👋 ನಮಸ್ಕಾರ*
Welcome to Thursday, where Israeli strikes kill at least 70 in Gaza just hours after a ceasefire deal was struck, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer heads to Ukraine for the first time and Pakistan International Airlines gets in trouble for its latest ad. Meanwhile, Les Echos’ geopolitics specialist Dominique Moïsi looks at the “imperial republic” America may become under Trump II.
[*Namaskar - Kannada, India]
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🗞️ FRONT PAGE
“On the way home,” writes Tel Aviv-based daily Israel Hayom, following the announcement of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that would release 33 hostages in exchange for the release of thousands of Palestinian detainees. It’s the first ceasefire agreement since November 2023, and comes after more than 46,000 civilians have been killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza. For more, check out the Worldcrunch’s collection of international front pages marking the announcement of the ceasefire.
🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
• Israel strikes in Gaza kill at least 70 after ceasefire accord. The complex ceasefire accord emerged on Wednesday after mediation by Qatar, Egypt and the U.S. to stop the war. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that a “last minute crisis” with Hamas was holding up Israeli approval of a long-awaited agreement to pause the fighting in Gaza and release dozens of hostages. Stay up to date with this latest piece translated by Worldcrunch: What Political "Realism" Says About The Gaza War,
• Starmer in Kyiv to pledge more Ukraine support. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has arrived in Kyiv to sign what Downing Street is calling a "landmark 100-year partnership" with Ukraine. The pact would formalize economic and military support already pledged to the country, and offers more. It is the prime minister's first visit to the country since taking office last summer, in a show of support for Ukraine days before Donald Trump re-enters the White House. Follow Worldcrunch’s international coverage of the Ukraine war here.
• Impeached South Korean President Yoon to avoid new questioning over martial law bid. Lawyers representing South Korea’s impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol said Thursday he will refuse further questioning after being detained by anti-corruption officials over his declaration of martial law last month, maintaining that the investigation is illegal. Yoon exercised his right to remain silent as he faced more than 10 hours of questioning on Wednesday at the headquarters of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials, following a massive law enforcement operation to detain him at his official residence in Seoul.
• Death toll rises as standoff between police and miners ends in South Africa. The death toll in a monthslong standoff between police and miners trapped while working illegally in an abandoned gold mine in South Africa has risen to at least 87, police said Thursday as they wound down a rescue operation that has pulled more than 240 survivors out from deep underground.
• Progress made on L.A. fires. Firefighters made significant gains against the two massive wildfires burning around Los Angeles. A “Particularly Dangerous Situation” red-flag warning expired without causing explosive fire growth as feared, though forecasters said gusty winds could linger into early Thursday, mostly in the mountains. Temperatures were predicted to drop, and a deep marine layer was expected to move in over the weekend, according to the National Weather Service in Los Angeles.
• Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin launches New Glenn rocket on test flight. Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket has blasted off from Florida on its first mission to space, an inaugural step into Earth’s orbit for the space company of the Amazon founder. Meanwhile, India on Thursday became the fourth country to successfully achieve an unmanned docking in space, a feat seen as pivotal for future missions as New Delhi cements its place as a global space power. The United States, Russia and China are the only other countries to have developed and tested the docking capability.
• PIA in trouble over disturbing social media ad. Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is facing major backlash over a promotional graphic that appears to evoke a terror attack on Paris. The graphic, posted on X on January 10 to showcase the airline’s renewed flights to the French capital, shows a passenger jet flying toward the Eiffel Tower, alongside the tagline: “Paris, we’re coming today.” Social media users quickly drew parallels with the 2001 terror attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and called on the airline to rethink its approach.
#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS
94 million
Spain saw a record 94 million foreign visitors in 2024, outperforming most of the rest of Europe and fuelling growth in the second most visited country on the continent. But locals in heavily-visited hotspots in the country are pushing back, saying that overtourism is driving rent prices up and changing the fabric of the areas.
📹 ON THIS DAY VIDEO — 4 HISTORY-MAKING EVENTS, IN 57 SECONDS
➡️ Watch the video: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
📰 IN OTHER NEWS
🇮🇱🇵🇸 Beyond the moral component, the realists in international affairs believe that support for Israel does not serve the U.S. interests. They also believe that Israel’s violations against the Palestinians are not in Israel's interests either.
— AL-MANASSA
🇺🇸 Will America become revisionist, unilateralist and expansionist under Donald Trump’s second term?
— LES ECHOS
💻 A look into how copyright laws may or may not be applicable to memes, which normally use an existing image without any consent. The question is a reminder of how the Internet has changed the basics of communication and commerce.
— CLARÍN
📣 VERBATIM
“Is that a joke?”
— U.S. President Joe Biden, at a press conference where he was announcing the ceasefire in Gaza, was asked by a reporter who the history books will credit with orchestrating the deal. “Is that a joke?” Biden replied, saying that the agreement was virtually identical to the proposal he made in May of last year. He did admit, though, that while his team had negotiated the deal, it would be up to Donald Trump’s incoming administration to implement it.
✍️ Newsletter by Emma Albright & Jacob Shropshire
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