When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in .

You've reached your limit of one free article.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime .

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Exclusive International news coverage

Ad-free experience NEW

Weekly digital Magazine NEW

9 daily & weekly Newsletters

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Free trial

30-days free access, then $2.90
per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
In The News

Kirchner Survives Assassination Attempt, “Violated” Nuclear Plant, Edit That Tweet

Vehicles of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) seen at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as experts arrived to inspect the facility.

Vehicles of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) seen at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as experts arrived to inspect the facility.

Lisa Berdet, Chloé Touchard, Lila Paulou and Bertrand Hauger

👋 Salve!*

Welcome to Friday, where former Argentine President Cristina Kirchner survives an assassination attempt, the team of UN nuclear experts reports initial findings at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, and Twitter tests a much-awaited “edit” button. Meanwhile, in Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza, Paweł Smoleński tells the story of Marianna, a pregnant doctor from Mariupol who’s been abducted and held captive by Russians.

[*Latin]

✅  SIGN UP

This is our daily newsletter Worldcrunch Today, a rapid tour of the news of the day from the world's best journalism sources, regardless of language or geography.

It's easy (and free!) to sign up to receive it each day in your inbox: 👉 Sign up here

🌎  7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW

Kirchner assassination attempt: Argentina’s former President and current Vice-President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner survived an assassination attempt as she was greeting a crowd outside her home in Buenos Aires on Thursday. Her assailant, a Brazilian national whose gun jammed, has been taken into custody.

Zaporizhzhia’s physical integrity violated: The inspectors of the UN’s IAEA nuclear watchdog said the physical integrity of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant had been violated several times. The team has arrived try to avoid a potential nuclear disaster as Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of shelling around the premises.

Longest sentence for Capitol rioter: A 56-year-old ex-New York City police officer was sentenced to 10 years in jail for assaulting law enforcement officials at the Capitol riots on Jan. 6, 2020. It’s the longest sentence so far linked to the uprising, in which 850 individuals have been charged with crimes.

Aung San Suu Kyi found guilty of “election fraud”: Myanmar’s former democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been found guilty of ‘election fraud’ by the junta and sentenced to three more years with hard labor, cumulating to a total of 17 years in jail. She has denied all allegations against her.

Taiwan tycoon to fund “civilian warriors”: Taiwan’s businessman and microchip entrepreneur Robert Tsao has pledged one billion Taiwanese dollars ($32 million) to train and equip a 3.3 million civilian army over three years to face the threat of invasion by Chinese armed forces.

San Marino legalises abortion: A year after a landmark referendum, San Marino’s parliament has voted to legalize abortion up to 12 weeks of pregnancy after a medical consultation. The tiny country on the Italian peninsula was one of the last European states to criminalize abortion under all circumstances.

Twitter’s edit button: Social media platform Twitter has announced that it is currently testing the edit button, a feature long requested by its users. Tweets will be available for edit for 30 minutes after posting for subscribers of Twitter Blue, a premium service available in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

🗞️  FRONT PAGE

Argentine daily Hoy features the shock image of yesterday’s assassination attempt on former President and current Vice-President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. A suspect was arrested after his gun apparently jammed as he tried to shoot Kirchner at close range through a crowd outside her home. President Alberto Fernandez called to "eradicate hate and violence" and declared Friday a national holiday for the country to rally in support of Kirchner.

#️⃣  BY THE NUMBERS

$13.6 million

As Ukraine starts the new academic year, the LEGO foundation is donating $13.6 million to support the rehabilitation and rebuilding of the education system within Ukraine and the educational needs of the children and families who have fled to neighboring countries.

📰  STORY OF THE DAY

Searching for Marianna, a pregnant doctor from Mariupol held captive by the Russians

We’ve heard about the plight of the soldiers-turned-prisoners from Mariupol. Here are some traces of the disturbing fate of a young female doctor who’s been taken away, reports Paweł Smoleński in Polish daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza.

🏥 Beginning in 2014, Marianna Mamonova’d worked stints as a front-line doctor in the Donbas region, and when Russia invaded Ukraine in February she went to war again. This time in Mariupol. She worked at a military hospital, where buildings were marked with huge Red Cross signs visible from the air. Marianna wrote to her siblings and parents that the horrors of Donbas were nothing compared to what was happening inside Mariupol. The new experience had surpassed her comprehension of war, and repeated Russian crimes weighed on her psyche.

🇺🇦 At one moment, she had an opportunity to escape from the besieged city where 20,000 civilians had already died, but she declined. In the middle of April, the Russians cut off the Ilyich shelter from Mariupol, and the shelter became a trap. In the last SMS to the family, she wrote that the situation was getting worse, but she tried to hunker down together with other doctors and nurses. Around that same time, Marianna had realized that she was pregnant, although she could not confirm this with a medical examination.

👩⚕️ All we know about the fate of Marianna and other medical workers from Mariupol is information circulating on Facebook and other social media. This concerns several hundred people, doctors, and nurses. Marianna isn't the only pregnant woman locked up in a Russian prison. But besides the fate of their future sons and daughters, those from Mariupol must now also worry about the prospect that the Russians will put her in a cage set up in the city’s theater for an expected show trial against Ukrainian prisoners.

➡️ Read more on Worldcrunch.com

📣 VERBATIM

MAGA forces are determined to take this country backwards.

— In a prime-time address in Pennsylvania, U.S. President Joe Biden warned about “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) ideology and Republican supporters of former President Donald Trump being a threat to democracy. He added, “Backwards to an America where there is no right to choose, no right to privacy, no right to contraception, no right to marry who you love,” echoing the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade.

✍️ Newsletter by Lisa Berdet, Chloé Touchard, Lila Paulou and Bertrand Hauger


Let us know what’s happening in your corner of the world!

info@worldcrunch.com

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

food / travel

Legalizing Moonshine, A Winning Political Stand In Poland

Moonshine, typically known as “bimber” in Poland, may soon be legalized by the incoming government. There is a mix of tradition, politics and economics that makes homemade booze a popular issue to campaign on.

Photo of an empty vodka bottle on the ground in Poland

Bottle of vodka laying on the ground in Poland

Leszek Kostrzewski

WARSAWIt's a question of freedom — and quality. Poland's incoming coalition government is busy negotiating a platform for the coming years. Though there is much that still divides the Left, the liberal-centrist Civic Koalition, and the centrist Third Way partners, there is one area where Poland’s new ruling coalition is nearly unanimous: moonshine.

The slogan for the legalization of moonshine (known in Poland as "bimber") was initially presented by Michał Kołodziejczak, the leader of Agrounia, a left-wing socialist political movement in Poland that has qualified to be part of the incoming Parliament.

✉️ You can receive our Bon Vivant selection of fresh reads on international culture, food & travel directly in your inbox. Subscribe here.

”Formerly so-called moonshine was an important element of our cultural landscape, associated with mystery, breaking norms, and freedom from the state," Kołodziejczak said. "It was a reason to be proud, just like the liqueurs that Poles were famous for in the past.”

The president of Agrounia considered the right to make moonshine as a symbol of "subjectivity" that farmers could enjoy, and admitted with regret that in recent years it had been taken away from citizens. “It's also about a certain kind of freedom, to do whatever you want on your farm," Kołodziejczak adds. "This is subjectivity for the farmer. Therefore, I am in favor of providing farmers with the freedom to consume this alcohol for their own use.”

A similar viewpoint was aired by another Parliament member. “We will stop pretending that Polish farmers do not produce moonshine for their own use, such as for weddings,” the representative said, pointing out the benefits of controlling the quality. “Just like they produce slivovitz, which Poland is famous for. It's high time they did it legally.”

Keep reading...Show less

The latest