New James Bond actor expected 'within weeks' as 'unexpected' frontrunners emerge

PRESS REVIEW – Monday, November 9: Papers condemn the Kremlin's closure of Russian independent paper Novaya Gazeta on its last day. Also in Russia: leaked numbers suggest that almost half a million Russians have died in the war in Ukraine. Next: NASA is recruiting astronauts who will live and work on the Moon. Finally: who will be the next James Bond? Novaya Gazeta's front-page headline reads: "What will we leave behind?" Moscow has classed the independent paper as a "foreign agent", a label used to stifle dissent and media that don't obey the Kremlin. They received the label back in September, so what followed didn't come as a surprise. In late October, the team received an eviction notice – they have to be gone by November 10 and evict the office that many journalists have called home for decades. Banks also blocked readers' donations, leaving the editorial team without a single source of income. The Times says that Novaya Gazeta was "the last free newspaper in Russia. Now Putin has come for it". The paper writes that for more than 30 years, the Russian paper "has fearlessly defended human rights in Russia". It says that its closure is "widely seen as revenge for its criticism of the invasion of Ukraine". Dmitry Muratov, Novaya Gazeta's co-founder, spoke to the paper. He said that this is the culmination of a long and violent journey that started in 1993, when Mikhail Gorbachev donated money from his Nobel Peace Prize to help establish the paper. El País condemns the closure of Novaya Gazeta, which it describes as a symbol of "great Russian journalism". Its final issue comes after three decades of exposing war crimes, political assassinations and high-level corruption. Also in Russia, a new data leak from the state statistics agency reveals some numbers about the war in Ukraine, The Moscow Times reports. The leaked figures say that more than 450,000 Russians have been killed in the war in Ukraine. Russia hasn't officially disclosed its battlefield losses since September 2022. But if this number is correct, it would make the war the fourth most common cause of death in the country since 2022 and the deadliest conflict since World War II. Next: NASA is expanding its Artemis programme. The Guardian reports that it now wants to send a new generation of astronauts to live and work on the Moon. NASA says the successful candidates would help "shape humanity's future in space". If you're interested, the application deadline is December 3. Applicants must be US citizens and have a master's degree in a related field, such as science or mathematics, or training as a pilot. They must also have three years of "related professional experience". This is all happening as the space agency is currently building a base on the Moon and is planning the first crewed missions to Mars. Finally, who will be the next James Bond? MovieWeb says Robert Pattinson will play the iconic British spy. But according to OK! Magazine, there are three frontrunners: Jack Lowden, Jacob Elordi and Callum Turner. Nothing has been officially confirmed yet, but the winner could be revealed "within weeks". You can catch our press review every morning on France 24 at 7:20am and 9:20am (Paris time), from Monday to Friday.