August 24-25
- Russia’s “real” foreign agents
- Bike 3.0
- Accidental fashion covers
- … and much more.
🎲 OUR WEEKLY NEWS QUIZ
What do you remember from the news this week?
1. Which world leader was in Kyiv for talks with Zelensky, just weeks after meeting with Putin in Moscow?
2. What country was hit by nationwide rail shutdown?
3. Which social media platform announced it would close its operations in Brazil?
4. A German ship passing through London decided to blast what unusual music?
“Never Gonna Give You” Up by Rick Astley / Star Wars’ “Darth Vader” theme / “My Heart Will Go On” by Céline Dion / “Baby Shark”
[Answers at the bottom of this newsletter]
#️⃣ TRENDING
Move over, brat summer — it’s time to be demure. And mindful. Beauty influencer Jools Lebron (@joolieannie) started the viral “demure” trend in early August, in a TikTok video where she talked about her modest professional look. "See how I do my makeup for work? Very demure, very mindful." The word, originally meaning "modest" or "shy," quickly took over social media. Brands and organizations also jumped on the bandwagon, from Maybelline on TikTok to NASA sharing pictures of Saturn's rings. "Your demure is what it means to you," Lebron said in a CBS interview. The online creator, who identifies as a transgender woman, recently announced that her viral moment allowed her to finance the rest of her transition. Very demure, very mindful indeed!
🎭 5 CULTURE THINGS TO KNOW
• In memoriam: French film icon Alain Delon, who appeared in nearly 90 movies including The Samurai and The Swimming Pool, died last Sunday at 88; American talk show pioneer Phil Donahue, who revolutionized this TV genre by interacting with a studio audience, also died on Sunday at 88; Japanese voice actress Atsuko Tanaka, known for her roles as Motoko Kusanagi in the manga series Ghost in the Shell and as the titular character in the video game Bayonetta, died on Tuesday at 61; Sydney’s Sea Life Aquarium said on Thursday that Sphen, the elder partner in the world famous gay penguin couple had died aged 11, leaving behind his partner Magic, 8, and their two chicks, Lara and Clancy.
• Documentary to showcase South Korean panda’s bond with her caretaker. An upcoming documentary will focus on the relationship between Fu Bao, the first Korean-born panda, and Kang Cheol-won, the zookeeper who raised her, retracing the journey from her birth at the Everland amusement park in 2020, to her permanent return to China earlier this year. Titled Hello, Grandpa, the film is set to be released on Sept. 4.
• A record-breaking end of an Era for Taylor Swift. The pop star has finished the European leg of her Eras Tour in the UK with her eighth and final show at Wembley Stadium, London. She became the first solo artist to play Wembley eight times in a single tour — breaking a record set by Michael Jackson with his 1988 Bad Tour. Joined on stage by Florence + The Machine and by Bleachers frontman Jack Antonoff, she premiered a new music video and gave her first live rendition of her song “So Long, London.”
• Netflix co-founder to turn Utah ski resort into outdoor art museum. Reed Hastings, co-founder and former CEO of Netflix, has announced plans to transform Powder Mountain, the largest resort in North America by acreage, into a skiable open-air art gallery. The billionaire, who became the majority owner of the resort in September 2023, wants to enhance the skiing experience by installing outdoor sculptures and large-scale artworks by contemporary artists such as Jenny Holzer, James Turrell and Nancy Holt. The reinvented park should be ready for this winter.
• Saudi Prince to recreate Louvre in Riyadh. Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman has reportedly expressed his ambition to build his own version of France’s Louvre museum in Riyadh in a bid to diversify the kingdom's economy away from its dependence on oil. Just like the Mona Lisa for the Paris-based museum, the project would use a Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece as a key attraction: the Salvator Mundi painting, which Salman acquired for $450 million in 2017.
🇰🇬🇬🇪 Kyrgyzstan, Georgia and the difficulty of being so close to Russia
The histories and geographies of the two nations differ; one is close to entering the EU, the other couldn't care less. But both Kyrgyzstan and Georgia are now embroiled in a complicated relationship with Russia, including mimicking the technique of suppressing opponents with "foreign agents" laws, Leila Saralaeva writes for Kyrgyzstan-based news website Kloop, translated by Haley Bader for Worldcrunch.
Read the full story: The Real Foreign Agents? Kyrgyz And Georgians Are Caught In Russia's Claw
❌🏠 Up, close and personal with Spain's anti-squatter head honcho
Daniel Esteve, the founder of Desokupa — a company specializing in the extrajudicial eviction of squatters — has become an important player in Spain's far-right politics. This investigation, by Laura Galaup for Spanish magazine La Marea, shows how Esteve built his image and profitable company on fake news and hate speech.
Read the full story: The Sinister Rise Of Daniel Esteve, Spain's Anti-Squatter Vigilante
☕ The unbreakable success of the Bernardaud porcelain company
While most of its competitors, crushed by competition from Asia, have closed their doors, the Bernardaud porcelain company, founded in Limoges in 1863, has never been doing so well thanks to to collaborations with artists and starred chefs, as well as some unexpected uses, Nathalie Villard reports for French economic daily Les Echos.
Read the full story: Bernardaud: How One Family Is Keeping The Art Of Limoges Porcelain Alive
🚲🔋 BRIGHT IDEA
Young French inventor Axel Ladaique has developed a bike prototype that is a mix of a traditional and electric. On the Styx bike, the battery typically found in electric bikes is replaced with supercapacitors, which allow it to recover energy while braking and on descents. The bike then uses this energy to assist the driver when pedaling becomes difficult. While his prototype is not yet operational in real-life conditions, Ladaique is currently running for the James Dyson Award, which will be announced November 13.
✨ SMILE OF THE WEEK
In his latest series of videos on Instagram, Julio Janpierre — a Puerto Rican influencer who makes fun of extreme cosmetic changes and other trending beauty challenges — gently mocks the visual identities of well-known fashion brands such as Dior, Elle, and Zara by “accidentally” recreating magazine covers.
⏩ LOOKING AHEAD
• International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Grossi announced that he will visit the Kursk nuclear power plant in Russia next week. Earlier this month, the UN agency warned Russia and Ukraine to exercise "maximum restraint" in order to avoid a nuclear incident, after Ukraine launched a surprise counteroffensive in the region.
• The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) expects to receive the first vaccine doses against its mpox outbreak next week, according to Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba. The country has recorded 16,700 cases so far, and 570 people have died from the virus, which currently has an estimated mortality rate of 3,6%. The DRC is the starting point of the epidemic, which has spread to neighboring countries and is being treated by the World Health Organization as a global public health emergency.
• In Paris, the games are far from over! The Paralympics are set to start on Aug. 28 with an opening ceremony on the Place de la Concorde and the Champs Elysées avenue. Around 4,400 athletes are expected for 10 days of sporting events around the French capital, where the excitement is yet to let up: nearly 2 million tickets have been sold for the paralympic competitions, with 75% going to residents of the Paris metropolitan area.
👓 WORLDCRUNCH MAGAZINE
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News quiz answers:
1. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Kyiv on Friday to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Modi met with representatives of the Indian diaspora after arriving, and his visit will focus on boosting economic ties and cooperation between the two countries. Ahead of his “historic” visit, Modi stated India’s support “for restoration of peace and stability as soon as possible.” Get insight into the stakes of the peace talks between Ukraine and Russia in this article from Important Stories.
2. Canada’s rail workers started returning to work on Friday, after the government moved to end an unprecedented rail stoppage that threatened supply chains across North America. The country’s two main railway operators, Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City, locked out nearly 9,300 unionized workers on Thursday, after failing to clinch a deal with the Teamsters union.
3. The social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, announced it will close its operations in Brazil following a clash with Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. X claims that de Moraes threatened to arrest the company’s legal representatives in Brazil if they didn’t comply with his “censorship orders.”
4. Londoners were surprised by an imposing German Navy ship blasting Star Wars' “Imperial March” theme on the Thames near Tower Bridge on Wednesday. The ship was passing through the British capital for a training and supply stop and decided to use the Force on its passage.
✍️ Newsletter by Worldcrunch
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*Photo: Volha Shukaila/SOPA Images/ZUMA