The Most Dangerous Place on the Planet

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]( 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. Dec 12, 2022 Today After nine months in Russian hands, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant remains one misstep away from total meltdown. Following the deaths of two teenage protesters, Peru’s new president attempted to calm tensions by promising an early election. Iran executed a second person over the ongoing protests — and human rights campaigners say it’s only going to get worse. And analysis of midterm results suggests that young voters are losing enthusiasm for Democrats. All this and more in today’s PDB. [OGA]( Spelman College sophomore Kenya Handfield began advocating for children and social justice in 2015 with her initiative, Kenya’s Book Drive, designed to close the literacy gap for kids in Black and minority communities. Through her newest initiatives, Project FRESH and Project FRESH+, Kenya has helped raise $1.7 million to assist kids with college funding. “No person should have to defer or deny a dream because of financial instability, and this platform is foundational in closing the achievement gap experienced by thousands of minority people.” Kenya’s OZY Genius Award will help her achieve her goal of reaching more minority youths and abolishing educational inequalities once and for all. [WATCH MORE HERE]( IMPORTANT Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant Still the Most Dangerous Place on Earth More than nine months since its capture by Russian forces, Europe’s largest nuclear plant is still in crisis. Russia’s using it as cover to launch attacks on nearby towns — and they claim Ukraine’s been shelling them back. Kyiv blames Russian false flag attacks. “You can hear the outgoing bang of the shooting and then the two or three seconds later the shell lands, so it is coming from very close and there aren’t any Ukrainian forces that close,” said a local mayor. A direct strike would have catastrophic consequences — but even a hit on Ukraine’s power grid could trigger a meltdown. (Source: [The Guardian]() Peru in Peril Two Die in Protests, President Promises to Bring Elections Forward Two teenagers were killed during clashes with police in the southern city of Andahuaylas, “possibly as a result of gunshot wounds.” Rural regions and the capital, Lima, have been racked by protests since former President Pedro Castillo was removed and swiftly replaced by his VP, Dina Boluarte. Following the deaths, Boluarte backtracked on her commitment to serve out Castillo’s full term and vowed to bring elections forward two years, to April 2024. But Congresswoman Maria Taipe Coronado — a former Boluarte ally — wanted more: “The death of this compatriot is the responsibility of Mrs. Dina for not submitting her resignation.” (Sources: [AP](, [Reuters]() Public Hanging Iran Executes a Second Person Over Ongoing Protests Majidreza Rahnavard was hanged early Monday after being found guilty of “enmity against God” for supposedly killing two members of the paramilitary Basij Resistance Force. But Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam of Iran Human Rights has major doubts: “Rahnavard was sentenced to death based on coerced confessions, after a grossly unfair process and a show trial.” At least 488 protesters have been killed by security forces and a further 18,259 have been detained since the protests began Sept. 13. Amiry-Moghaddam fears the worst, saying, “Thousands of detained protesters, and a dozen death sentences already issued. There is a serious risk of mass-execution of protesters.” (Source: [BBC]() Warning Signs Under-30s Seem to Be Losing Enthusiasm for Dems In 2020, 61% of voters under 30 cast ballots for President Joe Biden over his Republican predecessor. Two years earlier, when Democrats retook the House in the 2018 midterms, the split was even more pronounced, with 64% of young voters favoring Dems compared to 34% for the GOP. But while Biden hailed their turnout in the 2022 midterms as “historic,” analysis suggests young voters’ support may be cooling: Just 53% of voters under 30 went for Democratic House candidates while 41% opted for Republicans. However, voters aged 30-44 backed some key Democratic candidates at rates exceeding Biden’s 2020 support from the age bracket. (Source: [AP]() Briefly Here are some things you should know about today: Anger management. A friend of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was one of three women killed when a man barged into a committee meeting of a Rome apartment block shouting, “I’ll kill you all.” (Source: [BBC]() Jersey explosion. The death toll from an explosion that destroyed an apartment building on the British island of Jersey rose to five, with a further four people still unaccounted for. (Source: [Reuters]() Justice delayed. A man accused of helping make the bomb that destroyed Pan Am Flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in December 1988 is finally in U.S. hands. He’d been in custody in Libya for unrelated crimes. (Source: [CNN]()  INTRIGUING Base Editing Groundbreaking Gene Therapy Clears UK Teen’s Untreatable Cancer Chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant were no match for Alyssa’s leukemia. “Eventually I would have passed away,” said the 13-year-old. But the team at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital had other ideas. They “base edited” donor T-cells, modifying the molecular structure of specific elements of genetic code, and sent them in to attack Alyssa’s cancer. Six months and one bone marrow transplant later, she’s leukemia-free. Nine others are now receiving the treatment. Dr. David Liu, one of the inventors of base editing, said the technique’s applications are “just beginning” and he looks forward to humans “taking control of our genomes.” (Sources: [BBC](, [The Guardian]() Wolf Births Wolves Return to California of Their Own Accord Gray wolves were [hunted to extinction in California in the 1920s](. There’s never been an effort to reintroduce them, but starting in 2011 animals from Oregon began to realize that the living’s good in the Golden State. California now has three wolf packs, two of which are already reproducing annually. “It’s really a remarkable thing that has happened here,” said biologist and wolf advocate Amaroq Weiss. “It’s pretty rare where you have nearly eradicated a species and it starts to come back on its own.” Weiss hopes the removal of state protections for wolves in Oregon won’t hit California too hard. (Source: [The Guardian]() Hive Mentality South African Man Killed by Bees He Believed to Be His Ancestors Some African cultures believe that ancestors take the form of bees to visit their living relatives. So when a swarm settled on his property, Nkosentsha Njimbana consulted a traditional healer who told him to perform the ukugxotha iinyosi, dispersing bees, ceremony. While Njimbana was explaining the ritual to the bees, they attacked and killed him. “If you are a Xhosa person, you don't run away and call municipal workers to remove the bees because bees are your visitors," said traditional expert Loyiso Nqevu. He speculated that Njimbana may have tried to disperse the bees without trying to understand the ancestors’ message. (Source: [News 24]() Gold Rush World’s Oldest Jeans Sell For $114K On Sept. 12, 1857, [the S.S. Central America went down](, taking with it 30,000 pounds of gold and 425 lives. The wreck was discovered in 1988, resulting in a [slew of lawsuits]( and the sale of tens of millions of dollars of gold. Now artifacts recovered from the wreck have also gone under the hammer — among them a pair of work pants described as the oldest known pair of jeans. While some speculate they may have been made by Levi Strauss, company historian Tracey Panek said, “The pants are not Levi’s nor do I believe they are miner’s work pants.” (Source: [AP]() Grant Wahl Leading US Soccer Journalist Dies at World Cup Match As the fractious quarterfinal between Argentina and Netherlands neared its conclusion, Wahl — who’d just celebrated his 48th birthday — went into acute distress. Medical personnel at the stadium performed chest compressions for about 20 minutes. During 24 years at Sports Illustrated and several years podcasting, Wahl established himself as “America’s preeminent soccer journalist,” [said Chris Wittyngham]( — and the U.S. Soccer Federation credited him with “helping to drive interest in and respect for our beautiful game.” Earlier in the World Cup Wahl was temporarily detained for wearing a rainbow shirt in support of LGBTQ rights, but he was eventually allowed in. (Source: [NYT]() NOW STREAMING FROM OZY STUDIO Uniting and celebrating women in sneaker culture and creating a space for everyone who loves dope kicks and fly 'fits. Check out Sneaker Fiends, hosted by The Notorious KIA -- new episodes drop every Thursday. Would you like to hear the stories of brave women who have turned hardship into crusades of love? Join the former Mayor of San Juan, C. Yulin Cruz, as she brings you these compelling stories in OZY Studio's new podcast Sheroics! COMMUNITY What else are you curious about? Share your questions or thoughts with us at OzyCommunity@Ozy.com 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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