👋 नमस्कार*
Welcome to Thursday, where the FBI investigates the shooting near the White House that left two National Guard critically wounded, firefighters manage to contain a blaze that killed at least 55 in Hong Kong, and today’s quiz question sees strange things happen on Mars. Meanwhile, from Riyadh, Pauline Landais-Barrau of Le Figaro rides the city’s brand-new metro, a showcase of the Saudi capital’s rapid transformation.
[*Namaskār – Marathi, India]
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🗞️ FRONT PAGE
The Hong Kong Economic Journal devotes its front page to a blaze that devastated a public housing complex in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district, killing at least 55 people. The fire, which broke out on Wednesday and tore through seven of eight high-rise tower blocks, is now “basically under control,” according to Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee. This marks Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in the past 63 years, with hundreds of people still unaccounted for. Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption announced the launch of a criminal investigation “into possible corruption related to the major renovation works” of the housing complex.
🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
• Russia downs 118 drones, France unveils new voluntary military service. Russia says it downed 118 Ukrainian drones overnight. Meanwhile, a Russian court has sentenced eight people to life in jail over the 2022 Crimean bridge blast that killed five, which both Moscow and Kyiv attributed to Ukraine’s secret services. In France, President Macron unveiled a new voluntary military service on Thursday, citing the need to strengthen national defence amid heightened threats from Russia. Read more about it in this recent analysis by France Inter’s Pierre Haski, translated and adapted from French by Worldcrunch: We May Lose Our Children — French General’s Stark Warning For A Europe Facing Russian Aggression.
• U.S. freezes Afghan immigration as FBI probes D.C. shooting. The FBI is investigating the motives that led Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan immigrant, to open fire in a targeted attack on two National Guard soldiers near the White House. The soldiers remain in critical condition, while Lakanwal was arrested and wounded. The shooting prompted the Trump administration to indefinitely suspend all Afghan immigration requests, pending a security review.
• Pope goes to Turkey and Lebanon in first overseas trip. Leo XIV has arrived in Ankara, where he visited Ataturk’s mausoleum, and is set to later meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The pontiff’s first overseas trip will then take him to Istanbul before heading to Lebanon to mark the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. Read more about Pope Leo XIV here, in this article by Argentine daily Clarín, translated and adapted from Spanish by Worldcrunch.
• Amnesty warns Israel “still committing genocide.” Rights group Amnesty International says Israel is violating the Gaza ceasefire through fresh strikes and severe aid restrictions, arguing there is “no evidence” its intent has changed despite ongoing truce efforts. According to recent UN estimates, the Palestinian death toll has surpassed 70,000 since the war began.
• Russian and U.S. crew heads to ISS. A Soyuz MS-28 rocket successfully lifted off from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome carrying two Russian cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut, beginning an eight-month mission to the International Space Station. Need more space? We offer this piece by Stefano Corgnati for Italian daily La Stampa, translated and adapted by Worldcrunch: Making Space: Why The Next Industrial Leap Will Not Start On Earth.
• Myanmar frees thousands in pre-election amnesty. The military junta has released prisoners from Yangon’s Insein Prison as part of a sweeping amnesty ahead of December’s election, freeing more than 3,000 people jailed for opposing army rule and dropping charges for another 5,500. Top opposition figures like Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi remain imprisoned.
• News Quiz! The Perseverance rover has detected a new phenomenon on the surface of Mars. What is it?
A. Acid rains
B. Nitrogen geysers
C. Mini lightning
D. Alien ants
[Answer below]
📣 VERBATIM
“I have been deposed.”
— Guinea-Bissau’s President Umaro Sissoco Embalo told French broadcaster France24 in a phone call he had been “deposed” after a group of military officers claimed “total control” of the country on Wednesday. This comes a day after the two leading candidates in Guinea-Bissau’s presidential election — incumbent Embalo and main challenger Fernando Dias — both declared victory before the release of official results. The officers, who call themselves “High Military Command for the Restoration of Order,” said that they had ordered the immediate suspension of the electoral process until further notice, as well as the closure of all land, air and sea borders and the imposition of an overnight curfew. According to Al Jazeera, Embalo is currently under arrest.
📰 IN OTHER NEWS
🇷🇺🇺🇸 Exclusive reports by Bloomberg show transcripts of two secret phone calls involving the Trump administration’s apparent collusion with the Kremlin on the 28-point Ukraine plan Donald Trump seeks to impose on Volodymyr Zelensky.
— FRANCE INTER
🇮🇳 The removal of over 100 Muslim employees in an Indian market is just the latest anti-Muslim incident that has occurred in recent years, following the rise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist BJP party.
— RELIGION UNPLUGGED
🚇 Since the opening of six automated lines in the Saudi capital city Riyadh last December, more than 122 million journeys have been made on public transport.
— LE FIGARO
✍️ Newsletter by Bertrand Hauger & Anne-Sophie Goninet
Quiz Answer: C. NASA’s Perseverance rover has detected “mini-lightning” on Mars for the first time, recording 55 electrical discharges during dust storms and dust devils. The finding confirms that Mars is electrically active, with implications for its climate, habitability, and future exploration.
Let us know what’s happening in your corner of the world!