👋 Hay!*
Welcome to Wednesday, where the U.S. gives Israel 30 days to boost Gaza aid, a first group of migrants arrives in Albania following a new asylum deal with Italy, and a paraglider spots something odd atop the Great Pyramid of Giza. And for pan-Latin American platform Distintas Latitudes, Ketzalli Rosas offers a deep dive into Heartbeat International, the controversial anti-abortion network.
[*Aklan, Philippines]
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🗞️ FRONT PAGE
The European Union is “studying” the use of immigration deportation centers abroad, reports Madrid-based daily ABC. European Commission president Ursula Von der Leyen called for an exploration of “return hubs” as part of new measures on migration. Italy and Albania, an EU candidate country, have already agreed for the latter to host migration centers to process the claims of asylum seekers. EU leaders will meet on Thursday and Friday for a summit on migration. Read this La Stampa reportage from the Albanese detention center, translated from Italian by Worldrunch.
🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
• Israeli strike hits municipal building in south Lebanon. An Israeli air strike on Wednesday on the municipal building in Nabatieh, a major town in southern Lebanon, killed the mayor Ahmed Kahil and at least five others. Meanwhile, the U.S. has written to Israel, giving it 30 days to boost humanitarian aid access in Gaza or risk having some U.S. military assistance cut off. The letter, sent on Sunday and revealed Tuesday by Axios news outlet, amounts to the strongest known written warning from the U.S. to its ally.
• Ukraine attacked by over 130 Russian drones in latest strike. Russia launched one of its largest drone attacks at Ukraine in recent months, targeting Kyiv and other cities and igniting a fire at an industrial facility in the western region of Ternopil. Follow Worldcrunch’s coverage on the Ukraine-Russia war.
• North Korea says 1.4 million apply to join army amid tensions with South. North Korea claims more than a million young people have signed up to join or rejoin the army this week, after accusing South Korea of sending propaganda drones to Pyongyang and blowing up border roads. Amid rising tension, vice foreign ministers of South Korea, the United States and Japan are holding talks in Seoul on Wednesday. Read more about the escalating tensions between North Korea and South Korea in this article by French analyst Pierre Haski.
• Record turnout in Georgia state as early voting begins in U.S. election. The state of Georgia has reported a record turnout on the first day of early voting in the United States elections, revealing a high level of engagement. Hours after polls opened in the southern state on Tuesday, election officials reported that more than 251,000 voters had already cast their ballot in person.
• Italian navy ship with migrants arrives in Albania's port. An Italian ship carrying a first group of migrants to be processed in Albania arrived in the port of Shengjin on Wednesday morning. Up to 3,000 adult migrant men picked up by the Italian coast guard in international waters will be sheltered in two Albanian processing centers each month under a new deal between Rome and Tirana. Read more about Italy’s detention center in this article from Italian daily La Stampa.
• Lufthansa pays record $4 million fine for barring Jewish passengers from flight. The German airline blocked the travelers, many of whom were wearing distinctive clothing typically worn by Orthodox Jewish men, from boarding a connecting flight in Frankfurt in May 2022 based on the alleged misbehavior of a few passengers. The department said the penalty was the largest it had ever issued against an airline for violating civil rights law.
• Barking up the wrong pyramid? A paraglider spotted a dog wandering on the top of the Great Pyramid of Giza after climbing up to bark at birds. The footage has left many social media users perplexed, as climbing the Great Pyramid is strictly forbidden due to preservation and safety concerns.
#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS
€15,000
French, Italian and Swiss police have arrested a half dozen individuals of a criminal network that sold counterfeit "Grand Cru" wines for up to 15,000 euros ($16,340) per bottle. The average quality wines, falsely labeled with the French Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), were produced in Italy, flown to France and exported at market value over the world as prestigious Grand Cru. The network amassed profits of more than 2 million euros through the operation.
📹 THIS HAPPENED VIDEO — TODAY IN HISTORY, IN ONE ICONIC PHOTO
➡️ Watch the video: THIS HAPPENED
📰 IN OTHER NEWS
🇮🇱 “It is bound to repeat history.” Israel is on the hunt in Lebanon one more time, with apparent early successes. But it has again ignored the fact that something always rises from the ashes.
— DARAJ
🛢️ Geopolitical instability in the Middle East has caused oil prices to rise. But there is one state that could really suffer from a significant price reduction: Russia.
— LIVY BEREG
🤰 Heartbeat International has grown into one of the largest anti-abortion networks in the world. But it uses misleading advertisements, inaccurate information and sketchy data collection to achieve its goals.
— DISTINTAS LATITUDES
📣 VERBATIM
“Mr. Netanyahu must not forget that his country was created by a decision of the UN.”
— French President Emmanuel Macron told his cabinet that the Israeli Prime Minister should not forget his country was created through a UN resolution, and that "therefore it is not the time to disregard the decisions of the UN.” The comment comes amid rising tensions between the two leaders, with Macron saying last week that “stopping the export of weapons” used in Gaza and Lebanon is the only way to put an end to the conflict. France has also denounced the targeting of UN peacekeepers in Lebanon by Israeli forces.
✍️ Newsletter by Emma Albright & Chloé Touchard
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