👋 Khulumkha!*
Welcome to Thursday, where the United States and the European Union impose new sanctions on Russia, U.S. Secretary of State Marc Rubio warns against West Bank annexation and today’s quiz question is about fighting cheap ripoffs. Meanwhile, Hannah Scherkamp writes for Die Zeit about how despite record employment, millions of Germans are opting out of full time work and this trend risks undermining the country’s future.
[*Kokborok, India and Bangladesh]
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🗞️ FRONT PAGE
Dutch daily NRC devotes its front page to the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion on Wednesday which said that Israel must allow the UN aid agency in Gaza, known as UNRWA, to provide humanitarian assistance to the enclave. Though the agency continues to operate in Gaza, running health centers and school classes for children, Israel hasn’t allowed it to bring in its supplies since March. The commissioner-general of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, said there are currently “huge amounts of food and other life saving supplies on standby in Egypt and Jordan. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Israel “will not cooperate with an organization that is infested with terror activities.”
🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
• U.S. and EU impose new sanctions on Russia. The U.S. has announced new sanctions targeting Russia’s two largest oil companies in an effort to pressure Moscow to negotiate a peace deal in Ukraine. The announcement came one day after U.S. President Donald Trump said a planned meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Budapest would be shelved indefinitely. Meanwhile, the European Union adopted a 19th package of sanctions against Russia as leaders are meeting in Brussels to discuss further backing for Ukraine, including the use of Russian frozen assets to provide a €140 billion ($163.27bn) loan to the war-torn country. Read more in this piece from German Die Zeit: Posturing Aside, Both Russia and Ukraine Need A Ceasefire Now.
• Rubio warns against West Bank annexation after Israel’s parliament advances move. “That’s not something we can be supportive of right now,” Marco Rubio, U.S. Secretary of State, said before leaving for Israel as part of U.S. efforts to shore up a fragile ceasefire deal. In an apparent attempt to corner Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, far-right politicians took the symbolic step of giving preliminary approval to a bill granting Israel authority to annex the West Bank.
• U.S. kills three in second strike on alleged drug boat in Pacific. This comes amid an escalating U.S. campaign against seaborne drug smuggling and hours after the U.S. struck another boat in the Pacific, killing two people. Colombia’s government has denounced the U.S. for carrying out strikes on vessels close to its coast, saying the American action was “like applying the death penalty in a territory that is not yours.”
• Forty migrants, including infants, die as boat sinks off Tunisia. The boat sank off the Mediterranean port of Mahdia in central Tunisia while carrying about 70 migrants. All the people on board were from sub-Saharan Africa.
• King Charles and Queen Camilla meet Pope Leo. The King and Pope are meeting in a symbolic display of unity between the Catholic Church and the Church of England and will pray together in the Sistine Chapel. King Charles will become the first British monarch to pray with a pope since the Reformation in the 16th Century.
• New Zealand “mega strike” sees public sector workers demanding better conditions. An estimated 100,000 nurses, teachers and public sector staff walked off the job in New Zealand on Thursday to call on the government to better fund and resource public services, in one of the country’s largest ever strikes.
• News Quiz! Online shopping giant Temu has launched a new crackdown on copied designs of which products?
A. Fridge magnets
B. Greeting cards
C. Tote bags
D. Mugs with inspirational quotes
[Answer below]
#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS
$38 trillion
The United States national debt surpassed $38 trillion on Wednesday — a record number that amounts to roughly $111,000 of debt for every person in the U.S. This marks the fastest accumulation of a trillion dollars in debt outside of the COVID-19 pandemic, as the country hit $37 trillion in gross national debt in August this year. This comes amid a government shutdown that will enter its 23rd day on Thursday — the second-longest federal funding lapse ever — with no end in sight.
📰 IN OTHER NEWS
💼 Despite record employment, millions are opting out of full-time work: it’s a trend that risks undermining growth, pensions, and the country’s future.
— DIE ZEIT
☀️ New research suggests sunlight has unexpected benefits, but this doesn’t mean everyone should ditch their sunscreen.
— UNDARK
🎙️ In our latest Paris Calling podcast, we have Shi Yang Shi, a Chinese-Italian actor, who takes us through his self-discovery journey from a privileged childhood in China to rebuilding a life in Italy.
— WORLDCRUNCH
✍️ Newsletter by Emma Albright & Anne-Sophie Goninet
Quiz Answer: B. Online shopping giant Temu has agreed to work with the British greeting card industry to remove cheap rip-offs from its site, after card firms complained that hundreds of their copyrighted images were copied, costing them thousands of pounds in lost sales. The tech company says it has put in place a new takedown process for the industry so that the stolen designs are removed more quickly from its site, and can’t be re-uploaded.
Let us know what’s happening in your corner of the world!