April 6-7
- Gazans accuse UNRWA workers of corruption
- K-pop breakup backlash
- Washington’s Swiss/Swede mixup
- … and much more.
🎲 OUR WEEKLY NEWS QUIZ
1. What is the name of the NGO that saw at least seven of its aid workers killed in an Israeli airstrike?
2. Which two world leaders spoke this week for the first time this year, in a nearly two hour-long phone call?
3. A 7.2-magnitude earthquake — the strongest in 25 years — hit which island nation?
4. What did Botswana “threaten” to send Germany? 40 tons of nickel / 20,000 elephants / 15 acres of baobab forest / 900 liters of sorghum beer
[Answers at the bottom of this newsletter]
#️⃣ TRENDING
Americans will never be able to live down their poor geography skills …The U.S. State Department posted an incorrect map of Europe to X on Tuesday, in a video posted ahead of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to France. The agency incorrectly labeled Switzerland as Sweden and has since removed the post.
🎭 5 CULTURE THINGS TO KNOW
• Ukrainian sculptor receives high honor in the UK: Alex Lidagovsky, a Ukrainian sculptor who fled to the UK after his studio in Kyiv was destroyed at the start of the Russian invasion, has been accepted into the Royal Society of British Artists. The artist said the honorary membership of the RBA, which showcases its members’ work annually at the Mall Galleries in London, was an exciting and unexpected surprise, which will give him “the chance to stay true to myself and my profession and continue to fight for my country, Ukraine.”
• K-pop star and actor break up after fan backlash: Karina, of the K-pop girl group Aespa, and actor Lee Jae-wook have confirmed their separation after going public five weeks ago. The announcement had sparked a backlash from fans of the K-pop star, accusing her of “betrayal” and prompting her to issue an official apology.
• In memoriam: Guadeloupean author Maryse Condé, who wrote more than 20 novels tackling the legacy of slavery and colonialism in Africa and the Caribbean and is the sole winner of the New Academy prize in literature, has died aged 90; U.S. writer John Barth, known for his comic novels and metafictional stories such as Giles Goat-Boy and The Sot-Weed Factor, age 93; U.S. actor and comedian Joe Flaherty, best known for his roles on Freaks and Geeks and the sketch comedy series SCTV, at age 82.
• April Fool’s article on Afrobeats star Davido backfires: Nigerian Afrobeats star Davido said he was suing media platforms over a false news report published on April Fool’s Day, which alleged that the artist had been arrested in Kenya after cocaine was found on his private jet. The 31-year-old called the article “extremely irresponsible” and said he had “never been arrested by anyone in any country for any crime.”
• Australian impressionist painting unveiled for first time in 130 years: Sunlight at the Camp, an oil painting by influential Australian impressionist Arthur Streeton in 1894 that has not been seen by the public for 130 years, has gone on show in Melbourne before its auction in Sydney later this month. The artwork depicting Sydney Harbour is expected to fetch up to $1.5 million.
🇵🇸 Displaced Gazans accuse aid workers of “extortion and theft”
Displaced people in Gaza say that delegates accredited by international and local aid groups have been demanding money for delivering what should be free humanitarian aid to Palestinians suffering from the war since Oct. 7. A meal of two eggs and a package of cookies, for example, is delivered for 3 shekels (81 cents). A 1-liter of oil costs 5 shekels ($1.34); and a full package from the World Food Program is given for 29 shekels ($7.78), according to displaced people. When confronted, aid groups' representatives did not deny the practice, saying that the funds are needed to cover warehousing and transportation of the aid they deliver. Mohamed Abu Shahma reports for Daraj.
Read the full story: Report: Gaza Aid Workers Are Forcing Displaced Families To Pay For Food
🇻🇪🇨🇺 No Leftist love left in Latin America
Once two allied countries, Venezuela and Cuba’s relationship has shifted because of both external and internal circumstances. Recent Cuban protests over fuel and food swiftly turned against the communist system but unlike the past, the state, which is asking the UN for food aid, refrained from giving a crushing response. Venezuela is no better off, and the age of symbiosis for Latin America's leftist regimes is long gone, Marcelo Cantelmi writes in Argentinian publication Clarín.
Read the full story: Why The Cuban-Venezuelan Alliance Is More Toxic Than Ever
🌱🏙️ Paris’s green rooftops vs. climate change
Paris is combating climate change from the top down — by reworking roofs into sustainable rooftop gardens. Roofscapes, a company aimed at harnessing the potential in limited urban spaces, is now leading the charge in green innovation. The French firm designs custom green spaces on top of the city’s iconic Haussmanian buildings to mitigate heat, reduce energy consumption and promote biodiversity. The company is following in the footsteps of other European cities who utilize their rooftop spaces to combat climate change and land scarcity, such as the “Rooftop Days” events in Rotterdam and Marseille. Stefano Lupieri writes about this unique environmental effort in French daily Les Echos.
Read the full story: Not Your Père's Paris Roof Garden! French Cities Adapt To Climate Change From The Top
🧪 BRIGHT IDEA
Scientists have created a fluid that behaves as both a solid and a liquid thanks to gas-filled capsules. The liquid is able to grasp and hold small and fragile objects, something which is difficult for many conventional robots. It can hold a variety of objects from things as heavy as a glass bottle to as small and fragile as a blueberry or egg. The gas-filled capsules which are responsible for this meta fluid can be made microscopically small, meaning the systems can be smaller too, and potentially become part of sophisticated robotic systems.
🤖 (ROBOT) SMILE OF THE WEEK
Emo, a robot created by a team at Columbia University, can anticipate and mimic human facial expressions, including smiling, within 840 milliseconds. It’s taken Columbia University’s Creative Machine Lab five years to perfect Emo’s skills and reflexes, using 26 separate actuators to mimic facial expression features. Emo’s eyes also contain cameras, designed to track the eyes of a human conversation partner, just like people do.
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⏩ LOOKING AHEAD
• The Bank of Israel is debating lowering short term interest rates for homes next week. The decrease would be BOI’s second this year, after lowering its key rate by 25 points in January. As inflation eases, analysts are split on whether or not lowering interest rates would be healthy for the Israeli economy six months into the war in Gaza.
• The Vatican announced Tuesday that it would present a document concerning “human dignity” on Monday, April 8. The Vatican's prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, which will present the declaration, previously faced criticism by Catholics for a December announcement allowing priests to offer unofficial blessings to same-sex couples. The prefect said the document will comment on “surrogacy, sex changes and gender theory.”
• On Monday, April 8 a total solar eclipse will cross most of North America, allowing viewers in Mexico, the United States and Canada to catch a glimpse of the rare celestial phenomenon. The moon will pass between the sun and Earth, blocking out all sunlight for four minutes, and lasting for two-and-a-half hours total. But watch carefully: NASA recommends viewing the eclipse through safety glasses, as sky watchers could burn their retinas.
⁉️ WHAT THE WORLD
From a wild waiters' race in Paris to the travels of a beloved panda, take a quick world tour of the internationally weird!
News quiz answers:
1. At least seven aid workers from World Central Kitchen (WCK) were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza. An Israeli cabinet minister denied allegations that WCK was deliberately targeted.
2. In an effort to keep tensions low between the two countries, U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed avenues of cooperation in a phone call on Tuesday. This was their first talk since November.
3. A 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck Taiwan on Wednesday, in particular the sparsely populated eastern county of Hualien, killing at least 10 people and leaving hundreds stranded in a national park as landslides cut off roads.
4. Botswana's President Mokgweetsi Masisi has “threatened” to send 20,000 elephants to Germany, as part of a conservation dispute between the two countries. Germany proposed stricter limits on importing hunting trophies, leading Botswana to emphasize the necessity of hunting to manage the elephant population.
✍️ Newsletter by Worldcrunch
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