Russia-Belarus Joint Drills, Bolsonaro Gets 27 Years, Catalan Marches

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🗞️ FRONT PAGE​​

Rio de Janeiro-based daily O Globo lends its front page to former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who has been sentenced to 27 years in prison for leading a failed coup attempt after losing the 2022 election to Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva. Four of five Supreme Court justices ruled him guilty of conspiracy, citing efforts to pressure the military and undermine democracy. Bolsonaro, currently under house arrest, plans to appeal. 

🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW

• Russia and Belarus launch military drills, Poland says drone incursion was no “mistake.” Russia and Belarus have started on Friday a long-planned joint military exercise — their largest since the invasion of Ukraine — further unnerving countries on NATO’s eastern flank following a Russian drone incursion in Poland’s airspace. The drills dubbed “Zapad 2025,” or “West 2025,” will last through Tuesday. This comes as Moscow said it shot down 221 Ukrainian drones launched on its territory overnight — one of the largest aerial assaults since May. Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Friday that the incident wasn’t “a mistake,” in a response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s suggestion that the incursion could have been accidental. Meanwhile, Ukraine reportedly launched 221 drones on Russia overnight, in one of the largest such attacks in recent months.

• Qatar prime minister to meet Trump after Israeli attack in Doha. Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani is expected to meet with President Donald Trump New York on Friday, Axios reports, to discuss an Israeli attack in Qatar and the status of talks for a ceasefire in Gaza. For more, check this piece by French analyst Pierre Haski, translated by Worldcrunch: By Striking Inside Qatar, Israel Just Overplayed Its Hand.

• New video of Charlie Kirk shooting suspect released as manhunt pushes into third day. U.S. authorities have released footage which they say show the suspect who killed conservative political activist Charlie Kirk fleeing the scene at a Utah university, as the search continues. Authorities have also renewed pleas for the public’s help in bringing the shooter to justice and are offering a reward of up to $100,000 for any information that leads to his identification and arrest.

• South Korean workers detained in U.S. return home. More than 300 South Korean workers detained by immigration authorities in the U.S. state of Georgia were brought back home on a charter plane on Friday, ending a weeklong saga that rattled Seoul and cast a dark shadow over its ties with key ally Washington. The workers were among about 475 people swept up during a raid at a Hyundai-LG battery plant construction site on Sept. 4. 

• Nepal’s former chief justice likely to become interim prime minister. Sushila Karki, who served as Nepal’s first and only female chief justice, is likely to be appointed as interim prime minister, a source told Reuters, after violent anti-corruption protests caused K.P. Sharma Oli to resign earlier this week. The demonstrations, which left 51 people dead and more than 1,300 injured, were sparked by a social media ban, now rolled back.

• Convicted South African rapist loses bid to block Netflix documentary. Thabo Bester, who was convicted in 2012 for the rape and murder of his model girlfriend Nomfundo Tyhulu, lost a court bid to block streaming platform Netflix from broadcasting Beauty and the Bester, a documentary about his life. The film, which features how Bester allegedly faked his death and escaped from prison in 2022, is now set to air on Friday.

• News Quiz! Dutch master Rembrandt’s Self-Portrait Wearing a White Feathered Bonnet is set to embark on a one-year tour of English museums. What will be unique about the viewings?

A. The painting will be displayed as a hologram
B. Viewers will be encouraged to slow down and meditate
C. You will be allowed to touch the portrait
D. Taking selfies will trigger an automatic “Rembrand bonnet” filter
[Answer below]

💬 LEXICON

Diella

In a world first, Albania introduced “Diella,” a virtual, AI-powered cabinet minister in charge of managing public tenders. Diella (meaning “sun” in Albanian) will progressively assume responsibility for awarding tenders from government ministries, in an effort to make procurement “100% corruption-free” and ensure that “every public fund submitted to the tender procedure will be perfectly transparent,” Prime Minister Edi Rama said.

📰 IN OTHER NEWS

📝 Even those on the French left who resist the country’s color-blindness were dismayed when an optional question on parental origin was added to the census. The question acted as a lightning rod for debates over how to address discrimination considering the country’s dark past and the current rise of the far right.
— WORLDCRUNCH

💥 Experts suspect Israel is planning another round of precision strikes on Iran, targeting key military sites and hoping to maim the Tehran regime enough to make it incapable of suppressing a “decisive” revolt against it.
— KAYHAN-LONDON

💼 From remote work to unlimited time off to the four-day working week, the workplace continues to evolve.
— WORLDCRUNCH