Police officers rescue flood victims in Yulin, southern China.
👋 އައްސަލާމު ޢަލައިކުމް*
Welcome to Tuesday, where a jet linked to Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin lands in Belarus, Sudanese paramilitary forces announce a unilateral ceasefire to mark the Muslim holiday of Eid, and a tourist is caught on camera defacing Rome’s Colosseum. Meanwhile, for Buenos-Aires based outlet Redacción, Andrea Albertano goes all the way down to southern Argentina to check what wine is like in this unique region.
[*Assalaamu alaikum - Dhivehi, Maldives]
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• Report: Prigozhin in Belarus: A Russian jet linked to Wagner group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has landed in Belarus, though no official confirmation of his presence has been announced. Meanwhile Russian state media TASS reports that Moscow's investigation into the Wagner forces rebellion over the weekend has been closed. Last night, both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made televised addresses: Putin accused Ukraine and its Western allies of wanting Russians to “kill each other,” while Zelensky spoke of “a happy day” where his forces had “advanced in all directions.”
• Paramilitary announces ceasefire for Eid in Sudan: The Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) announced a two-day “unilateral” ceasefire for Eid al-Adha, one of the two main Muslim holidays. The truce raised hopes for reconciliation in Sudan after months of heavy violence, though the Sudanese army has not responded to this announcement, made just days after ceasefire talks in Jeddah failed.
• Trump discusses “highly confidential” documents on tape: CNN has obtained an audio recording where ex-U.S. president Donald Trump seems to admit to keeping classified documents after his term in the White House ended. Trump has pleaded not guilty to 37 counts of illegally retaining classified documents earlier this month.
• Israel approves 5,000+ new settler homes in the West Bank: Despite U.S. calls for restraint, Israeli media said that the country's far-right government green-lit plans for 5,700 new settlement homes in the occupied West Bank. U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said his government was "deeply troubled" by the move, which has raised tensions with Palestinians during an already violent time in the occupied territory.
• World far behind target to end deforestation:Deforestation has continued to expand despite the pledge made by world leaders at the COP26 in 2021, committing to "halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030." Still, Indonesia’s sharp reduction in deforestation shows that reversing this destruction is achievable with the help of government and corporate actions. In 2022, the world lost 11 soccer pitches worth of forest every minute.
• "Groundbreaking" research lost by cleaner turning off fridge: While trying to shut off an "annoying" alarm sound, a cleaner accidentally turned off a fridge and destroyed decades worth of solar panel development research at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. The damage is valued at $1 million.
• Tourist carves names into Rome’s Colosseum: A young tourist was filmed carving his and his fiancée’s names into the Colosseum in Rome. After the video was posted on social media, Italy’s Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano called for the man to be prosecuted for defacing the 2,000-year-old amphitheater, which could include up to five years in prison.
🗞️ FRONT PAGE
The front page of Canadian daily newspaper the Toronto Star features the city's new mayor, Olivia Chow, a progressive candidate and former left-wing federal politician. Chow, the first woman of color to serve as mayor of Canada's largest city, promised to address rising housing costs and improve crumbling infrastructure and city services hollowed out by years of conservative austerity. The election was called after former mayor John Tory resigned over revelations that he had had a relationship with a younger staffer. Tory's predecessor, Rob Ford, was punished by city council and after admitting to smoking crack cocaine.
#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS
95,000
The amount of land used in Peru to grow coca leaves has increased by 18% between 2021-2022. According to the Peruvian government’s anti-drug authorities, an estimated 95,000 hectares (367 square miles) is used to grow the raw ingredient for cocaine — 90% of which is thought to be the turf of illicit drug trade. Growing coca is legal in Peru for traditional purposes, but along with Colombia, the nation is one of the world’s largest producers of cocaine.
📰 STORY OF THE DAY
The world’s southernmost wine is also deliciously sustainable
In a small town in southern Argentina, people are using grapes first brought to the region by their grandparents to produce unique wine in one of the world's southernmost wine regions — creating a sustainable production model and strengthening their community, reports Andrea Albertano in Buenos-Aires based news website Redacción.
🍇 Recently, the city of Caleta Olivia has launched an unusual production for the region: the southernmost wine in the world. Many of Caleta’s vineyards have hybrid vines that were assembled with vine shoots and stakes brought by those who came to populate the town. Many of the plants are now between 70 and 90 years old and produce between 80 and 110 kg (175 to 250 lbs) of grapes per year.
🧑🏫 Carmen Almendra, the local Forestry Undersecretary, says that "everything started with training and grew thanks to the gradual enthusiasm of the neighbors who have grapevines and who came to see if they could add value to this raw material." The municipality offered free monthly training sessions given by agricultural engineer and oenologist Darío González Maldonado, a San Juan native who lives in Patagonia.
🍾 The product of that first attempt was a brut sparkling wine made the traditional way — a highly artisanal method prized among wine lovers, and used in the production of Champagne. Around 300 bottles were delivered to a total of 20 vine owners, who provided the grapes for the production of the first sparkling wine in the city. The next edition of Del Golfo's sparkling wine, which will be sold at the end of the year, will be based on hybrid grapes harvested in Caleta Olivia's vineyards in April 2023.
➡️ Read more on Worldcrunch.com
📣 VERBATIM
“It was precisely this fratricide that Russia's enemies wanted.”
— In his first speech after the short-lived Wagner group’s armed rebellion, Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked Russians for solidarity and patriotism, and the Wagner troops for avoiding bloodshed. He said that “Russia’s enemies — neo-Nazis in Kyiv, their Western patrons, and all sorts of national traitors” wanted to see “fratricide” occur in Russia. He made no mention of Wagner chief Evgeny Prigozhin, whose private jet reportedly landed in Belarus this morning.
👉 MORE FROM WORLDCRUNCH
• Why A Weaker Putin Is Actually More Dangerous — LES ECHOS
• Why Lula's Big Green Promises Are Such A Long Shot — CLARÍN
• Gùsto! How · What · Where Locals Eat (And Drink) In Warsaw — WORLDCRUNCH
✍️ Newsletter by Yannick Champion-Osselin, Michal Kubala, Riley Sparks and Anne-Sophie Goninet
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