- A story about blablabla
- A story on blablabla
- A very funny story about blablabla
But first, a quiz!
Have you paid attention to the odd news this week? Reading our daily newsletters, you should know …
1. What did Harrison Ford lose in Sicily, before a tourist found and returned it?
2. What sports-related item fetched a record .47 million on Monday?
3. What was a participant in the Venice Historical Regatta gondola race busted for?
4. What news have we summed up here in emoji form? ??⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽?
[Answers at the bottom of this newsletter]
SPOTLIGHT
This thing below was particularly newsworthy this week
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nunc quis nisl id erat tincidunt placerat. Duis quis sapien nulla. Morbi in nisi libero. Mauris tempor diam eget nisl pretium, id suscipit arcu feugiat. Maecenas tortor libero, ultrices vitae velit id, rhoncus hendrerit eros. Duis pharetra, nulla nec blandit placerat, elit sapien pellentesque nibh, a euismod arcu enim sed mauris. Cras lacinia fermentum bibendum. Duis vel urna id felis tempor venenatis quis quis arcu. Praesent ultrices lectus vel orci egestas cursus. Phasellus in mi tellus. Integer placerat tellus ex, in ultricies lacus gravida in. Pellentesque imperdiet porta dui, eget pellentesque dolor bibendum id. Morbi sodales condimentum aliquet. Morbi vel justo sed tortor sollicitudin venenatis vitae at nulla.
Nulla gravida enim neque, a aliquet justo vehicula quis. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Aenean vestibulum orci turpis, eu facilisis eros feugiat eu. Ut et sem sapien. Ut a commodo lectus. Aenean eleifend enim libero, at lobortis mauris lacinia at.
Aliquam mattis iaculis laoreet. Integer a mauris eget leo ultrices elementum ut vel velit. Cras sed augue vestibulum, vulputate libero a, auctor velit. Sed sagittis, mauris ac mollis finibus, sapien nisi mattis dui, eget ullamcorper velit augue hendrerit lacus. Etiam fermentum facilisis mi in cursus. Proin eleifend purus eu metus tincidunt ultrices. In nec lectus suscipit metus rhoncus hendrerit. Mauris eu mi diam. Donec a velit ultricies, pretium ante id, sodales orci. Fusce ut imperdiet nisl, in tempus turpis.
5 CULTURE THINGS TO KNOW
• Nigeria’s Benin City bronzes head back home: Thousands of metal sculptures and ivory carvings made between the 15th and 19th centuries and looted by the UK from the West African kingdom of Benin will soon be returned to Nigeria.
• Dune Part 2 confirmed: The world will get to see Timothée Chalamet ride a sandworm: The second installment of the sci-fi epic and global box office hit has officially been greenlit, set to hit the screens in 2023.
• Egyptian soprano makes opera history: Egyptian soprano Fatma Said became the first Egyptian soprano to perform at the iconic Accademia del Teatro alla Scala in Milan.
• Caravaggio ceiling for sale: Rome’s Villa Aurora will be put up for auction in January for 7 million: The villa boasts the only known ceiling painting by Renaissance master Caravaggio.
• And nothing else matters: Metallica turned 40. ?
FROM FRANCE: SOCCER DRAMA
Attack On French Women’s Soccer Star Is Not A Replay Of Tonya Harding
In the world of top-flight French women’s soccer, Nov. 18 will be an important day. That’s when French national team coach Corinne Diacre announces which players have been selected for the upcoming qualifying matches for the next World Cup.
On paper, Kheira Hamraoui and Aminata Diallo, two-star midfielders of the Paris St.-Germain (PSG) club team are more than worthy of consideration for the national team, for which each has played in the past. But on the field on Friday for their club practice in Paris, neither player was present.
Hamraoui is recovering from injuries to her legs sustained last week in an attack, and Diallo was just released from police custody without charges after being questioned in the case of the assault, which has been roiling the world of French sports the past week.
It was last Thursday, Nov. 4, when both players were returning from a PSG team dinner, with Diallo at the wheel. Suddenly, two hooded men appeared, pulled Hamraoui out of the car, and hit her on both legs with an iron bar, as reported by French sports daily L’Equipe.
➡️ Read more on Worldcrunch.com
FROM SPAIN: RURAL CUSTODY BATTLE
A Mother In Spain Denied Child Custody Because She Lives In Rural Area
A Spanish court has ordered the withdrawal of a mother’s custody of her one-year-old boy because she is living in the countryside in northwestern Spain, where the judge says the child won’t have “opportunities for the proper development of his personality.”
The case, reported Monday in La Voz de Galicia, has sparked outrage from a women’s rights association but has also set off reactions from politicians of different stripes across the province of Galicia, defending the values of rural life.
Judge María Belén Ureña Carazo, of the family court of Marbella, a city on the southern coast of 141,000 people, has ordered the toddler to stay with father who lives in the city rather than with his mother because she was living in “deep Galicia” where the child would lack opportunities to “grow up in a happy environment.”
➡️ Read more on Worldcrunch.com
FROM SOUTH AFRICA: A FORMER PRESIDENT’S CONTRASTED LEGACY
De Klerk’s Death: How South Africa Saw Its Last White President
Having shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Nelson Mandela, former President Frederik Willem de Klerk was largely credited with courageous leadership and a key role in dismantling apartheid. But his legacy, both before and after the transition, is decidedly mixed.
Since South Africa‘s last white ruler Frederik Willem de Klerk died at his home in Cape Town on Thursday at the age of 85, the reactions of South Africans have mirrored the contradictions that characterized de Klerk’s political life.
De Klerk is widely heralded for his role in dismantling the brutal apartheid state and ushering in the dawn of South Africa’s democracy, having shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 with Nelson Mandela, who succeeded him as president.
In a statement on Thursday, President Cyril Ramaphosa labeled his actions “courageous,” and celebrated his “decision to unban political parties, release political prisoners and enter into negotiations with the liberation movement amid severe pressure to the contrary from many in his political constituency.”
IN OTHER (GOOD) NEWS
French soldier caught doing a handstand on the Elysée front porch
“Sir, sir, sir — please don’t. This is not just anywhere!”: a guard at the Elysée had to tell off a veteran army fireman who thought it would be a good idea to get filmed doing a handstand on the steps of the French presidential palace.
BRIGHT IDEA
A hole-in-one kind of innovation
While some of the world’s greatest minds were gathered in Glasgow to try and save our planet from impending doom, innovators were also hard at work on what would arguably be golf’s greatest game-changer: rain gloves.
DOTTORÉ, DOTTORÉ!
Diary of a Neapolitan psychiatrist
In Naples you will often hear people cry out: “Maronna ro Carmine!”
I will try to explain the meaning of that expression.
Although everyone called her Maria, my grandmother’s real name was Maria Carmela, like the Madonna to whom she was devoted.
Those who are not from Naples may not know it, but the Madonna del Carmine (Our Lady of Mount Carmel) has been distributing miracles since the 1400s.
In fact, when I was six years old and the ophthalmologist decided that I suffered from astigmatism and hypermetropia, my grandmother turned to her.
She wouldn’t have any of it. It was not acceptable that her granddaughter, like her two short-sighted daughters, would be “condemned” to wear glasses.
So began our Wednesday pilgrimages to the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine in downtown Naples. That’s when I became familiar with the world of the sick, the miraculously healed and the voting offerings.
But it didn’t last long. After six months, my mum took me for a new check-up. The miracle was complete.
“Signora, I don’t know how it’s possible, but the child is perfectly healed.”
I remember as if it were yesterday that my grandmother was deeply moved: “Miracle, miracle, It was Maronna ro Carmine!”
I cried too because the first thing they did was take off my glasses to bring them as an offering to the church. I really liked those pink glasses, and I really liked my Wednesday visits to that brown Madonna, cheek to cheek with her child.
I often wonder if the way I have narrated these events to myself and others has had an influence in my professional choices.
Psychiatrists rarely heal; our ambition is to alleviate suffering.
However, sometimes “healing” does occur, and in addition to the joy, many questions arise.
Was it the drugs, was it me, or was it the events, or maybe things were just supposed to go this way?
The fact is that in my mind a thought always occurs.
“He is cured! Maronna ro Carmine!”
PHOTO OF THE WEEK
LOOKING AHEAD TO NEXT WEEK
• Joe Biden and Xi Jinping virtual summit: The U.S. and Chinese leaders will discuss how to responsibly manage competition between the two global superpowers and work together where their interests align. The highly anticipated event comes amidst rising tensions over militarization and strained global supply chains.
• Bulgarians cast their ballots: The EU’s poorest member votes in parliamentary elections, to decide who gets to form a new government.
• Aline or Céline? French movie Aline, a thinly veiled ode to Quebec superstar Céline Dion, opens in theaters.
✍️ Newsletter by Worldcrunch
News quiz answers:
1. A tourist returned Harrison Ford’s credit card — the U.S. actor had lost it in Sicily while shooting scenes for the latest Indiana Jones movie.
2. Michael Jordan’s white-and-red Nike shoes, which he wore during his rookie season with the Chicago Bulls in 1984, sold at auction for a record $1.47 million.
3. For the first time in the history of the Venice Historical Regatta gondola race, a participant has tested positive to marijuana in a doping test.
4. Argentina’s soccer superstar Lionel Messi claimed a record seventh Ballon d’Or award.