👋 こんにちは*
Welcome to Friday, where Hezbollah warns of escalation with Israel after the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, Europe and NATO vow to continue to help Ukraine but don’t endorse Zelensky’s “victory plan,” and Walter White comes back to fight littering. We also feature a response from an Italian journalist to Giorgia Meloni’s new extended surrogacy ban.
[*Konnichiwa - Japanese]
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🗞️ FRONT PAGE
Israeli newspaper Haaretz devotes its front page to the killing of Yahya Sinwar, featuring a photograph of IDF soldiers standing next to the Hamas leader’s (blurred) dead body. Sinwar, who masterminded the October 7 attack on Israel, was reportedly killed in Rafah during a routine search conducted by Israeli troops.
🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
• Hezbollah vows escalation after killing of Yahya Sinwar, Netanyahu promises more war. Hezbollah announced “the transition to a new and escalating phase in the confrontation with Israel,” following the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who was the key figure behind the Oct. 7 attacks. Sinwar’s body was identified by DNA records after he was killed along with two other men during a routine search conducted by Israeli troops in Rafah on Thursday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Sinwar’s killing a milestone but promised to press on with Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon. Read more in this Daraj article translated from Arabic by Worldcrunch: Sinwar Is Dead: How Palestinians Viewed The Mercurial Hamas Leader.
• EU, NATO pledge Zelenskiy support but don’t endorse “victory plan.” While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky received pledges of continued support after pitching his “victory plan” to European leaders and NATO on Thursday, no key allies endorsed his call for an immediate NATO-membership invitation. Zelensky said a formal invitation for Kyiv to join the military alliance was the “only way” to end the war against Russia. Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden is making a 24-hour visit to Berlin to discuss support for Ukraine with German chancellor Olaf Scholz.
• Obamas to hit campaign trail with Kamala Harris next week. The Democrat candidate will campaign for the first time with former U.S. President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama in separate events next week, in the final stretch to election day in November. Polls show the race between the vice president and Republican rival Donald Trump remains extremely close. For more on this topic, check this analysis translated from French by Worldcrunch: Whose World? Watching The U.S. Election From Abroad Is More Disturbing Than Ever.
• Baby dies after migrant boat sinks off French coast. An overloaded migrant dinghy which was heading to the UK from France capsized and sank on Thursday night off the French town of Wissant. While 65 people were rescued, a “baby was found unconscious and sadly declared dead,” said the maritime authority in charge of the Channel and the North Sea. This latest accident brings the number of migrants who perished while trying to cross the Channel this year to at least 52 — a record since 2018. Read more in this analysis translated from French by Worldcrunch: English Channel To The Mediterranean: Borders That Kill.
• China registers slowest growth in over a year. The world’s second-largest economy slowed in the third quarter, growing 4.6% year-on-year, China’s National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday, below the government’s “around 5%” target for this year. This marks the weakest performance in a year and a half, amid weak consumer demand and a downturn in the property sector which is worsening.
• King Charles to arrive in Australia for first visit as monarch. King Charles III is set to make his longest trip abroad since starting his cancer treatment earlier this year, arriving in Sydney with Queen Camilla on Friday. This marks the first Australian visit by a reigning monarch since 2011 — a 11-day trip which has rekindled debate about the nation’s constitutional links to Britain.
• “Breaking Bad habits”: Walter White returns for New Mexico anti-litter campaign. In Santa Fe, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham unveiled on Thursday two ad spots featuring Bryan Cranston’s Breaking Bad character to raise awareness to the impacts of everyday litter and illegal dumping. Grisham hopes the mythical methamphetamine kingpin will help draw attention to this issue in a U.S. state which relies economically on outdoor tourism and filmmaking.
#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS
10 years old
Australia's Northern Territory has lowered the age of criminal responsibility from 12 back to 10 years old. Although the new Country Liberal Party (CLP) government argues this is necessary to combat rising youth crime rates and allow early intervention, the move has sparked fierce debate, with human rights groups, medical experts, and Indigenous organizations condemning it. Critics argue it will disproportionately affect Aboriginal children and is counterproductive, as research shows incarcerating young offenders increases reoffending rates and negatively impacts their future.
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📰 IN OTHER NEWS
🇮🇱 Are the military operations targeting civilians and blocking humanitarian aid in northern Gaza the prelude to Israel reoccupying the region and establishing Jewish settlements?
— DARAJ
♀️ “I simply don’t buy any of this so-called feminist rhetoric that Meloni is using” — an Italian journalist’s view on Italy’s ban on people to go abroad to have a baby via surrogacy.
— WORLDCRUNCH
👙 After a five-year break, Victoria's Secret is once again putting on a lingerie fashion show. But are women still willing to buy push-up bras as a way to empower themselves?
— DIE ZEIT
📹 THIS HAPPENED VIDEO — TODAY IN HISTORY, IN ONE ICONIC PHOTO
➡️ Watch the video: THIS HAPPENED
📣 VERBATIM
“He should never have let that war start. The war’s a loser.”
— Former U.S. President Donald Trump has blamed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for starting the war with Russia, despite Russia invading Ukraine. In an interview with Patrick Bet-David’s PBD Podcast, Trump said Zelensky was responsible not just for failing to end the war (something the U.S. presidential candidate had accused Zelensky of doing previously) but for helping start it, even though the conflict broke out when Russia invaded Ukrainian sovereign territory.
✍️ Newsletter by Anne-Sophie Goninet, Bertrand Hauger & Emma Albright
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