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What We’re Watching: Tense Gaza ceasefire holding again, Trump pressed Zelensky on Donbas during Friday meeting, Japan to have first female PM

October 20, 2025
Zac Weisz
and
Riley Callanan
​Displaced Palestinians live in tents near destroyed buildings in Gaza City, on October 19, 2025.
Displaced Palestinians live in tents near destroyed buildings as they cannot return to their houses, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, on October 19, 2025.
REUTERS/Ebrahim Hajjaj

Ceasefire returns to Gaza after weekend exchange of fire

The US and the Israeli military said Sunday that the ceasefire is holding again in Gaza, after the two sides exchanged fire over the weekend in what was the biggest test so far of the peace plan signed last week. The flare up appeared to begin when Hamas militants – reportedly acting independent of the group’s leadership – hit Israeli soldiers with gunfire and anti-tank missiles, killing two soldiers. Israeli forces responded with a wave of airstrikes, killing 26 people, per local authorities. Israel said it bombed Hamas targets in the enclave, but one of the strikes hit a former school that was sheltering some displaced persons. The ceasefire remains a tenuous one, as Israel seeks the return of the remains of the last 16 hostages, while Hamas demands more aid. The next 30 days, per one US official, will be “critical.”

Trump presses Zelensky to cede Donbas in heated meeting

US President Donald Trump urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to give up the Donbas region and accept a ceasefire deal on Friday, during a meeting that reportedly devolved into a “shouting match” where Trump echoed the talking points that Russian President Vladimir Putin made on their call the day before. Zelensky hoped the meeting would result in the US supplying Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles, a request Trump denied. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will speak in the coming days to prepare a new Trump-Putin summit in the next few weeks – something Zelensky signaled he would be open to attending if invited.

Japan set to have first female PM

Sanae Takichi, elected leader of the center-right Liberal Democratic Party last week, is set to become Japan’s first female prime minister, after her party penned a coalition deal with the right-wing Japan Innovation Party on Monday. The agreement means Takichi will have just enough support when Parliament votes on her ascension tomorrow. The Japan Innovation Party replaces Komeito as the LDP’s coalition partner following outgoing PM Shigeru Ishiba’s decision to resign, meaning the government will take a more pro-business approach. Takichi won’t be the first female leader of Japan, though: Eight empresses have previously ruled over the island.

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Hard Numbers: Daylight robbery at the Louvre, Amazon Web Services goes dark, Ivorians head to the polls next weekend, “No Kings” protests sweep the US

French police officers seal off the entrance to the Louvre Museum after a robbery in Paris, France, on October 19, 2025. Robbers break into the Louvre and flee with jewelry on the morning of October 19, 2025, a source close to the case says, adding that its value is still being evaluated. A police source says an unknown number of thieves arrive on a scooter armed with small chainsaws and use a goods lift to reach the room they are targeting.
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Bolivia takes a right turn – will its neighbors follow?

Centrist senator and presidential candidate Rodrigo Paz of the Christian Democratic Party (PDC), speaks onstage as he celebrates following preliminary results on the day of the presidential runoff election, in La Paz, Bolivia, on October 19, 2025.
REUTERS/Claudia Morales

After two decades of left-wing dominance in Bolivia, the Latin American country elected a centrist president on Sunday. It isn’t the only country in the region that’s tilting to the right.

Every job will be reshaped by AI, says World Bank’s Christine Qiang

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What We’re Watching: Peru declares state of emergency, Trump to meet Zelensky after Putin call, Bangladesh seeks to end political upheaval

People attend a vigil in memory of Mauricio Ruiz, a 32-year-old man who was killed during Wednesday's protest against Peru's President Jose Jeri, days after Jeri took office, in Lima, Peru, on October 16, 2025.
REUTERS/Sebastian Castaneda

The Peruvian government is declaring a state of emergency in Lima after the protests, which haven’t stopped, turned deadly – police shot and killed a 32-year-old man on Wednesday at demonstrations outside the Congress.

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