ISIS Links To Bondi Attack, Deadly U.S. Strikes In Pacific, Louvre Walkout

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“Capital of diplomacy,” headlines German daily Frankfurter Rundschau after Berlin hosted officials from the U.S., Ukraine and Europe for peace talks to end Kyiv’s war with Russia on Monday. Washington offered to provide NATO-style security guarantees for Ukraine while European leaders proposed the creation of a European-led multinational force to help enforce a potential peace agreement in Ukraine. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that “for the first time since the war began, the possibility of a ceasefire is conceivable.” Russia has yet to agree to any of the changes discussed in Germany.

🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW

• Bondi shooting suspects’ ISIS links. Australian police found that the father and son who killed at least 15 people at a Hanukkah event on Sydney’s popular Bondi Beach on Sunday were radicalized by Islamic State ideology. The alleged attackers had recently traveled to the Philippines to undergo military-style training, and two ISIS flags were reportedly found in their vehicle after the attack. The shooting, Australia’s deadliest in decades, has reignited scrutiny of gun laws and security for Jewish communities. For more, read this recent analysis by France Inter’s Pierre Haski, translated from French and adapted by Worldcrunch: Bondi Beach, And How Not To Respond To An Anti-Semitic Attack.

• U.S. strikes three alleged drug-trafficking boats, killing eight. The Pentagon said the vessels it struck in the eastern Pacific Ocean were operated by designated terrorist organizations along known Latin American narco-trafficking routes. This is the latest in a series of deadly actions under Operation Southern Spear as congressional scrutiny grows over the Trump administration’s expanding use of lethal force at sea.

• EU leaders commit to helping Ukraine. Meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. envoys in Berlin, European leaders outlined sweeping security guarantees, including sustained military aid, a multinational force and U.S.-backed ceasefire monitoring, while acknowledging unresolved disputes over occupied territory and enforcement details. Meanwhile, Kyiv says it managed to disable a Russian Kilo-class submarine in Novorossiysk using sea drones, the first such strike, hailed as a “turning point” in Ukraine’s naval confrontation with Russia. For more, read this piece by Maxim Kireev for Die Zeit, translated from German and adapted by Worldcrunch: Black Sea Drones — How Ukraine Targets The “Shadow Fleet” Carrying Russian Oil.

• BBC vows to fight Trump’s $5-bn defamation lawsuit. The UK broadcaster says it will defend claims by the U.S. president that an edited clip of a speech he gave before a riot at the U.S. Capitol, Jan. 6, 2021 speech was misleading. While the BBC has apologized for the edit, it rejects accusations of malice and says there is no basis for defamation.

• Sudan again tops the International Rescue Committee’s global crises watchlist. This is the third year in a row that the conflict between Sudan’s army and paramilitary forces drives what the IRC calls the “largest humanitarian crisis ever recorded.” The war has killed tens of thousands, displaced an estimated 12 million people, and left aid agencies severely overstretched.

• Rob Reiner’s son arrested on suspicion of murdering his parents. Los Angeles police said the 32-year-old was taken into custody and held without bail after actor-director Rob Reiner, 78, and his wife Michele Singer Reiner, 68, were found dead in their Brentwood home in an apparent homicide. Meanwhile, U.S. President Trump’s harsh criticism of the director after his murder is prompting widespread bipartisan condemnation.

• News Quiz! Strong winds caused a large structure to collapse in the southern Brazilian city of Guaiba. What did the storm knock down?

A. An inflatable Leaning Tower of Pisa
B. A life-size LEGO model of Christ the Redeemer
C. A wooden statue of Jair Bolsonaro
D. A replica of the Statue of Liberty
[Answer below]

#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS

€20.1 billion

Greece’s tourism industry continues its strong run in 2025, with revenues reaching a record €20.1 billion in the first nine months of the year — a 9% year-on-year increase, according to data reported by Greek media and the Bank of Greece. The growth was driven by 31.6 million international arrivals, marking a 4% increase compared to 2024, thanks to the country’s world-renowned destinations such as Santorini, Athens, and Mykonos. 

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