Zelensky Ready For Talks, U.S.-Japan Rare Earth Deal, Healthy Art

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🗞️ FRONT PAGE​​

State-controlled Ivorian daily Fraternité Matin devotes its front page to the victory of Alassane Ouattara, who secured a fourth term as Ivory Coast’s president on Monday. Ouattara, 83, won 89.77% of votes while businessman Jean-Louis Billon came a distant second with only 3.09%, according to the provisional results of the Independent Electoral Commission. The landslide win comes after Ouattara’s two top rivals, former President Laurent Gbagbo and Credit Suisse ex-CEO Tidjane Thiam, were barred from the election, respectively for a criminal conviction and for having acquired French nationality.

🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW

• Zelensky says Ukraine ready for peace talks anywhere besides Russia and Belarus. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said in comments released on Tuesday that Kyiv was ready for peace talks anywhere except Russia and Belarus but stressed that Ukrainian forces would “take no steps back” or cede territory. Meanwhile, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned the EU “cannot tolerate” the disruption of its airspace after dozens of helium balloons entered Lithuania’s airspace from Belarus, calling it “a provocation, a hybrid threat.”

• U.S. and Japan ink rare earths deal during Trump visit. U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi signed an agreement laying out a framework to secure the mining and processing of rare earths and other critical minerals on Tuesday, as both the U.S. and Japan look to reduce China’s dominance over key electronic components. Trump, who is in Japan on the second leg of a week-long tour of Asia, lavished praise on the country’s new leader while Takaichi vowed to realize a “golden age” in relations with the U.S.

• Returned remains are body parts of hostage previously retrieved in Gaza, Netanyahu says. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Tuesday of a “clear violation” of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement by Hamas after it was found that the remains of a hostage returned by the militant group overnight are body parts of a hostage who was recovered in Gaza by Israeli troops almost two years ago. There are still 13 bodies of hostages in the enclave but Hamas has said it is struggling to locate them amid the vast destruction, while Israel has accused the militant group of purposely delaying their return.

• Pakistan-Afghanistan peace talks hit impasse in Istanbul. After three days of negotiations, peace talks in Istanbul between Pakistan and Afghanistan have hit an impasse, with state media in both countries Tuesday blaming each other for the failure to reach an agreement. This comes after months of heightened tension between Islamabad and Kabul over cross-border attacks and militant safe havens.

• Three dead in Jamaica as island braces for strongest storm of the year. Officials in Jamaica have urged people to stay inside their shelters as Hurricane Melissa, the world’s most powerful storm this year, is drawing closer to the Caribbean island. The Category 5 hurricane, which is expected to make landfall Tuesday, has already been blamed for three deaths in Jamaica, and four deaths in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

• Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe murder trial opens. Three years after the assassination of Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the murder trial opened Tuesday in the western city of Nara with the suspect pleading guilty. “Everything is true,” said Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, admitting the murder of the country’s longest-serving leader in July 2022, over his ties to the South Korea-based Unification Church, which he blamed for his family’s financial ruin.

• News Quiz! A new study led by King’s College London has found that going to art galleries can improve people’s health. For what reason?

A. Seeing original works of art are better for your health than seeing copies
B. Taking selfies with paintings lowers blood pressure
C. Temperature-controlled spaces reduce spread of flu
D. Pretending to understand art produces testosterone

[Answer below]

#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS

1.7 meters

After heavy rainfall inundated Vietnam’s central coastal region since the weekend, the city of Hue recorded 1.7 meters of rain in a 24-hour period, smashing a national record set over two decades ago, the environment ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. The previous record was 0.99 meters, set in 1999. More than 8,600 people in four central provinces were evacuated while schools were closed.

📰 IN OTHER NEWS

🕊️ Lebanon is bracing for a new assault by Israel, while the recent ceasefire in Gaza looks bound to break. In the Middle East, there’s a massive gap between pause and peace.
— FRANCE INTER

✊ Fifty years on, the mass walkout by 90% of Icelandic women still shapes politics, pay equity, and gender norms, from Vigdís Finnbogadóttir’s presidency to today’s parental leave model.
— 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