Hamas hinted at progress on a cease-fire
A Hamas chief mentioned yesterday that the group was learning Israel’s newest cease-fire proposal with a “constructive spirit,” elevating hopes of progress within the stalled efforts for a truce.
Ismail Haniyeh, the pinnacle of Hamas’s political wing, mentioned {that a} delegation would journey to Cairo to debate the cease-fire. The present deal would come with a weekslong truce and the discharge of hostages held by Hamas and of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. The proposal would additionally enable civilians to return to northern Gaza and would allow elevated supply of support to the territory.
The complicated cease-fire negotiations have dragged on for months. This week, Israel softened a few of its positions, saying that it will enable Palestinians to return north en masse and would decrease the variety of hostages accepted for the cease-fire to 33, from 40.
However Israel’s insistence on a floor invasion of Rafah, a metropolis the place round one million Palestinians are sheltering within the southern Gaza Strip, stays a significant sticking level. “If the enemy carries out the Rafah operation, negotiations will cease,” a Hamas spokesman mentioned.
U.S. accused Russia of utilizing chemical weapons
The U.S. accused Russia of violating a world ban on chemical weapons by utilizing them in opposition to Ukrainian troops.
The State Division mentioned in an announcement that Russia had used chloropicrin, a “choking agent” extensively used throughout World Warfare I, in addition to tear fuel. Each of them are prohibited throughout warfare beneath the Chemical Weapons Conference, an arms management treaty ratified by greater than 150 nations, together with Russia.
Attacking with the chemical substances was “not an remoted incident,” they usually have been in all probability used to drive Ukrainian forces out of fortified positions, the State Division mentioned.
The Ukrainian authorities have reported about 1,400 circumstances of suspected chemical weapons use by Russia because the full-scale invasion started in 2022. The officers mentioned that the speed has accelerated as Moscow has pressed forward with assaults alongside the entrance traces.
Protests swelled in Georgia over ‘overseas pursuits’ invoice
Safety forces clashed with protesters in Georgia’s capital after Parliament superior laws that has sparked weeks of demonstrations.
Demonstrators have taken to the streets of Tbilisi ever because the governing Georgian Dream occasion pushed the invoice by means of Parliament early final month. Georgia’s Ministry of Inner Affairs mentioned yesterday that safety forces had used water cannons and tear fuel when the protesters turned “violent.”
The draft legislation would require nongovernmental teams and media shops that obtain greater than 20 % of their funding from overseas sources to register with the federal government and to supply annual monetary statements or face hefty fines. The professional-Western opposition believes that the legislation may very well be used to crack down on dissent.
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Lower than two years in the past, Brittney Griner was beginning her nine-year sentence in a penal colony in Russia, stitching uniforms for the Russian navy and subsisting on spoiled meals. She had by no means been farther from the game that made her well-known, not often bought to listen to from her spouse, Cherelle, and he or she had no thought when — or if — she can be coming house.
My colleague J Wortham spoke with Griner for The New York Instances Journal. “I’ll always remember any of it,” mentioned Griner, whose memoir “Coming House,” can be revealed on Might 7.
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Depth and focus: Borussia Dortmund beat Paris Saint-Germain within the first leg of their Champions League semifinal.
A problem for theater leaders in Shakespeare’s hometown
Vacationers flock to Stratford-upon-Avon, the English city well-known as the house of William Shakespeare, anticipating classical period-dress productions of his works. Stratford can be house to the Royal Shakespeare Firm, which brings Shakespeare’s work to a up to date viewers with a various and forward-thinking repertoire.
Daniel Evans and Tamara Harvey, the troupe’s new creative administrators, are attempting to embrace the classical and the trendy, as they embark on their first season in cost.
That’s all for this week. Have an exquisite weekend, and goodbye for now. My colleague Natasha Frost will return on Monday. — Dan
P.S. Lynsey Chutel, who writes our Highlight on Africa sequence, is transferring to our London newsroom. Congratulations, Lynsey!
You possibly can attain Dan and the staff at briefing@nytimes.com.
