👋 Aluu!*
Welcome to Friday, where a U.S. judge temporarily blocks Trump’s order restricting birthright citizenship, Hamas names four new hostages it plans to release on Saturday, and France moves to protect a very French art form. Meanwhile, in Tunis-based independent media Inkyfada, Carlotta Poirier reports on the worrying rise of HIV infections in Tunisia, and why so many still cannot access adequate treatment.
[*Inuktitut - Canada, Alaska]
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🗞️ FRONT PAGE
“The Assault,” warns German magazine Der Spiegel on its cover, as it highlights the danger of “How autocrats and populists poison democracy.” The weekly focuses on the struggle in the country’s upcoming snap federal election on Feb. 23, with the menacing metaphor of a snake invading the German parliament, or Bundestag. With the far-right AfD party being accused of populism, even those on the center-right have been sounding the alarm about the risk of a return to authoritarianism in the country.
🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
• U.S. judge temporarily blocks Trump’s executive order restricting birthright citizenship. Seattle-based U.S. District Judge John Coughenour issued a temporary restraining order on Thursday against President Donald Trump’s executive order denying U.S. citizenship to the children of parents living in the country illegally, calling it “blatantly unconstitutional.” The executive order will be put on hold for 14 days pending further legal proceedings. Meanwhile, Trump signed pardons for 23 anti-abortion activists a day before the March for Life in Washington D.C. on Friday, as well as an executive order to declassify files on the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert F. Kennedy and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. For more on Trump’s geopolitical project, we offer this analysis translated from French by Worldcrunch: Donald Trump's America Is One With No Allies.
• Hamas to give Israel names of next hostages set to be released. The militant group is expected to provide on Friday the names of four hostages to be freed on Saturday under the Gaza ceasefire deal. The hostages, thought to be four women, both soldiers and civilians, will be released in exchange for 180 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. This will mark the second exchange since the ceasefire came into effect last Sunday. Read more in this reportage from Daraj: Gaza's Strange New Type Of Anguish, Between Loss And Joy.
• Ukraine and Russia report large-scale overnight drone attacks. At least three people have been killed in a Russian drone attack in Ukraine’s central Kyiv region, which damaged a residential apartment building, the country’s interior ministry reported on Friday. Meanwhile, Russia’s Defence Ministry said its air defenses had intercepted and destroyed 121 drones targeting 13 regions, including Moscow, but didn’t mention potential casualties or damage. For more, check this analysis translated from Russian by Worldcrunch: Three Years On, Ukraine’s Most Reliable Ally Is The Russian Military Bureaucrat.
• Firefighters halt advance of latest L.A. wildfire, California signs $2.5 billion aid package. Firefighters stopped the expansion of the Hughes Fire north of Los Angeles, which had broken out on Wednesday and was spreading rapidly. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said that containment, a measure of the perimeter that is under control, grew to 24%, up from 14% earlier on Thursday. Meanwhile, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a relief package of $2.5 billion to help the area recover from the devastating wildfires.
• Colombia calls on Venezuela to help “eradicate” armed gangs on border. Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on Thursday he was “in contact with the current Venezuelan government” to discuss a joint plan “to eradicate armed gangs on the border.” This comes after a week of violence has left at least 80 people dead and 40,000 displaced as rival armed groups battle over drug trafficking territory in the mountainous northeastern Catatumbo region. The violence has plunged Colombia into one of its worst security crises in years.
• Bank of Japan raises interest rates to highest level in 17 years. The central bank of Japan has increased the cost of borrowing on Friday from 0.25% to “around 0.5%,” its highest level since the 2008 global financial crisis, after consumer price rises accelerated in December. This marks the BOJ’s first rate hike since July and underscores its confidence that rising wages will keep inflation stable around its 2% target.
• News Quiz! France’s Culture Ministry announced it would implement new measures to protect which art form that embodies “French culture and freedom”?
A. Mime performance
B. Complaining
C. Bread kneading
D. The can-can
[Answer below]
#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS
13
Emilia Pérez, a Spanish-language musical crime comedy, became the most Oscar nominated non-English film in history. The previous record was set by the Chinese-language film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, more than two decades ago. Emilia Pérez has made history in other ways too, with star Karla Sofia Gascon being the first transgender woman to be nominated in an acting category.
📹 ON THIS DAY VIDEO — 4 HISTORY-MAKING EVENTS, IN 57 SECONDS
➡️ Watch the video: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
📰 IN OTHER NEWS
🇮🇱🇵🇸 The Gaza ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has gone into effect and the complex prisoner exchange has started. Yet the road is still too long before it is possible to discuss who is the victor and who is the vanquished.
— AL-MANASSA
🏥 Although HIV infections are on the rise in Tunisia, only 25% of people living with the virus are receiving treatment. Access to care remains limited due to societal norms that stifle discussions around sexual health and structural deficiencies in the healthcare system.
— INKYFADA
👣 Birkenstock shoes are more popular than ever. The German brand, founded in 1897, and others have an aura of being healthy and good for your feet. But does the science support this clog craze?
— DIE ZEIT
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📣 VERBATIM
“You are plunging our country into shame.”
— Italian Green-Left Senator Giuseppe De Cristofaro pushed back on the decision by the country's far-right government to send home a Libyan man detained under an international war crimes arrest warrant. Osama Elmasry Njeem was arrested on Sunday under an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant, but on Tuesday he was freed and flown back to Tripoli. The interior minister, who fielded questions from opposition leaders Thursday, said the reason for the extradition was a “profile of social dangerousness.”
✍️ Newsletter by Anne-Sophie Goninet & Jake Shropshire
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Quiz Answer: D. The French government announced measures to recognize and protect the can-can and cabaret as an important form of entertainment, with proposals worth €475,000 to “show support for creation” and strengthen its visibility.