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🌎  7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW

• New U.S. military aid package to Ukraine, French journalist killed: Arman Soldin, a 32-year-old French reporter for the AFP news agency, was killed in an attack near Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine. Soldin is believed to be the 11th media worker to be killed in the conflict. Meanwhile, the U.S. pledged a new $1.2 billion military package to Ukraine for air defense launchers, missiles and radar systems, while France calls on the EU to designate as a terrorist organization the Wagner Group, a Russian mercenary outfit accused of multiple war crimes.

• Jury finds Trump sexually abused and defamed New York woman: Former U.S. President Donald Trump was found liable for sexually abusing advice columnist E. Jean Carroll in 1996. The jury awarded her $5 million in a judgment. Trump, who did not attend the trial and plans to appeal, called the result a “disgrace” and “political witch hunt.”

• Violent protests in Pakistan after Khan arrest: Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran appeared in court today on corruption charges. An estimated 945 people were arrested in the Punjab province after his party the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) called for protests in the capital and a nationwide shutdown.

• Deadly shooting near Tunisian synagogue:Four people were killed when a guard from a local naval base opened fire at a synagogue on the Tunisian island of Djerba during an annual Jewish pilgrimage to Africa's oldest synagogue.

• Sudan doctors turn to social media: Sudanese doctors are being forced to turn to social media to reach patients as hospitals and health facilities struggle to function or close completely due to the ongoing violence. Volunteers have set up 24-hour helplines on messaging platforms including WhatsApp, staffed by hundreds of doctors and specialists.

• Tuberculosis spike rocket amid world conflicts: Health officials gathered for a UN meeting in New York have shared their concern regarding new tuberculosis outbreaks sparked by ongoing fighting, and the ensuing collapse of health systems, in Ukraine and Sudan, as well as by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

• China detains man for using ChatGPT to spread fake news: Police in China have detained a man they accuse of using ChatGPT to create fake news and spreading it online. China’s state media has called this the country’s first criminal case related to the AI chatbot. According to a statement from the police, the suspect allegedly used ChatGPT to generate a fake report about a train crash, which he then posted online.

🗞️  FRONT PAGE

Brazilian daily Folha de São Paulo pays tribute to Rita Lee, renowned Brazil rock singer-songwriter, who has died at 75 after a two-year battle with lung cancer. The artist, an icon of the politically charged Tropicalia movement, sold more than 55 million records during a six-decade career.

💬  LEXICON

Malaisant

The French Larousse and Le Petit Robert dictionaries have unveiled the 150 additions to their 2023 edition. This year’s inductees include words related to climate change ("vélorution", short for bike-revolution, or “écoanxiété”) as well as many Anglicisms ("flexoffice", “home staging”) — picks that some traditionalists may find pretty “malaisant” (awkward).

📰  STORY OF THE DAY

Ukraine's counteroffensive will be no blitzkrieg — and it has already begun

The West has been eagerly awaiting Ukraine's counteroffensive, but is mistakenly convinced it will be a major tank assault. Kyiv has already launched the first actions, as it also tries to lower its allies' expectations of rapid victory, reports Clemens Wergin for German daily Die Welt.

🇺🇦 The counteroffensive "has long been taking place," military expert Marcus Keupp of ETH Zurich also told Deutschlandfunk radio. "Many have the images of World War II in their heads, that is, that the offensive begins when the tanks advance. That's nonsense, because that's the conclusion of the offensive, not its beginning."

💥 For weeks, the Ukrainians have been carrying out preparatory measures to soften up and test Russian positions. The Ukrainians have significantly intensified their drone attacks on Russian fuel depots over the past week in an effort to disrupt supplies for Russian troops on the front lines. A total of four Russian fuel depots were either damaged or destroyed last week.

⚠️ Whatever the Ukrainians manage to achieve in the end, the important thing is for the actions to be perceived as a success, not a failure. And the higher the expectations in the West for the Ukrainian offensive, the more likely the actual results will disappoint. This is precisely why Kyiv is trying to dampen the rampant optimism.

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

➡️ Watch the video: THIS HAPPENED

📣 VERBATIM

“We will not be intimidated.”

— Amid icy relations between China and Canada, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters that Canada would not be intimidated by China's actions after the expulsion of a Canadian diplomat. Facing the "reciprocal countermeasure" taken by China, the Canadian Prime Minister said he wants to show that he takes China's behavior very seriously and make this case an example of dissuasion.