Russia’s Record Drone Attack, ICC vs. Taliban, Tour De Tree

✅ SIGN UP

This is our daily newsletter Worldcrunch Today, a rapid tour of the news of the day from the world’s best journalism sources, regardless of language or geography.

It’s easy (and free!) to sign up to receive it each day in your inbox: 👉 Sign up here

🗞️ FRONT PAGE​​

Argentinian daily Clarín lends its front page to the heavy fog that blanketed the skies over Buenos Aires’ area on Tuesday morning, affecting flights and traffic. President Javier Milei blamed the weather conditions as his reason for canceling a Wednesday event celebrating Argentina’s Independence Day in Tucumá. The publication suggests that this cancellation was also related to the fact that only two provincial governors — out of 23 — had confirmed their attendance at the event, amid a fallout between national and local governments.

🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW

• Russia launches record drone attack overnight. Russia has launched its largest drone attack on Ukraine overnight Wednesday, firing 728 drones and 13 missiles in a mounting escalation on Ukrainian defenses. Though no injuries were reported, the barrage surpassed Russia’s record assault on Kyiv just last Friday, as Ukraine and the U.S. keep pushing for ceasefire negotiations. Although Ukraine’s air force reports the majority of Russian drones destroyed, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says the city of Lutsk, home to Ukrainian airfields, was among the 10 regions hardest hit, and has called for “biting” sanctions on Moscow in response. Read more about Putin’s summer offensive in this piece by French analyst Pierre Haski, translated into English by Worldcrunch. 

• Trump and Netanyahu meet for second Gaza ceasefire discussion. U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a second closed-door meeting Tuesday evening in Washington regarding a potential 60-day ceasefire deal in Gaza, after Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said one issue remained unresolved between Israel and Hamas on the matter. The leaders emerged with no apparent breakthrough, with Netanyahu saying Israel’s campaign in Gaza is not finished, and Witkoff more optimistic that an agreement will be reached this week. For more on Netanyahu’s White House visit, read this Worldcrunch original by Bahram Farrokhi.

• Ex-Bangladesh Prime Minister approved student protest lethal crackdown. Leaked audio verified by BBC Eye Investigations reveals that former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina authorized security forces to “use lethal weapons” in last summer’s student-led protests over public job quotas, permitting a violent crackdown that killed as many as 1,400 people. The recording will be used as evidence in an ongoing trial in absentia against Hasina, who is currently exiled in India. A spokesperson for her Awami League party denies any unlawful intent and rejects the charges

• Death toll mounts to 31 in Kenya’s latest protests. The death toll from Kenya’s anti-government protests on Monday has risen to 31, the country’s human rights commission reported late Tuesday. The UN has criticized the Kenyan police for using “lethal ammunition” and urged peaceful resolution of the clashes after protesters demanded government accountability and justice for victims of police brutality. 

• ICC issues arrest warrants for senior Taliban leaders. The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for senior Taliban leaders Haibatullah Akhundzada and Abdul Hakim on Tuesday on counts of crimes against humanity, with judges stating that the officials have persecuted women and girls in Afghanistan on the basis of gender, depriving them of fundamental rights since the Taliban took power in August 2021. Taliban authorities rejected the charges as “nonsense” later on Tuesday, adding that their government does not recognize the court.

• Western Europe sees its hottest June on record. Western Europe endured its hottest June on record last month, with back-to-back heatwaves driving temperatures above 40 °C in several countries, warming several times faster than the global average, EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service reported on Wednesday. Globally, June was the third warmest on record with wildfires and extreme weather erupting worldwide, raising urgent questions as to when the closing window for global warming reduction shuts permanently.

• News Quiz! What is unique about U.S. toy brand Mattel’s new Barbie doll release?

A. It’s equipped with an AI chip for voice generation
B. It has a customizable eye color through a mobile app
C. Its features were picked by fans voting through social media
D. It was designed in partnership with a diabetes not-for-profit
[Answer below]

#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS

900 years

The Bayeux Tapestry, a 11th-century, 70m-long embroidered masterpiece that tells in great detail the story of the Norman conquest of England in 1066, will be loaned to the UK as part of a historic agreement to be signed between the French and British governments, some 900 years after it was made. Believed to have been created in Kent, England, the tapestry will leave the Bayeux Museum, in Normandy, to go on display at London’s British Museum starting this fall until July 2027.

📰 IN OTHER NEWS

💻 VTubers generate YouTube content that now draws three times more views on YouTube as it did five years ago. The phenomenon, originating from Japan, is steadily gaining ground in France and beyond.
— LE FIGARO

💥 Russia has carried out its largest missile and drone bombardment since launching its invasion of Ukraine. And it is preparing its summer offensive, while Donald Trump remains ambivalent about the continuation of his military aid.
— FRANCE INTER

🏋️ In Japan, people not only live long, they stay remarkably fit. The secret? Ten minutes of exercise every morning. A routine that’s been working for nearly a century.
— DIE ZEIT

📣 VERBATIM

“This is no passing storm. It is the new weather of our time.”

— Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has warned of global trade being weaponized against weaker countries, as Southeast Asian ministers gather for a summit against the backdrop of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats. Speaking at the opening of the annual meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers on Wednesday, Anwar said that while power had always shaped trade, it was today increasingly defining it. Anwar made his comments as U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was en route to Malaysia for his first visit to Asia as Washington’s top diplomat to attend several Eastern Asian events.