Welcome to Thursday, where Netanyahu’s 12-year tenure as Israel’s Prime Minister appears to be coming to an end, Canada calls on Pope Francis to apologize and NASA is finally going back to Venus. Le Monde also takes us to Belarus where the shocking arrest of a dissident journalist brings new attention to the still ongoing repression of activists by authorities.
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• Israeli opposition reach deal to oust PM Netanyahu: Opponents of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finalized an 11th-hour coalition government. Centrist party leader Yair Lapid and right-wing settler movement leader Naftali Bennett — with the support of Islamist party leader Mansour Abbas — plan to split the Prime Minister’s Office, each taking a two-year term. The agreement is expected to be approved by parliament in the next week, likely bringing an end to Netanyahu’s 12-year reign.
• Twitter vs. Nigerian president: Twitter has deleted a tweet by Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari that vowed punishment for rebels as a response to recent attacks on government buildings. The social media company claims the tweets violated their abusive behavior policy.
• FBI accuses Russian linked hackers to attack on meat plants: JBS meat plants have begun reopening after a severe cyber attack halted production at multiple locations. The FBI blamed Russian based criminal group, REevil, and President Joe Biden stated that he will discuss cyber attacks with President Vladimir Putin during their upcoming meeting in two weeks.
• Canada seeks Church apology: After the discovery of a mass grave containing the remains of 215 indigenous children, the Canadian government is calling on Pope Francis to apologize for the role the Catholic Church played in the residential schools system. For most of the 20th century, the church operated a large portion of the country’s residential schools, during which many indigenous children were subject to physical and verbal abuse.
• EU court says Germany “persistently” violated air pollution rules: The European Union’s top court said Germany may be subject to fines and penalties if it does not improve air quality in several large cities. The court found that Germany breached nitrogen oxide (NO2) limits from 2010-2016.
• NASA sets sights on Venus: Some 30 years after last visiting the planet sometimes referred to as “Earth’s twin,” NASA has announced two new missions to Venus. Expected to launch between 2028-2030, one mission will focus on analyzing our neighbor’s “hellish” atmosphere, while the other one will map its surface.
• Elephant herd escapes, bulldozes 300 mile path: A herd of 15 elephants wreaked havoc after escaping a nature reserve in China, destroying 56 hectares of farmland and causing more than a million dollars’ worth of damage, during a 311-mile journey through the southwestern province of Yunnan.
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Israeli daily Haaretz reports that opposition parties have coalesced to form a new government — an agreement which, if approved by the Knesset, would spell the end of Benjamin Netanyahu’s 12-year tenure.
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Ujgur Mártírok útja
Budapest’s Mayor, Gergely Karácsony, will protest the planned construction of a top Chinese university in city’s capital by renaming nearby streets to shed light on the China’s controversial foreign and domestic policies. The project was unilaterally decided by Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government, against the wishes of Karácsony. The four new street signs include “Uyghur Martyrs’ Road,” “Free Hong Kong Road,” “Dalai Lama Road” and “Bishop Xie Shiguang Road.”
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Maria Kolesnikova: a final stand of the Belarusian resistance
The shocking, mid-flight capture of a dissident journalist brings new attention to the repression taking place in Belarus, where another prominent political prisoner, Maria Kolesnikova, has been locked up for months, reports Thomas d’Istria in French daily Le Monde.
Known for her prominent role in the wave of protests against President Lukashenko’s recent and controversial re-election, Maria Kolesnikova is now facing up to 12 years of prison on charges such as “conspiracy to seize power by unconstitutional means’ and “creating and managing an extremist group.” Kolesnikova, a top-tier musician turned social activist, is now one of the nearly 400 political prisoners recognized by the Belarusian human rights organization Viasna. She is currently being held in a pre-trial detention center, sharing a 10-square-meter cell with a fellow prisoner.
In Belarus, her rebellious personality continues to inspire the masses. Many Belorusian people feel encouraged by her patriotic decision to stay behind, and, for a while, people continued to celebrate her on social media. Buildings throughout the Belarusian capital were decorated with graffiti and murals in her honor. Maxim Shumilin, a photographic artist and friend of Kolesnikova since 2017, describes her as a woman who is “very empathetic…a musician, not a politician.”
But since then, everything has changed, a reality brought into even further focus by the mid-air seizure, on May 23, of Roman Protasevich. While dreams of democracy in Belarus are still alive, systematic repression no longer allows protesters to mobilize. Anyone who shares social media posts critical of the regime or flies opposition flags in their living rooms is at risk of being arrested. Viasna reported at least 304 arrests in April alone.
➡️ Read more on Worldcrunch.com
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$99,005
If you’re a fan of both K-Pop and multiplayer mobile games, then you may be willing to fork up to $99,005 on eBay for this Among Us-shaped nugget found in a McDonald’s special BTS Meal … Does that include shipping?
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The possibility of these Games going on is 100%.
— Tokyo 2020 President Seiko Hashimoto told BBC Sport that he is confident that the Olympics will start on July 23rd as planned, despite Japan’s current struggle with a fourth coronavirus wave and its maintenance of state of emergency protocol in 10 areas of the country.
✍️ Newsletter by Genevieve Mansfield, Anne-Sophie Goninet & Bertrand Hauger
