👋 សួស្តី*
Welcome to Wednesday, where Russia and Ukraine exchange drone attacks, Napster is sold more than two decades after filing for bankruptcy, and dinosaur buffs will enjoy today’s quiz question. Meanwhile, Abdullah Bakr in Beirut-based Daraj writes about the Saudi TV series Muawiya, and how the show rewrites a pivotal period in Islamic history — notably to serve current Crown Prince MBS’s agenda.
[*Susadei - Khmer, Cambodia]
💡 SPOTLIGHT
By embracing Europe’s far right, Netanyahu makes a mockery of Holocaust memory
The International Conference on Combating Antisemitism, which begins Wednesday in Jerusalem, offers a telling sign of a troubling confusion between the fight against antisemitism and the fight in favor of it.
The guests invited to the conference are, in fact, some of the most prominent figures of the European far right, the grandchildren and ideological heirs of those who, more than 80 years ago, collaborated with the Nazis to send Jews to the extermination camps. These are people who, until very recently, spoke of Jews in unmistakably antisemitic terms.
And while it is true that in recent decades many among them have declared themselves “friends of Israel,” it is just as true that this has never automatically meant being friends of Jews.
The European far right, along with American Evangelicals, has drawn closer to the Israel of recent years, led by racist and anti-democratic governments such as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s current administration, on the basis of a shared political and ideological affinity. And it is a similarly political and ideological rationale that drives the Israeli government’s embrace of those politicians who today are preparing to discuss antisemitism with Netanyahu, his extremist Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and the other Israeli politicians.
As one might expect, the focus of the debate will not be on the past but on the present. Holocaust denial will be addressed only when it comes from Arab countries, and much attention will be directed toward alleged antisemitism on the left, or the supposed antisemitism of the United Nations and international legal institutions. These will be the main targets of the conference, already previewed by Netanyahu’s speech at the UN General Assembly in September 2024, when he described the UN as a “swamp of antisemitism.”
Among the far-right party leaders attending the conference will be senior politicians from Hungary’s Fidesz, Spain’s Vox, France’s Rassemblement National and Identité Libertés, the Dutch Party for Freedom and the Sweden Democrats. [...]
— Read the full article by Anna Foa for La Stampa, translated from Italian by Worldcrunch.
🗞️ FRONT PAGE
Slovak daily newspaper Denník N dedicates its front page to the “emergency situation” the country’s government issued on Tuesday after an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease among cattle. The cases, which were found in three farms in southern Slovakia, were also the first in 50 years for the country, and followed reports of cases in Hungary in March. The disease is particularly deadly to young livestock, and while the majority of adult animals recover, it often leaves them weak and reduces milk production, having serious economic implications.
🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
• Russia and Ukraine exchange drone attacks after agreeing to sea, energy truce. Ukrainian officials reported on Wednesday that Russia launched an overnight drone attack on the Ukrainian region of Mykolaiv, and also struck Kryvyi Rih, in what they described as the war’s biggest drone attack on the city. Russia’s defense ministry said its units destroyed nine Ukrainian drones overnight including two over the Black Sea. This comes as the U.S. reached separate deals on Tuesday with Kyiv and Moscow to pause their attacks at sea and against energy targets, but it wasn’t made clear when or how the Black Sea maritime security deals would start. Read more in this Die Zeit analysis, translated from German by Worldcrunch.
• Hundreds of Palestinians protest against Hamas in Gaza. Hundreds of Palestinians rallied in northern Gaza on Tuesday, demanding an end to the war with Israel and chanting anti-Hamas slogans, social media posts showed, in a rare public show of opposition to the militant group. The crowd gathered in Beit Lahia, a week after the Israeli army resumed its intense bombing of Gaza following nearly two months of truce. For more, check this piece by French analyst Pierre Haski: Why Netanyahu's "Endless War" In Gaza Is More Personal Than Ever.
• Turkish protesters vow to carry on, more than 1,400 detained. Anti-government protesters in Turkey said they will keep up the campaign of demonstrations triggered by the jailing of Istanbul’s mayor. That is despite mass arrests that saw more than 1,400 people detained, including students, journalists and lawyers. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Tuesday that the path protesters have taken is “a dead end” and urged patience and common sense amid what he described as “very sensitive days.”
• Trump signs order seeking to overhaul U.S. elections. U.S. President Donald Trump signed a sweeping executive action on Tuesday that aims to overhaul U.S. federal elections, including requiring documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote and demanding that all ballots be received by Election Day. Experts are warning the move could disenfranchise millions of potential voters, as an estimated 9% of U.S. citizens of voting age, or 21.3 million people, do not have proof of citizenship readily available.
• At least 24 dead in “unprecedented” wildfires in South Korea. Wind-driven wildfires ravaging South Korea’s southern regions have killed at least 24 people and injured more than 20, officials said on Wednesday, as thousands of firefighters and soldiers are struggling to control rapidly expanding blazes. Some 27,000 people were forced to evacuate as flames tore through neighbourhoods and razed hundreds of structures, including the more than 1,000-year-old Gounsa temple in Uiseong.
• Thai PM survives vote of no-confidence in parliament. Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra breezed through a no-confidence vote in parliament on Wednesday, defeating a challenge from opposition parties that accused her of being a puppet of her father, billionaire ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, and questioned the 38-year-old’s experience. After a two-day debate, Thailand’s youngest premier won the backing of 319 of 488 lawmakers present.
• News Quiz! Scientists in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert have discovered a new rare species of dinosaur. What’s special about it?
A. It has two-fingered hands
B. Its neck is the longest among dinosaurs
C. It has three legs
D. Its feathers were pink
[Answer below]
#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS
$207 million
Music piracy platform turned streaming app Napster was sold to tech startup Infinite Reality for $207 million this week, more than two decades after its bankruptcy filing related to copyright lawsuits. The startup said that it hopes to turn Napster into a platform that can better connect artists with their fans, giving them more analytics and opportunities to sell merchandise. "We can think of no better use case for our technology than putting it in the hands of music artists who are constantly pushing the boundaries of what’s possible,” said Infinite Reality’s Chief Business Officer Amish Shah.
📹 ON THIS DAY VIDEO — 4 HISTORY-MAKING EVENTS, IN 57 SECONDS
➡️ Watch the video: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
📰 IN OTHER NEWS
🇵🇱🇺🇦 Poland, one of the staunchest supporters of Ukraine since the beginning of the war, has accepted over one million refugees fleeing the Russian invasion. However, as time has gone on, Poles have grown to increasingly resent Ukrainians. But why?
— GAZETA WYBORCZA
🚨 Human rights groups warn that El Salvador's prisons are marked by overcrowding, lack of access to basic services and repeated rights violations — but that the situation is even worse for women.
— EL ESPECTADOR
📺 The long-delayed Saudi TV series Muawiya reconstructs the early Muslim ruler’s legacy, transforming him into a figure of wisdom and power — echoing the image that Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin-Salman has been creating for himself.
— DARAJ
📣 VERBATIM
“It is unacceptable pressure.”
— Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen criticized U.S. Vice President JD Vance’s visit to Greenland with his wife on Friday, accusing the U.S. of ratcheting up pressure on the Danish-controlled island territory, which U.S. President Donald Trump has said he wants to take over. The trip, which Vance’s office says will focus on a visit to a U.S. space base, does not come with an invitation from the island’s leadership, the local government said in a statement on X. Greenland’s acting head of government, Mute Egede, called the visit a “provocation” as it coincides with coalition talks and municipal elections next week.
📸 PHOTO DU JOUR
A Venezuelan girl stands in front of the police barrier at the U.S. embassy in La Paz, Bolivia. Members of the Venezuelan and Bolivian communities were protesting the U.S. government’s deportation of nearly 300 Venezuelan immigrants to El Salvador. — Photo: Diego Rosales/ZUMA
✍️ Newsletter by Anne-Sophie Goninet & Jacob Shropshire