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Welcome to Thursday, where Iran warns Israel against retaliation for the Oct. 1 missile barrage, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrives in Brussels to present his “victory plan,” and Prada heads to outer space. Meanwhile, for French daily Les Echos, Charlotte Meyer unpacks the ways armies around the world have to adapt to climate change.
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🗞️ FRONT PAGE
Argentine newspaper Clarín dedicates its front page to the death of former One Direction member Liam Payne, who died at 31 falling from a hotel room balcony in Buenos Aires. Police were called to the hotel after reports from hotel workers that an “aggressive man” under the influence of drugs and alcohol was destroying a hotel room. Fans of the former British pop star have been gathering outside the hotel and celebrities have paid tribute to Payne online. He is survived by his 7-year-old son.
🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
• Iran warns Israel of “painful” retaliation, dozens killed in Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon. Iranian Revolutionary Guards Commander-in-Chief Hossein Salami warned Israel on Thursday against attacking Iranian targets in retaliation for a missile barrage carried out on Oct. 1 by the Islamic Republic. “If you make a mistake and attack our targets, whether in the region or in Iran, we will strike you again painfully,” Salami said. Meanwhile, at least 27 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon on Wednesday.
• U.S. B-2 bombers strike Houthi weapon storage sites in Yemen. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the U.S. military launched a series of “precision strikes” on Wednesday evening targeting five underground weapons storage facilities controlled by the Iran-aligned Houthi group. The strikes aimed at degrading “the Houthis’ capability to continue their destabilizing behavior” as their attacks continue to disrupt international trade in the Red Sea. Read more in this analysis by Daraj, translated from Arabic by Worldcrunch: After A Bloody Decade Of Houthi Theocracy, Maybe A New Way Out For Yemen.
• Zelensky to present “victory plan” to NATO and EU leaders. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Brussels on Thursday to present his five-point victory plan to European Union leaders who are gathered for a one-day summit expected to be heavily dominated by migration issues. The Ukrainian leader will then head to the NATO headquarters to join a meeting of the alliance’s defense ministers. On Wednesday, the U.S. announced a new $425 million military aid package for Kyiv.
• Trudeau accuses India of “massive mistakes.” Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the country had clear “indications that India had violated Canada's sovereignty” at a parliamentary inquiry on Wednesday, amid a growing rift over New Delhi’s alleged targeting of Canada-based Sikh separatists. India’s foreign ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal called Trudeau’s behavior “cavalier” and said Canada had presented “no evidence whatsoever in support of the serious allegations that it has chosen to level against India and Indian diplomats.”
• Kenya Senate to vote on deputy president’s impeachment. Kenyan senators will vote on Thursday on whether to remove Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua from office as his impeachment trial comes to an end. Gachagua faces 11 charges, including corruption, inciting ethnic divisions and undermining the government. The deputy president was elected on a joint ticket with President William Ruto in 2022 but a row started in June, when Kenyans took to the streets in deadly protests over unpopular tax hikes.
• Italy bans couples from seeking surrogacy abroad. The country’s parliament on Wednesday voted into law a bill proposed by Prime Minister Georgia Meloni’s far-right Brothers of Italy party. Italians traveling abroad to seek surrogacy in countries where it is legal such as the U.S. and Canada can face up to two years in prison and fines of up to €1 million ($1.09 million). The move extends a ban on the practice already in place inside Italy since 2004. Read more in this La Stampa article translated from Italian by Worldcrunch: Ethics Of Surrogacy: The Case Of Baby "Luna" Abandoned In Ukraine.
• Chess grandmaster accused of using mobile phone to cheat. Romanian chess grandmaster Kirill Shevchenko was expelled from an event in Spain this week after being accused of using a mobile phone to cheat during bathroom breaks between moves. Officials said a mobile device was found in a toilet cubicle after the tournament, alongside a note in a script similar to the 22-year-old’s handwriting.
#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS
1.1 billion
A UN Development Programme report reveals that more than 1.1 billion people live in acute poverty across the world, with children accounting for half of those affected. The paper highlights that poverty rates are three times higher in countries at war and that 455 million people are affected by armed conflicts. India is the country with the largest number of people living in extreme poverty (234 million).
📹 THIS HAPPENED VIDEO — TODAY IN HISTORY, IN ONE ICONIC PHOTO
➡️ Watch the video: THIS HAPPENED
📰 IN OTHER NEWS
🚑 Two million Palestinians in Gaza are displaced, mostly multiple times. But as humanitarian aid is being blocked, refugees have few options to shelter themselves ahead of the upcoming winter.
— AL-MANASSA
⚖️ Should Germany’s increasingly popular far-right party AfD be banned? The debate is finally taking place in the German Bundestag.
— DIE ZEIT
🎖️ Climate change, accelerating conflicts and altering operational conditions will not spare the armed forces. France’s military is working to adapt as well as reduce its carbon footprint.
— LES ECHOS
💬 LEXICON
적대 국가
North Korea has revised its constitution and now defines its South Korean neighbor as 적대 국가, (jeogdae gugga, meaning hostile nation). State newspaper Rodong Sinmun said the change was an “inevitable and legitimate measure” amid high tensions between the two countries, which yesterday saw Pyongyang blow up inter-Korean roads and rail lines near the border.
✍️ Newsletter by Anne-Sophie Goninet & Chloé Touchard
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