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IMPORTANT
| | | | | Russian Revenge | Smarting From Bridge Blast, Moscow Hits Back With Lethal Barrage People across Ukraine awoke Tuesday to the familiar sound of air raid sirens — and the news that the southern city of Zaporizhzhia had been hit by 15 missile strikes overnight. On Monday the most widespread Russian raids since the first days of the war hit civilian targets — including a playground, a tourist bridge and a university — as well as water and power infrastructure. At least 19 people were killed and hundreds of thousands were left without electricity. Only time will tell whether this is “a screw-you retaliatory strike or the start of something bigger and more serious,” said journalist Peter Beaumont. (Sources: AP, The Guardian, BBC) |
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| | | Turning Point | Are Putin’s Latest Attacks a Sign of Power or Desperation? The Kremlin’s tacit admission that Ukrainian civilians are now fair game comes partly in response to domestic critics who had accused it of going soft on Ukraine. “It is time for fighting! Fiercely, even cruelly,” tweeted Sergei Mironov after the Kerch Bridge attack. But U.K. intelligence chief Jeremy Fleming says it’s a sign that “Russia is running short of munitions.” To make matters worse for Putin, both Germany and the U.S. have vowed to send Ukraine sophisticated air defense systems. “The response was supposed to show power,” said Russian political analyst Abbas Gallyamov, “but in fact it showed powerlessness.” (Sources: AP, The Hill, NYT, The Guardian) |
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| | | Washed Away | Julia Cuts Swath of Destruction Across South, Central America Hurricane Julia didn’t even pass directly over Venezuela. And it was downgraded to a tropical depression shortly after making landfall in Nicaragua. But this was scant consolation for the dozens of people it killed across the region. Torrential rains in Venezuela caused the El Pato River to burst its banks, resulting in landslides which claimed at least 36 lives and left a further 56 people missing. A further 28 people were killed in Guatemala (which suffered at least 14 deaths), El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. “The village is lost. Las Tejerías is lost,” said Venezuelan survivor Carmen Meléndez. (Sources: AP, BBC) |
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| | | ‘Shame on You!’ | Victims’ Families Heckle Corporate Bigwigs at Plane Crash Trial Thirteen years after Flight 447 plunged into the Atlantic Ocean carrying 228 people, the trial of Air France and Airbus has begun. It’s the first time companies have been charged over an air crash and there’s no threat of jail time — only a fine. Airbus boss Guillaume Faury’s opening statement was met with cries of “shame” and “too little, too late” from victims’ loved ones. And Anne Rigail, the head of Air France, was told, “Don’t talk to us about pain!” Both companies have pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter — despite having been aware of problems with external sensors in bad weather. (Sources: Sky News, The Guardian) |
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| | | Briefly | Here are some things you should know about today: “Constant malevolent presence.” British neonatal nurse Lucy Letby pleaded not guilty. She’s accused of murdering seven babies and trying to kill ten others by injecting them with air or insulin. (Source: NY Post) #MeToo. Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a filmmaker and former actress who’s married to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, is one of many witnesses who will testify in Harvey Weinstein’s second sex crimes trial. (Source: NYT) “No legal basis.” Hong Kong leader John Lee said only U.N. sanctions would compel him to take action against the 465-foot superyacht, owned by the U.S.-sanctioned Russian oligarch Alexey Mordashov, that’s docked in his port. (Source: Reuters) |
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INTRIGUING
| | | | | ‘Foreign Interference’ | Indonesia Bans Scientists in Dispute Over Orangutan Numbers Last month five experts collaborated on an opinion piece for The Jakarta Post in which they disputed the environment minister’s claims that orangutan populations were growing. “All three orangutan species have declined in the past few decades,” they wrote, “and nowhere are populations growing.” Hours later all five had been accused of “discrediting” the government and banned from doing research in Indonesia. In a country that’s lost more than 80% of its lowland forests in the past 30 years, scientists working on tigers, Sumatran rhinos and elephants have faced similar challenges. “Our voices are silenced,” said an anonymous Indonesian scientist. (Source: Science) |
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| | | Modern Slavery | Reports of 700 Malaysians Trapped in Barbaric Scam Centers in Laos In a pattern that’s familiar in Cambodia, Myanmar and the Philippines, people are lured to Laos by promises of well-paid IT or casino jobs. Once there, they’re held in prisonlike conditions and forced to scour the internet for victims to dupe into investing in online scams. “If they don’t want to work, they will be beaten,” said Hishamuddin Hashim of the Malaysian International Humanitarian Organization. “Some of them [have] been electrocuted.” Such scam centers have been around in Southeast Asia for years, but they mushroomed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hishamuddin believes that the criminal syndicates benefit from “support by high-level authorities.” (Source: VOA News) |
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| | | #FindThatLizard | Meet the Black Herpetologist Who’s Making Reptiles Rock After staring at a photo of a scruffy yard for a full six minutes, the serpentine contours of the Madrean alligator lizard nestled behind an unkempt tuft of grass eventually take shape. #FoundThatLizard! This weekly Twitter challenge is just one way Earyn McGee — aka @Afro_Herper — is inspiring a passion for ecology in Black, brown and Indigenous communities. With more than 60,000 followers, she’s already making waves — but McGee has her sights on a much loftier goal. She wants to bring people of color into “the rooms where decisions are happening … because it’s not just white men being impacted.” (Source: The Guardian) |
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| | | Hater | Ye Locked Out of Twitter and Instagram for Anti-Semitic Posts Kanye West’s accounts were suspended following a dispute with fellow rapper Diddy about West’s decision to wear a “white lives matter” T-shirt to the Paris Fashion Week. West first appeared to reference the theory that a clandestine cabal of Jewish people is conspiring to control the world. Then he doubled down: “I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE The funny thing is I actually can’t be Anti Semitic because black people are actually Jew also.” The star has previously spoken out about his mental health challenges. (Source: BBC) |
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| | | Shifting the Goalposts | British Soccer Match Goes Ahead Despite One Goal Being Too Big It just didn’t look right … Before kickoff, Cardiff City coaching staff complained that one of the goals at Wigan Athletic’s DW Stadium was two inches higher than the regulation 8 feet. But when caretaker manager Mark Hudson was told it’d take “a couple of hours for it to sink another couple of inches,” they decided to get on with the game as the conditions would be “the same for both sides.” In a case of poetic justice, Cardiff went on to win the match 3-1, with their third goal ricocheting in off the underside of the offending crossbar. (Source: Sky News) |
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