“Window” For Iran Talks, Drenched NYC, Pets & EU Parliament

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🗞️ FRONT PAGE​​

Berlin-based daily Die Tageszeitung lends its frontpage to German chancellor Friedrich Merz whom they nickname “Dirty Freddy,” adding that he’s “Not entirely clean.” This comes as 14 military cargo planes from the U.S. and Germany, loaded with equipment and supplies to support the army, arrived Thursday in Israel amid its conflict with Iran, according to Israeli defense ministry — which said the shipment is to support the army’s “operational readiness.” Merz had announced Tuesday his country’s strong support for the Israeli ongoing strikes against Iran, stating that Israel was “doing the dirty work for all of us” during the G7 summit in Canada, a declaration that shocked many. Read more about Merz’ position on the Israel-Iran war in this piece by Pierre Haski, translated and adapted by Worldcrunch.

🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW

• UK and EU to hold talks with Iran, Trump to make decision within two weeks. European foreign ministers are set to meet their Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi in Geneva on Friday, as part of efforts to de-escalate the crisis between Iran and Israel. This comes as U.S. President Donald Trump said he would decide “within the next two weeks” whether to involve the U.S. in Israel’s bombing campaign. Meanwhile, Israel carried out strikes on dozens of military targets in Iran overnight, the Israeli military said Friday, including what it called a center for the “research and development of Iran’s nuclear weapons project.” Read more in this piece by French analyst Pierre Haski: Three Factors Are Pushing Trump To The Brink Of Entering The Iran War.

• Overnight attack in Ukraine’s Odessa kills one. Russian drones attacked the Ukrainian Black Sea city of Odesa overnight, killing one and injuring at least 14 people, local authorities and prosecutors said on Friday. The Black Sea port, Ukraine’s largest, has been under constant missile and drone attacks by Moscow since the war began.

• Appeals court lets Trump keep control of California National Guard troops. A federal appeals court allowed U.S. President Donald Trump to maintain control over thousands of members of California’s National Guard he deployed to Los Angeles following protests over immigration raids. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously concluded on Thursday that “it is likely that the President lawfully exercised his statutory authority.” The decision halts a ruling from a lower court judge who had found that the president acted illegally when he activated the Guardsmen over opposition from California Gov. Gavin Newsom. For more, check this analysis: Trump-Newsom Clash Over LA Protests Already Has A Whiff Of The 2028 Election.

• UK lawmakers to vote on landmark assisted dying bill. British lawmakers could take a major step towards legalizing euthanasia on Friday, as they are set to vote on whether to back a bill to help terminally ill adults end their lives in England and Wales. Members of Parliament supported the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill when they first debated the issue in November by 330 votes to 275. From the Worldcrunch vault, we offer this original: An Italian Actress Dies Abroad: Euthanasia Laws Make Slow Progress Around The World.

• Violence against children in conflict reached “unprecedented levels” in 2024. A United Nations annual report has verified 41,370 grave violations against children in 2024, a 25% increase compared with the previous year and the highest number since the monitoring tool was established nearly 30 years ago. Children continue to bear “the brunt of relentless hostilities and indiscriminate attacks,” the report says, particularly in the Palestinian territories, which occupy the top spot in the dismal rankings, with more than 8,500 serious violations.

• China warns of extensive flooding as extreme storms hit the country. Red alerts have been issued in central and southern China for more flash floods on Friday as the annual East Asia monsoon gathered pace and extreme rainfall threatened disruption in the country. Heavy rain in southern Hunan on Thursday triggered the largest floods since 1998.

• News Quiz! What measure has the European Parliament backed for all cats and dogs in the EU?

A. The introduction of a “paw-ssport” with biometric scans
B. Mandatory microchipping
C. Compulsory training lessons
D. Making Pet Day (April 11) a bank holiday

[Answer below]

#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS

119

The Netherlands returned 119 artifacts to Nigeria Thursday, including human and animal figures, plaques, royal regalia and a bell. The artifacts, known as the Benin Bronzes and mostly housed in a museum in the city of Leiden, had been looted in 1897 by British soldiers when British forces sacked what was then the Benin kingdom. This is the largest single repatriation to date, according to Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments. Nigeria formally requested the return of hundreds of objects from museums around the world in 2022; some 72 items were returned from a London museum that year while 31 were returned from a U.S. museum.

📰 IN OTHER NEWS

🇮🇱 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long viewed the Iranian regime as an existential threat to the Jewish state. Now, with direct strikes on Iran, he may be realizing a goal he’s pursued for decades. But the risks for Israel and the region are huge.
— DIE ZEIT

💥 Israel may be giving Tehran a taste of the havoc it wreaked on Gaza and Beirut, as it seeks to crush the very environment that has nurtured and sustained the hostile regime of the Islamic Republic.
— KAYHAN-LONDON

🌊 Spain’s coastline is shrinking, caught in a relentless battle between rising seas, legal disputes and private interests. Thousands of homes now stand precariously close to the waves, some awaiting demolition, others clinging to legal loopholes.
— ETHIC

📣 VERBATIM

“A window now exists.”

— UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy stated Friday that although the situation in the Middle East remains “perilous,” “a window now exists within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution.” This comes after the U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that he will make his “decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks” about the U.S. being directly involved in the conflict between Israel and Iran. “We are determined that Iran must never have a nuclear weapon,” Lammy added on his way back from Washington, ahead of a meeting Friday in Geneva where the foreign ministers of France and Germany are meeting their Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, as well as the EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, to hold nuclear talks.