Palestinians walk amid the debris in the aftermath of an Israeli military operation in Jenin refugee camp.
👋 ¡Bonos díes!*
Welcome to Wednesday, where violence continues in the West Bank despite Israel pulling out of Jenin, Independence Day celebrations are marred by deadly shootings in three U.S. cities, and the world sees its hottest average temperature ever. Meanwhile, we look at how the death of a 27-year-old Polish woman in Greece has sparked a deluge of racist and sexist reactions back in Poland.
[*Asturian, Spain]
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🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
• Israel pulls out of Jenin, airstrikes continue: Israel carried out five air strikes in Gaza in response to rocket fire as its troops pulled out of Jenin this morning. Since the beginning of Israel’s military operation on Monday, 12 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier are known to have died in the occupied West Bank city, with over 100 injured.
• Ukraine update: Russian officials say that its forces in the Kursk and Belgorod regions were shot at from across the border by Ukrainian forces this morning, with at least one person wounded. Meanwhile, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is lending €25m to the city of Dnipro in Ukraine to help deal with an influx of internal refugees.
• Japan plans to release wastewater from Fukushima into the sea: The UN’s nuclear agency greenlit Japan's plan to release treated radioactive wastewater from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean, after concluding it would have a "negligible radiological impact to people and the environment." International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Mariano Grossi visited the plant ahead of the discharge.
• July 4th celebrations marred by shootings in three cities: In Philadelphia, a 40-year-old killed five people and injured others, including three children, before surrendering to the police. Gunfire in Fort Worth, Texas left at least three dead and eight others wounded at a festival, just hours before the neighborhood’s Fourth of July parade. In Baltimore, a shooting left two dead and 28 others injured, including several children. At least 346 mass shootings have been recorded in the U.S. since Jan. 1.
• Colombia's last active guerrilla group announces ceasefire, kills three police: Colombian guerilla group The National Liberation Army (ELN) said it would stop fighting, beginning Thursday. The ELN reserved its right to defend itself from attacks by the military or other armed groups, and on the day the ceasefire was announced its members killed three policemen in northeastern Colombia.
• At least 15 dead in China flooding:Floods in southwestern China have killed at least 15 people as mountainous areas were hit with seasonal flooding. Another four people have been reported missing in the Chongqing region, as tens of thousands of people have been evacuated due to flood warnings across the southwest.
• White powder in White House: White powder that was discovered on Sunday in the White House by secret service agents has been identified as cocaine. The discovery, in a public part of the White House accessible to tour groups, had led to a brief evacuation of the West Wing — although President Joe Biden was not on location at the time. An investigation is under way to identify the provenance of the cocaine.
🗞️ FRONT PAGE
O Estado de S. Paulo is reporting on the increase of armed robberies and violence in São Paulo, the most populous city in Brazil, as it features the photo of a motorcyclist pointing his gun at a woman filming the scene of a apartment break-in in broad daylight, “in all impunity” as the daily notes.
#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS
17.01 °C
According to data from the U.S. National Centers for Environmental Prediction, Monday marked the hottest day on record for the world, with an average global temperature of 17.01 °C (62.62 °F). Sizzling temperatures linked to extreme heatwaves broke the 16.92 °C (62.46 °F) record that dated back to August 2016. Scientists have shared concerns as current climate and El Niño forecasts are likely to see the mercury rise further.
📰 STORY OF THE DAY
Polish woman killed on Greek island: A textbook case of how racism and sexism are triggered
The death of a 27-year-old hotel worker on the island of Kos, and the arrest of a suspect from Bangladesh, has set off a firestorm back in Poland that mixes anti-immigrant contempt with victim blaming against the murdered woman for "asking for it."
🇵🇱🇪🇺 Beyond the "true crime" interest, other factors have combined to keep the story at the center of Polish news reports for the past two weeks. Poland is currently clashing with the European Union on the issue of admitting migrants and refugees. One of the more controversial of these reforms is a proposed €22,000 fine for each migrant that EU member states refuse to host. Several Polish leaders have come out against the proposed policies.
🛃 It is amid a climate of such tensions surrounding migration that the murder of Rubińska, allegedly by a 32 year-old Bangladeshi native took place. Since then, the case has been broadcast in Polish politics to stroke anti-migration fears. “The tragedy on the Greek Island, that touched one of our own, is a tragedy because illegal migrants landed on this island,” declared Joachim Brudziński, of the ruling PiS party, on Polish television network TVP Info.
⚠️ The Rubińska case has its own dynamic in Poland, as widespread coverage has devolved into misinformation, and a stream of online hate towards migrants, opposition leaders, and even the victim herself. Despite fear-mongering from Polish politicians, Salahuddin S. was not in the country illegally. According to the mayor of Kos, Nikitaras A. Theodosis, he was a legal resident of Greece, who had been living and working in the country for 11 years. He had no prior criminal record.
➡️ Read more on Worldcrunch.com
📣 VERBATIM
“We must be vigilant against external forces inciting a ‘new cold war’ in the region.”
— Chinese leader Xi Jinping addressed the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a summit between world leaders held virtually this year on Tuesday. Xi’s call for regional leaders to strengthen their resistance to “external forces” is an apparent reference to Beijing’s ongoing accusations of U.S. foreign policy interference in Asia.
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