👋 Halló!*
Welcome to Thursday, where raging wildfires in Southern California have killed at least five and displaced more than 100,000, a Russian strike on Zaporizhzhia kills 13, and it’s confirmed: spiders in Australia are just wild. Meanwhile, Die Zeit’s Jan Schwenkenbecher writes about how those closest to depressed people can help them with their mental health.
[*Faroese]
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🗞️ FRONT PAGE
A cluster of five wildfires around Los Angeles have forced more than 100,000 residents to evacuate their homes in Southern California. “Apocalyptic!” writes La Opinión, a Los Angeles-based Spanish daily newspaper, about the more than 26,000 acres that have burned so far. At least five people have died from the blazes as firefighters, federal emergency response teams, and even some Canadian resources work to contain the situation.
🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
• More than 46,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war. Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Thursday a total of 46,006 Palestinians have been killed and 109,378 wounded in the 15-month conflict. It has said women and children make up more than half the fatalities, but does not say how many of the dead were fighters or civilians. Meanwhile, the Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence. Follow Worldcrunch’s international coverage of the Middle East here.
• Russian strike kills 13, injures 113 in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. High-rise apartment blocks were damaged along with an industrial facility and other infrastructures in the southern city, Ukraine's prosecutor general office said on Telegram. The debris hit a tram and a bus with passengers inside, it added. Read about Zelensky's bet on Kursk in a recent piece by Italian daily La Stampa, translated into English by Worldcrunch.
• Los Angeles wildfires spread to Hollywood as five die and 100,000 ordered to evacuate. Fires in the area killed at least five people, destroyed hundreds of homes and stretched firefighting resources and water supplies to the limit. Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden canceled the final overseas trip of his presidency just hours before he was set to depart for Rome and the Vatican, choosing to remain in Washington to monitor the response to devastating fires raging in California.
• Lebanon’s parliament tries again to pick a president. Lebanon’s parliament convened on Thursday to make yet another effort to elect a president, filling a vacuum that’s lasted for more than two years. A first round of voting showed Lebanese army commander Joseph Aoun as the frontrunner, receiving 71 out of 128 votes, but falling short of the two-thirds majority needed to win outright.
• Chad says military foiled armed assault on presidential complex. At least 19 people have been killed in Chad where security forces said they had prevented an attempt by armed fighters to storm the presidential complex in the capital N’Djamena. Hours after the shooting, Chad’s foreign minister and government spokesman Abderaman Koulamallah appeared in a video, surrounded by soldiers and with a gun on his belt, saying, “The situation is completely under control…the destabilization attempt was put down.”
• Indian temple apologizes after six killed in crush. Dozens more were injured in the crush as they queued for tickets to a festival which attracts millions each year. The incident took place on Wednesday night after thousands gathered at the Tirupati temple in southern Andhra Pradesh state. Officials in the state have said strict action will be taken against temple employees who are found responsible for the tragedy.
• An Australian zoo has found its biggest-ever funnel-web spider. A ginormous and deadly funnel-web spider has been handed in to a reptile park in Australia, where staff said it was the largest of its kind they’d ever seen. Named Hemsworth, the spider spans 9.2 centimeters (3.6 inches) from foot to foot, according to the Australian Reptile Park. It surpasses the record set by the park’s previous biggest, Hercules, which measured 7.9 centimeters (3.1 inches) and was donated in January 2024.
#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS
+40.7%
Sales of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, called NEVs, went up by 40.7% in 2024 in China, making up almost half of total car sales thanks to government subsidies and competitive pricing. Chinese automakers like BYD, Geely and Xiaomi benefitted, but foreign brands like GM, Toyota and Volkswagen lost ground. But despite sales growth, the Chinese manufacturers are struggling to break into western markets due to increased tariffs on electric vehicles has meant that profit margins are actually down 1.8% from 2020.
📹 ON THIS DAY VIDEO — 4 HISTORY-MAKING EVENTS, IN 57 SECONDS
➡️ Watch the video: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
📰 IN OTHER NEWS
🌐 The emerging geopolitical paradigm is one of a kind of “armed peace” led by states equipped with nuclear weapons as the ultimate guarantee of security. The battlefield now spans the range of hybrid threats and technological breakthroughs.
— LES ECHOS
🇸🇾 Syria's new education minister may have quietly revealed the true intention of the new government, replacing the generic word “law” with “Sharia,” Islamic law. This and other changes to school curricula appear to be happening after the government has denied such changes.
— DARAJ
🤝 It is not easy to deal well with depressed people. But psychology professionals say that those closest can often help even more than trained experts. Here's a how-to.
— DIE ZEIT
📣 VERBATIM
“We’re here to say that we are alive and that democracy is alive.”
— Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva commemorated the second anniversary of the Jan. 8, 2023, attack that targeted government buildings just a week after he was elected, ousting the right wing Jair Bolsonaro. At the ceremony on Wednesday, Lula condemned the violence as an attempted coup against his presidency, and emphasized the resilience of democracy despite the attackers’ intentions. The attack followed widespread claims of voter fraud by Bolsonaro, who refused to acknowledge defeat, and is now facing multiple investigations and scrutiny for his role in inciting unrest.
✍️ Newsletter by Emma Albright & Jacob Shropshire
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