Zelensky Talks, Cambodian Exodus, Bootleg Blessing

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🗞️ FRONT PAGE​​

Two major stories dominate the front page of Maracay-based daily El Periodiquito: splashed in big letters is the headline announcing that “the U.S. seized a Venezuelan oil tanker” used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran. Both Caracas and Tehran condemned the move, which caused a hike in oil prices, while Washington defended it as mere enforcement of sanctions targeting Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The front page also features a photograph of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado smiling to the crowd from the balcony of Oslo’s Grand Hotel, having defied a travel ban and arrived in the Norwegian capital, just hours after her daughter collected her Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf. This was Machado’s first public appearance in 11 months, having been forced to live in hiding.

🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW

• Zelensky to hold urgent talks with 30 countries. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to hold urgent talks on Thursday with leaders and officials from 30 countries that are part of the so-called “Coalition of the Willing,” supporting Kyiv’s effort to obtain fair terms for an end to the war with Russia. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that proposals on territorial concessions Ukraine is ready to make had been sent to the U.S. administration after European leaders had spoken by phone with President Donald Trump on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s military has reported an unusually large Russian mechanised attack inside the strategic eastern city of Pokrovsk, which Moscow claims full control of. Kyiv maintains that its troops still hold the northern part of the city.

• Deaths mount as Thailand-Cambodia fighting enters fourth day. Thai officials announced the deaths of four civilians on Thursday as fighting flared along the country’s border with Cambodia, marking Thailand’s first civilian fatalities since fighting resumed this month. Cambodia’s Ministry of the Interior reported that the death toll on the Cambodian side of the border stands at 10 civilians as of Wednesday. Both sides have accused each other of violating international law as U.S. President Donald Trump said he expects to speak by phone with the two leaders on Thursday to “get them to stop fighting.”

• Former Bolivian president arrested in corruption investigation. Bolivia’s former president Luis Arce was arrested on Wednesday as part of a corruption investigation into alleged financial misconduct committed while he was economy minister under Evo Morales. The arrest comes just a month after the inauguration of conservative President Rodrigo Paz ended 20 years of socialist rule. Read more in this Clarín analysis, translated from Spanish by Worldcrunch: Bolivian Elections: Will Socialism’s Defeat Bring True Change?

• Dozens killed after Myanmar military airstrike hits hospital. At least 30 people have been killed and dozens more injured after airstrikes from Myanmar’s military hit a major hospital in the western Rakhine state on Wednesday night, according to ground sources. The hospital is located in an area controlled by the Arakan Army, one of the strongest ethnic armies fighting the ruling military regime. Thousands have died in a conflict sparked by Myanmar’s military when it seized power in a 2021 coup that unseated the elected government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

• Trump launches “gold card” visas. U.S. President Donald Trump has officially launched a scheme offering fast-tracked U.S. visas to wealthy foreigners who can pay at least $1 million or companies that can spend $2 million to sponsor a foreign worker they want to bring into the U.S. The Trump Gold Card comes as Washington intensifies its immigration crackdown. The Customs and Border Protection unveiled a new proposal that would require travelers from more than 40 countries to provide their social media histories from the last five years to enter the U.S. For more, check this El Espectador piece: Strength In Numbers: A South American Take On U.S. Immigration Reform.

• Portugal faces first general strike in 12 years. Portugal is experiencing major disruptions to transport, flights, hospitals, schools and other public services on Thursday after two main trade union confederations called for a general strike over unprecedented labor reforms. The proposed changes include making it easier for companies to fire workers and letting employers roll over temporary contracts for years on end.

• News Quiz! Which British band has given its approval for the commercial release of one of the world’s most bootlegged recordings, created by Fatboy Slim with a sample of an iconic guitar riff?

A. The Rolling Stones
B. Led Zeppelin
C. Iron Maiden
D. The Who
[Answer below]

#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS

$901 billion

The U.S. House of Representatives approved a record $901-billion defense bill, despite significant pushback. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), includes a nearly 4% pay raise for troops, improvements to military housing, strengthened commitments to Europe with sustained troop levels, $400 million in annual aid to Ukraine, and cuts to diversity, equity, inclusion and climate programs that are opposed by President Trump. It also requires greater transparency from the Pentagon over recent deadly strikes on alleged drug-smuggling vessels. The bill is now headed to the Senate for review and is expected to be approved next week.

📰 IN OTHER NEWS

🗯️ Donald Trump has doubled down on his criticism of Europe, calling it “weak” and “ decaying,” and of Ukraine, which he said has no chance because Russia is “bigger.” Why so much hatred?
— FRANCE INTER

🤖 OpenAI, Nvidia, Microsoft… all caught inside the same investment circle. Here’s why the AI bubble is poised to pop.
— CATALUNYA PLURAL

🎓 In the U.S., Chinese students are at times branded as potential spies; in China, coming home can carry the stigma of disloyalty. Caught in the middle, many are weighing life-changing decisions with no safe choice.
— THE INITIUM