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IMPORTANT
| | |  | Historic Disaster | Hurricane Ian Leaves Trail of Destruction, Cuba, Florida in the Dark At least 2 million southwest Floridians are without power in one of the strongest hurricanes ever to hit the United States. Flooding has hindered rescue efforts and forced at least one hospital to evacuate patients — some on ventilators — to higher floors to escape floodwaters. Ian dropped in strength on Wednesday, but residents of northeast Florida were warned to brace as the storm moves across the state Thursday. Meanwhile, many Cubans remain without power after the hurricane collapsed the country’s power grid. “I think we’ve finally hit bottom,” said one elderly Cuban as he searched Havana for food and medicine. (Sources: AP, Reuters) |
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|  | Finger Pointing | Fourth Leak Identified on Nord Stream Pipelines Swedish authorities confirmed the finding — the second in its exclusive economic zone — on Thursday as Europe identified sabotage and promised a “robust” response to any nefarious actors. “All available information indicates those leaks are the result of a deliberate act,” European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement. Russia and the U.S. have traded barbs over who’s to blame. A representative from the Kremlin said President Joe Biden is “obliged” to confirm or deny U.S. involvement, while a National Security Council spokesperson said it’s all part of Russia’s “long history of spreading disinformation.” (Sources: Reuters, Euronews, DW) |
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|  | Pound of Flesh | UK Gov Resists Opposition’s Parliament Recall Demand U.K Prime Minister Liz Truss and Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng have all but disappeared as the Labour opposition pushes for Parliament to reconvene. Labour leader Keir Starmer accused the Conservative government of losing “control of the economy” and said the three-week recess, which began Friday, must be canceled. Liberal Democrats leader Ed Davey echoed the call, saying it had to be done to reassure both the markets and “British homeowners at risk of higher mortgage costs.” Truss has maintained that the controversial mini-budget is the “right plan.” With a Conservative party conference slated for this weekend, a recall is unlikely. (Sources: The Guardian, The Scotsman) |
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|  | Mutual Gains | U.S., Pacific Islands Pledge Cooperation in Landmark Summit It’s a diplomatic win for the U.S., which is seen to be ceding influence in the Pacific region to China. The Solomon Islands had reportedly planned to hold out on the 11-point statement, but has since signed on at the first-ever U.S.-Pacific Island Country Summit this week. The White House has pledged $860 million in aid programs to the islands, according to one unnamed source. That’s in addition to an enormous expansion of diplomatic presence in the area, with three new diplomatic missions, the establishment of an ambassador to the Pacific Islands Forum and the reopening of a development mission in Fiji. (Sources: WaPo, Politico) |
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|  | Briefly | Here are some things you should know about today: Sentenced. Myanmar’s deposed de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her economic advisor Australian Sean Turnell have been sentenced to three years in jail by a junta-controlled court. The two were convicted of violating a state secrets law. (Source: The Irrawaddy) Equality. All women, regardless of marital status, are entitled to safe abortion services in India, the Supreme Court has ruled. It also recognized marital rape within the abortion law. (Source: NDTV) That’s mint. New coins featuring the portrait of King Charles III will enter circulation in the U.K. soon, the Royal Mint confirmed. A mock-up has yet to be released. (Source: BBC) |
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INTRIGUING
| | | Noble Cause | 1,700 Environmental Activists Murdered in Last Decade That’s about one activist killed every two days, between 2010 and 2021, a report from NGO Global Witness has revealed. Brazil, Colombia, the Philippines, Mexico and Honduras are the most deadly countries, while mining, logging and agribusiness were the most violent sectors. “We are not just in a climate emergency,” warned Indian environmentalist Dr. Vandana Shiva, adding that the “future of our species and our planet” depends on protecting environmental defenders. Still, it’s not all bad news. Global Witness pointed to gains made in the same period, including Indigenous communities in South Africa besting energy giant Shell in protecting traditional lands. (Source: The Guardian) |
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| | | Knack for Snacks | Tradition and Innovation May Revive Japan’s Century-Old Snack Icon Junichi Hasegawa built his career in artificial intelligence, teaming up with Japan’s great manufacturing giants, like Toyota. His new collaboration with Ezaki Glico, the century-old snack maker behind iconic treats like Pocky chocolate sticks, involves harnessing machine learning and data harvesting to identify the perfectly balanced treat — delicious but nutritious. It’s all part of Glico scion Etsuro Ezaki’s vision. Ezaki, great-grandson of the company’s founder and its new CEO, wants all Glico products to enhance customers’ wellness. Investors in Tokyo are eating it up: Shares rose 1.1% on the news of Hasegawa’s involvement after a 16% drop last year. (Source: Bloomberg) |
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| | | | | RIP | ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’ Rapper Coolio Dead at 59 Born Artis Leon Ivey Jr., Coolio released his first album It Takes A Thief in 1994, cementing his place as a rapper to watch. A year later, he proved predictions right with his single “Gangsta’s Paradise.” The song immediately entered the hip-hop pantheon, soaring to the top of charts across the world and sweeping the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards. But it was not just a ’90s phenomenon — the video broke a billion views on YouTube in July. “One of the nicest dudes I’ve known,” fellow ’90s alumni MC Hammer tweeted. The cause of death has yet to be confirmed. (Sources: Rolling Stone, Billboard) |
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| | | Homecoming | Remains Returned to New Zealand Centuries After Deaths The skeletal remains of around 64 Maori and Moriori individuals were handed over to New Zealand representatives in a ceremony at the Natural History Museum in Vienna on Tuesday. The remains, which include skulls and loose fragments, will arrive in New Zealand over the weekend. Their arrival ends 70 years of negotiations between Indigenous rights activists in New Zealand and museum authorities in Austria for the remains, most of them collected by the Austrian taxidermist Andreas Reischek between 1877 and 1889. Hundreds of skeletal remains were returned to New Zealand from the U.K. in July as part of a reparation project. (Source: Reuters) |
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| | | Hall of Shame | Brett Favre’s Charity Donations in the Spotlight The charity purportedly raises money “for disadvantaged and disabled children,” but newly revealed tax records show large cash donations to the University of Southern Mississippi Athletic Foundation between 2018 and 2020. Favre 4 Hope was the former Green Bay quarterback’s best defense amid a mounting scandal in Mississippi, where he is alleged to have diverted $5 million as part of a widespread welfare fraud case. The funding was siphoned to the university — his alma mater and where his daughter played on the volleyball team — to build a volleyball stadium. The state is pursuing a civil suit to recoup the funds. (Sources: ESPN, Daily Beast) |
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