Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at Ukraine defying U.S. President Donald Trump’s demand for an energy cease-fire, calls for Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama to resign, and a new border crossing between China and North Korea.
‘We’re Done’
Despite the White House repeatedly urging Kyiv not to target Moscow’s energy infrastructure, Ukrainian forces resumed strikes on Russian oil refineries on Thursday. “The block [on attacking refineries] is out. We’re done,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the Financial Times on Thursday.
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at Ukraine defying U.S. President Donald Trump’s demand for an energy cease-fire, calls for Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama to resign, and a new border crossing between China and North Korea.
‘We’re Done’
Despite the White House repeatedly urging Kyiv not to target Moscow’s energy infrastructure, Ukrainian forces resumed strikes on Russian oil refineries on Thursday. “The block [on attacking refineries] is out. We’re done,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the Financial Times on Thursday.
U.S. President Donald Trump has faced growing pressure to tackle rising fuel prices inflamed by the wars in Ukraine and Iran ahead of next month’s U.S. midterm elections. In a bid to bring down energy costs, Trump had urged Zelensky to halt all strikes on Russian oil refineries, and on Friday, he suspended U.S. sanctions on Russian diesel exports.
Then, on Sunday, Trump unilaterally declared an energy truce between Russia and Ukraine while also calling for Zelensky’s removal. Ukraine agreed to the truce and suspended such strikes for three days. However, during those three days, Russian forces launched dozens of ballistic missiles at critical Ukrainian energy infrastructure, plunging around 600,000 people in Kyiv into darkness on Wednesday.
According to Zelensky, the decision to resume strikes on Russian oil refineries was made in response to several controversial decisions out of Washington. They include U.S. military officials reportedly threatening to withhold intelligence if Ukraine continues to hit Russian energy targets, new restrictions on Ukraine’s Starlink access (which SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has accused the Trump administration of orchestrating), the White House’s apparent eagerness to ink business deals with Moscow, and Trump’s repeated admiration of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Putin is an enemy for us, and he’s the real evil of today. Absolutely,” Zelensky told the Financial Times. “How can Trump be friends with him?”
Some experts suggest that by bucking Trump’s demands, Zelensky risks widening the rift between them. Trump has long had a rocky relationship with Zelensky, going so far as to berate him during a White House summit in February 2025 and repeatedly parroting Kremlin talking points that question the Ukrainian president’s legitimacy.
Despite the risks, many of Ukraine’s European allies have backed Zelensky’s decision. “The faster all the Russian refineries and ability to sell energy will be blown to smithereens, the better, because Russia is funding the war with that,” Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal said.
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What We’re Following
Rama stands firm. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama defied calls to step down on Thursday amid sweeping student-led protests demanding his resignation. “My responsibility is to listen, address legitimate concerns and keep Albania moving forward,” Rama told Reuters. “The alternative would be a betrayal of the Albanians who gave me a strong mandate to complete negotiations on European Union membership.”
Youth-led demonstrations in Albania, dubbed the Flamingo movement, have accused Rama’s government of widespread corruption, specifically concerning the controversial development of a luxury resort linked to Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. In recent months, protesters have also adopted calls for education reform, citing limited job prospects for recent graduates, high tuition fees, and poor conditions in university building.
As rallies in the capital this week took a violent turn—with protesters attacking government buildings, banks, and businesses—Rama has doubled down on his mandate, insisting that his administration is best poised to bring Albania into the European Union’s fold. “Corruption must be confronted and, as the EU itself has recently reaffirmed, Albania is tackling it as never before,” Rama said. The EU’s delegation in Tirana, meanwhile, called on demonstrators to “exercise restraint and to refrain from any acts of violence.”
New border crossing. China and North Korea unveiled the largest border crossing between their two countries on Thursday in a sign of ongoing efforts to bolster bilateral trade. The four-lane New Yalu River Bridge spans nearly 2 miles and connects the Chinese city of Dandong to the North Korean city of Sinuiju. Its opening comes barely a month after Pyongyang opened a similar but smaller pass across the Tumen River into Russia.
Construction of the New Yalu River Bridge was delayed for more than a decade. However, the project was accelerated after North Korea opened the bridge to Russia. Analysts believe that the move may have made Chinese officials uneasy as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un draws closer to Moscow; China has long been North Korea’s biggest trading partner.
Pyongyang, though, remains dedicated to countering international sanctions by fostering closer trade ties with both Beijing and Moscow. Experts believe that the bridges into China and Russia could be used to deliver fuel imports into North Korea as well as circumvent prohibitions on North Korean coal and labor exports.
More time off. Brazil’s Senate approved a constitutional amendment on Wednesday that will shorten the workweek from 44 hours to a maximum of 40 hours. Affecting some 37 million workers, the legislation is the country’s biggest labor rights overhaul in decades, and it delivers a major political win to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva less than two weeks before he faces far-right Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro in a presidential runoff.
“Those who build Brazil every day also deserve time to live,” Lula wrote on X on Thursday.
Bolsonaro, the son of imprisoned former President Jair Bolsonaro, had initially opposed the legislation, arguing that it was designed to improve Lula’s presidential bid; however, he ultimately reversed course after it became clear that public opinion overwhelmingly favored the bill. Only one senator rejected the legislation: former Vice President Hamilton Mourão, who served under the older Bolsonaro.
Lula is expected to sign the legislation into law next week, giving businesses 14 months to comply with the new mandate. Among Lula’s other recent reforms, he has announced new fuel tax cuts, extended existing subsidies designed to lower energy costs, vowed to pardon the debts of more than 3.6 million small businesses, and boosted welfare payments for university students.
Odds and Ends
From Charles Dickens to Madonna to King Edward VII, London’s oldest restaurant has long catered to a diverse clientele. This week, the building’s owner, J-P Mayhew, made the decision to ensure that tradition carries on long into the future. Mayhew donated 34-35 Maiden Lane in Covent Garden to the United Kingdom’s National Trust on Wednesday in an effort to safeguard “its bricks and mortar, its famous interior, and its invisible atmosphere.” Along with the building itself, which hosts the historic Rules restaurant, established in 1798, the donation also includes menus, visitor books, photographs, and other memorabilia.