Donald Trump's ultimatum to Hamas: 'Accept Gaza peace plan'

The pressure is on Hamas to accept US President Donald Trump's ceasefire proposal. For The Guardian and Le Soir, Trump and Netanyahu have issued an "ultimatum": accept the peace deal or face the consequences. Trump's plan includes the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the disarming of Hamas. Gaza would then be governed by an apolitical peace committee headed by Trump and other heads of state. French paper Libération offers us a wonderful play on words – "leurre de la paix" – time for peace, the word "leurre" being a homonym for l'heure – but leurre means illusion. The Jerusalem Post says Israeli hostages could be freed within 72 hours under the plan while the pan-Arab paper Al-Araby al-Jadeed says Hamas is "studying the proposal" and will respond in due course.

The general feeling from the opinion pages is that the plan is ambitious – maybe too ambitious. The Guardian concedes that at first glace, the plan appears more likely to end the war in Gaza than anything we've seen before, but peace is far from guaranteed. This is mainly because Hamas is unlikely to agree to a plan that says it has to give up all or most of its weapons. "A bit of the old, a bit of the new – and the same stumbling blocks", says the Australian academic website The Conversation. 

After Asia, Gen Z protests have spread to the African continent, gripping both Morocco and Madagascar. As the Moroccan website Tel Quel reports, young protesters in Morocco clashed with police for the third straight day in demonstrations calling for better health and education facilities in the country. The protests were organised by an anonymous group called Gen Z 212, with 212 being the Moroccan country code. The website Le 360 says the protesters represent a majority that has been thus far voiceless. Forty-one percent of Moroccans are aged under 25. 

Meanwhile, L'Express du Madagascar headlines on President Andry Rajoelina announcing the sacking of his government after a wave of deadly Gen Z protests there, in which dozens of people were killed by security forces while protesting over a lack of electricity and water supplies. On Monday, in a speech to the nation, Rajoelina told protesters their demands had been heard and apologised for the government not doing its job.

Here in France, President Emmanuel Macron has met with Michelin-starred chefs at the Élysée palace to address a crisis in the world of restaurants. As the Times of London reports, French restaurants are suffering an existential crisis and change in habits. The country has seen a wave of closures in dining establishments. Some say it's due to the rise in fast food and home deliveries. Many say it's also due to the cost-of-living crisis. The chefs present told the president that French culinary traditions could disappear as a result. In any case, the editors of the Times are not impressed by the meeting, accusing Macron of ignoring more pressing issues at hand and of euphemistically "fiddling with his whisk". 

French basketball player Victor Wembanyana is preparing for the new NBA season. And as CBS reports, the 21-year-old has spent the off season trying to bulk up ahead of his return to the San Antonio Spurs. It appears that he’s actually grown a couple of inches, too. He's now listed as seven foot four after spending last season at seven foot three.

Finally, from a very tall young man to a flexible elderly lady. The New York Times profiles Charlotte Chopin, a 102-year-old French woman who has been teaching yoga for 40 years in the Loire Valley. She went viral after wowing audiences on a French TV talent show in 2022. It led to India's PM Narendra Modi making her an ambassador for yoga. Even a recent car accident didn't stop her – she was back teaching yoga just three months later!

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