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Photograph of a Ukrainian Armed Forces tank near Kharkiv Region, northeastern Ukraine​
Japan
Newsletter by Anne-Sophie Goninet, Valeria Berghinz and Michelle Courtois

U.S. To Send Controversial Shells To Kyiv, Mexico Decriminalizes Abortion, Vi$it V€nice

👋 Dumêlang!*

Welcome to Thursday, where the U.S. says it will supply Ukraine with controversial uranium-based anti-tank shells, Mexico throws out all criminal penalties for abortions, and Venice will soon start charging daytrippers. Meanwhile, for French economic daily Les Echos, Leïla Marchand looks at the “Wild West” of bosses monitoring their remote workers.

[*Northern Sotho, South Africa]

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🌎  7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW

• U.S. will send controversial depleted uranium tank shells to Ukraine: The U.S. has announced that a new $1-billion military and humanitarian aid package to Ukraine will include a number of controversial depleted uranium tank shells. The shells, which are capable of piercing conventional tank armor, contain uranium that nevertheless is too weak to generate a nuclear reaction. Russia has denounced the U.S. plan, calling it an “indicator of inhumanity,” in light of uranium's negative health effects. Meanwhile, the civilian death toll has risen to 17 in Wednesday’s Russian strike on a market in eastern Ukraine.

• Palestinians make demands amid Saudi-Israeli normalization negotiations: Palestinian authorities are demanding more control of West Bank territories and a cash boost in the case of a possible upcoming three-way deal between Saudi Arabia, the U.S. and Israel. U.S. officials are pushing the Saudis to recognize the Israeli state. In return, the Saudis have new demands for U.S. weapons and are seeking the implementation of a civil nuclear program.

• Mexico decriminalizes abortion: Mexico’s supreme court ordered that abortion be removed from the federal penal code, throwing out all criminal penalties for the medical procedure. The court ruled that all national laws and practices which limit access to abortion are unconstitutional and a violation of women’s rights — the country is the latest in the current Latin American trend of widening access to abortion.

• Gabon’s ex-president has been released from house arrest: Gabon’s deposed president, Ali Bongo Ondimba, has been released from house arrest following the military coup on August 30. Gabon’s military spokesman, Colonel Ulrich Manfoumbi, said that due to Bongo’s health, he will be able to “travel abroad for medical check ups.” Read French writer Pierre Haski on the relation between the coups in Gabon and Niger and the “kleptocracy” inside African regimes.

Japan launches lunar exploration spacecraft: Japan launched their “moon sniper” lunar lander into space Thursday, a $100 million mission which is expected to land by February. The success of this space mission would guarantee Japan’s status as the fifth country to have landed on the moon.

• Brazilian flood toll tops 30: At least 31 people have died as a result of the extratropical cyclone which hit the Brazilian area of Rio Grande Do Sul. The storm is expected to continue impacting the region until the end of the week. According to CNN Brasil, this week’s rains are the worst natural disaster to hit the state in 40 years.

• Visit la $erenissima: Starting next spring, visitors to Venice will be charged 5 euros ($5.40) for entrance on peak days if they’re not staying the night. This initiative will make Venice the first city to charge daytrippers for entrance, and it comes at a moment of high concern for the threat of mass tourism in the Italian city. Read the different ways that cities around the world are pushing back against over-tourism.

🗞️  FRONT PAGE

Mexican daily El Sol de México devotes its front page to former Mexico City mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, who was named by the country’s governing party as its candidate for the 2024 presidential elections. The close ally of current President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador, who is term-limited out of office, will face opposition candidate Xóchitl Gálvez, in June 2024 to try to become Mexico’s first-ever female head of state.


💬 LEXICON

伤害民族感情

A recent draft law to ban wearing clothes that would hurt the nation’s feelings (伤害民族感情, pronounced Shānghài mínzú gǎnqíng) has sparked widespread debate in China. If the law comes into practice, people found guilty could be fined or jailed, though the proposal does not yet spell out what exactly constitutes a violation. The clothing law has drawn immediate reaction online, with critics questioning how law enforcement could determine how certain fashion choices could be detrimental to national sentiment. Read about last year’s attempt to crackdown on tattoos in China, in the Worldcrunch translation of the Chinese-language media Initium.

📰 STORY OF THE DAY

“Bossware” boundaries? How employers monitor you at home depends on where you live

Eye-tracking webcams, keystroke recorders, screen captures of visited sites. With the rise in remote work, employee monitoring software has become the norm in the U.S.. But in Europe, things are more complicated, writes Leïla Marchand in business daily Les Echos.

💻👀 Is there a spy in your computer? If you work in the U.S., chances are the answer is “yes.” According to several studies conducted by Gartner and Digital.com, around six out of 10 employers use software to monitor their remote workers. The Americans have even come up with a name for this kind of tool: "bossware". Teramind, Hubstaff, DeskTime, VeriClock, CleverControl... The market offers a plethora of tools.

⚠️ But even in the land of Uncle Sam, business freedom has its limits. At the beginning of May, the White House expressed concern about the boom in remote monitoring tools, and announced that it would be studying companies' use of these technologies, which it said could lead to "serious risks for workers".

🇫🇷 Where does France stand? Is software made in the USA also installed on French machines? Whether employees work remotely or on-site, French employers also have the power to monitor the proper execution of the tasks they entrust to their employees. But this power is regulated by a "principle of proportionality", says Eric Delisle, head of the legal department at the French CNIL’s (National Digital Freedom Commission). "It's normal to make sure the job is done properly. But the end doesn't justify the means. You don't swat a fly with a tank!"

➡️ Read more on Worldcrunch.com

📹 THIS HAPPENED VIDEO — TODAY IN HISTORY, IN ONE ICONIC PHOTO

➡️ Watch the video: THIS HAPPENED

📣 VERBATIM

"There can be no Russian flag during the Paris Games.”

— French President Emmanuel Macron told Paris-based sports daily L'Equipe that Russia will not be “welcome” at next year's Paris Olympics and that no Russian flag will fly at the event. The leader also pointed out that it was up to the International Olympic Committee to decide upon “what place can be given to the Russian athletes.” Ukraine’s sport ministers had said Kyiv could drop its boycott threat if Russian and Belarusian athletes compete under a neutral flag. For more about the 2024 Paris Olympics, we offer this article from Les Echos, translated from French by Worldcrunch.

✍️ Newsletter by Anne-Sophie Goninet, Valeria Berghinz and Michelle Courtois

Let us know what’s happening in your corner of the world!

info@worldcrunch.com

"Excited to see the memes,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz joked after an official photograph showing him wearing an eye patch was released on Monday. The head of state fell while out running on Saturday and scratched his face. Although he has to wear an eye patch for the next few days or weeks, Scholz is doing well. “Looks worse than it is," the chancellor posted on his account on X, thanking the people for their get-well wishes and encouraging netizens to make fun of his new look. — Photo: Bundesregierung/Steffen Kugler
In The News
Anne-Sophie Goninet, Laure Gautherin, Valeria Berghinz and Michelle Courtois.

Kim-Putin Arms Talks, Gay Marriage Progress In Hong Kong, Pirate Olaf

👋 *مرحبا

Welcome to Tuesday, where reports say Kim Jong-un plans to meet Vladimir Putin to discuss supplying Moscow with weapons, Hong Kong's top court moves to recognize same-sex civil unions, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz keeps his sense of humor after a bad tumble. Meanwhile, we look at the questionable “dark tourism” industry already in business in war-torn Ukraine.

[*Marhaba - Arabic]

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🌎  7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW

• U.S. says Putin-Kim meeting this month to talk arms: According to the U.S. government, North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un plans to travel to Russia this month to meet President Vladimir Putin to discuss a potential deal to supply Moscow with weapons. Meanwhile, Russia shot down at least three Ukraine-launched drones which “were trying to carry out an attack on Moscow,” the mayor of the country’s capital said. A new photograph has emerged on social media that appears to show Russian general Sergei Surovikin, a high-ranking ally of late Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, in what is believed to be Surovikin’s first public appearance since the mercenaries’ short-lived rebellion in June.

• Thailand's new prime minister sworn in: Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn has sworn in Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin and 33 cabinet ministers in a coalition government made up of 11 parties. The 61-year-old U.S.-educated billionaire had previously secured enough votes in parliament to become Thailand’s new prime minister, ending three months of political deadlock.

• EU confirms Swedish diplomat is held in Iran: Following a report from The New York Times published on Monday, the European Union has confirmed that Johan Floderus, a 33-year-old Swede working for the bloc's diplomatic service in Brussels, has been detained in Iran for more than 500 days on espionage charges. The official’s identity had been kept secret so far by Sweden’s government and the EU as they tried to secure his release.

• Hong Kong’s top court recognizes same-sex civil unions: Hong Kong’s top court has ordered the city’s government “to establish an alternative framework for legal recognition of same-sex partnerships,” although it stopped short of granting full marriage rights in a partial win for the city's LGBTQ+ community. Read more about the state of LGBTQ+ rights in Hong Kong from The Initium, translated by Worldcrunch.

• One dead in Greece after torrential rain follows wildfires: Storm Daniel is battering western and central Greece, with torrential rain flooding homes and roads and killing one man. The heavy downpour comes in the wake of deadly wildfires that have torn through the country for more than two weeks.

• Qantas CEO to step down early: Long-serving CEO Alan Joyce has announced he will retire two months earlier than planned, amid a series of controversies surrounding Australia’s flagship carrier, including accusations of illegal ticket sales. Qantas’s chief financial officer Vanessa Hudson is expected to take over, becoming the first woman to lead the century-old airline.

• Have a baby, get a free pet: Terry Gou, the founder of Apple-supplier Foxconn who entered Taiwan’s presidential race last week, has proposed to solve the island’s demographic crisis by offering new parents a free cat or a dog. Taiwan has one of the world’s lowest birth rates while pet ownership is skyrocketing.

🗞️  FRONT PAGE

Brazilian daily Folha de S. Paulo covers the extratropical cyclone that hit at least 21 cities in the area of Rio Grande Do Sul on Monday. The natural disaster has caused the death of four people and many more are stranded in their homes without electricity.


#️⃣ BY THE NUMBER​S

$423 billion

A United Nations-backed report has found that invasive species cost the world at least $423 billion every year, increasing plant and animal extinctions, threatening food security and aggravating environmental catastrophes. Human activity is to blame for the spreading of these species — often done through travel or trade — with 200 new alien species being recorded every year, scientists have said. Of the 37,000 alien species currently known around the world, 3,500 are considered harmful and threatening, as they destroy native species, pollute waterways, spread disease and can worsen natural disasters.

📰 STORY OF THE DAY

Too soon? Ukraine's war crime tours and the limits of “dark tourism”

It took decades to transform Hiroshima and Auschwitz into authorized destinations that welcomed visitors to explain the sites of unspeakable horrors. Ukraine is encouraging people to see such places as Bucha and Irpin, where Russia is accused of war crimes. Exploring the line between the morbidity of dark tourism and the value of historical memory.

📸 Seventy-seven years after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, instantly killing 70,000 people and poisoning tens of thousands more, the city has become one of the top family tourist destinations in Japan. Already so far in 2023, more than 1.1 million people have visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. The story of Hiroshima over the past seven decades exemplifies the evolution of what is known as "dark tourism," where a recent site of death and destruction eventually becomes an institutionalized historical destination.

💀 Dark tourism, defined as “an attraction for places associated with death”, where humans' morbid fascination for places of mortality and destruction can be fulfilled, was coined in 1991, even if it has existed for as long as we have had past tragedies to commune with. Recent years have seen an increase in participants visiting these destinations such as former concentration camps, war memorials, decommissioned prisons, natural disaster sites and places of atrocity.

🇺🇦 Since Russia's full-scale invasion, the Visit Ukraine travel agency made headlines last summer by offering tourist trips to the scene of “the largest civilian massacres of the Russian attack on Ukraine,” including to the cities of Bucha and Irpin where Russia is accused of war crimes. Has this dark tourism promotion come too soon?

➡️ Read more on Worldcrunch.com

📹 THIS HAPPENED VIDEO — TODAY IN HISTORY, IN ONE ICONIC PHOTO

➡️ Watch the video: THIS HAPPENED

📣 VERBATIM

“My son misses his father.”

— Ukraine’s First Lady, Olena Zelenska, discussed the emotional toll that the ongoing war has had on her family in an interview with the BBC. Zelenska explains that the family has been separated, as President Volodymyr Zelensky does not live with his wife and children. They meet as often as they can, and she supports his efforts as much as possible, but Zelenska expresses her pain by explaining that “this may be a bit selfish, but I need my husband, not a historical figure, by my side.”

✍️ Newsletter by Anne-Sophie Goninet, Laure Gautherin, Valeria Berghinz and Michelle Courtois.

Let us know what’s happening in your corner of the world!

info@worldcrunch.com

Gabon Coup Leader Sworn In, Escaping Burning Man, Google Turns 25
In The News
Emma Albright, Laure Gautherin, Valeria Berghinz and Anne-Sophie Goninet

Gabon Coup Leader Sworn In, Escaping Burning Man, Google Turns 25

👋 Ǹdéèwō!*

Welcome to Monday, where Gabon’s coup leader is sworn in as “transitional president” after President Ali Bongo was ousted last week, Russia launches an attack on one of Ukraine’s biggest grain ports and the most-used search engine celebrates its 25th birthday. Meanwhile, in Les Echos, Basile Dekonink reports from the small Balkan nation of Albania, where incessant waves of emigration have decimated demographics.

[*Igbo - Nigeria]

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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.

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🌎  7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW

• Coup chief sworn in as Gabon’s new president: Brice Nguema, the leader of Gabon's military junta, is being sworn in as the nation's interim president. General Nguema led last Wednesday's coup against Ali Bongo, removing the president shortly after he was named winner of a disputed election. Read more on how the recent wave of coups d’état is a wake-up call about the plague of kleptocracy in Africa.

• Russia attacks Ukraine grain port, Ukraine’s defense minister dismissed: Russia has launched a wave of drone attacks on one of Ukraine’s biggest grain exporting ports, hours before Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, were due to hold talks regarding grain deals. Meanwhile, Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov has confirmed that he is leaving his post. President Volodymyr Zelensky announced Reznikov's dismissal saying it was time for "new approaches" in carrying out the war.

China says Xi Jinping will not attend G20: China announced on Monday that its leader Xi Jinping would skip the G20 summit taking place in New Delhi this weekend, with Premier Li Qiang leading the delegation instead. Xi’s absence from the G20 Summit comes as tensions are rising between China and host country India over their disputed border and New Delhi’s growing ties with the United States.

• Vanuatu parliament elects Sato Kilman as Prime Minister: Vanuatu's parliament elected Sato Kilman as the nation's new prime minister on Monday after a court upheld a vote of no-confidence in his predecessor, who had sought closer ties with the U.S. allies amid China-U.S. rivalry in the Pacific Islands. Kilman, a former prime minister and leader of the People's Progressive Party, was elected prime minister 27/23 in a secret ballot by lawmakers.

• Taiwan Typhoon injures more than 40: More than 40 people were injured in Taiwan after Typhoon Haikui ripped across the island, forcing thousands to evacuate. The storm was the first to directly hit the island nation in four years.

• Minnesota jail in lockdown after protests: A prison in the U.S. state of Minnesota was placed under lockdown after dozens of inmates refused to return to their cells. The protest, organized by around 100 prisoners, was later "resolved without incident," officials reported. Inmates were unhappy at being kept in their cells due to understaffing over Labor Day weekend, the state's Department of Corrections (DOC) said.

• Festival site to house refugees in Ireland: Electric Picnic, Ireland’s biggest music festival, with about 70,000 people attending the site over the weekend is getting a second life. Work is set to transform the site into tented accommodation for refugees. The Irish government has signed a contract for the use of the site at Stradbally, effective from Tuesday. The site will house 750 people for the duration of the six-week contract.

🗞️  FRONT PAGE

Seoul-based daily The Chosun Ilbo dedicates its front page to a rare strike from South Korean public school teachers organized on Monday to demand better protection at work. They protest what they say is widespread harassment by overbearing parents who call them all hours of the day and weekends to complain and threaten them. The mistreatment and pressure led to a number of suicides, and the strike follows a rally held on Saturday when about 200,000 teachers gathered in Seoul in front of the National Assembly.

#️⃣ BY THE NUMBER​S

92%

Today marks Google’s 25th birthday, and the search engine has come a long way from the Stanford dorm rooms of Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the two doctoral students who created the algorithm. As of last month, Google’s global market share has reached 92%, with its nearest competitor, Bing, taking up 3%.

📰 STORY OF THE DAY

Albania, the brutal demographics of a neverending exodus

Since the fall of communism in 1991, the small Balkan state has been slowly but inexorably emptying itself, at the pace of incessant waves of emigration. With an aging and declining population and a birth rate in free fall, it is facing all kinds of challenges, reports Basile Dekonink in French daily Les Echos.

🇦🇱 Albania is a special case in the small world of migration experts. From 1946 to 1991, the population was held captive by one of the world’s most bloody and repressive regimes: victims of the paranoia of the Communist Party’s first secretary Enver Hoxha, Albanian comrades were not even allowed to own a car, and had to obtain express permission from the administration to leave their region. Then came the reopening of borders, an anarchic transition, the economic collapse of 1997, insurrections, the war in Kosovo and the start of an exodus.

🛃 Complex and constantly evolving, Albanian emigration has considerably changed since 1991. The preferred destinations are no longer neighboring Greece and Italy, but Germany, the UK, France and the U.S. Departures are no longer illegal, but usually on a temporary visa; emigrants are no longer just poor young men, but Albanians from all walks of life. One constant, however: every year, some 50,000 people, most of them between 18 and 40 years old, leave in search of a better life.

💸 Albania is paying a high price for this exodus, particularly in terms of economic development. “One of my developers left for Facebook in Ireland, another for Worldplay. It took me months to replace them. We’re offering them salaries 10 times higher. We can’t tie them to their chairs," says Bora Ferri, who founded a small payment company, Mpay, ten years ago, and is also head of the France-Albania Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

➡️ Read more on Worldcrunch.com

📹 THIS HAPPENED VIDEO — TODAY IN HISTORY, IN ONE ICONIC PHOTO

➡️ Watch the video: THIS HAPPENED

📣 VERBATIM

“If they support the regime so much, they would do well to return to their country of origin.”

— Following violent clashes between supporters and opponents of the Eritrean regime in south Tel Aviv which left more than 170 people injured on Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for the immediate deportation of the “rioters” involved in the protests. The leader said he had also ordered a new plan to remove all of the country’s African migrants whom he described as “illegal infiltrators.” About 25,000 African asylum seekers currently live in Israel, most of whom arrived illegally from Sudan and Eritrea.

✍️ Newsletter by Emma Albright, Laure Gautherin, Valeria Berghinz and Anne-Sophie Goninet

Let us know what’s happening in your corner of the world!

info@worldcrunch.com

A man and woman kayak past an abandoned vehicle.
In The News
Yannick Champion-Osselin, Marine Béguin, Valeria Berghinz.

More Ukraine Drones On Russia, Idalia Fallout, G20’s Monkey-Men

👋 Ia Orana!*

Welcome to Friday, where Ukrainian drones keep hitting targets in Russia, the leader of the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riots is sentenced to 17 years, and New Delhi is not monkeying around ahead of the G20 summit. Meanwhile, for French economic daily Les Echos, Pierre de Gasquet looks at how a Kremlin takeover of the Wagner Group, post-Prigozhin, could help Russia strengthen its presence in Africa.

[*Tahiti]

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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.

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🌎  7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW

• Ukraine drone strikes near Russian nuclear plant: A Ukrainian drone struck the western Russian town of Kurchatov, just a few kilometers from the Kursk nuclear power station. No damage was reported to the plant, one of the country's biggest nuclear power facilities. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says that his country has deployed a new long-range weapon, hinting that it was used in an attack that destroyed several military aircraft in a western Russian airport this week. Meanwhile, Russia began holding elections in its “new territories” in Ukraine yesterday, a move that Ukrainian officials denounce as illegal.

• Leader of U.S. Capitol riots gets 17 years: Joe Biggs, leader of the far-right organization the Proud Boys who marched on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 has been sentenced to 17 years in prison. The U.S. army veteran was convicted of seditious conspiracy, intimidation to prevent officials from discharging their duties and interference with law enforcement during civil disorder. Fellow Proud Boy member and former Marine Zachary Rehl was later sentenced to 15 years.

• Singapore holds first contested presidential poll in 12 years: Voting is underway in Singapore as the country selects its new president. The vote for the largely symbolic position will reveal attitudes toward the ruling party, which has been in power for more than six decades, and has been shaken by a series of political scandals.

• African coups updates: The military leaders of the coup in Niger have ordered the expulsion of the French ambassador to the country and his family, distancing themselves from their former colonizer amid rising anti-French sentiment. Meanwhile, in Gabon, coup leaders will swear in General Brice Oligui Nguema as transitional president on Monday, days after he lead the push to overthrow reelected president Ali Bongo

• Algerian coast guards shoot two tourists dead: Two French-Moroccan tourists have been shot dead by the Algerian Coast Guard after they reportedly strayed into Algerian waters on their jet skis. Another jet skier was arrested. The Algeria-Morocco border has been closed since 1994, as the two nations have a long history of tensions.

• Asia braces for Saola, U.S. tallies Idalia toll: Ahead of Typhoon Saola, flights, businesses, schools and financial markets have been closed in China’s Guangdong province and neighboring Hong Kong. Saola could make landfall as early as this evening, bringing with it heavy rain and winds of more than 200 kph (125 mph). Meanwhile the southeast U.S. deals with the fallout of Hurricane Idalia that killed three people, destroying houses and leaving thousands without electricity.

• Monkey-scaring tactics in New Delhi ahead of G20: Life size cutouts of the aggressive langur monkey have been set up around New Delhi to fend off the marauding rhesus monkeys, which regularly wreak havoc across the city. The city council has also hired 30 “monkey-men” to make langur sounds – to scare the hungry monkeys away from floral displays laid out for the G20 summit next week.

🗞️  FRONT PAGE

Ecuadorian newspaper La Hora covers two car bomb attacks in the capital of Quito, and another two set off in the province of El Oro the last two days. The police have arrested 10 suspects amid the surge in violence ahead of a highly contested presidential runoff next month.

#️⃣ BY THE NUMBER​S

1,450

Pope Francis is expected today in Mongolia, a predominantly Buddhist country that counts only an estimated 1,450 Catholics. The Vatican hopes the papal visit can help improve complicated relations with neighboring China. For more, we offer this recent piece from Argentine daily Clarín, translated from Spanish by Worldcrunch: Synod Forecast: How Far The Pope Will Go Toward A More Inclusive Catholic Church.

📰 STORY OF THE DAY

Wagner is dead, long live Wagner! How Putin plans to push deeper in Africa, post-Prigozhin

Wagner PMC has built up a powerful network on the African continent. It's one of the mercenary group's greatest assets — and now, as Pierre de Gasquet writes for French economic daily Les Echos, a Kremlin takeover of Wagner could even strengthen its influence in Africa, including through the recent coups d'état in Niger and Gabon.

💪 After the recent death of its boss Yevegeny Prigozhin, the future of the Wagner group remains unclear. Renamed, or reshaped and brought back into line, it's a safe bet that, in one form or another, it will survive the elimination of its founders. Andreï Trochev, a Putin loyalist who alerted the regime of the planned mutiny at the end of June, has already been put forward to head Wagner as Prigozhin's successor. General Andreï Averyanov is also being considered.

🌍 Worse still, the paramilitary group may even emerge with its influence in Africa strengthened. The challenge facing the Kremlin now is to "punish Wagner [for its mutiny and Prigozhin’s actions, which has been done] without demoralizing the soldiers in the trenches, or wiping out a decade of influence in Africa," as French journalist Pierre Haski sums up.

🕸 One of the Wagner group's strengths today is its powerful network of influence and propaganda on the African continent, which the Kremlin is not about to give up. Russia has become Africa's leading arms supplier by multiplying bilateral agreements, like in Cameroon in April 2022. Tested in Syria, Libya, Central African Republic, Mozambique and Mali, the "modus operandi" worked: the Kremlin dangled a promise of protection and liberation from Western influence in exchange for access to natural wealth. Apart from Mali, Wagner is very active in Burkina Faso, Chad and Sudan. Always the same tactic: take advantage of local instability to extend its hold on political and economic circles.

➡️ Read more on Worldcrunch.com

📹 THIS HAPPENED VIDEO — TODAY IN HISTORY, IN ONE ICONIC PHOTO

➡️ Watch the video: THIS HAPPENED

📣 VERBATIM

“It's a wake-up call.”

— South African leader Cyril Ramaphosa told a press conference that the deadly fire in Johannesburg's inner city, which killed 74 people including 12 children, was "a wake-up call" for the city to address its housing issue. South Africa faces a chronic housing shortage, with an estimated 15,000 homeless people in Johannesburg.

✍️ Newsletter by Yannick Champion-Osselin, Marine Béguin, Valeria Berghinz.

Let us know what’s happening in your corner of the world!

info@worldcrunch.com

Photo of a five kids getting ready to get on a school bus
Society
Katarzyna Skiba

The Four-Day School Week, More New Experiments Around The World

As a new school year begins, educators from Poland to Australia to the U.S. are implementing four-day weeks, in a variety of ways. Will this be a short-lived fad, or the beginning of a new approach to education that can reduce stress for students, help recruit teachers and rethink learning altogether?

Beginning this year, students in Wodzisław Śląski, a city of 50,000 in southern Poland, will only have four days of traditional school classes per week. The reduced schedule — which comes along with fewer tests and new assessment criteria — were an initiative that came from the citizen grassroots level and ultimately was approved by municipal authorities, reports Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza.

The experimental four-day school week, for students in grades one through three, as well as certain older classes, will be instituted in all 13 public elementary schools within the city. Beginning in September, students will devote one day a week to carrying out non-traditional educational projects, such as going to science centers, learning craftsmanship, or taking walks through the local forests. The measure has been widened from a smaller pilot program tested last year, which included only a few of the city’s public schools.

Joanna Kulińska, principal of Primary School No. 2 in Wodzisław Śląski, explained that classes in select subjects will be combined into blocks, during which students can carry out a thematic project, go to a science center or take part in a non-traditional nature lesson. “This is a fantastic idea that allows us to transmit knowledge in an interesting and modern way – through experience and practice”, Kulińska added.

The new policy in Poland is part of an expanding interest in the four-day school week, with similar experiments in the United States, Australia, and France, with some instituting one full day of “non-traditional” learning, or simply an extra day off, as a means of reducing student stress and increasing engagement in class time. Some also see it as a way to reduce costs at a time of economic constraints.

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Thousands in participated in the LGBTQ+ Pride March in Monterrey, Mexico
BBC

The Latest: U.S. Strikes Iraq & Syria, Czech Transphobia, Tour De France Crash

Welcome to Monday, where U.S. airstrikes hit Iran-backed militia in Iraq and Syria, Sweden's prime minister resigns and a pet lion is rescued from TikTok fame. Die Welt also looks at the growing influence of a Russian mercenary group in several African countries.

• U.S. airstrikes in Iraq & Syria: The United States military says it carried out air strikes on "targeted operational and weapons storage facilities" linked to Iran-backed militia groups. The strikes late Sunday local time marks the second time the Biden administration has ordered strikes against armed groups. The UK-based NGO, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reported at least five fighters killed and several others wounded.Syria's state-run news agency reports the death of a child.

• New COVID restrictions in Australia: With just over 3% of the population fully vaccinated, Australia has seen a rise in coronavirus infections connected to the highly infectious Delta variant. Prime Minister Scott Morrisson met with state and territory leaders to discuss renewed restrictions, such as locking down Sydney.

• Swedish Prime Minister resigns: After losing a historic no-confidence vote, Prime Minister Stefan Lofven has opted to resign rather than calling a snap election. This decision leaves the parliament's speaker with the task of finding a new premier.

• CNN reports incriminating video of Ethiopian soldiers: CNN has uncovered new footage of Ethiopian soldiers passing around a phone "to document their executions of unarmed men." The video comes as a new update to the broadcaster's ongoing investigation into the January mass execution of at least 11 unarmed men in the Tigray region.

• Death toll rises to nine in Florida building collapse: Rescuers are continuing to search for survivors, as more than 150 people remain missing at the collapsed condo building near Miami. Over the weekend, the death toll rose to nine, but authorities fear that number will multiply.

• Police search for fan who caused Tour de France crash: A spectator holding up a large sign caused a crash at the Tour de France, involving German rider Tony Martin and several others, on Saturday. Now, police are searching for the fan and hope to charge her with "deliberately violating safety regulations." One rider was obligated to pull out of the Tour completely, while another eight are being treated for injuries.

• Cambodian officials confiscate TikTok-famous pet lion: Cambodian authorities confiscated a pet lion after discovering it was being used in a number of TikTok videos. The lion had reportedly been imported by a Chinese national and was being raised at a villa in the capital Phnom Penh.

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A woman in a Khreschatyk metro station in Ukraine
Japan
Julie Boulet

Why Women Are Never Really Free To Ride The Subway

PARIS — If you're a woman living in a city, this has probably happened to you. You're by yourself on a bus or a subway. Maybe you're wearing heels and a dress, or just your boyfriend's dirty old sweater. Suddenly you notice a man is staring at you, and won't stop. Maybe he starts saying vulgar things to you. Or maybe he never says a word. Maybe you only realize there's a creep on this ride after his hands are on your body.

Sexual harassment on public transportation is a local problem — and a global plague. Fortunately, over the past few years, a growing awareness of the issue has finally led some governments and companies to act. In Tokyo, the city launched a campaign last month to combat what is known in Japanese as "chikan," the groping of girls and women in subways.

Yes, the freedom to move in peace through the city is one of your most basic rights. You need to get to work, to class, or wherever the hell you please. Here's what happens every day to women around the world, and how some cities are taking action:

JAPAN

While children are told not to talk to strangers, parents and teachers do not teach them about harassment in the subway. This means that far too often, crimes go unreported. Experts say that longstanding sexism and patriarchal dominance often provokes a feeling of guilt for the victims of sexual assault, and recent studies showed that only 5% of such crimes in Japan are reported to the police. Tokyo city officials want to change that with the new advertisement campaign in the subway to encourage women to speak up. This follows another effort in the southern Japanese city of Fukuoka, where a smartphone app was launched in February that allows students to signal zones where women were being assaulted on a map. An emergency button to directly call the police has also been set up.

MEXICO

In Mexico City where nine out of 10 women feel unsafe riding the subway, a "reserved for men" seta was designed : in the shape of a male torso and a penis, it was supposed to make men understand what some women have to go through. Although it helps raise awareness on sexual assault, it sadly doesn't denounce catcalling...

YEMEN

Some women have been resourceful in how they fight back. Imane, a young woman in Yemen, told the Middle East news site Al Monitor that she stabbed a groping man's hand with the pin that was keeping her headscarf in place. According to Egypt-born feminist writer Mona Eltahawy, Yemen also offers a perfect counter-point to the absurd argument that women are assaulted due to provocative clothing they're wearing: Yemeni women are regularly harassed, even though they are often entirely covered.

FRANCE

In Paris, Le Monde reports that the "brigade anti-frotteurs" (anti-groping brigade) patrols the metro undercover and tries to catch sex criminals. Like in Japan, women in France often do not file a complaint against these public perverts. Police in the capital have tried to educate women on the importance of speaking up as some men rip a hole in their pocket to be able to masturbate to female passengers. When arrested, these criminals can be sentenced to prison and their DNA put in a database to help identify them in case they attack someone else.

French public service poster: Miss!/You look charming/Can I get to know you?/What's your number?/Is this little skirt for me?/You're turning me on/You know you're hot?/ I'm gonna bang you/Answer me you bitch/STOP-THAT'S ENOUGH)

U.S.

Complaints against sexual harassment on the subway to the New York police department were up by 50% in 2016, according to the Wall Street Journal. Officials say that this doesn't necessarily mean that harassment is rising, but rather that more women are testifying.

INDIA

In India, where 80% of women face harassment in cities, according to Reuters, women-only taxi services have been launched to avoid any assault by drivers. Some subway cars in Delhi have also been reserved for women.

Ultimately, however, segregating the sexes is not the answer to harassment on public transportation. Women must be encouraged to denounce those who target them. Witnesses must be made aware, and be ready to help. And society at large must understand that this is not bad behavior: It's a crime.