Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits Israel Defense Forces troops at an undisclosed location.
👋 Häj ą̊ dig!*
Welcome to Tuesday, where Israel and the U.S. dismiss global calls for Gaza ceasefire, Venezuelan elections are in doubt and Spanish nurses are not Ok with those racy (or ghoulish) Halloween costumes. Meanwhile, Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza dives back into the abortion debate in the wake of the recent elections that will push the conservative ruling party out of power.
[*Elfdalian, Sweden]
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🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
• Israel/Gaza update: The UN agency for Palestinian refugees says that 64 of its members of staff have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, among a total death toll that has now reached 8,525, according to the local health ministry. Meanwhile, both Israel and the U.S. have rejected global calls for a ceasefire as the Israeli ground war continues into its fourth day.
• Ukrainian family of nine shot dead in their sleep: A family of nine people, including two children, were found shot dead in their home in the town of Volnovakha, in Russian-occupied Ukraine. The act has sparked investigations from both countries; with Ukraine accusing Russian forces for murdering the family after a dispute, and Russia having arrested two soldiers over the killings.
• Venezuela primary results suspended: Venezuela’s Supreme Court has suspended the results of the primary elections which saw opposition leader María Corina Machado’s overwhelming victory. The court is stacked with current president Nicolás Maduro’s allies, with this intervention being the latest in an effort to cast doubt on Machado’s eligibility.
• Indian police investigate blasts targeting Jehova’s Witnesses: Police in India are investigating a series of explosions that left three dead and over 50 injured at a Jehovah's Witness event on Sunday. Currently, a man has been detained after posting a video where he claimed responsibility for the attacks.
• Euro zone growth weaker than expected: A flash estimate released on Tuesday reveals that Euro zone economic growth was weaker than expected in the third quarter. Also, Eurostat, the European Union's statistics office, stated that GDP in the 20 countries sharing the euro fell 0.1%
• Tourism company found guilty over New Zealand volcano disaster: A New Zealand tourism company has been found guilty of ‘not minimizing risk’ for the 22 people who died in the 2019 White Island Volcano disaster. The company is facing $928,000 fines over their “astonishing failures” in ignoring the volcano’s signs of activity prior to its eruption.
• No more sexy nurses: Spain’s General Nursing Council has called on costume retailers to stop promoting “sexy nurse” Halloween costumes, stating that it promotes a sexualised and trivialized image of women. Other costumes under fire are “zombie nurses” and “killer nurses,” which also damage public opinion on the female-dominated profession.
🗞️ FRONT PAGE
Argentine sports daily Olé devotes its front page to the record eighth Ballon d’Or award won by Argentina and Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi. The 36-year-old star player received his trophy, which recognizes the best footballer player of the year, in a ceremony in Paris, for helping his country win the World Cup in Qatar last year. The women’s Ballon d’Or was awarded to Spain and Barcelona player Aitana Bonmati for the first time, after inspiring Spain to glory at the Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand earlier this year.
#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS
$3.2 billion
Strikes by auto workers in North America have cost Stellantis, the maker of Chrysler and Jeep, $3.2 billion in lost revenue. On Saturday the company said that it had reached a “tentative agreement” with the United Auto Workers union (UAW), but not before the six-week strike, which slashed production and sales. UAW has praised the deal that ended the prolonged walkouts at Stellantis as a victory. The agreement, which must still be approved by the union’s members, ensures that wages rise by 25% over the next four and a half years. Stellantis also reached an agreement with their Canadian union Unifor on Monday, hours after a strike began.
📰 STORY OF THE DAY
Is Poland ready to end its notorious anti-abortion regime?
Three years after a landmark ruling severely restricted abortion rights in Poland and sparked massive protest movements, the public mood has shifted in favor of liberalizing the law. With a centrist political party poised to take power, will legal abortions return to Poland? asks Anita Karwowska in Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza.
♀️ Since October 2020, the worst-case scenario that women's rights activists warned against has come true: Polish women have died at the altar of the anti-abortion regime. “In recent years, we have buried seven women who lost their lives because of the inhumane anti-abortion law. Abortion is not an ideological issue. This is a matter of women's safety, our health and life,” Natalia Broniarczyk from the rights’ group Abortion Dream Team (Aborcyjnego Dream Teamu) told Gazeta Wyborcza.
✊ Today, the majority of Polish society expects that Poland’s abortion law will be liberalized, with several parties supporting legal abortions up to the 12th week of pregnancy. Support for the legalization of abortion is also far greater now compared to the period before the Constitutional Tribunal's judgment. In 2019, 53% of Poles surveyed believed that a woman should have the right to an abortion up to the 12th week. In November 2020, that number had reached 66%.
⚖️ Women's rights organizations are hoping that the new government will quickly liberalize abortion regulations, and that the democratic side will not back out from the commitments it made to voters. The Civic Coalition has announced that it will submit the liberalization project in the first week of the new Sejm term. It also stated that it would support any changes towards a more liberal abortion law.
➡️ Read more on Worldcrunch.com
📣 VERBATIM
“We were more than just castmates. We are a family.”
— In a joint statement, the cast of Friends, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer and Lisa Kudrow mourned the loss of their fellow star Matthew Perry, who died on Saturday at the age of 54. The group said that they are “utterly devastated” and that it was an “unfathomable loss.” Perry was reportedly found unresponsive in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home on Saturday, his post-mortem examination was inconclusive. Officials are still waiting for the results of toxicology tests. Perry was best known for playing the wisecracking Chandler Bing in the popular '90s TV sitcom. At the height of his fame, he battled addiction to painkillers and alcohol, and attended rehabilitation clinics on multiple occasions.
👉 MORE FROM WORLDCRUNCH
• The Hamas Hostage Strategy Comes Straight From Their Mentors' Playbook In Tehran — KAYHAN-LONDON
• The Pope's Synod — Both A Bust And Breakthrough For Women And LGBTQ+ — LA STAMPA
• Artificial Intelligence Shoots Up AXA's Insurance List Of Future Global Risks — LES ECHOS
✍️ Newsletter by Valeria Berghinz, Michelle Courtois and Anne-Sophie Goninet
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