North Korea and Russia Build First Cross-Border Road Bridge – The New York Times

  1. North Korea and Russia Build First Cross-Border Road Bridge  The New York Times
  2. North Korea: First road bridge to Russia 'significant' development  BBC
  3. ‘Milestone’: Russia, North Korea begin first road bridge construction  Al Jazeera
  4. North Korea says new bridge to Russia reinforces economic cooperation  Reuters
  5. Russia, North Korea building bridge to create ‘road of friendship'  The Kyiv Independent
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Profits fall at Premier Inn owner Whitbread on drop in UK bookings

Shares rise on promises to return £2bn to investors through buybacks and dividends, and more hotel openings

Profits at the Premier Inn owner Whitbread have fallen after it was hit by higher costs and a drop in UK bookings, but shares rose on the promise of a share buyback and more hotel openings.

Britain’s largest hotel group, which owns 852 hotels in the UK and 61 in Germany, reported a 14% fall in adjusted pre-tax profit to £483m for the year to 27 February. Revenues dipped by 1% to £2.9bn, as revenue per available room in the UK was down by 2%.

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Spain and Portugal blackout blamed on solar power dependency – Financial Times

  1. Spain and Portugal blackout blamed on solar power dependency  Financial Times
  2. Opinion | How the Lights Went Out in Spain  WSJ
  3. The Spanish state should take over grid operator, says deputy prime minister  Reuters
  4. The great Iberian power cut need not spell disaster for renewables  The Economist
  5. Power Outage in Spain and Portugal Creates a Day of Confusion  The New York Times
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UK banks put £75bn into firms building climate-wrecking ‘carbon bombs’, study finds

Exclusive: Britain is key financial hub for destructive fossil fuel mega-projects, according to research

Banks in the City of London have poured more than $100bn (£75bn) into companies developing “carbon bombs” – huge oil, gas and coal projects that would drive the climate past internationally agreed temperature limits with catastrophic global consequences – according to a study.

Nine London-based banks, including HSBC, NatWest, Barclays and Lloyds are involved in financing companies responsible for at least 117 carbon bomb projects in 28 countries between 2016 – the year after the landmark Paris agreement was signed – and 2023, according to the study.

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Private firms look to fill research gaps left by federal grant cuts: ‘We can’t wait four years’

Trump and Musk have gut National Institutes of Health and experts are wary of private efforts’ ability to replicate public service

The federal government has slashed research since Donald Trump took office – hacking away at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and its grants, staff and long-held partnerships with academia.

Now, some private companies said they want to pick up strands of research that might have otherwise been funded by the federal government. The effort has stoked little optimism among experts, who caution that private efforts cannot remotely replicate the breadth, depth or public service provided by federal funding.

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Trump’s attack on federal unions a ‘test case’ for broader assault, warn lawyers

Executive order cites national security to strip bargaining rights from more than 1 million federal workers

The Trump administration is seeking to strip collective bargaining rights from large swaths of federal employees in a test case union leaders argue is part of a broader attack on US labor unions that could land before the US Supreme Court.

A Trump win would deliver a severe blow to labor unions in the US. Some 29.9% of all federal workers were represented by labor unions in 2024 compared to 11.1% for all US workers.

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Trump has launched more attacks on the environment in 100 days than his entire first term

Blitzkrieg has hit protections in place for land, oceans, forests and wildlife, and will worsen the climate crisis

Donald Trump has launched an unprecedented assault upon the environment, instigating 145 actions to undo rules protecting clean air, water and a livable climate in this administration’s first 100 days – more rollbacks than were completed in Trump’s entire first term as US president.

Trump’s blitzkrieg has hit almost every major policy to shield Americans from toxic pollution, curb the worsening impacts of the climate crisis and protect landscapes, oceans, forests and imperiled wildlife.

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World’s oldest person: Sister Inah Canabarro Lucas dies at 116 – BBC

  1. World's oldest person: Sister Inah Canabarro Lucas dies at 116  BBC
  2. Brazilian nun who was the world’s oldest person has died at 116  AP News
  3. British woman, 115, becomes world's oldest person  BBC
  4. ‘I do what I like’: British woman, 115, claims world’s oldest living person title  The Guardian
  5. World’s oldest person, Sister Inah Canabarro Lucas, dies at 116  Catholic News Agency
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The rising tension between India and Pakistan, briefly explained – vox.com

  1. The rising tension between India and Pakistan, briefly explained  vox.com
  2. Fears of attack in Pakistan-administered Kashmir amid acute India tensions  Al Jazeera
  3. India and Pakistan are bracing for a military clash  The Economist
  4. India's military response to previous attacks in Kashmir blamed on Pakistan  Reuters
  5. Opinion: Opinion | There Is A 'Third' Player In The India-Pakistan Conflict  NDTV
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Charles Ong’ondo Were: Kasipul MP shot dead in Kenyan capital Nairobi – BBC

  1. Charles Ong'ondo Were: Kasipul MP shot dead in Kenyan capital Nairobi  BBC
  2. Kenya police say lawmaker’s killing ‘targeted and premeditated’  CNN
  3. Kenyan Lawmaker Is Shot Dead by Motorcycle-Riding Assailant  The New York Times
  4. Kenyan opposition MP is killed in ‘targeted’ shooting  AP News
  5. Kenyan lawmaker shot dead in capital Nairobi, local media says  Reuters
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Cautious optimism in Ukraine over minerals deal with Trump

While details remain to be finalised, Zelenskyy may have have secured a better agreement than first seemed likely

There is cautious optimism in Kyiv over the terms of the long-discussed US-Ukraine minerals deal, signed on Wednesday, which appear to be more advantageous for Ukraine than most had expected.

Many details are still to be finalised and will be written into a yet-to-be-signed further technical agreement, suggesting that the long saga over the deal may not be quite over. But Ukrainian analysts have noted that Kyiv has apparently been able to extract some major concessions, despite Donald Trump’s repeated claim that Ukraine “has no cards” to play.

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