👋 Halito!*
Welcome to Tuesday, where Syrian insurgents move closer to the central city of Hama, violent protests rock Georgia for the fifth consecutive night, and we finally get to see Jaguar’s much-hyped new electric concept car. Meanwhile, Ludovic Bischoff for French daily Les Echos explores the new “ski hard, party harder” philosophy taking over French Alps resorts.
[*Choctaw, Native American]
✅ SIGN UP
This is our daily newsletter Worldcrunch Today, a rapid tour of the news of the day from the world's best journalism sources, regardless of language or geography.
It's easy (and free!) to sign up to receive it each day in your inbox: 👉 Sign up here
🗞️ FRONT PAGE
French daily Libération lends its front page to far-right leader Marine Le Pen, as her National Rally party backed a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Michel Barnier after he pushed through his budget proposal. Barnier invoked the infamous Article 49.3, a constitutional measure allowing him to pass budget measures without parliamentary approval. Libération highlights Le Pen’s pivotal position at a time when France is politically fractured, titling today’s edition “Le Joug de la Dame” (literally, “the queen’s yoke”), a pun on the French title of The Queen’s Gambit (“Le Jeu de la dame”).
🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
• Syrian insurgents capture four towns, Putin backs Assad. Insurgents led by the salafi jihadi Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Turkey-backed opposition fighters have captured four more towns early Tuesday, bringing them closer to the central city of Hama, while Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government forces retook some territory they lost last week. Meanwhile, the U.S. and the European Union called for “all sides to de-escalate” after Russia’s President Vladimir Putin pledged his“unconditional support” Monday for its ally. To understand the role Turkey is playing on the ground in Syria, check this Daraj analysis, translated from Arabic by Worldcrunch.
• Israel strikes Lebanon, says it will hold Lebanon accountable if ceasefire collapses. Israel unleashed a wave of airstrikes across the country on Monday, killing 11 people, its largest strike since it agreed to a 60-day ceasefire deal with Hezbollah last week, after the militant group fired a volley of projectiles. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday during a visit on the northern border that if the ceasefire collapsed, “there will be no more exemption for the state of Lebanon” and that the military would no longer differentiate between Lebanon and Hezbollah.
• Russian drones attack critical infrastructure in Ukraine, U.S. to send weapon package. The Ukrainian air force said on Tuesday that Russian drones hit critical infrastructure in Ukraine’s western Ternopil and Rivne regions overnight, leaving Ternopil without electricity. This comes a week after Moscow’s strikes cut power to much of the city and its surrounding region. Meanwhile, the U.S. and Ukrainian defense chiefs discussed Russia’s use of new ballistic missiles in a meeting on Monday, as the U.S. announced it would send Ukraine an additional $725 million in military assistance. Read more in this analysis translated from French by Worldcrunch: No Surrender: Why Joe Biden’s Last-Gasp Support For Ukraine Matters.
• Namibia set for first female president as ruling party takes lead in election results. Namibia’s ruling SWAPO party led both the presidential and parliamentary races with 54.82% of the vote on Tuesday, as the vote count continues, after the Nov. 27 election was marred by technical challenges and ballot paper shortages. Vice-president and governing party candidate Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, 72, could become the country’s first female leader.
• Trump to attend Notre-Dame reopening in first trip since election. The U.S. president-elect announced he would be present at the weekend reopening of the restored Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris, in his first overseas trip since winning the U.S. presidential election. The 12th-century Gothic masterpiece, which was ravaged by a fire in 2019, will reopen its doors to visitors and worshippers on Saturday, with dozens of world leaders expected among the guests.
• Vietnam upholds tycoon death sentence over world’s biggest bank fraud. A Vietnamese court has rejected the appeal of property tycoon Truong My Lan on Tuesday, upholding the death sentence handed down in a $12-billion fraud case. The 68-year-old still has a chance to escape the death penalty as the country’s law states that her sentence will be commuted to life imprisonment if she can pay back three-quarters of the assets she embezzled.
• Jaguar’s new concept car divides opinion. As part of its relaunch as an electric-only brand, iconic luxury British carmaker unveiled its new electric concept car at Miami Art Week, with some calling it “absolutely stunning” while others told Jaguar’s designers to “go back to the drawing board.” The Type 00 features butterfly doors and a panoramic roof, and is conceptualized in two colors, “Miami Pink” and “London Blue.”
#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS
41,425
Data from the Spanish Interior Ministry revealed that the number of migrants reaching Spain's Canary Islands has already hit an all-time annual record for 2024, with 41,425 arrivals between Jan. 1 and Nov. 30 of this year. It is the second year the archipelago and its seven islands reach a record number of people landing from West Africa on a perilous sea journey to seek opportunities in Europe.
📹 ON THIS DAY VIDEO — 4 HISTORY-MAKING EVENTS, IN 57 SECONDS
➡️ Watch the video: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
📰 IN OTHER NEWS
🇸🇾🇹🇷 “Here we are, repeating the cycle once again.” Almost everyone agrees on the Turkish role in the sudden reigniting of the Syrian civil war, a scenario that evokes a sense of déjà vu.
— DARAJ
🇷🇺 Many in the opposition to the Kremlin have renounced the “tricolor” flag. Yet the white-blue-red flag is a symbol of a free Russia, not of war.
— HOLOD
⛷️🕺 From mountain chalets transformed into dance floors to festive restaurants at ski resorts, the party craze has taken over France’s mountains.
— LES ECHOS
📣 VERBATIM
“If you’re a man you’re part of a system that teaches you that you are worth more than women.”
— In an exclusive interview for the BBC, Gino Cecchettin, the father of Giulia Cecchettin who was murdered by her ex-boyfriend last November and whose case caused outrage throughout the country, reflected on how patriarchy and male superiority are deeply rooted in the society and how destructive they can be. “It means that if you’re in a relationship everything needs to go through you... and so a patriarch can’t be told: ‘I don’t love you anymore’, because it goes against his sense of ownership,” he said as he and his family are awaiting a verdict in the trial of Filippo Turetta, 22, who faces a possible life sentence. Read more on how Giulia Cecchettin’s murder case has shed new lights and violence against women in Italy and the need to end a male-dominated society in this piece from La Stampa.
✍️ Newsletter by Anne-Sophie Goninet & Laure Gautherin
Let us know what’s happening in your corner of the world!