Our daily journey around the world

🌋🇮🇹 Researchers used AI to decipher a scroll burnt by Mount Vesuvius 2,000 years ago. The Vesuvius Challenge offered a $700,000 prize to the first researchers who decoded part of the hundreds of scrolls – now lumps of carbonized ash – discovered in the only surviving library from the ancient world. Three student researchers won the prize after training an AI algorithm to identify ink patterns and translate hundreds of words written by a follower of the Ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus. Scientists say the breakthrough paves the way for AI to translate the scrolls in their entirety.

💥 Israel announced a ground offensive in Rafah, a Gaza city on the Egyptian border. Israeli officials say the offensive is aimed at taking control of the last city where Hamas still has a significant presence, as well as dismantling Hamas’ infrastructure for smuggling weapons from Egypt. More than 1 million Palestinian civilians are sheltering from the war in Rafah, which had a pre-war population of ~250,000. Separately, Israeli intelligence officials said at least 30 of the remaining 136 hostages held by Hamas have died since being captured on October 7.

🇪🇺 The EU scrapped an anti-pesticide proposal in response to mass farmer protests. The proposal would’ve required farmers to cut the use of pesticides by 50% by 2030 to help curb climate change, a move farmers argued would increase the price gap between their products and imports without such restrictions. The EU also announced a combined $290 million in aid to 140,000 farmers, though protests continued across Europe after the funds were unveiled.