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Le Weekend: Women-Led Cannes Jury, Clay Drama, Child v. Rothko

Conclave speculation, urinal innovation, “Italian brainrot”… and much more.

May 3-4

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

🎲 OUR WEEKLY NEWS QUIZ

  1. Activists who were planning to sail a ship carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza say it was struck by drones in international waters off the coast of which Mediterranean island?

  2. Which far-right party has been classified as “extremist” and “incompatible with the free democratic order” by German intelligence?
  1. Vietnam celebrated 50 years since the country’s reunification when communist-run North Vietnam seized which city, the capital of the U.S.-backed South? 
  1. Which unexpected material have two biotechnology companies said they were exploring to make a luxury handbag?
    Recycled space shuttle fabric / Lab-grown T.rex leather / 3D-printed silk / Tofu

[Answers at the bottom] 

#️⃣ TRENDING

French radio France Inter is wondering whether “Italian brainrot,” the surrealist trend defying the idea of ​​meaning and logic which has taken over the internet in the past few weeks, is “absurd genius” or “a sign that humanity is doomed.” The strange universe, whose name captures concerns about the impact of consuming excessive amounts of low-quality online content, features AI-generated visual creations that show a gallery of absurd characters that include Chimpanzini Bananini, a banana chimpanzee, or Lirilì Larilà, a cactus-elephant wearing flip-flops. Each one is associated with a specific sound, mixing words without any sense with Italian locution. While “Camus, Beckett and Ionesco would be a little disconcerted” by these characters, France Inter comments, the trend “clearly reflects a certain dismay in the face of the human condition.”

🎭 5 CULTURE THINGS TO KNOW

  • Child damages $56 million Rothko painting at Dutch museum. A painting by American artist Mark Rothko, valued at up to 50 million euros ($56.8 million), was damaged by a child at the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam. The incident occurred during an “unguarded moment,” a spokesperson of the Dutch museum said, adding that the institution was now considering the “next steps” for the treatment of Rothko’s Grey, Orange on Maroon, No. 8 but that the damage was “superficial.”

  • Women-majority Cannes film festival jury unveiled. American actor Halle Berry and best-selling Franco-Moroccan writer Leila Slimani are set to join what will be a women-majority judging panel at the Cannes Film Festival this year that will be presided over by French actress Juliette Binoche, organizers announced. The jury will also include Succession star Jeremy Strong and South Korean filmmaker Hong Sangsoo. They will watch the 21 films in competition, seven of which were made by women directors, a joint highest total with the 2023 edition. 
  • Netflix to release first Korean animated film. Netflix unveiled a teaser poster and a trailer of Lost in Starlight, its first Korean animated feature film ahead of its global premiere scheduled on May 30. Written and directed by Han Ji-won, the movie is set in Seoul in 2050 and weaves a romantic tale between astronaut Nan-young and gifted musician Jay, who are voiced respectively by acclaimed actors Kim Tae-ri and Hong Kyung.

  • Secret note by Jewish prisoner found in Dachau-built violin. A message written by Jewish prisoner Franciszek “Franz” Kempa from within the Nazi concentration camp at Dachau was discovered after more than 80 years inside a violin he had crafted. “Trial instrument, made under difficult conditions with no tools and materials,” the worn note read. “Dachau. Anno 1941, Franciszek Kempa.” The violin built in 1941 had remained unnoticed for decades, until art dealers in Hungary sent the instrument out for repairs after it had been stored for years, bringing its history to light.

  • Music festivals under threat due to climate change in Australia. A new report called “Rain, Heat, Repeat: How Music Fans are Experiencing Extreme Weather” and led by RMIT University has warned that climate change was no longer a distant threat to the live music sector in Australia, highlighting that in a single week last month, 26 live music events were canceled due to Cyclone Alfred. According to the report, 85% of festivalgoers interviewed had been affected by either floods, storms, heatwaves or the threat of bushfires at an event they had attended in the past 12 months.

🤳🎾 SMILE OF THE WEEK

German tennisman Alex Zverev was given a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct Sunday after using his phone to take a photo of a disputed ball mark in the middle of his 2-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(0) win over Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina at the Madrid Open tournament. Zverev took the picture after protesting to the umpire that a ball from his opponent was wrongly called “in” by the electronic line calling system. He later posted the photo on his Instagram Story with the caption: “Just going to leave this one here. This was called in. Interesting call.” This echoed similar incidents involving the electronic system this season. 

🚽 BRIGHT IDEA

After over a century of minimal innovation in urinal design, researchers at the University of Waterloo have introduced the Nautilus — a prototype that dramatically reduces splashback by over 98% through its optimized 30-degree interior angles. This design not only enhances hygiene but also has the potential to save up to 10 million liters of cleaning water daily in the U.S., offering a cleaner, more efficient solution for public restrooms.

⏩ LOOKING AHEAD

News quiz answers:

  1. Activists who were planning to sail an aid ship to Gaza say it was struck by drones in international waters off the coast of Malta. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition said its ship The Conscience was targeted on Friday and issued an SOS signal right after the attack. The group, which blamed Israel, said it had planned to sail to Gaza and “challenge Israel’s illegal siege and blockade” there.
  1. Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution designated on Friday the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) as a right-wing extremist organization that poses a threat to democracy and the constitutional order.
  1. Vietnam celebrated the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam war, and the formation of its modern nation with a military parade and a focus on a peaceful future. Chinese, Laotian and Cambodian troops marched behind Vietnamese army formations. Here, soldiers march in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon. The city’s capture by North Vietnamese forces on April 30, 1975 marked the end of a Vietnam divided into the communist North and U.S.-allied South.

  2. Two biotech companies announced they would be partnering up to create “Tyrannosaurus rex leather” for luxury fashion by engineering lab-grown material based on fossilized collagen and synthetic DNA. However, dinosaur experts have slammed the concept as misleading, since “real” T. rex leather would require DNA — and so far, no T. rex skin has ever been found.

✍️ Newsletter by Worldcrunch

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