Trump Threatens Canada Tariff Hike, PKK Lay Down Arms, Moulin Rouge Twirls Again

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🗞️ FRONT PAGE​​

Bosnian daily Oslobođenje uses its front page to mark “30 years” since the Srebrenica 1995 massacre, where Bosnian Serb forces killed more than 8,000 Muslim Bosniak men and boys in the UN-protected enclave after they captured the town on July 11, 1995. The International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia recognised the atrocity as genocide in 2007, the worst in Europe since World War II. About 1,000 victims’ bodies are still reported missing, according to authorities, as Bosnian Serb forces moved and scattered them after the crime, making identification very difficult.

🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW

• Ukraine drone attacks kill two in Russia, U.S. to supply weapons via NATO. Two people were killed in overnight drone attacks launched by Ukraine which attempted to hit targets in Moscow, Russian authorities said. In total, Russia intercepted 155 Ukrainian drones, including 11 bound for the capital city. Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday the U.S. would supply weapons to Kyiv via NATO and announced he will have “a major statement to make on Russia on Monday,” without elaborating further. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Malaysia on Thursday and said both had exchanged new ideas for Ukraine peace talks.

• Kurdish PKK to lay down arms at key ceremony. After 40 years of armed struggle against the Turkish state, Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters are set to begin disarming at a ceremony in Iraqi Kurdistan on Friday. This comes two months after the Kurdish rebels officially ended their long-term conflict with the Turkish state that has cost more than 40,000 lives. The disarmament process is expected to take all summer. Read more in this Daraj analysis translated from Arabic by Worldcrunch: Palestinian, Shia, Kurdish — The Militants Of The Middle East Are On The Verge Of Surrender.

• Israeli strike kills 15 outside Gaza clinic, EU unveils deal for more food. The European Union and Israel reached a deal to expand humanitarian aid entering Gaza, the EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas announced on Thursday. This came hours after an Israeli airstrike killed 15 people, including 10 children, waiting for help outside a medical clinic in the central Gazan city of Deir Al Balah. The Israeli military said it was targeting a militant when it struck near the clinic.

• Trump threatens 35% tariffs on Canada, eyes 15% to 20% tariffs for others. U.S. President Donald Trump said late Thursday that he will impose a 35% tariff on Canadian goods starting on Aug. 1, in a dramatic escalation in an on-again, off-again trade war with the U.S. neighbor and one of its most important trading partners. In a letter released on his social media platform, Trump told Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney that the new rate would go up if Canada retaliated. In a separate NBC News interview, Trump suggested blanket tariffs of 15% or 20% on other U.S. trading partners as well.

• ICC says war crimes probably being committed in Darfur. The International Criminal Court (ICC) said at the United Nations Security Council on Thursday that there are “reasonable grounds” to believe war crimes and crimes against humanity are being committed in western Sudan. An ICC probe launched in 2023 after civil war broke out between the Sudanese army and rival paramilitary the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has described targeted sexual violence against women and girls of specific ethnicities as one of its most disturbing findings. For more on Sudan’s civil war, check this reportage by La Stampa, translated from Italian by Worldcrunch.

• Iran confirms detention of French-German teenage cyclist. Iran’s foreign minister has confirmed that his country is detaining 18-year-old French-German cyclist Lennart Monterlos, who had been missing since mid-June. The teenager, who was on a Europe-to-Asia cycling trip, “was arrested for committing an offence,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said, without providing further details. Two other French citizens, Jacques Paris and Cécile Kohler, have been detained in Iran for more than three years.

• News Quiz! WOOHOO, a restaurant that bills itself as “dining in the future,” is set to open in central Dubai in September. What’s special about it?
A. It uses drones to deliver meals to the tables
B. It serves dishes from space-grown ingredients
C. The menu is written in binary code
D. It’s operated by an AI chef
[Answer below]

#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS

8.6 million euros

French singer and fashion icon Jane Birkin’s original Hermès Birkin bag was sold for a record-breaking €8.6 million euros ($10.1 million) at Sotheby’s in Paris on Thursday, becoming the most valuable handbag ever sold at auction. The timeworn black leather bag, complete with marks where she had previously placed stickers, was a prototype designed for Birkin after she spilled her belongings while sitting next to the boss of the luxury fashion house on a flight and asked why Hermès didn’t make bigger bags. Sotheby’s said there was an “electrifying” 10-minute bidding war between “nine determined collectors” before the bag was sold to a private collector from Japan.

📰 IN OTHER NEWS

🇷🇺 Vladimir Putin is convinced his country is strong enough to secure total victory in Ukraine. But the Russian leader is forgetting two crucial things about the current geographic dynamic.
— LA STAMPA

🇮🇷 Tehran’s revolutionary regime is suddenly turning to Iranian nationalism hoping to rustle up public support for itself as it faces Israeli and U.S. threats.
— KAYHAN-LONDON

💻 From cloud dependence to AI policy retreat, the European continent faces a stark choice: play by America’s rules or build a radically different model of technological sovereignty.
— DIE ZEIT

📣 VERBATIM

“From today, our adversaries will know that any extreme threat to this continent would prompt a response from our two nations.”

— British Prime Minister Keir Starmer commented Thursday on an historic agreement signed the same day with French President Emmanuel Macron on a new defense relationship that will, for the first time, coordinate their countries’ nuclear deterrence systems. The deal is aimed at protecting Europe from threats amid growing uncertainty over U.S. commitment to European security. The announcement came after Macron concluded a three-day state visit to the UK, where the two allies sought to turn the page of years’ of turbulence following Britain’s decision to withdraw from the European Union.