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👋 Guuten takh!*
Welcome to Wednesday, where the Kremlin takes a “positive” view of Volodymyr Zelensky’s letter to Donald Trump about Ukraine’s readiness to end the war, Israel and the U.S. reject an Arab States-backed $53 billion Gaza reconstruction plan, and our quiz question comes from a Texas lab. Meanwhile, Ricarda Richter in Die Zeit reports on the “great salmon escape” that’s turning Norwegian fishermen into bounty hunters.
[*Cimbrian, northeastern Italy]
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Belgrade-based tabloid Alo! led today with the dramatic photos from the first day of the spring session of Serbia’s parliament after opposition lawmakers lit flares and released teargas in the body’s chamber. The protest in the legislative chamber was in support of anti-corruption protests that were sparked by the collapse of a rail station last year. The speaker of the parliament said that two lawmakers had been injured in the chaos, including one who had a stroke and was in critical condition.
🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
• Kremlin reacts “positively” to Zelensky’s letter to Trump on willingness to negotiate. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that Russia was taking a positive view of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s statement that he is willing to negotiate over the war in a letter to U.S. President Donald Trump. “The question is who to sit down with,” Peskov added, as Ukraine still has a legal ban on negotiating with Russia. For more, check this piece by French analyst Pierre Haski translated by Worldcrunch.
• Trump says he’s “just getting started” in address to U.S. Congress. The U.S. president boasted in a marathon speech to Congress on Tuesday that his efforts to slash the size of the federal workforce, reorient U.S. foreign policy and escalate a risky trade war marked the beginning of the “most thrilling days in the history of our country.” The address, which drew jeers from some Democrats who walked out in protest, was Trump’s first to Congress since his second term began on Jan. 20.
• Israel, U.S. reject Egypt’s alternative Gaza reconstruction plan. Israel slammed the five-year $53-billion plan to rebuild Gaza that was adopted at an emergency Arab summit in Cairo on Tuesday, while the Trump administration said it stood by its own vision of transforming the Strip into a “riviera” owned by the United States. Arab leaders reasserted that they would reject any proposals to displace Palestinians from their land. Read more in this Al-Manassa analysis: Arab Leaders Have A Historic Opportunity In Gaza — But It Requires A Hard 'No' To Trump.
• Germany’s Merz proposes massive increase in defense, infrastructure spending. Germany’s likely next chancellor Friedrich Merz revealed plans on Tuesday for a new €500-billion special fund aimed at boosting infrastructure and defense spending, vowing to do “whatever it takes” to defend the country “in view of the threats to our freedom and peace on our continent.” Read more in this Die Zeit analysis translated from German by Worldcrunch: To Stand Up To Putin (And Trump), Germany's Next Leader Must Spend Much More On Defense.
• Tate brothers under criminal probe in Florida. The U.S. state has opened a criminal investigation into controversial British-American influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate, who flew to Florida last week from Romania after their travel ban was lifted. Both are facing trial in Romania for allegedly operating a criminal ring that lured women to the country for sexual exploitation. In the U.S., the pair also faces a civil suit from a woman alleging they coerced her into sex work.
• “Rare” cyclone to hit Australia’s east coast. Millions of Australians are bracing for the first tropical cyclone to hit Queensland and New South Wales since 1974, as authorities are urging residents in flood-prone suburbs to evacuate soon. Tropical Cyclone Alfred could bring winds of up to 155km/h (96mph) from Thursday afternoon and is expected to land as a Category 2 storm early on Friday morning near Brisbane, Australia’s third-largest city.
• News Quiz! A Texas-based biotech company says it has created a new species of mouse. What is special about these mice?
A. It’s AI-powered
B. Its hair looks like Donald Trump’s
C. It squeaks with a southern twang
D. It has mammoth traits
[Answer below]
#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS
50,002
Basketball icon LeBron James became the first NBA player to score more than 50,000 career points in the game after a game in New Orleans on Tuesday. The Lakers superstar finished with 30 points in the Mardi Gras game, bringing him more than 6,000 points ahead of the previous career record held by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar until James passed him in 2023. Among active NBA players, only one other — Kevin Durant — makes the top 10 list for most career points.
📹 ON THIS DAY VIDEO — 4 HISTORY-MAKING EVENTS, IN 57 SECONDS
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➡️ Watch the video: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
📰 IN OTHER NEWS
🇺🇦 Ukrainians are still processing Friday’s meeting. Donald Trump speaks about Volodymyr Zelensky's “cards.” It's as if he doesn't realize what a war is.
— LIVY BEREG
🐟 When 27,000 farmed salmon escape from a Norwegian aquaculture facility, it sets off a high-stakes chase that could determine the fate of wild salmon populations. With a bounty on each fish, local fishermen set out to recapture them.
— DIE ZEIT
💥 Following Zelensky’s Washington visit last week, Russia has started exerting more pressure on Ukraine, confident that Trump will do little to interfere. Monica Perosino reports from the Ukrainian side of the frontline.
— LA STAMPA
📣 VERBATIM
“Changes unseen in a century are unfolding across the world at a faster pace.”
— Chinese Premier Li Qiang said the Communist Party of China (CCP) would be unlocking stimulus funds to support consumption and allow for softer blows amid a burgeoning trade war with the United States. In a speech he gave at the opening of the annual meeting of parliament, Li warned that the rapid pace of recent geopolitical chaos called for government intervention to ramp up economic growth and maintain the country’s 5% growth target for 2025.
✍️ Newsletter by Anne-Sophie Goninet & Jake Shropshire
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Quiz Answer: D. Dallas-based company Colossal Biosciences announced the creation of the woolly mice on Tuesday, which it says marks an important step toward achieving the researchers’ ultimate goal: bringing a woolly mammoth-like creature back from extinction. But the announcement sparked criticism, with some experts calling the project unethical and a publicity stunt.