New Flotilla Interception, Chemistry Nobel, Cheap Solar

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🗞️ FRONT PAGE​​

Público lends its front page to the education crisis Portugal faces. According to the Lisbon-based daily, schools are projected to lose an estimated 59,000 students within the next 10 years. To maintain the system’s capacity, an estimated 3,800 teachers would need to be hired each year. Portugal is not the only country facing such an educational crisis in recent years, with massive teacher shortages threatening to derail progress on global development goals from North America to Africa to Europe.

🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW

• IDF intercepts new Flotilla vessels. Israel forces have reportedly intercepted several Freedom Flotilla Coalition vessels bound for Gaza, carrying journalists, doctors, and activists. Passengers were detained and later transferred to Israel. This comes just days after Israel had intercepted about 40 vessels and detained more than 450 activists in another convoy attempting to deliver aid supplies to Gaza. Meanwhile, a day after the world marked two years since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, Gaza peace plan talks between Israeli and Hamas negotiators carry on for a third day in Egypt, with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner set to join the indirect talks.

• Army paraglider bombs kill 32 in Myanmar. At least 32 people were killed and dozens injured after an army motorized paraglider dropped two bombs on a crowd gathered in Chaung-U, central Myanmar, to mark a Buddhist festival and to call for the release of political prisoners. Since the 2021 coup that ousted Myanmar’s elected government, the country has been engulfed in a civil war between the military regime, pro-democracy resistance forces, and ethnic armed groups. Read more about Myanmar’s junta in this article from La Stampa, translated from Italian and adapted by Worldcrunch.

• Ecuador arrests five over president assassination attempt. Five people were arrested following an alleged assassination attempt on Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa on Tuesday, as a crowd of around 500 protesters in Cañar province pelted his motorcade with rocks, and his vehicle reportedly showed “signs of bullet damage.” Read more about Daniel Noboa here.

• Deadly clash at Pakistan-Afghan border. At least 11 Pakistani soldiers and 19 Pakistan Taliban fighters were killed in fierce fighting near the Afghan border. Attacks by the Pakistan Taliban have intensified in recent months as it seeks to topple the government and enforce strict Islamic rule.

• Madrid building collapses, killing four. A six-story building under renovation collapsed in Madrid’s central Opera district on Tuesday, killing four workers and wounding another three. Authorities are investigating the cause.

• Gold surges past $4,000 threshold. Gold has crossed the $4,000 an ounce milestone for the first time, as investors sought safety amid global and economic uncertainties and expected U.S. rate cuts. Up 54% year-to-date, the value soared above equities and bitcoin to become one of the best-performing assets of 2025. For more, we offer this article by Mark Schieritz for Die Zeit: Betting On The Apocalypse: Why Investors Are Buying Gold.

• News Quiz! The Nobel Prize for Chemistry has been awarded to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson, and Omar M Yaghi for their work on metal-organic frameworks, used to harvest water from desert air, extract pollutants from water, capture carbon dioxide and store hydrogen. Meanwhile, why did it take U.S. scientist Dr Fred Ramsdell close to a full day to get in touch with the Nobel Prize committee after winning the Nobel Prize for Medicine on Monday?

A. He doesn’t own a phone
B. He was on a hiking trip
C. He was watching a Lord of the Rings marathon
D. He was on a submarine
[Answer below]

#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS

$0.027

According to a new University of Surrey study, solar energy is now the world’s cheapest power source, costing as little as $0.027 per unit. Falling battery prices have made solar solutions competitive with gas, although integration of this renewable power source to the grid remains challenging, highlighting the need for innovation and policy support.

📰 IN OTHER NEWS

🗳️ Democracies weaken not only for institutional reasons, but also because citizens stop thinking and surrender to impulse.
— CLARIN

🎙️ Paris Calling, Worldcrunch’s new podcast series, where each episode introduces you to a notable person, from somewhere in the world, in their own voice, in English. Today, we have Diariata N’Diaye, a French slam poet and activist who founded an association raising awareness among young people about sexual violence.
— WORLDCRUNCH

🇫🇮 Since the Russian border was closed, people in the far east of Finland have been living with a new Iron Curtain that is reshaping daily life and upending the regional economy.
— DIE ZEIT