The long-awaited arrival of American F-16 fighter jets in Ukraine marks "a new chapter" in the war against Russia. So said Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday, confirming for the first time that the aircraft had started operations against Russian forces. 

Kyiv has been urging its Nato allies to provide the supersonic "Fighting Falcons" jets since the early days of the conflict, but securing US approval and training pilots to use the aircraft has been a lengthy process.

What did the commentators say?
The F-16s "offer a significant improvement" to the jets that Ukraine inherited from the USSR, said CNN. They can provide air cover for ground troops and critical infrastructure, or attack Russian targets and enemy planes. "Better late than never," said The Economist. Although the number provided is "too few", the importance of the F-16s "should not be underestimated". The immediate impact will be a "boost to morale", and they could also "lessen the impunity" with which Russian glide-bomb aircrafts have been "pummelling Ukraine's front lines". 

Zelenskyy declined to specify "the numbers involved", said the Kyiv Post, but he admitted that the total tally of jets and trained pilots was "not enough". Ukrainian officials also warned that the long delay in delivering the F-16s could have allowed Russia time to adapt its tactics. 

Russia has already benefited, said Robert Clark, director of defence and security at Civitas, in The Telegraph. "The sad truth is that this war could have been won a long time ago." It may now never be won unless the West can "find its collective courage" and provide the further weapons that Ukraine needs before it's too late.

What next?
Ukraine should be flying 20 of the fighter jets by the end of 2024. "Many of our men are currently studying and training," said Zelenskyy. But Ukraine needs at least 216 jets to achieve air superiority, according to the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

F-16s "should not be viewed as a game-changing weapon", Mykola Bielieskov, a research fellow at the National Institute for Strategic Studies think tank, concluded in an analysis for the Atlantic Council. They cannot "change the course of the war".

Widespread boycotts in the Middle East are "hammering" major brands such as Coca-Cola, KFC and Starbucks, said the Financial Times. "From Egypt to Indonesia and Saudi Arabia to Pakistan, consumers are shunning goods" produced by popular food and drink multinationals in protest against "their perceived support for Israel in the war in Gaza".

'One in three' join boycott
An Edelman poll of 15,000 consumers across 15 countries found that more one in three respondents were "boycotting a brand viewed as supporting a side in Israel's war on Gaza", said the Middle East Eye. And "oil-rich Gulf states and large Muslim-majority countries" are "leading the way". In Saudi Arabia, 71% of respondents said they were taking part, followed by the UAE and Indonesia.

The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement, a non-violent, Palestinian-led campaign targeting Israel's economy, has been gaining traction for the past two decades, but has garnered significant further support since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict.

'Now hitting revenues'
The targeting of brands may have "symbolic importance", said foreign affairs think-tank Stimson, but Israel's economic "strength lies in sectors such as technology, pharmaceuticals and defence", areas that are "less susceptible to consumer boycotts".

Yet for the individual affected brands, boycott action is "now hitting revenues", said the FT. The intensity of the boycotts was described as "unprecedented" by Amarpal Sandhu, the chief executive of Americana Restaurants, owner of brands including KFC, Pizza Hut and Krispy Kreme. His company announced earlier this week that its second-quarter profits were down by 40% compared with the same period last year. Mondelez and L'Oréal both reported a 2% hit to sales growth as a result of boycott action.

While many multinational corporations have been able to "absorb the hit to sales as a result of their geographic and category spread", said the FT, franchise operators in countries "where boycotts are rife" are getting off "less lightly".

But the rejection of Western products has also "presented a crucial opportunity for new emerging local brands", said The Jerusalem Post. In Egypt, products from homegrown soft-drinks company Spiro Spathis have "become a preferred substitute for Coca-Cola and Pepsi throughout the country".

Anti-tourist protests have erupted this summer in popular holiday destinations including Barcelona and Venice, where locals are blaming high visitor numbers for overcrowding, strained resources and unaffordable housing.

The good news for travellers hoping to unwind without worsening life for local residents is that there are plenty of destinations which are still welcoming tourists with open arms in 2024.

Aveiro, Portugal
If Barcelona feels like a no-go but you are craving a sunny city-break, take a look across the Iberian peninsula at Aveiro in Portugal. 
The coastal city is known for its rich history, iconic striped beach houses, and impressive canal system – a feature that has seen Aveiro dubbed "the Venice of Portugal". 

Lucca, Italy
The picturesque cobblestone streets of this "fairytale-like city with towering Renaissance walls" are littered with one-of-a-kind shops and historic cafes, said Condé Nast Traveller.

Offering "all the charm of a Tuscan town while boasting enough art, culture and food to rival many a big city", said Time Out, the proximity of Lucca to Pisa and Florence makes it a great base for sightseeing.

Berat, Albania
"Lively and embracing", Berat is a "stunning 'city of a thousand windows'" centred on "two opposing hillsides of tightly terraced Ottoman houses" crowned by a citadel, said Fiona Dunlop in The Guardian.

Berat may not be a household name, but for the traveller willing to look beyond the beaten track, Unesco-protected Ottoman architecture and sprawling vineyards await, along with the 13th-century Berat Castle and a host of museums.

Why Donald Trump is So Scared of Women Like Kamala Harris – and Me
Jami Floyd for the Daily Beast
White men like Donald Trump "fear" the new and intersectional American identity of Kamala Harris "so deeply" because they "lack the imagination to understand it", writes Jami Floyd. They "choose to cling to a fading mythology of 'America' as a land founded by white men for white men", but Harris' "greatest strength as a leader is to embrace American multiculturalism as the enduring tradition of who and what we are as a nation".

I fear books are going the way of vinyl records – a rarified pursuit for hobbyists
Gaby Hinsliff in The Guardian
"Holidays were made for sinking blissfully" into a pile of books, writes Gaby Hinsliff. "Yet, by the pool this year", I saw "a striking number of people scrolling on their phones instead", some with an unopened paperback "lying forlornly" by their sun lounger. "Not for nothing" did Instagram Stories get its name – we're "increasingly getting our narrative fix from short videos". But "like snacking on junk food", it "won't nourish us".

Why a latte has ended my relationship with Pret
Emily Braeger for the i news site
After Pret was revealed to be the coffee chain with the biggest price hikes in the past five years, "how many caffeine connoisseurs will cut ties with their once-favourite espresso spot?" asks Emily Braeger. "I certainly have." I was "flabbergasted" when Pret began charging £4.05 for a "simple latte". Consumers understand that businesses are "feeling the effects of high inflation, and have been for a couple of years now", but "so are we".