👋 សួស្តី*!*
Welcome to Monday, where Hamas says the death toll in Gaza passes 25,000, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates a huge (and controversial) new temple in northern India, and Japan turns to the sun in the hope of saving its Moon lander. Meanwhile, a Palestinian photojournalist in Gaza recounts in Cairo-based media Mada Masr how the war has torn his family and turned his life upside down.
[*Susadei - Khmer, Cambodia]
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This is our daily newsletter Worldcrunch Today, a rapid tour of the news of the day from the world's best journalism sources, regardless of language or geography.
🗞️ FRONT PAGE
German daily Taggespiegel dedicates its front page to the wave of protests against the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, that is sweeping the country. The Berlin-based newspaper highlights the massive march Sunday as “Momentum of the center.” Center-left German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he was in favor of the protests, calling them “good and right.”
🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
• Netanyahu rejects Hamas hostage deal to end war: Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected a proposal by Hamas to end the war and release captives in exchange for withdrawing Israeli forces, releasing prisoners and accepting the group’s governance of Gaza. Netanyahu, who is under growing pressure to bring the hostages home, said that accepting Hamas’s conditions would mean leaving the armed group “intact” and that Israel’s soldiers had “fallen in vain.” Meanwhile, more than 25,000 people have now been killed in Gaza according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Follow Worldcrunch’s coverage of the war between Israel and Hamas here.
• India’s Modi inaugurates Hindu temple on razed Babri mosque site: India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated a grand temple dedicated to Hindu god Ram in the city of Ayodhya. The temple replaced a 16th-century mosque destroyed by Hindu mobs in 1992. Thousands of invited guests, including top film stars and cricketers, attended the event in Ayodhya. But some Hindu Maharashi (or ‘seers’) and most of the opposition boycotted it, saying Modi is using it for political gains.
• Ron DeSantis drops out of presidential race, endorses Trump: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis dropped out of the Republican presidential campaign, ending his 2024 White House bid and endorsed his rival Donald Trump. The decision leaves Trump and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley as the last major candidates remaining in the race ahead of Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary.
• Poland’s Donald Tusk arrives in Ukraine: Poland's newly installed Prime Minister Donald Tusk arrived in Kyiv on Monday to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as he aims to strengthen relations after months of political friction between the two allies. Tusk's government is exploring how to make more ammunition and military equipment as part of a new aid package for its neighbor. Warsaw has emerged as a key ally for Kyiv as the country seeks more financial and military support from Western partners. Poland has also taken in more than a million Ukrainian refugees. For more on the stakes and power plays in the region, we offer this recent piece by Warsaw-based daily Gazeta Wyborcza: Inside Russia’s Bespoke Propaganda Campaign In Poland.
• China landslides kills eight, more than 90 deaths recorded in U.S. due to winter weather: A landslide in China's Yunnan province killed at least eight people on Monday and dozens were missing as rescue operations continued in freezing temperatures. Meanwhile, more than 90 weather-related deaths have been recorded across the U.S. after the country was hit with ferocious winter storms for the past week. Tens of thousands of people also remain without power across wide parts of the country.
• Sony calls off merger with India media giant Zee: Sony's Indian arm has scrapped a planned merger with Zee Entertainment which would have formed one of India's largest entertainment groups. The planned $10 billion merger, first announced two years ago, was set to combine more than 75 television channels, film assets and two streaming platforms. In response, Zee said it could take legal action against Sony.
• Japan hopes sunlight can save Moon lander: Japan may manage to salvage its Moon lander, the country's space agency Jaxa says, if sunlight hits it in the right place. The Slim spacecraft was turned off just three hours after its historic lunar touchdown on Saturday to save power. Engineers had realized its solar cells were pointing west, away from the Sun, and could not generate electricity. But the mission team is now hopeful the situation could improve as lighting conditions shift. Want to know more about humankind shooting for the Moon? Read this recent article from Les Echos, translated from French by Worldcrunch.
🔢 BY THE NUMBERS
+24%
China imported a record amount of Russian oil in 2023, at bargain prices due to Western sanctions over the country’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia’s crude shipments to China increased by 24% to 107.02 million metric tons compared to 86.24 million in 2022, surpassing Saudi Arabia.
📰 STORY OF THE DAY
How the Israel-Hamas war tore one Palestinian family apart
Omar Sharara, a journalist for the Cairo-based media Mada Masr reports on his exchanges with Aden, a Palestinian photojournalist in Gaza, since the war began. Amid bombings and communications blackouts, Aden relays his family's efforts to seek shelter.
🇵🇸 On the morning of October 7, Aden woke up around 8 a.m., after a fitful sleep. In the days before the war, he was busy organizing his upcoming marriage, along with other family responsibilities. Aden and one of his brothers were responsible for the family following their father's death in 2017. They all lived in a four-story house in the town of Jabaliya, in northern Gaza. Their living conditions before the war were “very difficult," Aden said, “The family had no source of income except what I earned from my work, and from my brother’s work as an interior designer."
📷 Within hours after dawn on October 7, his family's plans changed until further notice — and may be changed forever. When he heard about the Al-Aqsa Flood attack, Aden, who works as a photojournalist, said he rushed from his workplace. "I didn’t pick up my personal ID or press pass," he recalls. Through his camera, he began to document the misery and tragedy of his people. At the time, “we didn't know that it would become a genocide in every sense of the word,” he said.
💥 As fighting and bombing intensified in Khan Younis, Aden and his family members fled to Rafah thinking it would be safer. “We had only the clothes we were wearing and it was raining,” he said, “We slept in camps for displaced people” in Rafah. However, Aden’s hope of safety in Rafah was dashed. The Israeli military repeatedly bombed the town, killing and wounding many people including displaced families. “The situation has turned from bad to worse,” he said.
➡️ Read more on Worldcrunch.com
📹 THIS HAPPENED VIDEO — TODAY IN HISTORY, IN ONE ICONIC PHOTO
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📣 VERBATIM
“It’s clear to me that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance.”
— Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced the suspension of his Republican presidential campaign in a video, just ahead of the New Hampshire primary while endorsing former President Donald Trump, recognizing his rival’s dominance in the primary race. DeSantis’ decision follows his loss in the Iowa caucuses, and intensifies the competition between Trump and last candidate Nikki Haley.
👉 MORE FROM WORLDCRUNCH
• How Saudi Ambitions Are Driving A New Middle East Peace Plan — FRANCE INTER
• Ruby's Way: Iconic Egyptian Singer Takes On Arab Piety With Provocative New Hit — DARAJ
• The French Art Of Protocol: Behind The Scenes Of Global Diplomacy — LES ECHOS
✍️ Newsletter by Emma Albright and Cory Agathe
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