👋 Merhaba!*
Welcome to Friday, where the annual hajj pilgrimage starts against the backdrop of the Gaza war, G7 leaders agree to a $50 billion loan for Ukraine, and Celine Dion gives reassuring health news. Meanwhile, Saher Alghorra in Arabic-language independent digital media Daraj reports on the desperate quest for tight clothes in famished Gaza.
[*Turkish]
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Switzerland will host a two-day peace summit for Ukraine starting tomorrow at Bürgenstock Resort, in Lucerne. In a caricature on its front page, Swiss newspaper Le Temps points to a hidden strategic goal of the summit: the banner displayed on the facade of the residence reads “Conference on the reconstruction (of Swiss diplomatic stature).” Switzerland announced the conference in January, organizing it at the request of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Around 90 countries have confirmed their participation in the event. Russia has not been invited, while China has declined, as it deems it necessary for both warring parties to be present.
🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
• Millions start Hajj in shadow of Israel’s war in Gaza. More than 1.5 million Muslim pilgrims have gathered in Mecca, Saudi Arabia for the start of Hajj, taking place this year amid Israel’s continued war against Hamas in Gaza. The annual pilgrimage began on Friday with crowds of worshippers circling the Kaaba, the black cubic structure at Mecca’s Grand Mosque, many expressing sadness eight months into the Gaza war.
• World leaders gather in Switzerland for Ukraine summit. World leaders will join Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky at a summit this weekend to explore ways of ending the war but without Russia. U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, French President Emmanuel Macron and the leaders of Germany, Italy, Britain, Canada and Japan are among those set to attend the June 15-16 meeting at the Swiss mountaintop resort of Bürgenstock. Meanwhile, G7 nations meeting in Italy have agreed upon a $50 billion deal to fund Ukraine through interest on frozen Russian assets, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has said. Read more about the upcoming summit in this piece from Russian independent media Vazhnyye Istorii.
• South Africa’s parliament meets to choose president amid uncertainty. South Africa’s newly elected parliament is convening on Friday to choose the country’s next president. Cyril Ramaphosa is seeking a second term as leader, but his African National Congress party has been weakened after losing its long-held majority in elections last month. He will need the support of other parties if he is to return as president. Read more about South Africa’s African National Congress party in this piece translated from French to English.
• U.S. Supreme Court rejects challenge to abortion drug mifepristone. Thursday’s decision, which came two years after the court rescinded the nationwide guarantee to an abortion, was welcomed by pro-choice activists. The justices decided the plaintiffs, a group of anti-abortion doctors and activists, did not have a legal right to sue.
• Chinese #MeToo journalist jailed for five years for “subversion against the state.” Sophia Huang Xueqin was convicted and sentenced on Friday, nearly 10 months after she went on trial. Labour activist Wang Jianbing, who stood trial with Huang, was sentenced to three years and six months in prison. Huang, 36, had been one of the most prominent voices in China's #MeToo space, reporting ground-breaking stories about sexual abuse victims. To know more about the #MeToo movement in China, read this piece from Chinese media The Initium.
• Euro 2024 kicks off in Germany. The 17th edition of the UEFA European Football Championship opens in Munich on Friday, as hosts Germany take on Scotland. It marks the return of the competition to its usual four-year cycle after the 2020 event was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Italy are the defending champions, having won the last tournament by beating England in the Euro 2020 final on penalties.
• Rare twin elephants born in Thailand “miracle.” An Asian elephant in central Thailand has given birth to a rare set of twins. The mother, 36-year-old Chamchuri, was not expected to deliver twins and when she gave birth to a male calf last Friday, staff at the Ayutthaya Elephant Palace and Royal Kraal, had thought the delivery was done. But while cleaning up the first calf and helping it stand on its feet, they heard a loud thud and realized that Chamchuri had given birth to a second calf, a female.
💬 LEXICON
Myloplus sauron
Scientists have not been kind to this new fish species, which they decided to name after Sauron, the villain from The Lord of the Rings. The Myloplus sauron can be found in the waters of the Amazon River. It is a pacus, piranhas’ distant relatives, and it can be easily recognized because of orange and black marks throughout its body, including a long black mark on its flank, which has created the association to the villain. Sauron is a giant eye with a long and black pupil, resemblant of the fish’s black mark.
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📰 STORY OF THE DAY
Why the tailors of Gaza are kept so busy
More and more Palestinians in Gaza have no choice but to resize their clothes after losing weight after eight months of war. They desperately search for tailors to fix or tighten their clothes, who try to do their job despite the lack of electricity, reports Saher Alghorra in Arabic-language independent digital media Daraj.
🪡 Finding a tailor in Rafah is not an easy task. The city streets changed dramatically after the influx of hundreds of thousands of displaced people. It has become difficult to recognize the city’s landmarks due to the tents pitched in every corner, and the open areas in and around the city. Abu Bilal eventually managed to find a tailor to fix his clothes which had become too loose after he — like most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people — lost his weight.
🚲 Given the lack of power, Akram, the tailor, now resorts to a manual sewing machine. It is very tiring for the 50-year-old man, especially with the increasing number of clients who want to alter or resize their clothes. He has come up with an innovative way to operate his sewing machine by linking it to an old bicycle. His 18-year-old son rides the fixed bicycle to operate the machine. Most of the clothes Akram adjusts or resizes are for children, he said. But there are also clothes for displaced people who fled the bombardment with what they were wearing.
💸 The tailor sets the fees of fixing and patching clothes according to the prices of materials in the market. “Everything is expensive,” he said, adding that clients found that fixing their old clothes is cheaper than buying new ones, especially amid the ongoing war. “They find in my work a solution to these difficult situations,” he said.
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📹 THIS HAPPENED VIDEO — TODAY IN HISTORY, IN ONE ICONIC PHOTO
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📣 VERBATIM
“I’m back.”
— After being diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder and canceling the remaining shows of her world tour in 2022, Canadian superstar Celine Dion has announced she is back. “I’ll be on stage. I don’t know when exactly, but trust me I will scream it out loud,” the singer told the BBC. In an exclusive interview, Dion shared her experience with Stiff Person Syndrome, a neurological condition that causes muscle spasms throughout a person’s body, and said she is now preparing for a new show in Las Vegas. “I can’t wait,” she said of her return to performing.
👉 MORE FROM WORLDCRUNCH
• How Syria Is Trying To Free Itself From The Grip Of Iran — KAYHAN-LONDON
• When Life Is To Flee: Gaza's Inescapable Transportation Chaos — DARAJ
• Brittany Postcard: Saving The Only Store In Town (With Amazon Just A Click Away) — WORLDCRUNCH
✍️ Newsletter by Emma Albright and Fabrizio La Rocca
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