Israel Rejects Ceasefire Deal, Germany Lifts Missile Restriction On Kyiv, Rio Beach Rules

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🗞️ FRONT PAGE​​

The Liverpool Echo lends its front page to the aftermath of the city’s Premier League victory parade, during which a car drove into a crowd injuring nearly 50 people, with several victims still in critical condition. Authorities have arrested a 53-year-old British man, and have ruled out terrorism, though the motive remains unclear.

🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW

• Hamas agrees to a Gaza ceasefire, but Israel rejects offer. Hamas has agreed to a proposal by U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff for a Gaza ceasefire, only for an Israeli official to deny that the proposal was Washington’s and add that no Israeli government could accept it. Meanwhile, a new aid system in Gaza opened its first distribution hubs, according to a U.S.-backed group that said it began delivering food to Palestinians who face growing hunger. Read more about how the West is starting to react to Israel’s war on Gaza in this piece by French analyst Pierre Haski.

• Germany lifts restrictions on Kyiv for firing long-range missiles. Germany and other Ukrainian allies have lifted restrictions on Kyiv firing long-range missiles into Russia for the first time, after days of Russia bombarding the capital and other regions with massive aerial attacks. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s foreign minister discussed at a meeting in Moscow efforts to end the war in Ukraine and developments since direct talks between the warring parties. Read more about what Russia really wants in this piece from Livy Bereg, translated from Ukrainian to English.

• North Korea says U.S. “Golden Dome” risks “space nuclear war.” The defense system, which U.S. President Donald Trump plans to unveil by the end of his term, aims at countering “next-generation” aerial threats to the US, including ballistic and cruise missiles. Pyongyang’s foreign ministry slammed the plan as “the height of self-righteousness [and] arrogance”, state media reported.

• ASEAN opens summit with Gulf nations and China amid U.S. tariffs threat. A regional association of Southeast Asian nations is set to hold a three-way summit Tuesday with China and six Gulf countries in what officials called an effort to bolster economic resilience. 

• India approves stealth fighter program. India’s defense minister has approved a framework for building the country’s most advanced stealth fighter jet, following a recent military clash with Pakistan that has intensified the regional arms race. Indian state-run Aeronautical Development Agency, which is spearheading the program, is set to invite initial investment from defense firms to develop a prototype of the warplane.

• Chinese-owned Volvo to cut 3,000 jobs. The auto firm says the layoffs will mainly impact office-based positions in Sweden, representing about 15% of its white collar workforce. The global motor industry is facing a number of major challenges including President Trump’s 25% tariffs on imported cars, higher cost of materials and slower sales in Europe.

• News Quiz! What has Rio de Janeiro announced it would soon restrict on the city’s beaches?

A. Live music
B. Beach soccer
C. Samba dancing
D. Scanty bikinis 

[Answer below]

#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS

31

Kami Rita Sherpa, known as the “Everest Man,” has broken his own world record by summiting Mount Everest for the 31st time. The 55-year-old Nepali climber, who first reached the peak in 1994, has scaled Everest almost every year since, sometimes twice in one season. Despite mounting concerns about the environmental effects of popularized climbing, Rita takes more pride in promoting Nepal’s recognition than in his own fame. 

📰 IN OTHER NEWS

🇵🇸 There may be plausible explanations for the delay in international reactions to the tragedy in Gaza. But in the past two months of killing and blockades, the tide has turned.
— FRANCE INTER

👶 Since the start of the Russian invasion, Ukrainian surrogacy clinics have expanded their market to China and the Arab countries and have increased the range of services, including births in Greece, Cyprus and Georgia.
— LA MAREA

🚮 Among the many cuts by the Argentine government was a program that paid people to clear trash from their own neighborhoods. Now, both garbage and health fears are piling up in Buenos Aires.
— GLOBAL PRESS JOURNAL

📣 VERBATIM

“We intend to bring them all back, the living and the dead.”

— Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has again vowed to recover all hostages from Gaza, both living and dead, after Israeli airstrikes on Gaza kill at least 52 people amid an expanded offensive and ongoing humanitarian crisis. Confusion surrounds a potential ceasefire, with Hamas claiming to accept a new U.S.-brokered proposal that was later denied by the American envoy. Despite a partial easing of the blockade, aid remains scarce, with the UN and humanitarian groups warning that conditions in Gaza are “devastating” and increasingly untenable.