“On Thursday, Croatia protested a spate of expulsions of its citizens from Serbia, where the government of populist President Aleksandar Vucic is faced with massive anti-corruption protests that have shaken his tight grip on power in the Balkan state. Dozens of foreign citizens, including 15 Croats, have been expelled from Serbia in the past few months or slapped an entry ban, allegedly for posing a security risk for the country. Croatia has sent a protest note to Belgrade and informed the European Union about the expulsions, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said in Croatia’s capital, Zagreb, adding that Serbia’s moves are ‘unacceptable’. ‘We are demanding an explanation from the Serbian authorities,’ Plenkovic said at a government session. ‘Croatia condemns such behavior.’ There was no immediate response from Belgrade while a protest rally against the expulsions of Croatian and other foreign citizens critical of Vucic and the Serbian government was held Thursday in Belgrade.” (04/10/25)
“U.S. egg prices increased again last month to reach a new record-high of $6.23 per dozen despite President Donald Trump’s predictions, a drop in wholesale prices and no egg farms having bird flu outbreaks. The increase reported Thursday in the Consumer Price Index means consumers and businesses that rely on eggs might not get much immediate relief. Demand for eggs is typically elevated until after Easter, which falls on April 20. Industry experts were expecting the index to reflect a drop in retail egg prices because wholesale egg prices dropped significantly in March.” (04/10/25)
“Russia has released Ksenia Karelina, a dual U.S.-Russian national who was sentenced to 12 years in prison for treason in August last year, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a social media post early Thursday, offering no information about the terms of her release. The Wall Street Journal first reported Karelina’s release, saying she was freed in a [hostage] swap orchestrated by the two countries’ intelligence agencies. … In exchange for Karelina, a ballet dancer who lived in California, the Journal said the U.S. government had freed Arthur Petrov, a German-Russian national arrested in Cyprus 2023 at the request of U.S. authorities. He was being held on allegations of exporting sensitive microelectronics.” (04/10/25)
“In 1957, rockabilly singer Bob Ehret repeated, ‘We’ve got to stop the clock, baby; to spend more time with you’ — and in a Senate Commerce Committee hearing, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle strongly considered the benefits of doing so, in a way. Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Daylight Saving was grounded in good-faith efforts to reduce energy consumption, but that instead it has led to increased auto accidents in the dark, workplace issues and objections from the agriculture sector that relies on early-morning sunlight. ‘We find ourselves adjusting our clocks … springing forward and falling back in the fall. For many Americans, this biannual ritual is a minor inconvenience … But when we take a closer look at the implications of changing the clocks, its impact on our economy, our health and our everyday lives, we can see that this practice is more than an annoyance,’ Cruz said.” (04/10/25)
“Two of Turkey’s leading journalists were detained Thursday on what their newspapers said were false charges stemming from their work. Writers Timur Soykan of BirGun and Cumhuriyet’s Murat Agirel were arrested at their homes on charges of making threats and blackmail in an investigation by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. Both papers have criticized the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. They have extensively covered events surrounding the March 19 arrest and subsequent imprisonment of Istanbul’s mayor, which led to the largest protests in Turkey in more than a decade. More than a dozen journalists have been detained at their homes after covering the protests, which were banned by the authorities.” (04/10/25)
“Following the explosive response to her tell-all memoir, an ex-Facebook director-turned-whistleblower testified before Congress on Wednesday alleging Facebook’s close relationship with China poses serious risks to U.S. national security, a charge parent company Meta denies. In ‘Careless People’, published last month, Sarah Wynn-Williams, a lawyer, former diplomat and ex-director of global public policy, who worked at Facebook for seven years starting in 2011, describes misconduct and harassment at the hands of Meta executives, including accusations that the company has lied about its relationship to China. In her book, Wynn-Williams alleges sexual harassment at the hands of top executives. Meta has previously said her statements are ‘misleading’ and ‘unfound’. She was fired in 2017, according to reports, for ‘poor performance’. In the book, she also accuses Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg of lying during a 2018 Senate hearing and downplaying his relationship with the Chinese government.” (04/09/25)
“South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung said Thursday he would run for president in the June snap election triggered by the removal of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol from office. Lee, who resigned as chairman of the Democratic Party on Wednesday ahead of the announcement, is the strong frontrunner in most opinion polls. In a survey released last week by Realmeter Korea, 49.5% of respondents found Lee the most suitable candidate for president and he won by decisive margins in various hypothetical head-to-head matchups. In an 11-minute video message announcing his candidacy, Lee said addressing income inequality and promoting economic growth would be his top goals when taking office.” (04/10/25)
“US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said it was up to Iran to decide whether the recent US movement of B-2 bombers was a message to Tehran, as he voiced hope that US-Iran negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear programme could be resolved peacefully. As many as six B-2 bombers relocated in March to a US-British military base on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia, US officials said, amid a US bombing campaign in Yemen and mounting tensions with Iran. There are only 20 B-2 bombers in the air force’s inventory so they are usually used sparingly.” (04/10/25)
“President Emmanuel Macron says France could recognise a Palestinian state ‘in the coming months.’ Macron told France 5 television on Wednesday that he aimed to finalise the move at a United Nations conference on the Israel-Palestine conflict, which his country will co-chair with Saudi Arabia in June. ‘We must move towards recognition, and we will do so in the coming months,” Macron said.’ … Palestine’s minister of state for foreign affairs, Varsen Aghabekian Shahin, told the news agency AFP that France’s recognition would be ‘a step in the right direction in line with safeguarding the rights of the Palestinian people and the two-state solution.’ Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said any ‘unilateral recognition’ of a Palestinian state would be a ‘boost for Hamas.'” [editor’s note: Joining the 147 other regimes that recognize Palestine would hardly be “unilateral” – TLK] (04/09/25)
“Soil and rocks returned from the moon’s mysterious far side suggest it may be drier than the side constantly facing Earth, Chinese scientists reported Wednesday. But they cautioned more samples are needed for a clearer picture. A better understanding of the abundance of water in the lunar mantle can help explain how the moon evolved, the researchers noted. But it could also be all the more reason for astronauts to stick close to the near side of the moon as currently planned. China became the first country to land on the moon’s far side last year. The Chang’e 6 spacecraft scooped up the volcanic rock and dirt from the ancient, sprawling South Pole-Aitken basin, one of the largest impact craters in the solar system. The Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Sen Hu said he and his team received 5 grams of soil samples, then selected 578 particles for detailed analysis using electron microscopes.” (04/09/25)
