Plus: Sam Altman's back in charge at OpenAI, and the remarkable ice towers of northern India.
| | | | | | | Hello. We have the latest on the deal struck by Israel and Hamas that is expected to see the release of at least 50 hostages during a four-day pause in fighting. My deskmate Paul Kirby is reporting from Rotterdam on the upcoming (and unpredictable) Dutch election. Today I've also prepared a beautiful photo feature from the Himalayas and some royal Korean. |
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| | | | Top of the agenda | | Gaza awaits pause in fighting after deal | | | | About 240 hostages are held by Hamas, according to Israeli government figures. Credit: EPA |
| | The conflict between Israel and Hamas is entering a new phase, as the two parties said last night they had agreed to a deal to release 50 hostages held in Gaza. The captives are set to be freed during a four-day pause in fighting that will be announced within 24 hours. Israel has agreed to free 150 jailed Palestinian women and minors - most of them male teenagers. More could be released if additional hostages are freed from Gaza - here's a summary of the terms. Families of the hostages, who had virtually no news since October 7, are anxiously waiting for the process to begin tomorrow. The expected pause in the fighting will offer much-needed respite for Palestinian civilians, with humanitarian aid set to flow in at a much faster pace than over for the past six weeks. But Israel is stressing the war will continue "in order to return home all of the hostages [and] complete the elimination of Hamas". | | • | Deal diplomacy: The agreement was brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the US, which was heavily involved in the negotiations. Our US State Department correspondent Barbara Plett Usher explains how. | | • | The role of Qatar: One of the richest countries in the Middle East, it was also a key broker. Here's more context on its increasing role on the world stage. | | • | In Gaza: Israel Defense Forces are still operating in the Strip. Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that nine people have been killed in a strike on the Nuseirat camp - figures the BBC cannot independently confirm. More on our live page. |
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| | | | | | World headlines | | • | Back to square one: OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman will return to his CEO position, just days after he was fired by the board, the firm has said. Some things are changing, though: new board members will be appointed. | | • | Another crypto fall from grace: Binance chief executive Changpeng "CZ" Zhao, has resigned after pleading guilty to money laundering violations. Business reporter Mariko Oi has more on Binance's new boss, Richard Teng. | | • | Islam in China: Beijing is closing, destroying and repurposing mosques in the country's north-west, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has alleged in a new report. | | • | Cricket love story: India's men's team captain might have lost the World Cup, but he won millions of hearts, Vikas Pandey writes in Delhi. | | • | 'Validated': After video chat website Omegle was shut down, the woman who forced its closure tells cyber correspondent Joe Tidy of her pride at seeing the end of a site where she met a paedophile who made her his digital sex slave. | |
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| | AT THE SCENE | | | The Netherlands |
| | Dutch decide in neck-and-neck race | | With elections under way in the Netherlands, more than 13 million voters are choosing from 26 parties - four having emerged as front-runners. But on the eve of the vote, almost half the electorate was said to be undecided. | | | | Paul Kirby, Europe editor, BBC News online |
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| | That figure is borne out in one of Rotterdam's poorest neighbourhoods, Crooswijk. "I've not decided yet, but it'll be one of the parties that wasn't in the last cabinet," said Laura. "They're all responsible for the prices going up." Drago, who works in his girlfriend's cafe, complains higher taxes are making life impossible. He says migration has exacerbated an already difficult housing crisis, which has left the Netherlands with a shortage of 390,000 homes. "Normal people can't survive. They're waiting 10 years before they can buy a flat," he says. |
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| | | | Beyond the headlines | | The villagers building ice towers | | | | Ice towers now decorate the landscape in the Ladakh region. Credit: Arati Kumar-Rao |
| | Photographer Arati Kumar-Rao, one of this year's BBC 100 Women, has visited Ladakhi people living on the Indian side of the Himalayas. They used to depend on melting winter snow for farming and agriculture, but climate change is forcing them to find alternatives. They now have to build ice cones, some of them higher than 30m (100ft). | | | | |
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| | | | Something different | | And for his next trick | | Did a British magician help vanquish the Nazis in World War Two? | | |
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| | | | And finally... | | King Charles has brushed up on his Korean during a state banquet on Tuesday evening. He told South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife Kim Keon Hee: "ìêµì ì¤ì ê²ì íìí©ëë¤" ("Welcome to the UK"), if you'll allow me to show off my own Korean skills. That's "yeong-gug-e osin geos-eul hwan-yeonghabnida" in Roman script. See how he fared. |
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– Jules |
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