💡 SPOTLIGHT

Humanitarians at risk, samaritans of war: When the best among us die a violent death

After seven workers with the NGO World Central Kitchen were killed by an Israeli drone, we must ask what drives humans to give themselves to others, and risk everything. It should put any lingering cynicism to rest, writes Domenico Quirico in Italian daily La Stampa.

Each time. Each and every time one of them dies, we are reminded of the immensity of their choice. The humanitarian calling that continues to set some souls on fire. The Samaritans are not, as some might think, lost and astray; they are simply different creatures in a world where the focus is on the payoff, the outcome, the success, the guarantee.

It is hard to comprehend the choice (remorse, doubt, hypocrisy?) made up to the point of the utter self-sacrifice of humanitarian ideology: faces, names, not acronyms or initials. We who stand in front of the television set to see those who have dedicated their lives with determination, to be close to people wherever they are victimized by nature, but especially by other humans.

They do not demand quid pro quo; they are often excoriated by disappointments and bitterness, by fierce bursts of objections: Why are you even there, you idealist humanist? Under whose direction do you really work? The ideology, that is what we want to know. Have you tested those you help to see if they deserve it?

And then for those who have decided to help the victims along the exhausting course of time, to be of service so that they may rise again, behold — death struck by an Israeli drone. On an ordinary day in a century that is already the occasion of vast crimes, in the midst of bare ruins, bombs, no modesty, starvation, evil of all kinds.

Gaza. Yet another name for a place where human material is unscrupulously used, where simply feeding people can cost you your life, where even aid parachuted from the sky — because by land is forbidden by the Israeli "necessity" of war — becomes deadly objects that crush those it was intended to save. [...] 

— Read the full article by Domenico Quirico for La Stampa, translated into English by Worldcrunch.

🗞️ FRONT PAGE​​

Bratislava-based daily Denník N features newly elected Slovak President Peter Pellegrini, calling him “the President of Fear” on its front page. The election of Pellegrini, a conservative, pro-Russian politician, is expected to strengthen the influence of Prime Minister Robert Fico who decided to halt arms shipments to Ukraine in October last year, just one day after taking office.

🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW

• Ceasefire talks start in Egypt as Israel pulls troops from Gaza. Israel said on Sunday it had withdrawn all but one military brigade from southern Gaza, as Hamas and Israel send representatives to Egypt for new talks on a possible ceasefire. Hamas hopes a deal could bring an end to the war while Israel says a deal must include hostage release. 

• A drone strike on Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia power plant raises risk of “major nuclear accident.” The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency called the attack on the nuclear facility, the largest in Europe, “reckless” and a “major escalation of nuclear safety.” Russia says Ukraine is behind Sunday’s attack, which it says injured three people. Ukraine denies involvement. The drone strike consisted of "at least three direct hits" against the plant's "main reactor containment structures." Read more about the Zaporizhzhia power plant here.

• A Brazilian judge opened an inquiry into Elon Musk. The billionaire has challenged a decision made by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes to block certain accounts on X, calling the ruling “unconstitutional” and calling on Moraes to resign. Moraes responded by adding Musk himself to an investigation into fake news on social media and opening an inquiry into what he called an obstruction of justice.

• “Panama Papers” trial begins eight years after tax evasion revelations. The trial begins today, with defendants set to go on trial including the founders of the law firm at the center of the scandal revealed by a consortium of international news outlets. The 2016 leak implicated influential figures including politicians, sports stars and billionaires and impacted Panama’s reputation as a hub for offshore accounts. Here’s how Worldcrunch reported on the Panama Papers back in 2016.

• At least 94 people died in sinking of an overcrowded Mozambique ferry. A converted fishing boat was carrying about 130 people to an island off the north coast of Mozambique when it sank. At least 26 people are missing and five survivors have been found. The passengers were trying to leave the mainland due to panic caused by disinformation about cholera. 

• Millions await a total eclipse in North America. A narrow corridor stretching from Mexico all the way to Canada will have the best view of the eclipse, with almost all of the continent guaranteed at least a partial eclipse. Texas will see more than four minutes of darkness at midday. Weather forecasts suggest the eclipse could be blocked by clouds. And maybe this piece in Italian daily La Stampa, translated from Italian by Worldcrunch, may inspire you to become an “eclipse chaser”?

• “I’m pretty tired,” says the first person to run the length of Africa. Russ Cook, a 27-year-old Briton who calls himself the “Hardest Geezer,” ran over 16,000 kilometers in 352 days, from South Africa to Tunisia. Along the way he had to contend with food poisoning, visa issues and a robbery at gunpoint. Cook also raised more than half a million pounds for charity. He celebrated his historic achievement with a strawberry daiquiri.

📰 STORY OF THE DAY

With the Palestinians risking everything to return home to Gaza

In late March, the Palestinian embassy in Cairo organized a crossing for Palestinians back into Gaza. Al Manassa talks with some of the Palestinians preparing to leave the safety of Egypt about their motivations for returning to the war-torn homeland.

🧳 For more than three hours, Al Manassa watched the travelers load their bags and take their seats on the vehicles that would take them to the crossing. They had mixed feelings of joy and concerns: happy that they would soon be reunited with their loved ones; anxious that the crossing authorities might complicate their entry due to their bags and the little aid they carried with them.

🇵🇸 Ashraf Abu Eyada, a farmer in his 40s from Wadi Gaza, did not hide his grief over the war. But he — just like all the other travelers — was determined to return despite the war. “I am tormented every day. My house in Gaza has been destroyed and bulldozed, as have the houses of my brother and my uncle. My family left the house and are sheltering in a tent in Rafah,” he said.

💸 Those returning to Gaza are as concerned about the soaring prices and dire shortages of food and other necessities, as they are about the relentless bombing. “Goods are not available. And the price of the few available foods has not only doubled, but is 10 times higher than the pre-war prices,” said al-Rawi. The Palestinian-Egyptian barber was sending a jar of blackstrap molasses to his sister in Gaza.

➡️ Read more on Worldcrunch.com

📣 VERBATIM

“This cannot happen.”

— A recent drone attack on Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant has heightened the risk of a potential nuclear accident, prompting warnings from the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Rafael Grossi, IAEA’s head, called the drone strike “reckless”, stressing that this escalation of nuclear safety cannot happen and would not benefit anyone. Russia and Ukraine traded accusations about responsibility. Follow our international coverage of the Ukraine-Russia war here.

📹 THIS HAPPENED VIDEO — TODAY IN HISTORY, IN ONE ICONIC PHOTO

➡️ Watch the video: THIS HAPPENED

#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS

292

In 2023, Japanese police addressed a record 292 bullying cases in schools, marking a 66% increase from the previous year according to the National Police Agency. This is the highest number of cases since the introduction of an anti-bullying law a decade ago. The surge is attributed to improved school-police cooperation, though the number of cases remains significantly underreported. Japan isn’t the only country to see an alarming rise in bullying cases: Check out this recent article from Ethic, translated by Worldcrunch, focusing on Spain.

📸 PHOTO DU JOUR

IDF soldiers are pictured leaving southern Israel. All but one military brigade have reportedly withdrawn from the area, as Hamas and Israel send representatives to Egypt for new talks on a possible ceasefire. — Photo: Jamal Awad/Xinhua/ZUMA

👉  MORE FROM WORLDCRUNCH  

• Are Rising France-Russia Tensions A Security Threat For The Paris Olympics? — FRANCE INTER

• NATO Is Hereby Activated — How It Could Turn The Tide In Ukraine War — DIE WELT

• Shakira's Howl: Colombian Guts, Feminist Gesture, Marketing Gem— EL ESPECTADOR

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