👋 Wĩmwega!*
Welcome to Friday, where Israel and Lebanon keep trading fire as ceasefire talks continue, Hurricane Helene kills three as it makes landfall in Florida and South Korea is making possession of sexually explicit deepfakes a crime. Also, the world is getting a glimpse at the true state of Moscow’s nuclear arsenal, and it might not be as scary as we thought.
[*Kikuyu, Kenya]
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🗞️ FRONT PAGE
Pope Francis was set to meet Belgian victims of sexual abuse by clergymen on Friday as part of a three-day visit to the country — the first by a pontiff in almost 30 years. Belgium daily Le Soir dedicates its front page to the pope’s historic visit. Meanwhile, as the visit began Friday morning, Belgium’s prime minister blasted Pope Francis for the Catholic Church’s horrific legacy of clerical sex abuse and cover-ups, demanding “concrete steps” to come clean with the past and put victims’ interests ahead of those of the institution. The speech by Prime Minister Alexander De Croo was one of the most pointed ever directed at the pope during a foreign trip. Even King Philippe had strong words for Francis, demanding the church work “incessantly” to atone for the crimes and help victims heal.
🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
• Fresh exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah as ceasefire talks to continue. An Israeli strike on Friday killed nine members of a family, including four children, in the Lebanese border town of Shebaa, raising the death toll above 600 people since Monday, the health ministry says. Hezbollah said it had fired rockets into Israel on Friday at Kiryat Ata near the city of Haifa. Meanwhile Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said negotiations would continue for a possible ceasefire.
• Trump says he will meet Zelensky amid tension over war in Ukraine. The former U.S. president and Republican candidate for November’s election said he has agreed to a last-minute meeting with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday at Trump Tower. This comes despite Trump’s criticism of U.S. involvement in the war in Ukraine, and of Zelensky himself for refusing “to make a deal” with Moscow. This comes after Ukraine’s leader met with Trump’s opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, who slammed her election rival's “surrender” policy on Ukraine. Read more in this analysis translated from Italian by Worldcrunch: Why Zelensky Has So Little Room To Negotiate.
• Veteran lawmaker to become Japan’s Prime Minister. The country’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party has elected Shigeru Ishiba as its new leader on Friday, positioning the former defense minister as Japan’s next Prime Minister. The 67-year-old political veteran beat arch-nationalist Sanae Takaichi, who was vying to become the country’s first ever woman leader, in a run-off. It was Ishiba’s fifth and what he called final attempt to lead the ruling party.
• At least 3,661 killed in Haiti gang violence this year, UN reports. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said on Friday the death toll in the first six months of this year, which includes at least 100 children, shows that “high levels of violence” are still engulfing the country. After years of unrest as powerful armed groups vied for control of the territory, the situation worsened in February when gangs launched attacks on prisons across Port-au-Prince.
• Argentina poverty rate spikes to 53% in first six months of Milei’s “shock therapy”. The government’s INDEC statistics agency said on Thursday the country’s poverty rate surged from 40.1% a year earlier, reaching its highest level since 2003, reflecting the pain of President Javier Milei’s intense austerity program. Argentina’s inflation is among the worst in the world, now running at more than 230% annually.
• South Korea to criminalize explicit deepfake possession. The country’s lawmakers passed a bill on Thursday that would set jail sentences and fines for anyone purchasing, saving or watching sexually explicit deepfake images and videos. This comes following an outcry over Telegram group chats where sexually explicit and illegal deepfakes were created and widely shared. Those convicted under the new law could face three years in jail or a fine of up to 30 million won ($22,600).
• Olympic rings (temporarily) taken down from Eiffel Tower. Workers removed the Olympics logo from the beloved monument overnight on Friday, as Paris mayor has promised to build lighter, less prominent versions of the symbol and return them to the landmark as a tribute to the successful Olympic Games held this summer. The proposition was criticized by conservation groups and descendants of designer Gustave Eiffel, prompting Hidalgo to suggest the rings could remain only until the next Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028 and not permanently. Read more in this OpEd by Worldcrunch: Olympic Rings Permanently On The Eiffel Tower? How The Paris Mayor Lost The Plot.
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💬 LEXICON
Brontë
Some 85 years after a misspelled memorial plaque was installed, the names of the renowned Brontë sisters (Charlotte, Emily, and Anne) have finally been corrected in London's Westminster Abbey. The diaereses, indicating the proper pronunciation of the writers' surname as “Brontay“ (not “Bront,” or “Bronty”), were finally drilled above the final “e.”
📹 THIS HAPPENED VIDEO — TODAY IN HISTORY, IN ONE ICONIC PHOTO
➡️ Watch the video: THIS HAPPENED
📰 IN OTHER NEWS
🇺🇸 When it comes to managing power in the Middle East, the United States appears to have gradually traded in the carrot and has been resorting to the stick more.
— AL-MANASSA
☢️ The world is getting a glimpse at the true state of Moscow’s nuclear arsenal — and it puts Vladimir Putin’s atomic threats and bluster in a whole new light.
— LIVY BEREG
💍 Underage marriage is increasingly being reported in Colombia often with a financial motivation pushing poorer families to effectively “sell” their daughters to older men.
— EL ESPECTADOR
📣 VERBATIM
“This madness cannot continue.”
— Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has condemned the United States for its continuing support of Israel’s war on Gaza and urged the international community to stop supplying weapons to Israel. “This madness cannot continue. The entire world is responsible for what is happening to our people,” he told the 193-member General Assembly, in his first address to the chamber since Israel launched the assault last October.
✍️ Newsletter by Anne-Sophie Goninet & Emma Albright
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