Disconnect (from our smartphones, from our obligations) to reconnect with others (our loved ones, strangers): more and more of us are seeking to recreate connections, whether for shared moments or life projects over the longer term. All over the world, initiatives are multiplying which attest to an imperative need to come together, to exchange, to share.
At the end of 2024, which is chaotic to say the least, it is this trend, widely reported in the foreign press in recent months, that we wanted to highlight for this last issue of the year: what binds us does us good . As a remedy for loneliness, for individualism, but also a way to reinvent the notion of living together.
Catch her (old expression in Sanskrit which means “transported by love”), Gems (pour shared economy or “common economy” in German), the snowflake (“connect” in Japanese): these words may not mean anything to you, and yet they have everything to do with this idea.
In Japan, Omusubi is an intergenerational restaurant in the south of Tokyo that allows elderly people to escape, for a moment, from loneliness. In Germany, some groups from the alternative left have created Ghemok, or the pooling of income by individuals who do not necessarily live together. There like you, it is this universal but still little-known emotion that arises during a situation of collective sharing. It can be caused by a sporting event, a celebration, a concert, etc.
These are just some of the examples we have spotted in the foreign press. From the Offline Club in Amsterdam, where we meet to socialize without phones, to an incredible Bus Shelter designed as a common room in Denmark, from the inclusive ice baths in Margate, United Kingdom, to the bars of Oviedo, Spain , where we rush in the evening to play board games, we offer you a world tour of this quest for connections.
Also to be discovered in this issue, particularly rich in stories and which (somewhat) distances itself from the hottest news, the year in cartoons: 2024 told by cartoonists from around the world. And also a new edition of Teen mail32 pages aimed at young people and this thorny question: where have the kisses gone?
And then so many other reports and stories to help you better appreciate the richness and diversity of International mail. First there is this long format published in the Financial Times, “Cruel Tales from the Gulf of Aden”, an exceptional report on one of the most dangerous migratory routes in the world. And this other report, in Transnistria this time, territory occupied by the Russian army and closed to the media, where a famous Czech journalist managed to penetrate. Petra Prochazkova explains in Denik N comment this separatist region of Moldova has become a center for cryptocurrency mining. Exciting and rare.
Another striking report to discover, that of Smithsonian Magazine, which recounts the incredible investigation of an Italian agronomist who searched for traces of fruits that had disappeared in Renaissance paintings… There is also this interview with a neurobiologist (The time), where we better understand the importance of zero for our brain. Or this article spotted on Weixin describing the passion for dancing among young Chinese people, who try to escape professional pressure.
Finally, it is also largely a question of the political crisis in France and the situation in Syria. A black year for Iran, writes The Spectator, the mullahs’ regime having seen the pillars of its “axis of resistance” collapse one by one, until the fall of the regime of Bashar El-Assad.
Due to the date of our closure, we were however unable to include a report or an analysis on the ongoing disaster in Mayotte, which is still little covered at this stage by the foreign press, for obvious reasons. We will of course follow this news on our site which does not stop. The next weekly will appear on January 9. Until then, with all the editorial staff, I wish you happy holidays.
Happy reading!
