STATUS UPDATES

A week in which scurvy reappears and India’s Supreme Court decides theatres must play the national anthem

PROVOKED:

Reddit, into acting against its “most toxic” users. The news-sharing website is targeting hundreds of users, mainly at /r/ The_Donald, a section used by supporters of Donald Trump. CEO Steve Huffman, who has been criticized since he admitted personally editing some user comments, said the move was made in the “spirit of healing.”

ARRIVING:

A rabbi in South Dakota, ending the state’s years-long status as the only one without a Jewish religious leader. Rabbi Mendel Alperowitz and his wife, Mussie, are moving from New York to open a Jewish community centre in Sioux Falls that will offer religious education and worship services to the community of several hundred.

RETIRING:

Chapecoense goalkeeper Nivaldo, a day after the plane crash in Colombia that killed most of his Brazilian soccer teammates. Nivaldo, 42, did not travel with the team for the game scheduled for Medellin on Wednesday because he planned to make his 300th appearance for the club this weekend in front of his home crowd. “Everything has a reason in life,” he said.

DISTINGUISHED:

Belgian beer. UNESCO announced this week it is adding the exotic array of Belgian beers to its list of items that have Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The beer’s history stretches back centuries to medieval monks. Sven Gatz, culture minister for the northern region of Flanders, compared the UNESCO move to winning the World Cup.

PRODDED:

Moviegoers in India, to show patriotism. The country’s supreme court ordered cinemas across the country to play the national anthem before screenings and ordered moviegoers to stand up, the Guardian reported. The Indian flag should be displayed and the doors should be closed during the rendition of Jana Gana Mana, the court ruled.

UNSENT:

A letter addressed to Hillary Clinton from Swedish PM Stefan Lofven, intended for the eventual U.S. election winner. (Another was prepared for Donald Trump, and sent.) Expressen newspaper noted the difference in policy emphasis and in tone between the two (e.g. “it is a pleasure” in the Clinton letter but not the one for Trump). A Swedish official said that letter was just a draft.

RETURNING:

Scurvy, in Australia. Doctors have reported a resurgence, according to the BBC. The disease, historically associated with seafarers and tied to a lack of vitamin C, has been found in about a dozen diabetes patients in a hospital in western Sydney. The good news is scurvy is still relatively easy to prevent — by eating fruit and vegetables.

DISPATCHED:

Hundreds of thousands of chickens and ducks in two prefectures in northern Japan after health authorities discovered a highly contagious avian flu strain in poultry farms. Workers in HAZMAT suits dug holes and dumped dead birds in them to contain the spread of the highly virulent H5 virus strain.