World Briefing: March 7, 2025

Fighters linked to Syria’s ousted leader Bashar al-Assad mounted a deadly attack on government forces on Thursday, authorities said, in some of the worst violence against the government since Islamist-led rebels seized power. At least 13 members of the security forces were killed in the clashes in the coastal region of Jableh, the government-aligned Syria TV reported. The regional security chief said many members of the security forces had been killed and wounded in what he described as a well-planned attack carried out by “remnants of the Assad militias”. It marked a sharp escalation of tensions in the coastal area that forms the heartland of Assad’s Alawite sect and has emerged as a big security challenge for interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa as he works to consolidate his control. Three months since Islamist insurgents led by Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham toppled Assad, his efforts to reunite Syria after 13 years of civil war are facing myriad challenges. Among them are Israel‘s declaration that it won’t tolerate HTS having a presence in the southwestern region near the Israeli frontier. Thursday’s attack involved several groups of Assad-aligned militias who targeted security patrols and checkpoints in the Jableh area and surrounding countryside, the chief of security in Latakia province, Lieutenant Colonel Mustafa Kunaifati, said - Reuters

US-Ukraine talks will be held in Saudi Arabia next week, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said, expressing hopes that it will be “a meaningful meeting”. The Ukrainian leader, who will be in the Gulf kingdom but not take part in the talks, said Kyiv was working to reach a “fast and lasting” peace. US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, said the American team wanted to discuss a “framework” for peace to try to end the Russia-Ukraine war - BBC

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will travel to South Africa next month to discuss efforts to end Russia’s war on Ukraine, Bloomberg reported. Zelensky will meet President Cyril Ramaphosaon April 10, said a presidency spokesman. “The visit is a continuation of ongoing engagements held by President Ramaphosa with President Putin and President Zelensky on an inclusive peace process that will provide a path to peace between Russia and Ukraine,” he said.South Africa has adopted a non-aligned stance on the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and Ramaphosa has previously touted that position as a means to help bring an end to the war. A Ramaphosa-led initiative by six African nations two years ago to help end the conflict failed to yield any results. A reminder that South Africa is a founding member of the BRICS bloc of nations dominated by China and Russia.

President Donald Trump, in an abrupt about-face, announced Thursday he will delay 25 percent tariffs on a significant portion of Mexican and Canadian goods until next month. The carve-out applies to autos and all other goods from the two countries that comply with the duty-free terms of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, White House officials said. The update marks a significant retreat of the tariffs on the two North American neighbors that went into force on Tuesday, and would apply to approximately 38 percent of imports from Canada and 50 percent from Mexico. - Politico

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China will continue to retaliate for the United States’ “arbitrary tariffs” and accused Washington of “meeting good with evil” in a press conference Friday on the sidelines of the country’s annual parliamentary session. Wang said China’s efforts to help the U.S. contain its fentanyl crisis have been met with punitive tariffs, which are straining their ties. “No country should fantasize that it can suppress China and maintain a good relationship with China at the same time,” Wang said. “Such two-faced acts are not good for the stability of bilateral relations or for building mutual trust.” - AP

Senior State Department officials have drawn up plans to close a dozen consulates overseas by this summer and are considering shutting down many more missions, in what could be a blow to the U.S. government’s efforts to build partnerships and gather intelligence, American officials say. The department also plans to lay off many local citizens who work for its hundreds of missions. Those workers make up two-thirds of the agency’s work force, and in many countries they form the foundation of U.S. diplomats’ knowledge of their environments. The shrinking is part of both President Trump’s larger slashing of the federal government and his “America First” foreign policy, in which the United States ends or curtails once-important ways of exercising global influence, including through democracy, human rights and aid work.The moves come at a time when China, the main rival of America, has overtaken the United States in number of global diplomatic posts. China has forged strong ties across nations, especially in Asia and Africa, and exerts greater power in international organizations - NYT

Pope Francis’ voice has been heard for the first time since entering hospital last month in a newly released audio message. In the recording, shared with worshippers at the start of the evening Rosary prayer in St Peter’s Square, he said: “I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your prayers for my health from the Square, I am with you from here.“May God bless you and the Virgin protect you. Thank you.” The audio message was recorded from Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, where the 88-year-old has been receiving treatment for double pneumonia since being admitted last month. While he has shared written messages via the Vatican since entering hospital on 14 February, this is the first time his voice has been heard. - Sky News

In an unprecedented move, authorities in Bucharest arrested six citizens Wednesday for organising a paramilitary group with Moscow’s support, linked to the expulsion of the Russian military attache to Romania and his deputy. Romania’s national intelligence service SRI said in a statement that in a joint action by multiple domestic security services, the organised crime and terrorism directorate (DIICOT) detained a group of Romanian citizens who organised a paramilitary group in 2023 and “conducted activities against the constitutional order of Romania”. The six are also suspected of “subversive actions of instigation to influence the social and political life of the country,” the statement said. In a striking development, the SRI revealed in the same statement that the group “actively solicited support from officers of the embassy of the Russian Federation” in Bucharest. Sources close to the investigation quoted by Euronews Romania said that the group’s objectives were the overthrow of the Romanian institutions, shutting down the political parties and pushing for Romania to exit NATO - Euronews

In a joint letter led by the Committee to Protect Journalists, 50 prominent human rights leaders, Nobel Prize laureates, writers, and public figures have called on Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to grant a presidential pardon to Egyptian-British writer Alaa Abdelfattah. The letter, sent Tuesday, highlights that Abdelfattah has spent nearly a decade behind bars and now faces an additional two years in detention — despite provisions in Egyptian law that should have secured his release last September. His continued imprisonment has not only defied the expectations of his family and human rights organizations but also violates Egyptian law, given the time he has already spent in pretrial detention.

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