Our daily flight around the world

🇰🇷🇺🇸 South Korea launched its first-ever military spy satellite from California. Seoul’s reconnaissance satellite, which successfully reached orbit between 245 and 375 miles in the sky, can detect objects as small as 12 inches on Earth. The SpaceX-assisted launch on Friday came a little over one week after North Korea successfully placed its first spy satellite in orbit. Seoul plans to launch four additional spy satellites with SpaceX by the end of 2025 as part of its goal to achieve 24-hour surveillance over the Korean peninsula.

💥 Israel-Hamas war update: Israel’s military resumed combat operations against Hamas on Friday after a week-long truce officially expired at midnight the previous night. Israel recalled its negotiating team from Qatar on Saturday after it said ceasefire talks had reached an impasse, while Hamas officials said their only remaining Israeli hostages are soldiers and “civilians serving in the army,” and that it won’t release more of them until Israel ends its war. Separately, the Pentagon announced a US destroyer and three commercial ships operating in the nearby Red Sea came under drone and ballistic-missile strikes yesterday, in an attack claimed by Iran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen.

🇯🇵 Japan is moving to limit unusual baby names. Following a spike in unconventional names over the past four decades, the Japanese government passed a new law forbidding parents from giving their children names with unique pronunciations people couldn’t know by only looking at the characters. Proponents say unorthodox names cause harassment and come with language challenges, while critics say creative names allow people to stand out in social and business settings.