June 7-8
• Gulf architecture as soft power
• Banning #SkinnyTok
• Viral PSG éclairs
• … and much more
⬇️ STARTER
A timely reminder of what Ukraine’s defeat would mean for the rest of us
Bahatyr and Vilne Pole. Oleksandropil and Mykhailivka and Malynivka. Here in Germany, these names mean nothing. They stir no feelings, no fear, no terror. They weigh on no one’s mind here, though, quite frankly, they ought to be keeping us up at night.
These are the names of some of the Ukrainian villages recently captured by Russian forces. From afar, the war looks frozen in place; frontline developments hardly ever make it into the German news.
But that’s an illusion. Every day, hundreds of soldiers on both sides are killed. Russian troops keep pressing forward almost daily. They suffer heavy losses, but they keep going. Bit by bit, the Ukrainian army is forced to fall back, digging new trenches over and over, pouring new concrete for bunkers, rebuilding shelters and supply routes. Ukraine is shrinking, one square kilometer at a time, day by day.
What would it mean for us in the middle of Europe if Ukraine’s defense were to collapse? […]
— Read the full article by Wolfgang Bauer for Die Zeit, translated and adapted from German by Worldcrunch.
🎲 OUR WEEKLY NEWS QUIZ
What do you remember from the news this week?
1. Which two countries elected new presidents this week?
2. Washington’s 50% tariffs of what industrial materials went into effect, escalating trade tensions with close partners?
3. Dating app Tinder is testing a new premium filter that allows paying users to select what characteristic of potential matches (that excludes a majority of men)?
4. What has wreaked havoc on a grocery store for snacks in Thailand?
a group of teenagers / a wild elephant / a pack of macaques / a couple of monitor lizards
[Answers at the bottom of this newsletter]
️📱TRENDING
TikTok has implemented a worldwide ban of the hashtag #SkinnyTok, linked to extreme thinness and harmful weight-loss advice. The move follows growing concerns across Europe about the platform’s impact on youth mental health and body image. Typing “SkinnyTok” into the app now redirects users to mental health support. French Digital Minister Clara Chappaz views the ban as a step toward protecting minors online, while critics argue TikTok’s efforts remain inadequate. Concerns persist as similar dangerous content morphs under varied hashtags. Health professionals and campaigners call for stricter enforcement and united European regulation. Some other European countries, including Belgium and Switzerland, are also taking action against the platform.
🎭 5 CULTURE THINGS TO KNOW
• Kennedy Center registers ticket sales fall amid Trump intervention. According to data obtained by The Washington Post, the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts has reportedly seen subscription sales fall by about $1.6 million compared with last year, representing a decrease of about 36%. This comes after U.S. President Donald Trump appointed himself chair of the center in February, reshaping its bipartisan governing board with his own appointees, which sparked boycotts and cancellations.
• Greenpeace returns stolen Macron wax statue. Greenpeace activists returned a wax figure of French President Emmanuel Macron a day after they stole it from Paris’ famed Grévin Museum. The statue was initially displayed in front of the Russian embassy to protest France’s economic and business ties with Moscow, before it was left at the headquarters of French energy giant EDF, to denounce France’s imports of Russian energy. Police have since secured the waxwork ahead of its return to the Musée Grévin, the Paris equivalent of Madame Tussauds in London.
• In memoriam: U.S. actor Jonathan Joss, known for his roles on known for his roles in King of the Hill and Parks and Recreation, was shot dead in San Antonio, Texas, at 59 years old; French singer Nicole Croisille, who sang on the soundtrack of the hit 1966 film A Man and a Woman, died at 88; American writer, playwright and essayist Edmund White, who was a major influence on modern gay literature, passed away aged 85; Australian singer Marcie Jones, best known as the lead singer of the Australian vocal girl group Marcie & The Cookies, died at 79 years old.
• Bernardine Evaristo wins leading women’s literary award. British writer Bernardine Evaristo will receive 100,000 pounds ($135,000) after being announced as the winner of the Women’s Prize Outstanding Contribution Award for her “transformative impact on literature and her unwavering dedication to uplifting under-represented voices.” The writer, 66, received the one-off prize both for her work to help promote women and writers of color, and for her writing that includes Mr Loverman and the Booker Prize-winning Girl, Woman, Other.
• Brazil’s National Museum partially reopens after brutal fire. Three rooms of the National Museum of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro have reopened to the public this week, nearly seven years after an electrical fire engulfed the building and destroyed around 90% of its collection. The museum now holds guided tours of the rooms, which feature the Bendegó meteorite, a cornerstone of the facility’s collection and one of the few artefacts to have survived the fire.
📰 IN OTHER NEWS
🇨🇩 An appeal signed by 75 Nobel Prize winners calls on the world to take action to end the suffering of Congolese civilians in the mineral-rich eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. But they have little chance of being heard — despite our shared responsibility.
— FRANCE INTER
💰 Some Russians who have gone to war are making big money: for signing a contract, monthly pay, injury insurance, and benefits in case of death — and with that are those eager to illegally get their hands on that money.
— IMPORTANT STORIES
✊ Laila Soueif, the mother of a jailed British-Egyptian activist, has not eaten in more than 240 days in an effort to free her son. Her hunger strike paints a tragic picture of the cost of activism in modern Egypt.
— DARAJ
💡 After the major April 28 blackout in Spain, the rush to assign blame has led to oversimplified narratives and politicized finger-pointing. But solving the real problem will require a more patient, technical and future-focused approach.
— LA MAREA
🕌 Architecture is a form of soft power, a symbolic language through which Gulf states tell stories about themselves to the world and to their own citizens — and ultimately, to exercise control.
— WORLDCRUNCH
🐘 BRIGHT IDEA
In Zimbabwe, the explosion of elephant populations has led to increasing conflicts with nearby communities, as the animals often share roads, water sources, and raid crops — sometimes with deadly consequences. To ease the tension, conservationists are using GPS collars to track elephant herds and send real-time alerts to villagers’ phones, giving them time to prepare or move to safety. “It helps to understand the movement of animals within the human-wildlife areas,” says Arnold Tshipa of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). The data also helps rangers identify migration patterns and protect key wildlife corridors, turning what was once a source of fear into a model for coexistence.
⚽ SMILE OF THE WEEK
A French bakery in the Paris suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt celebrated the Paris soccer team’s Champions League triumph with special treats: PSG-themed éclairs. The limited edition pastries sold out within 30 minutes, forcing the pastry team to quickly bake another batch. PSG steamrolled over Inter Milan last Saturday in Munich, winning 5-0 in a thrilling final to claim a first UEFA Champions League title for the Paris club.
⏩ LOOKING AHEAD
• President Trump’s travel ban and restrictions on 19 countries will take effect on Monday just after midnight. Foreign nationals from 12 nations deemed “high risk” will now be barred from U.S. entry, and seven others, including Cuba and Venezuela, will face tighter restrictions.
• The Vietnamese Trade Ministry announced on Thursday that the U.S. and Vietnam will hold a third round of trade talks by the end of next week. As pressures mount to reach an agreement before a pause on steep tariffs affecting 46% of Vietnamese exports expires in early July, the countries struggle to negotiate over Vietnam’s reliance on Chinese imports.
• It’s finals time for the French Open! Who will succeed last year’s winners, Iga Świątek and Carlos Alcaraz?
News quiz answers:
1. South Korea and Poland both had presidential elections on Sunday. In a democratic turnaround following South Korean former-president Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment, Democratic party candidate Lee Jae-myung won the snap vote, and Polish right-wing historian Karol Nawrocki emerged victorious by a close 0.9%.
2. Steel and aluminum. U.S. President Trump signed an order doubling tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from 25 to 50% on Wednesday, prompting retaliation from global steel producers. While the UK secured a partial exemption, other allies like Canada face steep impacts, as do U.S. manufacturers that rely on imported metals, such as carmakers and construction firms.
3. Tinder is launching a new height filter that allows premium users to block potential matches below a certain height. Referencing the social media controversy that’s resulted, The Independent says “It’s over for short men.”
4. Named Plai Biang Lek, a wild elephant wandered into a Thai grocery store near Khao Yai National Park, calmly raided the shelves for snacks, and left without harming anyone, highlighting growing human-wildlife encounters as shrinking habitats push elephants into populated areas.
✍️ Newsletter by Worldcrunch
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*Photo Credit: Greenpeace France via Bluesky
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