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Today’s top stories
An Israeli airstrike in Rafah killed 35 people and injured dozens more, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. The Israeli government has designated this area as a safe and humanitarian area for Palestinians to take refuge from the war. Israel says it is targeting the base of Hamas and killed two senior Hamas officials. The attack hit tents and caused a fire at one camp.
Palestinians look at the scene of devastation after an Israeli attack where displaced people are in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Monday, May 27, 2024.
Jehad Alshrafi/AP/AP
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Jehad Alshrafi/AP/AP
- 🎧 NPR’s Hadeel Al-Shalchi tells Up first that before this month, Rafah was a “last refuge” for Palestinians. NPR producer in Gaza, Anas Baba, describes “total destruction” at the scene. Emergency physician James Smith told NPR that this was the worst attack he had seen in the weeks he worked in Rafah. More than 1 million Palestinians are sheltering in Rafah. Contact The United Nations says more than 800,000 people have fled since Israel expanded its military operations there.
Today, Americans celebrate Memorial Day and honor service members who died serving their country. Half a century ago, families of service members missing in action from the Vietnam War fought to convince the federal government to find the remains of their loved ones and return them. Today, technological progress is almost complete changed their remains are being brought home – and who they will be sent home with.
- 🎧 NPR WUNC’s Jay Price said the extraordinary lengths the U.S. government went to repatriate these remains is unlike any other country. The Ministry of Defense aims to make 200 identifications per year. As the number of remains from the Vietnam War dwindles, many cases now come from World War II and the Korean War. Finding relatives of these service members can be difficult, but George Washington University anthropologist Sarah Wagner says it’s important work. “Ultimately, this is about belonging“, she said. “It’s about… the need to belong and the need to take care of one’s troops – past, present and future.”
As avian flu continues to infect dairy herds, raw dairy farmers are coming under close scrutiny. The highly virulent flu strain that is deadly to birds has spread to at least 58 flocks in nine states and to at least two people. USDA tests have found samples of the virus in unpasteurized milk. This milk is sold and easily accessible in many parts of the country despite the federal government advising people not to drink it. Earlier this month, NPR reporters purchased raw milk in Texas and sent it for testing. But when USDA-approved laboratories were allowed to test for the H5N1 avian influenza virus in milk, farms were required to ask their permission to test the milk, the farms said no.
Dive deep
In the face of human-induced climate change, paperbacks and e-readers have different pros and cons when evaluating which is the most sustainable form of reading.
JGI/Daniel Grill/Getty Images
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JGI/Daniel Grill/Getty Images
According to the Association of American Publishers, digital reading is on the rise — especially audiobooks. An e-reader or audiobook may be more convenient than carrying a paperback. But which is more environmentally friendly? It depends on How voracious readers are you are. 📚 Print book publishing is the world’s third largest industrial greenhouse gas emitter. In the US, 32 million trees are cut down each year to make books.
- 📚 Some publishers are turning to print-on-demand and use more eco-friendly fonts to become more sustainable.
- 📚 Although digital devices do not require paper, Their shells are made of plastic derived from fossil fuels, and the minerals in their batteries require extensive resource mining.
- 📚 You have to read the equivalent of about 36 small paperback books before you break even on your e-reader’s carbon footprint.
Listen today
Carol Leonedean of piano studies at Southern Methodist University’s Meadows School of the Arts, performed there in 2016 on a Steinway grand piano rebuilt with a smaller keyboard by DS standards.
Courtesy of Hannah Reimann.
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Courtesy of Hannah Reimann.
For people with smaller hands, playing difficult piano pieces like Rachmaninoff Third Piano Concerto can literally be inaccessible. In fact, Josef Hofmann – a friend of the Russian composer to whom the concerto was given – refused to perform the work publicly because of his smaller arm span. He asked the Steinway piano company to make him a narrower piano. Today, most piano companies still refuse to produce stretto (narrow) keyboards. Pianist Hannah Reimann wants to change this. Her International Stretto Piano Festival runs until June 4.
- 🎧 Listen to some of the music she plays on the stretto piano — sounds just like music played on a regular piano! And hear Reimann explain what a stretto piano can do helps reduce injurieshelps children learn musical instruments faster and creates a level playing field between men and women in piano competitions.
3 things to know before going
Bark Air officially launched this week, completing its first flight from New York to Los Angeles on Thursday. The airline also flies to London and plans to add more routes in the coming months.
Joe Gall/BARK
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Joe Gall/BARK
- The dogs will soon be treated to first-class air travel. BARK Air describes itself as “the world’s first air travel experience Specially designed for first dogsand second, their companions.”
- Who has time to watch 4 hours of YouTube videos? It turns out it’s millions of people (including me). Pop culture happy hour Glen Weldon ponders why YouTuber Jenny Nicholson review/eulogy for the closed Disney Star Wars hotel was very successful and how well the work was done attracted an audience, even if it was a time commitment.
- The Birmingham-Southern College Panthers advanced to the Division III College World Series. Their achievements are bittersweet, as the school announced in March that they would be closed due to financial difficulties.
This newsletter has been edited by Green Treye.
