May 25-26
- Is Gaza the “Mother Of All Wars”?
- German first at Booker Prize
- Spinal injury breakthrough
- … and much more!
🎲 OUR WEEKLY NEWS QUIZ
What do you remember from the news this week?
1. Three European countries announced they will formally recognize a Palestinian state: Ireland, Spain and…?
2. In what year had Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash on May 19, been elected as Iranian president?
3. Turbulence mayhem unfolded on flight SQ321, heading from London to which city-state in Southeast Asia?
4. What unusual item broke an auction record in New Zealand?
an extinct bird’s feather / a Lord of the Rings replica sword / a Māori canoe / a sheepskin map
[Answers at the bottom of this newsletter]
#️⃣ TRENDING
French soccer icon Kylian Mbappé went viral on social media when a video of him at the Cannes Film Festival caught him “falling in love in three seconds,” as some users joked. The mystery woman was reportedly identified as @leatsa_, whose Instagram profile counted around 10,000 followers before being tracked down and now is up to 65,000 followers. Jaw-dropping numbers — right, Kylian?
🎭 5 CULTURE THINGS TO KNOW
• Louvre Abu Dhabi loans Samanid-era bowl and Josef Albers work to Oman's National Museum. The pieces will be displayed in Oman for one year, sustaining a collaborative relationship between Louvre Abu Dhabi and Oman’s National Museum, which previously worked together on an exhibition of ceramics. The bowl will be displayed at the museum’s Splendours of Islam gallery, where it will be a highlight of the many artifacts representing centuries of Islamic history. Homage to the Square, by the German-American artist Josef Albers, was selected as a way of displaying an example of European and American contemporary art in the museum’s collection.
• Studio Ghibli receives honorary Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival. The Japanese animation studio, whose films include “Princess Mononoke” and “Spirited Away,” was the first ever group to be awarded an honorary Palme d’Or, on Monday. The festival’s president, Iris Knobloch, said as she presented the award: “We’d like to thank you for all the magic you’ve brought to cinema.” Hayao Miyazaki, the 83-year-old animator and filmmaker who co-founded Studio Ghibli in 1985, did not attend the ceremony but spoke in a video message taped in Japan.
• Jenny Erpenbeck becomes first German writer to win International Booker Prize. Erpenbeck’s tumultuous love story Kairos was selected winner of the competition, hosted at London’s Tate Modern on Tuesday. The £50,000 prize is split equally between author and translator, Michael Hofmann, as one of the few awards to honor the important work of translators in capturing the original rhythm and eloquence of the writing. The judges included poet Natalie Diaz, novelist Romesh Gunesekera and artist William Kentridge.
• Former South Korean President Moon Jae-in creates political stir with memoir. The memoir, titled From the Periphery to the Center, contains Moon’s reflections on major issues during his 2017-2022 presidency. Published on Saturday, the book has revived controversy over his wife’s 2018 visit to India using the presidential jet, which Moon addresses for the first time in his work. Critics then and now argue that the first lady’s trip was a junket financed by taxpayer money.
• Thailand welcomes home trafficked 1,000-year-old statues returned by New York’s Metropolitan Museum. Thailand’s National Museum hosted a welcome-home ceremony on Tuesday for the two ancient statues, which were illegally trafficked from Thailand by a British collector of antiquities. This repatrian of artwork comes as many museums in the U.S. and Europe look at collections that contain looted objects. The Metropolitan Museum announced last December it would return more than a dozen artifacts to Thailand and Cambodia.
↔️ Gaza and the West’s polarization
A certain number of Western countries have now declared (or repeated for the first time in a long time) their support for a two-state solution to settle the decades-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict when the Israel-Hamas war ends. For Sherif Younis, writing in Egyptian news website Al-Manassa, the West views this solution as a way to soften polarization in Western societies, and calm down the Middle East, so that the United States and NATO can “focus on their rivals: Russia (militarily) and China (economically).”
Read the full story: Is Gaza The "Mother Of All Wars" Or Just A Diversion From China? On Western Drift In The Middle East
🤝 Latin America, U.S., China: a game of economic carrots and sticks
The United States has shown it prefers economic incentives over penalties to help keep regional democracies within its orbit and away from China. Panama for instance, after it became the first regional country to join China's Belt and Road initiative, saw a sharp increase in incentives from Washington. For Julieta Zelicovich and Patricio Yamin, that is a national-interest opportunity Latin American states cannot ignore. “While the great powers continue their global chess match, regional states must forge strategies to reduce the risks to themselves and even exploit the context,” they write in Argentine daily Clarín.
Read the full story: How Latin America Can Use China As A Bargaining Chip To Get More From The U.S.
✝️️💰 Holy sushi? Diversification on the menu for Spain’s monasteries
Gardening, cooking sweets, sewing or crafts are tasks associated with monasteries, as they have become for some a source of income necessary for the community's subsistence. But now new offers are emerging, from stargazing to renting rooms through digital platforms. The Carmelites of Granada, for instance, have become the sensation of the Andalusian city with a menu that includes chicken, noodles and sushi, as the star dish, reports Ignacio Santa María in Spanish online media Ethic.
Read the full story: Pray, Work, Diversify: When Monasteries Shift To The Gospel Of Business To Survive
🫶 BRIGHT IDEA
Onward, a Swiss medical technology, developed a life-changing non-invasive device that could help people with spinal injuries get back the use of their hands. The device works by delivering an electrical current through electrodes which are placed on the skin of paralyzed patients, near where their spinal cord was damaged. Sixty people participated in the therapy trial and, after just two months, 43 of them regained strength and ability to use their arms and hands.
🚀 SMILE OF THE WEEK
At age 90, Ed Dwight has accomplished his lifelong dream of going to space — and by doing so, he became the oldest person to go to space. Dwight was originally chosen in 1961 by then U.S. President John F. Kennedy as the first Black astronaut candidate in the country. But NASA did not select him for the mission, and he was never given a second chance to go up to space… Until Blue Origins agreed to take him and six other passengers to the edge of space before parachuting back to Earth.
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⏩ LOOKING AHEAD
• The jury in the “hush money” case against Donald Trump is set to hear closing arguments and begin deliberations next week, after the former U.S. president’s lawyers rested their case on Tuesday. Judge Juan Merchan has discussed with lawyers the jury instructions for deliberating on the 34 felony counts against Trump, and has said he will provide the final version on Thursday.
• Ireland, Spain and Norway have said they will recognize an independent Palestinian state beginning on May 28. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded that by doing so they are rewarding terrorist actions, while U.S. President Joe Biden has stated that he’s willing to one day recognize Palestinian statehood but not before the parties to the conflict reach an agreement on thorny issues like final borders and the status of Jerusalem.
• Bangkok is kicking off a five-day Pride festival under the theme “Celebration of Love,” to show Thailand's readiness to be Asia's "rainbow" capital and celebrate it’s being the first Southeast Asian country to legalise same-sex marriage. This year’s festivities, which include a parade (attended by Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin), various concerts, public activities and the Bangkok Pride Forum, will run from May 31 to June 4.
• The 2024 Cannes Film Festival is coming to an end today with the announcement of the Palme d’Or. After 12 days of premieres and awards, the 77th edition will close with La Plus Précieuse des marchandises (The Most Precious Of Cargoes), a French animated drama film, directed by Michel Hazanavicius, about a poor woodcutter and his wife who rescue a baby who was thrown from a train heading to Auschwitz.
⁉️ WHAT THE WORLD
From a gathering of Kyles to a Kim Jong-un going viral on TikTok, take a quick world tour of the internationally weird!
News quiz answers:
1. Ireland, Spain and Norway announced on May 22 that they would recognize the Palestinian state from Tuesday, May 28. Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris said the decision would help to create a “peaceful future,” while Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said a two-state solution was the “only alternative.” At least 140 countries recognize the state of Palestine.
2. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash on Sunday, was elected president of the Islamic Republic in 2021. Raisi had long been regarded as the natural successor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the highest authority in Iran. He first ran for presidency in 2017.
3. Flight SQ321, from London to Singapore ended up in Bangkok on Tuesday after a diversion due to severe turbulence. A 73-year-old British man died from a suspected heart attack in the incident, 104 people were injured, and 20 people remain in intensive care.
4. The world’s most expensive feather was sold at auction in New Zealand. The single feather from the now extinct New Zealand huia bird, sacred to the Māori people, was sold for NZD$46,521.51 (USD$28,417) on Monday, and was only expected to fetch up to $3,000. High interest and enthusiasm from New Zealanders helped boost the price of the feather, which is registered as a taonga tūturu under a system to protect Maori made objects.
✍️ Newsletter by Worldcrunch
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*Photo: Alec Michael/ZUMA