August 3-4
- Anti-refugee violence in Turkey
- Rising live streaming views
- AI energy saving tech
- … and much more!
⬇️ STARTER
Why Hamas is destined to grow only more radical without Haniyeh
The killing of Ismail Haniyeh was not merely the assassination of Hamas' political leader; it ended the life of a figure who could bring consensus to the Palestinian cause, writes Mohammed Khayal in Egypt-based news website Al-Manassa.
The killing of Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran on Wednesday, was not merely the assassination of Hamas' political leader, it closed the curtain on the life of a figure who had been transformed into an icon of the Palestinian cause by both regional and internal circumstances.
Haniyeh was one of the few leaders in Hamas who enjoyed general political consensus among all Palestinian factions and people, which made him a potentially moderating force and overall exceptional political leader in very difficult circumstances.
Ismail Haniyeh was born on May 8, 1963 in the Shati refugee camp north of Gaza City, where his parents had been sheltering since they were displaced from their home in what is now the Israeli city of Ashkelon in 1948, during what Palestinians call the Nakba, or catastrophe.
He graduated from the Islamic University of Gaza in 1987 and was one of the first Palestinian young men to join Hamas, which was founded that year. Like other Palestinian leaders, he was imprisoned in Israel, including in 1989 for three years. [...]
— Read the full article by Mohammed Khayal for Al-Manassa, translated into English by Worldcrunch.
🎲 OUR WEEKLY NEWS QUIZ
What do you remember from the news this week?
1. In which country was Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh killed?
2. Which Latin American leader issued a joint statement with U.S. President Joe Biden, calling on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to release full vote tallies following a contested presidential election?
3. Which Olympic event finally got the go-ahead after uncertainty over water quality in the River Seine?
4. What is Venice limiting in the latest attempt to reduce the impact of tourist crowds on the city? The number of cruise ships / the size of tourist groups / the different flavors of gelato / the number of gondolas
[Answers at the bottom of this newsletter]
#️⃣ TRENDING
French photographer Jérôme Brouillet snapped this impressive shot of Brazilian surfer Gabriel Medina in Tahiti during the Olympics surfing competition. Medina beat his Japanese opponent Kanoa Igarashi by taking on the highest scoring wave of the Olympics history at 9.90, and celebrated while leaping from his surfboard. Brouillet, from Agence France Presse, said “the conditions were perfect” and that “it was not hard to take the picture,” he just had to wait for the wave and the surfer to align. The photograph went viral on social media, with some saying it’s in a good position to become the most iconic picture of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
🎭 5 CULTURE THINGS TO KNOW
• British museums offer child-friendly hours this summer. More than 20 museums and galleries across London and the UK are participating in the new “Kids Aloud” initiative, which has been designed to encourage parents to bring their children to these venues, by allowing them to express themselves as loudly as they like during designated hours. Charity Art Fund, at the helm of this initiative, said it wanted to show that museums and galleries could be a “really great place to take your children.”
• French police investigate online abuse against Olympic opening ceremony DJ. Barbara Butch filed a formal legal complaint alleging online harassment, death threats and insults. The DJ and LGBTQ+ icon said she received a torrent of online threats after a scene at the Paris Games’ opening ceremony sparked outrage among Christians, who felt it mocked Leonardo Da Vinci’s Last Supper painting showing Jesus Christ and his apostles. The event’s organizers responded that the tableau was in fact a depiction of a Dionysian feast.
• In memoriam: U.S. author Francine Pascal, best known for creating hit teen book series Sweet Valley High, died aged 92; Nigerian singer, actor and activist Onyeka Onwenu, who was nicknamed “Elegant Stallion,” passed away at the age of 72; Turkish actor, director and playwright Genco Erkal died at 86 after a battle with leukemia.
• Malaysian Festival sues the 1975 after Matty Healy’s gay kiss controversy. The organizer of Malaysia’s Good Vibes Festival seeks $2.4 million after the British pop-rock band’s violation of the event’s behavior code led to its shutdown in July last year. Lead singer Matty Healy had protested against the country’s anti-LGBTQ+ law by kissing a bandmate on stage.
• Viewership of live streaming channels up by 10% with 8.5 billion hours watched. According to a new report by analytics firm Stream Hatchet, a GameSquare company, viewership across live streaming platforms including Twitch and Kick has grown “past the prior peak viewership experienced during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic” during the first half of 2024. Top titles by hours watched across all platforms include “Grand Theft Auto V” and “League of Legends.”
🇹🇷 Rising populist nationalism in Turkey and beyond
Scenes of violence against Syrian refugees are no longer unusual in Turkey. Following reports that a Syrian refugee had sexually harassed a child, unrest broke out in the central Turkish province of Kayseri earlier this month, with the local population setting Syrian shops on fire and calling for the refugees' expulsion. For Maysaa Al Amoudi, these scenes are a sad development that mirrors the rise of fascism and populism in the country. A worrying trend which is also seen in other parts of the world. “The rise of nationalist and populist policies has become a trend across the world, despite warnings. Fascism and populism, I regret to say, are gaining a foothold everywhere,” the journalist writes in Arabic-language independent digital media Daraj.
Read the full story: Anti-Refugee Violence In Turkey, And The Globalization Of Western Neo-Fascism
🇺🇸 How a Trump comeback could hurt Latin Americans
Latin America must brace for a second term of former U.S. President Donald Trump, writes Armando Montenegro, as the Republican nominee is threatening to revive his choice policies of curbing immigration and trade. This could hurt hundreds of millions of Latin Americans who may be forced to turn toward China and the Global South. “A flat tariff on all imports to the United States would violate its free-trade commitments and spark a trade war with, well, the world,” the journalist writes in Colombian daily El Espectador.
Read the full story: Why Latin Americans Are Bracing For Another Whack Of Trump
✉️ What happened to Tymieniecka’s letters to Pope John Paul II?
In 2008, Poland's National Library purchased for almost PLN 11 million an archive containing letters between former Pope John Paul II and his close friend Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka. But more than a decade later, there is no trace of Tymieniecka's archive in the library's online catalog. In Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza, Paweł Piotr Reszka tries to understand why these letters are still not available to the public.
Read the full story: She Was Pope John Paul II's Dear Friend: Why Is The Polish National Library Hiding Her Letters?
⚡💻 BRIGHT IDEA
The carbon footprint of the information and communications technology industry — which includes the internet and other cloud services — accounts for up to 3.5% of global emissions, and AI is one of its main drivers. The technology’s power consumption in 2023 (4.3 GW) was only slightly lower than that of Cyprus in 2021 (4.7 GW). But researchers at the University of Minnesota have now developed a breakthrough technology that will drastically reduce AI’s energy demand. By reducing the number of data exchanges happening inside the computer memory through a new design, the demand of an AI operation can be reduced 1000 times. The technology could play a pivotal role in helping companies such as Google, Amazon and NVIDIA reduce their energy consumption and solve a resource shortage.
🎁 SMILE OF THE WEEK
A zoo in Sussex, England has recently announced the surprise arrival of twin capybara babies. Drusillas Park’s keepers had discovered capybara Clementine was in labor just one hour before she safely gave birth to the pups earlier this month. The zoo has asked the public to help them name the twins, which are now thriving alongside their elder siblings Tango, Marmalade and Squash.
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⏩ LOOKING AHEAD
• U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, will hold her first rally with her yet-to-be-named running mate on Aug. 6 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, launching a four day tour of battleground states that includes Michigan and Arizona.
• Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is set to host Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday, two senior Palestinian officials reported, with talks expected to be dominated by the impact of the assassination of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh on the ongoing war in Gaza.
• Olympic events will continue in Paris this weekend as the competition is at mid-stage, with the flagship 100-meter dash finals for women and men scheduled on Saturday and Sunday evening. Italy’s Marcell Jacobs will attempt to defend his Olympic title to match American Carl Lewis and Jamaican sprint legend Usain Bolt.
News quiz answers:
1. Hamas’ political chief Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in an air strike in Tehran, Iran, sparking fears of a much wider war in the Middle East.
2. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and U.S. President Joe Biden jointly called for the complete publication of the Venezuelan presidential election results, which are being disputed by the opposition and parts of the international community.
3. Olympic athletes competing in the triathlon got the go-ahead to swim into the Seine River in Paris after days of delays due to concerns over water quality. Officials had undertaken an ambitious plan to clean up the long-polluted Seine.
4. Venice is now limiting the size of tourist groups to 25 people and bans the use of loudspeakers by tourist guides amid efforts to protect “the peace of residents.” Fines ranging from €25-500 will be applied for those who do not comply with the measures.
✍️ Newsletter by Worldcrunch
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*Photo: Art Fund/X