Gaza Ceasefire Hopes, Iran Breaks With Nuclear Watchdog, Superman Sighting

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🗞️ FRONT PAGE​​

“Visiting friends,” headlines German-language Swiss daily Blick on Wednesday’s front page ahead of the kickoff of the Euro 2025 Women’s National Football Championship set to take place in Switzerland. The tournament begins amid a record-breaking heatwave, with evening temperatures forecast for 30 °C (86 °F), for a first match in Thun between Finland and Iceland. 

🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW

• Hamas says it’s ready for a ceasefire but wants a complete end to war in Gaza. Hamas suggested Wednesday that it was open to a ceasefire agreement with Israel, but stopped short of accepting a U.S.-backed proposal announced by U.S. President Donald Trump hours earlier, insisting on its longstanding position that any deal brings an end to the war in Gaza. Trump said Tuesday that Israel had agreed on terms for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza and urged Hamas to accept the deal before conditions worsen. For more on the humanitarian crisis inside the Palestinian enclave, here’s a piece by Mada Masr, translated from Arabic by Worldcrunch.

• Iran to suspend cooperation with UN nuclear watchdog IAEA. This comes after American and Israeli airstrikes hit its most-important nuclear facilities, likely further limiting inspectors’ ability to track Tehran’s program that had been enriching uranium to near weapons-grade levels. The order by President Masoud Pezeshkian, however, included no timetables or details about what that suspension would entail. 

• U.S. halts some weapons shipments to Ukraine. The United States says it is halting some weapons deliveries to Kyiv that were promised under the Biden administration, as Russia intensifies its attacks on Ukraine. Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron urged Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine “as soon as possible” in the first phone call between the two leaders since 2022. Read about how Russia remains a threat to European countries in this piece by German daily Die Zeit, translated into English by Worldcrunch.

• Four dead, four missing after oil barge sinks in Gulf of Suez. An oil-drilling barge has sunk in the Gulf of Suez, killing at least four crew members and leaving four others unaccounted for. The Egyptian government said on Wednesday that 22 people were injured when the Adam Marine 12 sank the previous night in the Gebel el-Zeit area in the Gulf of Suez.

• U.S. Senate passes Trump’s sweeping tax-cut and spending bill. U.S. Senate Republicans passed President Donald Trump’s massive tax-cut and spending bill on Tuesday with Vice President JD Vance forced to cast a tiebreaking vote. The Senate passage advances a package that would slash taxes, reduce social safety net programs and boost military and immigration enforcement spending while adding $3.3 trillion to the national debt. The legislation now heads to the House of Representatives for possible final approval.

• Jury reaches partial verdict in Combs trial, deadlocked on racketeering charge. Jurors in U.S. rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs’ federal trial have reached verdicts on four of five charges but remain deadlocked on the most serious count, racketeering, which could carry a life sentence. Deliberations are set to continue today. Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to all the charges, which include two counts of sex trafficking and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, as well as the single count of racketeering.

• News Quiz! With 60.1 million views in the first three days, season 3 of dystopian series Squid Game broke streaming giant Netflix’s viewership record. Although it is said to be the final season of the show, which director has been rumored to be working on a Squid Game English-language reboot?
A. David Fincher
B. Ken Loach
C. Christopher Nolan
D. Woody Allen

[Answer below]

#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS

6 million

Australia’s flagship carrier Qantas says it believes a “significant” amount of personal data was stolen in a cyberattack. The affected data includes customers’ names, email addresses, phone numbers, birth dates and frequent flyer numbers of an estimated 6 million customers — but not credit card details or passport details, according to the airline.

📰 IN OTHER NEWS

🇩🇪 Germany’s Chancellor Merz and Foreign Minister Wadephul warn of direct threats from Moscow on the lives of people in Germany, and yet hesitate to back their words with the kind of support Ukraine urgently needs to avoid Putin going further.
— DIE ZEIT

🗳️ With his surprise win in the Democratic primary for New York mayor, Mamdani’s popularity shows us that identities that are sold as eternal and unchanging can evolve to become more inclusive with time.
— THE WIRE

👩‍🍼 In today’s families, too many women are exhausted, raising children alone in silence. Too many men feel lost, unsure of how to step in.
— RECALCULATING

📣 VERBATIM

“The institution of the Dalai Lama will continue.”

— Nearing his 90th birthday, the Dalai Lama assured his followers on Wednesday that he will be reincarnated as Tibet’s next spiritual leader, and that his successor will only be recognized by his founded Gaden Phodrang Trust in consultation with heads of Tibetan Buddhist traditions. In doing so, the Dalai Lama reaffirmed Tibetan autonomy, despite Beijing’s insistence that it will oversee the choice.