social and political tensions, writes Magdalena Sepúlveda in Argentine daily Clarín.
Socio-political extremism and polarization have the wind in their sails these days, notably in Europe, Latin America and the United States. This was amply illustrated in recent European Parliament elections where the far right won big, allowing it to further destabilize politics in France and Germany.
To counter this existential threat to social peace, governments must invest in quality public services that make real differences to citizens' lives, including education, healthcare and infrastructure. That begs the question: Where will they find the money to fund those services?
The answer is simple: the money is to be found in the hands of multinationals and the world's billionaires, all experts at hiding their wealth to avoid paying their share of taxes.
The good news is that the idea of a minimum tax on the super-rich is gaining ground. It is both a sensible and, as polls show, very popular idea. In a poll by Earth4All, a grass-roots project to reform global finances, 68% of respondents backed more taxes for the rich to finance significant changes to the economy and quality of life.
And in a poll sponsored by Patriotic Millionaires, an American millionaires' NGO, 60% of respondents saw an increase in inequalities as threatening democracy. More than 60% of the 800 people questioned (all with assets worth more than $1 billion excluding properties), backed worldwide moves to tax the super-rich.
In other words there is a general perception that the present system is outdated, unfair and full of loopholes for those who do not need them. [...]
— Read the full article by Magdalena Sepúlveda for Clarín, translated into English by Worldcrunch.
🗞️ FRONT PAGE
Forget the fun: "Girls" just wanna have a competent woman as a leader — and that leader is Kamala Harris, according to the front page of German daily Tageszeitung, which plays on the title of the famous Cyndi Lauper song “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.” The Berlin-based newspaper reports that studies show that the U.S. female electorate favors the Democratic candidate in the presidential race.
🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
• Joe Biden urges Benjamin Netanyahu to seal ceasefire deal. U.S. President Joe Biden pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to conclude a ceasefire-for-hostages deal in a phone call on Wednesday. Negotiators plan to meet in Cairo in the coming days, according to a White House statement. Meanwhile, tensions are escalating between Lebanon and Israel, after Hezbollah launched rockets at the occupied Golan Heights, in response to Israeli strikes that killed one person and injured 30 others overnight in the Bekaa Valley. Follow our international coverage of the situation in the Middle East here.
• Vladimir Putin meets Chinese Premier Li Qiang. The Russian president met with Li Qiang at the Kremlin on Wednesday to discuss and deepen the economic ties between Russia and China. In the bordering Bryansk region, Russian forces pushed back an Ukrainian attempt to enter the territory, and air defense shot down attack drones above Moscow. Ukrainian forces destroyed several pontoon crossings over the Seym river and 50 out of 69 Russian drones launched overnight. For more insight on the Russia-China relationship, we offer this piece by Pierre Haski for France Inter.
• DNC day 3 features Tim Walz, Oprah Winfrey and Bill Clinton. The second to last day of the Democratic Convention saw Minnesota Governor Tim Walz officially accept his nomination for vice president on Wednesday night. “We’re gonna leave it all on the field,” the former high school football coach said in his speech. Oprah Winfrey and Stevie Wonder made appearances, with the talk show host delivering a rousing speech in support of Kamala Harris, whom she called “the best of America.” Former President Bill Clinton also addressed the crowd, casting Trump as a selfish “me, myself and I” candidate, as opposed to Harris being “for the people.”
• Greek oil tanker attacked in the Red Sea. The Sounion, a Greek-flagged oil tanker, was attacked in the Red Sea, 143 km west of the Yemen coast. Two small boats carrying more than a dozen people fired projectiles at the Sounion, which caused a fire and sent the ship adrift. Reports indicated that none of the 25 crew members were injured, and Greece’s Maritime Affairs Minister Christos Stylianides condemned “a flagrant violation of international law.” Read more about tensions in the Red Sea in this piece by Safiyah Mahdy for Daraj.
• Canada’s major freight railroads shut down operations. Canada’s two main rail freight companies have shut down their network across the country and locked out 10,000 workers, following unsuccessful negotiations with the Teamsters union. The shutdown is expected to impact shipments of grain, coal, chemicals and vehicles and could disrupt a number of U.S. industries as the railroads operate across the border.
• 17 killed in pharma factory explosion in India. At least 17 people died and nearly 40 suffered extensive chemical burns after the explosion of a pharmaceutical plant in the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The blast and subsequent fire happened during lunch break, which saved many of the 380 employees working at the plant. An inquiry has been ordered by the state government, and initial investigation showed that a “vapor leak” could have caused the explosion. Learn more about the conditions of workers in India in this piece by Shalini Sinha and Rituraj Pegu for The Wire.
• Vader on the Thames. Londoners were surprised by an imposing German Navy ship blasting Star Wars' “Imperial March” theme on the Thames near Tower Bridge on Wednesday. The ship was passing through the British capital for a training and supply stop and decided to use the Force on its passage. “The commander can choose the music freely,” said a German Navy spokesperson.
📹 THIS HAPPENED VIDEO — TODAY IN HISTORY, IN ONE ICONIC PHOTO
➡️ Watch the video: THIS HAPPENED
📰 STORY OF THE DAY
How I learned Grandpa was a Nazi — and my journey to confront his dark legacy
German journalist Laura Ewert found out that her grandfather had led a massacre of Italian civilians in 1944 during the Nazi era. Eighty years later, Ewert met descendants of the victims in San Polo and experienced reactions that she would not have expected. She tells her story in Die Zeit.
⏪ When my grandfather died, I was 12 years old. I suspected that there was some dirt around my grandfather. My father didn't exactly speak warmly of his father, whom all his children called "papa", with the emphasis on the second "a". Once he told me that they were in Berlin together for the Führer's birthday, for which my grandfather had helped organize the parade. The last time I asked what my grandfather did during the war was in 2009. My father and aunts sat together and said things like this: "I'm not saying he was innocent, but he didn't choose it." He wasn't a Nazi, he was a soldier, they said.
🇮🇹 In the summer of 2021, I visited a winery near Montalcino in the Italian province of Siena, tasted Brunello wine, ate taralli and asked the young employee where this German love of Tuscany actually came from. He didn't have to think long: the Germans had been there as soldiers and had found it so beautiful. I facepalmed — internally: I knew that my grandfather had also been to Italy, but I didn't type "Wolf Ewert Italy" into the search window until I was back home. I was surprised that he had his own Wikipedia page. It said: "Under his leadership, the regiment was confronted with partisan attacks. These were followed by the San Polo massacre and other killings in the area. As the prisoners had been mistreated before the execution, Ewert arranged for the grave sites to be destroyed with explosives for fear of later discovery." In my bed in Berlin, 77 years and 4 days later, I read what my grandfather had done and felt dazed and overwhelmed. Somewhere I would later read the expression "orgy of violence".
🪖 In the months that followed, I asked myself: What do I do with this story? Does this knowledge translate into a responsibility? And if so, what is my responsibility? I received an email from Alessia Donati, the granddaughter of an eyewitness. We arranged to meet and drove to San Polo. She showed me the villa where the torture took place, the route the prisoners had to take. When her grandmother was 16 years old, she lived on the farm that my grandfather had occupied. She slept in the stable with the horse Rondine because the soldiers took up the beds. Again and again she told her granddaughter what she had seen on July 14, 1944 through the slits in the wooden shutters on the second floor of the house where she was supposed to hide. How the soldiers drove the men, who were only wearing rags, into the garden. Santina Badii saw the men being killed. Two days later, the English came and took the bodies to one of the two churches that the small village still has today. The horse Rondine pulled the cart.
➡️ Read more on Worldcrunch.com
✉️ Want to receive all Worldcrunch articles by email? Subscribe to The Latest here (and check our other — free! — newsletters while you’re at it!)
📸 PHOTO DU JOUR
An Israeli drone attack launched in Sidon, Lebanon, on Wednesday morning, targeted a civilian SUV, killing a leader in the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah). — Photo: Ali Hashisho/Xinhua/ZUMA
👉 MORE FROM WORLDCRUNCH
• Limbo In Tunisia, Where Sudanese Refugee Women Can't Get Basic Healthcare — AL-MANASSA
• With The Activists Fundraising Poland's First Abortion Clinic — GAZETA WYBORCZA
• Camino Craze: A Spiritual Highway That's Not Only For The Religious — LES ECHOS
✍️ Newsletter by Chloé Touchard and Laure Gautherin
Let us know what’s happening in your corner of the world!