Afghan Earthquake, Von der Leyen Plane Targeted, Rowing Record

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🗞️ FRONT PAGE​​

“If the Israeli army continues to kill so many media workers in Gaza, soon no one will be able to report for you from there,” writes Frankfurter Rundschau on a black front page. The German daily has taken part in an international operation organized by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the online campaigning organization Avaaz, along with more than 250 news outlets from more than 70 countries, to condemn the murder of journalists by the Israeli army in Gaza. According to RSF data, 220 journalists have been killed by Israel in the enclave in less than 23 months.

🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW

• More than 600 killed in Afghan earthquake of magnitude 6.0. The Taliban-run Afghan interior ministry has reported on Monday the deaths of at least 622 people in the eastern provinces of Kunar and Nangarhar after a magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck at a shallow depth of 8 kilometers. More than 1,500 have been reported injured as rescue efforts are underway to find survivors in the rubble. This marks Afghanistan’s deadliest quake since June 2022.

• Putin says he and Trump came to “understandings” over end of Ukraine war. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday he came to a number of “understandings” with U.S. President Donald Trump over the end of the Ukraine war, at their meeting in Alaska last month. Putin was addressing leaders at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation forum in Tianjin, where he met China’s Xi Jinping and India’s Narendra Modi. Meanwhile, Russia has been accused of jamming the GPS of the airplane carrying the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen during her visit to Bulgaria on Sunday. The incident forced the plane to land at the city of Plovdiv using paper maps. For more, check this La Stampa analysis, translated from Italian by Worldcrunch: Just In Case Someone Still Thinks Putin Is Ready To Negotiate.

• Hamas spokesman killed in Gaza, Israel says. The Israeli military announced Sunday that it killed Abu Obeida, the spokesman for Hamas’ armed wing, in an aerial attack in Gaza City. The militant group has not commented on the claim. Meanwhile, Israel’s security cabinet met to discuss the expanding offensive in some of the enclave’s most populated areas.

• Yemen’s Houthi rebels launch missile in Red Sea. Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree claimed responsibility on Monday for the launch of a missile at an oil tanker off the coast of Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea, alleging the vessels had ties to Israel. This comes after an Israeli airstrike on Yemen’s capital Sanaa killed the Houthis’ prime minister and several Cabinet members last week. Meanwhile, the United Nations reported on Sunday that the Iran-aligned rebels raided UN offices in Sanaa and detained at least 11 UN personnel. Read more in this Die Zeit piece translated from German by Worldcrunch: Houthi Insurance? The Rebel Group Launches Website To Spare Ships From Red Sea Attacks.

• Indonesian groups call off Jakarta protests as police tighten security. Indonesian students and civil society groups have cancelled protests in Jakarta on Monday after a week of escalating anger over lawmakers’ pay, as police ramped up security in the country’s capital. Eight people have died in the protests which began a week ago and have since spread nationwide. In a bid to quell the demonstrations, President Prabowo Subianto said on Sunday that Indonesian political parties agreed to reverse some state-funded perks their politicians receive.

• Japan and South Korea had hottest summer on record in 2025. The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) has reported that the country’s average temperature this summer was 2.36 °C (4.24 °F) above the 30-year average from 1991 to 2020, making this season “the hottest summer since statistics began in 1898.” In South Korea, the average summer temperature hit 25.7 °C (78.26 °F), the highest since authorities began collecting data in 1973. Both countries had previously reported 2024 as their hottest summer on record.

• News Quiz! Officials in the state of South Australia have enacted an unusually specific ban on which plastic item?

A. Australian themed boomerangs
B. Fish-shaped soy sauce bottles
C. Yellow cricket stumps
D. Inflatable kangaroo costumes
[Answer below]

#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS

139

Three Scottish brothers beat the record for the fastest unsupported non-stop row across the Pacific Ocean after they rowed 9,000 miles from Peru to Australia in 139 days. Ewan, Jamie and Lachlan Maclean survived on freshly caught fish and freeze-dried meals, overcoming seasickness and tropical storms during their journey aboard their self-built, F1-inspired carbon fiber boat. The Edinburgh trio, who arrived in Cairns over the week, surpassed the previous time record crossing set by Russian Fedor Konyukhov, who rowed solo from Chile to Australia in 2014 in 159 days.

📰 IN OTHER NEWS

💥 Even after diplomatic overtures and red-carpet treatment abroad, Moscow answers with one of its deadliest strikes since the invasion, showing the Kremlin has no intention of negotiating an end to the war.
— LA STAMPA

💔 With less social pressure, more financial autonomy for women and more opportunities to meet new people, there are many reasons for French couples in their 50s and 60s to separate.
— LE FIGARO

🇨🇩 Without effective demining programs in Congo’s Lubero territory, many farmers have resorted to burning their own land in hopes of detonating hidden ordnance. But this “solution” carries disastrous environmental consequences.
— GLOBAL PRESS JOURNAL