Roman Protasevich "Confesses", Magawa The Hero Rat Retires

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Belarus authorities have released a nearly hour long interview with Roman Protasevich, showing him confessing to organizing anti-government protests and praising long-standing president Alexander Lukashenko.

• Protasevich’s family and allies say he had been coerced into making the confession. “I know my son very well and I believe that he would never say such things. They broke him and forced him to say what was needed,” Protasevich’s father told AFP.
• The 26-year-old opposition journalist was arrested by Belarus authorities after they intercepted a plane he was on and forced it to land in Minsk.
• The “hijacking” caused an international outcry. The EU has banned Belarusian airlines from flying over EU countries and several EU airlines have stopped flying over Belarus.

Also happening around the world

• 🇸🇻 El Salvador has become the first country in the world to adopt cryptocurrency Bitcoin as legal tender
• 🇫🇷 A man who slapped French President Emmanuel Macron in public has been sentenced to four months in prison
• 🇷🇸 A Serbian volleyball player who pulled a racist slant-eye gesture in a game against Thailand has been suspended for two matches
• 🇳🇬 Nigeria’s government has banned Twitter after the social media platform deleted a tweet from the president that violated its rules

For the first time in history, Australian Fashion Week held an all-indigenous runway show, curated by Grace Lillian Lee, a Meriam Mer woman.

• Lee is the founder of First Nations Fashion + Design (FNFD), a not-for-profit Indigenous corporation that aims to support the growth of the Indigenous fashion industry
• The show featured all-Indigenous talent, from the designers and models to the stylists and staff.

Magawa, a rat that was awarded a gold medal for his job detecting mines in Cambodia, is retiring after a five year career.

• During his five-year career, the African giant pouched rat sniffed out 71 mines and 38 explosive items over more than 225,000 square metres of land.
• Magawa’s handler said “he is slowing down and and we need to respect his needs,” adding that she will miss working with him.
• He will stay on for a few more weeks to mentor a group of 20 newly trained landmine detection rats before retiring

More Good News For Your Weekend

• 🇲🇽 More than 100 LGBTQ candidates ran in Mexico’s mid-term election, setting a new record for representation in the country 🌈
• 🇨🇳 A herd of wild elephants wandering across China finally laid down and took a nap after walking for 500 kilometers 🐘
• 🇬🇧 Meghan Markle has given birth to a baby girl named Lilibet Elizabeth, her second child with Prince Harry.

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