👋 Kumusta!*
Welcome to Thursday, where IDF troops carry on with their offensive in the West Bank for a second day, typhoon Shanshan kills three and forces millions to evacuate as it hits Japan and Australian marine life enthusiasts are treated to a whale of a good surprise. And in Argentine daily Clarín, Carlos Álvarez Teijeiro says we should rethink our relationship to pain. Ouch.
[*Cebuano - Philippines]
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🗞️ FRONT PAGE
Milan-based daily Corriere della Sera features U.S. filmmaker Tim Burton and Italian actress Monica Belucci “the prima diva,” as the couple hit the red carpet as the 81st Venice International Film Festival opens with the premiere of Burton’s movie Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. The remake of his own classic 1988 comedy/horror film is one of this year’s most anticipated Hollywood films. Maria, Joker: Folie à Deux, Wolfs, Queer, and 2073 are also all eagerly awaited premieres at the film festival, which runs until Sept.7.
🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
• Israel kills five West Bank militants, UN food agency pauses activities. Israeli forces continued their raid in the West Bank overnight and reported the death of five Palestinian militants, including Abu Shujaa, a local commander. At least 18 people have been killed since the start of the operation according to Palestinian news agency Wafa. The UN’s World Food Programme announced a pause in its staff’s movement in Gaza after one of its vehicles was “struck 10 times” by gunfire near an Israeli checkpoint. Take a look at the Palestinian factions fighting Israel in this piece by Elias Kassem.
• Overnight Russian attacks on Ukraine. At least 14 people were injured in Kupyansk in eastern Ukraine and an unknown number were killed by a Russian bomb attack. In Kryvyi Rih, eight people were injured by a missile strike while residents were observing a day of mourning for the four people killed the day before. The Russian news agency TASS reported that military forces had seized the settlement of Komyshivka in the Donetsk region.
• U.S. national security adviser meets with Xi Jinping. U.S. National security adviser Jake Sullivan met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday in efforts to ease tensions between the two Superpowers. Chinese officials stressed “the importance of cross-Strait peace and stability” and told the U.S. to stop “collusion” with Taiwan. Read more on the tensions between Taiwan and Beijing in this piece by Pierre Haski for France Inter.
• Millions evacuated as typhoon Shanshan hits Kyushu. Around 5,2 million people were ordered to evacuate their homes in the Japanese southern island of Kyushu. Typhoon Shanshan ripped through the island with winds up to 180 kph (112 mph) and torrential rains. At least three people have died, while domestic flights have been grounded and Nissan, Toyota and other automakers and semiconductors companies have halted production.
• Egypt sends military aid to Somalia. Egypt delivered military aid to Somalia for the first time in more than four decades. The two countries have strengthened their ties after Ethiopia signed a deal with the breakaway region of Somaliland, in exchange for a potential recognition of its independence. Egypt condemned the deal and signed a security pact with Mogadishu in early August, offering to deploy troops and deliver ammunition as part of a new peacekeeping mission in Somalia. For more on the situation in Somalia, here’s a piece from Mogadishu by Les Echos correspondent Béatrice Gurrey.
• YouTube chef found guilty of murder in Thailand. Daniel Sancho Bronchalo, a YouTube chef and member of a famous Spanish acting family, was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison by a court in Thailand. The 30-year-old YouTuber was sentenced for the murder of Edwin Arrieta Arteaga, a 44-year-old Colombian plastic surgeon. The surgeon fell and hit his head after a fight with Sancho, who confessed to dismembering the body and getting rid of the parts on land and at sea.
• Whale, whale, whale… guess who’s back? A huge orca pod was spotted in waters off Sydney for the first time since 2018 by a boat of whale watchers. “I’ve never seen anything like it”, said whale photographer Ted Lamb, who was on board when the pod was seen chasing humpback whales. The sighting has created a buzz among marine biologists and the whale watching community, “it’s a big deal” said Lamb.
#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS
$8.5 billion
India’s competition authority has approved the $8.5 billion merger between U.S. entertainment giant Disney and India-based company Reliance Industries. The go-ahead comes after regulatory concerns over what the agreement would mean for broadcasting rights for cricket, India's favorite sport.
📹 THIS HAPPENED VIDEO — TODAY IN HISTORY, IN ONE ICONIC PHOTO
➡️ Watch the video: THIS HAPPENED
👓 IN OTHER NEWS
👴👵 The shadow of pension underfunding is looming across the world… but could it be that the French have found a way to fix the retirement system?
— LES ECHOS
🤕 As much as we try to avoid it, pain and suffering are an intrinsic part of existence — and that’s not necessarily a bad thing!
— CLARÍN
🪙🇷🇺 Could cryptocurrency help Russia skirt international sanctions? Here’s what you need to know about Moscow’s BitRuble experiment.
— GAZETA WYBORCZA
📣 VERBATIM
“Russia wants to bomb a European country into full capitulation.”
— Josep Borrell, the EU's foreign policy chief, spoke Thursday in support of Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba, as part of a meeting of EU Foreign Affairs Ministers in Brussels. During the meeting, Kuleba urged EU countries to take "bold decisions" and allow Ukraine to use European military equipment in Russia. Borrell spoke in favor of lifting the restrictions placed on Western-supplied weapons, in the name of Kyiv’s right to self-defense.
✍️ Newsletter by Chloé Touchard & David Arterburn
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