👋 Hay!*
Welcome to Friday, where Israeli forces recover the bodies of three people in Gaza who were killed during the Oct. 7 attack, hundreds are feared dead in a massive landslide in Papua New Guinea, and China’s Premier leads a very grainy inspection in wheat fields. Meanwhile, Bahar Akıncı in independent weekly newspaper Oksijen offers an off-the-beaten-path guide to Istanbul.
[*Aklan, Philippines]
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🗞️ FRONT PAGE
Majorca-based Spanish daily newspaper Diario de Mallorca uses its front page to highlight the “Tragedy in Arenal” after a building collapsed in the island’s regional capital Palma de Mallorca, killing four people and injuring 16. People are believed to be trapped under rubble at the site of Medusa Beach Club, a beachside restaurant. Local police say the victims are a Spanish man, two German women and a Senegalese man who made headlines in 2017 for rescuing a man in difficulty from the sea. Police say the terrace collapsed because of “excessive weight,” but investigations continue as emergency workers search for survivors.
🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
• The Israeli military recovered the bodies of three people in Gaza who were killed during the Oct. 7 attack. Counted among the 130 hostages still held in Gaza, the bodies of Hanan Yablonka, Michel Nisenbaum and Orion Hernandez Radoux were brought back overnight in a joint operation by the army and the intelligence services in northern Gaza. Meanwhile, judges at the UN's top court will rule on Friday on South Africa's request to order Israel to halt its Rafah offensive and withdraw from Gaza.
• Russia launched missiles on Ukrainian city Kharkiv killing seven in a printing house. After President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called out his Western allies for not providing enough military support to rebuff such Russian attacks, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he wants the White House to allow Ukraine to strike inside Russian territory with American-supplied arms. Meanwhile, Reuters reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to halt the war in Ukraine with a negotiated ceasefire that recognizes the current battlefield lines.
• Beijing said on Friday ongoing drills encircling Taiwan were testing the military's ability to seize power. The exercises come after Lai Ching-te was sworn in as Taiwan's new president this week and made an inauguration speech that Chinese officials denounced as a “confession of independence.” The drills are part of an escalating campaign of intimidation by China that has seen it carry out a series of large-scale military exercises around Taiwan in recent years. One French writer says a China-Taiwan war is about when, not if…
• Hundreds are feared dead after a massive landslide in a remote village in northern Papua New Guinea. More than 50 homes, many with people asleep inside, were buried when the landslide hit Kaokalam village. The death toll is at nearly 300 people, and expected to rise further.
• Japan and South Korea have announced separate sanctions over Russia-North Korea arms trade. Recently, Pyongyang has been accused of sending thousands of containers of munitions to Russia. Friday’s announcements come just days before the leaders of South Korea, Japan and China meet in Seoul for their first trilateral summit in nearly five years.
• A fire in Vietnam’s capital killed 14 people. The apartment building in central Hanoi could only be accessed through an alley just 6.5 feet wide, preventing fire trucks from reaching it.
• The Pope recognizes Italian influencer as the first millennial saint. Pope Francis has attributed a second miracle to Carlo Acutis, who died of leukemia in 2006 at 15. The teen had been dubbed “God’s influencer,” for having used his digital skills to spread the Catholic faith.
📣 VERBATIM
“He’s known as the American working man but he admits he’s never worked a day in his life.”
— Former Beatle Paul McCartney roasted Bruce Springsteen, in presenting “the Boss” the Fellow of the Ivors Academy award in London. McCartney started his speech by saying, “like Bruce’s concerts, I’m going to keep this brief,” a dig at Springsteen’s famously long concerts. Springsteen is the first international songwriter to receive the award, which has previously honored Elton John, Kate Bush and McCartney himself. Sir Paul said he “couldn't think of a more fitting” recipient... “except maybe Bob Dylan. Or Paul Simon, or Billy Joel, or Beyoncé, or Taylor Swift. The list goes on.”
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📰 STORY OF THE DAY
Beyond the grand bazaar: A local's guide to the magic of Istanbul
There's the obvious stops. And then there's the off-the-beaten path venues and activities — all recommended by Istanbulite travel journalist Bahar Akıncı in independent weekly newspaper Oksijen!
🛁 An authentic Turkish bathhouse (hammam) experience is as essential for foreigners as visiting the museums and palaces of Istanbul. The Hürrem Sultan Hammam, Cağaloğlu Hammam, Ağa Hammam, Çemberlitaş Hammam, Galatasaray Hammam, Kılıç Ali Paşa Hammam and Süleymaniye Hammam are the best historical bathhouses that have been fully restored. You’d need reservations for all of them.
⛴️ Istanbul starts the day in a silvery color; the sunshine dances on the Bosphorus. The setting sun paints the sea gold and the sky fiery reds. One of the best things to do in Istanbul is to watch this scene on the water, and you can use the public ferries to do so. One of the best routes is the long Bosphorus tour. The ferry leaves from the Eminönü Pier every morning, stopping at the piers of Beşiktaş, Üsküdar, Kanlıca, Sarıyer, Rumeli Kavağı and finally Anadolu Kavağı, before making a return trip in the afternoon.
🕌 Even my Spanish friends, who are not generally fond of visiting religious sites, were amazed at the great mosques of Istanbul. The biggest historical mosques are the multi-domed Sultan Ahmed Mosque, known as the Blue Mosque due to the blue tiles that decorate it, and the beautifully lit Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque, which has heavenly light flowing out its windows.
➡️ Read more on Worldcrunch.com
📹 THIS HAPPENED VIDEO — TODAY IN HISTORY, IN ONE ICONIC PHOTO
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💬 LEXICON
かぼす
Kabosu, the dog behind the “doge” meme, has died after 14 years of internet fame. The Japanese shiba inu, who was adopted from a puppy mill, inspired a generation of online jokes and became the face of Dogecoin cryptocurrency. The word かぼす (kabosu) in Japanese refers to a green citrus fruit, similar to a lemon or lime. Memes inspired by the dog typically use two-word phrases in which the first word is almost always one of five modifiers — such, so, many, very or much — paired with a word that it cannot properly modify, for example: “Much frosty. Very winter.”
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• Lisbon Has A Plan To Fight Gentrification And Mass Tourism: Bring Back The Locals! — MENSAGEM
✍️ Newsletter by Emma Albright and Ione Gildroy
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