👋 ନମସ୍କାର*
Welcome to Monday, where European leaders hold emergency talks in Paris to discuss Ukraine, Israel is set to discuss phase 2 of Gaza ceasefire and our quiz question is sculpted in France. Meanwhile, Theresa Moosmann in Germany’s Die Zeit reflects on the “Peter Pan syndrome” and why men refusing to grow up…need to grow up.
[*Namaskār - Odia, India]
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🗞️ FRONT PAGE
Argentine business daily El Cronista headlined today with the scandal over Argentine President Javier Milei and his public support of what appears to be a crypto scam. The scheme is called a “rug pull,” and involves artificially restricting the number of coins in circulation, in this case a coin called $LIBRA, and then selling a large amount of coins when the value is high. The Argentine opposition is calling for Milei’s impeachment, and lawyers filed fraud charges against the president over the weekend.
🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
• Europe holds Ukraine emergency talks, Russian and U.S. officials to meet in Saudi Arabia. European leaders are meeting in Paris this afternoon to discuss Ukraine and the bloc’s role in a ceasefire. This comes amid worries that the U.S. and Russia may hatch a deal to end the war in Ukraine without Europe’s involvement. Russian state-run media reported that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Yuriy Ushakov, a close aide of President Vladimir Putin are flying to Saudi Arabia to meet U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio who has already arrived in Riyadh. This will mark the first high-level in-person discussions in years between Russian and U.S. officials. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was “ready and willing” to put British troops on the ground in Ukraine if and when the war ends.
• Israel to discuss next phase of ceasefire in Gaza on 500th day of war. Israel’s security cabinet is set to discuss phase two of the Gaza ceasefire on Monday, following a meeting between top U.S. diplomat Marco Rubio and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during which they presented a united front against Hamas and Iran. This comes as Monday marks the 500th day of the war triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack into southern Israel. Read more in this Daraj reportage translated from Arabic by Worldcrunch.
• Germany enters final week of election campaigning. One week out from the country’s general election, the four leading chancellor candidates took the stage on Sunday evening for a fiery televised debate which focused on the economy, Ukraine, migration and U.S. Vice President JD Vance. CDU’s Friedrich Merz, incumbent chancellor Olaf Scholz, Green party candidate Robert Habeck and AfD’s Alice Weidel are set to participate in a town hall-style question round on Monday evening. Meanwhile, about 30,000 people joined a Berlin demonstration against the far right on Sunday.
• Taliban travel to Japan in debut diplomatic trip. A Taliban delegation consisting of foreign affairs, education, economy and health officials arrived in Japan on Sunday for a weeklong visit. This marks a first diplomatic trip for the group that has previously remained almost exclusively inside Afghanistan since regaining power in 2021. The representatives are expected to seek humanitarian support and potentially discuss diplomatic ties with Japan.
• Xi Jinping talks to business leaders in rare meeting. China’s president hosted a meeting on Monday with the country’s top entrepreneurs including Alibaba founder Jack Ma and Pony Ma Huateng, founder and CEO of Tencent. The symposium — the first of its kind since 2018 — highlights a reversal of China’s approach to its tech giants after a regulatory clampdown a few years ago, as Beijing looks to reinvigorate private business and drive stronger economic growth. For more, check this piece by French analyst Pierre Haski: Billionaires, Jingoists And The Paradox Of China's Economic Slowdown.
• South Korea bans new downloads of China’s DeepSeek. The country’s authorities announced on Monday that the DeepSeek AI app will be removed from app stores temporarily, pending a review of the company’s handling of user data. Seoul’s Personal Information Protection Commission said it would examine the AI model’s personal data processing practices “to ensure compliance” with local laws. Read more in this analysis translated from French by Worldcrunch: The First DeepSeek Lesson: AI Is Not Just A Race For The Money.
• News Quiz! A rare bronze by early 20th-century French sculptor Camille Claudel was auctioned off for $3.1 million after it had vanished for 15 years. Where was the sculpture found?
A. Under a dusty sheet in an abandoned flat
B. At the bottom of a Parisian canal
C. Mislabeled in the Louvre
D. In a dumpster in Britanny
[Answer below]
#️⃣ BY THE NUMBERS
56 minutes, 42 seconds
Ugandan runner Jacob Kiplimo set a new world record for the men’s half-marathon, breaking for the first time the 57 minute mark and beating the previous record time by 48 seconds. The 25-year-old made the single largest improvement to the men’s world record in the event in Barcelona, and also set a world best for the 15 kilometer checkpoint.
📹 ON THIS DAY VIDEO — 4 HISTORY-MAKING EVENTS, IN 57 SECONDS
➡️ Watch the video: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
📰 IN OTHER NEWS
🇷🇺 Since the Cold War, Russia has exploited and distorted the Palestinian cause to serve its ideals. And Iran is pursuing it on a smaller scale and with its own proxies, as Moscow's geopolitical tool in the region.
— KAYHAN-LONDON
🇪🇺 The reelection of U.S. President Donald Trump is the most recent act in the spectacular, and so far unstoppable, rise of fascism. Faced with his full-blown offensive, Europe must fully invest in its vision as an alternative to Trumpism by defending those most in need.
— LA MAREA
🧒 There is a special kind of person, and let's be honest, they're mostly men, who are making a comeback of sorts: adults who just don't want to grow up.
— DIE ZEIT
📣 VERBATIM
“It must be eradicated.”
— U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Hamas needed to be entirely destroyed to ensure peace in Gaza, casting worries on whether the current ceasefire between Hamas and Israel will hold. At a press conference in West Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Rubio echoed Donald Trump’s plans and sentiments, saying that “the gates of hell would open” if Hamas didn’t release hostages it took during the October 7 attacks in 2023. Arab leaders and human rights organizations have called the Trump administration's proposal to displace Palestinians from Gaza to rebuild the strip a form of ethnic cleansing, but Netanyahu called the plan “bold” and said there was a “common strategy” for the situation between the U.S. and Israel.
✍️ Newsletter by Anne-Sophie Goninet & Jake Shropshire
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Quiz Answer: A. A copy of “The Mature Age,” a rare bronze by French sculptor Camille Claudel, was discovered by chance by lifting up a dust sheet in a Paris flat that had been abandoned for around 15 years. The sculpture, which exists in several copies, is thought to evoke Claudel’s separation with fellow artist and lover Auguste Rodin. The artist had destroyed much of her work before her brother confined her to a psychiatric hospital in 1913.