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US optimistic over Israel-Hamas deal

Israel and Hamas can “close the remaining gaps” to reach a ceasefire deal soon, the White House said Tuesday, though Israeli officials are less optimistic. Negotiations have resumed in Cairo, but the Israelis believe Hamas won’t budge on its demand to permanently end the war, Axios reported. The US could be signaling confidence in an imminent deal to nudge both sides toward a compromise, even as Israeli officials are suspicious of Washington’s role in the talks. The rift between the allies grew after Israel struck Rafah and took control over a key border crossing in what it called a “limited” operation, after the White House warned against a major assault. The US is also holding up shipments of precision bombs “to send a political message to Israel,” Politico reported.

TikTok sues to block US ban

TikTok sued the US government Tuesday to block the law forcing its Chinese parent ByteDance to sell the app or be banned. TikTok argued that invoking national security concerns is not a sufficient reason to restrict free speech. The suit is likely to end up at the Supreme Court, where justices may be sympathetic to the measure’s bipartisan support, a First Amendment expert at Cornell University said. But “without public discussion of what exactly the risks are … it’s difficult to determine why the courts should validate such an unprecedented law.” TikTok has tried to downplay its ties to ByteDance, but a Rest of World report found that Chinese executives manage key departments, reflecting deep ties to Beijing that would complicate any sale.

Chinese Tesla rival eyes US IPO

Tesla is facing challenges from its Chinese electric vehicle rivals in both the US and China. Zeekr, the EV brand of Chinese auto giant Geely, is set to go public on the New York Stock Exchange this week, seeking to raise $367 million in what could be the largest US initial public offering for a Chinese company since 2021. At least three other Chinese EV makers that compete with Tesla have already gone public in the US. Tesla recently got tentative approval from the Chinese government for its “Full Self-Driving” technology, though it faces a crush of local competition. Chinese giant BYD already dethroned Tesla as the world’s top EV seller, and Tesla’s sales of China-made cars dropped 18% last month compared to April 2023, while BYD’s grew 49%.

Modi’s party eyes supermajority

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party and its allies are eyeing a legislative supermajority, a feat that has only happened once in India’s history. Modi, who voted in his home state Tuesday, halfway through the country’s weekslong election, would extend his reach “to every corner of the country” if he wins 400 out of 543 seats in the general election, The Guardian wrote. The path to mega-victory runs through the country’s southern states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, where Modi’s party is not viewed as representative of local language and culture-related interests. The prime minister’s local allies there are leaning away from Hindu nationalist narratives and instead campaigning around their “larger than life” personalities, one party leader said.

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China’s rapid nuclear power growth

China continues to build nuclear power plants at a spectacular rate. In the last 10 years, the country has added more than 34 gigawatts of nuclear capacity, bringing the total number of reactors to 55, with 23 more under construction. The US still has the largest nuclear fleet, with 94 reactors, but “it took nearly 40 years to add the same nuclear power capacity as China added in 10 years,” the US Energy Information Administration said. Despite the rapid growth, nuclear power still only made up about 5% of China’s electricity generation in 2022, because the country is also building new coal plants: It added 19 gigawatts of coal in 2022 alone.

Daniels testifies in Trump case

Adult film actress Stormy Daniels testified in detail Tuesday about her alleged 2006 sexual encounter with Donald Trump — an incident at the center of the former US president’s hush-money trial in New York. The criminal case hinges on whether Trump falsified business records ahead of the 2016 election, but the prosecution’s strategy has been to “spotlight the sleaze, and soft-pedal the records,” The New York Times wrote. Despite a “blockbuster day” of testimony, Daniels is unlikely to “make or break the prosecution’s case,” CNN’s legal correspondent argued. But Trump’s denial that the encounter happened could end up “hurting his own defense,” MSNBC’s Glenn Kirschner opined, as it forces the jury to choose between believing Daniels or a president known to make false claims.

Coffee prices soar as Vietnam pivots

Robusta coffee prices reached new global highs in late April, partly due to the popularity of durian. Robusta production dropped in Vietnam, the world’s largest producer of the high-quality coffee, the result of drought and farmers shifting to growing durian to meet surging demand in China. Vietnamese exports to China of the thorny and extremely fragrant plant nicknamed “the king of fruits” more than quintupled in 2023, Nikkei reported. Consumption of robusta — which is one of the two main types of coffee, along with arabica — is also growing in the region as brands like Starbucks become more ubiquitous and reduce the demand for low-grade beans.

Could new iPads help tablets grow up?

Apple unveiled new versions of the iPad on Tuesday, including one with, as CEO Tim Cook described, an “outrageously powerful” artificial intelligence computing chip. The tech giant is looking to reverse over a year of iPad sales declines, but it needs to move the device “beyond the toddler stage,” Bloomberg technology columnist Dave Lee argued, pointing to its popularity with kids watching Peppa Pig, as opposed to businesspeople or students. The iPad should function less like an oversized smartphone and more like a mini laptop, Lee said, noting that its limits are mostly imposed by Apple’s protectionist tendencies: “It still wants consumers to buy its MacBooks.”

Fish are becoming smaller

Fish are shrinking. The average body weight of nearly three-quarters of marine fish populations sampled dropped between 1960 and 2020, a recent study suggests. The change threatens the food supply of the more than 3 billion people who rely on seafood as a source of protein, The Washington Post reported. Overfishing is known to reduce fish sizes — fish are larger in protected marine areas — but climate change seems to play a part as well: Researchers found that trout reared in warm water tanks were on average less than half the size of those raised in colder ones. Scientists speculate that larger fish find it harder to regulate their body temperatures in warm water.

Missing Caravaggio to be unveiled

A missing work by the Italian master Caravaggio will go on display for the first time. Ecce Homo (Behold The Man), which depicts Christ being presented in front of the crowd before his crucifixion, was first thought to be painted by a disciple of Caravaggio and was nearly sold for a starting price tag of just $1,600 at a 2021 auction, but inspection revealed its true provenance. It is one of just 60 known Caravaggios in existence, and is believed to have at one stage been in the private collection of Philip IV of Spain, the Associated Press reported. The now-restored work will be on display at the Prado in Madrid until October, and will then go into the museum’s permanent collection.

May 8:

• Voters go to the polls in North Macedonia for presidential and parliamentary elections.
• Ghana’s Supreme Court begins hearing arguments to determine the constitutionality of an anti-LGBTQ bill.
• Nissan Motor, Nippon Steel, and Panasonic release quarterly earnings.

Indonesia is a booming hub for heavy metal music. The country recently hosted Southeast Asia’s largest heavy metal music festival, Hammersonic, and its outgoing president is a Megadeth fan. While Indonesia attracts foreign performers like Lamb of God, a homegrown band called Voice of Baceprot — comprising three hijab-wearing women — is winning fans overseas with songs on female empowerment and environmental activism, The New York Times reported. Heavy metal has been an “outlet to comment on society, politics and the environment,” one Indonesian metalhead told Voice of America.

• Putin sworn in for fifth term as president, tightening his grip over Russia.
• The Trump campaign contemplates a jail sentence.
• Nigeria draws closer to resuming a crypto trading ban.