Zelenskyy attends G-7; Disney scraps Florida campus; Assad rejoins Arab summit

Plus, lessons from Italy's pasta crisis

View this email online by Rachel Treisman May 19, 2023 Happy Friday. A lot happened this week — how well did you keep up with the headlines? Test your knowledge (and guessing skills) with NPR’s news quiz. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to appear at the G-7 meeting in Japan this weekend. Support for Ukraine is only one of the topics up for discussion, NPR’s Anthony Kuhn tells Up First from Hiroshima. Conversations are covering a range of global challenges including nuclear weapons, climate change and relations with China.  Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images Disney officials scrapped plans to build a nearly $1 billion office campus in Orlando, which would have relocated 2,000 jobs to Florida. They cited “new leadership and changing business conditions,” though NPR’s Greg Allen says the company’s escalating dispute with Gov. Ron DeSantis — which began with its opposition to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law — seems to be “at least a factor.” Leaders from the Middle East are gathering in Saudi Arabia for this year’s Arab League summit — including Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who’s back at the table after an expulsion that lasted 12 years over his government's crackdown on pro-democracy protests that triggered a civil war in which nearly half a million people were killed. 🎧 NPR’s Aya Batrawy reports that Saudi Arabia and others have reengaged with Syria following the deadly February earthquakes — but not all summit countries are on board, and “the image of Assad being welcomed here on the red carpet yesterday when he arrived in Jeddah is jarring to many Syrians as well.”  Newsletter continues after sponsor message Andy Cohen Leila Fadel hosts Morning Edition and Up First. She was previously an NPR national correspondent covering race and identity and prior to that an international correspondent based in Cairo. I’ve got a confession: I’m addicted to all the Bravo reality shows! It became my escape when I was covering the U.S. war and occupation in Iraq. At the height of the sectarian violence in 2006, I spent my days documenting pain and loss. At night I immersed myself in the lives of the women on The Real Housewives of Orange County who lived in gated communities and oozed an in-your-face kind of wealth. I may or may not have racked up a $6,000 bill on a satellite device provided by my employer for internet access. The device was something I used for reporting in areas without access to the web. This happened in two types of places: countries where repressive leaders suppress dissent by blocking access, or cities and towns without great infrastructure, like Basra in southern Iraq.  To be fair, I didn’t know how expensive it would be! It had been a tough day of interviewing mothers who’d lost their children. So I streamed an episode of some Real Housewives show, I can’t even remember which one. But, I do remember the very angry call the next day from my boss. To my former employer, I’m sorry. Since 2006, that first season turned into 17 years and a franchise of Real Housewives shows that span from Salt Lake City to Dubai. That’s because of Andy Cohen. I got to speak to him this week. He developed the show's concept while working at Bravo. Today, he hosts his own talk show, has two Sirius XM radio channels, and his fifth book is out. Oh, and his latest adventure has redefined his life: He’s a dad to two kids.  He stopped by our studios during his book tour for The Daddy Diaries: The Year I Grew Up. 🎧 Listen to our conversation, or read more here. — Leila Fadel, Morning Edition and Up First host Catie Dull/NPR Check out what our critics are watching, reading and listening to this weekend: 🎵 Music: Colombian pop star Karol G stopped by NPR Music to talk about her record-breaking album, Mañana Será Bonito, and perform a Tiny Desk Concert with an all-female band. 🍿 Movies: Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie “draws viewers into the painful reality of Fox's life with Parkinson's without turning him into an object of pity or martyrdom,” writes Eric Deggans.  📺 TV: Attention, Parks & Recreation fans: Executive producer Mike Schur’s latest project is Primo, a coming-of-age sitcom about a San Antonio teen navigating life with the help of his single mom and five uncles. It’s loosely based on the life of its creator, journalist Shea Serrano. 📚 Books: R.F. Kuang's new novel Yellowface is about a young white author who steals her dead Asian friend’s manuscript and publishes it as her own. Critic Keishel Williams says “there is nothing that can be written or said that will ever do it justice.” Vicky Barlow/@thehidephotography Vicky Barlow recently noticed something bright underneath a rock along the Cornwall shore. It was a rare rainbow sea slug with “quite the personality.”  Italian officials held crisis talks to address the rising price of pasta. While it may sound fusilli to some, soaring food costs are a problem in many parts of the world. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Andy Warhol in a copyright infringement case over his silkscreen images of Prince. It sided 7-2 with the original photographer. Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to hear live radio from WUFT 89.1 (edit station). This newsletter was edited by Majd Al-Waheidi. 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