Ukraine’s New Peace Plan, Israel Strikes Lebanon, Frozen Dip

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🗞️ FRONT PAGE​​

“F-16s bomb Cambodia’s military base, casino and arms depot,” reports Bangkok-based Daily News, highlighting the sharp escalation in Thailand-Cambodia fighting as fighting spreads along the border. Renewed clashes in recent days broke the ceasefire in place between the two neighboring countries, killing nine Cambodian civilians and three Thai soldiers, while forcing tens of thousands to flee. Cambodia’s Senate President Hun Sen vowed a fierce, sustained fight as the conflict intensifies.

🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW

• Ukraine prepares new peace plan, Zelensky refuses to cede land to Russia. Ukraine will present a revised peace plan to the White House after President Volodymyr Zelensky reaffirmed his firm refusal to cede any territory to Russia. The Ukrainian leader met early Tuesday with Pope Leo XIV at a papal residence outside Rome and is set to have talks with Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni later. Meanwhile, Russia’s top general reported on Tuesday that Moscow’s forces were advancing along the entire front line in Ukraine and targeting the town of Myrnohrad, in the Donetsk region.

• Israel launches strikes on Lebanon. Israel’s military said on Tuesday it has carried out a wave of strikes targeting infrastructure belonging to Hezbollah in several areas in southern Lebanon, adding pressure to last year’s U.S.-brokered ceasefire. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the second phase of the ceasefire will begin “very shortly” but that key issues still need to be resolved. Reporters Without Borders announced on Tuesday that Israel accounted for almost half of the world’s journalist deaths this year, with 29 Palestinian reporters slain by its forces in Gaza.

• 2025 set to be second or third-hottest year on record. The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service reported on Tuesday that the year 2025 is set to be the world’s second or third-warmest on record, potentially surpassed only by 2024’s record-breaking heat. From the Worldcrunch vault, here’s a Les Echos piece, translated from French by Worldcrunch: Genes vs. Heat: How Our Bodies Could Adapt To Global Warming’s Rising Temperatures.

• French prime minister faces high-stakes social security vote. France’s social security budget faces a vote on Tuesday that could plunge Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu’s government into a fresh political crisis and leave a 30-billion-euro ($35 billion) hole in funding for healthcare, pensions and welfare. Budget battles have intensified since France’s President Emmanuel Macron lost his majority in a snap election last year, triggering instability that has toppled three governments. Read more about France’s political turmoil in this analysis by France Inter’s Pierre Haski.

• Lithuania declares state of emergency over Belarusian balloon intrusions. Lithuania has declared a state of emergency on Tuesday over security risks posed by smuggler balloons from Belarus that have violated its airspace in recent weeks. The Baltic state says the giant balloons used by smugglers to bring in contraband such as cigarettes are a form of hybrid attack and a threat to its national security, forcing it to repeatedly close its main airport in the past weeks. Moscow-allied Belarus has denied responsibility.

• Dozens injured in Japan 7.5-magnitude earthquake, tsunami warning lifted. At least 30 people were injured after a magnitude 7.5 earthquake shook Japan’s northeastern regions on Monday night, forcing about 90,000 residents to evacuate their homes. The quake prompted authorities to issue tsunami warnings, which have been lifted on Tuesday, but officials warned that a stronger tremor could occur in the coming days.

• News Quiz! Hundreds of people met in a Buenos Aires park on Monday to attempt to break the world record of the largest gathering of what?

A. Lionel Messi lookalikes
B. Golden retrievers
C. Girls disguised as Mafalda
D. White llamas
[Answer below]

📣 VERBATIM

“This is theft.”

— Opposition candidate Salvador Nasralla took to X to denounce Honduras’s contested presidential election, accusing officials of manipulating results after an abrupt vote-count halt. Election officials have since resumed releasing results, after a three-day freeze, which they blamed on technical issues. With 97% of ballots counted, Trump-backed conservative candidate Nasry Asfura now holds a narrow lead over Nasralla.

📰 IN OTHER NEWS

🇺🇸 Washington’s new security blueprint delivers a sharp attack on Europe while echoing far-right themes. It signals a break with the Europe we know, one that threatens support for Ukraine and the continent’s security.
— FRANCE INTER

🏘️ As well-to-do refugees settle in Kampala’s suburbs, Ugandans say they’re being priced out.
— GLOBAL PRESS JOURNAL

🚐 Residents in Hamburg report a wave of tire slashings targeting campervans, exposing growing tensions over parking, public space and the city’s lack of solutions.
— DIE ZEIT