U.S. Backs Israel Amid Iran Warning, Russia Strikes Odessa, Sweet Swans

💡 SPOTLIGHT

Gold or bitcoin? The quintessential investor dilemma

If you are not a billionaire or a fund, the investment rules of yesteryear apply: gold won't make you rich overnight and volatile assets like the bitcoin may come crashing down for reasons far beyond your grasp, writes Dax Canchari in Latin American business magazine América Economía.

Both gold and the cryptocurrency bitcoin have been reaching record prices of late, with gold rising to over $2,330 per ounce (on April 8, compared with around $2,100 in early March) and bitcoin at almost $67,000 (compared with around $25,000 in early October).

Within days of the next bitcoin halving — an automatic event every four years when the reward for mining bitcoins is halved to keep a check on supplies — investors may wonder whether it is safer to plough their money in traditional gold, or the futuristic bitcoin.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)'s January approval of bitcoin ETFs (exchange-traded funds that can include bitcoin), will make cryptocurrencies more popular as a decentralized digital asset, especially among investors keen to diversify portfolios and reduce exposure to fiat money (government-issued currency that is not backed by a physical commodity), said Denise Cinelli, chief operating officer of the exchange platform CryptoMarket.

In particular this means institutional investors, which polls suggest are willing to invest up to 5% of their capital in bitcoin or related assets, said Jaime Aritio, commercial manager of the Peruvian investment bank Renta 4 SAB. He qualifies this as a "moderately speculative" investment destined for long-term value growth rather than short-term trading.

Trading is of more interest to small or individual investors, while the spread of crypto-credit and debit cards in Latin America, expected soon, will increase constant use as consumers will be able to buy spending cryptocurrencies rather than money in a bank. [...]

— Read the full article by Dax Canchari for América Economía, translated into English by Worldcrunch.

🗞️ FRONT PAGE​​

Colombian newspaper El Espectador dedicates its front page to Bogotá implementing water rationing due to historically low reservoir levels exacerbated by the El Niño climate pattern. Mayor Carlos Fernando Galán announced restrictions affecting 9 million people, starting Thursday. The rationing plan involves rotating water restrictions across nine zones, with hospitals and schools having contingency plans. It aims to reduce consumption and ensure sustainability amid the water crisis.

🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW

• As Israel braces for an Iranian attack, Joe Biden vows “ironclad” support. The U.S. President warned in a press conference on Wednesday that Iran is threatening to launch a “significant attack” after Israel struck Iran’s consulate in Syria 10 days ago. The show of support follows Biden’s unprecedented pressure on Israel over the war in Gaza. Meanwhile negotiations for a possible ceasefire continue despite an Israeli airstrike that killed three sons of a top Hamas leader. As Israel vows it will move ahead with an invasion of Rafah, pan-Arabic news site Daraj takes a look at the troubled history of the city that straddles Gaza and Egypt, translated and adapted from Arabic by Worldcrunch.

• Russian missile strikes kill seven and hit energy systems in Ukraine. Power facilities in five regions were struck in a major attack on Thursday, causing power outages for 200,000 people. Missile strikes also hit Odessa and Kharkiv on Wednesday, leaving seven people dead. Follow our international coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war here.

• South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol promised reform after parliamentary election defeat. Liberal opposition parties won a landslide victory on Wednesday, taking 192 of 300 seats in the National Assembly, dealing a resounding blow to the conservative People Power Party (PPP) and to Yoon, who has three years left in office. PPP leader Han Dong-hoon has resigned following the defeat and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo has offered to resign.

• Myanmar troops retreat as rebels declare control over key border town. About 200 military personnel withdrew to a bridge at the Thailand border on Thursday following an assault by anti-junta resistance which said it had control of the critical town of Myawaddy. This is the latest in a series of rebel wins.

• Vietnamese billionaire Truong My Lan sentenced to death for $44 billion fraud. The 67-year-old property developer was sentenced to death on Thursday for defrauding Saigon Commercial Bank over 11 years. She is one of few women in Vietnam to be sentenced for such a crime. She has also been ordered to pay back $27 billion, which prosecutors say may never be recovered.

• New exquisite artwork was uncovered in an excavation at Pompeii. Archaeologists say the frescoes are some of the most important to ever have been found in the ruins of the ancient Italian city. Figures such as Helen of Troy are depicted on the high walls of a large banqueting hall, which also has a near-complete white mosaic floor. Check out this article about Pompeii in La Stampa, from the Worldcrunch vault.

• Canadian social media is going crazy for sweet swan reunion video. The excited pair of birds had been separated by Toronto Wildlife Centre staff to heal the injured male swan earlier this month.

📰 STORY OF THE DAY

ISIS resurgence? What the Moscow attack says about the future of Islamist terrorism

Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, viewed the confession of a detained militant as a “proof” that Ukraine was involved in the deadly attack. They employed it to facilitate comprehensive military mobilization ahead of a looming fresh large offensive on Ukraine, reports Hany Adhadh in Arabic-language independent digital media Daraj.

🔍 The aftermath of the March 22 attack raised many questions and fueled various conspiracy theories. Much was made about President Vladimir Putin's accusation that Ukraine was somehow involved. Yet all objective signs point to the responsibility falling on the regional faction of the Islamic State, ISIS-Khorasan, or ISIS-K, the terror network's affiliate that is active in Afghanistan and the surrounding region of former Soviet republics.

⚠️ Since its emergence in 2013, competing intelligence agencies, including Russian and Iranian agencies, have tirelessly worked to infiltrate top ISIS leadership, especially in Syria and Iraq. Reports that Russian authorities were caught off guard of last month's attack are dubious, given that two weeks before the attack the U.S. Embassy in Moscow circulated a March 7 warning to its citizens and to the Russian authorities alike about the possibility of a terrorist attack and the need to “avoid mass gatherings.”

💥 Fundamentalist Islamists’ hatred of Russia goes back to the Soviet war in Afghanistan that began in 1979, through the Chechen wars of 1994 and 1999, all the way to the Russian intervention on behalf of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria in 2015. Another recent cause was Russia’s attack on ISIS interests in Africa and the disruption of the group’s financing sources through Islamic organizations that are intensely active and gradually occupying territories in countries such as Mali, Somalia, and Mozambique.

➡️ Read more on Worldcrunch.com

📹 THIS HAPPENED VIDEO — TODAY IN HISTORY, IN ONE ICONIC PHOTO

➡️ Watch the video: THIS HAPPENED

#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS

18 minutes

That’s how long it took for a French athlete to break rope climbing world record in ascent of Eiffel Tower. Anouk Garnier shattered the rope climbing world record by ascending more than 100 meters to the second floor of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The 34-year-old achieved the feat in just 18 minutes. Garnier undertook the climb to raise awareness and funds for cancer research, motivated by her mother's battle with the disease.

📣 VERBATIM

“The Chinese on both side of the Strait can handle disputes peacefully.”

—  Former Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou said he believes that Taiwan and China can peacefully resolve their differences, emphasizing the cultural and historical connections between the two sides. He recently met with Chinese President Xi Jinping for the second time, discussing the importance of handling disputes peacefully. Ma, member of Taiwan's opposition party, advocates for dialogue with China but maintains distance from Beijing's influence.

📸 PHOTO DU JOUR

Firefighters at work after Russian-led strikes hit Odessa, Ukraine. New attacks have hit energy structures in the city in the southwest of the country, as well as in Kharkiv, killing at least seven. — Photo: Handout/ZUMA

👉  MORE FROM WORLDCRUNCH  

• How The Killing Of “White” Aid Workers Has Pushed Israel Into A Corner — AL MANASSA

• His Own Personal Jesus: Is Putin's Piety Just A Ploy For Power? — DIE WELT

• Are Camels The New Cows? Environmental Warnings Against Mega Dairy Farms In The Middle East— THE CONVERSATION

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