Hundreds of people gathered in front of the European Union’s headquarters in Barcelona, Spain, to voice their support of Palestine and protest against Israel’s authorities.
👋 Avuxeni!*
[*Tsonga, South Africa and Mozambique]
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🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
• Mideast update: U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has arrived in Tel Aviv today in support of Israel and as the first leg of a Middle Eastern diplomatic tour. In a conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Blinken has reassured Israel that they will “never, ever” have to fight alone. The death toll in Gaza has risen to 1,300, with hospitals overwhelmed by casualties and displaced people looking for shelter. Israel said today that its ongoing siege that’s blocking food, water and electricity could be lifted if Hamas releases the scores of civilian hostages being held in Gaza. Die Welt’s Philip Volkmann-Schluck looked at the risks of Israel launching a ground war in Gaza. Worldcrunch has translated the piece from German.
• Ford’s biggest plant halted with strikes: The United Auto Workers (UAW) halted production in Ford’s biggest plant globally in a surprise move, escalating the four-week strike against the Detroit Three automakers. An estimated 8,700 workers at Ford’s Kentucky truck plant began striking after the UAW reported that Ford refused to move forward with contract bargaining with the union.
• Slovakia’s Robert Fico agrees to coalition government: Robert Fico, the winner of last month’s parliamentary elections in Slovakia, signed a deal to form a coalition government of 79 seats in the 150 seat parliament. Fico’s populist left-wing Smer-SSD party, which originally won with promises of halting Slovakia’s aid to Ukraine, is now in deals with center-left Hlas and nationalist SNS parties.
• Former F1 boss pleads guilty to fraud: Bernie Ecclestone, the former Formula One boss, has pleaded guilty to fraud charges after failing to declare $490 million in a Singapore trust. Ecclestone had originally pleaded not guilty, and was set to stand trial next month.
• Uganda rejects birth control proposal: Lawmakers in Uganda have rejected a government proposal which would have given 15-year-old girls access to birth control pills. The proposal was put forward to control the high pregnancy rates among minors, with nearly a quarter of girls under 19 being either pregnant or already young mothers. Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa called the birth control proposal a way to “formalize the defilement of young girls.”
• Greta Thunberg fined by Swedish court, again: Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has been fined for the second time in three months for the same offense of disobeying police orders. The Swedish court has ordered her to pay a fine of 4,500 Swedish crowns ($414) for failing to leave a climate protest on July 24, the same day of her first offense.
• Second-largest lottery win in history: A single lottery ticket sold in California is worth $1.76 billion on the Powerball, becoming the second largest sum to have ever been won. The biggest win ever remains the 2022 victory of $2.04 billion, a ticket which was also sold in California. The most recent victor, whose identity remains hidden, has a choice of being paid throughout 30 years, or receiving a direct $774.1 million lump-sum payment.
🗞️ FRONT PAGE
“Are Jews still safe in Germany?,” asks Berlin-based daily Der Tagesspiegel, reporting the Jewish community’s fear over increasing hostility in the country and Europe since Hamas’ attack on Israel. In the UK, the Community Security Trust (CST) has recorded 89 “anti-Jewish hate” incidents from Oct. 7 to 10 — a more than four-fold rise compared with the same period last year. The incidents included assaults, damage to Jewish property and abusive behavior.
#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS
34 years
📰 STORY OF THE DAY
In Mexico and Poland, women candidates defy national cultures of misogyny — and win
Mexico is on the cusp of getting its first woman president. And in Poland, the upcoming elections will see the highest-ever number of women running for office. Two landmarks for nations where the patriarchy has long reigned supreme.
♀️🗳️ This election cycle has been a historic one for women in Poland and Mexico. Though the latter recently welcomed a landmark decision on abortion rights, both countries have had a grim past when it comes to women’s rights — including high levels of femicide in the case of Mexico and strict abortion restrictions in Poland. Still, both countries are on track to hold elections that could prove historic for women, with Mexico expected to inaugurate its first woman President, and Poland nominating a record number of female candidates to parliamentary positions.
🇲🇽 Mexico’s left-wing ruling party, Morena, announced on September 6 that former Mexico City mayor Claudia Scheinbaum will be its nominee for the elections, which will take place in 2024. This followed a decision only a few days earlier by the opposition coalition, Broad Front For Mexico (Frente Amplio Por Mexico), to nominate Senator Xóchitl Gálvez from the conservative National Action Party. Both Scheinbaum and Gálvez support decriminalizing abortion.
✊ Though neither candidate has yet made explicit feminist statements a part of their campaign, the gravitas of a future female president in a country plagued by gender-based violence and femicide is striking. Both Shienbaum and Gálvez have spoken about breaking the glass ceiling in a culture still breaking free from machista culture. They have also both defended the rights of women and the LGBT+ community.
➡️ Read more on Worldcrunch.com
📣 VERBATIM
“Every member of Hamas is a dead man.”
— Announcing the formation of a “national emergency government” with the addition of Benny Gantz’s National Unity party, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the people of Israel are united, and now leadership is united too. Netanyahu called Hamas an enemy “worse than ISIS,” and said that Israel will destroy Hamas just as the world destroyed Islamic State. He says Israel’s unity is resonating worldwide. Read French analyst Pierre Haski’s view on how the world is divided over the Middle East, with the West growing more isolated.
👉 MORE FROM WORLDCRUNCH
• Collateral Tech Damage Of Hamas Attack: The Final Demise Of Twitter — LA STAMPA
• Ukraine To Palestine: The West's Isolation Keeps Getting Deeper — And More Dangerous — FRANCE INTER
• A New History Course Explores LGBTQ Life In Ancient Egypt, Greece And Rome — THE CONVERSATION
✍️ Newsletter by Valeria Berghinz, Michelle Courtois and Anne-Sophie Goninet
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