THE MUSTS

World

Someone give a Nobel Peace Prize to the man

 The UN has just gained a competitor

 The world has officially gained a new—and controversial—international body. In Davos, Trump announced the creation of the Peace Council, an initiative that promises to oversee the transitional government in the Gaza Strip and “ensure global stability.”

• To explain: The council was created as part of the second phase of the peace agreement between Israel and Hamas, envisioning Gaza as a demilitarized zone administered by a technocratic Palestinian committee under international supervision.

The American invited 60 world leaders to participate in the body, and so far, one-third have decided to join. Countries such as the United Kingdom, China, and Brazil have not yet responded, while France has already declined.

Why does this matter? The Peace Council is already seen as a “parallel UN.” Trump himself said that the body could replace the Organization, criticizing “institutions that have failed.”

• For diplomats, this could weaken the 80 years of work carried out by the entity, created after World War II with the aim of promoting peace, international security, and human rights. For now, the US remains a member of the UN, despite having already left the WHO and the Human Rights Commission.

What else in on

• Sweden: Facing a surge in gang-related violence involving children, Sweden is weighing a plan to lower the age of criminal responsibility to 13 for severe crimes. Even then, it wouldn’t be the lowest in the world — the UK sets it at 10, and Scotland at 8. (Read)

• Austria: The Austrian parliament has passed a law banning Muslim girls under 14 from wearing Islamic headscarves in schools. For the government, the veil is a “symbol of oppression” and represents family pressure on girls. (Read)

• Spain: The Spanish government will regularize the status of 500,000 immigrants who live and work in the country without authorization. (Read)

• Iran: Protests in Iran have left 43,000 dead, according to the Center for Human Rights. (Read)

• China: pledges support for Cuba and calls on Washington to lift sanctions against the country. (Read)
  

Tracy Chapman by Tracy Chapman: I actually came back to this album because of TikTok — and, surprinsingly, I truly hope I do it again. Listening to Tracy Chapman today feels less like discovering something new and more like remembering something essential. Released in 1988, this self-titled debut is filled with songs you already know — even if you don’t immediately realize they’re hits. The kind of hits that don’t scream for attention, but quietly live in the collective memory.

• The lyrics focus on people on the margins: poverty, love that doesn’t save you, systems that fail you, and hope that insists on surviving anyway. Songs like Fast Car or Talkin’ ’bout a Revolution are everywhere — culturally and emotionally — yet Tracy makes them feel deeply intimate. She sings as if she’s sitting across from you, trusting you with a story she’s lived, or watched too closely.

Musically, everything is stripped back: acoustic guitar, restrained arrangements, space to breathe. That simplicity is exactly where the album’s power lives. Every lyric lands. Every silence matters. Decades later, it still feels painfully current — maybe even more than it did back then.

Tracy Chapman isn’t just a classic album. For me, it’s been a reminder over the past few weeks — that great music doesn’t need to be loud, and that sometimes TikTok really can be a good music curator after all. (Rating 9/10)

A few nights ago, I went out for dinner with two friends. Nothing fancy — good food, the usual catching up. At some point, the conversation drifted into a familiar territory: loneliness.

As they talked about their feelings of loneliness — and how deeply they empathized with each other — I listened and realized something that surprised even me: I didn’t fully relate. Not because I don’t have moments of solitude — I do — but because I don’t experience loneliness in the same way.

And that’s when I started thinking about why.

Recently, while reading about Japanese culture and linguistics, I came across a concept called amae (甘え). It’s a word with no perfect translation in English, but it roughly describes the desire to depend on someone else’s kindness — the comfort of being able to lean on others, to be vulnerable, to trust that your needs will be met without having to ask too much or explain yourself.

• In many ways, amae goes completely against the Western ideal of independence. We are taught — implicitly and explicitly — that strength means self-sufficiency. That needing others is weakness. That adulthood is about handling things on your own. And for many reasons, including my childhood and past experiences, I realized how deeply I’ve internalized that idea.

Maybe because of that, I don’t fear loneliness — but I do struggle with intimacy.

I’m very good at being independent. I rarely ask for help. I don’t easily show vulnerability. I keep emotional doors half-open, just in case. And while this mindset has protected me in many ways, it has also kept people at a certain distance. That’s why amae stayed with me.

• Because embedded in that concept is a permission I rarely give myself: the permission to need. To rely. To soften. To let someone see the parts of you that don’t have it all figured out.

Of course, amae has its shadows too — dependency can become unhealthy, expectations can become heavy. But what struck me is how different the starting point is. Instead of glorifying emotional self-reliance, it acknowledges something very human: that we were never meant to do everything alone.

• Maybe that’s something we struggle with in the West. We know how to stand on our own feet, but not always how to lean — even when leaning wouldn’t mean falling.

I left that dinner thinking that maybe loneliness isn’t always about absence. For me, it’s about the distance we create ourselves. Emotional distance. Protective distance. The kind that keeps us safe, but also slightly isolated.

I’m not sure where the balance is yet — between being strong and being soft, between independence and connection. But lately, I’ve been wondering what would change if I allowed myself a little more amae.

With love,
Micael

Subscribe to Tanamesa for your regular fix of content, entertainment, and my life. Our mission is bring everything you need to know about the most important things happening worldwide, with exclusive recommendations curated by the editor-in-chief.

Take it easy: It lands in your inbox only every second Thursday. And just like me, it is not only free but also kind of addictive.