👋 Ekamowir omo!*
Welcome to Tuesday, where Washington aligns with Moscow in UN resolutions on Ukraine, Syria holds a national dialogue conference to outline its post-Assad future, and 1,000 UK artists get together in today’s quiz question. Meanwhile, Georg Löwisch in German magazine Die Zeit paints the portrait of an elusive, yet decisive, Chancellor-to-be Friedrich Merz.
[*Nauruan, Nauru]
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🗞️ FRONT PAGE
French daily l’Humanité led today with a photo of U.S. President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron, calling the French head of state’s visit to Washington “Mission Impossible.” At the White House meeting between the two leaders, Macron said that Europe was looking to “step up” its defense spending, but pushed for U.S. involvement in securing peace after a settlement in Ukraine. The two leaders both alluded to the possibility that a truce of some kind could happen as quickly as the next two weeks. For more on Macron’s role, here’s a piece by Pierre Haski for France Inter, translated from French by Worldcrunch.
🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
• Russia praises U.S. “balanced” position on Ukraine after UN vote. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov welcomed what he described as “a much more balanced position” from the U.S. regarding Ukraine, after Washington pushed through a UN resolution that called for an end to the conflict but contained no criticism of Russia. The votes held on the third anniversary of the war highlighted the dramatic shift in the U.S. stance since President Donald Trump took office in January. In his remarks Tuesday, Peskov also confirmed that Russia was open to a deal with Trump on rare earth metal deposits after President Vladimir Putin held out the possibility of such collaboration.
• National dialogue conference to help chart Syria’s political future. The main session of the country’s national dialogue conference will take place in Damascus on Tuesday. It will gather representatives from across society to discuss Syria’s future in the wake of the rebel offensive that overthrew the decades-long dictatorship of the Assad family. In an opening address, interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa reiterated his pledge to deliver a democratic political transition and announced the formation of a transitional justice committee. Read more in this analysis, translated from Arabic by Worldcrunch: What Follows Dictatorship? Syria Can Find Useful Clues From The Past — And Present.
• Israel and EU resume dialogue on Gaza’s future. European Union foreign ministers met their Israeli counterpart Gideon Sa’ar in Brussels on Monday as the bloc considered a role in the reconstruction of Gaza following last month’s fragile ceasefire deal. Sa’ar said he doesn’t want his country’s relationship to Europe to be “held hostage to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict” and described the session as “candid.”
• MSF halts operations in camp in Sudan famine-hit displacement camp. Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) announced it was suspending its work at Sudan’s largest displacement camp in the North Darfur region due to escalating violence. The group was one of the few humanitarian groups still working in the Zamzam camp, which shelters about half a million people displaced by Sudan’s devastating 22-month civil war. For more on the Sudan war, check this Al-Manassa piece translated from Arabic by Worldcrunch.
• South Korea’s Yoon faces final impeachment hearing. The country’s ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol faced his final impeachment hearing in Seoul on Tuesday before judges decide whether to formally remove him from office over his short-lived martial law declaration in December last year. A verdict is expected in mid-March. If the 64-year-old, who has been behind bars since he was arrested last month on charges of insurrection, is removed from office, South Korea will have to hold a fresh presidential election within 60 days.
• At least four dead in South Korea highway construction collapse. Five 50-meter concrete structures supporting a highway bridge under construction collapsed on Tuesday in Anseong, south of Seoul, killing at least four people and injuring six. The cause of the collapse has yet to be determined.
• News Quiz! Some 1,000 high-profile musicians including Kate Bush, The Clash and Annie Lennox released a protest album in the UK of complete silence. What are they protesting?
A. Unfair Grammy selection process
B. AI access to copyrighted music
C. Use of vocoder
D. K-pop
[Answer below]
#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS
$827 million
Cuba’s top cigar maker Habanos saw a 16% uptick in revenue in 2024, raking in $827 million in a record-breaking sales year. The company, which is jointly owned by the country’s government and a consortium of Asian investors, credits the spike in sales to a growing market of wealthy smokers in Asia, which is where roughly a quarter of sales come from. Cigars are one of the last major exports from the country which has been racked by American sanctions since the 1960s. Read more in this Clarín piece on the first woman to win Cuba’s prestigious annual cigar festival.
📹 ON THIS DAY VIDEO — 4 HISTORY-MAKING EVENTS, IN 57 SECONDS
➡️ Watch the video: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
📰 IN OTHER NEWS
🇩🇿 With the downfall of the Assad regime, Algeria lost a strong ally in the Arab region. Algiers is now seeking to establish relations with the new leadership in Damascus, hoping to maintain its old alliance despite the change of regime.
— DARAJ
🇩🇪 The multi-faceted Friedrich Merz promises to be the most indecipherable head of government. Only one thing's for certain: He is willing to take risks. It comes with serious perils, but may be exactly what Germany (and the world) needs right now.
— DIE ZEIT
🇵🇱 Legendary Polish researcher Maria Skłodowska-Curie, also known as Marie Curie, has sparked controversies entirely unrelated to the scientific breakthroughs she achieved. Now, almost 70 years after her passing, a heated debate on the inclusion of her Polish maiden name, and the Polish spelling of her name, has been reignited by a new Lego series.
— GAZETA WYBORCZA
📣 VERBATIM
“José Mourinho has persistently issued derogatory statements directed towards the Turkish people.”
— Turkish soccer club Galatasaray issued a statement announcing it would take legal action against rival team Fenerbahce’s manager José Mourinho over "racist statements" after he described Galatasaray’s bench as “jumping like monkeys” and complained about local referees during a recent derby game. Fenerbahce defended Mourinho, saying his words were taken out of context. The iconic manager was already fined earlier this season for criticizing refereeing standards in Turkey.
✍️ Newsletter by Anne-Sophie Goninet & Jake Shropshire
Let us know what’s happening in your corner of the world!
Quiz Answer: B. More than 1,000 musicians have released a silent album on Tuesday in protest at the UK government’s plans to let artificial intelligence companies use copyright-protected work without permission. With this album entitled “Is This What We Want?,” artists hope to draw attention to the potential impact of these proposed changes to copyright law on livelihoods and the UK music industry. All profits will be donated to the charity Help Musicians.