👋 ሰላም ሃለው*
Welcome to Friday, where Russia carries out a massive missile and drone attack on Ukraine’s energy sites, clashes between Syrian government forces and Assad loyalists leave at least 70 dead and our daily quiz question comes from Denmark. Meanwhile, Hamed Mohammadi in Persian-language Kayhan-London writes about why U.S. President Donald Trump may choose to deal with Iran in an even more draconian way than with Ukraine.
[*Selam halewi - Tigrinya, Eritrea and Ethiopia]
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🗞️ FRONT PAGE
Mexico-based daily El Universal reports on the U.S. “putting the brakes again on tariffs,” after President Donald Trump announced he would delay the 25% tariffs imposed earlier this week on most goods from Canada and Mexico. The temporary exemptions for the two largest U.S. trading partners are set to expire on April 2, at which point Trump has warned that a global system of reciprocal tariffs on all U.S. trading partners would come into force.
🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
• Russia carries out massive attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Ukraine’s Energy Minister German Galushchenko says the country’s energy and gas infrastructure was “under massive missile and drone shelling” from Russia on Friday, amid a fresh wave of attacks on several regions overnight. At least 18 people, including four children, have been wounded. Meanwhile, European Union leaders backed plans to spend more on defense and continue to stand by Ukraine at a summit in Brussels on Thursday. Ukrainian and U.S. officials said they will meet in Saudi Arabia next week to discuss a peace framework for ending the war. For more, check this reportage on the frontline translated from Italian by Worldcrunch: As Trump Abandons Kyiv, Russia Is Busy Escalating Attacks On Civilians.
• More than 70 killed in clashes between Syrian government forces and Assad loyalists. Heavy fighting between Syrian security forces and gunmen loyal to deposed President Bashar al-Assad in the country’s coastal region have left more than 70 people dead, reports the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Friday. A curfew has been imposed in the port cities of Latakia and Tartous where the clashes broke out. This marks the worst violence in Syria since rebels toppled Assad in December and installed an Islamist transitional government. Read more in this Daraj analysis translated from Arabic by Worldcrunch: Syria's Growing Risk Of Religious Violence Between Sunnis And Alawites Of Assad Regime.
• Court orders impeached South Korean president’s release from jail. The Seoul Central District Court cancelled President Yoon Suk Yeol’s arrest warrant on Friday, potentially paving the way for his release, more than a month after he was arrested and indicted over his short-lived imposition of martial law. The court concluded that the legal period of his formal arrest expired before he was indicted in late January. The decision would allow Yoon to stand trial while not being physically detained.
• Unexploded WWII bomb disrupts traffic at Paris’ Gare du Nord train station. Eurostar and local train services have been cancelled after an unexploded World War II bomb was discovered “in the middle of the tracks” leading to France’s busiest terminal during maintenance work carried out in the suburb of Saint Denis overnight. Minesweepers were quickly sent to the site, while Eurostar advised people to change their journey to “a different date of travel.”
• Australia orders thousands to evacuate as Tropical Cyclone Alfred nears. Authorities in Australia have ordered thousands of people along the country’s eastern coast to evacuate before Tropical Cyclone Alfred hits land on Saturday, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese saying the region should “hope for the best but prepare for the worst.” Violent winds have already toppled power lines on Friday, leaving more than 50,000 homes without electricity.
• SpaceX’s Starship explodes in test flight failure. SpaceX’s massive 123-meter (403-foot) Starship spacecraft exploded in space on Thursday minutes after its launch from Texas, grounding flights and triggering warnings about falling spaceship debris. This marks the second straight failure this year for Elon Musk’s Mars rocket program.
• News Quiz! What has Denmark’s postal service announced it will stop doing at the end of this year?
A. Selling stamps
B. Delivering letters
C. Letting Vikings handle heavy parcels
D. Handling postcards from Sweden
[Answer below]
#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS
-22%
A study published in Science journal has found that butterfly populations in the U.S. have dropped by 22% between 2000 and 2020. Researchers underscore the urgent need for conservation efforts to prevent further drops in the numbers of those crucial pollinators, with habitat loss, pesticides and climate change cited as key causes of this decline.
📹 ON THIS DAY VIDEO — 4 HISTORY-MAKING EVENTS, IN 57 SECONDS
➡️ Watch the video: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
📰 IN OTHER NEWS
🇮🇷 Given Donald Trump's hardline with Volodymyr Zelensky, the U.S president may be even more draconian with Iran, which seems to have an even worse hand than during Trump's first term.
— KAYHAN-LONDON
🇪🇺 Now that the U.S. has relinquished its role as “leader of the free world,” Europe is on its own. But that doesn't mean it's out of options.
— DIE ZEIT
🚸 In a small Italian town, the overwhelming majority of students enrolled in primary schools are of foreign descent, while the children of Italian parents go to school in neighboring villages. Some point to racism to explain the phenomenon, but the reality is a different one.
— LA STAMPA
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📣 VERBATIM
“I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your prayers in the Square for my health.”
— Pope Francis sent his first audio message since being hospitalized for double pneumonia. The brief message, recorded from Rome’s Gemelli hospital where he was admitted on Feb. 14, was played during a nightly prayer service for the pope in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican. The 88-year-old pontiff’s condition remains stable, and doctors say no further updates would be issued until Saturday.
✍️ Newsletter by Anne-Sophie Goninet & Bertrand Hauger
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Quiz Answer: B. Denmark’s state-run postal service announced it would stop all letter deliveries at the end of this year, due to a 90% decline in letter volumes since the start of the century. The country’s 1,500 post boxes will start to disappear from the start of June. Denmark’s Transport minister said letters would still be sent and received as “there is a free market for both letters and parcels.”