Le Weekend: “Napalm Girl” Credit Controversy, Brazil’s Scorpion Epidemic, Dachshund Survivor

May 10-11

• • Conclave speculation
  • Urinal innovation
  • “Italian brainrot” analysis
  • … and much more.

🎲 OUR WEEKLY NEWS QUIZ

1. Ukrainian drones struck Moscow just days before a parade commemorating which historic event?

2. Which Indian state, bordering Kashmir, has declared a state of emergency over the escalation tensions with neighboring Pakistan?

3. In what South American country did Pope Leo XIV serve for more than two decades?
4. What peculiar vehicle is set to be turned into a mobile health clinic to help the children of Gaza?
   A double-decker bus / The car from the 1984 movie Ghostbusters / A Soviet-era submarine / A popemobile

[Answers at the bottom of this newsletter]

#️⃣ TRENDING

#ScorpionSting! #BrazilScorpions! Hashtag-panic has taken over social media after it was reported that scorpion stings in Brazil have surged by 155% between 2014 and 2023 due to rapid, unplanned urbanization and climate change. Over 1.1 million stings were tallied in that period. Though the mortality rate is low, vulnerable populations like children and the elderly face serious risks, and experts warn that the situation is likely to worsen without preventative urban planning and public health measures.

🎭 5 CULTURE THINGS TO KNOW

• Attenborough delivers “greatest message he’s ever told” at 99. British naturalist Sir David Attenborough’s new, cinema-length film Ocean premiered this week in London with King Charles III in attendance, as the famous nature broadcaster and filmmaker turned 99 on May 8. Attenborough said the movie could be one of the most important of his seven-decade career. Ocean charts the challenges faced by the seas over his lifetime, including destructive industrial fishing practices.

• Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha wins Pulitzer prize for commentary. Renowned poet and author Mosab Abu Toha was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for commentary for a series of essays published in The New Yorker “on the physical and emotional carnage in Gaza that combine deep reporting with the intimacy of memoir to convey the Palestinian experience” of the war. Abu Toha, 32, was detained in 2023 by Israeli forces at a checkpoint as he tried to flee his home in northern Gaza with his family and was later able to leave and escape to the U.S.

• Ukrainian Eurovision entrant’s home destroyed by Russian shelling. Ukrainian Eurovision contestant Khrystyna Starykova, who is currently in Switzerland to rehearse for her performance with the band Ziferblat, posted photos of her damaged apartment block in the city of Myrnograd following Russian shelling. The 19-year-old said her relatives and friends are alive and well and vowed to perform at the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 next week “for the sake of our country.” The artist and her band will sing “Bird of Pray” at the event, a song that tells the story of Ukrainians who have been separated from their loved ones by the war with Russia.

• King Charles and Queen Camilla unveil state portraits. On the second anniversary of their coronation day, King Charles III and Queen Camilla revealed their new state portraits at the National Gallery, where they will be displayed until June before moving to Buckingham Palace. The portrait of Charles, by Peter Kuhfeld, shows the monarch wearing the Robe of State alongside his naval uniform with medals, while Camilla, whose portrait was done by Paul S. Benney, is depicted wearing her coronation dress.

• AP will not change credit for famous Vietnam war photo. The Associated Press has released a 96-page report that says it found “no definitive evidence” to warrant changing the credit of the iconic Vietnam War image of a naked girl running from a napalm attack. This comes after a documentary shown at the Sundance Film Festival in January asserted that the Pulitzer Prize-winning photo credited to Nick Ut was actually shot by another man, Nguyen Thanh Nghe. The AP said it found no proof that Nguyen took the photo, but also acknowledged that it wasn’t able to prove conclusively that Ut was the author due to the passage of time, absence of key evidence, limitations of technology and the deaths of several key people involved.

🐾 SMILE OF THE WEEK

Valerie, a miniature dachshund lost for 18 months after escaping a campsite on Kangaroo Island, Australia, was joyfully reunited with her owners. Local charity Kangala Wildlife Rescue spent 1,000 hours searching over 5,000 km of terrain, using traps, cameras, and other technology before finding her in surprisingly good health. Believed to have survived on roadkill and animal droppings, Valerie is now beginning her transition back to domestic life in New South Wales. 

🛬 BRIGHT IDEA

American Cirrus Aircraft has introduced a new safety feature that could change the way we fly: a plane that can land autonomously. Called “Safe Return,” the system is now approved for use in small private aircraft. How it works: if something happens to the pilot, a passenger presses a button that activates pilot that chooses a nearby airport, guides the plane down and lands it safely. It’s a new step toward making flying less stressful and more secure for everyday travelers.

⏩ LOOKING AHEAD

• Officials from the U.S. and China are meeting in Geneva this weekend to kick off the first trade negotiations between the countries since U.S. President Donald Trump took office earlier this year. The talks come as a response to Trump’s 145% tariffs on Chinese goods and China’s 125% counter-tariff on U.S. products. 

• Donald Trump will leave for a tour of several countries in the Middle East on Tuesday, including stops in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. During the trip, Trump will hold a summit of Arab leaders in Saudi Arabia, but will not be stopping in Israel despite an invitation from the Israeli ambassador. 

• The Cannes Film Festival begins Tuesday drawing actors and moviemakers from across the globe over 11 days. This year’s edition, which runs until May 24, will be the 78th iteration of the festival.

• The Eurovision Song Contest will start its first semifinal on Tuesday, then hold its second semifinal on Thursday and the grand final on Saturday. This year’s edition is being held in Basel, Switzerland.

News quiz answers:

1. Ukrainian drones struck Moscow just before a major parade in the Russian capital, marking Allied Forces’ victory in World War II. 

2. The Indian state of Punjab declared a state of emergency in the wake of escalating tensions with neighboring Pakistan. India this week launched a series of strikes in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, as retribution to the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, which left 25 Indians and one Nepali national dead.

3. Cardinal Robert Prevost, who chose the name Pope Leo XIV after his election on Thursday, became the first-ever American Pope, hailing from Chicago before spending more than two decades as a missionary in Peru, where he was granted citizenship in 2015.

4.  In accordance with a request from late Pope Francis, one of his former popemobiles is being repurposed as a mobile healthcare unit for children and sent to Gaza.

✍️ Newsletter by Worldcrunch

Sign up here to receive our free daily Newsletter to your inbox