December 21-22
- Sharing the Syrian cake
- Botswana’s solar backpack
- Adiós, Marisa Paredes
- … and much more.
⬇️ STARTER
Damascus postcard: “the donkey” deposed, a magnificent city reborn
The Damascenes needed no more than a single day to uproot all the manifestations of the "Ba'ath" that had infiltrated every aspect of their lives. Less than two weeks after Bashar al-Assad fled, there is barely a single trace of his regime in Damascus, except in garbage collection points.
The regime truly was "weaker than a spider's web," a phrase Hezbollah used years ago to describe Israel. That latent weakness now accompanies anyone strolling through the neighborhoods of Damascus after its easy liberation from the ugliest regime a neighborhood or city or nation could endure.
The regime evaporated overnight, leaving behind only its waste. The images of the ousted president were torn, his father’s statues were smashed, and Syria's capital resumed its life despite the great uncertainty surrounding its future.
Here, people are now busy living without the Ba'ath regime. There is no clear direction for their daily lives except that they will wake up tomorrow without the enormous burden that once weighed on their chests. Nothing could be worse than what they had endured. The regime used to monitor every tiny detail of their lives.
A visitor to Damascus could once observe the terrifying presence of the ruling family in everything — cellphone companies, banknotes, bars, mosques, hotels. Wherever you turned, there was a suffocating reminder of the Assad family. But now, they exist only in garbage bins, in people’s sarcastic conversations about "the vile president," and in the songs of Sarout blaring from cars, cursing Bashar and his family.
Damascus, the magnificent city, from which the Ba'ath Party spared nothing and desecrated everything, shed in a single night all the Ba'athist ugliness that had been spread out for so long — more than five decades!
There will be no return to the Assad era. That is the one truth anyone contemplating Syria’s future can assert. As the Damascenes struggle with what remnants of the family’s traces they haven’t managed to eradicate, they’ve invented ways to deal with the lingering symbols through mockery. For example, the Syrian thousand-pound banknote bears Bashar al-Assad's image, so they’ve renamed this denomination "Jahsh" (donkey). [...]
— Read the full article by Hazem El-Amin for Daraj, translated from Arabic by Worldcrunch.
🎲 OUR WEEKLY NEWS QUIZ
What do you remember from the news this week?
1. The bomb that killed Russian general Igor Kirillov in Moscow was planted on what kind of vehicle?
2. Which French overseas territory in the Indian Ocean was left devastated by Cyclone Chido?
3. Against which U.S. tech company has the Democratic Republic of Congo filed criminal complaints over illegal mineral exploitation?
4. What did Hong Kong say it could regulate due to rising complaints over their settings?
Microwaves / Claw machines / AI chatbots / Guitar amps
[Answers at the bottom of this newsletter]
#️⃣ TRENDING
The Cinémathèque Française in Paris cancelled a screening of Bernardo Bertolucci’s Last Tango in Paris, as part of a Marlon Brando retrospective. The decision stemmed from the 1972 movie’s infamous sex scene, which many are calling to term a rape scene as it was shot without actress Maria Schneider’s consent. The planned screening sparked online uproar, and led several women’s rights organizations and workers from the movie industry to criticize the Cinémathèque for not giving the audience context about the scene. In a statement issued the night before the movie was scheduled to be shown, the Cinémathèque cited safety concerns for audiences and staff as the reason for canceling.
🎭 5 CULTURE THINGS TO KNOW
• Marisa Paredes, acclaimed Spanish actor and Almodóvar favorite, dies at 78. Spain’s film academy said the country had lost one of its “most iconic” actors, who leaves behind a long career of more than 75 films. Paredes started acting at 14 and began working with Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar on his 1983 film Dark Habits, beginning a long collaboration that includes High Heels, The Flower of My Secret, All About My Mother and The Skin I Live in.
• Brazilian judge orders Adele song to be pulled worldwide over plagiarism claim. Judge Victor Torres ordered the Brazilian subsidiaries of Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music, Adele’s labels, to remove the British pop superstar’s song “Million Years Ago” from their streaming platforms amid a continuing plagiarism case brought forward by Brazilian composer Toninho Geraes. The latter alleges that the song plagiarized the music of his 1995 samba song “Mulheres (Women)” and is suing for lost royalties, seeking $160,000 in moral damages.
• Australia's Bluey to get animated film. The Bafta-winning children’s TV show will hit the big screen for the first time in 2027 in a feature film produced by Disney and BBC Studios. The animated adventures of the blue heeler puppy, Bluey, and her family, made by Australian production company Ludo, have become a global phenomenon since the show’s creation in 2017. Bluey is now available in more than 140 countries and has topped Disney+’s list of most-watched series globally this year.
• Al Burda Awards announce 2024 winners at Louvre Abu Dhabi. Organized by the United Arab Emirates’ Ministry of Culture and Youth, the Al Burda Awards celebrates outstanding creativity in traditional Islamic art from poetry to Arabic calligraphy and ornamentation. In a ceremony at Louvre Abu Dhabi, the 18th edition honored 33 winners across eight categories, with works under the theme of Al Noor, which translates to “the light.”
• Academy unveils Oscars’ shortlist for 10 categories. French crime musical Emilia Pérez and Broadway adaptation Wicked topped the list of potential nominees for the upcoming 97th Oscars ceremony with six and four mentions, respectively, including makeup, sound, original score, international feature, and two for original song for Emilia Pérez, Jacques Audiard’s Spanish-language film. Several films made three lists, including Dune: Part Two, Alien: Romulus and Gladiator II. In January, the shortlists will be narrowed down to five nominees per category.
🧑🎄🌊 SMILE OF THE WEEK
Santa Claus swapped his sleigh for a jet ski this week in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to spread some holiday cheer. Firefighter Thiago Carvalho de Paiva, dressed as Santa, rode the waves on Copacabana Beach on Tuesday, bringing joy to dozens of children with disabilities. The special event, organized by local firefighters and nonprofits, featured gifts, açai bowls and a surprise rescue mission as Santa helped beachgoers in need.
📰 IN OTHER NEWS
🇸🇾 After the downfall of Bashar al-Assad, Kurdish citizens of Syria rejoiced, but deep concerns over the people's fate have not gone away.
— DARAJ
🇹🇷🇮🇱 Replacing the dominant roles of Russia and Iran exerting influence over Syria, following the downfall of President Bashar al-Assad, Turkey and Israel are best positioned to divide up their respective roles on the territory of the shared neighbor.
— AL-MANASSA
⚖️ The trial of Gisèle Pelicot’s ex-husband has horrified the world. Sadly, similar stories stretch half-way around the world, including in an Ecuadorian journalist’s hometown.
— INDÓMITA
🩸 A new blood test, designed to detect more than 50 types of cancer, could be the future of early cancer detection. Is it the next big thing, or just another marketing gimmick?
— DIE ZEIT
🐶 From dedicated spas and luxury perfumes to prebiotics and behavioral therapies, dogs have become the luxury sector’s new best friend.
— LES ECHOS
🎒⚡ BRIGHT IDEA
In Botswana, a 34-year-old engineer designed a connected backpack for rural students. Kedumetse Liphi came up with the idea after meeting a young boy walking to school with a plastic bag. He designed a waterproof backpack equipped with a solar panel that can store energy for up to 7 hours, a LED light and a USB port to charge devices. “In Africa there are many families that do not have electricity and children who have to walk very long distances to go to school. They usually do so under the sun. When they carry this backpack, when they return home at night, they can turn on a light that we have added to do homework or for anything else they need,” Liphi explained. The invention has received multiple awards. According to a 2023 UN report, 53% of the population in sub-Saharan Africa doesn't have access to electricity.
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⏩ LOOKING AHEAD
• Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto is set to visit Israel next week as a guest of Defense Minister Israel Katz. They are expected to discuss southern Lebanon and the Syrian Golan Heights.
• Indian Ocean nations will commemorate, on Thursday, 20 years since the Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami that killed 226,408 in 15 countries across the region. Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand were among the worst hit by the natural disaster, which was one of the deadliest in recorded history.
• The Vatican’s 2025 Jubilee will officially open on Dec. 24, kicking off a year of celebrations for Catholics around the world. This is the first ordinary jubilee since 2000 and will begin with the rite of Opening of the Holy Door of the Papal Basilica of St. Peter by Pope Francis.
• The 1980s English pop duo Wham! (made up of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley) has returned to the UK’s No. 1 spot with “Last Christmas,” priming the festive classic as the bookmakers’ favorite to claim the Christmas No. 1 next Friday — just as the lovelorn song celebrates its 40th anniversary.
News quiz answers:
1. A top Russian general, accused by Ukraine of being responsible for the use of chemical weapons against Ukrainian troops, was assassinated in Moscow by Ukraine's SBU intelligence service on Tuesday morning. Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, who was chief of Russia's Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops, was killed outside an apartment building along with his assistant when a bomb hidden in an electric scooter went off.
2. Rescue operations are underway to find survivors and restore services to the French overseas territory of Mayotte, where the final death toll is expected to reach “close to a thousand or even several thousand” after the Indian Ocean islands were hit by the worst cyclone in 90 years.
3. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has filed a lawsuit accusing U.S. tech giant Apple of hiding the role of so-called “blood minerals” in its supply chain.
4. Hong Kong’s consumer watchdog announced its intention to implement regulations on its ubiquitous claw machines, following a steep rise in complaints over “unfair” gameplay.
✍️ Newsletter by Worldcrunch
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