A bird’s-eye view of destruction in Khan Yunis, in the wake of an Israeli-led airstrike.
👋 Bwakeye!*
Welcome to Tuesday, where Israel announces it has regained control over all towns near Gaza and continues unprecedented air assault, Russia launches dozens of drones on Ukraine, and Samsung is feeling the ripples of the “chip glut.” Meanwhile, Ingrid Feuerstein in Paris-based daily Les Echos is taking a sip of English champagne — er, “English quality sparkling wine,” rather.
[*Kirundi, Burundi]
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🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
• Israel secures all towns in south, continues air assault in Gaza: Israel says it has regained control over all towns near Gaza, four days after the most devastating Palestinian assault ever. Israel also continued unprecedented air attacks in Gaza, as Hamas militants threaten to kill some of the estimated 150 hostages held. The toll, meanwhile, keeps rising: more than 900 Israelis and nearly 800 Palestinians. Read details of what is expected to be a devastating ground war inside Gaza.
• Russia sends dozens of drones into Ukraine in latest airstrike: Kyiv’s air force said it had destroyed 27 of 36 drones launched by Russia from the Crimean peninsula overnight. The strikes targeted the regions around Odessa, Mykolaiv and Kherson and damaged infrastructure. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volydymyr Zelensky has arrived in Bucharest for his first official visit to Romania to discuss with President Klaus Iohannis on security cooperation in the Black Sea region. Follow Worldcrunch’s exclusive international coverage on the war in Ukraine here.
• Artillery strike on Myanmar refugee camp kills 29: An artillery strike on a displaced persons camp near Myanmar's border with China in the northeast has killed at least 29 people, including women and children, in one of the deadliest attacks on civilians since the return of military rule. The camp is in an area controlled by an ethnic insurgent group, one of many which have been fighting for self-rule for many decades.
• Liberian voters head to polls: Liberians go to the polls for the presidential and parliamentary elections on Tuesday, deciding whether to give football legend George Weah a second term as president. The elections are the first held since the United Nations ended its peacekeeping mission in 2018 in the country scarred by two devastating civil wars.
• Police fatally shoot driver who crashed into San Francisco Chinese consulate: San Francisco police have shot and killed the driver of a vehicle that plowed through the visa office at the Chinese consulate on Monday. The identity of the motorist and the causes of the crash are not yet known. No injuries have been reported following the incident.
• France to start withdrawing troops from Niger: The military junta in Niger has said the withdrawal of French troops from its territory will begin on Tuesday, with a first convoy starting preparations to leave the Sahel. Niger's ruling generals had ordered some 1,400 French troops to leave the country after overthrowing democratically elected president and French ally Mohamed Bazoum last July in a coup. For more, check out this recent analysis by Pierre Haski for France Inter, translated by Worldcrunch: France Leaves Niger: Exposing The Empty Shell Of Post-Colonialism.
• China to hold nationwide survey on population changes as birth rate declines: China’s National Bureau of Statistics will conduct a nationwide sample survey in November on population changes in urban and rural areas to plan appropriate policies, as authorities struggle to boost the nation’s plummeting birth rate.
🗞️ FRONT PAGE
Tel Aviv-based daily Israel Hayom features the Israeli government’s priority in big red letters on its Tuesday front page: “Defeating Hamas.” For more, follow Worldcrunch’s exclusive coverage on The Mideast War.
#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS
80%
South Korean electronics giant Samsung’s profits are expected to drop 80% in the third quarter, compared to 2022 — a consequence of the global “chip glut” caused by oversupply and low demand for products like smartphones and laptops. The world's biggest maker of memory chips, Samsung’s earnings are projected to fall to $1.56 billion in the July-September quarter, compared to $8.06 billion in the same period last year. Read more about “How Semiconductors Are Fueling The U.S.-China Standoff — With A Taiwan Caveat” here.
📰 STORY OF THE DAY
French champagne in English vineyards, a sparkling twist to climate change
Climate change has prompted some French champagne houses to take up planting in the southern English countryside, reports Ingrid Feuerstein in Paris-based daily Les Echos.
🍾 On the shelves of Sainsbury's, Louis Pommery England is not stamped as a champagne but as an "English quality sparkling wine," the new generation of white sparkling wines that are proliferating on the country's southern hillsides. "This year, for the first time in six seasons, we didn't suffer from frost in England. In terms of quantity, the harvest will be good," says Clément Pierlot, cellar master at Pommery.
🌡️ Thanks to climate change, milder temperatures have made production possible in England. Today's temperatures in southern England are said to be close to those in Champagne fifty years ago. The subsoils, rich in chalk, are similar in both regions. "In recent years, we've benefited from favorable conditions that have enabled exceptional ripening," says Pierlot. This has enabled us to make a wine without chaptalization, i.e., without adding sugar to the must.
❄️ But global warming also means unstable weather. And English vineyards regularly have to contend with spring frosts. This results in losses ranging from 30% to 80% of the harvest. "The most effective way to protect against frost is to spray with water, but English vineyards don't yet have the infrastructure for this technique," he adds.
➡️ Read more on Worldcrunch.com
📣 VERBATIM
“Though Israel didn’t start this war, Israel will finish it."
— Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke today in warning to Hamas that Israel will respond to Saturday’s surprise attack with full force. In the largest operation since the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Israel has already mobilized 300,000 troops. Netanyahu also called for the support of his allies by comparing Hamas to ISIS, and calling for “the forces of civilization” to come together in support of Israel.
👉 MORE FROM WORLDCRUNCH
• Who Aided Hamas? The Case For And Against Accusing Russia — AGENTS MEDIA
• Will Israel Strike Iran As Revenge For Hamas Support? — KAYHAN-LONDON
• In Mexico And Poland, Women Candidates Defy National Cultures Of Misogyny — And Win — WORLDCRUNCH
✍️ Newsletter by Anne-Sophie Goninet, Valeria Berghinz and Bertrand Hauger
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