👋 Bone die!*
Welcome to Monday, where a Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deal could happen “within days,” Uruguay’s left-wing opposition candidate wins the presidential election, and the world marks International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. And Warsaw-based Gazeta Wyborcza daily reports on how research in the Arctic plays into the deepening showdown between Russia and the West.
[*Sardinian, Italy]
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🗞️ FRONT PAGE
Uruguayan daily La Diaria dedicates its front page to the election of leftist candidate Yamandú Orsi as new Uruguay president on Sunday, welcoming the political shift after five years of conservative governance under the center-right Republican Coalition. Orsi promised to be the leader who “builds a more integrated society,” and says he will never let up in “building the Uruguay we deserve.”
🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
• Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deal could come “within days,” ambassador says. Israel’s ambassador to Washington Mike Herzog told Israeli Army Radio on Monday that there remained “points to finalize” but said “we are close to a deal” to end fighting between Israel and the Lebanon-based militant group. This comes after Hezbollah fired heavy rocket barrages at Israel on Sunday across the border from Lebanon, in response to an Israeli airstrike that killed at least 29 people in Beirut in one of the heaviest bombardments since fighting intensified in September.
• Wars in Ukraine and Middle East to dominate G7 meeting in Italy. G7 foreign ministers are gathering in the Italian towns of Fiuggi and Anagni for a two-day summit starting Monday, the first since Donald Trump’s re-election to the White House. Officials are expected to discuss the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas’s military chief, the situation in the Middle East and the Red Sea, as well as ways to continue support for Kyiv. Read more in this analysis translated from French by Worldcrunch: ICC Arrest Warrants: Netanyahu's European Travel Days Are Over.
• Far-right candidate wins first round in shock Romania presidential election. Hard-right NATO critic and pro-Russian candidate Calin Georgescu is set to come in first in the Sunday presidential vote with 22.9% in a surprise outcome that saw poll-leading leftist Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu knocked out of the race. Georgescu, 62, who has no party of his own and who campaigned largely on TikTok, will likely face center-right opposition party leader Elena Lasconi in a Dec. 8 presidential run-off vote. Some fear Georgescu’s victory could threaten Romania’s staunchly pro-Ukraine stance. With rightward shifts among both men and women of the Gen Z demographic, more politicians are campaigning on TikTok as this Worldcrunch analysis shows.
• Thousands of Imran Khan supporters clash with police during march to Pakistan capital. Tens of thousands of protesters have defied a lockdown and are closing in on Islamabad on Monday to call for the release of the former prime minister. The march, which began on Sunday, sparked clashes with police and led to the arrest of hundreds of people. Khan has been in jail for over a year as he faces more than 150 criminal cases that his party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf or PTI, says are politically motivated.
• French prosecution demand maximum sentence for ex-husband in Pelicot mass rape trial. Prosecutor Laure Chabaud asked that Dominique Pelicot, who admitted to drugging his wife Gisèle Pelicot, raping her and recruiting dozens of others to rape her for nearly a decade, be given the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. It’s “a lot […] but at the same time […] too little in view of the seriousness of the acts that were committed and repeated,” the public prosecutor told the court in Avignon on Monday. The court is expected to deliver its verdicts before Dec. 20. Read more in this Die Zeit analysis, translated from German by Worldcrunch.
• One dead after cargo plane crashes near Lithuania airport. Three others are also wounded after the Boeing 737, operated for DHL by the Spanish cargo airline Swiftair, skidded into a house early on Monday while approaching the Vilnius airport for landing. The cause of the crash remains unknown, as Lithuanian authorities have started an investigation.
• Don’t wash your Thanksgiving turkey, experts say. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has warned that raw turkeys shouldn’t be rinsed before being put in the oven on Thanksgiving Day, as it could spread the germs lurking on the poultry in the kitchen sink or nearby food. But experts still advise to wash and sanitize your hands, utensils and surfaces for a safer and food-poisoning free meal.
#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS
$114 million
Universal’s Broadway adaptation of Wicked had a record-breaking debut this weekend, grossing $114 million from almost 4,000 theaters, making it the third-biggest domestic opening of the year behind Deadpool & Wolverine ($211 million) and Inside Out 2 ($154 million). The adaptation secured the fourth-largest start for a musical in history, surpassing The Little Mermaid remake and setting a new benchmark for a Broadway-based movie. Could this be another Barbenheimer phenomenon? Wicked shared the weekend box office with Gladiator II, which opened to a solid $55.5 million, sparking curiosity over whether we are witnessing the birth of “Glicked” — the latest box office duo destined for back-to-back screenings.
📹 ON THIS DAY VIDEO — 4 HISTORY-MAKING EVENTS, IN 57 SECONDS
➡️ Watch the video: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
📰 IN OTHER NEWS
💸 U.S. President-elect Trump has tasked billionaire businessman Elon Musk with making the government cost-efficient. That may be an admirable objective, but the ideology driving it is wrong-headed... and dangerous.
— EL ESPECTADOR
🔍 Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and fears of westward escalation have already led many European countries to up their own defense strategies. But what if the true key to fighting back lied in studying the polar region, critical for world stability?
— GAZETA WYBORCZA
🐘 Tunisians are among the largest group of people migrating to Europe due to the lack of decent living conditions in the North African country. But now even elephants are being pushed to the brink by the neglect and mismanagement of resources.
— DARAJ
📣 VERBATIM
“This document is nothing more than an optical illusion.”
— Countries at the COP29 summit in Baku adopted a $300 billion a year global finance target on Sunday to help poorer nations cope with impacts of climate change by 2035. The deal, which marks a significant commitment from developed countries to support climate adaptation in the Global South, was met with sharp criticism from its intended recipients. India’s delegation representative Chandni Raina called the financial target “paltry,” emphasizing the amount cannot address the scale of the climate crisis. Raina’s remarks reflect the frustration voiced by many smaller, more vulnerable nations, who walked out of the summit in protest, underscoring the growing divide between developed and developing countries on the issue of climate justice.
✍️ Newsletter by Anne-Sophie Goninet & Ella Nigro
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