Germany: Public transport strike called for Friday

Trade union verdi said local transport services in six states will come to a standstill after negotiations for a wage increase failed to reach a breakthrough.

Source: Deutsche Welle

Labour’s prisons reform is a policy of necessity, not choice

Party breaks with decades-old consensus on sending more people to jail at the risk of turning off voters

Source: Financial Times

Scores of whales to be euthanised after mass stranding in Australia

Though 90 of the 157 stranded whales survived, they could not be saved due to complex conditions.

Source: BBC

Zelenskyy hits back against Trump's comments blaming Ukraine for the war with Russia

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he wants the U.S. to stop using disinformation when talking about Russia's war on Ukraine, after President Trump accused Ukraine of starting the war.

Source: NPR

Why Belgium is open to putting boots on the ground in Ukraine

Also in this newsletter: how ‘frugal’ Denmark changed its tune on joint EU debt for defence

Source: Financial Times

‘We’re projecting into the future’: sounds of BBC Radiophonic Workshop made available for public use

Software goes on sale that replicates the distinctive analogue sounds of celebrated unit where Doctor Who theme was created

With its banks of bafflingly complex equipment, and staff members that …

Source: The Guardian

Breaking down Trump's Ukraine comments, judge's DOGE ruling

A federal judge said the Department of Government Efficiency's access to sensitive government agencies' data appears to be "unchecked authority of an unelected individual," but allowed the access to continue. …

Source: CBS News

EU considers tapping €93bn in unspent Covid recovery funds for defence

Brussels explores redirecting post-pandemic financing as part of options to boost investments in military

Source: Financial Times

Department of Education workers brace for Trump to shut agency down: ‘Everybody is distraught’

Education department meeting in wake of new Trump policies was ‘incomplete and chaotic’, staff say

Workers inside the US Department of Education have described a “horrible, intimidating and unnerving” atmosphere …

Source: The Guardian

Trump administration moves to halt New York congestion scheme

Metropolitan Transportation Authority files lawsuit against federal government’s ‘mystifying’ decision

Source: Financial Times

Bodies of Bibas family, symbol of hostage horrors, to be returned, Hamas says

Shiri Bibas and her sons Ariel, 4, and baby Kfir were filmed being taken from their kibbutz on Oct. 7, 2023. Her husband, Yarden, was freed recently.

Source: Washington Post

Rapper A$AP Rocky found not guilty in gun assault case

US Rapper A$AP Rocky dove into the arms of his partner Rihanna in court, after a jury found him not guilty.

Source: Al Jazeera