Our daily voyage around the world

💥 Israel-Hamas update: On Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israel has accepted a new proposal to bridge differences holding up a cease-fire and hostage release deal in Gaza. Blinken also called on Hamas to accept the deal, though he didn’t provide any details regarding what the bridging proposal entails. Western officials say an Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement could help deter Iran and Hezbollah from avenging the recent killings of two top Hamas militants, which the groups blame on Israel.

🇰🇷🇰🇵 A North Korean soldier defected for the first time since the pandemic. South Korea’s military picked up a relatively low-ranking North Korean staff sergeant who crossed the border yesterday, marking the first defection by an active-duty soldier from the North since 2019. Overall, defections from North Korea’s protected classes – a category including diplomats and overseas students – have recently risen to their highest level in years, per South Korea’s Ministry of Unification.

🇩🇪 Germany’s Federal Court upheld the conviction of a 99-year-old former Nazi secretary. Irmgard Furchner, who served as a secretary at a concentration camp in Poland from ages 18-19, was given a two-year suspended sentence in December 2022 for being an accessory to 10,500+ murders. In its ruling, the court concluded Furchner aided and supported the murders, despite her lawyers’ arguments that her involvement didn't go beyond typical secretarial duties.