5 things you need to know this morning: Aug. 11, 2022

Start your day off right with five things you need to know this morning.

Five things you need to know

1. French firefighters struggling against 'monster' wildfire

More than a thousand firefighters are struggling against a "monster" blaze in France that has destroyed close to 7,000 hectares of woodland. The wildfire, which is burning near Bordeaux, has so far forced 10,000 residents to flee.

VIDEO: Firefighters battle a fire in Hostens, in southwest France's Gironde, on the border with the Landes department. Close to 6,800 hectares of pine forest have gone up in smoke. pic.twitter.com/d7zP1zp5sa

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) August 11, 2022

2. 'Parasite apartments' to be phased out in South Korea

South Korea is set to phase out so-called "Parasite apartments" after two women and a teenager died in one of the semi-basement homes during flooding in Seoul. The cramped apartments were highlighted in the Oscar-winning 2019 movie Parasite.

South Korea's capital will ban basement apartments like those seen in the film "Parasite" after 4 people drowned in them during floods.

Victims include a child and a woman with a disability. About 200,000 mostly low-income families live in Seoul's "banjiha" apartments. pic.twitter.com/KYqIbCvZMD

— AJ+ (@ajplus) August 11, 2022

3. Iraqi actress sues Economist over article about overweight Arab women

An Iraqi actress is suing the Economist newspaper after it used a photograph of her in an article about women in the Arab world being fatter than men. Enas Taleb said the image was edited and used out of context in the story.

Iraqi actress to sue the Economist over use of her pic in article about 'fat' women https://t.co/iUU6zpOdQ6 pic.twitter.com/sUYily68fZ

— New York Post (@nypost) August 11, 2022

4. Iranian charged with planning to kill John Bolton

An Iranian man has been charged by American prosecutors with plotting to kill former Trump advisor John Bolton. Shahram Poursafi – a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – is in Iran, however, and therefore beyond the reach of the US courts.

Member of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Charged with Plot to Murder Former National Security Advisor John Bolton @FBIWFO #NatSec https://t.co/FJhAqyZKRU pic.twitter.com/q1ieZ5YHF5

— FBI (@FBI) August 10, 2022

5. Disney overtakes Netflix in streaming race

Disney now has more paid subscribers than Netflix, according to newly released figures. The firm – which is planning to launch a new ad-supported service in the US this year – said it had 221.1 million subscribers across its three streaming platforms in July.

Disney says its streaming service, Disney+, added 14.4 million subscribers in the April-June quarter, putting Disney slightly ahead of Netflix in the streaming wars. https://t.co/B6Lf0FPhbD

— The Associated Press (@AP) August 10, 2022

And lastly...

In stranger news, a prototype chatbot created by tech giant Meta has said the firm's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, exploits its users for money. The BlenderBot3 told a reporter that "our country is divided and [Zuckerberg] didn't help that at all."

Meta's chat bot is spilling the beans on Mark Zuckerberg - "His company exploits people for money and he doesn't care. It needs to stop!" 😲https://t.co/LJbJIcyVp8

— Dale Drinkwater (@DaleDrinkwater) August 11, 2022