Israel Plans To Take Over Gaza City, French Wildfires, Brand New ChatGPT

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🗞️ FRONT PAGE​​

The front page of Port-au-Prince-based daily Le Nouvelliste features the inauguration of Laurent Saint-Cyr as the head of Haiti’s transitional presidential council. Saint-Cyr, a wealthy businessman, will attempt to restore order in the Caribbean country amid threats from a top gang leader to overthrow the government. This is the first time members of the private sector have been in both the rotating presidency and the prime minister post, drawing skepticism from some, since Haiti’s elites have been accused of financing and arming gangs. Saint-Cyr said that security is a priority for the government, and called on international partners to assist with resources to allow the country to intensify military operations. 

🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW

• Israel announces plan to take control of Gaza City. Israel’s security cabinet has approved a plan to take control of Gaza City in another escalation of its 22-month war with Hamas. This includes “five principles for ending the war,” including the disarmament of Hamas, the return of all hostages and the demilitarisation of the Gaza Strip. The plan has drawn criticism from world leaders as global outcry mounts over starvation in the enclave. UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk warned that further escalation “will result in more massive forced displacement, more killing, more unbearable suffering, senseless destruction and atrocity crimes.” It is not clear when the operations, which could take months, will start. Follow our coverage of the Israel-Palestine war here.

• Poland’s Tusk hints at “freezing” Ukraine conflict after Zelensky talks. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told reporters on Friday that he believes the Russian invasion of Ukraine could soon be “frozen” following talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. This comes as U.S. President Donald Trump’s original deadline for Moscow to reach a ceasefire ends today. Trump said on Thursday he was “very disappointed” in Vladimir Putin’s behavior but added he would meet with the Russian president even if Putin will not meet with Zelensky.

• Armenia, Azerbaijan to sign historic peace deal at White House. The leaders of archrivals Armenia and Azerbaijan are expected to sign a peace deal on Friday at the White House during what U.S. President Donald Trump called a “Historic Peace Summit.” The agreement could end decades of conflict between the two former Soviet republics and help reopen key transportation corridors across the South Caucasus that have been shut since the early 1990s.

• Japanese warships in New Zealand’s capital for first time in 90 years. Japanese warships with more than 500 crew docked in Wellington, New Zealand, to begin a three-day ceremonial visit on Friday, marking a first in almost 90 years. This comes as Tokyo tries to deepen its strategic ties and military cooperation in the South Pacific Ocean amid ongoing regional tensions.

• France’s biggest wildfire in 75 years contained, thousands evacuated in California. France’s largest wildfire for 75 years, which has burned through an area larger than Paris, will burn for several more days even though it is now under control, authorities said on Friday. The fire in the southern department of Aude has killed one person and injured more than a dozen. Meanwhile, in the U.S., a brush fire in a mountainous area north of Los Angeles is spreading quickly and has forced the evacuation of thousands of people.

• OpenAI unveils new ChatGPT-5 model. OpenAI launched on Thursday the long-awaited latest version of its artificial intelligence chatbot, GPT-5, claiming it can provide PhD-level expertise in areas such as coding and writing. OpenAI co-founder and CEO Sam Altman said the new model would suffer from fewer hallucinations and be less deceptive. For more, check this La Marea analysis, translated from Spanish by Worldcrunch: AI And The Wealth Gap — A Redistribution Tool Or Trigger For Even Greater Inequality?

• News Quiz! A motorist in Germany received a 900-euro ($1,043) fine for breaking what kind of record?

A. Fastest speed clocked on the Autobahn
B. Most bratwursts consumed while driving
C. Loudest techno music blasted from a car stereo
D. Most beer steins balanced on hood of a moving car

[Answer below]

#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS

$50 million

The U.S. is offering an award of $50 million for the arrest of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro, doubling its previous offer of $25 million, made in January. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the increase on Thursday in a video posted to social media, in which she called Maduro “one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world and a threat to our national security.” Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil responded to Bondi’s announcement on Telegram, accusing it of being a “ridiculous smokescreen” to distract from the controversy surrounding the Jeffrey Epstein files. 

📰 IN OTHER NEWS

⛽️ In Argentina, “gas” and “oil” are sacred words, woven into the nation’s identity. Such devotion, both economic and linguistic, makes any shift toward cleaner energy all the more difficult.
— CLARÍN

🇷🇺 Central Asian presidents have been fixtures at Moscow’s Victory Day parades since 2022, but this year, their visits were preceded by a wave of diplomatic tensions.
— KLOOP

💬 Many of the world’s languages aren’t adequately represented in the data used to train chatbots and other AI-based tools. If we fail to be more inclusive, the next generation of AI will encode a world that risks being extremely biased, both linguistically and culturally.
— UNDARK

💬 LEXICON

Pasta cacio e pepe

Italians were outraged when the popular British recipe website Good Food posted a recipe for this Roman cheese and black pepper pasta that did not include the original ingredients. Instead of the traditional three ingredients – spaghetti, black pepper and pecorino cheese — Good Food suggested people use spaghetti, black pepper, parmesan and butter, with the option to add double cream. This take on an Italian staple was so offensive that an association representing restaurants in Italy even sent a letter to UK ambassador Edward Llewellyn saying they were “astonished” this recipe appeared on Good Food.