Today, Ukraine sends drones to Crimea and Moscow. An Ecuadorian presidential candidate is assassinated, Disney loses millions, and wildfires devastate Hawaiian Island. From TLDR News, this is your daily briefing for Thursday 10th August, 2023. Ukraine's counter-offensive appears to be in full swing this morning, as it's been reported that their drones have targeted both Crimea and just outside of Moscow.
For their part, Russia has claimed that they shot down 13 of the drones using air-defense equipment. They additionally said that some of the drones crashed into the Black Sea without reaching their targets. Right now, no casualties have been reported. Ukraine's use of drones has ticked up in recent weeks and months, with Moscow frequently blaming them for attacks deep inside Russian territory.
These attacks today have come on the same day that Poland has sent thousands of additional troops to the Belarus border. The Polish defense minister announced that 10,000 troops will be moved to the border in order to scare the aggressor so that it does not dare to attack us. Belarus has been a long-standing ally of Russia, and there have been reports that the Wagner mercenary group has been stationed there. Belarusian President Lukashenko has frequently stated that he's holding these Wagner mercenaries back from attacking Poland.
This week, Western powers have imposed further sanctions on Belarus. The US, for example, has made it a crime for people to make business deals with Belavia, the Belarusian airline. They additionally blacklisted a Belarusian tobacco company, which is owned by a mogul that's close to Lukashenko. Explaining their decision to impose sanctions, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the United States continues to stand with the brave people of Belarus, as they seek a country grounded in the rule of law, respect for human rights, and an accountable, democratically elected government.
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 on your podcast app to listen along. Ecuador has been rocked by the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, with just over a week to go until the election. He was shot dead while leaving a campaign rally in the capital keto on Wednesday, and the suspect in the killing later died of his injuries following a shootout with security forces. Six people have meanwhile been detained by police in connection with the incident.
Villavicencio, who had mostly been polling in third or fourth place, was a member of the National Assembly, and was known for speaking out against organized crime, corruption, his assassination comes just weeks after another act of political violence, which saw the mayor of Manta shot dead. Following Wednesday's assassination, President Guillermo Lasso, who is not running for re-election, declared a state of emergency, but said the election would go ahead as planned, while also pointing the finger at organized crime groups, who he said will feel the full weight of the law. Villavicencio, during his time as a journalist, had been an outspoken and vocal critic of former President Rafael Correa, who in response to the killing tweeted, Ecuador has become a failed state. Those who intend to sow even more hatred with this new tragedy, I hope they understand that it only continues to destroy us.
Meanwhile, Louisa Gonzales, the presidential front runner who also comes from Correa's party, expressed her horror at the assassination, and vowed this vile act will not go unpunished. So that's what's been happening in Ecuador. Let's move and discuss some business news. There's more sign of trouble over at Disney this week, with them posting a loss of $460 million in the last quarter, down from $1.4 billion profit in the same quarter last year.
So what's causing this slump? Well, they're having major issues across the board. They later slate off movies all underperformed expectations, including the new Indiana Jones, the live-action Little Mermaid, and Pixar's Elemental. Their TV divisions are also underperforming, with failing advertising rates across the industry hurting Disney's TV offering.
Movies and TV have been a soft spot for Disney for a while, but even their theme parks long a bright spot for the company are beginning to struggle. The park division did post a 13% increase in revenue, but that was largely thanks to reopening in China, with their domestic parks seeing sales slumps. It seems then that Disney is hurting on essentially all fronts. So what are they doing about it?
Well, they've announced that they're going to be increasing the price of Disney+, as well as rolling out ad-supported plans in the UK, Europe, and Canada. Their ESPN division has also announced that they've agreed a $2 billion deal with gambling company Pen Entertainment to open an ESPN Sportsbook, something that the family-friendly brand once said they'd never do. But with the foundations of the house of mouse crumbling, it seems they're running out of choices. If you want more business stories like this, then our channel, TLDR Business, we launched this week with a new video about the insane marketing behind the Barbie movie, and how Uber finally made a profit.
Check it out by searching TLDR Business. Apocalyptic wildfires have left at least 36 people dead on Hawaii's Maui Island, as strong winds fanned flames that tore through the city of Lahaina. A state of emergency has been declared and thousands have been forced to evacuate, while a huge search and rescue operation is underway at the time of writing. More than 11,000 travelers have been evacuated from the island via Maui Airport, as airlines have dropped fares and offered waivers to help people leave.
Though evacuation efforts had earlier been hampered by power outages and the forced closure of roads due to the fire. Much of Lahaina, which is a popular tourist destination, has been destroyed according to Hawaii Governor Josh Green. 14 people had to be rescued after jumping from the harbor into the sea to avoid the fires. Climate researchers have described the speed at which the flames spread as unnerving.
Much of the island of Maui is currently under moderate drought, meaning conditions are hot and dry. Additionally, the fire was made worse by Hurricane Dora, which, while being hundreds of miles away, sends strong winds towards Maui, which fanned the flames. The state's business and tourism director said local people have lost everything, they've lost their house, they've lost their animals, it's devastating. In the final uplifting story today, we discuss blood donations in the US.
The American Red Cross announced on Monday that more gay and bisexual men would be able to donate blood. This follows updated guidance by the US Food and Drug Administration. The FDA changed its guidelines in May, so that men in monogamous sexual relationships with other men will be able to donate blood. About this, the organisation said the Red Cross is committed to achieving an inclusive blood donation process that treats all potential donors with equality and respect.
Finally, following the recent assassination attempt on President Zelensky, which we discussed in today's TLDR EU video and the murder of the Ecuadorian presidential candidate we discussed earlier, I sat down with Rory to discuss other examples of political assassinations, the stories behind them, and what happened next. That's our daily discussion exclusively on Nebula. The TLDR writing team hosts these daily discussions most days, diving deeper into a new story we write about and unpacking the hidden details that they found fascinating, but that were either too long or too academic to make it into the final script. If you want to check this series out, you can find the episodes exclusively on Nebula.
The best news is that Nebula is less than two pounds a month and provides you with ant-free and exclusive videos from TLDR and a ton of incredible content from other creators like Johnny Harris, Real Life Law and Legal Eagle. Check it out by clicking the link in the description and make sure you use our link so they know that you came from us.