SPOTLIGHT: A DARKER REALITY IN THE CITY OF LIGHTS
Paris has always had a dark side.
Uprisings, demonstrations, even revolution...the streets of Paris have been awash in blood time and again over the centuries. In far more recent months, terror attacks, floods and strikes have stamped the City of Light as the standing capital of tumult.
Now, a bit of that dark side has arrived in the reality TV world of the Kardashian clan. Kim Kardashian West, one of the most recognizable faces on the internet and wife of rapper Kanya West, was robbed at gunpoint in the early hours Monday at a luxury residence in central Paris. The thieves, disguised as policemen, stole a reported 10 million euros worth of jewelry from the star.
As paparazzi descend on Paris, no doubt someone will warn that even the high-end neighborhood where the reality TV star was robbed has become a "no-go zone." Tourism is the city's lifeblood, and though still the world's most visited destination, Paris has lost some 750 million euros in tourism revenue from the first half of this year alone, following the November 2015 terror attacks.
Paris has long glittered bright in the world's collective imagination, which has made it both a symbol and a target for those with nefarious intentions. When its darker side surfaces, the shadow extends far beyond the internet.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR TODAY
15th round of TTIP negotiations begins in New York.
Germany celebrates Day of Unity amid security concerns in Dresden.
Trial of five men accused of killing Boris Nemtsov begins in Moscow.
COLOMBIANS REJECT FARC PEACE ACCORD
Most people thought the hardest part of putting an end to more than 50 years of war was done when the Colombian government and the FARC rebels reached a peace agreement, but a narrow majority of voters (50.22%) rejected the deal in a surprise upset, El Espectador reports. Turnout was also at a 22-year-low, with just 37,4% of voters taking part in the referendum. Senator and former President Álvaro Uribe Vélez, who campaigned for the "No," said that the result expressed a wish for a renegotiation. "Nobody wants violence," he said.
— ON THIS DAY
Which American football player was acquitted of two murders 21 years ago? Your 57-second shot of history has the answer, and more.
LOW TURNOUT DERAILS HUNGARY REFERENDUM
Only 43% of Hungarian voters cast their ballot in yesterday's referendum on mandatory EU migrant quotas, falling short of the required minimum of 50% to be valid. But with close to 98% of those who voted opposing the quotas, the Hungarian government argued the outcome was "politically and legally" binding anyway. Read more from the BBC.
NOBEL PRIZE WEEK BEGINS WITH JAPANESE WINNER
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2016 was awarded to Japanese cell biologist Yoshinori Ohsumi for his "discoveries of mechanisms for autophagy."
VERBATIM
"Let's show the country we mean business," British Prime Minister Theresa May told the Conservative party conference yesterday, in a speech outlining her Brexit strategy. May said Britain would trigger the process by March 2017, meaning that the country will have left the European Union by mid-2019.
$500 MILLION
The Pentagon allegedly paid a controversial British PR firm $500 million to secretly produce a propaganda campaign in Iraq after the 2003 invasion, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and The Sunday Times revealed. Part of the company's mission was to produce fake al-Qaeda propaganda films.
TALIBAN ATTACK KUNDUZ
Taliban fighters have entered the city of Kunduz in northern Afghanistan after launching a coordinated attack from four different directions, in an apparent repeat of the assault that briefly gave them control over the city a year ago, Al Jazeera reports.
INDIAN TROOPS TARGETED IN ANOTHER KASHMIR ATTACK
Insurgents attacked an Indian army camp in the garrison town of Baramulla, in northern Kashmir, killing one soldier in the second such attack in two weeks, The Hindustan Times reports. India has accused Pakistan of supporting the militants, claims that Islamabad rejects.
— MY GRAND-PERE'S WORLD
Palm Color — Elche, Aug. 1958
VIRTUAL ANIMALITY
Ever wondered what life's like for a "doomed cow" or a "piece of coral"? Well, now you can (sort of) experience it.
— Crunched by Marc Alves and Sruthi Gottipati
