Gaza Strikes Kill 52, Trump Calls Putin “CRAZY,” Anti-Cuts Protests In Madrid

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🗞️ FRONT PAGE​​

French sports daily L’Équipe lends its front page to Rafael Nadal, bidding farewell to the tennis legend at Roland-Garros. The headline, “Rafa pour toujours” (“Rafa forever”), reflects the emotion on the first day of the French Open, as Nadal received a tribute in front of a packed crowd and in the presence of fellow tennis greats like Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. After 14 titles in Paris, Nadal leaves the court, but his legacy as the “King of Clay” remains eternal.

🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW

• Airstrikes in Gaza kill 52, including dozens at school shelter. Israeli airstrikes killed at least 52 in Gaza Monday morning, including at least three dozen in a school-turned shelter. The ratcheted-up attacks come after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that while Israel would be open to a temporary ceasefire and hostage exchange deal, a permanent end to the war would require maximalist conditions to be met. Israel has begun to allow aid to trickle into the enclave after more than two months of blocking it, but the UN has said the current amount of aid isn’t enough. 

• Trump rebukes Putin after attacks on Ukraine. U.S. President Donald Trump rebuked the Kremlin following massive drone attacks on several regions in Ukraine, saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin had “gone absolutely CRAZY.” The Kremlin brushed off Trump’s remarks as “emotional overload.” Russia’s attacks, which included strikes on Kyiv, killed 12 and injured dozens in what Ukrainian officials said was the largest aerial assault since the start of the war. The attack came amid a “1,000 for 1,000” prisoner exchange between the two sides, the largest prisoner exchange so far. For more on the topic, read this analysis by France Inter’s Pierre Haski: Trump The Mercantilist: Ready To Sacrifice Ukraine To Do Business With Russia.

• U.S. tariffs on EU delayed for dealmaking until July. Donald Trump said he would pause his threatened 50% tariffs on the European Union until early July after a call with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen late Sunday. The delay, the two said, will give the bloc time to negotiate a trade agreement with the U.S. while avoiding a trade war escalation. The U.S. and EU had already been negotiating trade agreements, but Trump had criticized the talks saying that they weren’t making progress. 

• Maduro wins Venezuela election amid opposition boycott. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro won reelection in Venezuela, with his governing United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) sweeping parliamentary and regional elections that were boycotted by the opposition. Read more about the state of Venezuelan democracy here.

• King Charles to visit Canada in show of support. King Charles and Queen Camilla of the UK are set to arrive in Canada on Monday as part of a two-day visit seen by crown-watchers as a sign of support amid threats of trade and annexation from the U.S. The King will deliver a “Speech from the Throne” to the Canadian Parliament, the first time a monarch has given this kind of address in nearly five decades. 

• Top South Korea Presidential hopeful pushes for communications with North Korea. South Korea’s Liberal presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung, who is currently the frontrunner in the race, said he would seek to reestablish communication with North Korea if elected, including a military hotline. Such communications channels have existed in the past, but Pyongyang stopped responding to Seoul in 2023 amid escalating tensions, and have not resumed. 

• News Quiz! The Belgian city of Bruges issued a public request that tourists stop stealing iconic pieces of the city. What are authorities tired of replacing? 

A. Posters for waffles
B. Statues of peeing babies
C. Empty beer kegs
D. Cobblestones from the streets
[Answer below]

#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS

€7 billion

During a visit to Hanoi, French President Emmanuel Macron secured a €7 billion deal for Vietnam’s VietJet low-cost airline to purchase 20 Airbus A330neo aircraft. Macron’s visit to Hanoi, the first in nearly a decade, also yielded 30 other agreements aimed at strengthening trade and cooperation between the two countries in areas like energy, satellite, and railways.

📰 IN OTHER NEWS

✊ The Kurdish PKK’s historic decision to lay down its arms is just the latest sign that armed struggle has not lived up to its promises of liberation, and now appears to be on its last breaths across the region.
— DARAJ

🏳️‍🌈 With the arrival of the new Pope, can we expect a new stance from the Catholic Church on the rights of women and LGBTQ+ people?
— VOLCÁNICAS

🍕 Frozen pizza, coca-cola, chips. Delicious. And dangerous? German weekly Die Zeit asked doctors, neuroscientists, and food chemists if that’s true — and what they themselves keep on and off their plates.
— DIE ZEIT

📣 VERBATIM

“Our work is far from over.”

— Angela Harrelson, an aunt of George Floyd, spoke on Sunday during the fifth anniversary commemoration of Floyd’s death at George Floyd Square in Minneapolis. Speaking at the Rise and Remember Festival, she urged the crowd to keep pushing for justice, saying the fight against racism and police brutality in the United States is not yet finished. Floyd’s death, captured on video as a police officer knelt on his neck for over nine minutes, sparked global outrage in 2020.