Israel, Hamas Cease Fire. Will It Last?

Israel and Hamas have agreed to an Egypt-mediated cease-fire, bringing to a halt an 11-day war that claimed hundreds of casualties and presented President Joe Biden with his first major global challenge. But Israel has kept its planes and drones on standby, signaling the tenuous nature of the “peace.” And while Biden said the cease-fire represented an “opportunity” for progress in the decades-old conflict, many experts fear an even more ferocious storm in the coming future. (Sources: WaPo, Jerusalem Post, AP, Foreign Affairs, Brookings Institute)

2. Frail Peace

Already, fresh tensions are rising farther east of Israel. Biden is expected to press South Korean President Moon Jae-in to take a tougher posture against North Korea during a summit at the White House today, amid growing evidence that Pyongyang isn’t planning to dismantle its nuclear arsenal. And a Chinese Communist Party-influenced think tank has warned that war with Taiwan might be imminent. Should Biden hold talks with North Korea? Vote here or on Twitter. (Sources: NYT, South China Morning Post)

3. Circuit Breaker

Argentina has announced strict “circuit breaker” lockdown measures starting Saturday as it battles a devastating COVID-19 surge. Meanwhile, new research shows that critically ill virus patients are significantly more likely to die if they’re in Africa. (Sources: Reuters, Lancet)

4. Hug Beats Hate

Spanish aid volunteer Luna Reyes was abused online by right-wing activists after she was photographed hugging a crying Senegalese man among 8,000 migrants who’ve flooded Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta. But a backlash against the hatemongers followed, turning 20-year-old Reyes into an unlikely hero. (Source: Guardian)

A Japanese bullet train driver faces disciplinary action after he temporarily left his seat to rush for a toilet break. The train was racing at over 90 mph at the time. The driver was caught because the train ended up a minute late at its destination — enough to spark a probe in a country notorious for its obsession with punctuality.

Tapirs, South America’s largest land mammals, have survived multiple waves of extinctions over millennia, earning them the title of “living fossils.” And if the oh-so-huggable long-snouted creatures survive humanity’s pillaging, they’ll have Medici to thank. The Brazilian conservationist who won last year’s prestigious Whitley Award is pioneering efforts to reforest natural habitats in the Amazon, track tapir routes and insulate the endangered creatures from attacks on the environment under President Jair Bolsonaro. In the process, she’s also bringing the often-forgotten tapir love from around the world: Her TED talk on it has been seen nearly 1.5 million times.

2. Jonah Ratsimbazafy

How do you get ordinary people invested in saving a species on the verge of extinction? Heart-rending movies work. So do unique festivals. Ask Ratsimbazafy, the New York-educated primatologist from Madagascar who is arguably the world’s leading lemur conservationist. Since 2014, he’s organized the annual World Lemur Festival in Madagascar to create local pride in the creature. That’s when he’s not leading cutting-edge research into their habitat or teaching aspiring conservationists at Houston Zoo. It’s hardly a surprise that scientists have named a recently discovered species of mouse lemur after him.

3. Li Quan

A former executive at Gucci, Benetton and Fila, the Beijing-born Li decided that a career in fashion wasn’t a match for the wild charm of helping caged tigers. Moved by the pitiful conditions of captive South China tiger cubs, she convinced the government to let her relocate them to Africa, where they were successfully reintroduced to the wild. To be sure, the queen of re-wilding has had her share of controversy too, in the form of a messy divorce and charges of financial irregularities. But the tigers she helped set free wouldn’t mind.

You might know Topher Grace from That ’70s Show or BlacKkKlansman. Now hear him share his learnings from those experiences, his thoughts on the Derek Chauvin trial, lessons about love, and the experience that changed his career.

Due to a virus, the young artist and musician became quadriplegic. Today, she’s launched a foundation to bring the arts to other children with disabilities. Her journey has been captured in an award-winning film, Amazing Grace. If you wish to support her initiative, let us know HERE.

1. Black Fungus

Usually it affects only one in a million people. The problem? The fatality rate among those who get mucormycosis, as the condition is formally called, is 50%. COVID-19 patients with diabetes who receive steroids as treatment are particularly vulnerable to the deadly fungal infection that spreads through the body and is ravaging India at the moment.

2. Death After Recovery

You get COVID-19, the symptoms are mild, you get treated at home and recover after a few painful weeks. Phew. Except Washington University researchers have shown that COVID-19 survivors have nearly a 60% higher risk than others of dying in the subsequent six months due to often-ignored long-term complications.

3. Male Infertility

It turns out that some men are turning down the COVID-19 vaccine fearing it will leave them infertile. The truth? Yes, taking the vaccine might leave you temporarily less fertile. But that’s because of the fever that sometimes follows vaccination, which — like all fevers — suppresses your ability to produce sperm.

It’s just three years old, but Africa's version of Eurovision has already thrown up surprises. The first edition, in 2018, was won by Symphony, a singer from tiny landlocked Eswatini (then called Swaziland). South Africa and Nigeria won in subsequent years. On a divided continent where nations are frequently at war, the contest is a rare unifier.

2. Pan Celtic Festival

Held since 1971, it’s a vehicle to promote Celtic languages, with competing singers from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Isle of Man and Cornwall. Wales has won the contest 15 times but currently the luck’s with the Irish, who’ve won the last three.

3. Turkvision

Don’t expect the shows of sexuality that are common on Eurovision — this is a “clean” Pan-Turkic version. But it’s spicy nonetheless, with its share of controversies. And it’s a smart way for Turkey — which walked out of Eurovision in 2012 — to build its cultural influence over the two dozen Turkish-speaking countries and regions that participate, from Azerbaijan to Russia’s Republic of Tatarstan.   

Sai oua is sausage stuffed with pork shoulder and Laotian and Thai spices along with chiles, garlic, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, padaek for the fish sauce lovers among us, and shallots. We’re not sure you can stuff a sausage any more.

2. From Lebanon With Love

The Lebanese Makanek is a sausage made with beef or lamb mixed with cumin, cinnamon, nutmeg, pine nuts, vinegar and white wine. And if that’s not enough, try adding some pomegranate molasses, as is the tradition.

3. Kenya Believe How Good It Is?

Let’s stray off the beaten sausage path. Because Kenya’s Mutura sausage is made of goat meat, with coriander, ginger, garlic, piri-piri chiles … and a healthy heaping of blood.

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