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🌎  7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW

• 100 days of war: Today marks 100 days since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russian forces now occupy 20% of Ukrainian territory since the launch of the war on Feb 24 as troops are progressing in the southeastern Donbas region.

• Iowa church shooting:Aman opened fire on the parking lot of the Cornerstone Church in Ames, Iowa, leaving three people dead including the gunman who shot himself. This happened just hours after two people were shot at a cemetery south of Milwaukee.

• Parts of Shanghai sent back to lockdown: Two days after the lift of the two-months COVID-19 restrictions in Shanghai, some neighborhoods of China’s hub are again being placed under lockdown as officials announced seven new coronavirus cases in Jing’an and Pudon districts.

• French arms makers accused of Yemen war crimes: Three NGOs have filed a lawsuit against French arms manufacturers including Dassault Aviation and Thales for complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity in Yemen. They accuse the companies of having sold and exported military equipment to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which was later used against civilians in the Yemen conflict.

• Greece’s call to free Iran-held oil tankers: Greece called for international help to urge Iran to free the crew of two oil tankers — the Delta Poseidon and the Prudent Warrior — that were seized last week by Iranian forces in the Persian Gulf.

• Turkish inflation hits highest levels since 1998: Turkey’s annual inflation soared to 73.5% in May — the highest jump in 24 years — due to the rising prices of energy and food and the war in Ukraine.

• Queen to skip today’s Jubilee service due to “discomfort”: Buckingham Palace announced that Queen Elizabeth II will not attend St Paul’s cathedral’s service on Friday after experiencing “some discomfort” at Platinum Jubilee events yesterday.

🗞️  FRONT PAGE

Croatian daily Vecernji list marks on its front page the 100th day since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky estimated that 20% of his country’s territory was now occupied by Moscow’s forces.

💬  LEXICON

Türkiye

The United Nations approved Turkey’s request to be known as Türkiye internationally. The rebranding campaign began in December 2021, with President Erdogan asking that his country be called by the same name in all foreign languages rather than variations such as “Turkey,” “Turkei” or “Turquie.”

📰  STORY OF THE DAY

Meet the Russian soldier turned social media star

Anatoly Dremov is a soldier turned social media star. Tens of thousands follow him online where he documents the war — and reveals more about the Russian army than Putin might like, reports Artur Weigandt in German daily Die Welt.

📱 “That damn Ukrainian 'dill' shot up our tank,” a young soldier says into his cell phone camera. Dill is Russian slang for “Ukrainian Nazis.” The soldier squats in a car. The camera pans to the street. Destroyed apartment buildings pass by. Destroyed tanks. Shattered civilian vehicles. What sounds like a cheap Russian action movie is reality. The reality of soldier Anatoly Dremov, sometimes Artyom Dremov, also known by the pseudonym Snami Bog — “God with us.” Dremov is 25 years old and from St. Petersburg and has a Telegram channel with 48,000 subscribers.

🇺🇦 💥 Dremov makes no secret of why he has come to the land of Ukrainians. In a live broadcast in mid-March, he talked about the conflict with Putin supporters. Thousands tune in to his live talks. Dremov, he says, is not about fame or money. He wants his family to live under a “peaceful Russian sky.” Dremov believes he would fight for the Russian people against Ukrainian Nazis who live such an uncivilized life that they can be wiped out just like that.

❓ The channel unintentionally shows how bad the condition and morale of the Russian army is. On March 24, he checked in, looking scarred by the war. He seemed to be at the end of his rope. “In the last few days, it’s been close. We’ve lost comrades,” he said to the camera. “You will hear less of me, see less of me. I can’t reveal our whereabouts.” His posts became less frequent. Later, Dremov is seen in a Russian city, far from the Donbas and Ukraine. Nobody knows what happened in between. Was his unit blown up? Did they have to retreat? Was the mission terminated? No answer.

➡️ Read more on Worldcrunch.com

📣 VERBATIM

This isn't about taking away anyone's rights. It's about protecting children.

— U.S. President Joe Biden asked lawmakers to implement stricter gun control measures, including bans on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines, and raising the legal age to purchase them from 18 to 21. Similar proposals have failed in the past, as virtually all Republican lawmakers insist on absolute protection for the right to own weapons, even in the face of years of mass shootings.