👋 Aniin!*
Welcome to Thursday, where the Kremlin-sponsored three-day ceasefire starts in Ukraine, Pakistan shoots down a dozen Indian drones overnight and our daily quiz question comes from outer space. Meanwhile, Salomé Herce in Spanish online media Ethic reflects on the often derided role of the stepmother.
[*Ojibwe, Canada]
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🗞️ FRONT PAGE
“Does history repeat itself?” German daily Die Welt asks in its front page, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Events across Europe today mark the end of the bloodiest war in history, including a wreath-laying ceremony in Berlin that newly-elected German Chancellor Freidrich Merz will join a day after reaffirming Franco-German leadership with French President Emmanuel Macron. Moscow marks the end of the War on May 9, and will also be hosting world leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, at a military parade on Friday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky slammed Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling the festivities: “A parade of cynicism… A parade of bile and lies.”
🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
• Kremlin-sponsored ceasefire kicks in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unilateral order for a three-day truce came into effect on Thursday morning, timed to coincide with World War II Victory Day commemorations. Skies over Ukraine’s major cities were quiet but a Ukrainian military spokesman told Reuters that Russian troops had continued to conduct assaults in several areas on the eastern front. The air force reported there had been no Russian missiles or drones in Ukrainian airspace since the truce kicked in. In his evening address on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky renewed his call for a 30-day ceasefire.
• Pakistan shoots down 12 Indian drones. Pakistani officials said on Thursday the country’s air defense system shot down a dozen Indian drones overnight, as one struck a military target near the eastern city of Lahore, causing damage and wounding soldiers. This comes after Indian missile strikes on Pakistani locations killed 31 civilians a day earlier. Meanwhile, India evacuated thousands of people from villages located near the disputed border of Kashmir. Tensions have spiked since gunmen killed 26 people in the India-controlled part of the region on April 22.
• Aid group shuts down soup kitchens in Gaza over Israel’s blockade. World Central Kitchen has been forced to shut its community soup kitchens across Gaza on Thursday, due to Israel’s ongoing blockade of humanitarian assistance for Gaza. The leading aid group was serving 133,000 meals per day and baking 80,000 loaves of bread over the past weeks, but said it couldn’t continue operating since there’s no food left in the enclave for the organization to cook. As Israel’s total blockade enters its third month, malnutrition and hunger are becoming increasingly prevalent in Gaza.
• UK set to become the first country to sign a trade deal with U.S. The U.S. and the UK are expected to announce a deal to reduce tariffs today, making Britain the first country to sign such an agreement since the U.S. announced stiff “reciprocal” tariffs in April. The agreement could see reduced tariffs for cars entering the U.S. and UK and a cut in the digital sales tax on U.S. firms. For more, check this El Espectador analysis translated from Spanish by Worldcrunch.
• Cardinals set for day two of conclave after black smoke on first night. Cardinals returned to the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel on Thursday to resume voting to elect the 267th pontiff of the Catholic Church, after black smoke rose from the chapel chimney on Wednesday evening, signaling that the electors had not reached a decision. A maximum of four ballots will be held today, with Cardinals hoping to reach the necessary two-thirds majority. Read more in this piece from La Stampa, translated by Worldcrunch: White Smoke Waiting — What A Long Conclave Would Mean About Who Will Be Pope.
• Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters arrested at Columbia University. New York police arrested about 76 Columbia University students on Wednesday evening after they occupied part of the school’s main library in one of the biggest pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus since last year’s wave of protests against Israel’s war in Gaza. Two university security officers were injured.
• News Quiz! What is expected to crash on Earth this week after being stuck in orbit for more than half a century?
A. A defunct weather satellite
B. A booster rocket from the Apollo program
C. A Soviet spacecraft
D. A helmet from a NASA spacesuit
[Answer below]
#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS
4.5
New Zealand government statistics released Tuesday show that the island nation has a population of 23.6 million sheep compared to just 5.3 million people, making it one of only a handful globally with more sheep than humans. Humans are catching up though — in 1982, the proportion was about 22 sheep per person, and now it’s down to 4.5. The reason for the sheep population decline? Groups that represent farmers say sheep’s wool isn’t as profitable in the face of synthetic fibers and many farmers have switched to ventures that make more money, such as dairy farming or forestry to sell carbon offsets.
📰 IN OTHER NEWS
✝️ In the last hours before the Cardinals enter the Sistine Chapel, a negotiation between powerful Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Luis Tagle, a favorite of the Church’s progressive wing from the Philippines could unblock the election for the next Pope.
— LA STAMPA
🇸🇾 Israel is brutally asserting its plans to reoccupy Gaza and the “voluntary” expulsion of its inhabitants. France is attempting to make a modest counterpoint, in part by receiving Ahmed al-Sharaa the president of the Syrian transition.
— FRANCE INTER
👪 To be a stepmother or stepfather is to arrive late to a story that has already begun, yet still choose to help write a new chapter. It means adding another emotional thread to a family, without erasing what came before.
— ETHIC
📣 VERBATIM
“We will continue the fight!”
— Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro vowed at a rally to continue fighting against charges of plotting a coup and charges against his supporters who were convicted over a failed insurrection attempt in 2023. Thousands of supporters attended the rally on the site of the January 2023 attempt to take power in Brasilia, the nation’s capital.
Let us know what’s happening in your corner of the world!
✍️ Newsletter by Jacob Shropshire & Anne-Sophie Goninet
Quiz Answer: C. Part of the Kosmos 482, a Soviet-era spacecraft, is expected to crash back to Earth around May 10. Launched in 1972 as part of a mission to Venus, the spacecraft never escaped low Earth orbit and separated into four pieces. NASA says that one of those pieces, believed to be the lander probe, could re-enter our atmosphere without burning up.
