Rwanda-DRC Peace Draft, Air India Funerals, Ocean Floor Discovery

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🗞️ FRONT PAGE​​

“How close is/was Iran to a nuclear bomb?” asks Dutch daily de Volkskrant on its front page. Claiming to reveal Tehran’s allegedly secret plan to develop a nuclear threat, Israel has attacked a key Iranian nuclear site on Thursday, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledging to demolish Iran’s entire nuclear program in Israel’s “biggest ever attack.” 

🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW

• Israel says hospital struck by Iranian missiles as Trump weighs U.S. involvement. An Iranian missile hit the main hospital in southern Israel early Thursday, causing damage but no serious injuries, according to the medical facility. Other missiles hit a high-rise building and several other residential buildings in at least two sites near Tel Aviv. At least 40 people were wounded in the attacks. Israel also carried out strikes on Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor. Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department has begun evacuating non-essential diplomats and their families from the U.S. embassy in Israel as hostilities between the two countries intensify and U.S. President Donald Trump warns of the possibility of getting directly involved in the conflict. Read about the people’s divided opinions in the Middle East in this piece by Daraj, translated from Arabic into English by Worldcrunch.

• Rwanda and DRC agree on draft peace deal that could end decades of conflict. The breakthrough, mediated by the U.S. and Qatar, provides for the “disengagement, disarmament and conditional integration” of armed groups fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. It also includes provisions for a joint security mechanism to prevent future flare-ups. Read more about the Rwanda and DR Congo conflict in this piece by French analyst Pierre Haski.

• Thai leader faces calls to quit after leaked phone call. Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s coalition government is on the brink of collapse after a phone call between her and former Cambodian leader Hun Sen about a festering border dispute was leaked. The leak provoked public anger and prompted a key coalition partner of the 38-year-old Paetongtarn’s Peu Thai party to quit.

• Hurricane Erick strengthens to an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 storm. It is heading towards Mexico’s Pacific Coast according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC). Maximum sustained winds in the storm had risen to 230km/h (145mph) late on Wednesday local time.

• New U.S. visa rules require foreign students to unlock social media accounts for review. The U.S. State Department said it is resuming suspended student visa processing for foreigners but will now require applicants to unlock social media accounts for government scrutiny. Officials will screen posts for content deemed hostile to the U.S., its government, or founding principles, the department said. 

• Three years left to limit warming to 1.5 °C, leading scientists warn. The Earth could be doomed to breach the symbolic 1.5 °C warming limit in as little as three years at current levels of carbon dioxide emissions. Nearly 200 countries agreed to try to limit global temperature rises in a landmark agreement in 2015, with the aim of avoiding some of the worst impacts of climate change.

• News Quiz! What have scientists discovered living on the ocean floor, off the U.S. West Coast?
A. Methane-eating spiders
B. Bioluminescent pine trees
C. Transparent crabs
D. Giant seahorses
[Answer below]

#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS

$14.9 billion

The Japanese company Nippon Steel has acquired 100 percent of U.S. Steel shares for $14.9 billion after an 18-month negotiation, agreeing upon a uniquely powerful “golden share” with the U.S. that gives the U.S. President an unusual level of authority in key operations, granting him veto power over major corporate decisions — even changing the company’s name. Despite earlier opposition and a Biden-era block on national security grounds, the deal now moves forward with Nippon Steel promising to invest $11 billion in U.S. interests through 2028, and benefiting from major U.S. infrastructure projects in return. 

📰 IN OTHER NEWS

🇮🇷 After the bombs, Iran stands at a crossroads, torn between dynastic succession, military takeover and revolutionary implosion.
— WORLDCRUNCH

⚖️ Europe’s long flirtation with anti-immigrant rhetoric is coming back to haunt it — this time with its own citizens in the crosshairs. With reports of Europeans facing detention at Guantánamo, the line between “us” and “them” begins to blur in the cruelest of ways.
— LA STAMPA

🚲 Despite being cheap, eco-friendly and empowering, the bicycle is losing ground among Germany’s youngest. Cities are not built for children, and cars are given priority.
— DIE ZEIT

📣 VERBATIM

“I do not even want to discuss this possibility.”

— When asked on Thursday for his thoughts on a possible regime change in Iran, Russian President Vladimir Putin refused to consider the prospect, despite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s open speculation about killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and U.S. President Donald Trump’s remarks on Tuesday about knowing Khamenei’s whereabouts. Although Russia does not anticipate providing military assistance, Putin confirmed Russia’s ongoing contact with its Iranian partners, emphasizing that Iranians are consolidating around their leadership, and urged for a peaceful resolution that guarantees both Iran’s right to nuclear energy and Israel’s security.