Gaza Ceasefire Resumes, Dutch Elections, Ancient Roman Trouble

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🗞️ FRONT PAGE​​

Spanish daily ABC devotes its front page to the one-year anniversary of the devastating floods in the eastern region of Valencia that left 237 people dead. Spain’s King Felipe is set to attend a state funeral in the region, as the country comes to terms with the most catastrophic flooding in Europe in more than five decades. Anger over the handling of the disaster is still vivid: tens of thousands of people demonstrated last weekend to call for the resignation of conservative regional leader Carlos Mazon, whose government they accuse of failing to warn citizens early enough during the emergency.

🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW

• Israel’s military says ceasefire resumes after deadly strikes on Gaza. Israel’s military said Wednesday that the ceasefire was back on in Gaza after it carried out heavy airstrikes overnight across the Palestinian territory that killed 104 people, including 46 children, according to local health officials. The strikes are the deadliest since the ceasefire began on Oct. 10. Follow Worldcrunch’s international coverage of the war in Gaza here.

• Trump announces trade breakthrough with South Korea on Asia trip. U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung finalized details of their fraught trade deal at a summit in South Korea on Wednesday, and the U.S. president also sounded an optimistic note about an upcoming meeting with China’s Xi Jinping. In a show of force, one day before Trump’s visit to South Korea, North Korea launched a series of sea-to-surface cruise missiles into its western waters. The tests come as Pyongyang deepens military ties with Russia and continues to reject nuclear talks with Washington.

• Dutch voters head to polls in high-stakes election. The Netherlands votes Wednesday in a pivotal national election that will determine whether the country doubles down on the anti-immigration populism of Geert Wilders or shifts back toward centrist politics. With nationalist parties topping polls in Britain, France and Germany, the Dutch vote is a test of whether populism can expand its reach or whether it has peaked in parts of Europe. Read more about Geert Wilders in this piece by French political analyst Pierre Haski.

• Hurricane Melissa hits Cuba, Jamaica declares “disaster area.”
Hurricane Melissa made landfall in eastern Cuba early Wednesday as a Category 3 storm after pummeling Jamaica as one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Hundreds of thousands of people had been evacuated to shelters in Cuba.

• Police operation in Rio favelas leaves at least 64 people dead. Brazilian Governor Claudio Castro issued a video statement saying 60 alleged criminals had been “neutralized”, as part of a large-scale police operation that saw police carry out more than 250 arrest and search warrants. The raid is already being called the most lethal police action in the history of the state.

• Fear of mass killings as thousands trapped in besieged Sudan city taken by militia group. Fears are mounting of mass killings in the key Sudanese city of el-Fasher after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) captured it from government forces. The UN said there were credible reports of “summary executions”. 

• News Quiz! Why were teachers criticized at nine high schools in Queensland, Australia, over a history exam on Roman rulers? 

A. They’d based their lessons on a Netflix documentary
B. They taught students about the wrong Emperor
C. They used direct quotes from Gladiator
D. They asked students to reenact Julius Caesar’s assassination

[Answer below]

📣 VERBATIM

“We absolutely will not renounce the use of force.”

— Peng Qing’en, a spokesperson for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said during a press conference in Beijing on Wednesday that China will not rule out using force over Taiwan, which it views as its own territory. The statement strikes a much tougher tone than articles in state media this week that had pledged benign rule if the democratically governed island comes over to Beijing. Taiwan’s government rejects China’s sovereignty claims, with National Security Bureau Director-General Tsai Ming-yen saying he believes that “the Chinese communists have no way to enact the application of the Macau or Hong Kong model in Taiwan.”

📰 IN OTHER NEWS

🇦🇷 Donald Trump was the first to congratulate Javier Milei on his surprise victory, having earlier promised financial support tied to his Argentine ally’s campaign. But that alone doesn’t explain the success of a man who has slashed social services.
— FRANCE INTER

🪣 What pushes humans to keep digging? Whether at the beach, in the garden, or deep underground, shovels connect us to power, truth, and memory.
— DIE ZEIT

🎹 It’s well known that learning to play an instrument can offer benefits beyond just musical ability. Indeed, research shows it’s a great activity for the brain and it can even help to keep our brains younger.
— THE CONVERSATION