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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcoming United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in Kyiv.
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🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
• Israel/Gaza update: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said the group is “approaching a truce agreement” with Israel, raising hope of a pause in hostilities in Gaza and that hostages from the Oct. 7 attacks could be released. This comes after weeks of negotiations between the U.S., Israel and Hamas, mediated by Gulf state Qatar. There was no immediate response from Israel. Meanwhile, two journalists working for the pan-Arabic channel Al Mayadeen were killed by a rocket strike near Lebanon’s border with Israel on Tuesday, as the Committee to Protect Journalists said at least 50 journalists and media workers have been killed since the conflict began.
• U.S. defense chief visits Kyiv, announces more military aid: In an unannounced visit to Kyiv, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin unveiled a new military aid package for Ukraine worth $100 million and promised the long-term support of the United States for the embattled country. For more, read this piece about Ukraine’s army recruitment problem.
• North Korea plans third attempt at spy satellite launch: North Korea has notified Japan that it will attempt to launch a spy satellite in the coming days, following two unsuccessful attempts earlier this year. The move defies warnings from South Korea and multiple UN resolutions which ban Pyongyang from using ballistic missile technology.
• OpenAI staff threaten to quit over Sam Altman sacking: More than 700 of OpenAI’s 770 employees have signed a letter to call for the resignation of the ChatGPT company’s board and to say they will quit if ousted chief executive Sam Altman is not reinstalled. Some investors in the startup are also considering legal recourse against OpenAI’s board, Reuters reports.
• First video emerges of trapped Indian workers in collapsed tunnel: A camera has captured the first images of 41 workers who have been trapped in a tunnel in India's Uttarakhand state for more than a week, showing them standing in the confined space and communicating with rescuers. The camera was slipped inside a new wider pipeline that was drilled on Monday, allowing rescue workers to give the men their first hot meal in days.
• Papua New Guinea volcano eruption triggers evacuations: A volcanic eruption on a remote Papua New Guinea island has forced some residents to begin evacuating while flights from the island's Hoskins airport were canceled. The country’s geological hazard division downgraded the alert level from Level 4 to Level 3 on Tuesday but warned the outburst of Ulawun, the South Pacific nation’s most active volcano, could continue indefinitely.
• Wrong pop icon, Joe: During the traditional pardoning of the turkeys ahead of Thanksgiving in Washington, U.S. President Joe Biden compared the two birds’ long and arduous travel to D.C. to how hard it is to get “a ticket to the Renaissance tour or Britney's tour [...] in Brazil right now.” That’s Taylor Swift, Mr. President!
🗞️ FRONT PAGE
Rome-based daily La Repubblica lends its front cover to the latest case of femicide that has sparked widespread demonstrations. Giulia Cicchettin was allegedly killed last week by her ex-boyfriend, who was apprehended by authorities in Germany on Sunday after being on the run since Nov. 11. Cicchettin, 22, was set to graduate in engineering last Thursday, which investigators say may have triggered the alleged killer’s possessive rage. “On the side of women,” writes La Repubblica. Italy has now reported 105 cases of femicide so far in 2023.
#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS
44.8 °C
Brazil has recorded its hottest ever temperature rising up to 44.8 °C (112.6 °F) as parts of the country endure a suffocating heatwave. The record was hit in the town of Araçuaí, in Brazil's southeastern state of Minas Gerais. The unprecedented weather has been attributed to the El Niño phenomenon and climate change. According to the National Institute of Meteorology (Inmet), Araçuaí's high of 44.8 °C had beaten the country's previous record of 44.7 °C, measured in 2005.
📰 STORY OF THE DAY
How pro-Ukrainian hackers have undermined Russia's war every step of the way
Authorities in Moscow continue to struggle to stem the tide of data breaches from hackers inside and outside Ukraine, who have been one of the unsung heroes in the resistance to the Russian invasion, reports Lizaveta Tsybulina in Russian independent news outlet Vazhnyye Istorii/Important Stories.
💻 Following the Russian invasion, a substantial number of hackers worldwide expressed solidarity with Ukraine, and took action. “BlackBird,” one of the founders of the DC8044 community, explained that the primary objective of hacking Russian entities is to acquire data useful to Ukrainian security forces. Hackers closely cooperate with Ukrainian intelligence services as well: they are engaged in reconnaissance, sabotage and information operations.
❌ Obviously, all else being equal, the more people use the Internet, leaving their data there, the more data leaks will happen. Russia is among the world leaders in the use of the Internet, and the COVID-19 pandemic only increased this reliance. The West's economic sanctions do not make matters easier for Moscow: many Western IT companies, whose anti-hacking solutions were previously purchased by Russian businesses — Cisco, IBM, Imperva, Fortinet, Norton, Avast — have limited or stopped their activities in Russia.
💰 The Ministry of Digital Development is now preparing a bill that it hopes can reduce the number of data breaches. It increases fines for companies whose data has been leaked. For the first breach - 3–15 million rubles ($33,000 - $170,000), for a repeat leak - 3% of the company’s annual turnover, but no less than 15 million rubles and no more than 500 million rubles ($5,500,000).
➡️ Read more onWorldcrunch.com
💬 LEXICON
Robbie
A lost BBC interview with street artist Banksy has been revealed in which the anonymous artist reveals what his first name is. In the 2003 recording, BBC reporter Nigel Wrench asks him if he is called "Robert Banks", and the artist replies: "It's Robbie." This has long been the subject of speculation online, with variations of Robin, Robert and Robbie suggested. The full interview can be heard on BBC Sounds as Radio 4's The Banksy Story. From our own vault, here’s a piece from French economic daily Les Echos: Banksy and the indestructible force of capitalism.
👉 MORE FROM WORLDCRUNCH
• Americans Don't Understand Biden — And Biden Doesn't Trust Netanyahu — FRANCE INTER
• Gaza And BRICS: Arab Leaders' Visit To China Is Only The Beginning — WORLDCRUNCH
• Stinkin’ Sunset? A Mexican Coastal Paradise Has A Major Sanitation Problem — GLOBAL PRESS JOURNAL
✍️ Newsletter by Anne-Sophie Goninet, Michelle Courtois, Emma Albright and Valeria Berghinz
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