Macron, Trump to debate Ukraine peace plan. And, Greenpeace faces $300 million lawsuit

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Right this moment’s prime tales

French President Emmanuel Macron will meet President Trump immediately in Washington, D.C., the place he’s anticipated to current the European plan for peace in Ukraine. European leaders had been surprised final week by Trump’s abrupt reversal on alliances, falsely accusing Ukraine of beginning the struggle with Russia.

• 🎧 Macron desires Trump to know that Russia poses an existential menace to Europe, NPR’s Eleanor Beardsley tells Up First. France and Britain, Europe’s solely nuclear powers, are mentioned to be prepared to supply a European navy power, together with boots on the bottom and naval ships within the Black Sea, to safe a peace deal in Ukraine. Combining navy, monetary and humanitarian assist, Europe has given greater than the U.S. for the struggle in Ukraine. Many European nations say they’re ready to extend protection spending after the wake-up name that the U.S., an ally of 80 years, could not have their backs sooner or later.
• ➡️ As negotiations proceed, listed below are key developments to regulate concerning the struggle and efforts to finish it.

Germany’s center-right Christian Democrat chief Friedrich Merz is poised to take over because the nation’s new chancellor, in accordance with outcomes from Sunday’s election. Merz taking the place would doubtless return the nation to a extra steady two-party authorities, which has run Germany for many of the previous three a long time.

• 🎧 Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s authorities collapsed over a dispute about the best way to revive the economic system and his three-party coalition authorities had a tough time rising to the problem of chaotic instances in Europe, NPR’s Rob Schmitz says. Scholz’s center-left Social Democrats will doubtless keep in authorities, nevertheless it’s the center-right Christian Democrats below Merz that can be main now. Merz desires to maneuver quick and type a authorities by mid-April. His primary precedence is strengthening Europe as quick as doable to achieve independence from the U.S.

Greenpeace USA is going through a $300 million lawsuit that might power the group to close down. The trial begins immediately. Power Switch, the corporate that constructed Dakota Entry Pipeline, claims it suffered damages because of the 2016 and 2017 protests led by Native People towards the pipeline.

• 🎧 Power Switch claims that Greenpeace and different activists conspired to boost cash, incite protests, damage the corporate’s status and delay the pipeline’s building. The 1,100-mile pipeline was delayed by an estimated 90 days, Power Switch’s now Government Chairman Kelcy Warren mentioned in 2017. Greenpeace calls this a SLAPP swimsuit, which is a strategic lawsuit towards public participation. Basically, a rich firm takes a much less rich critic to court docket, forcing them to spend money and time defending themselves as a substitute of protesting, NPR’s Jeff Brady says. Greenpeace hopes to win to dissuade different corporations from submitting related circumstances.

Life recommendation

Take your cooldown as severely as you’re taking your exercise. One research confirmed that those that spent 20 minutes foam rolling after a exercise after which once more a couple of days later had higher efficiency and fewer ache than those that skipped it. Be sure that to replenish your self with protein — and carb-rich snacks.

Beck Harlan/NPR

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Beck Harlan/NPR

Publish-workout restoration can assist cut back an individual’s danger of damage and soreness and enhance athletic efficiency. Nevertheless, many individuals do not prioritize these actions after train. When folks do not find time for self-care, it may be a recipe for catastrophe. Listed here are important actions to do after hitting the health club:

• 👟 Cooling down after a exercise can assist forestall dizziness and fatigue. Spend 10-Quarter-hour doing low-intensity motion after your train.
• 👟 For those who really feel you can’t get away from bed the morning after your exercise, you are too sore. Foam rolling could make a giant distinction. It is a kind of light soft-tissue therapeutic massage that may be finished after a exercise.
• 👟 Stretching is the important thing to stopping accidents. Stretches ought to really feel like a lightweight pull in your muscle groups. Goal to carry the strikes for about 30 seconds.

Image present

The city of Peine, close to the Salt flats and one of many closest cities to the lithium mining operations. thirteenth of April, 2024. Antofagasta, Chile.

Cristóbal Olivares for NPR

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Cristóbal Olivares for NPR

Chile is the world’s second-largest lithium producer. As soon as concentrated lithium carbonate salts are purified and exported, they’re made into batteries that find yourself in cellphones and electrical autos. Nevertheless, in lithium-rich communities, there may be little consensus amongst locals about what needs to be finished with the proceeds of the lithium increase. Some communities across the salt flat have accepted compensation from the businesses that arrange there. In the meantime, some members of the Indigenous Lickanantay group are adamant that the harm being finished is irreparable and can’t be offset by funds. The groundwater extraction by the mining has led to the collapse of the Atacama salt flat. See photographs from the group affected by lithium operations.

3 issues to know earlier than you go

Staff open a glass case containing among the 113 Benin Bronzes which might be being returned to Nigeria after British troops looted them within the late nineteenth century, throughout a handing over ceremony on the Wereldmuseum (World Museum) in Leiden on February 19, 2025.

FREEK VAN DEN BERGH/ANP/AFP through Getty Pictures/AFP

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FREEK VAN DEN BERGH/ANP/AFP through Getty Pictures/AFP

1. The Netherlands plans to return over 100 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria, practically 130 years after these items, which embrace plaques, private ornaments, figures, and extra, had been taken by the British and bought to the Dutch.
2. The Vatican introduced yesterday morning that Pope Francis, 88, had a peaceable night time however stays in important situation for a posh respiratory an infection. He entered the hospital every week and a half in the past for remedy.
3. New York Yankees gamers and uniformed workers can now put on “well-groomed beards,” after the staff lifted its practically 50-year-old coverage.

This article was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.