Syrian Ceasefire, Ukraine’s New PM, Iceland Eruption

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🗞️ FRONT PAGE​​

The famed French weekly Paris Match dedicated its latest cover to TV host Thierry Ardisson, who died Monday of liver cancer in Paris. To honor Ardisson, Paris Match respected his wish that they use an image of him in a coffin, taken in a funeral home across from the renowned Père-Lachaise Cemetery, for their cover when he died. The photo is from a 2005 shoot done to promote his autobiography Confessions of a Baby Boomer. He told the magazine: “I think it’s my favorite photo I’ve taken with you.”

🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW

• Syria ceasefire holds. Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa promised to protect the rights of Druze citizens on Thursday as a ceasefire appeared to be holding in the country’s south following U.S. intervention to end fighting between government forces and Druze fighters. The violence in Syria escalated on Wednesday after Israel launched airstrikes in Damascus. For more on Ahmed al-Sharaa, check this Daraj analysis translated from Arabic by Worldcrunch.

• Zelensky shakes up Ukrainian government. Ukraine’s economy minister and key negotiator in the mineral deal with the U.S., Yuliia Svyrydenko, was appointed as its new prime minister Thursday, becoming the country’s first new head of government since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. The new government will race to expand domestic arms production to meet half the country’s weapons needs within six months as it tries to push back Russia’s invasion. Meanwhile, at least two people have been killed and a further 27 injured following a Russian air strike on a shopping center and market in the town of Dobropillia in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region on Wednesday night.

• Starmer and Merz to sign UK-Germany deal on defense and migration. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz are set to sign a treaty on Thursday pledging to tighten defense ties and step up law-enforcement cooperation against gangs that smuggle migrants across the English Channel. The German leader is in London on his first official visit to Britain since taking office in May. Check this Die Zeit analysis translated from German by Worldcrunch: This Is How Europe Becomes The Military Power That The World Needs Now.

• Turkish court convicts Istanbul mayor of insulting an official. A Turkish court convicted Istanbul’s jailed opposition mayor and the chief rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of insulting and threatening a public official and sentenced him to a year and eight months in prison. Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, who has been held in a prison west of Istanbul since March 23, is expected to appeal the verdict. His arrest set off a wave of nationwide protests.

• Fire at Iraqi shopping center kills 60. The blaze at the mall, which had opened five days ago, broke out on Wednesday night and has since been brought under control. Social media videos showed firefighters rescuing people from the mall’s roof, but state media reported that many are still missing.

• Babies made using three people’s DNA are born free of hereditary disease. Eight babies have been born in the UK using genetic material from three people to prevent often fatal conditions. The method, pioneered by UK scientists, combines the egg and sperm from a mom and dad with a second egg from a donor woman.

• News Quiz! What caused severe damage to the Tomorrowland festival’s main stage a day before thousands of electronic dance music lovers were due to arrive at the Belgian event?

A. High winds
B. A serious fire
C. Angry neighbors
D. Overeager festivalgoers
[Answer below]

#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS

65

France will formally hand over its last military bases in Senegal, after 65 years of the French army’s presence. Roughly 350 French soldiers, who mainly ran joint operations with Senegalese troops, will leave Senegal following a three month departure process. President Bassirou Diomaye Faye demanded the French military’s withdrawal by 2025 after he was elected to office in 2024, falling in line with similar pullouts across Africa. Since Senegal gained independence in 1960, it has been one of France’s strongest African allies, with French soldiers a constant presence in the country. 

📰 IN OTHER NEWS

⚖️ Donald Trump says he will hike tariffs on Brazil unless it halts prosecution of the country’s former right-wing leader Jair Bolsonaro. Only, Brazil exports relatively little to the U.S. and Trump’s meddling could be boosting his socialist nemesis, President Lula da Silva.
— CLARÍN

🇮🇷 Venezuelan media lambasted Israel during its 12-day assault on the Islamic Republic of Iran, not for justice’s sake, but as an illustration of just how much clout the Tehran regime has bought itself in the Western Hemisphere.
— EL ESPECTADOR

💊 Known in the past decade as a horse tranquilizer and surgical anesthetic, ketamine is now gaining popularity as a party drug and even a life-coping aid.
— DIE ZEIT

📣 VERBATIM

“It’s a dreadful idea.”

— Roger Altman, founder of investment banking firm Evercore, warned against President Donald Trump firing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. “There are a lot of bad ideas out there. But the president firing the chairman of the Fed, or, should I say, trying to fire him —because that’s not clear to me at all that he could succeed — that’s among the worst ideas,” said Altman, who served as deputy Treasury secretary under former President Bill Clinton. The White House has released conflicting information on whether or not Trump plans to fire Powell, with Trump saying it was “highly unlikely” Wednesday, shortly after a senior White House official told CNBC Trump said he will fire Powell “soon.”