Jan. 20-21
- A Ukrainian sniper’s guide to surviving captivity
- EV fire solution
- Saudi search for AI artists
- … and much more.
🎲 OUR WEEKLY NEWS QUIZ
1. Which neighboring country fired missiles back into Iranian territory after Tehran’s air attack earlier in the week?
2. What’s the name of the Yemeni rebel group currently wreaking havoc in and around the Red Sea?
3. What did Denmark’s new King Frederik X do, just three days into his reign? Go on a vacation / Publish a book / Break his scepter / Abdicate
4. Why was Bobi, the “world’s oldest dog” who died in October, back in the news?
[Answers at the bottom of this newsletter]
#️⃣ TRENDING
A listing for an apartment in Madrid went viral this week. The “surreal” post, which features a screenshot of a real listing for a 5-square-meter apartment in the Spanish capital, for 32,000 euros garnered more than 640,000 views. Many users joked about the listing, with one saying “I have slept in beds that had almost the same surface area” and another ironically commenting the deal is “a bargain.” Finding a flat in the Spanish capital city can be a daunting task due to high demand, leading some landlords to take advantage of flat hunters’ desperation to advertise unattractive and small (very small) properties at high prices.
🎭 5 CULTURE THINGS TO KNOW
• Italian culture minister investigated over stolen painting: Italian junior culture minister and TV personality Vittorio Sgarbi is under investigation over a 17th century painting in his possession that police said had been stolen. The Capture of Saint Peter by Rutilio Manetti disappeared from a castle near the northern Italian city of Turin in 2013. Sgarbi has fiercely denied wrongdoing, saying he found the painting in an old mansion his mother bought decades ago.
• Saudi Arabia puts out call to AI artists for new talent initiative: Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Culture announced it is searching for generative AI artists willing to integrate its year-long Emerging New Media Artists educational program, which will offer production training as well as personal mentorship from prominent international digital artists. Applications are open to all artists from around the world aged 35 and younger with a university degree.
• Louvre increases ticket prices to cover rising energy costs: Tickets for the Louvre in Paris rose almost 30% to €22 in what marks the first price hike in seven years at the world's most visited museum. The institution, which pointed out that 40% of visitors qualify for free tickets, said the increase was necessary to cover rising energy costs.
• Jamaican poet Jason Allen-Paisant wins T.S. Eliot prize: Jamaican poet Jason Allen-Paisant has won this year’s prestigious T.S. Eliot prize for Self-Portrait As Othello, a collection which explores Black masculinity and immigrant identity. Judges saluted the 43-year-old writer’s courage “to pull off a work like this with such style and integrity” and said that his second collection was “a book to which readers will return for many years.”
• No Doubt to reunite after 10 years for 2024 Coachella: After nearly a decade since last performing together, U.S. pop rock band No Doubt will be returning to the stage for the Coachella music festival which will be held for two consecutive weekends in April this year. The lineup of California’s desert-centric festival also includes Lana Del Rey, Doja Cat and rapper Tyler The Creator.
🇸🇦 Saudi Prince Salman really wants to be crowned Middle East peacemaker
For the first time since the start of the war in Gaza, a draft peace plan is circulating in diplomatic circles. Its principles are simple: recognition of Israel by the Arab world in exchange for an “irreversible” commitment by Israel to allow the birth of a Palestinian state. These proposals revolve around the role of Saudi Arabia, which, Pierre Haski writes for France Inter broadcaster, is aiming at “becoming the peacemaker in the Middle East” as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s strategy to transform the country and “put his violent beginnings behind him.”
Read the full story: How Saudi Ambitions Are Driving A New Middle East Peace Plan
⛓ A female Ukrainian sniper’s guide to survival in Russian captivity
Following Russia and Ukraine’s prisoner exchange earlier this month, Vazhnyye Istorii/Important Stories shares the first-hand account of Alla Senchenko, a Ukrainian sniper who was captured in May 2022 and returned home in February 2023. The former prisoner recounts her harrowing nine months in captivity in Russian prisons and what helped her get through it. “My captivity revealed my strength, which I did not recognize before,” Senchenko told the Russian independent news outlet.
Read the full story: Sketches, Lingerie And Paris Memories: A Ukrainian Sniper On How She Survived Russian Captivity
🐓 Coop d’état? Burkina Faso is eyeing foreign chickens
Burkina Faso's production of local chicken, nicknamed “bicycle chicken,” has been declining in recent years, with the traditional delicacy being slowly replaced by a cheaper imported version. In Burkinabe outlet Studio Yafa, Faïshal Ouédraogo writes about how the ongoing shift in taste in the country — toward larger and meatier poultry — has driven said “bicycle chicken” out of fashion.
Read the full story: "Bicycle Chicken" Blues: Why Burkina Faso Is Losing Taste For Its Local Birds
👨🚒🚙 BRIGHT IDEA
Retired Everett Fire Captain Gerry O’Hearn has developed a new tool called the Gerry Pipe to address the risk of electric vehicle fires. The invention is a steel pipe on wheels with a fire hose nozzle that can be slid under an electric vehicle to spray water in all directions, as the challenge with EV fires lies in the long-lasting combustion of lithium batteries installed underneath the vehicles. The Gerry Pipe thus allows firefighters to extinguish fires from a safe distance.
🐶🕹️ SMILE OF THE WEEK
A gamer dog named Peanut Butter has entered gaming history after being the first animal to set a speed run on the Awesome Games Done Quick charity livestream. AGDQ focuses on speedrunning games, a discipline where players try to complete a game as quickly as possible. With the assistance of his master and a customized controller, Peanut Butter defeated the 1985 NES game Gyromite in 26 minutes and 24 seconds on stream, while his personal best remains at 25 minutes and 29 seconds according to speedrun.com.
📹 THIS HAPPENED VIDEO — TODAY IN HISTORY, IN ONE ICONIC PHOTO
➡️ Watch the video: THIS HAPPENED
⏩ LOOKING AHEAD
• NATO announced it would conduct its largest drill ever next week, with about 90,000 personnel set to rehearse defense plans in case of a Russian attack — Moscow being the most significant and direct threat to member states.
• Antony Blinken is scheduled to travel to Africa for a six-day trip that will take the U.S. Secretary of State to Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, and Angola. His tour is aimed at highlighting the acceleration of economic partnerships between the U.S. and African countries.
• Oscars nominations will be revealed on Tuesday, with Barbie, Oppenheimer and Poor Things topping the list of favorites.
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News quiz answers:
1. Pakistan carried out retaliatory missile strikes on Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan province killing nine people on January 18. In response to Tehran’s assault on Pakistani soil earlier this week, Pakistan's foreign ministry targeted Baloch militant hideouts. Both parties condemned the attacks launched on one another.
2. The Houthi rebels have been attacking ships in the Red Sea for the past week disrupting global trade and supply chains, with the U.S. and UK striking Yemen in response, in an effort to destroy the rebels’ missiles.
3. Just three days into his reign, King Frederik X of Denmark unexpectedly published a book titled Kongeord (“The King’s word”), delving into his perception of his nation, his faith, and his marriage.
4. Bobi, a Portuguese mastiff known as the "world's oldest dog" at the time of his passing in October (reportedly at the age of 31 years and 165 days) has had his Guinness World Records title temporarily suspended amid doubts about the authenticity and accuracy of Bobi's record.
✍️ Newsletter by Worldcrunch
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*Photo: Francesco Zivoli