An exhibition depicting the historical friendship between India and Africa opened in Delhi on July 18.
July 22-23
- Moscow mind games in Ukraine
- Tupac cold case reopened
- Sweat sensors
- … and much more.
🎲 OUR WEEKLY NEWS QUIZ
What do you remember from the news this week?
1. Moscow has seized control of the Russian subsidiaries of Danish beer company Carlsberg and which other food giant
2. The current heatwave across Europe is partly due to an anticyclone named after which Greek mythological figure?
3. An Australian man was rescued after being adrift for three months in the Pacific Ocean. Who was on the boat with him?
4. Because of a typo, who were millions of U.S. military emails sent to? The Kremlin / Mali / Elon Musk / Worldcrunch
[Answers at the bottom of this newsletter]
#️⃣ TRENDING
The news that Thai prime ministerial hopeful Pita Limjaroenrat was suspended from parliament for violating electoral rules led to a flurry on social media, with hashtags #พิธา (Pita) and #ศาลรัฐธรรมนูญ (Constitutional Court) becoming top trenders on Twitter. Limjaroenrat, leader of the election-winning Move Forward Party, was disqualified from next year’s election and suspended from duty as a member of parliament by Thailand's Constitutional Court for holding shares in a media company, which candidates are prohibited from doing. Pita argued that he did not own the shares, and had inherited them from his father.
🎭 5 CULTURE THINGS TO KNOW
• UK’s largest exhibition of Arab art opens: As part of a summer exhibition at Christie's, over 150 Middle Eastern works of art from 1939 to 2023 will be presented to the public in central London. The art includes paintings, sculptures, drawings and installations on loan from the Barjeel Art Foundation from the UAE. Also on display will be works from pioneering Emirati artist Hassan Sharif. The Modern and Contemporary Art from the Arab World exhibition opened on July 20 and is on until Aug. 23.
• House searched in relation to Tupac’s unsolved death: Three decades after U.S. rapper Tupac Shakur was killed in a drive-by shooting at the age of 25, Las Vegas police searched a home in connection with his killing. No arrests were made, in part because witnesses refused to cooperate, but the case remains open.
• Non-binary directors included in 2024 BAFTAs: The British Academy Film Awards have tweaked their directors longlist for 2024 to include non-binary people. The category previously enforced a 50:50 gender parity between male and female directors, and will maintain this ratio while including non-binary directors who identify as neither. Some criticized the move, arguing that it does not address institutional sexism and biases within the film industry.
• Unseen Bruce Lee footage released for 50th anniversary: To mark the 50th anniversary of actor and martial artist Bruce Lee’s death, long-lost footage of the iconic “log fight” from his last film will be released. Bruce Lee died on July 20, 1973, before he could finish shooting Game of Death, which was reworked and eventually released in 1978. The almost 100-minute-long original fight footage is considered a holy grail for Bruce Lee fans, and was finally rediscovered in Hong Kong in 2016.
• India-Africa friendship showcased in Delhi: An exhibition of photographs depicting the historical friendship between India and Africa opened in Delhi on July 18, which marked International Nelson Mandela Day. Inaugurated by South Africa’s High Commissioner, Joel Sibusiso Ndebele, and Indian Economic Relations Secretary Dammu Ravi, the exhibit opened with joint speeches reaffirming the friendship and partnership between the two countries.
🇷🇺🇺🇦 How Russia creates divisions between occupied and free Ukraine
Ukrainians living in occupied territory are regularly confronted with Russian mind games, explains Ukrainian publication Livy Bereg. To push residents to become loyal to Russia and accept their new status quo, propaganda claims that free Ukraine considers them traitors. Cut off from knowledge of the outside world and living under the shadow of Russian occupation, it may be difficult for many in the “Temporarily Occupied Territories” to understand that these stories are untrue.
Read the full story: How Russian Mind-Control Tactics Prey On Ukrainians In Occupied Territories
🎶 👀 Conducting blindfolded in face of a “politicized” opera
In true melodramatic style, backstage conflicts made their way onto the stage at the 69th edition of the Festival Puccini, Worldcrunch reports. Italian conductor Alberto Veronesi made his discontent with the French director’s take on the infamous La Bohemeopera clear – by appearing on stage blindfolded. Apparently, changing the backdrop of an opera that studies youth, love, and hardship to the May 1968 French student protests was going too far. Blindfolded, baton in hand, Veronesi conducted his rebellion for the entirety of the performance, despite the audience’s jeers.
Read the full story: French Drama At The Italian Opera — With Low Notes Of Politics Too!
🍷 🇧🇷 Brazil sparks innovative new wines
Brazilian winemakers are breaking into the global market, French daily Les Echos reports. Innovative producers are building a reputation on sparkling wines known as espumantes, as well as quality and experimentation. With diverse climates and soil across the country, Brazil cultivates various grape varieties that can produce unique, high quality wines.
Read the full story: Cachaça To Cabernet: A New Generation Of Winemakers Puts Brazil On The Map
🥵 BRIGHT IDEA
A research team from the Tokyo University of Science has designeda wearable sweat sensor that can predict muscle fatigue during exercise sessions. The sensor can provide insights into a person’s hydration level and physiological state and offers continuous tracking which could facilitate athlete training management, for example by helping team managers know when to replace a player, and could also help with general health monitoring.
🎀 SMILE OF THE WEEK
Are you searching up Barbie screenings near you? Or maybe you’re curious about Margot Robbie’s latest doll-accurate red carpet look? You’ll be quick to notice that Google has joined in on the pink-mania infecting audiences worldwide — the latest in the Barbie marketing team's creative efforts. Now, when you search the name of the film, “Margot Robbie,” “Ryan Gosling,” or director “Greta Gerwig,” your usual Google screen will shift to a pink palette with an explosion of hot-pink sparkles — it’s a Barbie world now.
⏩ LOOKING AHEAD
• Thailand's parliament is expected to hold a new vote to elect a prime minister next week. The vote is not expected to include Pita Limjaroenrat, the leader of election-winners Move Forward, after rivals derailed his bid by blocking his re-nomination.
• Türkiye will host Israeli and Palestinian leaders separately next week. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will pay a visit to Türkiye on July 25 and meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Three days later, Erdogan will also host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
• House committee to hold hearing on UFOs next week: The U.S. House Oversight Committee will hold a hearing next week on unidentified aerial phenomena (more commonly known as UFOs). Debates over potential UFO sightings have received increased attention in recent weeks, with a new amendment made to the annual defense policy bill last week that seeks to declassify UFO-related records.
News quiz answers:
1. The Kremlin has seized control of most of the Russian assets of Danish brewer Carlsberg and France-based food giant Danone, before appointing Chechen Minister Yakub Zakriev to head the French company’s local subsidiary.
2. The Charon heatwave — named after the ferryman in Greek mythology who carries souls to the underworld — hit Southern Europe this week with temperatures up to 45 °C recorded in Sardinia.
3. Timothy Lyndsay Shaddock, a 54-year-old Australian sailor, and his dog Bella have returned to dry land after being adrift for three months.
4. Millions of emails intended for Pentagon employees have been misdirected to Mali, a Kremlin ally, in a “typo leak” that exposed highly sensitive information over the last decade.
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Photo: VIF India
