Barbie fans can now stay in a life-size replica of the Mattel toy’s “Dreamhouse,” located in Malibu, California.
👋 Halo!*
Welcome to Thursday, where Kyiv says it’s regaining territory in the Bakhmut region, more than 150 protesters are arrested near Paris as violent clashes spread after the police shooting death of teenager during a traffic stop, and you can now live out your life-size Barbie dream. Meanwhile, Jacques Henno in French daily Les Echos explores how global warming could change humans on a genetic level.
[*Bislama, Vanuatu]
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🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
• Ukraine advances on Bakhmut, Putin tries to consolidate power: Kyiv’s top military officials said that Ukrainian forces were advancing "slowly but surely" on the front lines in the east and southeast of the country, including around Bakhmut. Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar reported advances around Berdyansk and Mariupol. Meanwhile, a video was broadcast on state television showing Russian President Vladimir Putin on a public walk in the seaside town of Derbent, in an attempt to strengthen his image following the Wagner group mutiny, and reports swirling of a possible purge of disloyal members of the Russian military.
• Presumed human remains found inside Titan wreckage: Presumed human remains were found in the wreck of the Titan submarine, according to the U.S. Coast Guard, while parts of the mutilated craft were brought ashore in Terre-Neuve, Canada. A formal analysis of the remains will be carried out to identify the causes that led to the Titan's implosion and the death of the five people on board as they were exploring the Titanic wreck.
• UK’s Rwanda deportation plan judged unlawful: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's initiative to "stop the boats" by deporting tens of thousands of asylum seekers to Rwanda has been deemed unlawful. Under a 140 million pound ($177 million) agreement, Britain planned to send refugees to the East African country after arriving across the English Channel in small boats. The Court of Appeal concluded that Rwanda was not a safe third country due to deficiencies in its asylum processes, which could lead to "persecution or other inhumane treatment."
• Koran desecration in Sweden draws international ire: Following the desecration of Koran by Salwan Momika, a 37-year-old Iraqi refugee in Stockholm during Eid al-Adha celebrations on Thursday, several countries condemned Sweden for allowing the act to take place in the interests of free speech. The controversy puts Sweden’s entry into NATO at risk, because NATO member Turkey could block accession over the Koran burning.
• Release of 125 Sudanese soldiers held by the RSF: 125 Sudanese soldiers held by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), including 44 wounded, were released thanks to mediation by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). They were taken from Khartoum to Wad Madani, south of the capital, and were able to return to their families before Eid al-Adha.
• Judges block transgender care bans for minors: Federal judges in Kentucky and Tennessee have blocked health care bans for transgender youth in their states so that lawsuits contesting the bans can continue. Other courts have blocked similar laws in Arkansas, Alabama, Florida and Indiana. This decision has been criticized by Kentucky's Republican Attorney General, Daniel Cameron, who believes the law is meant to protect against "unnecessary medical experimentation."
• Microscopic handbag, huge price tag: The fluorescent yellowish-green Microscopic Handbag by New York art collective MSCHF, inspired by a popular Louis Vuitton model and "smaller than a grain of salt," was auctioned online for over $63,000. It comes with a microscope equipped with a digital screen to observe the bag.
🗞️ FRONT PAGE
“Police, Out Of Control.” French daily newspaper Libération dedicates its front page to an image of a fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old during a traffic stop in Nanterre near Paris. The officer will be placed in temporary detainment and is now under investigation for voluntary manslaughter. A second night of protests broke out last night in France, with numerous vehicles and buildings set ablaze, and at least 150 arrests.
#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS
8.1 million
This wildfire season in Canada has been a record breaking one: the 8.1 million hectares of burned land is 21 times above the average over the last decade. The wildfires have also produced record levels of carbon emissions, with the smoke reaching as far as Europe. Experts point to a warm and dry spring as the culprit for these fires, warning that climate change will increasingly foster disastrous environmental conditions.📰 STORY OF THE DAY
How the human body could adapt to the extreme heat of climate change
Technology could offer solutions to surviving as our planet gets warmer. But humans are innately adaptable creatures — and extreme heat could change our genes, reports Jacques Henno in French daily Les Echos.
🥵 The world is already experiencing the hottest June on record. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology estimates that by the end of this century, in India alone, around 2% of the population will be exposed to temperatures reaching 35 degrees WBT (wet bulb temperature). The "wet-bulb temperature", or WBT, measures the cocktail of high heat and high humidity that is fatal to humans. At 35 °WBT, humans die within a few hours, as the humidity can no longer evaporate.
🧬 Will genetics eventually select the human beings with the best-adapted genes? "It has already done so in some of the world's hottest regions in Africa," recalls anthropologist and biologist Alain Froment. “The Shilluk and Dinka are among the tallest peoples: long legs, narrow bodies and short trunks favor evapotranspiration and thus suit the hot climate of Southern Sudan."
🌡️ Will the same be true in Europe? A French study, carried out by the National Institute of Health and Medical Research and a German-Dutch study have shown that since the 1970s, Europeans seem to have adapted to higher average temperatures. "But we don't know the origins of this change: it could be cultural — for example, greater use of air conditioning — or physiological," warns Hein Daanen, Professor of Physiology at the Vrije University of Amsterdam.
➡️ Read more on Worldcrunch.com
📣 VERBATIM
“We do take issue with the ruling that Rwanda is not a safe country for asylum seekers and refugees.”
— Yolande Makolo, a spokesperson for the Rwandan government, has criticized the UK court ruling that made the plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda unlawful on the basis of a lack of sufficient safeguards for refugees. Makolo said that Rwanda has built a safe and dignified environment because Rwandans themselves know what it means to flee and rebuild one’s life in a new country.
👉 MORE FROM WORLDCRUNCH
• For China, Putin's Russia Has Become A Lesson In How Not To Exercise Power — FRANCE INTER
• Erdogan III & Europe: Is There Any Future For Turkey In The EU? — DIKEN
• The Creepy Men Who Film Women On China's Subways — And The Case That Sparked A Backlash— THE INITIUM
✍️ Newsletter by Marine Béguin, Sophie Jacquier, Valeria Berghinz and Anne-Sophie Goninet
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