👋 Kwei!*
Welcome to Tuesday, where Ukraine’s biggest drone attack on Moscow kills two, former Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte is arrested over crimes against humanity, and today’s quiz question is all about chatbots. Meanwhile, for Egypt-based daily Mada Masr, Mostafa Hosny looks at what the potential closure of the country’s last leprosy colony would mean for patients left with nowhere to go.
[*Atikamekw, Quebec, Canada]
💡 SPOTLIGHT
The Greenland paradox: rich in resources, frozen in poverty
Beneath the feet of Greenland’s inhabitants lies a true fortune: gold, rubies, copper, nickel, uranium and those rare-earth minerals prized in global tech markets. Countries like China and Australia, along with the European Union, have had their eyes on Greenland’s natural wealth for years.
And then, U.S. President Donald Trump has begun pushing the idea that Greenland should become part of the United States: not just for security reasons, but almost certainly because of its valuable resources.
Climate change may make these deposits easier to access. The massive ice sheet that covers roughly 80% of the island is melting, potentially exposing previously unreachable mineral reserves. Yet despite this immense potential, Greenland has only one active mine, still under the Danish Kingdom. Meanwhile, many Greenlanders continue to live in poverty.
So why isn’t anyone tapping into this wealth beneath their feet? And what could be done with it? These questions are central to Greenland’s national election Tuesday, and could play a decisive role in shaping the island’s future.
Naaja Nathanielsen is eager to attract investors. “Our mineral resources are of the highest quality,” Greenland’s Minister of Raw Materials stated in early February from her office in Nuuk, the island’s capital. “Countries that are truly committed to a green future should be investing here now.”
Some of these resources, particularly rare earths, are critical for producing electric vehicles and other clean technologies.
Even when Trump’s interest in Greenland made headlines, Nathanielsen wrote in The Washington Post that while Greenland had no desire to become part of the U.S., investments in its mineral sector would be more than welcome.
Greenland could certainly use the financial boost. The island’s economy is struggling. Its gross domestic product lags behind that of the much smaller Faroe Islands, also part of the Kingdom of Denmark. The average annual income is about €39,000, while the poverty rate — 17.4% — is significantly higher than Denmark’s (11.8%). [...]
— Read the full article by Brigitte Wenger for Die Zeit, translated from German by Worldcrunch.
🗞️ FRONT PAGE
Portuguese daily Público features a grim-faced Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, as the country looks down the barrel of its third general election in as many years. Members of Portugal’s parliament are set to debate a vote of no confidence against the sitting center-right government after questions arose surrounding Montenegro’s family business practices.
🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
• Two killed in Ukraine’s biggest drone attack on Moscow. A total of 337 drones were downed over Russia, including 91 in the capital’s region on Tuesday, marking Ukraine’s biggest ever drone attack on Moscow. Russian officials said the attack killed at least two workers at a meat warehouse and injured 18 others. This comes as Ukrainian and U.S. officials begin their talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to find a path towards ending the war with Russia while military chiefs from 30 European and NATO countries are meeting in Paris to discuss security assurances for Ukraine. Read more in this analysis translated from Ukrainian by Worldcrunch: What If The Ukraine War Never Ends? That's Where Japan Is With Moscow After 70 Years.
• Greenland votes in key legislative elections amid U.S. interest. The Danish self-governing territory coveted by U.S. President Donald Trump votes Tuesday in pivotal legislative elections that may set a path to independence, an objective supported by most residents. Trump has made clear he wants to take control of the Arctic island that occupies a strategic North Atlantic location and contains rare earth minerals. Read more about what’s driving Trump’s neo-imperialism in this piece by French analyst Pierre Haski.
• Syria signs breakthrough deal with Kurdish-led authorities in northeast. The Syrian interim government reached a breakthrough deal with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that control the northeast of the country on Monday. The agreement, which is expected to be implemented by the end of the year, includes a ceasefire and the merging of the main U.S.-backed force there into the Syrian army. This is expected to bring most of Syria under the control of the central government that replaced the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in December.
• Philippines ex president Duterte arrested on ICC warrant. Philippine police have arrested former President Rodrigo Duterte on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC), accusing him of “crimes against humanity” over his deadly “war on drugs.” The 79-year-old was taken into custody on Tuesday shortly after his arrival at Manila airport from Hong Kong. Over the course of Duterte’s six year presidency, more than 7,000 people were killed in anti-drug operations.
• Uganda deploys troops to South Sudan amid growing civil war fears. Uganda’s military chief said the country has deployed special forces to South Sudan’s capital, Juba, to help President Salva Kiir to “secure it” as fears grow that the country could descend into civil war. Tensions are escalating between Kiir and Vice President Riek Machar, raising concerns that the 2018 power-sharing agreement could collapse.
• Search for missing crew member in North Sea cargo collision called off. Fires are still burning on an oil tanker carrying jet fuel and a cargo ship carrying highly toxic chemicals after they collided in the North Sea on Monday. Thirty-six people were rescued, with one person taken to the hospital, but one crew member is still unaccounted for and the search has been called off, following an “extensive search,” HM Coastguard said.
• News Quiz! New research published in Nature by experts from Zurich has revealed new findings about the AI chatbot ChatGPT. What is it?
A. It gets anxious
B. It thinks its name is Dave
C. It feels lonely
D. It’s a content farm from Latvia
[Answer below]
#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS
17%
The majority of cities in the world have overpolluted air, with only 17% of cities meeting pollution guidelines according to a report by Switzerland-based air quality monitoring group IQAir. The study found that Chad, Congo, Bangladesh, Pakistan and India had the worst air quality, while cities like Beijing, Seoul, South Korea and Rybnik, Poland, improved air quality through stricter regulations. According to the WHO, only 1% of the global population live in places that meet recommended air quality levels.
📹 ON THIS DAY VIDEO — 4 HISTORY-MAKING EVENTS, IN 57 SECONDS
➡️ Watch the video: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
📰 IN OTHER NEWS
🇮🇷 With Trump's return to power, Russia is rapidly moving closer to the United States; Putin has even agreed to mediate talks between Washington and Tehran. But can Iran still trust Russia? Or is it, like Ukraine, just another bargaining chip?
— KAYHAN-LONDON
🏥 Some say Cairo wants to close Egypt's last leprosy colony, rehouse its patients and transform the land into medical facilities — an idea that concerns patients and their families, many of whom remain in the colony out of fear of social stigmas.
— MADA MASR
📡 Ukraine needs satellite internet defense capabilities like that provided by Starlink. But do they really want to be dependent on Elon Musk? The good news is that Europe is not completely empty-handed. But time is of the essence.
— DIE ZEIT
📣 VERBATIM
“The new Dalai Lama will be born in the free world.”
— The Dalai Lama, the leader of Tibetan Buddhism, said that his successor will be born outside of China and in the “free world.” The declaration is in his new book, Voice for the Voiceless, and is the latest exchange between the spiritual leader, who fled the Himalayas more than six decades ago, and the Chinese government which claims the right to choose the next incarnation of the figure.
📸 PHOTO DU JOUR
Damaged vehicles are pictured at a parking lot near Moscow, after a drone attack. Ukraine launched a total of 337 drones across Russia, including 91 in the capital’s region on Tuesday. Russian officials said the attack killed at least two and injured 18. — Photo: Valery Sharifulin/TASS/ZUMA
✍️ Newsletter by Anne-Sophie Goninet & Jacob Shropshire
Let us know what’s happening in your corner of the world!
Quiz Answer: A. New research published in “Nature” by University of Zurich and University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich experts has found that OpenAI’s ChatGPT can get anxious when responding to traumatic prompts and that taking the model to “therapy,” i.e. doing mindfulness exercises, could help reduce this stress. Researchers say this study is important as the negative biases that the AI chatbot records from stressful situations can lead to inadequate responses for those dealing with a mental health crisis.