THE WASHINGTON POST (USA): President Donald Trump’s intensifying trade war on Thursday drove financial markets into their steepest one-day declines since 2020 as investors, companies and ordinary Americans fretted about rising costs from an onslaught of new tariffs. U.S. stocks closed down sharply, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq falling close to 6% for the day and about 17% from its mid-February peak, with Apple, Google and Nvidia all posting big losses. The S&P 500 notched its biggest one-day drop since summer 2020 — in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic — closing down 4.8%5, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell almost 4%. Major indexes in Asia and Europe also took a fall, though some recovered their losses during their trading day. The wave of new import taxes, which are expected to cost U.S. consumers and businesses hundreds of billions of dollars this year, threatens to radically alter the economic outlook. Analysts at J.P. Morgan described the tariffs as the largest U.S. tax hike since 1968, and economists on Wall Street and beyond began warning that a downturn is becoming much more likely this year.

LA LIBRE (BELGIUM): Donald Trump rêve d’un autre monde. D’un âge d’or nostalgique ou irréaliste, où les échanges commerciaux seraient plus favorables aux États-Unis. La promesse d’une Amérique industrielle où les investisseurs se bousculeraient pour y fabriquer leurs voitures, leurs vêtements et tant d’autres biens de consommation. La Maison-Blanche pense pouvoir la réaliser par un gigantesque coup de force, une guerre des droits de douane où les assauts se succèdent à coups de bazooka, de menaces et de terreur. Avec l’augmentation brutale des tarifs douaniers, le président Trump sème l’incertitude, agresse l’Europe, matraque l’Asie, atomise des pays pauvres et risque de plomber l’économie mondiale. La justification de cette guerre commerciale laisse perplexe, tout comme les taux dévoilés – 10 % le taux minimum, 20% pour l’Union européenne, 31% pour la Suisse, 34% pour la Chine, ou même 46% pour le Vietnam – tant la stratégie paraît opaque, simpliste et, pire, inefficace. Les paris de l’administration américaine sont nombreux et risqués.

KOMMERSANT (RUSSIA): Торговые партнеры США взяли паузу для оценки последствий повышенных страной пошлин на их поставки, ограничившись вместо немедленного введения контрмер словесными интервенциями. Оценки же последствий для самих Соединенных Штатов уже отражаются в прогнозах. Торговая статистика февраля пока фиксирует сдержанное влияние предыдущих ограничений на торговый ландшафт, но полноценная торговая война может иметь более серьезные последствия: в стране заметно вырастет инфляция и замедлится экономический рост. Это поставит ФРС перед дилеммой: ужесточать ДКП для сдерживания инфляции или смягчать ради поддержки экономики, фактически отложив достижение инфляционных целей. Ослабление доллара может сгладить часть последствий для бизнеса и потребителей США и обеспечить относительно комфортный “переходный период”, но успех протекционизма не гарантирован и зависит от баланса снижения конкуренции и роста выпуска в “закрывшейся” от мира экономике.

THE HILL (USA): President Trump took his biggest gamble yet on the economy Wednesday when he pressed forward with sweeping tariffs on imports from nearly every country in the world. But in fulfilling a key campaign promise, he also ignored warnings that targeting key trading partners – from the likes of China, Japan and the European Union – will raise prices at home and risk the eruption of a global trade war. The tariffs also stand to inject a fresh round of uncertainty in the stock market and a slew of industries, from auto parts to steel and groceries, leaving Americans bracing for higher prices and some economists concerned about the risk of a recession. Other financial analysts also suggested Wednesday that Trump’s three major goals in imposing the tariffs – bringing more manufacturing to the U.S., increasing U.S. revenue, and negotiating lower tariffs with foreign countries – could all potentially work against each other.

O GLOBO (BRASIL): As tarifas recíprocas anunciadas ontem pelo presidente americano Donald Trump atingiram em cheio mais de 180 países, incluindo uma ilha pertencente à Austrália, habitada apenas por pinguins. A porta-voz da Casa Branca, Karoline Leavitt, justificou a ausência da Rússia da lista de tarifas, afirmando que “s sanções decorrentes da guerra da Ucrânia já zeraram o comércio entre os dois países”. Ao The New York Times, disse que os países isentos “já estão enfrentando tarifas extremamente altas e nossas sanções impostas anteriormente impedem qualquer comércio significativo com esses países”. O Canadá e o México não estavam na lista, não porque estivessem escapando das tarifas, mas porque estão cobertos por acordos comerciais diferentes. Outros países que não estão sendo atingidos pelas tarifas incluem países menores como Burkina Faso, Palau, Seychelles, Somália e Vaticano. Confira lista dos países que não serão atingidos pelas tarifas:
Belarus
Burkina Faso
Canadá
Cuba
México
Coreia do Norte
Palau
Rússia
Seychelles
Somália
Cidade do Vaticano

EL UNIVERSAL (MEXICO): México y Canadá libraron los aranceles recíprocos aplicados por el presidente estadounidense, Donald Trump. Para ambos países sigue vigente un gravamen de 25% para los bienes no cubiertos por el tratado de libre comercio trilateral T-MEC. Trump invocó su autoridad bajo la Ley de Poderes Económicos de Emergencia Internacional de 1977 (IEEPA) para hacer frente a lo que llamó “emergencia nacional planteada por el grande y persistente déficit comercial impulsado por la ausencia de reciprocidad”.

THE GUARDIAN (GB): European leaders have condemned Donald Trump’s tariffs as “fundamentally wrong” and creating an “immense difficulty for Europe”, while appealing for last-ditch negotiations to avert an all-out trade war. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, said Trump’s decision to impose tariffs was “brutal and unfounded” and appeared to call for a suspension of French investment in the US until the tariffs were clarified. “Future investments, investments announced in the last weeks, should be suspended for a time for as long as the situation with the United States is not clarified”, Macron told a meeting of French companies. Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, lambasted Donald Trump’s “protectionist” tariffs, saying they ran “contrary to the interests of millions of citizens on this side of the Atlantic and in the US, who will unfortunately see their businesses and their purchase power” affected by the measures. Germany’s outgoing chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said Trump’s decision was “fundamentally wrong” and “an attack on a trade system that has created prosperity all round the world, itself an American achievement”. The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, described the tariffs as “a major blow to the world economy” spelling “dire” consequences for millions of people. She said the EU was prepared to respond, but urged Trump to “move from confrontation to negotiation”. The EU is expected to announce retaliatory tariffs on US consumer and industrial goods – likely to include emblematic products such as orange juice, blue jeans and Harley-Davidson motorbikes – in mid-April, in response to steel and aluminium tariffs previously announced by Trump.

RENMIN RIBAO (CHINA): By turning trade into an oversimplistic tit-for-tat game, Washington is dismantling a global trade system based on efficiency, specialization and mutual benefit and hurting both the U.S. economy and the global economy at large. The idea of reciprocal tariffs is particularly misguided. The principle of comparative advantage allows countries to focus on what they do best and trade for the rest. Ignoring this leads to economic inefficiencies. The Trump administration’s tariff grievances ignore history. Rather than being arbitrarily imposed by foreign governments, the foreign tariffs were the results of painstaking negotiations known as the Uruguay Round, which shaped modern trade rules and established the principle of “most favored nation” treatment.

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN (JAPAN): Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi criticized U.S. President Trump’s announcement of a 24% reciprocal tariff on Japan but didn’t reveal any plans for retaliatory measures. “I conveyed my extreme regret and strongly requested that the U.S. review its measures”, Hayashi said at a news conference. Hayashi explained that “we have serious concerns about the consistency with the WTO (World Trade Organization) Agreement and the Japan-U.S. Trade Agreement”. As to whether Japan would impose retaliatory tariffs on the United States, he said, “I will refrain from revealing the specifics of the response under consideration”. For domestic companies and other entities affected by the U.S. tariffs, Hayashi indicated that Japan would set up a consultation service and provide financial support.

THE JAKARTA POST (INDONESIA): Southeast Asia nations, hit particularly hard by US tariffs, prep for talks with Trump. Six of the nine Southeast Asian countries listed by Trump were slapped with much bigger-than-expected tariffs of between 32% and 49%. By comparison, the level for the European Union was 20%. Vietnam’s government said on Thursday it would set up a task force and other Southeast Asian nations said they plan to seek talks with Washington as they reel from being hit with some of United States President Donald Trump’s heftiest tariffs. Countries such as Vietnam and Thailand are heavy exporters to the US, having benefited as Chinese and international manufacturers shifted production to their economies to avoid levies on China that Trump imposed during his first term. So far, none of the Southeast Asian nations have spoken of retaliatory tariffs. Vietnam, where companies like Apple, Nike and Samsung Electronics large manufacturing operations, was hit with 46% levies and appears particularly exposed. Its exports to the United States were worth $142 billion last year, nearly 30% of its GDP.

SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST (HONG KONG, CHINA): Vietnam helped China’s firms avoid US tariffs. Trump just put an end to that. The US president’s reciprocal tariffs not only impose steep tariffs on China, but also popular transshipping destinations used by Chinese exporters. Washington’s sweeping new reciprocal tariff regime poses a serious threat to China’s export machine – and its effects will go far beyond the steep new duties imposed on China itself. Chinese exporters will also be affected by US tariff hikes on third countries such as Vietnam, which have become popular destinations for companies to transship goods and circumvent US duties aimed at China.

THE INDIAN EXPRESS: As US President Donald Trump brings the curtains down on the age of globalisation, India will have to unlearn much of its approach to international trade developed since the early 1990s. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington in February, the government’s intense trade talks with the Trump Administration over the last few days, and its cautious response to the imposition of 27 per cent tariffs on Indian imports underline Delhi’s recognition of the dramatic shift in America’s domestic politics on trade, the historic turn in the evolution of the global economic order and the need for a prudent handling of the current moment. Many in the world hope to see China pick up the mantle of global economic leadership from the US. The current crisis in global trade is, at least, partly triggered by the concentration of global manufacturing in China and Beijing’s massive and persistent trade surpluses with most major economies. If America is turning from one of the most open economies into a closed one, there is no evidence yet of China opening its doors for goods from the rest of the world. In the near term at least, those hoping to see China replace the US as the main destination for the world’s exports will be disappointed. Meanwhile, China has a challenge of its own in dealing with Trump tariffs now amounting to more than 60% (exactly the level that Trump had promised during his election campaign). While experts disagree on the scale of the impact, few doubt that the negative effects of Trump’s tariffs on the Chinese economy will be significant.

VEDOMOSTI (RUSSIA): Американский президент Дональд Трамп объявил о введении самых масштабных за последние 100 лет пошлин в отношении практически всего импорта США. Базовая ставка составит 10%, для отдельных стран введены зеркальные пошлины, которые рассчитаны на основе торгового дефицита с этими государствами. Новая тарифная политика Штатов стала самой обсуждаемой темой в мировых СМИ и вызвала реакцию рынков, в результате которой транснациональные корпорации могут потерять миллиарды долларов. Эксперты, опрошенные “Ведомостями”, опасаются, что это приведет к дестабилизации цепочек поставок по всему миру, ускорению инфляции в крупнейших экономиках, а США может столкнуться со стагфляцией и рецессией.

NIKKEI (JAPAN): Trump tariffs: Careful calculation or unorthodox approach? Figures may have been reached by dividing trade deficit by imports. How did the U.S. calculate the sweeping "reciprocal tariff" rates announced by President Donald Trump on Wednesday? The method may be more unorthodox than the White House has indicated, according to a Nikkei analysis. The administration says that it calculated each country’s effective tariff on U.S. goods based on the country’s total "trade barriers" against American products, including currency manipulation, value-added taxes, export subsidies and intellectual property theft. It then divided that number by two to reach its own reciprocal tariff rate.

THE CITIZEN (SOUTH AFRICA): Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau has assured that South Africa will not adopt a retaliatory stance in response to the new tariffs imposed by the United States. South African exports to the US will now face a 30% tariff. Speaking at the Gauteng Investment Conference on Thursday, Tau questioned how the US arrived at the 30% figure, stating that South Africa’s own calculations put it at less than 10%. “We are all to work out how the US arrived at 60% discounted to 30% as the tariffs that we levied. In reality, our tariffs average on the basis of most favoured nations. Tariffs are estimated 7.6% and that’s our calculation. Of course, we are speculating what the US is calculating; this we assume could include the trade balance, could include other considerations. But at this point, we’re going to need clarity from the US as to how they arrived at the number and how they would want to engage”, he said.

THE TIMES OF INDIA: Israel has eliminated customs duties on all US imports, expanding the free trade agreement and potentially reducing living costs. The amendment, signed by Economy Minister Barkat and approved by the Knesset Finance Committee, mainly impacts food and agricultural products. This move aims to strengthen US-Israel trade relations while benefiting Israeli consumers. The US is Israel’s closest ally and its most significant trading partner. In 2024, the export of goods to the US stood at $17.3 billion, while the export of services was estimated at $16.7 billion.

LA NACION (ARGENTINA): El presidente Javier Milei celebró este miércoles la nueva medida de su par norteamericano, Donald Trump, de imponer aranceles generalizados a todos los productos importados con un “tarifa básica universal” de 10% (para varios países el porcentaje será mayor), donde se encuentran incluidos los productos que exporta la Argentina. “Friends will be friends [los amigos serán amigos]”, escribió, en referencia a la canción de Queen con ese nombre, cuyo video adjuntó en el mensaje. Si bien el posteo no se refiere explícitamente al anuncio, fueron sus principales allegados los que se encargaron de aclarar el sentido de la comunicación. Según ellos, los aranceles recíprocos con una tarifa plana del 10% son “pro libre comercio” y termina beneficiando a la Argentina.

INDEPENDENT (GB): Brexiteers claiming victory over Donald Trump’s tariffs seem to have forgotten about the economic harm leaving the EU has already done to the UK. Within minutes of Donald Trump’s announcement on so-called “reciprocal tariffs” around the world, Brexiteers were claiming victory because the UK escaped with half the rate imposed on the EU. But if the UK’s 10% import tariffs to the American market compared to the EU’s 20%, is the best economic justification for Brexit that can be made, then supporters of leaving the EU are clutching at straws. The first and most obvious point is that Brexit has not spared the UK from having tariffs imposed on it by the one world leader who was the biggest cheerleader outside Britain for the UK leaving the EU. Britain is yet to benefit from the “Brexit dividend” - the economic gain that was promised when it left the EU. And far from the trade deal that Brexiteers promised would follow with the US, there is still none in place nine years after the referendum. Even if Keir Starmer lands one, it is likely to be highly focussed on specific areas and may not avoid tariffs altogether.

KHALEEJ TIMES (UAE): The eight OPEC+ countries, which previously announced additional voluntary cuts in April and November 2023, namely Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, UAE, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman met virtually on April 3 to review global market conditions and outlook. The members agreed on December 5, 2024, and reaffirmed on March 3, 2025, the decision to start a gradual and flexible lift of the daily production cut of 2.2 million barrels, starting from April 1, 2025. The eight participating countries will implement a production adjustment of 411 thousand barrels per day, equivalent to three monthly increments, in May 2025. This comprises the increment originally planned for May in addition to two monthly increments. The gradual increases may be paused or reversed subject to evolving market conditions. This flexibility will allow the group to continue to support oil market stability. The eight OPEC+ countries also noted that this measure will provide an opportunity for the participating countries to accelerate their compensation.

IZVESTIA (RUSSIA): Россия и США сделали три шага вперед в переговорном процессе, заявил спецпредставитель президента РФ Кирилл Дмитриев, который 2–3 апреля посетил Соединенные Штаты. Там он провел встречи с ключевыми членами администрации США. Это первый визит высокопоставленного российского чиновника в Вашингтон с 2022 года. Представитель России обсудил возможности возобновления прямого авиасообщения между странами, прекращение огня на Украине, а также сотрудничество в Арктике и по редкоземельным металлам. Сроки новых переговоров Москвы и Вашингтона будут определены в ближайшее время, отметил глава РФПИ. В то же время, несмотря на продолжающийся диалог Москвы и Вашингтона, Брюссель и Киев продолжают саботировать урегулирование конфликта.

THE NEW YORK TIMES (USA): A Kremlin envoy on Thursday praised the Trump administration for hearing “Russia’s position on many issues” after two days of meetings in Washington that marked the first time in years that a senior Russian official had traveled to the United States for talks with American counterparts. The envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, met in the White House on Wednesday with President Trump’s senior aide on Russia negotiations, Steve Witkoff, according to a U.S. official in Washington with knowledge of the talks. Mr. Dmitriev, the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund and President Vladimir V. Putin’s special representative for investment and economic cooperation, said he held further meetings on Thursday “with key members of the Trump administration”, without identifying them. He said he had discussed economic matters and claimed there was “a great desire by American companies to return to Russia”. He also said he had discussed “the possibility of cooperation on rare earth metals, in the Arctic and in various other sectors”. And he said Russia was working to restore direct flights to the United States, which banned Russian planes from its airspace after Mr. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

LA VANGUARDIA (SPAIN): Con el viaje a Estados Unidos de Kiril Dimítriev, enviado especial de Vladímir Putin, se establece una línea directa en las negociaciones entre el Kremlin y la Casa Blanca de Donald Trump. El mismo Dimítriev anunciaba ayer que ya estaba en la capital estadounidense y que iba a reunirse con representantes de la administración americana. Es la primera visita de un alto responsable ruso a Washington desde que en febrero del 2022 Putin metió su Ejército en Ucrania. Coincide en el tiempo con la guerra comercial que el presidente de EE.UU., Donald Trump, ha desatado contra la UE, China y decenas de países. Pero no contra Rusia, que ya es blanco de sanciones por su ataque a Ucrania y, según Washington, ya no es un socio comercial importante. Eso es lo que se propone cambiar Dimítriev. “La comprensión real de la posición rusa abre nuevas posibilidades para una cooperación constructiva, incluido el ámbito económico-inversor”, escribió ayer en su cuenta de Telegram. Paralelamente a los esfuerzos para solucionar la guerra entre Rusia y Ucrania, Moscú y Washington quieren recomponer sus relaciones bilaterales.

GLOBAL TIMES (CHINA): In a world increasingly shaped by fractured alliances, three Asian neighbors - China, Japan, and South Korea - have quietly revived a long-dormant trilateral dialogue. The 13th China-Japan-ROK Trilateral Economic and Trade Ministers’ Meeting was held in Seoul recently. Their foreign ministers also met in Tokyo on March 22 for the first time in four years. While no sweeping agreements emerged, this revival is profound and has significant regional and global stability implications. As major global economies and Asia’s three most extensive powers, these nations have acknowledged a crucial reality: It is time they take an active role in shaping their regional destiny rather than leaving it in the hands of external powers. These choices reflect a pragmatic approach to a region under immense pressure. Asian stability cannot be reduced to binary options - it requires a delicate balance in which regional cooperation plays a central role.

THE KOREA TIMES (SOUTH KOREA): Will Seoul-Beijing-Tokyo FTA emerge against Trump? A trilateral economic ministers’ meeting between Korea, China and Japan is prompting speculation that the three countries may reach a long-delayed free trade agreement (FTA) amid U.S. tariff threats. For now, however, Korea remains cautious about leveraging this solidarity, wary that it could be perceived as a challenge to U.S. President Donald Trump. The most eager participant was the Chinese minister, who expressed a strong willingness to resume practical steps toward launching a trilateral FTA. He also urged his Korean counterpart to advance the terms of the existing Korea-China FTA to develop an upgraded version. This push comes as China seeks to strengthen its global partnerships in response to Trump’s increasingly aggressive trade measures.

THE STRAITS TIMES (SINGAPORE): South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment is now final. In a verdict released on April 4, the country’s Constitutional Court ruled to uphold the President’s impeachment, stripping the 65-year-old of his presidential powers with immediate effect. Mr Yoon had plunged his country into political chaos when he declared martial law in the late hours of Dec 3, 2024, only to be forced to overturn his decision by the country’s National Assembly a few hours later. With the presidential office now vacant, the country will have to elect a new president within 60 days or by the first week of June. The head of the largest opposition Democratic Party, Mr Lee Jae-myung, has been leading in opinion polls as the most favoured potential presidential candidate, with polling data showing his clear lead over other potential candidates.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL (USA): Rubio pushes for higher spending at NATO but says it will take time. U.S. will also need to increase spending and Trump remains committed to the alliance, secretary of state says. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said NATO allies should spend up to 5% of their economic output on defense, a goal he said wouldn’t need to be met immediately and would require greater American spending, too. “We do want to leave here with an understanding that we are on a pathway, a realistic pathway, to every single one of the members committing — and fulfilling a promise — to reach up to 5% of spending”, Rubio said on his first visit to the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels.

THE WASHINGTON TIMES (USA): U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Trump administration’s new envoy to NATO are seeking to reassure wary NATO allies of the U.S. commitment to the alliance. Rubio on Thursday decried “hysteria and hyperbole” in the media about President Trump’s intentions despite persistent signals from Washington that NATO as it has existed for 75 years may no longer be relevant. Rubio and newly confirmed U.S. ambassador to NATO Matt Whitaker are in Brussels for a meeting of alliance foreign ministers at which many are hoping Rubio will shed light on U.S. security plans in Europe. European allies and Canada are deeply concerned by Trump’s readiness to draw closer to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who sees NATO as a threat as the U.S. tries to broker a ceasefire in Ukraine, his rhetorical attacks and insults against on allies like Canada and Denmark.

THE JERUSALEM POST (ISRAEL): US President Donald Trump said he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, adding that Netanyahu may visit the US next week. Netanyahu is currently visiting Hungary, defying the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant against him. During the phone call, Netanyahu and Trump spoke together with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban about Hungary’s decision to withdraw from the ICC and discussed “the next steps that can be taken on this issue”.

LE FIGARO (FRANCE): Gideon Saar, ministre des Affaires étrangères israélien: “L’Iran ne doit pas devenir un État nucléaire”. Le ministre des Affaires étrangères israélien était en visite jeudi à Paris, où il a rencontré Jean-Noël Barrot. Au moment où Donald Trump évoque de nouvelles négociations avec l’Iran, Gideon Saar a répondu au Figaro .
LE FIGARO. - Si l’accord de 2015 a échoué, comment un nouveau « deal » pourrait-il réussir, alors que depuis le programme nucléaire iranien a quasiment atteint son but ?
GIDEON SAAR. - Les conditions sont différentes. À la Maison-Blanche, nous avons un président plus dur. L’Iran a aussi un nouveau chef d’État. Et les Européens ont ouvert les yeux. Avec la guerre en Ukraine, qui a mis en lumière l’aide fournie à la Russie par Téhéran. Mais aussi parce qu’ils ont vu les attaques directes menées par l’Iran contre nous en avril et en octobre 2024 et compris ce dont ont été capables ses affidés, le Hamas et le Hezbollah, à partir du 7 Octobre. Nous n’avons plus besoin d’expliquer la nature de l’agression iranienne. Aujourd’hui tout le monde se pose la même question: s’ils ont fait ça sans nucléaire, que feront-ils le jour où ils auront un parapluie nucléaire?

DAILY SABAH (TURKEY): The Foreign Ministry strongly condemned Israel, calling it the biggest threat to peace and stability in the region through its aggressive and expansionist policies, saying that it “feeds" on conflict. The ministry condemned recent provocative remarks by Israeli ministers targeting Türkiye, saying such rhetoric reflects not only their current state of mind but also the extremist and racist nature of the Israeli government. The ministry also criticized Israel’s air and ground assaults on multiple locations in Syria on April 2, stating there had been no provocation or threat against Israel from Syrian territory. The ministry questioned why recent developments in Syria and Lebanon – which offer hope for peace, stability, and prosperity in the region and have been welcomed by the international community – would disturb Israel.

ASHARQ AL-AWSAT (GB): Türkiye is accelerating preparations to establish an airbase in the city of Palmyra, east of Homs, following an announcement by its Ministry of Defense last week that it is considering a request from the Syrian administration in Damascus to set up a base for training purposes. Reports indicate that Turkish military convoys carrying equipment entered northern Syria overnight between Tuesday and Wednesday, likely transporting logistical supplies and gear to the “T4” airbase in Palmyra. The pro-government Turkish newspaper “Türkiye” reported on Wednesday that the country has taken official steps to take control of the Tiyas Military Airbase—also known as Tiyas Airport, T4 Airbase —located near the village of Tiyas, about 60 kilometers east of Palmyra in Homs province. According to the report, Türkiye plans to establish a multi-layered air defense system at the base, incorporating domestically produced weapons. Additionally, Ankara intends to deploy reconnaissance drones and armed UAVs with advanced strike capabilities. The goal is to enhance the country’s counterterrorism efforts against ISIS while also deterring potential Israeli airstrikes in the region. Some sources suggest that Türkiye may also consider deploying the Russian S-400 air defense system, which it acquired in the summer of 2019.

DAWN (PAKISTAN): Weapons left behind by Soviet and Nato forces in Afghanistan are still accessible in its eastern provinces, as well as Pakistan’s tribal districts, as restrictions imposed by Kabul are doing little to curb the illicit flow of ammunition, a new research has found. The paper titled Documenting Arms Availability in Afghanistan, revealed informal arms trafficking involved both older weapons as well as material likely sourced from the equipment delivered to the former Afghan Natio­nal Defence and security forces. The paper says that more than three years since the Taliban takeover and their seizure of the previous regime’s weapons stockpiles, the de facto authorities have strengthened control over commanders and restricted civilians’ and private businesses’ access to arms.

THE TIMES (GB): More than half a million young people who are not working or studying have never had a job, an analysis has found. Most of those not in education, employment or training (Neet) are also not looking for a job and an increasing number report sickness as the main reason. Sir Keir Starmer has described as a “moral issue” the fact that one in eight young people are not working or studying. He has been told that he needs to do more for what he has called a “wasted generation” — almost half have been out of work or education for more than a year.

THE MAINICHI SHIMBUN (JAPAN): Amateur runners from various countries on Thursday departed Beijing for Pyongyang to attend an upcoming international marathon event to be held in the North Korean capital for the first time in about six years. Applications for Sunday’s event have been filed from some 45 countries including Britain, Germany, Canada, China and Iran, according to Beijing-based Koryo Tours, the official travel agency for the marathon. No Japanese citizen will take part, it added. The sporting event, which has been open to amateur runners since 2014, is divided into a full 42.195-kilometer marathon, a half marathon, and 10-km and 5-km runs, according to Koryo Tours.