Our daily tour of the world

🇧🇷 Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro has declared war on local claw machines. On Wednesday, local police carried out 16 search warrants targeting claw machines, which officials allege are rigged, illegal games of chance run by organized crime rings (who also operate illegal slot machines). Law enforcement seized claw machines, laptops, tablets, cell phones, a firearm, and counterfeit plushies. This week’s raids mark the second claw machine crackdown in recent months.

🇮🇳 Indian regulators approved a merger between Disney and local conglomerate Reliance Industries. The $8.5 billion merger, approved on Wednesday, will form the largest entertainment company in India, with 120 TV channels and two streaming services. The joint venture – in which Reliance will have majority stake – includes the rights to broadcast most major sports events in India, including all cricket matches, the English Premier League, and Wimbledon. The merger is expected to be completed in the next six months.

🌏 Australia has the highest life expectancy among high-income, English-speaking countries. In a new study, researchers from USC and Penn State compared data from six high-income anglophone countries between 1990-2018. The researchers found Australia had higher life expectancy for both men and women across the entire timespan, largely thanks to “superior healthcare performance” and lower mortality rates related to firearms and drug overdoses. Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK, and the US rounded out the list (in that order).