Caught in a Vlad Romance

Start your day smarter with the most important world news, plus intriguing and offbeat stories. www.ozy.com [OZY]() Your World. Bold & Bright [Presidential Daily Brief]( Sponsored by [Cariuma]( Start your day smarter with a dossier on the most important world news, rounded off with a shot of intriguing and offbeat stories. Like the president, you deserve no less. Aug 15, 2022 Today At least 41 people, including five-year-old triplets, died in a fire during a church service in Egypt. Salman Rushdie is “on the road to recovery” following Friday’s stabbing. California will have to add “megastorm” to its list of possible natural disasters. And Putin and Kim Jong-Un are getting pally. All this and more in today’s PDB. [5 STARS FOR COMFORT]( [Cariuma]( No one likes breaking in a new pair of shoes. With [Cariuma’s]( broken-in-out-of-the-box feel, you’ll be sure to recommend them to friends! Planning on walking around town this summer? Make sure you check out their vast range of colors, prints, and exciting limited edition collabs - they have a style for every look! Excited to try them? Get [20% OFF](at checkout with your personal code, OZY20.This special offer is just for OZY readers. [LET’S GO!]( IMPORTANT Infernal At Least 41, Including 15 Children, Die in Cairo Church Fire “Suffocation, suffocation, all of them dead,” said distraught witness Abu Bishoy — an assessment backed up by a forensic investigation that found smoke inhalation to be the main cause of death. The fire started shortly before 9 a.m. in a second-floor air conditioner during Sunday services at a packed Coptic Orthodox church in Giza, Egypt. A church spokesperson said the dead included five-year-old triplets as well as their mother, grandmother and aunt. Families of those who died will receive $5,220, according to a cabinet statement. Funerals for the victims were held at two nearby churches on Sunday evening. (Sources: [Al Jazeera](, [SCMP](, [AP]() ‘On the Road to Recovery’ Salman Rushdie Taken Off Ventilator, Suspect Pleads Not Guilty Rushdie’s literary agent warned that while the writer’s condition “is headed in the right direction,” his recovery would be a long process, with the Satanic Verses author likely to lose an eye. [Zafar Rushdie]( added that his father’s “usual feisty & defiant sense of humour remains intact.” Meanwhile Hadi Matar, the only suspect in Friday’s stabbing, pleaded not guilty to attempted murder. The attack has led to an outpouring of support from the literary world and beyond. Margaret Atwood called Rushdie a “martyr” to “freedom of artistic expression” who is owed a major debt by writers and readers. (Sources: [CBS](, [The Guardian]() ‘Atmospheric Rivers’ No One Knows When, But California Must Brace for an Icy Megastorm Earthquakes. Droughts. Wildfires. It’s time to add “megastorms” to California’s list of perils. Global warming has drastically increased the likelihood of a procession of “atmospheric rivers” barreling towards the West Coast one winter, causing unprecedented rain and snowfall that could render towns and cities uninhabitable and will leave no portion of the economy untouched. Geological records show that the West has been struck by cataclysmic floods several times in the past 1,000 years. “We got kind of lucky to avoid it in the 20th century,” said climatologist Daniel Swain. “I would be very surprised to avoid it occurring in the 21st.” (Source: [NYT]() Bromance Russia, N Korea to Expand Relations as Fierce Shelling Continues In a letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un honoring that country’s liberation day, President Vladimir Putin promised to “expand the comprehensive and constructive bilateral relations with common efforts.” The friendly missive came as Russian forces continued to bombard the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine — with Ukrainian generals saying they’d repelled many of the attacks. Kyiv has made no secret of the fact that it’s planning a counteroffensive to recapture the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant and neighboring Kherson province. “We have to defend ourselves, we have to answer every form of terror, every instance of shelling,” said President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Sunday night. (Sources: [Reuters](, [The Guardian]() Briefly Here are some things you should know about today: RIP. Anne Heche was “peacefully taken off life support” after authorities found suitable organ recipients. She’d been declared brain-dead Friday, so was already legally dead under California law. (Source: [Sky News]() More drills. Taiwan’s president met with another U.S. congressional delegation Monday, prompting Beijing to announce further military drills to deter “collusion and provocation between the U.S. and Taiwan.” (Source: [AP]() Bated breath. The winner of Kenya’s presidential election looks set to be announced shortly. Live results put William Ruto ahead of Raila Odinga by 50.9% to 48.5% — but Odinga’s campaign manager called the counting center a “scene of crime.” (Source: [BBC]() [Walking On Sunshine]( [Cariuma]( Inspired by sunny, summer days, and lounging by the beach with a drink in hand, the [OCA Low Yellow]( is the perfect summertime sneaker. Crafted with robust canvas, this fashion-forward sneaker meets functionality, style, comfort, and fit. And with a fully-stitched lightweight outsole, it’s going to last you longer than summer (hello, quality over quantity)! OZY Exclusive: Get 20% OFF with code [OZY20]( at checkout. This special offer is just for OZY readers. [SHOP NOW]( INTRIGUING COVID Calling Almost 3 Years Later, Cases Surge in the Marshall Islands Despite a close shave in 2020 when two people who’d flown in from Honolulu tested positive for COVID-19 upon arrival, the remote Pacific nation had avoided local transmission of the virus — until last Monday. Cases in the capital have doubled since Friday and health secretary Jack Niedenthal said Sunday that around 75% of tests across the country were returning positive results. Luckily 70% of residents are fully vaccinated and there have only been two deaths and nine hospitalizations so far. “Much of the chaos is beginning to die down,” said Niedenthal. “This will continue to get better.” (Source: [BBC]() Near Miss Onlookers Duck as Plane Makes Terrifying ‘Lowest Ever’ Landing Skiathos airport has a particularly short runway bookended by beaches, so pilots have to come in low. But a group of adrenaline junkies got more than they bargained for when a WizzAir jet very nearly grazed their heads. A [video]( shows spectators ducking for cover as the plane kicks up plumes of dust before making a textbook landing. Aviation enthusiasts agreed that this landing was the lowest ever at the Greek island, beating a 2013 Air Italy flight. “High temperature and very short runway, you have to do a deep landing to maximise the available runway for stop,” explained one commenter. (Source: [LadBible]() Langya Virus Should We Be Worried About the New Virus in China? Scientists in eastern China have identified a new animal virus that can infect people. Experts aren’t overly concerned as the Langya henipavirus isn’t fatal — symptoms range from a cough to pneumonia — and it doesn’t spread easily among humans. Since 2018 only 35 people have caught LayV and the cases don’t appear to be linked. Major outbreaks of infectious diseases are usually preceded by several false starts, though, so epidemiologist Emily Gurley appreciates the researchers’ work. “If we are actively looking for those sparks, then we are in a much better position to stop or to find something early.” (Source: [Nature]() Justice Delayed After 22-Year Legal Battle With Railways Indian Man Wins — A Quarter In 1999, Tungnath Chaturvedi was charged 20 rupees (about 25 cents) too much for train tickets from Mathura to Moradabad. When his request for a refund was refused, Chaturvedi — a lawyer by trade — filed suit. Now, 100 hearings and two decades later, the company’s been ordered to pay him a fine of $188 and to refund him the 20 rupees, with interest. “It’s not the money that matters. This was always about a fight for justice and a fight against corruption, so it was worth it,” he said, adding that his family had tried to discourage him from pursuing the case. (Source: [BBC]() Feeling the Heat Manchester United Suffers Worst Start to Season in 101 Years Losing 4-0 to lowly Brentford was bad enough. Even worse, [three of the goals involved shambolic defending]( and the defeat was sealed as early as the 35th minute. New coach Erik ten Hag pulled no punches in his [post-match interview](: “It’s rubbish. It’s poor. We need higher standards than that, that’s clear.” But scraping his team off the bottom of the Premier League table will be easier said than done. In contrast, Manchester City is in first place — but a cancer charity has slammed them for banning fans from bringing sunscreen into the stadium despite a searing U.K. heatwave. (Sources: [The Sun](, [The Guardian]() Catch the Newest Episodes of The Carlos Watson Show, Season 4! COMMUNITY What else are you curious about? 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