Our daily journey around the world

🇵🇦 Panama residents are protesting a copper mining contract granted to a Canadian company. The new 20-year agreement allows mining giant First Quantum to operate the Cobre Panama mine, one of the largest new copper mines opened globally in the last decade. Over the past week, thousands of residents have joined demonstrations in protest of the deal over fears it would put Panama’s environment and water supply at risk. On Monday, Panama’s president called for a national referendum on whether to follow through with the mining contract, though officials said the vote can’t be held before the May presidential election.

💥 Israel-Hamas war update: Israel’s military said it carried out airstrikes on 300 targets in Gaza over the 24-hour period ending yesterday morning, while its ground forces killed an estimated 50 Hamas militants. Israeli officials also updated the number of hostages taken in Hamas’ initial October 7 attack to at least 240, including the first hostage to be rescued by Israeli ground forces earlier this week. Hamas-led health authorities said Israeli missiles struck the largest refugee camp in Gaza yesterday and destroyed several housing blocks, killing dozens of civilians and injuring hundreds more.

🌍 Meta is introducing ad-free Facebook and Instagram subscriptions for most European users. Starting next month, the new subscription will offer ad-free access to both social media sites via a linked account, with prices ranging from $10.58/month on desktop to $13.75/month for mobile. The move comes after the EU Court of Justice effectively barred Meta from combining user data collected across its platforms without receiving explicit consent, and indicated that offering a subscription service could be a way to comply with the judgment.