October 19-20
- Italy’s Meloni v. surrogacy
- Retro Egypt-to-Japan trip
- Next-level food wrap
- … and much more.
🎲 OUR WEEKLY NEWS QUIZ
What do you remember from the news this week?
1. The U.S. has told Israel it must boost aid to Gaza or risk losing Washington’s military support. How long has it given Israel to act?
2. Under a new asylum deaI, Italy sent a first group of asylum seekers by boat to which country?
3. “I will spend the rest of my life in prison and die here.” This ominous quote comes from whose memoir, extracts of which were published in The New Yorker?
4. What did a paraglider spot atop the Great Pyramid of Giza? A golden owl / A YouTuber doing parkour / A stray dog / Aliens
[Answers at the bottom of this newsletter]
#️⃣ TRENDING
Egyptian traveler Omar Nok completed a journey from Egypt to Japan that took 250 days. Why so long? Because he completed the whole 42,000-kilometer trip without ever hopping on a plane. Starting in February, his route took him from Cairo, across the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia, then through the UAE, Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia, China, South Korea and, finally, to Japan. He documented the entire trip on Instagram, where he highlighted the kindness and hospitality he received throughout his adventure. After arriving in Japan, Omar will spend five weeks exploring the country before heading back to Egypt: this time, by plane.
🎭 5 CULTURE THINGS TO KNOW
• Martina Hefter wins 2024 German Book Prize, launching Frankfurt Book Fair. The world’s oldest and biggest book fair started on Wednesday with the announcement that Martina Hefter claimed one of the most prestigious awards in German-language literature for her novel Hey guten Morgen, wie geht es dir? (“Hey, good morning, how are you?”). The author’s fourth novel tells the story of a middle-aged woman caring for her husband, who has multiple sclerosis. Some of the highlights of this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair, which will end on Sunday, included a discussion between Sapiens author Yuval Noah Harari and philosopher Kohei Saito on the question of whether “a system reboot is the only way to have a future worth living.”
• Archeologists unearth 50 Viking Age skeletons in Denmark. The burial ground, which was discovered last year during a routine survey in a village northeast of Odense, Denmark’s third-largest city, contained some 50 “exceptionally well-preserved” skeletons that could hold important clues to the Viking era. Experts said high chalk and water levels in the area’s soil helped preserve the skeletons, potentially allowing them to conduct DNA analyses and reconstruct detailed life histories.
• World’s second sphere announced, this time for Abu Dhabi. Following the opening of the first dome entertainment complex in Las Vegas in September, Sphere Entertainment Co. and Abu Dhabi tourism officials announced this week that a second sphere will be built in the United Arab Emirates’ capital. Dates for the venue’s construction and opening have yet to be determined, but its scale should echo the “20,000-capacity Sphere in Las Vegas.” Standing at 111 meters tall and 157 meters wide, the U.S. sphere is said to be the world’s largest spherical structure.
• Restored “Apollo Belvedere” back on display in Vatican. The Vatican Museums unveiled this week a restoration of a 2nd-century marble sculpture of the Greek god Apollo, which is believed to be a Roman copy of an original Greek bronze statue and was brought to the Vatican by Pope Julius II in the early 16th century. The “Apollo Belvedere” was removed from public exhibition in 2019, and experts have worked on it ever since, repairing fractures in its knees and legs and cleaning the statue with lasers.
• Grand Egyptian Museum opens for trial run. The vast and much-delayed antiquities museum built near the Pyramids of Giza partly opened 12 of its main galleries on Wednesday to 4,000 visitors as part of a trial run until the official opening date, which is yet to be announced. The mega-project, which has been under construction for more than a decade and has cost more than $1 billion, is expected to display the world’s largest archaeological collection, including more than 100,000 artifacts of Egypt’s ancient treasures.
😺📍 SMILE OF THE WEEK
Google reviews: great for restaurants, tourist attractions and cats. In Strasbourg, eastern France, Pichu the cat has become a local entertainment and has prompted his own Google reviews. His owners have said he “refuses to stay in” and is always hanging out outside their building — much to the delight of local residents and passersby. “The nicest cat,” “very social and pleasant, although he is often napping”: 5 stars out of 5 for the lazy tomcat, nicknamed Minette. While the review page has recently been deleted, Pichu is still attracting fans and some are really disappointed when he doesn’t show up (“It’s not right, Google said it would be there.”)
📰 IN OTHER NEWS
🚑 Since the Israel-Hamas war started, 2 million Palestinians in Gaza have been displaced, mostly multiple times. But as humanitarian aid is being blocked, refugees have few options to shelter themselves ahead of the upcoming winter.
— AL-MANASSA
🇰🇵 North Korea has a habit of staging outbursts, threatening missile launches or parades that are never followed action. But Korea experts say Pyongyang’s latest threats should not be taken lightly.
— FRANCE INTER
⚖️ Should Germany’s increasingly popular far-right party AfD be banned? The debate is finally taking place in the German Bundestag.
— DIE ZEIT
♀️ “I simply don’t buy any of this so-called feminist rhetoric that Meloni is using” — an Italian journalist’s view on Italy’s ban on people to go abroad to have a baby via surrogacy.
— WORLDCRUNCH
🧑🍳 “It can be a real headache.” From gluten intolerance to aversion to so-called latex fruits, almost 15% of orders in France now include specific requests. Dialogue between chefs and diners is not always easy.
— LES ECHOS
🥑 BRIGHT IDEA
Researchers at NTU Singapore have developed a biodegradable food wrap made from discarded avocado pits and starch from durian and jackfruit seeds. This innovative wrap changes color from translucent yellow to deep brown to signal food spoilage, detecting harmful bacteria up to two days before visible signs appear. By harnessing natural compounds like catechin and chlorogenic acid, the wrap not only enhances food safety but also aims to reduce waste, showcasing how nature can inspire sustainable solutions in food preservation.
👓 WORLDCRUNCH MAGAZINE
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⏩ LOOKING AHEAD
• On Sunday, Moldova will both elect a new president and hold a referendum about the country’s European future, amid concerns over Russian interference in the electoral process.
• Russia will hold the 16th BRICS Summit in Kazan, from Oct. 22 to 24, set to focus on “promoting the entire range of partnership and cooperation within the framework of the association on three key tracks — politics and security, the economy and finance, and cultural and humanitarian ties.” In addition to Brazil, Russia, India, and China and South Africa, several nations have this year joined the group: Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates, while Saudi Arabia is yet to confirm its official participation in the political and economic union.
• Former U.S. President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, are scheduled to hit the campaign trail with Democratic candidate Kamala Harris for the first time next week, in the final stretch to election day on Nov. 5.
News quiz answers:
1. The U.S. has written to Israel, giving it 30 days to boost humanitarian aid access in Gaza or risk having some U.S. military assistance cut off. The letter, revealed Tuesday by Axios, is the strongest known written warning from the U.S. to its ally.
2. An Italian ship carrying a first group of migrants to be processed in Albania arrived in the port of Shengjin on Wednesday morning. Up to 3,000 adult migrant men picked up by the Italian coast guard in international waters will be sheltered in two Albanian processing centers each month under a new asylum deaI between Rome and Tirana.
3. This ominous quote published in The New Yorker is excerpted from late Putin critic Alexei Navalny’s memoir. The memoir of the activist — who died in unclear circumstances in a Siberian prison back in March — is set to be released on Oct. 22.
4. A paraglider spotted a stray dog wandering on the top of the Great Pyramid of Giza after climbing up to bark at birds. The footage has left many social media users perplexed, as climbing the Great Pyramid is strictly forbidden due to preservation and safety concerns.
✍️ Newsletter by Worldcrunch
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*Photo: Gehad Hamdy/dpa/ZUMA