First Thing: Hamas official says nobody knows how many hostages are still alive

Hamas spokesperson says Israeli tanks have advanced on Rafah. Plus: Scotland’s burgeoning seaweed industry

Good morning.

With the safe return of the hostages crucial to any deal for a ceasefire, a senior Hamas official has said that “no one has an idea” how many of the 120 remaining hostages in Gaza are alive.

Reiterating Hamas’s position on the US-supported ceasefire proposal, now backed by a UN security council resolution, spokesperson and political bureau member Osama Hamdan told CNN the group “needed a clear position from Israel to accept the ceasefire, a complete withdrawal from Gaza, and let the Palestinians to determine their future by themselves.”

What is happening in Gaza? Israeli tanks advanced into the western part of Rafah on Thursday as the city came under intense helicopter, drone and artillery fire in what residents described as one of the worst bombardments of the area so far.

Are displaced Palestinians receiving aid? The UN’s relief agency for Palestinians, the largest aid organisation operating in Gaza, has accused Israeli authorities of frequently preventing it from delivering aid.

Trump makes first visit to the Capitol since January 6 attack

Donald Trump was met with applause and a serenade of “Happy Birthday” from Republicans in his first visit to the US Capitol following the January 6 attack in which his supporters descended on the building in an effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election result. Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic former House speaker, condemned Trump’s visit.

“Today, the instigator of an insurrection is returning to the scene of the crime,” Pelosi said in a statement. “January 6 was a crime against the Capitol, that saw Nazi and Confederate flags flying under the dome that Lincoln built.”

US supreme court unanimously upholds access to abortion pill mifepristone

The US supreme court ruled on Thursday in a unanimous 9-0 decision to uphold access to the abortion pill mifepristone in a major victory to abortion rights supporters – and a rare moment of consensus on abortion. “We’re relieved that the supreme court recognized this sham case for what it is, but this baseless push to block abortion access should never have been heard by them in the first place,” Mini Timmaraju, the CEO and president of Reproductive Freedom for All, said. “We need court reform to salvage the legitimacy of our federal judiciary – and we won’t stop fighting for it until it’s a reality.”

In other news …

The US and South Korea have warned Vladimir Putin against forging closer military ties with North Korea amid signs of preparations for a possible parade in Kim Il-sung Square. A civilian aircraft was cleared from Pyongyang’s airport.

Tesla shareholders approved a $45bn (£35.3bn) pay deal for CEO Elon Musk in the largest executive pay package at a US-listed firm.

A prominent #MeToo journalist in China was sentenced to five years in jail alongside a labor activist who was sentenced to three and a half years, almost 1,000 days after they were detained on allegations of inciting state subversion, according to supporters.

Jailed American reporter Evan Gershkovich will soon stand trial in Russia more than a year after his arrest on espionage charges that he, his employer, and the White House have decried as politically motivated.

Dozens of hikers have reported falling ill during trips to a popular waterfall near Grand Canyon national park, with some saying they vomited and others saying they had a fever.

Stat of the day: Taiwan’s declining birthrate is forcing schools to close

Taiwan is struggling to achieve the “replacement birthrate” of 2.1 babies per woman needed to maintain a stable population – a number Taiwan hasn’t hit since the mid-1980s. In 2023, the rate was 0.865. The declining birthrate is leading to school closures: 15 colleges and universities have closed since 2014, and four of Taiwan’s 103 private universities have also been ordered to close.

Don’t miss this: Afghan teenage girls on life without school

It has been more than 1,000 days since the Taliban declared schools only for boys. An estimated 1.2 million teenage girls are now banned from secondary schools in Afghanistan. Without school, many of these girls were forced into early marriage and are now suffering through domestic violence, suicide, drug addiction and an eradication from all aspects of public life.

“When I told [her parents] about my studies and dreams, they laughed and said: ‘Since the Taliban has come, girls will never be allowed to study. It’s better to get on with your life and get married,’” one girl said. “[After the wedding], my husband’s family told me, ‘We bought you and paid for you, we didn’t get you for free. So you should be at home and working for us.’”

… or this: Pigeons on the pill

Trials are under way in the UK and Europe to get contraceptives into pigeons, wild boar and grey squirrels – species that have been deemed as invasive or pests. Researchers are looking to fill special feeders and bait boxes with hazelnut spreads and grains laced with contraceptives, believing this to be a more humane and effective way of controlling populations that have previously been poisoned, shot or trapped.

“We don’t have many alternatives to lethal control. That’s where fertility control really could be a great opportunity to manage these things,” said Prof Steve Belmain, an ecologist from Greenwich University.

Climate check: Scotland’s burgeoning seaweed industry

Seaweed forests absorb carbon dioxide from seawater and the atmosphere, acting as a vital buffer against the climate crisis. In Scotland, a burgeoning seaweed industry is working to revolutionize the future of the planet with farmed kelp, which can be used to produce plastic substitutes, beauty products and food supplements.

“Seaweed has everything it needs – no fertilisers, pesticide or land required. We just leave it to grow and while it’s growing it’s also providing a habitat for fish – and it’s cleaning the water of harmful heavy metals,” said Kyla Orr, of KelpCrofters.

Last Thing: The ‘inside out’ of Amy Poehler

Ahead of the release of Pixar’s Inside Out 2, in which she voices the character Joy, Amy Poehler spoke to the Guardian about emotions, parenting and youth. “The way that that [the younger] generation is curious about their own identity is really powerful,” she said, with vim. “Don’t stop investigating yourself! The trap we all fall into is thinking we’re cooked. It’s not like you turn a certain age and you say: ‘There! I’ve got it. I know who I am!’ It never ends.”

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