In Gaza, Starving Dogs And Cats Are Eating Corpses

⬇️  STARTER 

Dictatorship or circus? The free press has one last chance with Trump — laughs on us!

High on the list of sad-eyed and seemingly definitive losers coming out of Donald Trump’s stunning comeback is what we sometimes still call the press.

For nearly 10 years, the professional news corps has tried to keep up with this raging bull of a public figure. Reporters in Washington and New York and Palm Beach hunted for scoops of corruption in plain sight, and tried to unpack and denounce a constant stream of spite, incompetence and unpredictability that the nation (and world) seemingly couldn’t get enough of.

The puzzle that Donald Trump the politician presented to the media establishment was apparent almost immediately. Just a few weeks into his unlikely candidacy for the 2016 Republican nomination, The Huffington Post — which was then near the peak of its influence as a trailblazing and mostly respected digital media upstart — took the first real shot at responding to the challenge. It published a brief Note About Our Coverage Of Donald Trump’s ‘Campaign’.

After watching and listening to Donald Trump since he announced his candidacy for president, we have decided we won’t report on Trump’s campaign as part of The Huffington Post’s political coverage. Instead, we will cover his campaign as part of our Entertainment section. Our reason is simple: Trump’s campaign is a sideshow. We won’t take the bait. If you are interested in what The Donald has to say, you’ll find it next to our stories on the Kardashians and The Bachelorette.

Five months later, as Trump was steamrolling over his Republican primary opponents with his now familiar formula of outlandish policy pronouncements and roster of insulting nicknames, the website made a very sharp U-turn. In a post titled “We Are No Longer Entertained,” founder Ariana Huffington wrote that the press had the responsibility to take Trump very seriously, and call out his ugliness without pulling any punches.

“We will be changing how we cover him at The Huffington Post,” she wrote, calling Trump “an ugly and dangerous force in American politics.” After the announcement of his proposed ban on Muslim immigrants, Huffington made a point of praising a column by The Washington Post‘s Dana Milbank that opened: “Let’s not mince words: Donald Trump is a bigot and a racist.” And no, of course, that didn’t work either.

Nothing “works” in a free press with a figure like Trump. His modus operandi is using all means necessary to make himself immune to accepted democratic checks on his power: impeachment, court cases, common decency. If Ronald Reagan was the “Teflon president” because bad news never stuck, Trump is the throw-everything-and-the-kitchen-sink-at-him-and-watch-it-stick president. Shamelessness is his defining characteristic, his superpower. And for the news business, it’s been a great story.

Trump is perfect in the role of press antagonist by never playing by our rules. And he won — for good.

Still, not all is lost. […]

— Read the full Worldcrunch article by Jeff Israely.

🎲  OUR WEEKLY NEWS QUIZ

What do you remember from the news this week?

1. What is the name of the new department Donald Trump has asked Elon Musk to head?

2. Russia is considering merging Rosneft, Gazprom and Lukoil, to create one of the world’s largest oil giants — second only to which Saudi company?

3. In which world capital did the COP29 open?

4. What did Mattel mistakenly print on the back of its new Wicked Barbie doll’s packaging?
A porn website URL / An ad for Hasbro / A gluten-free disclaimer / “I’m Just Ken” lyrics

[Answers at the bottom of this newsletter]

#️⃣  TRENDING

Chinese police cracked down on a viral craze that saw thousands of university students riding bikes for a nocturnal trip, clogging traffic on the highway and putting themselves at risk. The trend, called “夜骑开封” (“night ride to Kaifeng”), consisted of borrowing shared bikes and cycling overnight from the city of Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan Province, to neighboring Kaifeng, located 40 miles away, to eat the city’s famous soup dumplings for breakfast. It started back in June after four college friends filmed their 4-hour trip, prompting others to recreate their ride. The movement quickly took off and authorities initially welcomed it, as “a symbol of youthful energy.” But after the number of riders swelled to the tens of thousands, traffic on the highway was prohibited for bikes during the night, citing safety concerns, and shared bikes companies imposed a geolocalization restriction on their devices.

🎭  5 CULTURE THINGS TO KNOW

• Space novel wins Booker Prize. British author Samantha Harvey’s Orbital has been awarded the 2024 Booker Prize, UK’s most prestigious fiction literary nod. The novel, about a single day aboard the International Space Station, was praised by the jury for the “extraordinary intensity of attention to the precious and precarious world we share.” At 136 pages, Orbital is the second-shortest recipient of the prize ever.

• Major restoration of Rembrandt’s masterpiece begins. After five years of research and preparation using digital imaging and artificial intelligence, Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum has started the next phase of its public restoration of The Night Watch by the Dutch Golden Age painter. Eight restorers, in full view of the public, will remove the varnish from the 1642 oil painting. “Removing the varnish will reveal The Night Watch‘s eventful history. It will be a unique experience for the public to follow this process up close,” said Rijksmuseum general director Taco Dibbits. The painting has been treated at least 25 times, but this marks the most extensive restoration project so far.

• Yale University to offer course on Beyoncé and her legacy. The American singer-songwriter and her expansive cultural legacy will be the subject of a new one-credit course at the Ivy League school next year. Taught by the university’s African American Studies Professor Daphne Brooks, the class titled “Beyoncé Makes History: Black Radical Tradition, Culture, Theory & Politics Through Music” will focus on the period from the pop superstar’s 2013 self-titled album through this year’s Cowboy Carter. Queen Bey recently made history as the most nominated artist in Grammy history with a total of 99, after receiving 11 more nods at the 2025 Grammy Awards.

• In memoriam: South Korean actor and former model Song Jae-lim, known for his roles in K-dramas, was found dead in Seoul at age 39. German-British artist Frank Auerbach, who is considered one of the great postwar figurative painters and who fled Nazi Germany as a child, died at 93; pioneering modern jazz drummer Roy Haynes, one of the last remaining musicians of jazz’s swing and bebop eras, passed away aged 99.

• Italian mural dedicated to Holocaust survivors vandalized. A recent mural depicting Italian Senator Liliana Segre and author Sami Modiano, both survivors of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, has had their faces and yellow stars scratched out in Milan. This comes as the mural’s creator, Italian artist and activist aleXsandro Palombo, saw his representation of the Iranian student Ahoo Daryaei, who was apprehended by the country’s morality police after walking around a Tehran square in her underwear as an act of defiance, vandalized at the Iranian Consulate in Milan.

⛵️🐦 SMILE OF THE WEEK

English sailor Samantha Davies received a charming visitor just days aboard her boat at the onset of her Vendée Globe race. Davies was sailing along the Portuguese coast off of Lisbon on Tuesday when she was joined by a “shy little passenger,” as she called the small bird that landed on her vessel and left her “all smiles.” The Vendée Globe, which kicked off on Nov. 10, is a single-handed, non-stop around-the-globe yacht race that sets off from Les Sables-d’Olonne in western France every four years. The 2024 race is run by 40 skippers — and one little bird.

📰 IN OTHER NEWS

💻 The United States seeks to strengthen its competitive edge in the tech sector over the European Union through broad deregulation. While this poses a genuine risk, it also presents Europe with a chance to step up and fill a void, globally.
— LES ECHOS

✍️ “News of bombing has become so repetitive, it makes almost no difference.” A Lebanese journalist discusses how war has become “normal” and what that means for her and her work.
— DARAJ

✊ For right-wing leaders who’ve lost their position in their countries, Donald Trump’s unprecedented comeback is becoming the playbook for how to capitalize on dissatisfaction and regain power.
— WORLDCRUNCH

🛃 One of the few EU countries to not agree to the 2015 migration scheme, Poland had long been viewed as a right-wing periphery on migration. But with the rest of Europe moving rightward, Poland has emerged as the new leader on the issue.
— GAZETA WYBORCZA

🫶 The German longing for Italy has become a cliché worth analyzing. Many trace it back to Goethe’s journey in the 18th century, often cited as the beginning of Germany’s love affair with Italy.
— DIE ZEIT

🏄🦈  BRIGHT IDEA

Scientists in Australia have discovered that adding LED strip lights on the bottom of surfboards may prevent great white shark attacks. A study conducted off of the coast of South Africa showed that the lights changed the external shape of the surfboards, confusing sharks that sometimes mistake a surfer’s silhouette for the outline of a seal. The brightest horizontal lights proved the most efficient in reducing shark interest. This may prove a much safer solution than shark nets or drones. Researchers are now working on prototype lighting strips for surfboards and kayaks. If successful, this could help keep surfers and water sports enthusiasts safer. The team is also exploring whether the lights could deter other shark species, like bull and tiger sharks.

⏩  LOOKING AHEAD

• Both the U.S. Senate and the European Union will address Israel’s ongoing military operations in Gaza next week. U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders plans to introduce multiple Joint Resolutions of Disapproval aimed at blocking billions in arms sales to Israel. Sanders argues that the Gaza offensive, heavily reliant on U.S.-provided weaponry and $18 billion in American taxpayer funding, violated international law and has called for Congress to halt military support to Israel. Meanwhile, EU Foreign Policy chief Josep Borrell will propose a suspension of the EU’s political dialogue with Israel, signaling mounting concerns over Israel’s actions and the international role in supporting them.

• The 2024 G20 Rio de Janeiro summit will kick off on Monday, marking Brazil’s first time hosting the event. Over two days, leaders from the world’s largest economies will address global challenges like climate change, inflation and sustainable development. Brazil aims to spotlight the Amazon’s climate role while seeking solutions for economic recovery amid geopolitical tensions.

• SpaceX Starship Flight 6 launch is set for launch on Nov. 18. This test will feature new advancements and an in-space reignition. SpaceX is expected to gather data on reusable technology with a daylight splashdown in the Indian Ocean, marking their fastest launch turnaround yet.