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Geopolitics

D-Day Commemorations, Russia's Anti-U.S. Sentiment, Singing Nun Wins

A WWII veteran watches a landing by paratroopers in Ranville, Normandy
A WWII veteran watches a landing by paratroopers in Ranville, Normandy
Worldcrunch

Friday, June 6, 2014

D-DAY COMMEMORATIONS TODAY
This morning, French President François Hollande launched commemorations for the 70th anniversary of D-Day, describing the Normandy landings as a day that “began in chaos and fire, would end in blood and tears, tears and pain, tears and joy at the end of 24 hours that changed the world.” Speaking alongside him, U.S. President Barack Obama honored veterans, praising those who "gave so much for the survival of liberty at its maximum peril." America’s claim to liberty “is written in blood on these beaches, and it will endure for eternity,” Obama said.
Today’s newspapers are filled with coverage of D-Day, but a particularly notable piece comes fromThe New York Times, which published the poignant memories of four veterans who recall their experiences on the longest day.

SNAPSHOT
Former WWII paratrooper Frederick Glover, 88, of the 9th Parachute Battalion from Brighton watches a landing by paratroopers in Ranville, Normandy, during events commemorating the 70th anniversary of D-Day.

MORE UKRAINE VIOLENCE
Fighting in eastern Ukraine is continuing, with attacks by separatists on border posts, which were repelled by air strikes, killing 15 pro-Russians. Ukrainian troops have reportedly resumed artillery strikes around Sloviansk one day before the planned inauguration of President Petro Poroshenko. He has vowed to immediately present “a plan for the peaceful resolution of the situation in the east.” Yesterday, Obama said he had urged France to "press the pause button" on delivering two helicopter carriers to Russia, but French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius replied this morning on Twitter: "The contracts were agreed in 2011, they represent many jobs and they will be carried out."

71%
A Russian poll conducted last month suggests 71% of Russians have negative feelings towards the U.S., the highest figure since such polls started in 1990.

WORLDCRUNCH-TO-GO
As Sylvie Barot and Andrew Knapp write for Le Monde, an estimated 2,500 French civilians were killed during the first 24 hours that followed the dawn of D-Day. “Most were killed by Allied bombs,” they write. “Hundreds lost their lives in Caen, Saint-Lô, Lisieux, Condé-sur-Noireau, Vire, Flers, and Argentan — towns devastated by rains of fire and steel. “... The Allies' bombing of France is still remembered, and with good reason, by those who lived it as an indelible trauma, by the descendants of victims and by regional historians. But it is still too often marginalized in the ‘grand narrative’ of France's dark years under Nazi occupation from 1940 until the end of the war.”
Read the full article, Innocent French Civilians, D-Day's Forgotten Victims.

SEATTLE UNIVERSITY SHOOTING
One student was killed and at least two others were wounded after a gunman opened fire late yesterday afternoon at Seattle Pacific University, before being pepper-sprayed by a student while reloading his weapon, The Seattle Times reports. The suspect was arrested by the police and questioned, but his motive is still unclear.
Meanwhile in Canada, the police arrested a suspected gunman who killed three police officers Wednesday.

MY GRAND-PÈRE’S WORLD


AFRICAN MIGRANTS DROWN
Sixty migrants from Somalia and Ethiopia and two Yemeni crew members drowned last week in “the largest single loss of life this year of migrants and refugees attempting to reach Yemen,” AFP quotes the United Nations’ Refugee Agency as saying. The news comes as Italy announced it had rescued more than 2,500 migrants from 17 boats since early Thursday.

WHY SLEEP IS GOOD FOR MEMORY
A team of researchers in China and the U.S. have discovered that the reason why sleep improves learning and memory formation is that the brain forms new connections between neurons while we sleep.

$16 BILLION BNP PARIBAS FINE
Sources close to negotiations between U.S. authorities and BNP Paribas told Reuters that the former are considering a record penalty of $16 billion on France’s largest bank over its evasion of U.S. sanctions. The figure is $6 billion more than previously expected. In an article translated and published by Worldcrunch, French business daily Les Échos wrote that the fine was “a declaration of war” and that the figure amounted “to the proverbial nuclear option.”

ITALY’S SINGING NUN WINS THE VOICE
Suor Cristina, Italy’s singing nun who became a worldwide sensation after performing expand=1] Alicia Keys’ "No One" and Bon Jovi’s "Livin’ expand=1] on a Prayer" on the Italian version of The Voice, won the television contest yesterday and a record contract with Universal Music. "My presence here is not up to me. It's thanks to the man upstairs!" she said after her victory.

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Society

Influencer Union? The Next Labor Rights Battle May Be For Social Media Creators

With the end of the Hollywood writers and actors strikes, the creator economy is the next frontier for organized labor.

​photograph of a smartphone on a selfie stick

Smartphone on a selfie stick

Steve Gale/Unsplash
David Craig and Stuart Cunningham

Hollywood writers and actors recently proved that they could go toe-to-toe with powerful media conglomerates. After going on strike in the summer of 2023, they secured better pay, more transparency from streaming services and safeguards from having their work exploited or replaced by artificial intelligence.

But the future of entertainment extends well beyond Hollywood. Social media creators – otherwise known as influencers, YouTubers, TikTokers, vloggers and live streamers – entertain and inform a vast portion of the planet.

✉️ You can receive our Bon Vivant selection of fresh reads on international culture, food & travel directly in your inbox. Subscribe here.

For the past decade, we’ve mapped the contours and dimensions of the global social media entertainment industry. Unlike their Hollywood counterparts, these creators struggle to be seen as entertainers worthy of basic labor protections.

Keep reading...Show less

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