Hello again, Global Recap readers! Thank you for all the great responses to yesterday’s poll once again! It was amazing to see such passionate responses.

Since my response is complex and longer than usual, so I will address it after all the Recap articles. For those who fancy reading long pieces, you are welcome to join. 👇

🏃‍♂️ A morning jog turns fatal for a Russian submarine captain. Stanislav Rzhitsky, a 42-year-old Russian military official who had previously commanded the “Krasnodar” submarine in the Black Sea, was shot dead in the chest by a mystery killer in broad daylight.

The assassin may have tracked his jogging route on an app where he often recorded his jogging stats. Ukraine denies any involvement, but some pro-war Russians suspect it to be the culprit.

🎉 Sweden is set to join NATO after more than 200 years of wartime neutrality. NATO's two-day Vilnius Summit began today with great news for Sweden, as Turkey has agreed to support Sweden's NATO bid. Turkey had been blocking their application until late Monday, citing concerns about Sweden granting refuge to Kurdish militants. However, following talks between the nations’ leaders, an agreement was reached.

This is a major win for both Sweden and Turkey, with Ankara’s security concerns addressed and Sweden promising to support Turkey’s efforts to join the EU. Plus, this also means resuming talks about Turkey buying F-16 fighter jets from the US.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Zelensky also arrived in Vilnius to address what he calls “absurd” delays to their accession to NATO.

🔫 Putin’s “chef” plots to kill Zelensky? Yevgeny Prigozhin, the notorious leader of the Wagner Group, may have made a deal with his old buddy Vladimir Putin to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to an investigative journalist Dmitry Muratov.

Muratov is convinced that Prigozhin must have made an atrocious promise to secure Putin's forgiveness for coupt attempt. Find out more.

💭 Remember when the Israeli government halted their efforts to pass “judiciary reforms” in response to the violent protests opposing them? Well, it seems they assumed the public had forgotten, as Prime Minister Netanyahu's parliamentary coalition swiftly reignited nationwide protests by approving the controversial bill.

Critics argue that it is pushing the country towards authoritarian rule, while proponents claim that it will facilitate effective governance.

✍🏼 ASEAN foreign ministers also gathered today in Indonesia to discuss the crisis in Myanmar. They remain divided on how, or whether, to reengage with the ruling junta in the coup-wracked country. The two-day meeting will be followed by discussions with Beijing, Washington, and other influential powers, during which US diplomat Blinken will aim to counter China's aggressive actions in the South China Sea.

🚨 If you have a family member who is a pro-democracy activist from Hong Kong, be warned. Hong Kong national security police took the parents and brother of exiled activist Nathan Law for questioning, according to local media reports. This comes one week after the police issued an arrest warrant and a bounty on Law’s head.

🙏 Did you enjoy today’s newsletter? That’s it for today’s newsletter. Don’t forget, if you would like to read my response to yesterday’s poll results, stick around to join the conversation! 👇

Also, it would mean a lot if you could share our newsletter with others!

Was this email forwarded to you? Click here to join us!

There is no doubt that bowing is a gesture of respect in Asia. But seeing it as only a sign of respect may be a bit too reductive. One reader described it best, calling it:

🇰🇷 Let’s take another Asian nation as an example. A famous Korean actor incited outrage in his own country years ago for using an honorific on a Japanese TV show. But why?

There are two main ways of saying the word "our" in Korean - one for showing “respect,” and the other for neutrality. But The actor used the former when addressing Korea as "[our] country" to his Japanese viewers. If the word shows respect, why were so many Koreans infuriated over this? Because there is an underlying suggestion of inferiority. To a non-trained ear, this may simply be a show of respect, but it is not the case for natives.

An official answer regarding this grammatical issue on the QnA page of the National Institute of the Korean Language website also suggests that it implies inferiority:

See here for reference.

Korean diplomats also have policies regarding bowing and the use of honorifics to prevent such errors in diplomatic settings. When a spokesperson for the Blue House addresses the President in public, they are required to use neutral grammar to avoid implying any inferiority of the public to the President.

So, returning to the opinion that bowing is merely a gesture of respect in Asia, it is not entirely true - particularly in diplomatic situations. “Respectful” actions have underlying meanings, just as such language does too. Otherwise, there would be no need for policies to address this in the first place.

This is not merely a matter of "showing weakness or respect" or even patriotism, but rather a nuanced issue regarding whether talks in diplomatic situations begin on equal and neutral ground, where representatives of nations have a duty to uphold the interests and dignity of their people.

This can become problematic, especially considering China's reputation for utilizing the media for propaganda purposes.

And yes, Yellen isn’t the only US diplomat to have done it: