10/06/2025

Hamas-Israel delegations land in Egypt as ceasefire push gathers pace

Gaza diplomacy

Delegations from Hamas, Israel and the United States are converging on Sharm el-Sheikh for the first face-to-face effort to translate U.S. President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan into a concrete ceasefire and hostage-prisoner swap. Mediators warn that hammering out details on troop withdrawals, Gaza governance and Hamas disarmament “won’t be quick,” but Washington insists the initial phase should finish this week.

The renewed diplomacy comes amid mounting pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from both far-right partners who reject any pause in the war and families of hostages still held in Gaza. As talks open, Israeli strikes continue and coalition tensions in Jerusalem deepen.

Outside the negotiation rooms, fallout from the conflict reverberates across the region and beyond: Israel has deported more activists from a thwarted aid flotilla, while Swiss participants allege inhumane detention; hundreds of thousands marched in Amsterdam to demand a tougher Dutch stance; and U.N. agencies warn of intensifying humanitarian needs inside the enclave.

France in flux

France’s newest government became its shortest-lived after Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu and his cabinet resigned just 14 hours after taking office, plunging the Fifth Republic deeper into political crisis. The collapse, triggered by threats of no-confidence from both far-right and hard-left blocs, sent the CAC 40 down two percent and pushed the euro lower.

Opposition leaders demanded either fresh parliamentary elections or even President Emmanuel Macron’s departure. Reactions ranged from far-right National Rally calls to “dissolve parliament” to France Unbowed moves to impeach the president, as captured in an overview of political fury. Analysts warn the deadlock could stall a 2026 austerity budget and unsettle euro-zone markets.

Asia’s climate emergencies

Days of torrential rain have carved a trail of destruction across the Himalayas. At least 46 people in Nepal and 28 in India’s West Bengal were killed as landslides buried villages and swollen rivers washed away bridges, according to official tallies. Rescue crews in both countries are battling blocked roads and collapsed infrastructure to reach remote hamlets.

Further north, an unseasonal blizzard trapped trekkers near Everest’s eastern Kangshung face; Chinese state media say more than 350 have now reached safety, though contact is still being restored with others, as detailed in the Tibet rescue operation. Experts link the spike in extreme weather to a warming climate that is reshaping South Asia’s monsoon and Himalayan conditions.

Security front lines

Russia launched one of its heaviest barrages of the year, firing over 50 missiles and nearly 500 drones, Ukraine said. The overnight onslaught killed at least five people, damaged energy facilities in multiple regions and forced Poland to scramble jets as debris approached NATO airspace.

On the diplomatic track, U.S. President Trump said Vladimir Putin’s offer to keep strategic nuclear forces within New START limits “sounds like a good idea,” even as Moscow warned U.S. missile deliveries to Kyiv could wreck relations.

Tensions also ripple southward: Washington’s latest strike on a suspected drug-running boat off Venezuela drew sharp Russian condemnation, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth insisted he has “every authorization” for further Caribbean operations (full interview).

Rights & accountability

The U.N. Human Rights Council will vote Monday on an EU-backed proposal to establish a powerful investigative mechanism for Afghanistan, tasked with preserving evidence of atrocities by the Taliban and foreign forces alike. Rights advocates call it a “significant step” toward ending a cycle of impunity since the militants’ 2021 takeover.

In Geneva, U.N. refugee chief Filippo Grandi warned that rewriting the global asylum regime would be “catastrophic,” pushing back against moves to curb protection norms. And in Syria, local committees held an indirect vote for the first parliament since Bashar al-Assad’s fall, a process critics deride as tightly controlled (election snapshot).