👋 Héébee!*
Welcome to Friday, where Israeli forces leave a trail of destruction as they pull out of Jenin in the northern West Bank, 2024 is on track to be the hottest year ever, and Pope Francis heads to Papua New Guinea. We also look at how the new Barbie flip phone was designed to have no apps, emails or social media, promising a digital detox for its mostly female users.
[*Arapaho, Wyoming, U.S.]
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Turin-based daily La Stampa has an exclusive interview with Maria Rosaria Boccia, in which Italian influencer and fashion entrepreneur tells “my truth” about the controversy linking her to the country’s Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano, currently fighting for his political life. Although Sangiuliano admitted to having an affair with Boccia, as well as attempting to appoint her as advisor at the ministry, he denied diverting public funds for her expenses and assured Boccia was never granted access to sensitive documents. The influencer has since contradicted the minister on both points. Calls have been made asking for Sangiuliano to resign, but the minister has so far been supported by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
• Israeli forces pull out of Jenin leaving trail of destruction. Israeli forces pulled out of the Palestinian city of Jenin on Friday, leaving a mass of damaged buildings and infrastructure, following one of the biggest security operations in the occupied West Bank in memory. Thousands of residents were displaced from their homes during the nine-day operation. Here’s a recent La Stampa reportage from the West Bank, where a group of Israelis works to try to protect Palestinians from being expelled from their land.
• At least 17 students were killed in a fire in Kenya. The blaze erupted in a boarding school dormitory in a school that teaches some 800 pupils, aged five and 12. The cause of the fire at Hillside Endarasha Primary in Nyeri county is not yet known.
• Record summer temperatures set world on course for hottest year ever. Summer temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere were the highest ever recorded, making it likely that this year could emerge as Earth’s hottest ever, according to the European Union’s climate change monitor. Data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) on Friday followed a season of heatwaves around the world that scientists said were intensified by human-driven climate change. Discover the Copernicus program in depth in this piece by the Paris-based daily Les Echos, translated into English by Worldcrunch.
• China evacuates 400,000 ahead of super typhoon. Trains, boats and flights in the area have been suspended for a second day, while schools remain shut in parts of the broader southern region as super typhoon Yagi closes in. The storm has doubled in strength after wreaking havoc in northern Philippines early this week, currently packing winds of up to 240 km/h (150mph) near its center.
• Georgia arrests father of 14-year-old suspected in school shooting. Police say the father knowingly allowed his son to have the weapon used in the shooting that left four dead and wounded nine others on Wednesday. Colin Gray, 54, was charged late Thursday with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said.
• U.S., Britain and EU sign first international AI treaty. The AI Convention, which is said to be the first international legally binding treaty on the use of AI systems, was signed on Thursday. The convention is the result of years of negotiation between European Union members, the U.S. and Britain and was adopted in May. It focuses on the protection of human rights for people affected by AI systems. Read more on the relationship between the EU and AI in this piece by French writer Pierre Haski.
• Cristiano Ronaldo becomes first man to score 900 career goals. The 39-year-old struck for Portugal in their Nations League game against Croatia, putting them 2-0 up. It prompted an emotional celebration by the forward, as he dropped to his knees by the corner flag in tears. The goal was his 131st for his country, while he has also scored at club level for Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus and current Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr.
#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS
$38 billion
Tokyo-based Seven & I Holdings has rejected a $38 billion offer from Canadian rival Alimentation Couche-Tard to buy out the 7-Eleven convenience store chain. The Japanese company cited that the offer ‘“grossly undervalued”’ the value of the world’s biggest convenience store chain, with 85,000 outlets across 20 countries and territories. Though it was founded in 1927 in Dallas, Texas, in 1991 Japanese supermarket chain Ito-Yokado and the parent company of Seven-Eleven Japan acquired a 70% stake in the company, which became a wholly owned subsidiary of Seven-Eleven Japan in 2005, through which it is owned by Seven & I Holdings.
📹 THIS HAPPENED VIDEO — TODAY IN HISTORY, IN ONE ICONIC PHOTO
➡️ Watch the video: THIS HAPPENED
📰 IN OTHER NEWS
🇮🇷 Why the return of diplomat Mohammad Javad Zarif to Iran’s government in a strategic position is bad news for hardliners religious conservatives.
— DARAJ
🏫 French designers are rethinking school furniture to reflect current teaching methods, with a focus on movement and mobility.
— LES ECHOS
📱 A Finnish company is launching a Barbie flip phone with no apps, emails or social media, promising a digital detox for users.
— DIE ZEIT
📣 VERBATIM
“For all I have put them through over the years, I can spare them this.”
— Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden, pleaded guilty to federal tax charges — a surprise move meant to “spare” his family a potentially embarrassing trial focused on its past drug habits, just weeks ahead of the U.S. presidential election. Biden had been set to stand trial in a Los Angeles federal courthouse on criminal charges of failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes while reportedly spending heavily on drugs, sex workers and luxury items. He will instead plead guilty to all nine counts he faced.
✍️ Newsletter by Emma Albright & David Arterburn
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