World Briefing: March 18, 2025
Many women and children among more than 300 Palestinians killed in Israeli air attacks across the besieged Gaza Strip, medical sources say. Hamas says Israel carried out a “treacherous” attack on besieged and defenceless civilians in order to overturn the Gaza ceasefire deal. Palestinian Islamic Jihad accuses Israel of “deliberately sabotaging” the ceasefire, which had been in place since January 19. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he ordered the strikes because of a lack of progress in talks to extend the ceasefire - Al Jazeera
Israel’s strikes followed weeks of fruitless negotiations to agree an extension to its truce with Hamas. At dawn on Tuesday, it was not yet clear whether this was a brief attempt to force Hamas to compromise at those talks — or the start of a new, months-long phase of war in which it would try to force Hamas from Gaza, once and for all - NYT
U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are scheduled to have their long-awaited phone call today to discuss a proposed 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine. However, as I told BBC World Television’s Karin Giannone today, it looks increasingly as if the two sides are working towards the partitioning of Ukraine. Assets which were previously not on the table now are, including: the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (Europe’s largest, in Russian hands and frequently in crisis dues to Russian mishandling of the facility); ports, the “Black Sea Agreement.” Ukrainian officials are said to fear that Odesa port, the country’s largest, is also on the table. I told BBC that it appears, at least to me, that Mr Trump has so much disdain for Ukraine and its president that he’s willing to see it sink to failed state status. “He wants Canada to become the 51st state so it isn’t far-fetched for him to have Ukraine as a failed state.” As The New York Times reported, “He (Trump) will, in essence, be negotiating over how large a reward Russia will receive for its 11 years of open aggression against Ukraine, starting with its seizure of Crimea in 2014 and extending through the full-scale war Mr. Putin started three years ago.’
“He (Trump) will, in essence, be negotiating over how large a reward Russia will receive for its 11 years of open aggression against Ukraine, starting with its seizure of Crimea in 2014 and extending through the full-scale war Mr. Putin started three years ago.”
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), the Prague-based independent media outlet which provides news to more than 100-million people in 20+ countries, could close by the end of the month if it does’t come up with the $142-million annual budget that was slashed by US President Donald Trump via executive order. Even though its entire budget is congressionally funded, Mr. Trump appears to have over-stepped his authority by de-funding the outlet, along with the Voice of America, in what’s been described in global media circles as ‘Bloody Saturday.” At stake are the jobs of about 800 full-time staff and 800 freelancers. Many of the outlet’s reporters and correspondents operate incognito in countries where the media is repressed. As the media organization explains, “For over 70 years RFE/RL has served as a beacon of hope, leading audiences out of information darkness. RFE/RL’s work remains as relevant as ever since our first broadcast in 1950.” I’ve described RFE/RL as the “digital Berlin Wall, keeping in check the bad guys by exposing their nefarious activities and keep the good guys in check by exposing corruption and other misdeeds.” I am a huge fan of the award-winning investigative program, Schemes, which every week exposes corrupt practices of the government in Kyiv, shenanigans of oligarchs and others. In a way, a tribute to the show is that the Zelensky team is said not to like it.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday suggested that Chinese President Xi Jinping may visit the United States "in the not-too-distant future" for talks as economic tensions escalate between the powers. Trump has slapped 20% levies on all imports from China since taking office in January, faulting Beijing for not halting the flow of chemicals used to make illegal fentanyl, a leading cause of U.S. drug overdose deaths. Trump has voiced optimism in recent weeks about having a good relationship with Xi. But there has been little sign of progress on a range of issues splitting the nations, from tariffs to Taiwan. China objects to the tariffs and says it has taken serious action on counter-narcotics. Beijing has imposed a limited set of its own retaliatory trade actions. "He'll be coming," Trump said, "in the not-too-distant future." Trump made the comments as an aside during a board meeting at the John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center in Washington - Reuters
A federal judge on Monday questioned whether the Trump administration ignored his orders to turn around planes carrying deportees to El Salvador, a possible violation of the decision he’d issued minutes before. District Judge James E. Boasberg was incredulous over the administration’s contentions that his verbal directions did not count, that only his written order needed to be followed, that it couldn’t apply to flights that had left the U.S. and that the administration could not answer his questions about the deportations due to national security issues. “That’s one heck of a stretch, I think,” Boasberg replied, noting that the administration knew as the planes were departing that he was about to decide whether to briefly halt deportations being made under a rarely used 18th century law invoked by Trump about an hour earlier. “I’m just asking how you think my equitable powers do not attach to a plane that has departed the U.S., even if it’s in international airspace,” Boasberg added at another point. Deputy Associate Attorney General Abhishek Kambli contended that only Boasberg’s short written order, issued about 45 minutes after he made the verbal demand, counted. It did not contain any demands to reverse planes, and Kambli added that it was too late to redirect two planes that had left the U.S. by that time - AP
“It is true that the business field is like a battlefield. Each battle has its own configuration. Your partner in one battle may be your opponent in another. Life goes on. Friendship goes on. Business goes on. The real heroes care not for the win or the loss, as long as they know that they act according to their conscience within the realm of reason, ethics and compassion.”
One of Hong Kong’s most prominent tycoons, Henderson Land Development’s founder Lee Shau-kee, died on Monday at age 97. The entrepreneur, known affectionately as “Fourth Uncle” by his staff and associates, built a business empire comprising seven Hong Kong-listed companies with a combined market value of HK$551 billion (US$71 billion) as of March 17, with interests in real estate, hotels, piped gas and a ferry operation.Lee, who is survived by five children, stepped down as chairman and managing director of Henderson in May 2019. His eldest son Peter Lee Ka-kit and younger son Martin Lee Ka-shing were appointed as joint chairmen and managing directors of one of Hong Kong’s largest developers, while the elder Lee remained as an executive director. “It is true that the business field is like a battlefield,” Lee said in his biography. “Each battle has its own configuration. Your partner in one battle may be your opponent in another. Life goes on. Friendship goes on. Business goes on. The real heroes care not for the win or the loss, as long as they know that they act according to their conscience within the realm of reason, ethics and compassion.” - SCMP
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