Your Five Daily Current Events Questions
1. Which judge is presiding over the New York trial of Donald Trump, the first-ever criminal trial of an American president?
2. What country launched a direct attack on Israel on April 13th, using more than 300 drones and missiles?
3. In parliamentary elections, South Korean voters rebuked what current president, using both spring onions and their votes?
4. El Fasher is the capital of what region? The United Nations has warned that 800,000 people in the city are in "extreme, immediate danger."
5. For the first time in eleven seasons, a team other than Bayern Munich has won the Bundesliga title. What team won its first Bundesliga championship in 2024?
Answers
1. It's hard to believe that anyone in this country could be impartial to former US president Donald Trump. And yet, a jury of twelve has been selected, and the first-ever criminal trial of an American president is set to proceed. New York Supreme Court Judge JUAN MERCHAN is overseeing the Manhattan-based trial, which concerns hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Trump has gone after Merchan, calling him a "certified Trump hater" on his Truth Social platform. Perhaps he’ll find a sympathizer in Juror #2. In an interesting graphic, this is where the current 12 jurors get their news from:
Based on “Google” and “Tik Tok,” I’m going to take a gander that Juror #5 is the youngest person of this lot.
2. IRAN launched a direct attack on Israel on April 13th, sending more than 300 drones and missiles into Israeli airspace. Over 99% of the drones were intercepted. The attack was in retaliation for an Israeli strike that killed two Iranian generals at their embassy compound in Damascus, Syria.
Binyamin Netanyahu responded with a limited strike that caused minimal damage. President Biden has urged him to "take the win" and not escalate things further into a wider regional war.
3. South Koreans sent a strong message to current president YOON SUK-YEOL that they're unhappy with the way his administration is running things. I am obsessed with the following description in The Economist of how lit (toxic? performative?) the campaigning was:
This year’s campaign, for parliamentary elections on April 10th, featured one legislator expressing penance by shaving his head and riding around in a wooden cage, another proving his “authenticity” by posing shirtless, and still more engaging in pre-recorded rap battles about policy during the vote.
But the campaign’s main meme was opposition candidates waving pa (spring onions) to mock Yoon Suk Yeol, the conservative president, for his supposedly unrealistic ideas about how much the everyday fixture of Korean cooking should cost. The jibe became so popular that South Korea’s election commission banned voters from bringing the allium to polling stations.
Um, America, why are we not bringing vegetables to the polls in order to make fun of the opposition?? One BBC report even goes so far as to wonder: “Was South Korea’s president thwarted by a spring onion?” Anyhow, the Democratic Party (DP) thrashed Yoon's People Power Party (PPP), winning the vast majority of seats.
The PPP's interim leader apologetically resigned in the aftermath. Yoon's favorability rating has been low ever since he took power in 2022, and his first lady has been accused of corruption. Now that the DP has taken firm control of parliament, Yoon will find it difficult to pass meaningful legislation in the remainder of his time in office (in South Korea, presidents are limited to one five-year term).
4. EL FASHER is the capital of NORTH DARFUR. Since 2023, Sudan has been embroiled in conflict between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, led by a warlord known as Hemedti, and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). Nearly 8 million people have been displaced by the war, and accusations of genocide have been levied against the RSF.
Now, the UN is warning that the 800,000 people in El Fasher are in "extreme, immediate danger" as the violence threatens to "unleash bloody intercommunal strife throughout Darfur." U.N. aid operations director Edem Wosornu has warned that a battle in El Fasher can trigger further violence in the region. The UN has said that over 25 million people, nearly half the population of Sudan, are in need of aid.
5. Bundesliga is the top football (soccer) league in Germany. For the last eleven years, from 2013-2023, the league has been dominated by Bayern Munich. In fact, Bayern Munich has won the title 32 out of 61 times (and you thought the New England Patriots dynasty was bad). But now, new winners sit atop the table.
BAYER LEVERKUSEN, an oft ill-fated team, won its first Bundesliga title in 2024. Bayer Leverkusen, which has suffered disappointment for 31 years, has been nicknamed "Neverkusen," "The Eternal Bridesmaids," and "The Nearly Men," for their ability to clutch defeat from the jaws of victory.
But with the arrival of coach Xabi Alonso, the team has gone on an unprecedented 44-game unbeaten run. CNN writes,
The former Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Spain international midfielder has instilled a never-say-die attitude into his players; his squad has become renowned for its propensity to pull late goals out when the odds seem stacked against them – including on Thursday night when Jeremie Frimpong scored in the 89th minute to keep the longest unbeaten run in the history of Europe’s top four leagues (Germany, England, Spain and Italy) alive.
Other news items …
The US House of Representatives has passed a massive AID PACKAGE that includes $61 billion allocated for Ukraine and $26 billion for Israel.
Caitlin Clark went No. 1 in the WNBA draft. She will play for the INDIANA FEVER, keeping her talents in the Midwest. Angel Reese, meanwhile, will be going to the Chicago Sky.
Adding SEQUINS to one's work clothes is apparently the latest workplace clothing trend. Women executives have started wearing skirts and blazers with sequins to bring a little sparkle and confidence to their day. My God, is work culture so bleak that we need literally ANYTHING to bring light into our lives?
Coming up …
On Tuesday, a new African currency and a candidate trying to make the US election a three-man race.
On Wednesday, a Nordic power shift and a marathon repeat.
On Thursday, a YOK spotlight issue on the Broadway Bonanza (18 new shows have premiered on Broadway this spring)!
And on Pop Culture Friday, I’ll be offering my takes on The Tortured Poets Department and the latest, steamy Zendaya movie.
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