Today, we see another attack on Russia's bridge to Crimea. Around's morality police return to the streets, the U.S. and China revive climate talks, and a one-letter typo leaks millions of U.S. military emails.
From today on news, this is your daily briefing for Monday the 17th of July. Today, two people have been killed and their child injured in an apparent attack on the Kirch Bridge, linking the Crimean Peninsula to Russia. Russia officials described the incident this morning as an emergency, with reports suggesting that it was the result of an explosion. As well-explosant for the Russian Foreign Ministry said that it was an attack carried out by the Kyiv regime, which it described as terrorist, and having all the hallmarks of an international organized crime group, adding that all decisions were made with direct participation of American and British intelligence agencies and politicians.
As ever, though, Ukrainian officials have remained somewhat ambiguous about the attack, with the BBC citing a Ukrainian security service statement, saying all details regarding the explosion will be announced after the victory. However, a Ukrainian security service source has reportedly told AFP that they did carry out a special operation using seaborn drones. With them going on to say that it was difficult to reach the bridge, but in the end, it was possible to do it. Now, this 12-mile road and rail bridge was personally opened by Vladimir Putin in 2018, and has been described as a prestige project for him.
It's not just a reputation of it either. This served as a vital supply link for Russian forces fighting in Ukraine, so it's a significant target, not just symbolically, but also strategically. Now, videos and photos appear to show a section of the roadway damaged, although Russian officials say that there was no damage to the pillars themselves. More broadly, though, the governor of Russia's Belgorod region said on Telegram that the injured girl was being treated in intensive care, adding the hardest thing is that her parents died.
No one can calm the pain of loss here. Regardless, though, this isn't the first time the bridge has been damaged. In October last year, the bridge was forced to close after a major explosion, later confirmed to be a Ukrainian attack, and which caused serious damage with the bridge only reopening in February of this year. Now, the timing of this most recent attack may have wider implications, though, because today, Monday, is when the UN grain deal is set to expire.
And that's significant, because this agreement has allowed the safe export of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea, and there have been ongoing negotiations brokered by Turkey and the UN to secure an extension of the deal. Now, the Kremlin has since announced that it will end its participation in the agreement, and notified the UN that it is opposed to extending it. The Kremlin says that this has nothing to do with the attack on the bridge, but is instead due to Russian concerns about the agreement not being addressed. Now, there's more on the way, but be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to make the daily briefing part of your daily routine, or just search for us in your podcast app of choice to listen along.
Iran's famous morality police are set to return, with them coming back into place to enforce the country's strict dress code, including the wearing of head coverings by women. This comes exactly 10 months after a 22-year-old died in police custody, having been arrested for allegedly breaching these dress codes. Killing ultimately acted as a catalyst for tens of thousands of Iranians to protest against the government and against the police. And during these protests, as many as 20,000 people were arrested, and 500 more were killed in the unrest.
Now, it was rumored that the morality police have been disbanded in the time since these protests, as their presence on the streets had almost evaporated. This led to women openly defying the dress code in the country, despite protests drying up after the tough crackdowns. However, a police spokesperson has said that the police will launch car and foot patrols to warn, take legal measures, and refer to the judiciary, those who disobey police orders, and disregard the consequences for dressing against the norms. And it seems it's already happening, because marked police vehicles with morality police officers have been seen across Iran over the weekend.
Despite being enforced since the Iranian revolution, and Iranian leaders maintaining that it was an imperative that the dress code should stay in place, there had been signs of a relaxing of this position. Currently, offenders face two months in prison or a fine. However, authorities have proposed the support for the culture of the hijab and chastity bill, which would see higher fines but the removal of a prison sentence for anyone deemed to breach the dress code. Up next, the US and China have revived their talks on climate change after a nearly year long break, while many parts of the world experience record-breaking heat waves.
US climate envoy John Kerry is in Beijing at the moment, meeting with his Chinese counterpart, and is expected to focus on addressing non-CO2 emissions and preparing for the upcoming COP 28 summit. This is the first face-to-face meeting on climate between the two biggest greenhouse gas-emitting countries since talks were suspended late last year, following then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan. Talking about this meeting, Kerry says, what we're trying to do is find ways we can cooperate to actually address the crisis, adding that China is critical to being able to solve this problem. More broadly though, Kerry has praised China's incredible job in building up its renewable energy capacity, but said that this was undercut by the construction of new coal plants.
While these meetings are happening though, extreme weather events are hitting places around the world, severe heat warnings have been declared in the US, Italy, and Greece, with parts of China still experiencing record-breaking heat. Next up, but sticking with the US, a one-letter typo has redirected millions of US military emails to a web operator in the West African nation of Mali. As revealed in a Financial Times report, US military emails end with .myl, while the Marlian domain is .myl, resulting in all sorts of things like diplomatic notes, travel details, passwords, and medical data accidentally being misdirected. One recent misdirected email included the full travel details for the US Army's chief of staff's visit to Indonesia, including hotel addresses, room numbers, itineraries, and more.
And this isn't a new issue either. It was first noticed a decade ago by a Dutch entrepreneur contracted to manage Mali's web domain. Since then, he's collected hundreds of thousands of misdirected emails and has been urging the US to take action for years now. According to Financial Times, his contract expires this month, meaning that control will revert back to the Marlian government, which has fallen out with the West while developing stronger ties with Russia.
Now, none of these emails are marked as classified, but much of the information is sensitive. A retired US Admiral and security officials said, if you have this kind of sustained access, you can generate intelligence even just from unclassified information. Adding, it's one thing when you're dealing with a domain administrator who's trying, even if unsuccessfully, to articulate the concern. It's another if it's a foreign government that sees it as an advantage that they can use.
Now, the Pentagon says that it's aware of the issue and takes all unauthorized disclosure of controlled national security information or controlled unclassified information seriously. And let's hope they do, because soon, these emails could be going directly to the Marlian government. Finally today, after months lost at sea, an Australian sailor and his dog were rescued by a fishing troller. 51-year-old Tim Shaduk and his dog Bella were sailing from Mexico to French Polynesia, but their boat sustained damage during a storm in April.
As such, for two months, they drifted in the Pacific, surviving on rainwater and raw fish. But on Thursday, he was spotted by a helicopter and later rescued by a vessel fishing for tuna. A doctor working with the boat's team said that Shaduk has normal vital signs and is stable and very well, which is very fortunate for him. That's all we have time for on YouTube today, but the briefing isn't over.
That's because this afternoon, Zach and Rory sat down to talk more about the attack on the Crimea Bridge and its implications. In the extended, ad-free edition of The Daily Briefing, which is only available on Nebula. That's a streaming service that we're building with a bunch of our creator friends, many of whom you're likely already watching. That means that by signing up, you not only get an extended, ad-free daily briefing every single day, but you'll also get to watch exclusive ad-free videos from the best educational creators on YouTube.
That's things like real-life laws, incredible modern complex series, which breaks down contemporary disputes around the world, Neo's Under Exposure, which beautifully dives into complex and shadowy topics that you always wanted to know more about, or extremities from Wendover Productions, which uncovers all of the world's most remote places. All those theories are only available on Nebula, just like the extended daily briefing, and a whole bunch of other exclusive teal-yar content, which will never come to YouTube. If you want to sign up, then use the link in the description so that they know you came through us. That helps us out a whole lot, as does watching on Nebula more generally.
So thanks for signing up, and we'll see you on Nebula.