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Start your day smarter with the most important world news, plus intriguing and offbeat stories. www.ozy.com [OZY]( [OZY]() Your World. Bold & Bright [Presidential Daily Brief]( Sponsored by [BetterHelp]( 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. Nov 17, 2022 Today Republicans have clinched a slim majority in the House after picking up a California seat. A North Korean missile landed in the Sea of Japan as its top diplomat warned the West of retribution. Nearly 6,000 political prisoners are being released in Myanmar, including high-profile foreigners. And Haiti is battling a cholera outbreak as Port-au-Prince is besieged by gang violence. All this and more in today’s PDB. [Get Professional, Affordable Therapy Online]( [BetterHelp]( The holidays are right around the corner, and that comes with feelings of stress, anxiety, and loneliness. A professional therapist can help you navigate all that comes with this (or any) time of year. Join over 3 million others getting help with a professional therapist on [BetterHelp](, the world's largest licensed therapy platform that’s done completely online! Getting started is easy: take a quick quiz and get matched with a therapist that fits your needs in 48 hours. You’ll schedule your first live session via phone, video, or live chat, and you can message your therapist at anytime, from anywhere. Your monthly subscription also includes unlimited messaging, group webinars, journaling tools, and more. [BetterHelp]( offers therapy for individuals, couples, and teens. Sign up today and save 25% off – that’s up to $75! [Sign Up Now]( IMPORTANT Minor Majority A Week Later, It’s Official: The House Turns Red Republicans are set to retake the House of Representatives after Rep. Mike Garcia of California held on Wednesday night, giving the party its 218th seat to claim the majority. It’s well short of the GOP’s predicted “red wave,” but still gives them enough leverage to counter the Democrat-controlled Senate and upset the White House’s legislative agenda ahead of 2024’s presidential election. President Joe Biden is unconcerned: “I will work with anyone — Republican or Democrat — willing to work with me to deliver results for them,” he said. Some tight races, particularly in California, will not be resolved for some time. (Sources: [WaPo](, [The Hill]() One More Time North Korean Missile — and Threats — Shake Peninsula Expect “fiercer military responses,” Pyongyang warned Thursday after launching another ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan. North Korea has launched an unprecedented number of missiles this year, but this was the first launch in about a week. It comes after a trilateral summit between the U.S., South Korea and Japan concluded Sunday, with President Biden vowing to protect against North Korean belligerence with America’s “full range of capabilities,” including nuclear weapons. North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said the trio was calling for “more serious, realistic and inevitable threat” against themselves just hours before the launch. (Sources: [Reuters](, [Kyodo]() Jail Break Foreigners Among Thousands to Be Released in Myanmar Junta forces, which seized power in February 2021, plan to release 5,774 prisoners across the country Thursday as part of traditional National Day commemorations. Those expected to be freed include Australian national Sean Turnell, a longtime economic advisor to ousted de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi; Britain’s former envoy Vicky Bowman; Japanese journalist Toru Kubota; prominent artist and activist Htein Lin; and dozens of other high-profile political prisoners. An estimated 600 women are included in the figure, junta authorities said Thursday. Families of the detained have gathered at the infamous Insein Prison in Yangon ahead of their release. (Sources: [AP](, [France24]() Crisis Haiti Is Struggling Under Violence, Cholera Outbreak Around 60% of Port-au-Prince is currently controlled by armed gangs, according to Haiti’s United Nations humanitarian coordinator Ulrika Richardson. Gangs are using “sexual violence, including rape … to instill fear and to punish and to terrorize the local populations” in an attempt to expand influence in the city. The stark warning comes as a cholera outbreak worsens across the country. Public health authorities have reported 700 cases since October, including 144 deaths. A further 7,000 suspected cases are under investigation. Haiti faces a public health “triple threat,” one expert said, with cholera, COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus all spreading. (Sources: [Al Jazeera](, [Reuters]() Briefly Here are some things you should know about today: On guard. In an annual threat update, British intelligence agency MI5 warned that Iran has threatened to kill or kidnap at least 10 people in the U.K. this year, while over 100 suspected Russian operatives have been refused entry. (Source: [Sky News]() Not us. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has “no doubt” the missile that killed two in Poland Tuesday did not originate in his country, despite NATO’s initial report that it was a misdirected Ukrainian defense missile. (Source: [CNBC]() Told. Chinese President Xi Jinping scolded Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the sidelines of the G-20 summit over a conversation that had been leaked to the press. Trudeau responded, “In Canada we believe in a free and open and frank dialogue.” (Source: [CNN]() //link.ozy.com/click/29725296.75119/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cub3p5LmNvbS90cnVlLWFuZC1zdG9yaWVzL2pvaG4tbGVnZW5kLWFzLXlvdXZlLW5ldmVyLXNlZW4taGltLzQ1MzU5Mi8_dXRtX3Rlcm09T1pZJnV0bV9jYW1wYWlnbj1wZGImdXRtX2NvbnRlbnQ9VGh1cnNkYXlfMTEuMTcuMjI/5cc372683f92a4331dae6934B4f79616c [WATCH NOW]( INTRIGUING Flying Vectors A Bat Discovery Could Prevent Catastrophe In remote northern Australia, the Hendra virus is transmitted from bats to horses via urine or feces. “When people treat sick horses, that's when people get sick,” said disease ecologist Raina Plowright, who studies pandemic prevention. The virus doesn’t spread as easily between humans: Only seven cases have been documented, but four of those died. With each jump from bat to horse to human the virus can mutate and strengthen. “We're talking about a catastrophic, civilization-changing event,” Plowright warned. But new research shows that hungry bats during food shortages carry huge Hendra viral loads — a discovery that could be key to curbing future pandemics. (Source: [NPR]() ‘Ponzi’ Pain Investors Take Aim at FTX’s Celebrity Endorsers A proposed class action lawsuit targeting disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried for his alleged “Ponzi scheme” crypto platform also wants Larry David, Tom Brady and Stephen Curry to pay up. The trio, along with Gisele Bundchen, Shaquille O’Neal and Naomi Osaka, touted FTX as everything a non-expert needed “to buy, sell, and trade crypto safely.” The platform is under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice over possible securities violations and potential criminal activity, while investors have lost an estimated $1 billion. The complaint called FTX’s business model a “house of cards” that targeted unsophisticated investors. (Source: [Hollywood Reporter]() Joyous In Pakistan, ‘Joyland’ Finally Comes to the Big Screen The story of a romance between a married man and a transgender woman was chosen as Pakistan’s official Oscars submission and earned fans abroad after snagging the jury prize at Cannes. But back home, Islamist hardliners convinced the government to block its domestic release. Yesterday the Central Board of Film Censors reversed course: “The distributors can screen the film from tomorrow morning if they wish.” While transgender rights are legally protected in Pakistan, many in the community face social stigma. An aide to the prime minister celebrated the ban’s reversal, saying, “Transgender people are as much citizens of Pakistan as anyone else.” (Sources: [AFP](, [Hollywood Reporter]() On High ‘Snowdon’ No More for Wales’ Famous Mountain Call it Yr Wyddfa. That’s the Welsh name — pronounced “er with-va” — for the mountain formerly known as Snowdon. The park in which it’s found will now go by Eryri, pronounced “eh-ruh-ri,” rather than Snowdonia. Last year, a petition to change the name garnered 5,000 signatures, sparking the National Park Authority into “decisive action.” At 3,560 feet, the mountain is Wales’ highest peak and draws around 400,000 visitors a year. They’ve long found both the English and Welsh names on signs and pamphlets, but it's hoped the formalization will be a benefit to the Welsh language and the area’s history. (Source: [BBC]() Return Serb Djokovic Hopes for ‘Great Australian Summer’ Novak Djokovic is planning a return to Melbourne’s Australian Open a year after he was deported and barred from the country until 2025 for not having a COVID-19 vaccination. The nine-time Open winner said he “could not receive better news for sure” after Immigration Minister Andrew Giles confirmed the Serbian superstar would be granted a temporary visa for next year’s tournament, beginning in January. Australia's requirement that all visitors be vaccinated against the virus was quietly dropped in July, allowing Giles to cancel the ruling — although he added that this does not mean the original decision was an “error.” (Source: [The Guardian]() COMMUNITY What else are you curious about? Share your questions or thoughts with us at OzyCommunity@Ozy.com EPISODE ONE NOW STREAMING! Featuring the WNBA's Didi Richards & Harlem Haberdashery's Ashlee Muhammad [WATCH HERE]( ABOUT OZY OZY is a diverse, global and forward-looking media and entertainment company focused on “the New and the Next.” OZY creates space for fresh perspectives, and offers new takes on everything from news and culture to technology, business, learning and entertainment. [www.ozy.com]( / #OZY Curiosity. Enthusiasm. Action. That’s OZY! 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